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Teacher's Union calls on Brownsville ISD to lessen workload

Teacher's Union calls on Brownsville ISD to lessen workload
2 years 6 days 16 hours ago Tuesday, November 01 2022 Nov 1, 2022 November 01, 2022 6:41 PM November 01, 2022 in News - Local

Members of a teacher's union are rallying in hopes of helping ease the workload for Brownsville Independent School District teachers. 

The rally is being hosted by members of Brownsville Educators Stand Together, they are a part of the American Federation of Teachers  — Best AFT. 

Best AFT wants Brownsville ISD to hold up their end of an agreement reached back in August to lessen the workload of teachers. 

"It's too much," El Jardin Elementary teacher Denis Day said. "We're overwhelmed with everything that they want us to do."

Day has been with Brownsville ISD for 26 years and says the virtual report card Data Walls, which shows every student's passing or failing grade, is what they're protesting.

The grades are inputted into multiple systems.

"In order to keep track of the students, and see if there's any gains or any losses, if they gain any points," Day said. "If we're getting better, if we're getting worse."

The teacher's union says it's repeat work, and it is why they filed a grievance against the school district in August. 

The school board decided to leave that extra work up to administrators. 

"Which states that teachers do not have to do the data walls and data cards," Best AFT lead advisor Patrick Hammes said. "What we did agree to, is that if schools were doing data walls, the teachers would rank them once administration put them up there from worst to best and best to worst."

The union says administrators never took on that responsibility. They found teachers in at least 10 schools within the district still doing it, with more worked added on. 

"My school is asking us to do a virtual dashboard, which is just a change of words," Day said. "They're playing with the words, but it's actually the same thing. It's a lot of work because we've already done it in the other platforms, and yet we have to combine it in another platform, so it takes time."

The union says the extra time taking to do the work could be better spent elsewhere.

"But we're trying to do paperwork, so we just give them actual seat work," Day said. "When they actually need more face to face, small group hands-on activities."

Channel 5 reached out to Brownsville ISD, the district says they do not comment on personnel matters.

In a statement made after this story aired, Brownsville ISD school board President Eddie Garcia said an investigation will be conducted into the 12 campuses using Data Walls. Trustees voted in August to no longer use Data Walls, Garcia said.

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