Increase DISD teacher's salaries, and set less stringent rules and regulations for how they teach and plan lessons.

As a student at a DISD high school, this issue is incredibly important to me. Almost immediately after Mike Miles became DISD's superintendent, there was a noticeable change in my school. Not only have budget cuts taken essential money away from deserving teachers, but I have personally experienced some of the repercussions. Layoffs have stolen away some of the few mentors in my life that I truly looked up to. The teacher to student ratio is becoming larger and larger, and there is less one-on-one time in the classroom, a time that I had grown to cherish.  And now things are getting worse. Teachers are becoming discouraged, some even fearing for their jobs. Our classrooms are no longer a creative and mentally stimulating environment, but instead anxiety ridden and anxious. 

By signing this petition, you are becoming an advocate for the increase of teachers pay. We should not base a teacher’s salary on how well their class does on an unnecessary standardized test, but instead, should pay them according to the quality of a student’s classwork grades and homework. It is ludicrous to pay teachers based on how their students perform in two intrusive evaluations. 

Another one of the large changes made when Mike Miles became superintendent was that teachers are now forced to provide an in-depth lesson plan each week. Instead of allowing our teachers to be creative, and build hands-on lessons that encourage all level of students to feel included and inspired to learn, the lesson plans have become a burden to teachers and force them to stick to certain content and timelines to ensure all material is covered. You may think that tutoring in the mornings or afternoon would allow teachers to ensure the students needing help are caught up.  However, teachers are becoming less available due to the regular meetings that they are forced to sit through.

Once this petition reaches 2,000 signatures, I intend on bringing this issue to the higher powers at DISD. Let’s make a difference in the life of those who make such a difference in ours!