Listeners respond to public schools ignore legislative-ordered survey story

Texas teachers, principals ignore survey ordered by Legislature

I think the responses below demonstrate my point that the public school establishment has not problem thumbing its collective nose at the Legislature. – Pratt

Allison writes:

Mr. Pratt,

In regards to your statements regarding the teacher survey, you may want to look into why some teachers did not respond. My daughter is a teacher in the Dallas area (not DISD). Her district gave the teachers the link for the survey AFTER it was due. They were not able to participate in the survey. The administration purposefully did not want their responses submitted. Most teachers would be happy to participate in this type of survey or any tool that would improve their classrooms.

Thank you.

And then from Kayte:

We as teachers see a lot of these surveys. The usual procedure at our school is for the principal to send the survey with a request that we complete it. Then, every two or three days, the principal sends out a “shame” list of the people who have not completed it. No such “shame list” was ever sent out for this one .

Part of the reason might be that there is some sort of funding attached to some of these surveys. There’s a technology survey like that. The district gets technology funds from the state and part of the deal is the completion of these surveys. It is a big priority from down town, and thus, the principals.

Also, the questions were directed at the competence with which the schools were actually run. Many principals might not have wanted their people to respond to those questions. I can even imagine a scenario where a principal might not even forward the survey if they know that the staff response would make them look bad.

At any rate, if it isn’t a priority of the administrator, it probably won’t get done. Teacher’s are busy. They want to focus on things that will directly benefit their students.