School law nerds may find it interesting to review the comments and responses from T.E.A. in connection with the recently adopted rules for teacher appraisal. The Agency lumped these comments into 66 categories.  The responses to the comments fall into three categories:

THE AGENCY AGREES (i.e.: Good point! Thanks for pointing that out!)

HERE’S A CLARIFICATION (i.e.: We don’t think you understand the rule—let us explain)

THE AGENCY DISAGREES (i.e.: Are you kidding???  No way!)

Since most of the comments come from professional organizations, the Dawg thought it would be interesting (see reference to “school law nerds,” above) to compare how the comments of the various organizations were received. Herewith a scorecard:

 

ORGANIZATION         TEA AGREES       CLARIFICATION    TEA DISAGREES

TSTA                                      0                      4                                  13

ATPE                                      0                      4                                  6

TCTA                                      1                      4                                  13

AFT                                         3                      2                                  7

TASB                                      6.5                   0                                  .5

TASA                                      6.5                   0                                  .5

We’ll let you draw whatever conclusions you want from that. We’re just providing the data.  But we have to add that the most interesting of the 66 categories of comments was the last one:

Comment: Twelve individuals commented that what teachers have to contend with in general is making teaching more and more difficult.

Agency Response: The agency is unable to respond to these comments as they do not relate specifically to the proposed rules for teacher appraisal.

That’s probably the proper bureaucratic response, but don’t you wish that the Agency had added

NO KIDDING!! PREACH ON!!!!

DAWG BONE: MAYBE SOME DAY….