What Educators Have to Say About the Legislative Session ...

(Published in the Summer 2011 edition of Texas Teacher Magazine)

A priority should have been to fix the structural deficit that caused the budget shorfall in education in the first place. Until that is done, we will fight this same fight over and over. Another priority should have been to stop the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars on standardized tests that test nothing.
The passage of SB 8 was just the continuation of a systematic plan to belittle and demoralize teachers, with the end game being to undermine public education. We can't let this get to us. There are ways to fight back.
First, we need to scour Texas to find honest, pro-education candidates for the next legislature. Second, we need to recognize what the fight is really about. The people we are up against care nothing about public education. Their goal is to end public education as we know it and funnel public dollars to private pockets. Once we understand this, then we can campaign against it.

Bill Norris, Teacher