For Black Families, AISD s Special Ed Chaos Is Not New austinchronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from austinchronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Candace Hunter said HB 3979 would make it harder to teach social studies in classrooms. Author: Jenni Lee Updated: 12:50 PM CDT May 11, 2021
AUSTIN, Texas Candace Hunter taught social studies for the Austin Independent School District (AISD) from 2007 to 2015.
She said discussing race and gender is part of learning for students. If you don t want to teach kids about race, I will tell you it s going to come up. There s nothing you can do about it, Hunter said.
But if House Bill 3979 is passed, discussions about race or gender would be illegal if it makes an individual uncomfortable. Senate Bill 2202, its companion bill, passed out of the Senate last month.
View Comments
Education advocates worry bills targeting discussions of racism and sexism in Texas public schools will hinder teachers ability to discuss current events, history and ethnic studies with students.
The Republican authors of the bills moving forward in the Legislature say their goal is to prevent the federal government and educators from pushing a political agenda in schools.
The Texas Senate last week passed Senate Bill 2202, which, among other things, would ban mandates for teachers to receive training or conduct class discussions on racism and sexism. Such discussions can be grounded on the ideas of critical race theory, a framework of thought focused on examining and challenging racism.
| 14
| Almost midway through the school year, it has become increasingly clear that virtual learning is failing a sizable number of Texas public school students whose parents decided to keep them home as COVID-19 grips the state. The disturbing number of students posting failing grades while trying to learn in front of computer screens has also brought into sharper focus the failure of state education and political leaders to prepare for an academic year they knew would be like no other. Over the last month, The Texas Tribune has interviewed more than 30 educators, students, parents and experts across the state about their experiences with remote learning. Parents and students describe a system in which kids are failing, not necessarily because they don’t understand the material, but because the process of teaching them is so broken that it’s difficult to succeed.
That lazy teacher needs to get back to work. Report them!
At school campuses throughout the city, students and teachers grappled with the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, switching multiple times a day between virtual and face-to-face instruction, trying to focus on education while holding concerns about their own health. Meanwhile, on Facebook, thousands of Austin ISD parents were watching, and in the AISD Kids First group – oriented toward bringing kids back to campus as soon as possible – they were not happy. “Nobody’s being swayed, right? Everybody’s got their mind made up. These [Facebook groups] only serve to gather support to pressure the district one way or the other.” – Candace Hunter, AISD Parent and and co-host of the