luvhoops34
06-11-2007, 05:26 PM
Miller High losing half its original teaching staff
Caller-Times
Originally published 01:00 a.m., June 11, 2007
Updated 02:54 a.m., June 11, 2007
About half of the 103 teachers who taught at Miller High School during the 2006-2007 academic year will not return to the school in the fall as a result of the district's corrective plan to meet federal accountability standards.
But the loss of 49 teachers doesn't necessarily mean the students are losing out on classroom experience.
Miller is required to make significant changes next year under a federal school improvement plan because of low reading scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for four consecutive years.
In May, faculty and staff members were required to reapply for their jobs or to be on Corpus Christi Independent School District's displaced teacher list, which guaranteed them a job in the district, just not at Miller. The district chose to revamp the staff to help the school meet federal accountability standards.
The district must comply with several corrective actions outlined in Stage 3 of No Child Left Behind's Title 1 School Improvement Plan, and staff changes for the 2007-2008 school year are part of that plan.
A committee of district administrators interviewed teachers and certified staff who reapplied for their jobs and selected 54 teachers to return to the campus. Of the 37 auxiliary personal who reapplied for their jobs, 30 were selected to stay.
Teachers returning to Miller include first-year teachers and those with as many as 27 years experience with the district, according to data released by the district in response to a Public Information Act request by the Caller-Times.
While the majority of teachers -- 26 -- returning to Miller in the fall have five or fewer years experience with the district, 17 have 10 to 20 years and five have 20 or more years.
Of the teachers who are not returning, 29 have five or fewer years of experience with the district. These majorities make sense because before the staff changes were implemented, most teachers at Miller had five or fewer years of experience with CCISD.
Forty-six teachers who did not return because they did not reapply or because they were not selected to return by the committee had experience ranging from one year to 36 years. Seven of the teachers who are not returning had 10 to 20 years experience with CCISD and eight had more than 20 years. Three additional teachers resigned.
Wendy Acox, who has taught U.S. history, government and economics at Miller since 2003, said she reapplied for her job because of her passion for Miller and its students.
"When I walked into Miller at first I was like, 'What did I get myself into?' " Acox said. "But within two weeks, I was home."
Acox said she doesn't understand why she wasn't selected to return to Miller, especially since the subject she taught wasn't a TAKS-tested subject, and she doesn't know what she'll do now.
"The first thing I thought when I got my letter was 'What did I do?' " she said.
CCISD Superintendent Scott Elliff said the district has gone through nine reconstitutions at various schools, including one at Miller about 10 years ago.
"That kind of change is difficult," Elliff said.
Students said the change has been especially confusing for them.
Alecia Guthrie, who will start her junior year this fall, said the loss of some teachers has hurt school morale.
"Some of those teachers had been doing some really great jobs with the students," Alecia said.
Caller-Times
Originally published 01:00 a.m., June 11, 2007
Updated 02:54 a.m., June 11, 2007
About half of the 103 teachers who taught at Miller High School during the 2006-2007 academic year will not return to the school in the fall as a result of the district's corrective plan to meet federal accountability standards.
But the loss of 49 teachers doesn't necessarily mean the students are losing out on classroom experience.
Miller is required to make significant changes next year under a federal school improvement plan because of low reading scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for four consecutive years.
In May, faculty and staff members were required to reapply for their jobs or to be on Corpus Christi Independent School District's displaced teacher list, which guaranteed them a job in the district, just not at Miller. The district chose to revamp the staff to help the school meet federal accountability standards.
The district must comply with several corrective actions outlined in Stage 3 of No Child Left Behind's Title 1 School Improvement Plan, and staff changes for the 2007-2008 school year are part of that plan.
A committee of district administrators interviewed teachers and certified staff who reapplied for their jobs and selected 54 teachers to return to the campus. Of the 37 auxiliary personal who reapplied for their jobs, 30 were selected to stay.
Teachers returning to Miller include first-year teachers and those with as many as 27 years experience with the district, according to data released by the district in response to a Public Information Act request by the Caller-Times.
While the majority of teachers -- 26 -- returning to Miller in the fall have five or fewer years experience with the district, 17 have 10 to 20 years and five have 20 or more years.
Of the teachers who are not returning, 29 have five or fewer years of experience with the district. These majorities make sense because before the staff changes were implemented, most teachers at Miller had five or fewer years of experience with CCISD.
Forty-six teachers who did not return because they did not reapply or because they were not selected to return by the committee had experience ranging from one year to 36 years. Seven of the teachers who are not returning had 10 to 20 years experience with CCISD and eight had more than 20 years. Three additional teachers resigned.
Wendy Acox, who has taught U.S. history, government and economics at Miller since 2003, said she reapplied for her job because of her passion for Miller and its students.
"When I walked into Miller at first I was like, 'What did I get myself into?' " Acox said. "But within two weeks, I was home."
Acox said she doesn't understand why she wasn't selected to return to Miller, especially since the subject she taught wasn't a TAKS-tested subject, and she doesn't know what she'll do now.
"The first thing I thought when I got my letter was 'What did I do?' " she said.
CCISD Superintendent Scott Elliff said the district has gone through nine reconstitutions at various schools, including one at Miller about 10 years ago.
"That kind of change is difficult," Elliff said.
Students said the change has been especially confusing for them.
Alecia Guthrie, who will start her junior year this fall, said the loss of some teachers has hurt school morale.
"Some of those teachers had been doing some really great jobs with the students," Alecia said.