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Aug 6, 2008 6:46 pm US/Central
Teachers Union Threatens DISD With Legal Action
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Sharon Toussaint was an educator in the Dallas Independent School District for thirty years. She led Kimball High's math department until she was fired this year. She was one of nine to be let go at the school.
DISD officials say she was let go based on her students' "lack of success" in the classroom. The spokesman said the district uses test score comparisons to evaluate teachers, but it's not the only tool used to determine a teacher's future.
"If their TAKS rates are low, and they are not even reaching the levels that other teachers are reaching, then they may be recommended for termination," said DISD spokesman John Dahlander. "That falls into a small subset of teachers, but it does happen."
American Federation of Teachers, the largest teachers union in Dallas, has deemed the firings as unfair, saying test scores, combined with a teacher effectiveness evaluation, are veiled attempts to pass the blame of struggling schools directly to veteran teachers.
"We don't know what happened with the child the night before. We don't know what the home situation is. We don't know if the child had a good night sleep," said Rena Honea, Alliance AFT. "There are too many things that cannot be used, and these teacher are being scapegoated under the premise that they're not doing their job."
The union is now threatening legal action against the Dallas school district over teacher terminations.
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