Rachel Markham, M.Ed

Two Home run game yesterday @rscbaseball

The Class of ‘25 was a special group of guys that embodied everything we are about at Cooperstown. In the thread below we will recognize our 26 College signees from this years class, congrats fellas and best of luck! #CobraPride

F: @follow_cobras 17U Orange Munguia 8, Stix South 2025 Red 3 PoG: Tanner Wallace 2-2, 2 RBI, R Pitcher: @jrwharry 5 IP, 4K, H, 0 ER

@JCollinsHPISD Congratulations! They are so lucky to have you!

Thankful for the many educators I've collaborated with and learned from on my journey. Excited for new beginnings!

@eric_rathmann @eduwonkette_jen They are Interventionists, Reading Specialists, Diagnosticians, ARD Facilitators, 504 Coordinators, Speech Language Pathologists, LSSPs, Interveners, etc… They are still educators but not classroom teachers. They support students in a different capacity.

@eduwonkette_jen So, 1.7% admin, 2.5% principals, and 51.5% teachers. What are the other 44.7%? Janitors, cooks,??? Does that seem right to you?

@NickPantone @desert_steel_ @ShaneAHardin @AndrewS18190473 🤔 Fort Worth and Dallas mayors are Republican

@desert_steel_ @ShaneAHardin @AndrewS18190473 Expand it. Literally everywhere. Every major metro is run by dems. Every school board in those cities are controlled by dems. Every city council are dems. You gotta be at least a county away from a city to avoid them and their trash policies/higher taxes for shittier living.

Democrats haven't been in charge of anything in Texas for the last quarter century. If public schools are "failing" blame the appropriate goddamn party.

A great reminder out of #NorthwestISD (TX). You don’t have to stand for your district being infiltrated by extremism. You can actually fight back! I pray they’ll continue on this path because every educator and student deserves it! audacy.com/krld/news/loca…

@LukeMacon @Mrneilhistory @AdamMGrant @DanielPink Most teachers don’t have contract hours, they have contract days. For example, teachers in my district work 187 days per contract with “other duties assigned.” These other duties assigned often occur outside of school hours. For example, open house, curriculum night, etc..

@Mrneilhistory @AdamMGrant @DanielPink Working past contract hours is bad, especially if you’re not getting anything out of putting in those hours. If no one is asking you to put those hours in, and you are volunteering them then clearly it’s a little different.

It's long past time to pay teachers more. When districts gain flexibility to raise teacher salaries, students improve in math & reading. Schools attract better teachers—and they put in more effort. The quality of our children's education depends on how much we value teachers. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…

@AcsShag78621 @AndreLe54503442 @ChrisMauer4 @GregAbbott_TX Yes they do. Look at the state assessment scores for ILTexas. Many of the campuses are in targeted assistance by TEA

@AndreLe54503442 @ChrisMauer4 @GregAbbott_TX “Charter Schools Fail And Close Every Week” dissidentvoice.org/2023/06/charte… According to the U.S. Department of Education, between 2010-11 and 2019-20, a nine year period, 2,047 charter schools closed in the U.S. nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/disp…

Tell me again, @GregAbbott_TX how public schools are failing? Both of our 6A bands are headed to the State Marching contest in San Antonio. To me, this looks like pretty amazing instruction. Ps...charter schools typically don't have bands. Just saying. #noplacelikeLISD

@BetsyDeVos posting about vouchers in Texas should raise concerns for every Texan. ESAs/vouchers aren’t about benefiting students and families, they benefit the wealthy.

@TheWaldganger @DeLunaEva School superintendents are responsible for thousands of employees, several school buildings and thousands of students. Dallas ISD, for example, has 230 schools and over 20,000 employees. Superintendents also work year round. They are not off for summers.

@DeLunaEva School superintendents would like a word

Welp. There goes that long-standing excuse of, "See, it's OK to pay teachers and other school staff less in Texas, because it's SO much cheaper to live here." No, it's not, and in many cities across the state, it hasn't been, for years now. #txlege #txed

ICYMI: Governor Abbott last week bluntly said he’s holding up $4 billion in new education spending until he gets a school voucher bill. (ESAs). This impacts both the state’s student allotment to districts and teacher raises. #TxLege

@vettenoob14 @JaquesArtStudio @francesca4_lisd I agree and this is the argument. If the state is going to give money for “vouchers,” then either take away STAAR or make private schools take it too.

@JaquesArtStudio @francesca4_lisd Im sorry but when the whole curriculum is centered around the STAAR test I think it hurts the students and educators. Not against public schools, I went to public schools and my children are too. STAAR doesn’t work

No STAAR, no $$ transparency, no curriculum accountability, no sped services, no protections for race or religion, & now no req’d background checks for employees of private schools. What more do we need to prove that this voucher push is NOT about students?! NO VOUCHERS.

@MoonshineReaper @LarryWriter13 @politijet @RepMaryGonzalez Agree. Let’s hold them to the same accountability standards that the state holds public schools to. They need to be paid based on attendance, they need to receive ratings based on STAAR, they need to teach the TEKS,their teachers need to be certified just like in public schools.

@LarryWriter13 @politijet @RepMaryGonzalez Ok, if we are going to be inclusive and diverse by including private schools, those schools need to be inclusive and allow students of all abilities, races, behaviors, and religions. Public $ comes with strings attached, so they should be held to the same standards as public.

Teachers deserve more respect than to be used to advance anyone's political agenda. #txlege #txed texastribune.org/2023/10/12/gre…

@Bsamp51a @RyanVernosh Also, in elementary, a teacher gets about 55 minutes planning time which is also their conference time. This time can be taken by a parent conference, ARD, MTSS meeting, or 504 meeting. Then they lost their planning time for the day.

@RyanVernosh Come on. If you take out lunch, gym, music, art, you're down to about 4 hours of class a day. You're saying it takes more than 4 hours a day to prepare?

What's one way to help with the educator shortage? Totally rethink how we structure school days in a way that doesn't require educators to do so much outside of school. Total work time on a Sunday in order to feel ready for the week? My wife & I about 5 hours each & counting.

@Bsamp51a @RyanVernosh I also need to make time to analyze assessment data and to make adjustments to my instruction so that I am meeting the needs of each of my students.

@Bsamp51a @RyanVernosh Yes. I have to plan for small groups for reading and math each day. I have to plan for whole group reading, math, science, and social studies each day. For each lesson, and each content, I need to plan accommodations for each student with an IEP and for my ESL students.

@RossSchumann @KellyRasti @LauraBow2 So interesting because her screenshot says both 4th and 8th grade and specifically states that 4th grade is above the national growth. Yet, you post a screenshot of 8th grade and call her a liar. Post 4th grade. Keep in mind that all states have a decline after 2019.

@KellyRasti @LauraBow2 Yep, caught lying again. Texas went from scoring 261 in reading in 2011 to 255 now. That’s not progress. Went from 290 in Math down to 272. Again, not progress.

The Governor has set the agenda for the special session, and he just couldn’t find it in his heart to write a sentence that would allow the 5.8 million students in Texas to get even a marginal increase in the basic allotment to help offset inflation. They are on their own… again

@RossSchumann @fnance14 @TroyMooney Districts set teacher pay based on the state funding they receive and the amount of recapture they have to pay. Also, bonds can go toward teacher pay.

@fnance14 @TroyMooney The state doesn’t set teacher pay. Districts do.

Lots of words with emotional appeal, but all that matters is the actual text of the bills that are proposed. Who is eligible? Who gets to decide on admission? Are disability services excluded? Etc