Shannon Holmes, Ed.D, executive director of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, issues the following statement on Chair Matt Krause’s “School District Content Inquiry” dated Oct. 25, 2021:

“Chair Krause’s inquiry is a Frankenstein monster, stitching together different and unrelated issues and requirements. This inquiry is driven by culture wars, not common sense.

“This is yet another attempt by a legislator eyeing higher office to shore up street cred with the political base by dividing parents and educators in the public education community. Moreover, it’s a waste of taxpayer resources for school districts, which are already grappling with big issues, including staffing shortages and student learning losses, due to pandemic-related challenges and new laws enacted by the Legislature this year. We hear every day from teachers who are losing their planning time to cover classes because there are too few substitutes. Administrators are struggling to staff both in-person and online classrooms, plus tutoring sessions now mandated for many students. Districts do not have the added bandwidth to meet this onerous and unnecessary request, and it will be student instruction that suffers.”

About the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)
Founded in 1980, ATPE is the leading educators’ association in Texas with approximately 100,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, and future, retired, and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for Texas’ five million public school students. | atpe.org