r/TexasTeachers

I’m not sure what I’m asking here, I just want to know if I’m alone in my thoughts.

I’ve been an ELA teacher for over 15 years. I love teaching and I love my subject and I love my students. I don’t want to do anything else and never have.

I am also terrified of this election. I simply do not believe the majority of Texans will vote in their own best interest.

I have been doing a lot of research on New Mexico. The fact that NM guarantees salaries, and has real unions and teacher protections.

But I’m a life long Texan. My world is here. I’m also in my 40s. I own a home, it’s less than three blocks from my parents. I live in DFW but teach in a surprisingly great district. However, the election is going to determine if great districts stay great. And I’m scared.

My 22 year old just graduated and against my begging and pleading not to, she’s started her own career as an English teacher. Here in Texas. I am worried about her future. My future. I’m too old to start over and too young to retire.

She and I took a spontaneous road trip to Albuquerque just to look around. Nice place to visit, but to move? I just don’t know.

So, I guess this ramble is to ask. Who has done it? Left for better opportunities? I don’t know anymore. I’m so disappointed in Texas and Texans. Even my own parents, who I love,refuse to vote against Abbott, Patrick and Paxton. Even though they know how public education is dying.

Is leaving a thing? The entire country is in an education crisis. Would leaving my home and all I know even be worth it?

If you read all this, thank you. I’m just having a rough morning. I talked to my mom who is on the way to get youngest granddaughter’s game and still somehow managed to make a ‘Talafreako’ comment in our conversation.

I’m a teacher myself, and I’m honestly at a loss for what to do right now. I would really appreciate hearing from other Texas teachers, especially those who have experience teaching in both the public and private school sectors.
I have three children in kindergarten, first grade, and third grade, and all three are struggling significantly with math since our district switched to Bluebonnet Math. Before this, they used HMH. Was HMH perfect? Absolutely not. But my children were generally able to understand what they were learning. Now, I’m seeing a level of confusion, frustration, and discouragement that I’ve never seen from them before.
From what I understand, our district received a financial incentive of approximately $60 per student to adopt Bluebonnet, and it feels like the decision to adopt it wasn’t necessarily driven by what was best for our students and teachers.
What makes this especially difficult is that I’m also an educator, although I teach Spanish at a private school in a different district. I don’t personally have to implement Bluebonnet in my classroom, so I get to see this situation from both the parent’s perspective and the educator’s perspective.
At the private school where I teach, we use BJU Press. Despite its religious foundation, I’ve found the math curriculum and its overall instructional approach to be fairly solid. It’s more traditional and straightforward, but students still work through multistep problems and apply concepts to real-world situations. The lessons feel structured, and the progression of skills is easier to follow. I see students learning without becoming unnecessarily overwhelmed by how the material is presented.
I’m not suggesting that one curriculum is perfect for every child or that private schools have everything figured out. However, comparing what I see in my own classroom with what my children are experiencing at their public school has been eye-opening.
The most discouraging part is the apparent lack of opportunity for honest conversations about the curriculum. From the conversations I’ve had with other parents, teachers, and administrators, there seems to be a lot of frustration, but people are hesitant to speak openly about it.
One of my children’s teachers has more than 30 years of teaching experience. She reportedly went to the principal herself to express concerns that the curriculum was extremely difficult to implement and was negatively affecting students. From what I understand, she was essentially told that Bluebonnet was the required curriculum and that teachers needed to make it work.
I can’t imagine being an experienced educator, recognizing that something isn’t working for your students, and feeling like you have no meaningful say in the matter.
I also understand that a new curriculum requires an adjustment period, and I don’t expect children to master everything immediately. My concern is that all three of my children are struggling, the instructional approach seems to be creating confusion rather than understanding, and the teachers themselves appear frustrated.
I’ve been encouraged by my children’s teachers and even people in administration to attend school board meetings and consider becoming more involved. Some have even encouraged me to consider joining the school board.
Part of me wants to do exactly that. I want to advocate for my children, support the teachers who are trying to do their jobs, and help ensure that curriculum decisions are actually evaluated based on student learning outcomes. I don’t want to be the parent who simply gives up and moves my children somewhere else without trying to make things better for the families and teachers who remain.
At the same time, I’m currently pursuing graduate studies in counseling, teaching part-time, and raising three children. I feel overwhelmed trying to figure out what meaningful advocacy would actually look like, especially when it seems that so many people are afraid to speak up.
So I have a few questions for those of you in education:
What math curriculum does your district or school currently use? What do you genuinely like or dislike about it?
For those using Bluebonnet Math, are you seeing similar struggles with student comprehension, pacing, or teacher workload? Have you found that things improve with time?
For those who have taught with both HMH and Bluebonnet, how do they compare in terms of instructional quality, conceptual understanding, and actual student outcomes?
Has anyone here taught with BJU Press in a public or private school setting? I’d love to hear your honest opinions about its pedagogy, strengths, and weaknesses compared with other programs.
If you’ve experienced both public and private education, what differences have you noticed in curriculum implementation, teacher autonomy, and student learning?
Finally, for those who have successfully advocated for curriculum changes in your districts, what actually worked? Did you attend board meetings, organize parent feedback, request student performance data, or pursue another avenue?
I’m not looking for a curriculum that makes math effortless or eliminates challenging problems. I want a curriculum that builds a strong foundation, explains concepts clearly, supports different learners, and allows teachers to teach effectively without feeling like they’re fighting the materials every day.
I know there are wonderful public school teachers working incredibly hard under difficult circumstances. I’m one of those teachers in my own setting, and I have so much respect for the people trying to make things work for their students.
I’m just a frustrated mom and fellow educator who wants to see children actually learn math and teachers feel supported in doing their jobs.
What are you all seeing in your schools? I would genuinely appreciate your experiences, recommendations, and advice.

Hi All,

I’m curious about what any of you’ve experienced or know about paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

It’s been more than a couple weeks, since I was put on paid administrative leave. It’s not disciplinary action, but it seems like it. Feels like a witch hunt as they’re trying to substantiate rumors a couple kids started. There’s more than that based what has said under inappropriate circumstances.

Curious about what’s happening to other TX teachers.

I’m a first-year teacher/teacher apprentice with absolutely no prior teaching experience. I’ve only been doing this for about two months, so I’m very much still learning.
There have already been some unrelated workplace harassment issues at my school that I reported to administration, and the situation has continued to make me uncomfortable. In my original complaint, I even asked about the possibility of being transferred to another campus if things didn’t improve, but I never received an answer about that.

This week I had my first teaching demo in front of my principal and other teachers. I’ll be completely honest: I was not prepared enough and my demo was not good. I take responsibility for that.
That day had already been chaotic. Around 6 a.m. I was told I had to cover for an absent teacher, so I spent the entire day teaching a lesson I had very little time to prepare for. My appraiser observed me during first period and told me to use my second-period planning period to internalize the lesson. However, our entire planning period was then taken up by a meeting leaving me about 15 minutes.

I also hadn’t realized I was demoing that afternoon. It had been listed in a Sunday newsletter that I admittedly missed, but on Monday my appraiser had directly told me and other teachers that we would be going to another campus for training Thursday afternoon. I didn’t find out until Thursday that I was actually staying behind to demo.
During the demo, the principal stopped me several times to coach me and had me repeat portions the way he wanted them done. By that point I was extremely flustered and nervous in front of everyone, which made my performance worse.
Afterward, he spoke to me privately. He told me my performance was unacceptable and that he was very disappointed. He said I would have to demo again the following week. I explained the situation with being told to internalize during planning but then having that planning period taken up by meetings.

Then he asked me, “You do realize your position is at-will, right?” I said I didn’t know what that meant. He responded that it meant he could let me go whenever he wanted and that he didn’t have me there just for the sake of having me there. He also questioned what I was doing at work and whether I was actually doing the work expected of me.
That part really rattled me.
I understand being corrected. I understand being told that I was underprepared. I’m brand new and I know I have a LOT to learn. But I don’t feel like reminding me that he can fire me whenever he wants was constructive coaching, especially considering the other workplace issues I’ve already reported.

I’ve also spent much of my first couple of months filling in elsewhere because of staffing issues, on top of being pulled to cover classes when teachers are absent. I feel like I’m constantly being pulled in different directions while simultaneously being expected to perform like someone who already knows exactly what they’re doing.
At this point, I don’t necessarily want to quit the district. I’m considering contacting Employee Relations to ask whether I can be reassigned to another campus or possibly even move into a non-teaching/administrative position.
For experienced teachers/admin: am I overreacting? Is this normal treatment for a first-year teacher/apprentice? Would you try to stick it out, or would you start looking into a transfer/reassignment now?
I’m completely open to hearing where I need to take accountability too. I know I should have been better prepared for the demo. I’m mainly trying to figure out whether the overall situation and the way the feedback was handled are reasonable red flags.

And before anyone else says, "Just leave," I was at my school before they were. To paraphrase Office Space , "Why should I change? [s]He's the one who sucks."