The Williamson County School Board recently made science textbook selections. In an unprecedented move, the Board rejected the science textbooks that received the most votes from teachers. Instead, the Board chose to implement/adopt material that was the last choice.
It’s not entirely clear why this choice was made, though it is worth noting that the Board is now solidly controlled by influences from Moms for Liberty and Americans for Prosperity.
One blogger took the time to review teacher responses to this action. I’ll note some examples here:
“During my time teaching in the district, we’ve lost many excellent teachers to other districts because of pay, climate, and decisions like those made at last night’s meeting regarding textbook adoption. How can you spend the first part of the meeting discussing things like increasing teacher pay and then come back from break so blatantly disregarding us as professionals?” – WCS high school AP teacher
“In my 18 years in public education, I have never witnessed a school board go against teacher input for a textbook adoption. This raises red flags as an employee, parent, and community member.” – WCS middle school instructional coach
The general vibe: Teachers are not happy. They feel disrespected. The school board asked them to do a job and then completely ignored their recommendation.
