EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Meet basic needs first

As a teacher, you hope all your lessons will make an impact on your students. Realistically, though, you know it doesn’t all stick. Much of what teachers do is lay a foundation — maybe your students won’t remember that the 19th Amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920, but they will know that after a lengthy battle, women were guaranteed the right to vote.

But though we have all forgotten more facts than we have retained, there are always those specific, sometimes random things we learned in school that have stayed with us.

I can still sing (badly) “Row, Row, Row your Boat” in Latin, thanks to my Latin teacher Ms. Mary Jane Bickley. That hasn’t been particularly helpful to me in “real life,” but I can assure you that two years of Latin got me through the vocabulary sections of the SAT and GRE, helped me get into graduate school, and thereby affected the course of my career.

“A-squared plus B-squared equals C-squared” is a classic that probably many of us remember. Not just a random geometry factoid for me, I have found many occasions to use it as a quilter trying to figure out how to cut fabric for patterns.

For some reason I’ve always remembered that Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral (one-chamber) legislature. I’ll admit that I haven’t found a particular use for that one, but I’m prepared if it ever comes up on trivia night!

But there is something I learned in school that I have thought about often during my years at TCTA. I believe it has widespread application, if only our policymakers would pay attention to it. Do you remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the model for understanding human behavior and achievement? Apparently some scholars have differing views on the details of the pyramid’s levels and even Maslow himself admitted that the model should be more flexible. But the basic idea still seems not only correct but a matter of common sense: In order for humans to reach their full potential (selfactualization), their basic physical and psychological needs must first be addressed.

Teachers know all too well that a student who isn’t eating properly or who is abused at home or bullied at school can’t be expected to ace their assignments and nail their STAAR exams. And yet, according to a Children’s Defense Fund report from 2019, 22% of Texas children lived in food-insecure homes. More than 230,000 schoolchildren didn’t even have a home, and 64,000 were abused or neglected. In 2019, more than 70%

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Texas Classroom Teachers Association

PO Box 1489, Austin, TX 78767-1489

Office hours: 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., weekdays

Phone: 888-879-8282

Fax: 512-469-9527

Website: tcta.org

2022-23 Executive Board President

Eleanore Malone, Chapel Hill

President-Elect

Nydia Alvarez-Alonzo, Mission

Immediate Past President

Sherry Miller, Killeen Budget

Vivian Burleson, Northside

Curriculum & Instruction

Melody Young, Sherman

Governance

Jennifer Hutchinson, Hays Consolidated Legislation

Cristal Isaacks, Levelland

Membership

Debra Helbert, Lamar Consolidated

Professional Rights & Responsibilities

Sharron Wood, Deweyville

Teacher Personal Services

Melanie Love, Pottsboro

Staff Contacts

Executive Director

Ann Fickel

General Counsel

Lonnie F. Hollingsworth Jr.

Attorneys

Lonnie F. Hollingsworth Jr.

Holly Eaton

Michael Currie

Gerald Francisco

Julie Leahy

Paige Bruton Williams

Business Office Park Brigtsen

Communications

M. Clare Haefner

Legislation

Paige Bruton Williams

Lonnie F. Hollingsworth Jr.

Ann Fickel

Holly Eaton

Pamela McPeters

Membership

Persie Ngo-Hatchie

Professional Development and Advocacy

Holly Eaton

Services Corporation

Jan Lanfear

Contract Attorney

Lindsay Gustafson

Senior Consultant

Jeri Stone

About TCTA

The Texas Classroom Teachers Association is an independent association for Texas teaching professionals that was founded in 1927. TCTA is based in Austin and is the only statewide teachers association that limits active-level membership to those directly involved in classroom teaching or teaching support.

CLASSROOM TEACHER (ISSN-0279-2494) is of

14 On the Cover Mental Health Matters

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have placed more importance on student mental health, with new programs to promote social and emotional learning.

School shootings and safety concerns have also spurred calls for better mental health screenings of students and action plans for schools hoping to prevent future tragedies.

But stress and anxiety also greatly impact educators — concerns about their own mental health, including burnout and depression, are a top reason why many are choosing to leave the profession.

Texas Legislature takes aim at — and misses — on teacher shortage solutions

Mid-session is a time when things at the Capitol can change dramatically. This session’s most important education topic is the teacher shortage, but rather than simple and direct fixes (raise salaries, limit teachers’ noninstructional time) current proposals on the table — even well-meaning ones — aren’t hitting the mark. With only a few weeks to go before the Texas Legislature adjourns, there’s time to correct the course, but is there the political will?

Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA), providing news and opinions in the permission. The views and opinions contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. Copyright © 2023. Publication schedule is quarterly. Annual membership dues for TCTA are $175, $5 of which is allocated to a one-year subscription to THE CLASSROOM TEACHER. Subscriptions for nonmembers are available for $10 per year. POSTMASTER: Please send changes of address, articles and/or photographs to: Editor, THE CLASSROOM TEACHER, PO Box 1489, Austin, Texas 78767-1489. TCTA is located at 700 Guadalupe, Austin, Texas 78701.