Deep Dive: Our teachers have spoken. GCISD is no longer a Top Place to Work

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In this article:

GCISD can’t keep teachers as long as the New School Board Majority defunds excellence.

Corporate America knows that the satisfaction of employees is paramount to a company’s success. Winning a workplace award like the Top 100 Places to Work provides several benefits as a large employer. It helps the company attract and retain top talent. It demonstrates value to stakeholders. 

In a school district, an award like this shows families that their children are getting a quality education, and that their community will benefit from strong property values and a healthy local economy. Winning a best workplace builds camaraderie and pride among staff.

For the past four years, GCISD was proud to be one of a handful of schools recognized among area corporations as a Top 100 Place to Work in DFW, an award based strictly on teacher & staff satisfaction surveys.

That all changed in 2022 — starting a mere two days after the New School Board Majority took over!

Read on to find out what happened. A negative outlook from our valued employees matters is of great concern to families who support public education and who respect how hard educators work to give all children the best learning opportunities.

How many teachers have left GCISD since the New School Board Majority took over?

View our GCISD Staffing Tracker here!

Our spreadsheet is compiled with public information from the GCISD Board Book monthly personnel reports shared at each Board of Trustees Meeting.

Between May 7, 2022 and January 23, 2023, GCISD has had 144 resignations, 38 cut positions, and 5 retirements.

Twenty-nine elementary teachers resigned. From the secondary schools, we’ve lost 12 math teachers, 17 social studies teachers, 18 English teachers, and 8 science teachers.

We’ve lost 14 to resignations from the Counseling Department. Due to budget cuts adopted by the New Board Majority, every secondary school has one less counselor and one less Assistant Principal.

From the Special Education Department, we’ve had 27 resignations — and the Executive Director has announced retirement for this Spring.

From leadership, our 13-year Superintendent retired in December. 

Other leadership resignations include:

  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Executive Director of Instructional Leadership – Secondary
  • Executive Director of Learning and Curriculum and Instruction
  • Athletic Coordinator
  • Director of Math
  • Director of Humanities
  • District Librarian
  • High school librarian
  • Wrestling coach, and others.

Three leadership positions were reclassified and their duties were reassigned: AVID Coordinator, Director of Advanced Academics, and Director of World Languages.

It’s clear: the New School Board Majority is gutting GCISD by a million little cuts. 

In May 2022, dissatisfied staff respond to survey immediately after Board takeover

In the runup to Election Day of May 2022, when the New School Board Majority cinched their takeover, here is what we observed:

  • March: A documentary film labeling teachers as “mind polluters” was promoted by a  Political Action Committee (PAC) that supported the New School Board Majority. The PAC is deceivingly named GCISD Parents PAC, but it is not endorsed or supported by GCISD, nor are its beliefs supported the majority of GCISD parents according to recent surveys and public comment forums.
  • March: Parent PAC members are featured on the Wise Guy Talks podcast and announce they have a “list” of about 30 teachers that their group is apparently targeting. 
  • April: Trustees Casey Ford and Shannon Braun introduce a sweeping policy addressing the “porn, pedophilia, CRT, gender identity” that the New Board Majority falsely claims is taught by GCISD teachers in GCISD classrooms. (See video of GCISD Trustee Casey Ford unwilling to state who wrote the policy. https://youtu.be/BBjsAckUi_0)
  • April: The Parent PAC falsely declares GCISD an academic failure.
  • May: Another PAC called Patriot Mobile PAC poured $47K into two trustee candidates for the New School Board Majority, outspending their opponents by $30K. 
  • And on May 7, the New School Board Trustees won the majority in the school board election. An analysis shows that un-engaged voters received targeted mailers scaring them into believing the false claims of their supporting PAC.

Just two days later, GCISD Human Resources emailed staff the annual employee satisfaction survey conducted by The Dallas Morning News. The May 9th email asked teachers and staff to complete the annual survey. 

Positive feedback from staff would mean that GCISD could continue its 4-year streak of winning a “Top 100 Places to Work in DFW” recognition. 

But, when the Top 100 Awards were announced in November 2022, GCISD had not been awarded Top 100 for 2022, ending its 4-year winning streak.

GCISD earned Top 100 Places to Work four years in a row, until 2022

What else was going on while the employee survey was underway?

The New Board Majority President Casey Ford was appointed. Mr. Ford said he wanted to freeze GCISD’s programs, and his majority passed a 1% employee raise that does not even cover increased benefits costs or inflation, and the raise did not include paraprofessionals. They went on to claim they gave the largest raise in GCISD history.

The New Board Majority then engaged a law firm to rewrite GCISD’s local policy. The cost began at $25,000. Again, no teachers have come forward to say they were consulted about this policy.

Counter to our culture, there was no opportunity for feedback, review, or public discussion of teachers, students, community members, or parents regarding the policy changes, program cuts, salary adjustments or shift in policy development.

The culture has definitely changed, almost overnight. Listen to former educator speak about it here (Facebook video).

What can GCISD families conclude from the loss of the Top 100 award?

The results speak volumes. Teachers deserve to be heard — yet, this was the only tool the district had used to gather feedback since the New Board Majority began making internal changes. Teachers spoke out in this survey. We are listening. Are you?

Trustee insinuates GCISD had to “pay to get into” the Top 100 Places to Work list in the past

During the GCISD Board of Trustees meeting on November 14, 2022, GCISD Trustee Tammy Nakamura publicly reacted to the announcement that GCISD did not win the Top 100 Places to Work award from The Dallas Morning News.

Mrs. Nakamura said of The Dallas Morning News: “They charge money. It’s just like 
 these magazines with top ‘docs’ in them. You have to basically pay to get in there, and it sounds to me that’s exactly what they are trying to do here.”  

To recap: Mrs. Nakamura was told in the board meeting that participating districts get high level survey results, but can choose to pay The Dallas Morning News’ contracted research firm if they want a detailed report compiled. She goes on to incorrectly suggest that means the Top 100 Awards is a pay to play. Why? Is it to downplay the teachers collective voice that resulted in losing a locally prestigious honor?

Mrs. Nakamura ended her public comment with: “We have a great place for people to work and they LOVE working here.” Click to watch the video. The results of the survey definitely do not match her words.

How are the Top 100 Places to work really selected?

Each Spring, the Dallas Morning News solicits nominations for the Top 100 Places to Work competition. Anyone can nominate a company — a worker, the CEO, even someone outside the company. Companies are graded on performance in leadership, sense of mission, career opportunities, culture, and pay and benefits.

After employers are informed of their nomination, the company’s workers are sent a 21-statement form and they’re asked to rank the statements on a scale. They’re then asked how important each statement is to them.

What matters most on the survey is the workers’ connection to the company, the belief that the company is going in the right direction, effectiveness of leadership, training and pay, and confidence in leadership. There is no fee to be considered, but a minimum survey participation rate must be met.

Read more from The Dallas Morning News. 

Was the loss of the Top 100 award due to low survey participation rates by GCISD teachers?

No. According to GCISD’s Chief Human Resources Officer who spoke at the November 14, 2022, Board of Trustees meeting, about 90% of GCISD staff (approximately 1,800 employees) responded to the survey during May/June. 

Can we see the entire results of the survey?

Basic results are available. The cost of compiling a detailed report by the research firm to view all the results is about $25,000.

After 4 years of winning the prestigious recognition of Top Place To Work, it begs the question ‒ What happened?  

In summary, the New School Board Majority has: 

> Cut $4 million in teacher salaries.

> Cut admin roles, pushing more tasks onto teachers.

> Ignored educator experience and voice.

> Wasted time demonizing teachers.

> Prioritized extremism over excellence.

> Spent district funds on ‘problems’ that didn’t need fixing.

What are some of the specific attacks on teachers?

  • Trustee Tammy Nakamura stated in a public political forum that she had a “poison list of teachers” in GCISD.
  • Many GCISD teachers are working under a teaching contract that they signed months before the New School Board Majority adopted a policy that conflicts with the teachers’ values.
  • GCISD was pressured to cancel its book fairs, and teachers started removing books from their classrooms because of the confusing new book ban policy.
  • The New Board Majority’s funding PAC members obtained secretly videoed teachers on campus having a private conversation and distributed it to national media.
  • Supporters of the New Board Majority, many of whom are not GCISD parents, much less local residents, have publicly called for the resignation of GCISD teachers.
  • Teachers have been accused of being “groomers” by leaders of the New Board Majority’s PAC on social media and on YouTube.
  • In the public forum of a Board of Trustees meeting, an officer of the New Board Majority’s PAC, deceitfully named GCISD Parents PAC, shouted disgusting insults toward the GCISD community; his tirade was not stopped or censured by Board President Casey Ford.

What can families do to change the work environment for GCISD educators?

  • Show your appreciation not just to teachers, but to all the people supporting your child’s learning — food staff, bus drivers, librarians and administration are all a part of a healthy, successful learning and working environment. 
  • Keep reading! Review the new policies proposed Spring and Fall 2022. 
  • Write a letter or speak to the school board.
  • Spread the word about our events to get you connected to the issues and candidates.
  • Check your voter registration at vote.org or register to vote today!
  • Educate your network on the importance of Voting in May 2023 to elect trustees focused on creating a positive work environment that produces diverse learning programs, supports student successes and contributes to our status as a Destination District. Election Day is May 6, 2023 with early voting preceding. GCISD employees notice when families proactively support public education candidates and initiatives and are thankful that others speak out when they feel like they can’t.

United for GCISD is seeking volunteers and donations to be able to send out mailers and publish ads to educate citizens about the decline of excellence, independence, and respect in GCISD. Click to donate. Share this page on social media. And remember to vote!