Spring Independent School District Reviews

Pros

If you're working at a high performing school, it can feel validating for a while.

Cons

Many of the same issues with public education are magnified here: taking your work home with you or long hours spent grading and planning are never recognized nor paid for; the pressure to "do what's best for kids" is used as a manipulative tactic to burn teachers out and guilt/pressure them into working harder; initiatives roll out, one after the other with no follow through. (For example this year, 2018-19: teachers, write scripted lesson plans whether you're a novice or a veteran...post the plans online and on paper in your classroom every week just in case someone pops in to visit and observe...wait, you can just bullet point your lessons...hold on, we'll write lessons for you, but they'll be somewhat thrown together and only 3 weeks before STAAR...not so fast, you need to record your teaching on video and make it available to students before they enter your classroom. No, we will not be funding this, nor completely requiring it. We are training all of you because we expect teachers to do what's best for kids. As a result, morale is low district-wide, and many teachers feel all used up.

Pros

The salary is decent for teachers.

Cons

The administration loves to micromanage and they are very cliquish. As a teacher, you don't have any creative freedom. The students are out of control. At the end of the day, the kids have more rights than adults in the building. The teachers are made to feel as if they are always wrong. The benefits are expensive, yet your medical care options are lacking.

Pros

Really there aren't any pros worth mentioning.

Cons

Spring ISD is in bad shape and they don't tell you that when you interview. TEA is watching the district like a hawk and you don't know until they announce TEA is coming in for an audit. Money wise the district is in REAL bad shape. You can and WILL get written up if you're attendance isn't submitted on time. I don't know what's going on with money since the whole district is basically a Title 1 district but admin gets paid the big $$$$$$ yet they cry "we have no funds and money" so attendance is a huge deal. Antiquated technology. The district vision mentions 21st century learners yet there are still overhead projectors in use and a woeful lack of apps and resources to use on what few Chromebooks and computer labs are available. The newer schools and schools with more white students have better technology and resources. The district promotes these schools as the BEST schools and give little care for the rest which is the majority. The superintendent and his cabinet are micromanagers and that spills over onto campus administers, though I've heard great things about many who do their own thing and get no pushback from the district. I was unfortunate to have a micromanaging admin who cared more about "looking good" to the district rather than caring for the staff. Very little district collaboration. You have PDs at your own campus and very few with teachers from other campuses. In other districts, it's common to have a half day or all day PD with teachers of your grade level and content area so you all can collaborate and network. Not in Spring. Subs are HARD to come by so a PD during school hours in unheard of. Did I say micromanaging? It needs to be said again because it's so bad. Lesson plans need to be posted by the door, they come in and read them and get on you if you're not doing what's written exactly OR if you haven't penciled in what you're currently doing as an alternative. Google a "board configuration" and see that nonsense. They care about that when they come into your room rather than watching the true learning, social growth and relationships being made by teachers and students. Spring is a heavy paperwork district. LOTS of extra paperwork just so the district can have a cover their behinds paper trail when TEA comes in and so campuses can have their own cover their own behinds paper trail when the district comes in. All in all, Spring is trying to be HISD in a way and that isn't a good thing when HISD's own superintendent ran to NYC to get away from HISD. But all the central office people are from HISD including the superintendent who grabbed everyone from HISD he could. Look it up. They're all from HISD. The curriculum department is unstable. New curriculum every 2 years based on what other districts around them are doing. As a teacher, the appraisal process is SO bad. I think Spring WANTS to "catch" its teachers slipping up. T-TESS is the new TEA mandated teacher appraisal system and unlike EVERY OTHER district in the city, Spring ISD has its administrators literally "pop up" on you to conduct your formal observation at any time. According to T-Tess, there is a pre-conference prior to a formal observation so administrators discuss with the teacher what lesson will be taught, what students to look out for with accommodations, etc. EVERY SINGLE DISTRICT in the Greater Houston area does T-TESS the right way. The way TEA lays it out. Not Spring. There is no pre-conference. There is no post-conference discussion either. You just get an email with a written up evaluation for your electronic signature. This is BAD processes and I'm tempted to let the Texas powers that be know because it's so wrong. Adminstration like most places depends on the school. However, Spring is rare in that it's not always the high SES schools that have the better admin. In my years in the district, I heard of better admin in the lower ends schools and not so great in the upper schools and back and forth. It really does depend on your campus more so than the location of the campus. I will say, Spring is definitely one to look at in openings. The more openings the more people are leaving due to admin. The students are the same in almost every school. But people leave the district because of the central office management, curriculum and bad administration. Lots over extra work . They expect everything and the kitchen sink and little to no support for behaviors or academic help. Students are very behind, and teachers get no support on what to do for them. We get "coached" on how to teach a lesson from a lesson plan as if a lesson plan is the only way to be a good teacher. The district using "at bat protocol" which is a song and dance, play acting session during planning in which all admin and your content teach watch you perform your lesson to see if you're "teaching" right. I mean perform as in pretend like the adults in the room and students and talk to them like they are in your class. "Good morning scholars! Today we're going to" and if you don't do that they make you start over if you just start explaining what you're doing. They want to see you perform, so they know the "teaching" is going to look right for students. If that's realistic to you, then run to Spring ISD. Though I have heard that some admin doesn't do this and haven't gotten in trouble for not doing it so it may depend on your campus. Yet the difference is, Humble, Klein, and Conroe actually trust their teachers to teach well and do what's right for students. Spring does not trust it's teachers thus posted lesson plans, a sad imitation of scripted lesson plans, a board configuration, extra paperwork to say "we did XYZ" as an alibi and so on. It could be good. People rag on Aldine but I hear nothing but positives about the PDs and support the district gives. I didn't hear anything positive or negative about Spring when I accepted the job but I didn't think anything of it. Now I know, silence is not a good sign. Aldine is very similar to Spring, yet I don't understand how Aldine is rolling in money yet Spring is in bad shape. I have no idea what the do financially but Spring is very top heavy and disorganized from curriculum to resources to funding.

Pros

Nice schedule, fun people to work with. Always busy.

Cons

Needed to use my own vehicle with reimbursement. I'd like to see more company vehicles available for use.