Last week, I asked how school feels different this year. If you want to participate in our weekly questions, sign up for our SaysHou newsletter. Here, lightly edited, is some of what you said:
Briana Mohan, Harris County: What’s different this year is how deeply grounded I feel in the collective fight to end the Texas Education Agency takeover; getting rid of Mike Miles and the state-appointed board members; electing excellent, anti-takeover trustees in November; and supporting livid, exhausted, heart-broken, scared and demoralized parents, students, teachers and administrators as they tap into deeper layers of shared resolve and love for education.
Gayle Bellomy, Brazos County: After 48 years of teaching, I’ve actually retired. I thought I would be sad, but with the political situation that leaves the public schools tragically underfunded, it’s almost a relief to leave. I will forever love my students and friends, but now I can work harder on changing Texas politics to reflect the needs and values of the people who have been left behind.
Valerie, Harris County: The majority of my friends and family rely heavily on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The DACA process, however, has been slowed down during the summer. Usually, they’d be able to get their work permits and driver’s licenses within two weeks of reapplying for DACA, but they’ve been stuck waiting for months.
Now, they’re considered to be here illegally, even if they’ve lived here their entire lives. I live in northern Houston, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been circling around low-income stores — Kroger, Marshalls, Walmart, Joe V’s Smart Shop — alongside community garage sales, making it extremely hard for first-generation students to get to school safely. It’s not fair for them to fear being punished for simply pursuing higher education.
Roman Lanzas, Houston: Texas legislators want us, teachers, to become a vessel of propaganda for a future that is non-inclusive of all races, gender identities and religions or beliefs. To be a great teacher, you have to have a classroom that is safe for all students to participate, and the first step of that is to ensure all students are represented and feel welcomed.
Right now, legislators are pushing to see how far right they can push our education system, and any attempt to halt this shift is being strong-armed into happening anyway. Many teachers feel uncertain and hopeless because there is no end in sight to restrictive teaching policies. I used to wonder if Texas would ever make me do something unethical as a teacher. It seems that we are already there.
Yannie Hopida, Spring: I’m a graduate student studying global affairs with a handful of international students as my colleagues. This school year feels like trying times. It makes me feel that we’ll need to work twice as hard to make something for ourselves when we graduate next year, and the government’s policies are certainly putting our studies to a test.
Anisah Khan, Spring: I’m the first person in my family to go to graduate school. Coming from an immigrant family, and as a first-generation Pakistani American, it is a pivotal moment. I recently graduated from the University of Houston and will be going to Boston University to earn my masters in counseling psychology.
What I fear are the policies being passed by the administration that affect the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, student loans and grants. I already felt the aftermath when funding was cut from graduate programs while I was applying to school. I thought getting into a graduate program was the tough part. What I’m starting to realize is that the tough part is placing trust in the financial system when bills and policies are being passed that creates obstacles for paying for college.
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