Did TEA contact Teachers to get feedback about the Required Reading List?

Well. I don't really know. BUT - I know how that system works. 

They have a list serve. This email tool is the PRIMARY tool for communicating with ELAR teachers. There are 40,000-50,000 full time ELAR teachers. And most of them technically could receive the information from their District Coordinators. 

YOU HAVE TO ASK for the INFORMATION YOU DON'T KNOW YOU NEED. 

In reality - teachers did NOT receive direct communication from TEA. Because TEA doesn't have to do it that way. 

They - teachers - didn't get an email asking them to complete the survey. 

People on the ELAR Listserv and The To the Administrator Addressed listserve primarily goes to Superintendents and District Coordinators. No classroom teachers. These people are supposed to tell the teachers. But - did they? 

And - ANYONE can be on that list. You don't have to be admin or an ELAR person. So even if I filled out and received a public information request, we still wouldn't know who received the list. And we still wouldn't know how many of those emails went to junk, blocked by the district, or just deleted because people are overwhelmed by all the nonsense. And we still wouldn't know how many of those sent pinged back because the emails are no longer valid. Then numbers of people on the list won't tell you much. 

(Some teachers saw the survey because of TCTELA, Texas AFT, and ATPE. Some saw it on social media for Reddit and Facebook.)

And, when teachers all saw the list -for which only 5700 filled out the survey - we were gobsmacked because they thought the survey was supposed to help BUILD the list, not having the state MANDATE a list without further input collectively. Surveys are supposed to GATHER information. 

Basically, the teachers of Texas - who most know our kids and communities - did NOT get a chance to hear about the opportunity to give input. 

Wanna be on that listserv? https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXTEA/subscriber/new 

Wanna see the website? https://tea.texas.gov/academics/subject-areas/english-language-arts-and-reading 

And something to think about: The survey didn't ask teachers what they thought ought to be on the state reading list. It asked them what THEY teach. Not the same thing.