Inaugural Advocacy Message

Advocacy SoapBox or
The Ill-Tempered Linguist
By David Ross

As I begin my duties as your Advocacy Representative on the TexTESOL-IV Board of Trustees, I would like to begin my defining my vision of the role of an advocacy representative, and then discuss a few issues which impact us as ESL/EFL educators.
We see every day the impact that legislative and administrative actions have on our professional and personal lives. Just in the last year, the State Legislature’s veto of community college appropriations, the failure of the US Congress to pass meaningful immigration reform, the relaxation on procedures for admitting international students into the USA, the expansion of Pell Grants, the preservation of in-district tuition for undocumented immigrant college students, even the bond issues in various school districts have major results for us as we carry out our teaching mission. Therefore, it is wise for us to pay attention to these matters and make our voices heard on issues that have vital importance for us and our students.
The greatest advocate for our cause is the organized voice of the membership of TexTESOL. I see my role as calling attention to key issues affecting us, mobilizing our members to address these issues, and when the occasion warrants it, under the direction of the TexTESOL-IV Board, directly addressing decision-makers with our legislative agenda.
I have also created a blog at the following address: http://textesoladvocate.blogspot.com/ Its purpose is to serve as a forum for discussion of legislative and policy issues impacting our profession. Anyone is welcome to contact me (david.ross@hccs.edu) with an issue (no complaints about supervisors, please!), which I will publicize on the blog; members are also free to participate in discussions via the comment pages on the blog as well.
I will look forward to hearing from you in the next year.
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International students are coming back! By way of a Thanksgiving treat to us, the Houston Chronicle led off its 11/22 issue with the news that international students are beginning to return to the US as a destination of choice for higher education. For the article, check the following site: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5321936.html ). Reasons may include a relaxation of State Department regulations which, since the advent of SEVIS in 2000-2001, had had it quite burdensome for students in other countries to apply and pay for F-1 visas, as well as the dramatically declining value of the dollar, which makes education in the US a relative bargain for many students.
Attracting international students to study in the US helps us in several ways:
Students from abroad who study in the USA are the accounting equivalent of a US export: they bring assets to the USA, providing jobs and income to US schools.
International students provide a valuable element of diversity to a school, giving countless American students an experience of the world without leaving their campus.
Successful international students also can serve as ambassadors of good will towards our country when they return home – Heaven knows we could use more good will nowadays.
Is your school positioned to take advantage of this new trend? I recommend that TexTESOL members take a good look at the policies and practices of their respective institutions to see whether their schools are in a position to take advantage of this positive developmentin the world economy.

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Securing the retirement of teachers. It is always worthwhile to remember that, underneath all of our professional specialization, basically we are teachers. Currently Congress is considering legislation which will remove a cruel provision which affects primarily public school teachers. In the dock are the infamous “Government Pension Offset” and the “Windfall Elimination Provision,” two amendments to the Social Security Act which prevent those covered by other government pension plans from receiving the full social security and survivor benefits they have earned in the past. The result is that those employees, predominantly teachers covered by state teacher retirement plans (including Texas with TRS), see their retirement and survivor benefits sharply reduced compared to those who worked the same number of years but were covered only by Social Security.
The good news is that there is a lot of sentiment in Congress for repealing these odious provisions, so that teachers and other public servants may enjoy the same benefits as other working people. 329 Representatives have co-sponsored HR 82, which would eliminate these discriminatory measures; a companion Senate bill, S206, has attracted 35 sponsors. Neither of Texas’ Senators have joined as co-sponsors, so members may want to get in touch with them.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Washington Office:284 Russell Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510-4304Phone: (202) 224-5922Fax: (202) 224-0776Main District Office:10440 North Central Expressway, #1160Dallas, TX 75231Phone: (214) 361-3500Fax: (214) 361-3502

Senator John Cornyn
Washington Office:517 Hart Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510-4302Phone: (202) 224-2934Fax: (202) 228-2856Main District Office:221 West 6th St., Ste. 1530Austin, TX 78701Phone: (512) 469-6034Fax: (512) 469-6020