KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — School board trustee Amy Thieme brings a perspective that sets her apart from all of her colleagues on the school board as the only trustee who has served as a certified classroom teacher, although Mary Ellen Cuzela has served as a substitute teacher.
She taught mathematics at Katy High School and Memorial Parkway Junior High in Katy, as well as at a public middle school in Dallas. Expanding beyond traditional classroom settings, Thieme also served as a corporate educator, training professionals at prominent organizations including NASA, BJ Services, Shell, and Exxon on effective software utilization, demonstrating her versatility in both academic and industrial educational environments.
Thieme says her background gives her unique insight into challenges facing educators today and a different approach to problem-solving than former administrators might bring to the board.
Her comments come after a former administrator began publicly dismissing her experience by running numerous campaign ads claiming "The perspective of an educator is missing on the board."
With the false claim coming from a former administrator, Thieme said its not a good idea having an a former administrator in a position of overseeing the administration on the school board. She says administrators and classroom teachers approach issues from fundamentally different perspectives and experiences.
"Usually an administrator is there because they agree and tow the administration line on all of the issues and topics," Thieme said. "The teacher is the one that's having to do the discipline and the parent phone calls and that kind of thing."
Because of her experience, board president Victor Perez often utilizes her expertise when the board is dealing with policies involving teachers.
"A lot of people try to understand what it's like to be a teacher, but they don't understand what it's like to be a teacher if they haven't been in the classroom," Thieme said. "People that aren't teachers, they don't know. I do."
During her time teaching at Katy High School, Memorial Parkway Junior High and a middle school in Dallas, Thieme experienced firsthand the demands placed on educators. She says that experience now informs her approach to policy decisions as she advocates for teachers on the school board.
Advocating for Teacher Planning Time
One key issue Thieme has recently championed is protecting teacher planning time as administrative requirements have grown, particularly for special education.
"We have teachers who spend a couple hours just filling out staffing paperwork before they have the staffing meeting," Thieme said. "You're talking about almost eight hours, and that's for every special education student."
Thieme contrasts classroom teachers with administrators, who she says may be reluctant to acknowledge problems that could affect their career advancement.
"In order for them (Administrators) to advance their career, they have to push everything under the rug," Thieme said. "And who suffers? The teacher and then the student."
This dynamic has played out in several recent controversies in the district, including teacher complaints about planning time.
"When teachers came to us and complained about teacher planning time, I said, 'Hey, we need to listen to this. This is our community. It affects our students' success in the classroom,'" Thieme said.
Taylor Fight
Thieme also says her classroom experience has been invaluable with sorting out what happened leading up to and during the fight at Taylor High School that was videotaped and circulated online.
"Being a former teacher, I know what should happen those situations," she said.
She acknowledged that she could not provide further details in public but insisted that her perspective comes from the point of view of a teacher, not an administrator.
Understanding Teachers and Parents Concerns
Thieme believes her background helps her bridge the gap between policymakers, educators and administrators.
"The teacher is the one that carries the burden because they're the ones closest to the student," Thieme said. "I know what it's like to carry the weight of having my students needing to pass the end-of-year exam."
During her teaching career, Thieme says she's proud of her success. At Katy High School's freshman campus, she says she had "the highest percentage of students that passed the EOC (end of course exam) in the whole district."
Thieme says she continues to advocate for improved conditions for teachers, arguing that by supporting educators, the district ultimately benefits students.