A teacher’s union is sending a strong message to the president of the CCISD School Board.
The Corpus Christi chapter of the American Federation of Teachers held a news conference outside CCISD headquarters on Monday, saying the organization has “no confidence” in school board president Catherine Susser.
They even issued a mock report card, which gave Susser an “F” for leadership, communication and responsibility.
The president of the teachers’ union says their main issue with Susser is over discussions on where to build the new Carroll High School. Controversy began after the Navy objected to the original site picked by the district because it was within the crash zones for Cabiniss Field Flight Training.
They also raised concerns about an increase in Superintendent Roland Hernandez’s salary.
“It’s only fair that the CCISD, when giving the superintendent a raise, they also give teachers a raise,” said Nancy Vera, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. “Bottom line.”
Susser responded with a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“I was elected President twice by my fellow board members, the last time in December with unanimous support and none of those board members have called for my resignation. We are a strong team who work tirelessly with our teachers, administrators and others in our community to continue to improve public education in Corpus Christi.
“No one who is truly committed to our students have called for me to step down. We will be celebrating and graduating over 2000 students this month and there is still lots of work to be done on behalf of our community. I will remain focused on that.”
Susser received a ringing endorsement from the district.
“CCISD is focused on the work of providing a K-12 education to nearly 37,000 students,” said Leanne Libby, the district’s director of communications. “We are grateful for Mrs. Susser’s volunteer service as president of the Board of Trustees. It takes dedication to serve on a school board, and we appreciate our board’s gifts of their time and diverse experiences to help us move CCISD forward in service of our city.”
Dr. Nancy Vera, President of the Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers responded by saying:
“We’re not surprised that Catherine Susser would assume zero responsibility for her actions, and zero responsibility for teachers getting passed over for pay raises while gifting the Superintendent another increase. She also assumes no responsibility for wasting millions of tax dollars, prior to voter approval, on a plot of land smack in the middle of a danger zone for a school we don’t even need. In the real world, people get fired for such colossal mismanagement. Leave it to Catherine Susser to shaft teachers, then turn around and question our commitment to students during Teacher Appreciation Week!”
