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ALE teachers, union urge Northside ISD to restore pacing calendar and address staffing and training gaps
Summary
Union leaders and multiple ALE teachers told the board that Unique Learning System (ULS) replaced the ALE pacing calendar this school year without sufficient training or resources, leaving special‑education classrooms short-staffed and teachers reporting missed duty‑free lunches and planning time. They urged reinstating the ALE pacing calendar, restoring evidence‑based interventions and guaranteeing lunch and conference coverage.
At a packed Northside ISD board meeting on Nov. 23, the president of Northside AFT and several teachers who work in Academic Life Skills (ALE) and autism (AU) classrooms urged trustees to reverse a district decision to use Unique Learning System (ULS) as the primary curricular and pacing resource.
Melina Espiritu, president of Northside AFT, said the union has submitted more than 450 petitions—and continues to gather signatures—asking the district to revise policy DGB and to restore supports for staff serving students with significant disabilities. "Unions and employee organizations are not vendors," Espiritu told the board. "We represent the people who make the district function every single day."
Multiple ALE teachers gave detailed first‑hand accounts of classroom…
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