Second HISD bullying survey focuses on one school

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There are teachers claiming they're being bullied by principals and other adults in HISD. We first told you about the report last month, and a new more in-depth survey is out about bullying.

Three weeks ago, we reported on a survey that revealed a majority of HISD teachers claimed to be the victims of bullying by their administrators. Well, this new one paints an equally bothersome picture for some educators who think teachers deserve better.

After our initial report, in which the teachers union told us than a staggering number of teachers felt intimidated by their bosses, we were given the results of a lesser-known survey that focused on a single campus, where some teachers say the morale is poor and it's the students who ultimately suffer.

Stacey Magginson taught science at Woodson Middle School for just five months.

"The stress level, going to work -- after a while, I just didn't want to go. You lose your passion," Magginson said.

He says the administrators would yell at students and at teachers.

"You'll hear the yelling a lot of times during the faculty meetings that we have in reference to the scores of students, certain things we needed to work on," Magginson said.

"Are they bullies?" we asked him.

"To me, no, but the type of language or the tone, I couldn't deal with it, so I tried to avoid those particular individuals," he said.

Magginson says he left the K-8 school in January after being reprimanded, and when this year is over, he won't be renewed.

But he's one of several past and current teachers at Woodson who've complained to Eyewitness News about treatment by administrators. And we obtained a copy of an internal survey, in which 36 teachers participated.

And while 58 percent did say they were eager or excited to go to work, 32 percent were resistant or gloomy and 48 percent said morale was depressing or declining. Not one said it was motivating, and when asked if they feel valued, 45 percent said rarely or never.

We reached out to the HISD administration and asked to do an on-camera interview with the superintendent. Through a spokesperson, he declined that. But we did get a statement from HISD that told us it was the principal who initiated that climate survey at Woodson. And that as a result of that survey, she's taken several actions, including having leadership training for the team at her school.

The statement also read, "The Woodson principal's use of the school climate survey shows her to be a leader who genuinely cares about her teachers' opinions and takes appropriate action to address their concerns. Campus principals are the key to the Houston Independent School District's effort to place a quality teacher in every classroom."

But in a district wide survey last month, the Houston Federation of Teachers found that 65 percent of HISD's teachers felt they were bullied by administrators.

"If we don't work on a professional climate on the part of the administrators, dealing with their staff, then we're gonna see chronic turnover," the organization's president, Gayle Fallon, said. "People ultimately will not stay in a place where they're not well treated."

"Which ultimately is bad for the kids?" we asked Fallon.

"Right," Fallon said.

We also spoke on the phone Thursday morning with Woodson's principal. She declined an on-camera interview, and our calls to two HISD board members were unreturned.

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Study focuses on electric cars' effect on power grid

AUSTIN, TX (KTRK) -- Electric cars could be the wave of the future, but as they hit the roads, they have to get their charges. And that means they'll pull power from the state's power grid.

Researchers in Austin are working to figure out what kind of strain that would put on energy resources, and here's how they're doing it.

University of Texas researcher Tuttle is what you might call an automobile enthusiast.

"I enjoy anything mechanical with a motor or engine that goes," he said.

But his latest love is maybe not what you'd expect from a car nut.

"If you enjoy driving, you'll actually enjoy an electric vehicle in terms of the driving experience," Tuttle said.

You heard him right -- an electric vehicle.

"You put your foot on the brake pedal and push the button and it powers up," he said.

Tuttle drives a Chevy Volt. But as he tools around in his 15-month-old Volt, he's not just any driver.

"Were you surprised at how quick it was when you first drove it?" we asked him.

"Yes, yes," he said.

Tuttle is also a research fellow at the University of Texas, studying how these electric cars affect energy use and how they impact the electric grid when they're in the garage charging for hours. They're biggest impact on the grid since the air conditioner.

"These are unique loads for the grid," Tuttle said.

And he's doing some the research in an Austin neighborhood that has the greatest residential concentration of electric vehicles in the country.

"It's a great car," Kathy Sokolic said.

Sokolic is one of those residents.

"I'm pretty cheap, but I like to do things that make a difference," she said.

And she's part of a unique program that monitors her energy habits, part of which include the use and charging of her all-electric Nissan Leaf.

"The Leaf is definitely a step up in luxury. It's got lots of bells and whistles, but it doesn't use any gasoline so it's fantastic," Sokolic said.

The project is called Pecan Street, and Sokolic is one of 50 drivers in the study, which hopes to answer questions about the viability of dense electric car clusters.

"If everybody comes home at 6-7pm and plugs in their car at the same time on a summer evening, what happens to the stability of your electric grid?" said Brewster McCracken with Pecan Street Inc.

It's a question that still needs answers, questions Tuttle is excited to try and help answer as he pushes the pedal on his latest passion.

"There are so many benefits from us getting to the point where we can eliminate imported oil, and if we do that by having a combination of conventional vehicles where they're needed and these new technologies, then we have the best of both worlds," Tuttle said.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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