| H o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n : o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e . F o l l o w t h e m o n e y , h o n e y ! |
| Transparency history Llano ISD FOIA conviction Edgewood ISD PD re FOIA Progress by March 2007 1st year ann'y: Oct. 2007 Gov.Perry & Comm.Scott |
| WHO'S ATTENDING YOUR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS? Follow the money in our vendor-driven schools: 15 vendors & special interests to look for at your next board meeting. |
| P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
| FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of education issues vital to a republic. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Section 107 which states: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright," the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
| ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS: Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you. NOTICE: All individuals mentioned on this site are presumed innocent unless they have been found guilty in a court of law. |
| Copyright 1999-2011 Peyton Wolcott |
"Walk softly and carry a big stick." -- Teddy Roosevelt "Trust but verify." -- Ronald Reagan |
| Just because you can doesn't mean you should. |
| AZ CA KS MD MO OH OK KeyWest CreditCards SLAPP TX Senator John Cornyn Edgewood 1 2345 CleburneISD KatyISD BremondISD LlanoISD |
| Check Registers US TX Flyer Ask your district Set goals/organize Ask lots of questions School Board Ethics Pledges Watchdogs: AngryActivist Alert PR |
| Ethics pledges Corruption Team of 8 Nationalization NCLB/Pearson $1.4 B (TX) Transparency 2006 Lax oversight Lobbyists 1 2 3 PassTheTrash 1 2 |
| Edu-Monopoly EduInc Internal Controls Tech Audits ERDI Financial Exigency Laptops Credit cards Supes travel/meals Edu-Conferences TASA MidWinter GORGE-ous Supes/Golf/Vendors 1 |
| Terms & Conditions: Sorry to have to include this; some groups--God bless them--have copied my research and published it as their own. |
| Robin Hood & 22 'equity' failures: MALDEF's 22 Edgewood districts cost Texans billions in failed academics & extravagance. |
| How to persuade your district: Friendly works best-- take the Golden Rule with you when asking your schools to post checks. Testimonials: issues & concerns solved. |
| Welcome, America -- glad you're finding this no-ads website useful! #1 on Google & Yahoo of 256,000,000! |
| Texas Hill Country - Mesquite and Wildflowers Boerne |
| WELCOME, Washington state! Public school checks now online in 34 states, 600+ school districts, in 3 years! |
05.29.09
Questions reporters
& others ask most:
Q1: When did this grass-
roots check register
project start, and why?
A1: We compiled the first
national roster on October
1, 2009. There were
several precipitating
incidents, including this; it
was clear that
administrators, lobbyists
and vendors didn't like
public records requests.
Q2: How many school
districts are now online in
how many states?
A2: As of March 2010
there are over 800 in 36
states.
Q3: How quickly has this
grown?
A3: When we first started
asking districts to
voluntarily post, there
were only a handful in a
handful of states posting.
Q4: How can I find out if
my district is online? Are
any in my state online?
A4: You can look them up
on these rosters:
o Alabama
o Alaska-Louisiana
o Maine-Tennessee
o Texas
o Texas financials
o Utah-Wyoming
Q5: How do I make my
district put its checks
online?
A5: Unless we're
dictators we can't make
anybody do anything -- but
we can persuade. Here
are some easy to follow
directions based on
treating your schools as
you'd like them to treat
you. (The Golden Rule
really does work.) Just
like in baking or anything
else involving special
skills or plans, the steps
we've found that work are
successful 100% of the
time when followed as
scripted; as with making
pastry, shortcuts lead to
failure.
Q6: Why don't you just
pass a law?
Q6: Have you ever tried
getting a law passed? As
the Texas Public Policy
Foundation and similar
groups elsewhere have
learned, the folks who
stand to benefit the least
from public ed financial
transparency are a very
active lobbying force,
especially in larger states
where more money is
involved in public
education. (With just 17
school districts, only
Delaware has a state law
requiring schools to post
their checks online.)a
& others ask most:
Q1: When did this grass-
roots check register
project start, and why?
A1: We compiled the first
national roster on October
1, 2009. There were
several precipitating
incidents, including this; it
was clear that
administrators, lobbyists
and vendors didn't like
public records requests.
Q2: How many school
districts are now online in
how many states?
A2: As of March 2010
there are over 800 in 36
states.
Q3: How quickly has this
grown?
A3: When we first started
asking districts to
voluntarily post, there
were only a handful in a
handful of states posting.
Q4: How can I find out if
my district is online? Are
any in my state online?
A4: You can look them up
on these rosters:
o Alabama
o Alaska-Louisiana
o Maine-Tennessee
o Texas
o Texas financials
o Utah-Wyoming
Q5: How do I make my
district put its checks
online?
A5: Unless we're
dictators we can't make
anybody do anything -- but
we can persuade. Here
are some easy to follow
directions based on
treating your schools as
you'd like them to treat
you. (The Golden Rule
really does work.) Just
like in baking or anything
else involving special
skills or plans, the steps
we've found that work are
successful 100% of the
time when followed as
scripted; as with making
pastry, shortcuts lead to
failure.
Q6: Why don't you just
pass a law?
Q6: Have you ever tried
getting a law passed? As
the Texas Public Policy
Foundation and similar
groups elsewhere have
learned, the folks who
stand to benefit the least
from public ed financial
transparency are a very
active lobbying force,
especially in larger states
where more money is
involved in public
education. (With just 17
school districts, only
Delaware has a state law
requiring schools to post
their checks online.)a
| Fox News mention |
| Texas Education Service Centers posting check registers |
Most of Texas' 20
Regional Education
Service Centers are
now posting their
check registers online.
Hats off to the
following for being
among the first:
Regional Education
Service Centers are
now posting their
check registers online.
Hats off to the
following for being
among the first:
Region 10 - Richardson
Choose your month here:
www.region10.org/administrators/C
heckRegisterPosting.html
Choose your month here:
www.region10.org/administrators/C
heckRegisterPosting.html
Region 1 - Edinburg
Pick a month here
www.esc1.net/1293108141351379
20/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMD
RN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55565&129
3Nav=|&NodeID=1450
Pick a month here
www.esc1.net/1293108141351379
20/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMD
RN=2000&BCOB=0&C=55565&129
3Nav=|&NodeID=1450
Region 9 - Wichita Falls
Pick a month here:
www.esc9.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/
Public%20Information%3E%3EChe
ck%20Register
Pick a month here:
www.esc9.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/
Public%20Information%3E%3EChe
ck%20Register
Region 8 - Mt. Pleasant
Choose a month here:
www.reg8.net/default.aspx?name=a
dmin.checkregister
Choose a month here:
www.reg8.net/default.aspx?name=a
dmin.checkregister
Public Ed Commentary
Here they are, the
updated US rosters!
updated US rosters!
- Alabama
- Alaska - Louisiana
- Maine - Tennessee
- Texas
- Texas spending data
2007-08 - Texas spending data
2008-09 (Excel) - Utah - Wyoming
- Beyond FOIA: Why it's
more effective to
persuade your local
school district than to
demand; why it's better
for schools to post on
their sites than for you
to FOIA check registers
then put them on your
private or 501c website.
- Is 'equity' equitable?
More about MALDEF &
Robin Hood
- Printable flyer to share
with your board; print at
100%. Testimonials
from school leaders
who have already
successfully posted
their districts' checks
online countering all
usual opposition points
(cost, technology, etc.).
- Special interests in your
district and at your
board meetings: Do
you know who they are
and what they have to
do with spending?
- If there was a major
precipitating incident
behind the check
registers, this was it.
| CHECK REGISTERS |
| ED PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 2 PRESIDENTIAL TELEPROMPTERS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM (VA) |
| President Barack Obama, accompanied by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaks to the media after a discussion with 6th grade students at Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church (VA), Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. (AP) |
| Only Texas -- thanks to Governor Rick Perry, Education Commissioner Robert Scott, and our State Board of Education -- all supported by those who cherish individual freedoms and local control of our school districts -- has had the courage among the 50 states to stand firm against the power grab by the United States Department of Education, the school equivalent of what Mr. Obama's crew is trying to do with healthcare. As with healthcare, Race to the Top's national curriculum standards have less to do with education and more to do with being a vehicle for increasing federal control. |
| Bringing you the information and tools you need in order to improve public education and lower taxes and spending; during the past two decades of the voucher debate an entire generation has grown up in the public school system. If you don't think this is important look at the Nov. 2008 election where folks voted based on emotions and hope rather than facts. Let's put a stop to the school-to-prison pipeline -- and keep our public schools locally run, strong and free.. |
Region 7 - Kilgore
Public Information
www.esc7.net/default.aspx?n
ame=pub_info
Public Information
www.esc7.net/default.aspx?n
ame=pub_info
The 13 states who have stood up
to the feds and declined to apply
for Phase II of Race to the Top:
to the feds and declined to apply
for Phase II of Race to the Top:
13
- Alaska
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
| NEW! 1776-2010 TIMELINE |
| About the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden flag: "it was in the fall of 1775 when the United States Navy was established. Their main job was to intercept British ships who were attempting to deliver supplies to the British troups in the colonies. To support the Navy, five companies of Marines were mustered to accompany them on their first mission. These first Marines originated from Philadelphia and carried drums painted yellow with a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles. These thirteen rattles represented the original thirteen colonies. The motto painted on these drums was "Don't Tread On Me". This is the first recorded telling of what the future Gadsden flag would symbolize. This flag was designed and named after American patriot Christopher Gadsden." (SOURCE) |
| GRAPHIC: Mark Ramsey/ Texas GOP |
| Following the money on the Common Core Standards: Who got paid what |
| NATIONALIZATION OF 13,900 LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS INTO 70 BY FEDS: Click here for ex-IBM chair WSJ op=ed |
Following the money on the
Common Core Standards
By Peyton Wolcott
Tuesday, January 24, 2011/1:00 pm
This chart at left was prepared by The
Pioneer Institute and can be found at
their website here.
Folks who consider Checker Finn a
fellow conservative might take a closer
look at that $959,000 he accepted for
Fordham's evaluation.
More links of interest:
Common Core Standards
By Peyton Wolcott
Tuesday, January 24, 2011/1:00 pm
This chart at left was prepared by The
Pioneer Institute and can be found at
their website here.
Folks who consider Checker Finn a
fellow conservative might take a closer
look at that $959,000 he accepted for
Fordham's evaluation.
More links of interest:
- Following the Money on the Race
to the Top. - Background of the nationalization
of US public schools.
| 1. NCEE people moved directly to staff CCSSI committees. 2. NCEE people moved indirectly over time to staff Gates Foundation education positions. 3. More funding: |
- Council of the Great City Schools,
$100,000 in March 2010 "to support the
development of a cross-sector
proposal to pilot test the new common
core standards in a set of selected
cities." - Almost $20 million in February 2010 for
curriculum & assessment
development and validation to promote
Common Core standards.
Pioneer's Jim Stergios notes:
| Chart courtesy of Pioneer Institute. |