| Conservative Commentary - Contact / Disclosure Policy |
| Above all -- thank you for caring enough about our kids and our schools that you want to do something. Blessings -- |
| 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 Copyright 1999-2008 Peyton Wolcott |
| 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. |
| Copyright 1999-2009 Peyton Wolcott |
| Comments? I welcome all comments of a positive nature, and work often with parents and taxpayers who sincerely want to improve their local schools. Upset as you may be when you first discover wrongdoing in your local schools, rants and negativity and viewing yourself and your kids as helpless victims serve no useful purpose. You will only begin to be effective when you can put your emotions and ego temporarily on hold. Harness your anger -- let it work for you, for good -- rather than its being your master. When you approach your schools, are you smiling and pleasant and expecting a good outcome, or are you scowling and expecting the worst? Someone contacted me last week about their @*#&$ school district. They insisted that it was so "bloomin' hard" to find get any information from them, "can't find anything on the Web site," etc. I called the district myself, and the person who answered the phone was very helpful and in fact gave me the information I sought even though it took her a few tries to find it. Try approaching your schools in a positive way. Think about it: if someone approaches you with a stick, won't you automatically go into a defensive mode? On my site you will find many suggestions for positive steps you and/or your group can take. If you're going to call your superintendent and/or school board members and/or anyone else names, however clever they may seem to you at the time, this is not the website for you. |
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| PEYTON WOLCOTT P.O. Box 9068 Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657 |
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| More information in subject line -- not less I try to read all emails. The ones that go straight to junk are usually the ones with little or no information in the subject line ("help" or "for peyton"). The more specific the information in your subject line -- including which part of the country you live in and/or the name of your district or the education entity you're writing about -- the more likely it will get read, like this: |
| (To subscribe to my occasional newsletters, type "Subscribe" in re line.) |
| What you can send Photographs, paper records, correspondence. Please indicate clearly whether I may give you credit or you would prefer to keep your identity confidential. Also, please indicate a context for whatever you send if we've not previously corresponded. Also, if you are sending me more than a few pages, please flag pertinent portions and help me understand what you are finding important. |
| Here's an example of a photograph taken and sent by a reader who preferred to remain anonymous. The photo is of the lakefront residence of a Texas school district vendor who had been so successful from its primary account with the district that his corporation was able to extend a loan to the two top executives to purchase homes such as this (below right). |
| Friends, thank you for finding this site. I appreciate your readership and viewpoints more than you can imagine. After many years as a volunteer, having tried a variety of approaches to correct things that were wrong in our public schools -- fuzzy math curriculums, wasteful spending practices, corruption -- I began to see patterns of what had worked and what had not. Based on eight successful campaigns in as many years -- including putting all five of our reform-platform candidates on the local school board in one election, something no one else has done in Texas or anywhere else that we've been able to discover -- we know that you can make substantial changes if you will: 1. Set and achieve one goal at a time. 3. Join forces with others who are of like mind regarding your goal. 2. Follow the money. 4. Stay positive. Because nothing can change until we are able to track individual dollars, the single best place to start is to persuade your local school district to voluntarily post its check register (checkbook) online; by now, because hundreds of schools have already posted, you're in an easier position than the folks who came before you a year or two ago. In fact, everyone who has followed the steps exactly as suggested here has meet with 100% success. When you email me, unless your district's check register is already online, I will likely suggest that you first -- before anything else -- work to get your district's checks online. While this may seem unrelated to your particular problem, there are benefits you cannot imagine from your present perspective. As the volume of correspondence continues to increase much as I'd like to I am no longer able to respond to all emails. |
| If you're contacting me to ask for assistance or to tell me about a situation you're concerned about in your schools, please include: Who -What - When - Where- Why. Also, how are you involved? And are you and/or any family member an employee and/or vendor of your school district? If so, please describe. And, do you have a child or children in your school district? If so, are they involved in this situation and if so how? |
| Before emailing me, please read all of this page first -- |
| Please see my disclosure policy above to the right. |
| Disclosure policy If you send me an e-mail message, I will assume that you consent to your message— including your name, e-mail address, and IP address—being reprinted in full on my website. If you do not consent to that information being made public, please say so in your message, preferably in the subject/re line. Threatening and/or abusive communications Notwithstanding the foregoing, I reserve the right to collect, disclose, and publicize personal information regarding anyone who sends a threatening or abusive communication, in any format or medium, to me or anyone associated with this website, including but not limited to family members. Requests for privacy attached to such communications will not be honored. Miscellaneous This privacy policy applies to peytonwolcott.com. It does not apply to websites to which I link, or any other third party. For information regarding a third party’s privacy policy, please consult its individual website. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I reserve the right to transfer or assign the data collected from our users. This privacy policy may be revised from time to time. Please check this page periodically for updates. Your use of my site on any given date indicates your acceptance to the terms of this policy as of that date. (Updated October 14, 2008) |
| W h e n y o u e m a i l m e |
| SUBJECT: Big Log USD (CA) - HS principal / Coke machine slush fund |
| Complaints? If you believe that I have published something which is not true, please send me your paper record(s) or any other facts available making your case. I am always eager to learn and publish the truth. Please keep in mind that while you are completely entitled to hold an opinion -- and isn't it wonderful that we live in a republic where you can express your opinions! -- holding an opinion however strong your feelings does not automatically make your opinion a fact; sending me links to forums is not a substitute for facts, just as other folks' opinions do not constitute facts either. |
Peyton
| Other photographs I always welcome photographs of school board meetings -- especially those where the superintendent is NOT sitting on or dominating the dais. In Davis, California, for example, only the elected board members sit on the dais (below). The supe and his administrators sit below the dais, in the front row of the audience (right). Such an arrangement puts a better, clearer perspective on things. After all, they are called school board meetings, not school superinten- dent meetings. |
| IMPORTANT: Please let me know whether or not you would like your name mentioned as being the photographer; while I would prefer to honor you, you may prefer to remain anonymous. |
