| 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 |
| 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. |
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| C o m m e n t a r i e s b y D o n n a G a r n e r |
| Former Bremond ISD supe |
| THE BIG PICTURE |
| Public Records |
| Sentencing |
| Bremond ISD |
| Practical steps: How to Organize 95 Questions How to ask for public records |
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More Donna Garner here |
| I well remember the Texas State Board of Education meeting in which the Texas Alternative Document (TAD) was being discussed along with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). I had just presented a side-by-side version showing clearly the differences between explicit, knowledge-based, academic content (TAD) vs. broad, generic, meaningless performance-based content (TEKS). |
| Raise your hand for a hand out By Donna Garner Copyright 2007 February 18, 2007 Ex-Texas Senator Bill Ratliff and Ex-Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Moses must believe that Texas citizens are all brain dead. These two men evidently think we have forgotten their role in Texas' public school problems. NEW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP FORMED Ratliff and Moses are continuing to swill from the education trough by forming a new organization called Raise Your Hand to pressure the people for more tax dollars for Texas' public schools. Have these two gentlemen any credibility on the subject? William Murchison said it best in the 2.16.07 Lone Star Report, "...keep a country mile away from Raise Your Hand, and from Bill Ratliff, and from Mike Moses, whose solution for dealing with a sinking boat is to pour some more water in the gunwales." Before we citizens put our trust in Raise Your Hand, let's do a quick study of its leaders, Ratliff and Moses. RATLIFF: ROBIN HOOD, LOSS OF LOCAL CONTROL BY TEACHERS Not only did Ratliff author the failed and oft-maligned Robin Hood Plan, but he also drafted SB 1 in 1995 which stripped local teachers of control over what they taught. Due to SB 1, Texas teachers have lost control over their day-to-day instruction and instead must follow the poorly constructed Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards. The English / Language Arts / Reading TEKS are particularly egregious because they are not explicit, measurable, or specific for each grade level; and the curriculum requirements listed in the ELAR/TEKS are much too numerous for a teacher to cover thoroughly in a year's time. Therefore, teachers flit from one TEKS element to the next, never really having time to make sure students gain mastery. It is these poorly written standards (the opposite of back-to-the-basics curriculum requirements) upon which the much- despised TAKS tests are based. RATLIFF: LOSS OF CONTROL BY LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS As the author of SB 1, Ratliff is also responsible for taking the authority away from elected local school boards and placing that power into the hands of unelected superintendents. No longer do locally elected school board members have any real control over the all- important issues of personnel hiring and district curriculum decisions. Local school board members' duties have basically been reduced to (1) hiring and firing the superintendent, (2) buying and selling property, and (3) setting board policy (e.g., those items which involve board members themselves -- elections, vacancies on the board, travel and reimbursement policies, etc.). RATLIFF: LOSS OF CONTROL BY ELECTED SBOE At the state level, Ratliff tried for years to replace the elected State Board of Education (SBOE) with an appointed one. Appointed boards really do not care what voters want. They will do the will of whoever appoints them and of the lobbyists who orchestrate from a distance. Ratliff's SB 1 reduced the authority of the elected SBOE and enhanced the power of the unelected Texas Commissioner of Education who at the time was Ratliff's joined-at-the- hip ally, Mike Moses. Ratliff always pretended that the SBOE had lost control over textbook content; and until Attorney General Greg Abbott's 2006 opinion, the SBOE was shut out of fulfilling its lawful responsibilities. For eleven years the Board labored under Ratliff's false interpretation; and during that time, numerous inferior textbooks were placed in front of our Texas students. Because of Ratliff's influence on SB 1, elected SBOE members cannot even elect their own chairperson; the Governor appoints one. RATLIFF: TAXPAYER-ENRICHED OPPORTUNIST Ratliff is a registered lobbyist and has made large sums of money from a number of clients including the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). Having retired from the Texas Senate in 2003, he began representing TASB on May 10, 2004. That year he received up to $99,999.99 from TASB, and again in 2005, and 2006. We taxpayers paid Ratliff's rich lobbying fees because the membership dues that education entities pay to join TASB come from our taxpayers' dollars. Because the TASB dues come from public funds, we taxpayers are actually paying TASB to lobby Legislators for more school funding so that our taxes will increase. We are paying to lobby ourselves! MOSES: HIT-AND-RUN ARTIST As Texas Commissioner of Education, Mike Moses oversaw the creation of course standards (TEKS) which have proven dysfunctional, particularly in English / Language Arts / Reading (ELAR). Now the Texas State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency are trying to undo the damage by rewriting these TEKS. MOSES: THE TAKS MONSTER The public tends to vent its wrath against the TAKS tests, but TAKS tests are based on the faulty TEKS. If the foundation (TEKS) is weak, then the house (TAKS) built upon that foundation cannot stand. Mike Moses was directly responsible for the entire TEKS process, thus making him responsible for the TAKS. Students, parents, and educators dislike intensely the unfair accountability system built on these tests. Parents, students, and educators are obsessed with the TAKS --TAKS units, TAKS practice tests, TAKS preparation tools, TAKS information booklets, TAKS activities, TAKS projects, TAKS data, TAKS testing strategies, TAKS benchmarks, TAKS tutors, TAKS tests. This constant emphasis on the TAKS is destroying teachers' creativity and students' interest in school, thus contributing to the drop-out problem. According to Jamie Story, education policy analyst at TPPF, "Every hour of every school day, 93 students drop out of Texas public schools." It is disingenuous of Moses to expect the taxpayers to pour more money into the public schools to fix the mess that he helped to create. MOSES: TAINTED ADMINISTRA- TION IN DALLAS ISD The Dallas Morning News has found multiple dubious behavior patterns during Mike Moses' watch as Dallas ISD superintendent. Allegations have surfaced about out-of-control spending with school credit cards, lost dollars for health plans, abuse of federal e-rate funds, irregular technology vendor contracts, misspent federal bilingual education funds, costly deals with Kinko's, apparent conflicts of interest involving Voyager Expanded Learning, contributions by computer vendors, questionable bond sales, multiple teacher grievances, eyebrow-raising private consultancies, lucrative Coca-Cola contracts, and special privileges for vendors participating in the Education Research and Development Institute (ERDI) conferences. MOSES: GOLDEN PARACHUTE Meanwhile, Moses received the highest superintendent's salary in the nation ($340,000 per year, excluding benefits) even though eleven school districts in the country were larger than Dallas ISD. When the DISD problems began to surface in 2004, Moses resigned and walked away with an additional $480,850. Along with his ongoing and lucrative superintendent search business, he now receives a yearly TRS pension of $224,400 per year. Note that Moses' wealth comes from taxpayers' dollars. MY RECOMMENDATION Instead of expecting the taxpayers to pour more millions into our public schools, why not expect the schools to live within their means. Before the last legislative session, Texas was already spending over $10,400 per public school student, and those figures have increased substantially since then. I agree with Peggy Venable of Americans for Prosperity who has said, "Texas schools do not have a funding problem. We have a spending problem." Case in point: The education dollars heaped upon Ratliff and Moses by our state. MY QUESTION TO RATLIFF AND MOSES Sen. Ratliff and Dr. Moses: Before we taxpayers decide to support Raise Your Hand with you two altruists at the helm, how about disclosing your lobbying contracts (and benefits) with the companies who stand to profit if more taxpayers' dollars are given to the public schools? _____________________ Donna Garner is a retired Texas teacher and served on the TEKS writing team for English / Language Arts / Reading (ELAR). She is also the lead writer of the Texas Alternative Document for ELAR. She is presently the writer/ consultant for an online tutorial to help people (ages 10 through 100) to improve their ELAR skills. She can be reached at (254) 666-2798; wgarner1@hot.rr.com. |
| Politics Reigning over Education Decisions By Donna Garner June 28, 2007 This is why I hate politics. It upsets me terribly when politics usurps control over important education decisions. Here is what I think is happening in Texas. Mind you, I am only surmising. Texas Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley is mad at Governor Perry because she is being forced out of her position at the TEA tomorrow. As a parting shot, she turned over an audit report to State Auditor John Keel a few days ago. Mysteriously, the news of the audit report was then leaked to the Austin American- Statesman which spread the word to the other newspapers around the state. The clear implication in the media is that Robert Scott, who is Gov. Perry's liaison at the TEA, has been involved in unlawful contract decisions. For weeks, the rumor mills have suggested that Robert Scott was to be named tomorrow as the new Texas Commissioner of Education. Notice the timing which is all-important in the political world! Has Neeley been sitting on this audit report, waiting for her big chance to discredit Robert Scott and thereby get even with Governor Perry? Now let's look at this whole situation through the prism of common sense. Robert Scott has a law degree from the University of Texas. He has been the Interim Commissioner of Education and more recently, the Chief Deputy Commissioner at the TEA. One of his duties has been to settle legal appeals which have gone through the chain of command and have finally reached the TEA. Does it make sense that a man who knows Texas education laws like the back of his hand would foolishly flaunt those laws by giving illegal contracts to his "best friends"? This is what is insinuated by the various newspaper articles published yesterday and today. Another coincidence: Today's article in the Houston Chronicle just happens to mention Sandy Kress in a favorable light. Kress is another possible candidate for the Education Commissioner's job, but he has many very questionable skeletons in his closet. Here is what the public must try to figure out: Jimmy Wynn was invited by Shirley Neeley in 2004 to come to Austin and help her transition into her position as Commissioner. Wynn obviously had great political influence under Neeley. Did Jimmy Wynn use his powerful and influential position under Commissioner Neeley to pressure the education service centers to hire Wynn's friends, even his ex-wife? Did Jimmy Wynn use influence peddling to intimidate education service centers, or were they only too glad to go along with Wynn's "suggestions" in order to curry favor and future contracts/ grants with the TEA? Did Robert Scott even know what Wynn was doing? Is Sandy Kress involved in trying to shoot down Robert Scott's chances of becoming the Commissioner? After all, Kress's name is being pushed by many in the Houston political hierarchy as the next Texas Commissioner of Education. Gov. Perry may have future political aspirations of his own. Will he be afraid to appoint Robert Scott and take the politically expedient way out by choosing to appoint Sandy Kress? After all, Kress has deep pockets and has influence all the way to Washington, D. C. The appointment of the next Texas Commissioner of Education should be more than just a political game. What we need in Texas is someone who understands how vital it is to rewrite the education standards and who will help to build an accountability system that will drive real education reform in our state. I am not satisfied to dismiss Robert Scott as the best candidate for the Commissioner's job based merely on inferences and innuendos coming from people with personal grudges and political interests. Where are the hard facts? It is on those that Gov. Perry should make his final decision. |
| The story behind TEA's Insp. General report |
| Mike Moses' and Bill Ratliff's newest idea |
| DONNA GARNER Aug. 2007 (re Akin Gump) "In my opinion, Sandy Kress needs to find himself another law firm." |
| DONNA GARNER Dec. 8, 2005 (re Charles Miller, Sandy Kress, TEKS) Lest we miss this important point about Charles Miller in the USA Today article posted below, I don't believe he has ever been a classroom teacher for a single day. Back in the 90's when we Texas Alternative Document (TAD) writers were trying to get the Governor's office to realize the importance of grade-level-specific standards based upon academic knowledge, all Charles Miller, Sandy Kress, and other business executives could understand was spreadsheets. These people never did realize that you can't make students and teachers accountable unless they know to what they are being held accountable! You would think that these brilliant business executives would have understood this all-important point, but they were so busy setting up the Texas accountability system that they missed the most basic principle: You can't make people accountable unless the goals are clearly worded, doable in a year's time, and specific to each grade level. |
| SANDY KRESS July 15 15, 2004 (re Mike Moses): "I think Mike accomplished what he could at this phase of academic improvement. The truth is that the next phase, getting student performance up to where it's among the best in the state, will take another three to five years.....I want to say this in the most positive way: Mike is a good ol' boy. People like Mike. You want to help him. It's an infectious 'Let's be together, let's work together' sort of thing. He has that in abundance. It works to his advantage." (SOURCE--Joshua Benton/ Dallas Morning News) |
| Q U O T E S |
| DONNA GARNER May 15, 2007 (re Pearson) "I believe Pearson PLC is positioning itself to get the lucrative Texas contract for online testing. Since both SB 1031 and HB 2236 appear to be sailing through the Texas Legislature, online end-of-course tests replacing the present TAKS assessment system appear to be almost a done deal. With this $538 Million acquisition, Pearson PLC obviously believes they will be ready to go after the online testing for all of Texas' high schools." |
| eSCHOOL NEWS May 16, 2007 (Pearson) Pearson is an industry leader in the use of technology to improve learning, with a strong presence in the markets for digital learning materials, student information systems, online testing, test scoring, and homework and formative assessment. Last year, Pearson generated more than $1 billion in sales from these digital learning products and services. |
| HOUSTON CHRONICLE May 21, 2007 (Pearson) "The Texas Education Agency has agreed to pay Iowa-based Pearson Educational Measure- ment about $39 million for field testing conducted from 2005-2010, according to the agency....Field testing accounts for about 15 percent of Pearson's entire five-year, $279 million contract with the agency." (SOURCE--Ericka Mellon/Houston Chronicle) |
| DONNA GARNER/MAY 15, 2003 (re John Stevens) "It is John Stevens who not only helped create the tripe in the TEKS, but he blocked us writing team members from setting specific, measurable goals for each grade level. Now he is positioning himself and TBEC as the presumed leaders of the great renaissance of learning in Texas, and he plans to reap a pot of fame and money out of his program. I say 'bunk.' I was there at the writing team meetings; I heard Stevens' comments; I know he is personally responsible for the crazy, mixed-up TEKS standards upon which the TAKS tests are based. 'Higher standards' they are not. 'More confusing standards' they definitely are, and Texas has Stevens and his ilk to thank." |
The interesting part is the “among other things.” To get sales, they use their influence as a powerful lobbying body in the state of Texas, and then promise whatever the customer wants. This included lesson plan management, curriculum management, a test item database, etc. None of these capabilities ever were delivered. We worked with Aldine ISD for 2 years while they waited for TBEC to develop features that they promised. They delivered about 10% of what other commercially available packages offered, but the district refused to throw them out and select another product that fit their needs. TBEC markets as a non-profit organization, but they front for a for- profit company who develops and hosts the applications. Basically, they run a shell game. I have spoken to a few TBEC board members. I do not believe that Mr. Stevens is held accountable by the board, or that they even know of his ventures into software. What a paradox that he is involved in establishing guidelines for school accountability. |
| Donna Garner |
| SCOTT PARKS Mar. 5, 2006 (re Sandy Kress) "The word 'lobbyist' was not prominent in his self-analysis." (Dallas Morning News) |
| John Stevens lobbying the Lege 2007 |
| The 1997 TAKS--and Sandy Kress' role By Donna Garner Wed., October 14, 1998 |
| Donna's dream for public education Even though there are growing numbers of people who advocate choice in education, I believe the reality is that the largest percentage of students in the U. S. will still end up being educated in the public schools. That being said, I believe the future of our nation then rests on how well this present generation is educated in our public schools. Most parents consider their children to be their dearest treasure, and we adults must realize that chil- dren only come this way once. If we adults do not make sure our public schools are teaching the right things to our children, we will do them irreparable harm. I am commit- ted to investing the time and effort which it takes to help set our public schools on the right path, and I am particularly hopeful that Texas now has the leadership in place at the State Board of Educa- tion and at the Texas Education Agency to redirect our public schools. |
| Sandy Kress was there; and I personally went over to him, introduced myself, and gave him a copy of the TAD. I felt that if he had the two documents actually in his hands, he--a thinking, educated adult who had represented himself as a person who really cared about quality education--would easily see the superiority of the TAD. A few months later it was Sandy Kress who testified before the |
| Sandy Kress at meeting |
| SBOE and gave a moving presentation in which he praised the rigorous content of the TEKS. As you may recall, that was the meeting in which I was not even allowed to testify. What Sandy Kress failed to mention is that the TEKS opened the door to School-to-Work and a federal take-over of every classroom in Texas. I guess he forgot to mention that one little detail. |
| John Stevens, Texas Education and Business Coalition By Paul T. Haeberlen Sept. 4, 2003 TBEC markets a software product called Performance Information for Public Education (PIPE), which is supposed to help school districts cope with TAKS among other things. |
| AUG. 22, 2007 NOTE: John Stevens has abruptly left and/or "resigned" from TBEC. Whatever the conditions, Mr. Stevens has left the building, although his name and image still appear on TBEC's website as its executive director. Despite his having been employed at TBEC for the past 15 years, TBEC has no contact information available for callers wishing to reach Mr. Stevens. |
| UPDATE: TEXAS AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT CLEARS ROBERT SCOTT For the Record By Donna Garner Saturday, November 17, 2007 |
| 3. When Ex-Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley first came into her Commissioner's position in 2004, she hired her friend, Jimmy Wynn, to help her make the transition. Because of his widely known position, Wynn soon became known as the voice of Shirley Neeley. When Wynn recommended that the Waco ESC hire his ex-wife (Emily Miller) as a contractor, the Waco ESC did so, assuming Neeley was behind it. Without talking directly to Shirley Neeley or to Robert Scott (Deputy Commissioner) and without going through the proper bidding contract procedure, the Waco ESC hired Wynn's ex-wife, Emily Miller. 4. Ms. Miller was chosen by the Waco ESC to review and recommend changes to the way the TEA and the State Board of Educator Certification conducted the hearings process. Deputy |
| 8. Another contract in question by the State Auditor's Office is the one relating to the Gates Honor State Grant. This contract also went to the Austin ESC; Christi Martin (a former senior policy advisor at the TEA) and Jimmy Wynn recommended Shirley Neeley's ex-speech writer for the job. The Austin ESC never went through the legally required bidding process, and the person recommended by the TEA was hired. The State Auditor's report says nothing about Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott being involved in this matter at all. 9. What the State Auditor's Report does say is that all of the individuals who worked under the various ESC contracts did their jobs for which they were paid and fulfilled their contract agreements. 10. The State Auditor's Report ends with some practical recommendations for strengthening controls over contracting and subcontracting at both the TEA and the ESC's, and newly appointed Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott says he will be glad to put these into place. 11. Commissioner Robert Scott has already implemented new transparency procedures at the TEA. He has put the TEA's check register online and has made the fiscal information on the Agency's website much more accessible and easy to use, placing dropdown boxes with actual school district names instead of confusing numbers. [PW NOTE: TEA fiscal information alpha drop-down here] Commissioner Scott has demonstrated humble yet assertive leadership in his dealings with the elected Texas State Board of Education members, and he has already begun to restructure the TEA so that it will work more efficiently. Good things are happening now in Texas education, and it will be important for Texas citizens to become more involved as we all strive to make sure our Texas public school children receive a quality education. ________________ * http://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/main/08-011.pdf |
| Just to make sure that there is no confusion about what the Texas State Auditor's report* said and did not say regarding the new Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, let me clarify a few things which are either in the report, not in the report, or which have surfaced in the last few months: 1. Under the Texas Education Code (TAC) (Section 8.051), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has the right to use Education Service Centers (ESC's) to implement directives (passed by the Legislature). The TEA does not have to go through the competitive bidding process for these ESC services. 2. The TAC (Section 8.053) also allows the ESC's to contract with public or private entities for services, but the ESC's are definitely required to go through the proper competitive bidding process. The TEA and all 20 of the ESC's have been under these same SB 1 rules since 1995. |
| Shirley Neeley (L), Jimmy Wynn at 2005 edu-conference in New York City |
| Commissioner Robert Scott had made the decision to give the initiative to an ESC because he believed a more objective and impartial entity than the TEA was needed, and he chose the Waco ESC for the job. However, there is nothing in the State Auditor's report to indicate that Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott ever talked to the Waco ESC to recommend Emily Miller for the job. In fact, there is nothing in the report which says that Scott even knew Ms. Wynn had been chosen for the job. 5. Not in the State Auditor's Report is any reference to the case of mistaken identity which was verified in Jason Embry's Austin American-Statesman article on July 6, 2007. Embry reported that when Emily Miller was negotiating her ESC contract, she thought the person on the other side of the e-mails was Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott when in actuality it was the Waco ESC Rob Scott who ironically had been a TEA employee years earlier. This explains Ms. Miller's confusion over the two Rob (Robert) Scotts. 6. A contract issue which is mentioned in the State Auditor's Report involves the Commission on College Ready Texas (CCRT). The Texas Legislature appropriated $1.5 Million under HB 1 (79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session) for the CCRT to assist the state leaders to implement college-readiness standards into the K-12 curriculum; and the TEA was given statutory authority to carry out this initiative. |
| Again, the TEA was not required to bid out this contract if they decided to give the initiative to an ESC. The Austin ESC was chosen, and by law this ESC should have bid out the contract. Instead, the ESC asked Jimmy Wynn for suggestions of individuals who should be hired for this project, and those people were hired. 7. Another contract issue in the State Auditor's Report relates to State Funding Technical Assistance. The TEA Chief Operating Officer (NOT Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott) recommended that the Austin ESC hire an ex-TEA staffer who evidently had broad experience in matters of school finance. The Austin ESC chose this person without going through the correct legal channels of the bidding process. |
| Pat Pringle executive director, Region XIII Education Service Center Austin, Texas |
| Commission for a College Ready Texas chair Sandy Kress (R) presents final report to State Board of Education at November 14, 2007 meeting in Austin; SBOE member Gail Lowe (L) of Lampasas watches. |