Peyton Wolcott - The HB 2264 Saga

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

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 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott

THE HB 2264 SAGA:
Exposing Education, Inc.'s vast, hidden tentacles

Texans for Education
Accountability (TEA),
Clockwise from top left:
Susan Bushart,
Nancy Gadbois, Dianna
Pharr and Peyton Wolcott

'ON A STACK OF BIBLES': Outside the
hall, Baxter spoke with Susan and me,
asserting that HB 2264 had nothing to
do with either of the Eanes moms, to
the point that he said, "I swear on a
stack of Bibles." The comment took us
both by surprise for a variety of
reasons, not the least of which was his
reference to Biblical oaths.

LET'S START WITH EANES ISD:
Three years ago, when Eanes moms
Dianna Pharr and Susan Bushart
(see "Who's Who" at right) were intro-
duced to each other by a teacher, they
quickly discovered they had similar
backgrounds of volunteering in their
kids' schools plus both were looking
for similar information regarding
Eanes' spending and the reasons
behind its decision making. When
the administration ignored their infor-
mal requests for information, the two
began filing independent public rec-
ords requests at Eanes in June 2003.

TEXANS FOR EDUCATION
ACCOUNTABILITY: Although several
parents from around the state came
together to organize this new group to
stop passage of HB 2264, in the end
only a handful of us were able to take
entire days off to travel to Austin and
lobby the legislature: Susan Bushart,
Nancy Gadbois, Dianna Pharr and I.
Armed only with a stack of homemade
flyers we visited every representative
and most senators. Because none of
us had ever done anything like this
before, imagine our surprise when HB
2264 failed.

Eanes ISD administration building

EANES REACTS: Like many school
districts, Eanes didn't like the two
moms looking so closely. Interim
supe Jess Butler and his successor
Nola Wellman both chose rather than
to produce the requested documents
to instead steer an increasing
number of the moms' public records
requests to outside attorneys and to
Texas attorney general Greg Abbot.

Texas Legislature

There this tale would have
ended except that Dianna
Pharr filed a public records
request to view Todd Baxter's
emails, more.

Left, Jess Butler (PHOTO/Jana Birchum-
Black Star, CrossTalk)
Right, Nola Wellman (PHOTO/News 8)

MAY 24, 2005: To his credit, Baxter
produced the emails and other public
records Dianna had asked to view
without involving either outside
attorneys or the Office of the Attorney
General. We all met at his designated
viewing area at the Reagan Building
on West 15th in the capitol complex.

Given that districts could themselves
determine the number of hours of
"labor," costs to parents and taxpayers
to view districts' public records would
have skyrocketed and put an end to
many such searches. Experienced
public records activists well know that
you have to sort through reams of
paper to find anything.
Baxter listed as sources for the bill
Eanes supe Nola Wellman and
Thomas Ratliff, a professional lobbyist
whose father and partner is Bill Ratliff,
lobbyist for Texas Ass'n of School
Boards (almost $100,000/year). The
Ratliff's also represent The Texas Civil
Justice League whose directors
include Alcoa, Shell, Conoco, TXU and
Union Pacific Railroad executives.
Nevertheless, Baxter insisted he was
an advocate of open records.

Many of Baxter's responsive
documents were heavily redacted

This is what a public records viewing
looks like: a couple of people sitting at
a table going through a stack of
papers. You have to look carefully at
each of the sheets because none of
them comes equipped with bells and
sirens saying, "This is important."

(Left to right) Eanes ISD's paid
lobbyist Brad Shields, Todd Baxter,
Nola Wellman and Clint Sayers

HB 2264 PUBLIC HEARING: In addition
to EISD supe Nola Wellman, EISD
board president Clint Sayers testified
on behalf of HB 2264, Sayers making
the point that as a businessman when
he did public records searches he
expected to pay for the records--
missing the point that Susan Bushart
and I made during our testimonies that
we were parents and taxpayers trying
to find out how our schools were
spending our money, not
businessmen expecting to recoup the
public records fees by turning a profit
from the records.

Susan Bushart (left) with Dianna
Pharr looking at the smoking gun
buried in hundreds of pieces of paper,
the document below signed by
Baxter's aide Candice Shapiro,
clearly showing Eanes ISD supe Nola
Wellman as "Source of bill" along
with Bill Ratliff's son Thomas Ratliff.
Note that neither Susan nor Dianna
were listed as potential witnesses.

Then-Eanes ISD board president Clint
Sayers testifying on behalf of HB 2264
at May 2, 2005 hearing

"THE SMOKING GUN"
Here's what a smoking gun looks like--just
another piece of paper unless you understand
the context, the names, the dates

Notable if incorrect
quote from the
Associated Press:
"Baxter said he
was not pressured
by the school
district to
push the bill."
--Associated Press
(May 4, 2005)

This (above) with EISD supe Nola Wellman's name ('Dr. Wellman') shown first
as 'source of bill' is proof that Eanes ISD was the source of HB 2264--
Baxter's stack of Bibles or no. 'Thomas Ratliff' is the son of Bill Ratliff,
author of Texas' so-called Robin Hood public school finance scheme--and
powerful Texas Ass'n of School Boards paid professional lobbyist.
POSTSCRIPT: Five months after this bill was defeated, Baxter resigned his
seat to become a full-time professional lobbyist himself (more below under
banner 'Texas Ethics Commission Lobby List').

HB 2264 TIMELINE

May 5, 2005 - Dianna Pharr reminds Nola, "I tried for a
full year to volunteer to work on the EISD website–at no
cost to the district–to post items such as board
agendas, minutes and handouts. Public information
could be posted to the EISD and I am certain that this
could be accomplished through volunteer efforts."
NOTE: NO RESPONSE RECEIVED FROM NOLA AS OF
JULY 10, 2006.

May 6, 2005 - Dianna Pharr sends a series of public
records request to Rep. Todd Baxter: "Please allow me
to observe any and all public information related to
communications of any kind for any reason, including
but not limited to e-mails and correspondence between
and among you (and your office and staff) and the
Eanes Independent School District employees,
associates and board members for the past two
years....Please allow me to observe any and all
documents that show or reflect information regarding
the Eanes Independent School District (employees,
associates and board members) for the past two years.
Responsive documents should include but are not
limited to phone logs and notes generated and/or
received by you or your office and staff. Please also
include emails generated by or received by home
and/or office computers. If an email has an attachment,
please remember to open it and print it out for my
review, as well. If any of the public information has
confidential information, please contact me so that we
can work together to avoid the need for an opinion
request with the Office of the Attorney General."

May 9, 2005 - Committee report filed.

May 10, 2005 - Committee report sent to Calendars.

May 13, 2005 - Austin American-Statesman announces
HB 2264 is "dead," never having found a Senate
sponsor. Fortunately for Texas parents and taxpayers,
Senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio apparently
changed his mind and declined his co-sponsorship. of
the bill.

May 24, 2005 - Dianna, Susan and Peyton view
documents produced by Rep. Baxter's office responsive
to Dianna's May 6 requests.

Oct. 20, 2005 - Todd announces his resignation from
the Texas Lege, effective Nov. 1, 2005.

March 8, 2005 - Rep. Todd Baxter files HB 2264 during
the 79th Legislature's regular session.

May 2, 2005 - The five-day rule regarding posting of bills
is suspended by David Swinford, chair-State Affairs
Committee, who then immediately schedules a public
hearing for later that afternoon. Testifying in favor of HB
2264 are Eanes ISD supe Nola Wellman and then-EISD
board chair Clint Sayers; testifying against are Susan
Bushart and Peyton Wolcott. When Wellman begins her
testimony, committee chair Swinford remarks on the golf
game earlier that day.

May 2, 2005 - DeeDee Stone, wife of EISD board
member Paul Stone, sends an email with the RE line:
"House Bill 2264- PLEASE HELP ASAP" to "Friends"
including: former EISD board member Donna Howard
(who won Todd's seat after he resigned); Teena Ball
(wife of 2004-05 president, Westlake Chap Club (the
high school's athletic booster club); Ellen Balthazar
(EISD board member); Marvin Bendele (former EISD
board member); Jill Durkee (EISD "permanent
substitute" and wife of board member/now board
president Robert Durkee); Clint Sayers (2004-05 EISD
board president); Mike Monnig (EISD board member)
Anne Monnig (wife of Mike Monnig); Shary Orr (2005-06
Westlake Chap Club co-President).

May 5, 2005 - Rich Oppel of the Austin
American-Statesman writes a column regarding HB
2264, quotes Eanes ISD supe Nola Wellman as citing
lack of personnel as the district's reason for not posting
public records online. (See grey box below right)

May 5, 2005 - According to Lege records,
"Representative Cook, Byron moved that HB 2264, as
substituted, be reported favorably to the full house with
the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. "
The motion prevailed because the following five
representatives were willing to go on the record as "aye"
votes: Dave Swinford, Byron Cook, Jim Keffer, Trey
Martinez-Fischer, and Mike Villarreal.

TEXAS ETHICS COMMISSION
LOBBY LISTINGS

BAXTER,
TODD A.
(00051716)
(512)474-2082
506 West 16th
Street
Austin, TX 78701
Start: 01/03/2006

Term Date:
12/31/2006
Alliance of Retail
Marketers
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount: $50,000
- $99,999.99
Client Start Date:
02/10/2006
Client Term Date:
12/31/2006
Alliance of Retail
Markets
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount: $50,000
- $99,999.99
Client Start Date:
03/10/2006
Client Term Date:
12/31/2006
Texas Cable &
Telecommunicati
ons Association
506 West 16th
Street Austin, TX
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount:
$150,000 -
$199,999.99
Client Start Date:
01/03/2006
Client Term Date:
12/31/2006

SHIELDS,
BRAD
(00012135)
[partial listing
below]
(512)413-2700
P.O. Box 162925
Austin, TX
78716-2925
Start:
01/18/2006
Term Date:
12/31/2006
Eanes
Independent
School District
P.O. Box 162925
Austin, TX
78716
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount: Less
Than $10,000.00
Client Start
Date: 01/18/2006

Client Term
Date: 12/31/2006

RaptorWare
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount: Less
Than $10,000.00
Client Start
Date: 01/18/2006

Client Term
Date: 12/31/2006

Texas
Association of
School
Psychologists
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount:
$25,000 -
$49.999.99
Client Start
Date: 01/18/2006

Client Term
Date: 12/31/2006

Texas
Smokestack
School Coalition
Type of
Compensation:
Prospective
Amount:
$50,000 -
$99,999.99
Client Start
Date: 01/18/2006

Client Term
Date: 12/31/2006

Interested? Would you like to learn more about Texas' registered lobbyists and their clients, how much they expect to earn this year?
Link to more here: www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2006d.htm

POSTSCRIPT

As of July 10, 2006, Dianna Pharr was still waiting for the following from Eanes ISD:

EISD supe Nola Wellman's new salary, benefits and contract (requested Apr. 27, 2006)
EISD Apr. 26, 2006 handwritten board meeting minutes (requested Apr. 27, 2006)
Public information held by EISD trustees: board minutes, agendas and correspondence (first requested September 2005).
When EISD provided no responsive documents by Jan. 2006, Dianna asked again. EISD filed an opinion request with the OAG which
issued an opinion letter on May 10, 2006, specifying which documents EISD had to produce responsive to her requests.
STATUS PER DIANNA JULY 10, 2006, TWO MONTHS LATER: "The district has not provided a single responsive document."

The following was requested Dec. 7, 2005: Any and all documents related to the $21,000 in allowances to the superintendent.
“Information in an account, voucher or contract” including for example contracts on applicable individuals, such as Ruth Bibb.
05-06 information on Cory Duty and Anne Nelson. Payroll Authorization Forms and any other responsive information
for 2005-06 on all specified employees (see list of employees provided to district on December 21, 2005 upon the district’s request).
Earnings related to Community Education (EISD coaches, for example, earn money through Eanes ISD Community Education).
Health club membership documents. Name, sex, ethnicity, salary, title, and dates of employment and contract and/or agreement for
each identified employee. Expense reimbursements. Salary, benefits, stipends, incentives, incentive plans, expense reimbursements,
automobile allowances, health club membership benefits and any other tangible or intangible benefits for 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06.
(NOTE: The only responsive documents provided by the district for 05-06 is an Excel spreadsheet which did not include information for
it didn’t include Cory Duty or Anne Nelson or other information requested such as expense reports.)

Bill would limit
public information
May 4, 2005
Associated Press

A bill under consideration in the
Texas House would limit to 50
pages the public records per
month a person could retrieve
from the same government
agency without incurring extra
charges.

Current law has a limit of 50
pages per request free of labor,
overhead and other charges but
has no monthly limit on the
number of different requests that
can be filed.

Proponents say the bill is
necessary to relieve the burden
placed on school districts and
other agencies for extensive
requests that are ultimately paid
for by taxpayers.

Some open government
advocates, including a network
of parents across Texas who
say they use open records
requests to hold schools
accountable, counter that the bill
would restrain the average
person's ability to investigate
possible government
wrongdoing.

The open records battle
between a pair of Austin-area
mothers and Eanes
Independent School District
spilled into the Capitol when a
House committee heard
testimony this week on the bill
by Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin.

"It's not my intent at all to impede
the access of information,"
Baxter said, adding that citizens
could continue to look at as
many public records as they
want without charge but would
have to pay to have them copied.

"People will still be able to make
requests and review them for
free. This bill doesn't change
that at all," he said.

The bill is not meant to target
people who file numerous
requests, such as the two
women who file regular
requests with Eanes schools in
Baxter's district, he added.

One of those women testified
against the bill before a House
committee Monday night.

"They're restricting my ability to
share what I have viewed to the
general public," said Susan
Bushart, who has filed more
than 250 requests with Eanes to
find out whether the district's
resources are being allocated
efficiently. "Obtaining public
information in my district is
costly."

She and Dianna Pharr have
posted many of the documents
on their Web site.

"The vast majority of our
requesters would never have
any change" under the bill,
Eanes Superintendent Nola
Wellman said. "I don't believe
the authors of the Freedom of
Information Act intended school
districts to bear the cost of the
requests."

Eanes has been strained by a
recent flood of requests and had
to hire someone to handle the
increased volume. Between late
spring 2003 and autumn 2004,
Eanes spent more than $65,000
in staff time and lawyers' fees
related to open records
requests, Wellman said last
year.

Baxter said he was not
pressured by the school
district to push the bill.

His proposal remains pending
in the House State Affairs
Committee.

RELEVANT, AND WORTH THE READ

Commentary: Crack open schools' books
By Chris Patterson - Thursday, April 28, 2005 (Austin American Statesman)

What enterprise do you suppose wrote checks amounting to $1.6 million for lawyers, $375,000 for various chambers of commerce,
$311,000 for professional association fees, $90,000 for Franklin Covey (personal effectiveness and productivity training), $14,500 for Billie
Arbuckle Adventures and $2.7 million for Young Audiences of North Texas (arts and cultural programs)?

Would you be surprised to learn it was a Texas public school district?

These expenditures occurred when the district claimed it was "forced" to dismiss several hundred high school teachers because of
"inadequate" funding. And when it was suing Texans for more tax dollars. The district? Dallas Independent School District, according to a
review of their check register last spring.

Dallas is not alone; its books were just the easiest to crack, which explains how the education bureaucracy gets away with claims of
"inadequate" funding.

Public schools simply do not keep accounting books that clearly identify how money is spent. Although districts make megabytes of financial
data available on the Internet, the state's reporting system is so Byzantine that it's impossible for Texans to get a handle on how school
spending is directed into true academic outcomes.

School finance reform offers the perfect opportunity to introduce a reporting system that opens the books to taxpayers in a clear, direct way.
The Texas Legislature should seize this opportunity to craft legislation that improves school accounting practices.

The Texas House, in House Bill 2, called for greater clarity in school spending by requiring more disclosure. The bill requires schools to
provide more detail about non-instructional spending — identifying money spent on memberships and lobbying. This is a definite step
forward, a strong improvement over current accounting practices. But it does not go far enough.

As the Texas Senate takes up its own version of school finance reform, it, too, must make every effort to restore our confidence that reporting
on school spending is more than another Enron-style accounting scheme.

The accounting ledger must differentiate between expenditures on mandatory, direct classroom costs and optional programs.

What cannot happen is the watering down of meaningful reporting with the inclusion of items such as "school leadership," "curriculum
development" and "counseling services" as direct instructional costs.

If the lobbyists representing school administrators have their way in this debate, almost anything a school does would be identified as
instructional expenditures — just like it is today. Of course, that makes as much sense as counting everything in a kitchen as nutrition-
related spending.

School administrators want to continue to claim that inadequate funding forces them to fire elementary school reading teachers, while being
able to pay chamber of commerce dues and construct tennis courts, and using our tax dollars to hire lawyers who sue us for higher state
taxes.

Our hope for getting schools to open their books to scrutiny rests now with the Texas Senate, then with the Legislature's conference
committee. We must get this right; it is unlikely we will have another chance to improve school accounting practices for a decade.

Texans deserve full, clear access to the information needed to control wasteful spending and improve public education. And until schools
are forced to do so, Texans should close their wallets.

Patterson is the director of research at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a nonprofit research institute based in Austin. [NOTE: Chris has
since left TPPF.]

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.

Commentary

Edu-Conferences
____

BOOK EXCERPTS:

Education, Inc.

How T o File a Public
Records Request

How T o Organize

Lax Oversight

Success Stories,
Kindred Spirits
____

COMMENTARY
ARCHIVES
___

SPECIAL REPORT -
TEXAS LEGE: TEA
POWER GRAB
____

About/In the News

AASA - American
Association of School
Administrators

ASA - Association of
School Administrators

CSD - Consolidated
School District

DOE - Department
of Education

ES - Elementary School

HS - High School

ISD - Independent
School District

JHS - Junior High School

MS - Middle School

MSM - Mainstream media

NSBA - National School
Boards Association

NSPRA - National School
Public Relations Association

PS - Public School(s)

SBEC - State Board for
Educator Certification

SD - School District

Sup't - Superintendent

TAKS - Texas Assessment
of
Knowledge & Skills

TASA - Texas Association
of School Administrators

TASB - Texas Association
of School Boards

TASBO - Texas Association
of School Business Officials

TEA - Texas
Education Agency

TEKS - Texas Essential
Knowledge & Skills

USD - UnifiedUnited School
District

GUIDE

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QUOTES

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.

POP QUIZ:

How do you
yourself know for a
fact that your state
or local supe is
actually using the
funds entrusted to
them for the
correct purposes?

My
New
Book

PEYTON WOLCOTT

STATUS:
No response
rec'd from
Sup't Gray as of
Dec. 13, 2006

"Governor vetoes
sunshine bill

Citing an 'inherent conflict
of interest,' Gov. Arnold
Shwarzenegger last
weekend vetoed
legislation that would
have required the Attorney
General’s Office to review
rejected requests for
public records under the
California Public Records
Act and offer its written
opinion concerning the
request.

Sponsored by
Californians Aware and
supported by CNPA, AB
2927 by Assemblyman
Mark Leno (D-San
Francisco) would have
also allowed courts, in
appropriate
circumstances, to assess
a financial penalty against
agencies that disregard
their duty to comply with
the Act and made several
changes to the law with
regard to improving public
access to state agencies
by use of their internet
web sites. It would have
required the Department
of Justice to convene an
advisory task force to
consider a statutory
standard governing the
posting of certain
activities under the act,
and to report its findings
and recommendations to
the Governor and the
Legislature no later than
September 30, 2007.

In his veto message,
Schwarzenegger
declares 'an open and
accessible government is
critical to instill
confidence in the
governed.' Noting the
people recently 'voted
overwhelmingly to make
access to public records
a fundamental right,'
Schwarzenegger said he
had issued an executive
order requiring state
agencies to post their
public records
procedures in their offices
and to train staff. 'These
efforts address the
problem this bill is
attempting to fix,' he wrote.

With respect to the
Attorney General review
provisions,
Schwarzenegger wrote:
'The Attorney General is
the attorney for most State
agencies and advises
agencies on responding
to such requests and
thus this bill creates an
inherent conflict of
interest.'

The Senate had
approved AB 2927
on a vote of 40-0
and the Assembly
on a vote of 78-0.

Schwarzenegger is the
third governor to veto
attorney general review
legislation. Three
previous bills sponsored
by CNPA and
overwhelmingly approved
by the legislature were
vetoed–two by Gov. Gray
Davis and one by Gov.
Pete Wilson.

Cal Aware General
Counsel Terry Francke
said this about the veto:
'The Governor’s veto of AB
2927 puts him in the
open government
tradition of Gray Davis
and the Bush White
House. Last January
Californians Aware
audited key state
agencies’ compliance
with their most basic
duties under the
California Public Records
Act and found them
earning an F grade
average. The Governor
then ordered training for
the agencies that raised
the average grade on our
second survey to no more
than a C-although the
audited agencies knew
we were coming back
and what we would ask
for.   Obviously the
Governor is satisfied with
C performance at best,
since his training efforts,
he says, 'address the
problem this bill (was)
attempting to fix.'    We
don’t believe that, of
course, and neither do
the more than 150 state
agency officials who are
coming to our own
training session in the
Capitol this week. As for
the 'inherent conflict of
interest' the Governor
sees in having the
Attorney General review
denials of public records
requests, that issue was
resolved in the bill, as
anyone who actually read
AB 2927 would have
discovered.   The
Governor’s veto of this bill
leaves no doubt that his
pledge, in his first
campaign for the
Governor’s office, to take
extraordinary steps to
open California
government to public
scrutiny, either was an
empty promise from the
outset or a commitment
he decided to drop after
achieving office. One way
or the other, the Governor
has at this point obviously
decided there is no
longer any need to make
transparent government a
standard to pursue. The
only thing transparent at
this hour is the
phoniness of his pretexts
for vetoing AB 2927.' "
---------------------
PW Comment:
Our extra step here in
Texas, that we can take
our public records
problems to the state
attorney general rather
than go straight to court
as they do in California
and other states, is not
perfect, but at least it's an
extra step available to us.
One reason why parents
do not fare as well as
school districts when
presenting our case to
the OAG may be as
simple as this: Texas
Attorney General Greg
Abbott's wife Cecilia
accepted an appointment
to the State Board for
Educator Certification,
which is at the Texas
Education Agency.
Our queries about this
arrangement to both
Abbotts have gone
unanswered.
So what do we do now,
take a complaint to
General Abbott for a
ruling on his wife?

Amendment I

Congress
shall make no
law respecting
an
establishment
of religion, or
prohibiting the
free exercise
thereof; or
abridging the
freedom of
speech, or of
the press; or
the right of
the people
peaceably to
assemble, and
to petition the
government
for a redress
of grievances.

QUERY
THE SUPE
(& CC THE BOARD)

DATE FIRST SENT:
FEB. 14, 2006

RE-SENT 03/26/06

Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:

I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....

Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive

1.    What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?

2.    Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?

Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers

4.    What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?

5.    There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?

Regarding trainings
and conferences

6.    Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?

7.    In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?

It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.

CONTACT:
Peyton Wolcott
P.O. Box 9068
Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657
peyton@peytonwolcott.com

F o c u s i n g
o n
accountability
f i r s t

HB 2264
hearing

COMMENT

This "smoking
gun" from Todd
Baxter at right
is a great
example of why
it's important
for school
districts to
honor Texas
Attorney
General
Opinion
JM-757 which
allows citizens
to take photos
at document
viewings such
as ours on
May 24.

So many times
we'll find
something like
this "smoking
gun" and
request a copy,
then when the
clerk gets to
the xerox
machine and
realizes what it
is, refuses to
give us the
copy, so we
then have no
record at all of
the document's
existence and
it becomes a
case of our
word versus
the schools.'

--Peyton Wolcott

Paper wars in
West Lake Hills
By Rich Oppel | Thursday,
May 5, 2005, 06:09 AM
Austin American-Statesman

I have a plan for ending battles
over public records. Put all
government records up on the
Internet, except for those that
are specifically confidential by
law.

Routinely, some agency
equates openness to waste.
The poor taxpayer, we are told
by the agency head, must bear
the cost of public employees
spending hours, days,
rummaging through filing
cabinets to assemble scraps of
paper.

A recent example is the Eanes
Independent School District,
which serves West Lake Hills,
West Austin and Rollingwood.
Since at least 2003, Susan
Bushart and Dianna Pharr have
regularly filed demands for
school records.

“Somebody has to pay for the
labor to do all of that," Supt.
Nola Wellman told me. “We’re
funded by taxpayers to provide
an education to students.
Should that money be spent on
public information?"

The legislator who represents
most of the Eanes School
District is Rep. Todd Baxter, a
Republican. He filed House Bill
2264. If passed, Bushart and
Pharr would be able to get 50
pages of information each
month from Eanes schools.
After reaching that level, the two
woman would have to pay a fee.
I see the 50-page limit as
merely another excuse to further
close government. School
districts are unusually resistant
to open records requests. This
will raise higher the barricades
against the public’s right to
know.

I called Baxter. Why doesn’t the
Texas Legislature require all
governmental units to post all
public records on the Internet?
“You know, that’s a great idea,"
said Baxter. “It’s one of the
things we’ve talked about…We
probably ought to require more
of that. It’s good for all involved,
it saves costs to to government
and makes records more
accessible."

Good. Then why not withdraw
HB 2264 and introduce, say, the
Mandatory Internet Posting of
Public Records Act of 2005?
“I’ll look to see if (the Internet
idea) is germane. If not, we can
amend the caption‿ of HB
2264. I’m not sure what that
means. I would kill the bill and
start over. When Rep. Baxter
reports back, I’ll let you know
what he decided.

Look around your office. In our
newsroom, you no longer will
see Royal typewriters or IBM
Selectrics. You see Dell PCs
and Apple Macs. You see fewer
filing cabinets. My “files" are in
pull downs on my navigation
bar.

When will school districts –
especially wealthy ones like
Eanes – reach the 21st century
with technology that will allow
easy access to public records?
“For one thing, we just haven’t
focused on the business of
putting records up
electronically," said Wellman.
“We focus on education. We
haven’t had the personnel to do
it."

I know this is not as simple as it
may seem. Some records are
works in progress, and not
public. In school districts, some
records involving teacher
discipline, students on assisted
lunch programs and so on are
protected by law.
With the best of technology, it
may be cumbersome today to
put up some records, like
vouchers, invoices and
canceled checks (although my
bank recently told us they’d no
longer return canceled checks
to us).

But we can get started. While
Nola Wellman’s first
responsibility is to education,
this is, after all, public
education. Rep. Baxter has
backed other open-records
legislation, including one bill
placing a new emphasis on
training public employees in
records disclosure.

While ten Texas school districts such as Big Spring and Spring Branch
are embracing accountability with open arms by posting their check
registers online, others in Texas and elsewhere are running hard and
fast the opposite direction, all at huge costs in legal bills and loss of
taxpayer confidence. The natural question to the runners is, "Why?"
And gnawing away underneath, "What are you hiding?" Here is an
account of parents in four Texas school districts seeking accountability.

NOTE: Although Texans for
Education Accountability had many
members and many supporters in
other school districts around the
state, the four women pictured
above happened to be the ones
able to clear entire days of our
calendars to travel to Austin to
lobby the Lege.

NOW LET'S LOOK AT
BREMOND ISD: Pat and Maurice
Yezak and Nancy and Robert
Gadbois had also begun looking into
their superintendent Kenneth
Johnson's spending, similarly
experiencing stonewalling and delays
in obtaining receipts and records.
They called their group Concerned
Taxpayers of Bremond. Because the
husbands worked and the moms
were at home during the day, Nancy
and Pat did most of the groundwork.

Bremond moms Pat Yezak (L)
& Nancy Gadbois with open records
binders (PHOTO/Waco Tribune)

AND A LOOK AT LLANO ISD:
Parents Bill and Rebecca Jennings
and Pat and Jim Donahy were also
looking into then-superintendent Jack
Patton's spending and meeting the
same resistance, what one calls "a
brick wall." Rebecca found a receipt
for a pricey steak dinner Patton had
treated himself and some board
members and spouses to at a state
school boards convention in Dallas;
Rebecca also found hotel receipts for
telephone sex and/or call-girl
services from a hotel stay billed to the
district at the same convention
although to whom the room belonged
is a matter of some dispute.

Pat Donahy

When the two couples
took their findings to a
local newspaper, the
publisher wanted his
own copy of the steak
dinner receipt so he
filed a separate public
records request and
Patton--apparently not

AND A LOOK AT MARBLE
FALLS ISD: Like all these other
folks, I was wondering how the district
where my daughter was attending high
school was spending its money; why
were the kids taking choir class having
to do fund raisers for new formal
performance clothing when partici-
pants in the school's extracurricular
activities were receiving several sets of
uniforms for free. Also, had heard
rumors about how the then-supe had
come to purchase some goofy
programs for the district. So I filed my
first public records request to look at
programs spending and was
presented with a $426 bill.
Christine and Bill Forsyth and I began
lobbying the state comptroller to bring
the Texas School Performance Review
audit to the district; within ten days of
the Comptroller's announcement a
year later (Dec. 10, 2002) that she was
going to audit MFISD, both the supe
and an ass't supe had resigned; the
following spring three long-term board
mem- bers elected not to run again.
We organized the first PEAK$ group,
and succeeded in bringing drug
testing and a dress code to the high
school.

realizing that he'd already produced
it--denied having such a receipt. In
the meantime, the four persisted in
taking their findings through a chain of
command not dissimilar to the
Bremond moms' including
disappointing rounds with the Texas
Education Agency and the State
Auditor's Office; the latter reportedly
considered the four's findings a slam
dunk--until politics in the form of
District Attorneys Ronnie Earle and
Sam Oatman got involved and
suddenly the case died.

Marble Falls HS

MEANWHILE AT LLANO ISD: I began
covering MFISD and Llano ISD for a
group of local weeklies, focusing on
investigating and reporting LISD's
finances, Jack Patton's eventual trial
and conviction (Texas' first public
information act conviction), and the
surrender by Jack of his SBEC certi-
ficates.

Then-Llano ISD board president Mark
Chapman (left), trustee Mark Stephen-
son dodging questions re generous
settlement they'd just moments before
granted to convicted supe Jack Patton.

Fast forward to April 5, 2005 as
parents in Bremond, Llano, Marble
Falls and Eanes continue plugging
away looking for the truth.

As written by Baxter,
the new bill would
have enabled school
districts and other
governmental entities
to charge $20/hour
labor after the first 50
copies/month.

THE ADVENT OF HB 2264: In early
spring 2005 Eanes approached their
state representative, Todd Baxter, who
responded on April 5, 2005 by drafting
new legislation--HB 2264--specifically
designed to hamper parents' efforts.

Todd Baxter

MEANWHILE, AT BREMOND ISD: In
May 2004 Pat Yezak and Robert
Gadbois both successfully won spots
as Bremond ISD trustees; Robert
served as BISD board president his
first year.

MEANWHILE, IN BREMOND ISD: The
moms continued working to bring
their district's murky finances to light
and attempting to gain the attention of
state and federal agencies (here for
more); while Baxter and Eanes and
Ratliff worked to pass HB 2264, the
groundwork was being laid in
Robertson County to convene a grand
jury. Throughout, the moms were
harassed by BISD employees and
anonymous citizenry.

MEANWHILE, AT BREMOND ISD: Was
there something in the air or going on
with the planets? The same week that
we discovered the smoking gun
among Todd Baxter's public records,
the Robertson County grand jury was
talking to witnesses regarding the
results of the Texas Ranger and State
Auditor's Office investigations;
Johnson was eventually indicted in
September 2005 for stealing more
than $100,000 from BISD, on two
counts of felony theft. Johnson's son
Jason and BISD's former business
manager Sandra Nolan were also
indicted.

MEANWHILE, AT BREMOND ISD:
Parallel investigations by Texas
Rangers and State Auditor's Office
began in October 2003, just prior to
supe Johnson's resignation. The
following January, auditors announced
Johnson and business manager
Sandra Nolan had taken $200,000+
more than they were due from district
funds.

A BIG OUCH: Wire transfers which did
not show up on the district's check
register were otherwise unaccounted
for.
The parents also discovered financial
mismanagement in the district's
in-house technology department,
including LISD's technology
consortium (now an illegal practice).
Checks were written out of LISD's
account to a Robin Hood partner
district--LISD is property-
rich--accompanied by a letter of
instruction from LISD'S CFO Carol Voit
to endorse and return the check in a
provided envelope. But when the
checks arrived back at Llano ISD, they
were not deposited back into LISD's
checking account but instead into an
account not belonging to LISD in an
East Texas bank near Jack Patton's
home in Crockett. At this point one of
the parents received a threatening
letter with a pack of matches
enclosed, "This is to give you a jump
start on leaving." There were other
technology issues also.

By Peyton Wolcott
Revised Dec. 13, 2006

"Cecilia
Phalen Abbott,
Board Vice Chair, of
Austin is a former
principal and
administrator at several
private schools in the
Houston area and Austin.
She currently volunteers
at St. Mary's Cathedral
School in Austin. She
received her bachelor's
and master's degrees
from the University of St.
Thomas in Houston. Her
term will expire February
1, 2007."

--SBEC bio

WHO'S WHO

Bremond ISD
Parents: Nancy and Robert
Gadbois, Pat and Maurice Yezak
Then-supe: James Kenneth
("Kenny") Johnson

Eanes ISD
Parents: Susan Bushart,
Dianna Pharr
Supes: Former interim Jess
Butler, current supe Nola
Wellman

Llano ISD
Parents: Pat and Jim Donahy,
Rebecca and Bill Jennings
Supes: Former supe Andrew
Jackson ("Jack") Patton, current
supe Dennis Hill

Marble Falls ISD
Parents: Christine and Bill
Forsyth, Peyton Wolcott
Supes: Former supe Dana
Marable, current supe Ryder
Warren

When Llano ISD's board
began its executive
sessions--often 3-4 hours
long--the public was herded out
into the hallway where there was
no ventilation save the front
door; if it was 110 degrees
outside, it was hotter inside. Top
right: trustee Alan Geistman
(stated profession: "investor")
closing and locking the door on
the public. Although at all times
the board had access to any of a
dozen A/C'd offices, they chose
instead to herd taxpayers
outside into the heat. "It's our
meeting," said one trustee. "See
the sign on the door? It says
BOARD Room."

UNBRIDLED HUBRIS
AT LLANO ISD:
TENOR OF THE TIMES

BREMOND REACTS: Nancy, an active
volunteer in all four children's
classrooms, was no longer welcome
on campus. Pat, an active substitute
teacher at BISD, suddenly was no
longer needed as a substitute.
Things happened to their kids. An
obscenity was written in reverse on
the dust on the back window of
Nancy's SUV so she could read it in
the rear view mirror, which she did,
one Sunday morning en route to
church.

MEANWHILE, AT LLANO ISD: We
organized as PEAK$ of Llano ISD and
successfully placed all five of our
reform-platform candidates on the
seven-person school board in the May
14, 2006 election; one of the secrets
of our success: we required all five
endorsed candidates to sign a public
pledge to not do business with the
school district during their tenure.

MEANWHILE, AT MARBLE FALLS ISD:
With the three board members
needing to be gone already down the
road, community members did not
need to organize again.

How a handful of
moms successfully
blocked HB 2264

UPDATE/BREMOND ISD: Pat Yezak
and Robert Gadbois, as trustees,
continue to work to bring more
transparency to BISD, aided by the
business manager they hired, Bruce
Fuller, a retired business executive
who stepped into the situation
Kenneth Johnson and Sandra Nolan
left behind: no paper records.
Kenneth Johnson is currently still in
prison, although his first release
hearing is next month; sadly, Sandra
Nolan has passed away.

UPDATE/EANES ISD: Susan Bushart
released a series of "Community
Updates" via email to share her public
records findings, and Dianna Pharr
has reactivated her website,
www.keepeanesinformed.com. Nola
Wellman continues to be employed as
EISD's supe despite the fact that her
supe's SBEC certificate expired Jan.
13, 2005; she has never passed the
state superintendent exam.
Todd Baxter, author of HB 2264,
resigned from his seat in the Texas
Lege a few months later--imagine,
how embarrassing to lose your bill to a
handful of moms--and is now a
professional lobbyist primarily for the
telecommunications industry.
Further, Eanes filed an amicus curiae
"friend of the court" brief in Lake Travis
ISD's SLAPP lawsuit against parents
David and Melissa Lovelace.
Remember Thomas Ratliff, son of Bill
Ratliff, both lobbyists? And Thomas
was named by then-rep. Todd Baxter
as source of HB 2264? Thomas Ratliff
has surfaced again; according to the
Austin American- Statesman, "Thomas
Ratliff, the son of former Lt. Gov. Bill
Ratliff, filed suit Thursday [Dec. 7,
2006] in Travis County District Court
because the district spends too much
tax money on open records requests,
his lawyer Buck Wood said. The district
was harassed by too many requests
from the same people, Wood said."

TSPR manager Betty Ressel and
team present Llano ISD audit findings

I also reported that the current Llano
ISD supe had only complied with 10%
of the timeline recommendations in
LISD's TSPR audit, released August
27, 2003. In February 2004 trustee
Mark Stephenson (top right) took
publisher Eric Bishop to lunch and
reportedly threatened to sue the news-
paper group; afte