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 |
| Modern Minutemen: Mary McGarr |
| A teacher then Katy ISD board member and now an education activist. |
| ABOUT MARY In her own words . . . . My background includes many educational endeavors, and I believe that my experiences qualify me as someone who can provide credible explanations. I am married to Gary McGarr, am the mother of two sons and a grandmother of one grandson. I have a college degree, have taught school for twelve years, and have spent forty six years being a volunteer of one sort or another. I was elected twice to the Katy ISD school board in 1991 and 1994. I served five years, resigning my position a year before the term expired. I have lived in Nottingham Country since 1981, and I intend to remain here for the rest of my life. I am a product of a Texas public school education. Attending Rusk Elementary and Stephen F. Austin Junior and Senior High School in El Paso, Texas where I was born, I graduated at age sixteen having skipped a couple of grades along the way. I attended Texas Woman’s University, Texas Western College, and Texas Tech University. I believe that I received a very fine academic education in Texas’ public schools. I graduated in 1960 at age 20 from Texas Tech with a Bachelor of Arts degree. I have majors in English and political science. I also have thirty hours of education courses that were required in order to obtain a teaching certificate. I hold a Permanent Provisional Texas Teaching Certificate. I taught in El Paso and Houston ISD's for a total of 12 years. I taught 12th grade English for ten years; 11th grade English for ten years, 10th grade English for two years, American history for one year, Civics for one year, economics for two years, and sociology for two years. I belonged to the required (at the time) teacher’s organizations including the NEA, the TSTA, TCTA, the El Paso Teacher’s Association and the Houston Teacher’s Association. I would not join those groups at this point in time as they have changed from professional teachers’ organizations to labor unions. I was Chairman of the English Department at Irvin High School in El Paso the second year I taught. At that time, Irvin was the largest high school in Texas and the department had 17 English teachers. I have sponsored many student organizations including the National Honor Society, the Student Council, the Senior Class and various special interest organizations. I also spent time writing curriculum guides during the summer. Volunteerism I stopped teaching in 1973 to raise our two sons. During that time I became an active volunteer and served in the following ways: *organized and started the first PTA at Kate Bell Elementary in southwest Houston *organized and started the first parent organization at Memorial Parkway Junior High and served as the first president *served as president and treasurer of the Glenshire Coummunity Association *wrote the neighborhood column in the Advertiser Advocate for the Glenshire community for seven years *wrote the neighborhood column in the Katy Times for Nottingham Country for four years *served on the Board of the Katy National Little League *helped organize and served as Vice president the first year of the Katy Parents of Gifted and Talented Students group *helped organize the Nottingham Country Garden Club *served on the board of the Nottingham Country PTA *served as a volunteer in the Nottingham Country school library for two and half years every Wednesday afternoon for three hours *served for two and a half years as a Nottingham Country Community Improvement Association board member *served as a Republican Precinct Chairman *organized a petition drive for Single Member Districts for KISD in 1988 obtaining 5000 signatures *joined three Taylor High School teachers in writing Taylor’s application for National Exemplary School Status in November 1990 I mention these activities so that anyone can see that I have paid my volunteer dues and care about children and my neighbors. Katy ISD School Board I was elected twice to the Katy ISD school board in 1991 and 1994. I defeated incumbent David Frishman in a run- off, and as the incumbent, I defeated Jerry Kroll outright. As one might imagine, I was NOT an insider candidate, and I resigned from my board position a year early because I thought my resignation would bring attention to the direction the board was taking. I was wrong to think that such would happen, but at the time I resigned, there was not much else I could do. I think I have been proved to be right in the assertions I made at the time. Family My husband is Gary McGarr who has been successful in engineering sales. Gary was a Little League coach and umpire for many years. My two sons graduated from Taylor High School in the top 5% of their classes. They were also active in extracurricular events playing football, basketball and baseball, serving as class or Student Council presidents, were chosen to attend the American Legion Boys’ State in Austin, were selected by the Katy VFW as the outstanding student of the year, and were members of the National Honor Society. Both sons attended Rice University and graduated with degrees in electrical engineering. They are both happily married and gainfully employed. They are our most cherished volunteer accomplishment! |
| Experts on education highlight critical problems By: Diane Tezeno , News Reporter 04/17/2006 Fort Bend/Southwest Sun (HCN) "If there is a computer on every desk being used as the textbook, then teachers, real books, and interaction with other students disappears. " Our students become sponge robots," says Mary McGarr. McGarr on her opposition to electronic textbooks in the classroom. On April 6, the Fort Bend Republican Club and Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce sponsored a panel discussion on issues impacting FBISD. Participating on the panel were FBISD Board President Lisa Rickert, Peggy Venable, Texas director of Americans for Prosperity, State Board of Education Republican candidate Cynthia Dunbar and Mary McGarr, former teacher and opponent of electronic textbooks. McGarr spoke about an effort by State Rep. Kent Grusendorf, a conservative Republican from Arlington, to insert an item to the current tax reform bill to supply electronic textbooks to students in Texas classrooms. The former educator and mother of two, believes that "a computer on every desk will have the potential to manipulate eager and impressionable minds, and with no teacher in charge of delivering the curriculum at the local level, parents will not know what their children are being taught, she said. "One of the reasons the bill didn't get passed the last time was that some caring legislators prodded by interested citizens had reservations about the computers when they realized that Apple Computer employee Tom Burnett of Austin had been allowed to write much of the tax reform bill and that efforts were embedded in the legislation that forced the acceptance of these computers," said McGarr. "To get rid of what was put in about computers would have been like trying to get rid of a yard of dirt without disturbing the grass growing in it. Grusendorf reportedly drafted his bill from a Texas E-Learning initiative report written by representatives of computer and software companies." Although the proposed legislative bill implied that electronic computers would only be for high school students, she said a closer reading suggests the intent is to provide them to every student, she noted. The proposed cost to put computers in Texas classrooms was initially projected to be $450 million, then increased to $700 million, and now is predicted to cost $11.5 billion over a two year span, said McGarr. This does not take into account the additional expense of buying software, making repairs, replacing technology as it becomes obsolete in three to five years, intentional damage, or theft, she added. McGarr predicts that those additional costs will triple the initial cost of the computer. A book lasts six or seven years, points out McGarr and could last even longer if they weren't changed out for the sake of change, she said. During this special session of the Legislature there were 57 lobbyists for Dell computers and 30 for Apple computers roaming the floor, McGarr informed the audience. It is clear that computer manufacturers will benefit from the purchase of $11.5 billion dollars worth of computers, said McGarr. Another of Garr's concerns is that there is no empirical research that shows computers help students learn in the classroom. McGarr does not believe that computers will improve student learning if they become the primary tool for delivering the curriculum in classrooms. She calls the push for electronic textbooks in the classroom "a symptom of a major disease", and "the latest in a long line of tools, devices, strategies and methods to dumb down 80 percent of students so they will be complacent, malleable workers, who will know how to read and write just enough to function in a menial job." McGarr believes that the personal nature of education in classrooms will be lost if this technology is introduced. She questioned the ability of the teacher to remain an authority figure in classrooms where the greatest interaction occurs between student and computer. She also believes the lack of social interaction will lead to additional discipline problems. McGarr said teachers should be up in arms about the prospect of being replaced by a machine, but in order to silence them, she says Grusendorf threw in a teacher pay raise as part of the bill. Venable discussed the issue of fixing school finance in Texas. Venable said, "We must look at spending in schools, and make sure schools are accountable." She supports the 65 percent initiative to put more available school dollars in the classrooms. "If the state were to fund the classrooms, I believe local property taxes would stay low, because you and I would have to be asked by the administration every time they wanted to increase spending," she said. Of the upcoming Texas legislature, Venable said, legislatures don't need to just pass a tax bill and go home. "Let's make sure there are tax payer protections in place that limit the growth in local and state governments to population and inflation with taxpayer approval for spending above that." Dunbar provided the audience with insights into the state board of education's role in establishing curriculum and selecting textbooks. She said the only way for Texans to have local control over textbooks is with collective bargaining power. Dunbar also explained the state board's primary roles in establishing curriculum, selecting text book lists, and in the permanent school fund. Dunbar said she supports the State Board's authority to deal with content in textbooks and also for districts to teach various theories of origination, as long as the strengths and weaknesses of those theories are also taught. Rickert shared statistics on the district's growth, changing demographics, and the need to increase state accountability ratings. "Overall, student scores are up, however, the state accountability ratings are down," said Rickert. "For the last four years FBISD has been recognized, and we are now an acceptable district." "We only have one school out of 60 campuses that was rated exemplary, 34 campuses were rated acceptable, and no campuses rated unacceptable by the state," she added. In nearly all cases the reason for the acceptable rating was poor performance in math and science by all or some subgroups, preventing that campus from achieving a recognized status. Rickert said that the state's requirement that schools be analyzed by subgroups has impacted the district's ratings. The goal is for all children, including all subgroups, to do well so that no child is left behind, said Rickert. The FBISD board's priority is finding a leader for the district that can formulate and communicate a strong vision for the future and has the skills to unify and lead the district, said Rickert. |
| Mary McGarr |
| Read more Mary here: www.katycitizens.org |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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 |
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| QUOTES |
Separatists in India's north-eastern state of Manipur have shot six male teachers in the leg for allegedly helping students cheat in exams. Two women teachers were beaten with sticks for the same offence, the rebels of the Kanglei Yana Kan Lup group said. The teachers were abducted from their homes after an exam on Thursday. The rebels said the teachers took up to 5,000 rupees ($110) for helping students cheat and warned of further punishment if the cheating continued. The Kanglei Yana Kan Lup (KYKL) is one of many separatist groups fighting Indian administration in Manipur. It said it abducted the eight teachers from their homes in and around the state capital, Imphal, because of reports they had taken bribes. --By Subir Bhaumik - BBC |
| 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 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott |
| 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? |
David v. Goliath: How America's Moms & Dads are taking on Education, Inc. PEYTON WOLCOTT |
The question is not how to measure excellence at public schools and education agencies. The question is how to measure competence. -- Dianna Pharr |
| 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 |
| Finding A Superintendent By Mary McGarr April 29, 2006 In 1995, the Katy ISD School Board found itself in the position of needing a superintendent. The previous one had been sent on his way, and the Board initiated a process for finding a suitable replacement. |
| In that effort, the Board solicited input from all sorts of places, hoping to find consensus among the members of the public who cared about the selection. Although lists of suggested requirements were tallied by the headhunter, the newspapers, and the Board, none of those lists seemed as comprehensive as the one I assimilated from my personal contacts, listening to the public, reading the newspapers, and tapping my own list. Here is what, I believe, our school district wanted in a superintendent in 1995: I thought the Board received a clear message that the public wanted a man to be our superintendent and that he should be a man who was younger than 45, who was from Texas, who exhibited some original thinking about improving the quality of our schools (we weren’t looking for someone to come in and recreate what he had done elsewhere), who could accept blame when he was wrong, and who would maintain his objectivity and become a true educational leader. We wanted someone who had an outgoing personality, a family with school age children, some business background, college course work outside the field of education, an acceptable college transcript that the Board could see, a clear medical history, the ability to take direction from the Board, the ability to take criticism from the Board and the community without becoming defensive, a philosophy of education in tune with the Katy community, the ability to get along with women without feeling threatened, the ability to work with current employees and not have to bring all his buddies with him, a grasp of financial issues, an understanding of curriculum, an interest in educational issues beyond those that only served superintendents, a willingness to live in the school district and become a part of the community, a willingness to start with a two year contract and at $100,000, the ability to provide financial direction that would maintain Katy ISD’s average tax rate and its modest building program, an acceptance of smaller minimal pay increases for the administrative staff, a belief in the importance of an elected School Board being in charge of the public schools, a willingness to thwart Outcome Based Education in Katy schools even if it meant a loss of grant money and other perks, a successful work history and documented leadership ability as a superintendent for at least five years in a school district of comparable size and demographic composition, a real liking for all children (and not just his own), respect for and understanding of the issues facing teachers, the ability to write and speak well, a clean cut appearance, a respect for patrons who were critical of him and/or the school district, a grasp of what it means to achieve academic excellence, and a clear understanding of the needs of special populations including special education, minorities, gifted students, and vocational students. In retrospect, the Board did not do a very good job of listening to the public. I knew that they hadn’t ten years ago, and when it came time to vote for Leonard Merrell as superintendent, I voted “NO.” It took me from March 1995 until August 1995 to get my remarks that accompanied my NO vote placed in the Board minutes. Most of the media stories of Merrell’s selection did not state my opposition. I take no comfort in having been correct in my assessment of Leonard Merrell. He is, after all, a person with a family. But he has done the children of the Katy schools no favors. His lack of educational leadership, his inability to follow the dictates at the time of his hiring, his constant effort to control who his bosses on the Board are, his spreading of the bond money wealth among non-Katy businesses and dumping the businesses who had served this school district so well for many years, his apparent involvement in setting up the Xpediant front company and allowing those employees to soak this school district, his closing of the KISD print shop, his bringing in of “outsiders” for administrative positions when KISD had plenty of qualified employees who could have been promoted to do that work just as well, his obvious patronizing of those whose wealth could curry favor for him with the public, his endless opportunistic efforts to garner photo-ops for himself, and his placement of a curriculum in our midst that fails children on every front is inexcusable and shameful. Leonard Merrell had an agenda of his own when he came to Katy in 1995; that he was able to implement it so successfully and quickly is a testament to a Board of seven people who have been asleep at the wheel. Here is a copy of my prepared remarks in March 1995, the day the School Board voted 6 to 1 to bring Leonard Merrell to Katy ISD: “As a member of this board, I was very pleased when we began this process of finding a new superintendent because we set out in a methodical way to give ourselves plenty of time, to involve the public in a very real way, and to look for the proper search consultant to guide us. We went through the process proceeding just as we had planned. The public was receptive and turned out in large numbers to make themselves heard. I listened to what they said, and what I heard was that we should be looking for a good communicator who liked children and who was knowledgeable about curriculum issues and who could implement in our schools the beliefs that are held by this board and this community. I was expecting candidates who were from districts similar to ours, and whose test scores indicated a high level of achievement and real progress and whose curriculum practices revealed at least a hint of originality and individualism. Instead we were presented with four candidates from districts very much unlike ours and who either denied knowledge of, or claimed ignorance with regard to, current curriculum and methodology issues that are important to our community. I saw no shining stars from outstanding school districts. I saw no rising stars from school districts on the move. What we were presented were four superintendents from mediocre school districts who for one reason or another were looking to bail out and move to greener pastures. And those, gentlemen, are not good reasons for us to hire them. Any of them. I feel that we allowed the consultant to drive our activities in a way that precluded our receiving all the information that we requested in a timely manner, and rushed us so that we did not have time to make thoughtful and measured decisions. I could not be at my best when I had to spend six hours a day reading their material, one hour socializing with the candidates, and three hours in an interview for four days in a row. When we finished on a Thursday night at 11 PM, and then met at 7 AM the next morning, we did not have the time or the energy to discuss credentials and to compare candidates. We met simply to “pick one.” The process was in my opinion very flawed. Believe it or not, our district is a state-wide trendsetter, and when we do not have the proper candidates from whom to select our superintendent, we have allowed ourselves to be placed in the position of perpetuating the status quo with regard to superintendent selection in this state. If a high profile school district such as ours holds out for a truly qualified candidate who is opposed to the educational stuff that the federal government is trying to force on states and local school districts, the shock waves throughout the state might offer courage to a lot of other school boards. However, the educational establishment, because of job protection wants to maintain the status quo. The agenda here is to keep up from doing what is proper. It is a state-wide agenda, and I will not be a part of it. I cannot vote for this candidate. Because I care so much about this school district, with all my heart, I hope I am wrong, but the curriculum this candidate has directed and placed in his current district and his resume tell me I am not.” |
| Katy ISD's "Leonard E. Merrell Center," self-named by the superintendent who got his taxpayers to fund this monument; it's the only such center in the United States constructed by a supe and named for himself. |
| Here's Mary's account of how Katy ISD supe Leonard E. Merrell came to be hired. It's, well, instructional. |
| Mary McGarr is the heart and soul of the Katy Citizen Watchdogs. "We couldn't be more pleased to have Mary with us," says Chris Cottrell, president of the group. "She brings a lot to our organization--an education background, plus she was on the board. We love that she's here, and she's done a wonderful job." |
| Mary's spirited forbearer-- America's first English settler? "One of my hobbies is genealogy and over the last seven years I've found many of my early American ancestors," says Mary. "The most interesting is the Chilton family. James Chilton and his wife and daughter Mary were Mayflower travelers and James signed the Mayflower Compact. Not all the members of the group signed it. The daughter, Mary, according to the legendary story, insisted on riding with the men in the small boat that went ashore at Plymouth Rock. As they neared the spot she jumped out ahead of them so she could be first, and she became the first female European to 'land' in America. While the authenticity of that story cannot ever be verified, it has captured my imagination, and I like to think that some of that 'be the first person to jump out of the boat' spirit courses through my veins! Mary Chilton married John Winslow and I descend from that line. James Chilton is my eleventh great grandfather. Thousands of other Americans and I share that distinction, but very few of them have bothered to trace their ancestry to find out about it! Mayflower Compact 1620 Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth : 1620 IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620. Mr. John Carver, Mr. William Bradford, Mr Edward Winslow, Mr. William Brewster. Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, John Alden, John Turner, Francis Eaton, James Chilton, John Craxton, John Billington, Joses Fletcher, John Goodman, Mr. Samuel Fuller, Mr. Christopher Martin, Mr. William Mullins, Mr. William White, Mr. Richard Warren, John Howland, Mr. Steven Hopkins, Digery Priest, Thomas Williams, Gilbert Winslow, Edmund Margesson, Peter Brown, Richard Britteridge George Soule, Edward Tilly, John Tilly, Francis Cooke, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker, John Ridgdale Edward Fuller, Richard Clark, Richard Gardiner, Mr. John Allerton, Thomas English, Edward Doten, |
| You’re Not Going to Believe This One! By Mary McGarr February 28, 2007 Last Wednesday, February 21, at the Katy ISD School Board’s Work Study Session there was a presentation by the KISD Administrators and the Region IV Administrators regarding a planned joining of their management systems for the mutual benefit of both governments. 'Seminal moment' At this meeting, the District’s pitch was that this was KISD’s and Leonard Merrell’s seminal moment, if you will, and a moment that was actually the second time in twelve years, in Merrell’s opinion, when great things happened in Katy. In his account of the meeting, Dustin Wenzel, editor of The Katy Sun reports that Merrell said “that meeting [five years ago] was the most important meeting this district has ever had. …What we have brought to you today has potential so much directed toward impacting the entire state of Texas … that the nation will feel the positive impact of what we talked about tonight. This is not your normal board meeting. This is not your normal presentation.’” So what happened at the Wednesday Work Study meeting that ostensibly was so outstanding? Well, if you were in the audience, I can tell you that it was hard to tell. Region IV's proposal The proposal from Region IV had to do with that governmental entity taking a software management program developed at great expense by Katy ISD, another governmental entity, and making it into something that could be marketed for a great profit to all kinds of unsuspecting other governments (school districts statewide and nationwide). The first question that popped into my mind was “And who will be making all that “great profit?” Who's copyright? While the copyright on the software management package is in the name of Elizabeth Clark, employee of KISD as well as some other curriculum department employees of KISD, supposedly “the profits of the venture will accrue to Katy ISD.” That statement has been made many times in the last few years where I could hear it. It would appear that the patent for the KMAC software has also been applied for but not yet granted. The described project between Katy ISD and Region IV is to be called Comprehensive Curriculum Assessment Professional Development or CCAP (and yes, I have a problem with acronyms that don’t make any sense). Region IV's 4 parts The Region IV representative’s assessment of the proposed joined-at-the- hip project, would include four parts: I. Benchmark Assessments, a Data Warehouse, and Reporting services that would be up and running by August 2007, II. Instructional Services, Lesson Plans, Scope and Sequence, and Resource Management coming on line by February 2008, III. Region 4 Instructional Resources on line by August 2008, On-Line Professional Development on line by February 2009, and IV. a Special Education Component on line whenever they can get around to it in 2009. A Power Point presentation to this effect was made, and a copy is available from the District or from the Watchdogs if requested. The Region IV speaker, Ms. Wheeler, then went to great lengths to explain that the contribution by KISD was vastly superior and of much greater magnitude than anything existing or planned by Region IV, and that those facts punctuated the reason why Region IV was approaching the KISD Board to allow this joint venture. Ms. Wheeler explained that KISD did not have online assessment to contribute (and I have to wonder why they don’t) nor do they have Professional Development on line (and since we have a section of a very large administrative building built at great expense that has a STAFF DEVELOPMENT sign hanging prominently on it and a multitude of Staff Development employees, I have to wonder about that too). Scope & Sequence Wheeler went on to say that Region 4 (she was getting down to the nitty gritty so she dropped the Roman numeral) ONLY had Scope and Sequence manuals for “about” (whatever that means) 48 core courses, while KISD had an automated curriculum database for “about” “500” courses. Actually KISD states on their web site that they have 650 such scope and sequence courses, so it’s hard to tell what they really have. Anyone who has ever looked at a KISD scope and sequence manual (and I have) will know that they aren’t anything special. They include all the TEKS objectives that apply and then suggestions on how to teach (or learn, as they like to say) them. Someone has gone to the trouble to type them all up and put them in a software package. I’m guessing the typists may be the 37 free secretaries that Xpediant has had over the years. (That would be free to Xpediant, but not free to the taxpayer.) As a member of the audience, I got the clear impression that the scope and sequence pieces were not what Region 4 was so excited about. After all KISD curriculum has resulted in the mid level “Acceptable” or “Recognized” designation by the Texas Education Agency in the last three years, so one would not think “D” or “B” level status would cause any other school district to get excited about copying KISD’s curriculum. As Peyton Wolcott has said on her web site (www. peytonwolcott.com), “Would YOU buy a curriculum management system from a second- class school district rather than an Exemplary district?” I should also point out right here that a great many Texas school districts have software management systems, but they don’t seem to be hawking them about at the present time. Highlight But the highlight of the presentation was the fact that while Region 4 had only “pencil/paper” Lesson Plans, KISD had “Automated Lesson Planning.” Those Automated Lesson Plans would be the thousands of teacher generated lesson plans which the Watchdogs have been pointing out for quite some time are the intellectual property of the teachers who created them, and which, in our opinion, should not be taken, sold, marketed or otherwise pilfered from the teachers for anyone’s profit. Yes, teachers are forced to sign a contract, I’m told, that stipulates that teachers’ creations while employed by the District remain the property of the District. I would point out right here that perhaps someone has mistaken what belongs to the District with what belongs to the Administrators in charge of creating KMAC. Teachers’ lesson plans do NOT belong to any individual administrator. |
| NOTE: Mary's account of the development and sale of Katy ISD's curriculum management software "KMAC" is well worth reading and studying. She raises questions neither Katy ISD's supe Leonard Merrell nor KISD's PR folks have answered. We're all asking: "How can this be legal?" -- PW |
Re KMAC Teachers’ lesson plans do NOT belong to any individual administrator. --Mary McGarr |
| I wish to emphasize the point that at this first meeting, it was clearly stated that the LESSON PLANS were the main reason Region 4 was interested in KISD’s KMAC software management package. Perpetual license There were some other troubling aspects of Wednesday’s presentation. The benefits (remember all those that were going to accrue to the District) included “a “perpetual license” to Region 4 to access KMAC (all those lesson plans), membership on the CCAP Advisory Board (with all the great privileges that that suggests), free access to quality field-tested assessment item databases and TAKS simulations in Phase I which will eliminate annual budget expenditures amounting to $6 per student, free access to Phases II-V which will provide additional functionality and benefits to KISD, and annual revenue of 6% for all sales of Phases I-V of the CCAP product.” Notice here, that the free access to field tested assessment item databases will just be a credit amounting to $350,000 that would otherwise have been paid by KISD to access these databases. True values? No discussion was held and no questions by board members were asked regarding the true value of these assessments, what they even constitute, of if they are even necessary! But keep that 350K figure in the back of your head. When the Board, thanks to Tom Law who asked the only intelligent questions, got down to those bothersome details like how much is 6%, the answer appeared to be “not much.” Not only wasn’t it 6% of the gross, it was 6% of the net! And 6% NET was proclaimed to be 1.2 to 1.6 million dollars per year depending on who was telling about it. If 6 percent NET is 1.2 million, what then might 94 percent gross amount to? Ball park figures would say around 20 million a year. $18.8 million dollars is a chunk of change not to concern yourself about if you are an elected school board member watching it float out the window, and Tom Law appeared to be the only one wise enough to be concerned. Mr. Law was concerned that some of the modules were not even developed yet and the projected profits offered by Region 4 were based on guessing about the market. There appears to be no way to know at this point what 6%NET actually represents. Mr. Law’s point was that Katy ISD’s share in the project, based upon the fact that KISD’s software programs at least are functioning, should be more like 51/49% NET. Who gets the 94%? The next question those of us in the back row had was “Who’s going to get the other 94%?” The answer appeared to be a third party. Next question--who might that third party be? Someone in the private sector? A retired KISD employee? Those KISD employees whose names are on the copyright? Some other friend, relative or cohort of these people? Mickey Mouse? The fact that no one would say is ominous. The Board should have demanded to know, and the fact that the majority didn’t even care to ask doesn’t look so good. Does anyone else think that creating a product while one is an employee should allow one to market and sell that product with almost none of the profit coming to the school district and its taxpayers who funded this boondoggle of a project in the first place? Who's miracle? To think that our superintendent appeared to be so deluded that he actually stated at this meeting that “this is something just short of miraculous” left me speechless! As soon as the Watchdogs could get to a computer, we started asking those like- minded taxpayers we know to write and urge school board members to do the prudent thing and table this matter at the following Monday Regular Board Meeting until they as board members had better answers and understanding of the project. We didn’t want them to vote YES like they usually do when something is stuck in front of them. Big changes By the time Monday’s Regular Meeting on February 27 rolled around, many things had changed. When the CCAP matter came up on the agenda, Eric Duhon announced that the board members had discussed this matter among themselves over the weekend, and his demeanor indicated to me that he had already made up his mind. Tom Law made a motion to wait, and the Board caused his motion to die because not one of them would second it! We must assume that they did not want to wait for credible information. After all, as Jackie Birkel said at the meeting, “We’ve talked to our attorney.” Evidently the Watchdog’s and their supporters’ well made points suggesting that there might be some liability questions for school board members individually if they marketed and sold teacher’s intellectual property (lesson plans) as well as our questioning the propriety of a government making a profit, caused the District to pull back from the original intent of the agreement with Region 4. S-P-I-N The best part of the Monday meeting was witnessing the spin in the revised Power Point presentation from Deputy Superintendent Lenny Shad. GONE were the LESSON PLANS. GONE was the concept of KISD being the major contributor (even Region 4 realized that those scope and sequence items without the lesson plans had no value, especially since the State Board of Education is currently authorizing a complete re-write of the TEKS, and today‘s curriculum guide will soon be worthless. All of a sudden KISD’s part of the proposed agreement had diminished to being “one-third of one part of the five parts of the CCAP System Modules"! Now there were five Parts but what had been Part IV was now Part V and was off the table with regard to sharing revenue with KISD. All of a sudden the 6% NET had gone from 1.2 (or 1.6) million dollars a year to $350,000 (which is merely a credit) and the PROMISE of 1.2 million a year IF anyone buys the eviscerated software management system. 6-1 give-away In a 6-1 vote, the School Board, at the behest of the superintendent, gave away what was left of KMAC, I suppose in a gesture to save face and hope that no one would notice what had happened. So much for seminal moments and “something short of miraculous.” The Katy School Board has egg on its face. The six board members who went along with one more Merrell scheme should be voted out of office. They are unable, in my opinion, to make credible decisions when they are necessary. They have no business, when they lack any discernment at all, being in control of a multimillion dollar school district. |
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