| Conservative commentary - San Antonio's transparency Triple Crown |
| Northside ISD employee parking |
| 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 1888-2008 Peyton Wolcott |
| P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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| THE BIG PICTURE |
| THE NATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT HONOR ROLL ONLINE CHECKBOOKS How to ask your local school district Flyer History 1st Anniversary |
| Heads up to grassroots school reform activists: Be smart, be effective By Peyton Wolcott Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - 3:07 a.m. |
| Just because you can doesn't mean you should. |
| Most parents and taxpayers are rational beings whose lives work because we operate in them rationally. When we experience a precipitating incident which warrants our dealing with our local school districts, unfortunately most of us generally approach them armed with facts and the same rational thinking that enables us to pay for our houses and cars and the property taxes that pay for our local schools. Generally this is our first mistake. If we compound our mistake by also being angry, we might as well go stand in front of the administration building and shake a big bag filled with rattlesnakes -- it's no good to act surprised when the rattlesnakes react by hissing and trying to bite us. Watching pushback from schools, especially here in Texas, escalate over the past few years (more at right) leaves me troubled; I believe based on my own experiences and observation of others' that many of the difficulties parents and taxpayers are experiencing can be avoided by changing our approach. |
| A special heads-up to citizen journalists, bloggers The Internet is a tremendous gift. We've seen changes here in Texas public education in the past five years which I do not believe would have been possible without the Internet. Many parents and taxpayers are finding themselves pressed into service as citizen journalists who have no formal journalism background. Most often, it is these well-intentioned folks who appear to be getting into the most trouble. We've seen here in Texas in the past two years alone one SLAPP suit filed and another on the way, plus an amicus curiae by a third district. Worse, we've had onerous anti-sunshine legislation encumbered on all of us as a result during this past Lege. Citizen journalism 101: |
| How to change rattlesnakes into teddy bears It starts with changing our mindset. After trying rational thinking, facts and figures, reports and studies with our local administrators, all to no avail, I realized a new way of doing things was necessary. Because of my experiences over the years as a volunteer organizing other volunteers for charity fund raisers, it was a natural next step for me to organize friends into a group. |
| 1. No adjectives. They tend to be inflammatory. 2. Ask questions rather than make accusations. 3. Be very sure of your facts before publishing -- have a paper record in hand. Wishing doesn't make it so. 4. Give your opponents an opportunity to respond. Note in your blog that your phone calls to the district were not returned, etc. Ask the person about whom you're writing if they disagree with any facts you're publishing and if so and can they please provide a paper record or some such supporting their factual disagreement. |
| 5. Who are you? Put your photo and your goals on your home page along with an easily accessible email address. One site I looked at recently posted email addresses for all of the school district's trustees and top administrators -- then made visitors to the site fill out an obnoxious form in order to send an email to the site. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. A group in another state prides itself on its integrity -- yet operates completely anonymously whereas the people the group attacks (constantly) have all been willing at some point to come forward with their names and contact information. 6. Mind your manners. Attribute everything, and properly. 7. Curb your anger. Anger's a funny emotion. It permeates everything we do, renders our best-intentioned work useless, and leaves us worn out. If your administration's done something truly outrageous, sleep on it before posting an angry response. Remember: In order to accomplish anything you're going to have to organize however small a group which means being positive enough in your approach and outlook that people will be drawn to you and your cause. Negativity repels. Positive enthusiasm is a magnet. 8. No community comments. Several reasons. You may run hot for a while but when things start winding down and your local administrators see (0) comments again and again they will assume you have no community support. Also, a lot of anonymous venting can occur. Let your local newspaper handle this -- they can afford lawyers -- or talk to each other in the parking lot of your local barbeque joint or over the produce section at the grocery store. Venting is a form of gossip, and may or may not support your goal. Anything that takes away from your goal is a distraction and to be avoided. 9. Be nice. People will like you more and you'll sleep better at night. 10. Be friendly. Treat your administrators and/or board members and/or any other opposition as you'd like to be treated. I didn't make this up; it's called "The Golden Rule." |
| Rattlesnake (L), Teddy bear (PHOTO--Steiff) |
| Your good name The name of your group is more important than you can imagine. I do not recommend including any of the following in your name: Watchdogs, Concerned (as in "Concerned Citizens of Clearwater"), Watch (as in "We're watching you and we're never going to be happy with anything you do"). "Accountability" and "responsible" are also good ones to avoid. Same for "taxes" and "taxpayers." Better to choose an innocuous name that your district can't slam you on for being negative, something like "Friends of Clearwater Schools." Your district will learn what you're about soon enough. Here's something that I had a very hard time accepting: While a few people will give you a thumbs-up for your negative campaigns, most people want to associate with something they perceive as being positive and will run from anything they perceive as being negative. |
| Think of the scene from the musical, "Oklahoma!" in which Curley gives up his horse and his saddle -- everything he owns -- in order to buy Miss Laurey's box dinner. "It's for the new schoolhouse," says the auctioneer. We all love being part of something larger than ourselves, some greater good. In order to accomplish anything, you're going to have to have broad-based community support, and this only occurs with positive goals and campaigns. |
| Pick a goal, any goal Find a goal you and your small group can agree on, and distill it into one sentence. This is useful because when reporters come calling you'll already have your sound byte ready. Your goal should be important to you and your group and your community and one you can easily and quickly accomplish in a short period--two or three months and no more than six. If you're not sure where to begin -- the list is so long -- or can't agree among yourselves, a good first goal might be to ask your school district to post its check register online if it hasn't already. (How to here) It's an easy, quick goal. Think of yourselves more as guerrillas than Rotary. No fixed meetings every Tuesday, no announcing how many members you have or who they are, no lists of members, no lapel pins. Instead of meeting at meetings, communicate via email and phone. When you accomplish your goal, your community will sit up and take note, favorably. Then disband and take a breather for a while until you figure out what you want to accomplish next. Your next goal will likely mean different participants because not everyone will be interested in participating in everything. One more thing about goals Many times we want to start big and large, at the state level. Better to start small, start simple, start local. Prove that your idea can work locally and others will pick up on it, copy it. This is how ideas spread. |
| Oklahoma movie poster |
| 1. You can be angry and upset -- however righteously so -- OR you can be effective. You can't be both. 2. Using a carrot is more effective than using a stick. Think about it. Would you rather have someone come after you with a carrot or with a stick? Don't you become defensive when somebody shakes a big stick at you? 3. Our school districts -- including administrators, board members and those profiting from friendly relations with them -- may say they want more parental involvement. For some of them this is true. For too many others, what they mean by parental involvement is "Come write checks and say nice things about us and don't question anything we say or do." 4. Our school districts may say they want to improve; here again, some really do want to hear from us; for many others, they don't really welcome your helpful suggestions even when you know you're right and they're wrong. As my wise school board trustee friend told me years ago: "When you criticize them, you're calling their baby ' ugly.' " Your administrators and trustees and their minions will take your factual comments and questions personally and attack you personally in response. 5. Our public schools are essentially socialist models and their engine and currency is the realm of emotions and people skills. 6. The world of public education is a world of feelings. Think about how often you've sat through a superintendent's budget presentation to his/her board and/or the community and at the end the supe says, "I feel good about this budget." For many of us who live in the rational world we're not much interested in our supe's feelings about the budget. We want to know that based on his expertise with budgets (too often, too little) he has presented a budget which will make ends meet. When you talk with educators, talk about your feelings about a topic rather than your thoughts about a topic. 7. In any endeavor, it's always a good idea to consider your opponent. Really look at them. If the product your company produces is packaged ice, you're not going to head north to Alaska to sell it. No matter how nice you are, they're not going to be interested up there. Along these lines, keep in mind that most school districts today are well-oiled (with your tax dollars) PR machines. The average parent wading in to engage with them armed with facts lubricated by some degree of righteous indignation stands little or no chance of winning. It is like watching lambs marching into the slaughterhouse. Further, public schools are generally the largest budgets in our counties; for this reason they have access to resources such as money and legal help. IMPORTANT: Because your schools can dominate any playing field available to them, you must pick and choose a different playing field. Emotions win over facts every time. No matter how well prepared your spreadsheet is -- you Spreadsheet Dads know who you are -- if you do not have some compelling facts to present to your community, facts which will grip their imaginations and hearts, your spreadsheet will accomplish little. 8. No matter how powerful you may be in your world, your work arena, school is a different arena. You're playing on someone else's turf and it behooves you to pay attention to how they play the game. Your rules don't work in their arena. The sooner and better you can master their rules including their jargon the sooner you can be effective. 9. The broader your base, the broader your focus, the more you want to serve rather than get (get something for yourself and/or your family -- or get even) the more likely you are to succeed in your goal of helping your district. 10. Let go of the idea you're a victim or you've been wronged. Both will hinder your efforts. |
| Austin, Texas courtroom: Lake Travis ISD SLAPP suit; plaintiff's attorneys (L) and defense (R). |
| "Walk softly and carry a big stick." -- Teddy Roosevelt "Trust but verify." -- Ronald Reagan |
| Some basic things to think about: |
| A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE FOR TRANSPARENCY SEEKERS ACROSS AMERICA San Antonio's Triple Crown: How 3 major school districts came to post their check registers online in 1 week By Peyton Wolcott Updated Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 12:25 p.m. |
| SAN ANTONIO CHECK REGISTER TIMELINE Sept. 2005 At the request of citizens preferring to remain anonymous, I asked San Antonio's North East ISD super- intendent Richard Middleton about his expenses. Nov. 2005 I traveled to NEISD to view the expenses. May 5, 2006 John Folks, Northside ISD superintendent, tells 65% task force in Austin that he probably would not post his district's check register online. Aug. 2, 2006 Detainment by three armed Edgewood ISD police officers. Sept. 15, 2007 San Antonio Express- News publishes my editorial re advantages of districts' posting their check registers online. Sept.-Oct.-Nov. 2007 Behind-the-scenes discussions with San Antonio business leaders who spoke with their superintendents/board members. Nov. 12, 2007 SAEN publishes front- page story: Northside ISD has posted its check register online. Nov. 16, 2007 SAEN publishes story in Metro section re North East ISD also posting its check register online; includes status of all SA-area districts. San Antonio ISD comes online also that morning. Nov. 17, 2007 SAEN publishes editorial re transparency, mentioning school district online check registers. ____________ Compiled 11.20.07 Updated 11.26.07 |
| Most folks' reaction to this news is disbelief and/or the assumption that while a transparency miracle might be possible in some mythical district far, far away, there's no hope for their own. "It's unbelievable here!," they tell me. "Our board is corrupt and the superintendent is the real power in the county; the average person can't do anything about it." And so on. |
| STEP 1: Background North East ISD Two years ago, NEISD residents asked me questions regarding superintendent Richard Middleton's expenses; for various reasons they were concerned about asking the questions themselves. Because San Antonio's close I filed a series of public records requests at the district in September and eventually received a response (greybar below left). |
| Edgewood ISD PR guy Mario Rios, EISD police officers August 2, 2006 |
| This caught my attention because Edgewood was the name district for a series of five so-called equity lawsuits which brought socialism to Texas public schools with the result that "property-rich" districts write large checks to "property-poor" districts. |
| Public records production at SA's NEISD (Nov. 2005) |
| If after massive transfusions of cash to Edgewood over two decades the district was still performing sub-par* academically, perhaps it was time to take a closer look at Edgewood, see what was up for myself. There was one other under-reported aspect of Robin Hood I have been unsuccessful in persuading my reporter friends to take a closer look at: "Rich" districts' generous checks to "poor" districts leave "rich" districts with no savings, while "poor" districts are entirely free to amass huge savings. Is this fair? Was this the intent of "equity"? |
| What is it with Edgewood ISD and dates? Mystery Edgewood ISD police report from 08.02.06 incident (below): top line unsigned, undated; Sgt. D. Newman was not present at incident. Above, undated untrue out-of-date "Recognized" sign on Edgewood ISD's front door (08.02.06) |
| Speaking of equity: For whom? For the most recently reported actuals (2005-06), Edgewood spent $10,994 per student, and thanks to the generous checks written to this "poor" district they were able to allocate 25.3% of their budget to their district savings account; here in Texas it's called a "fund balance." (Information from Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.) By contrast, San Antonio's wealthiest district, Alamo Heights ISD, sends off such a great portion of its property taxes that its fund balance allocation for the same, most recent reporting period was only 12.4%. Similarly, Northside ISD, another prosperous district, and the largest in the area, was only able to allocate 13.1%, and its neighbor, North East ISD, 15.2% -- all well short of Edgewood's remarkable ability to save. How big a hit are Robin Hood payments? Alamo Heights paid out $26.8 million during the most recent reported year (2005-06), 37.75% of its $71 million total receipts for all funds. . . . and has the money solved anything? After many years of robbing the rich to pay the poor, it's reasonable to ask what if anything has been accomplished. Academics: Alamo Heights and Edgewood are both Academically Acceptable, Texas' equivalent of "average." Finances: After the so-called equity transfers, where Alamo Heights is spending $9,560 per student; Edgewood is spending on average $1,434 more per student than Alamo Heights. |
| Edgewood ISD Surely for me being detained by three armed Edgewood ISD police officers on August 2, 2006 qualifies as one of the worst situations of my life. I'd traveled to San Antonio because the day before then-education commissioner Shirley Neeley had announced that Edgewood had dropped to Texas' scholastic cellar: Academically Unacceptable. |
| NEISD: $64 to view --- Excerpt from NEISD emails sent: Friday, Oct. 14, 2005: ... We estimate that it would take approximately 4 hours at the rate of $15.00 per hour for a total of $60.00 plus $0.10 per page for copies for a grand total of $64.00 to complete your request. Even though you have requested to inspect the documents, you must still pay $64.00 for the documents to be copied. |
| NEISD's response was basically a bill for $64, an illegal request at the time, result- ing from their having lumped my series of individual requests into one. A few months later, after we sorted this out with Hadas- sah Schloss, the Texas OAG cost rules administrator, I traveled to NEISD to view the records. |
| More interesting, as I was leaving the district's large administration building (the old Tesoro Petroleum corporate head- quarters), I noticed an NEISD employee loading those same banker's boxes into the trunk of her car (above) to return to another building. It seemed surprising that a superintendent would not store his same-year expenses in his or his secretary's desk in the same building; later, when I mentioned this to local business executives, they were equally surprised. |
| Interestingly, what the district produced (left) were banker's boxes in a rolling cart, with fuschia tags on pertinent pages. |
| NEISD 701 code expenses (2005) |
| having read a report published in a newsletter regarding a May 5, 2006 Austin meeting (called by then-Texas education commissioner Shirley Neeley to discuss diluting the stricter NCES formula Gov. Rick Perry called for in his executive order RP 47 moving Texas public schools towards 65% spending in the classroom); the report (excerpt at left) stated that when asked by the moderator whether NISD superintendent John Folks would fire a counselor rather than post NISD's check register online, "Dr. Folks looked straight at him and said a defiant ' Yes! ' ” |
| "Dr. Folks Says...Just Fire ‘Em!" Published by Ameri- cans for Prosperity (May 8, 2006) As Northside ISD superintendent, Dr. John Folks blustered to the podium at the TEA hearing on Friday, May 5th, the moderator jocularly stated that Dr. Folks was not a man to be cowed, even by legislators. Apparently, we were to be treated to a presentation by an independent thinker, one whose allegiance was to his strong principles, and one who was not afraid of calling a spade a spade. Certainly, Dr. Folks concurred with this flattering depiction of himself, and boldly stated that he was going to speak his mind. He began by railing against the Governor’s executive order which mandates that 65% of schools funds be used in the classroom (among other things). At this point, he asserted that counselors and librarians were critical to the educational process and the well-being of students. However, he emoted, that while they were an essential part of the educative process, he would be forced to fire them if the 65% rule was enacted with the NCES definition of “classroom instruction” kept pristine. Adam Jones, the moderator, asked him if he meant to indicate that he had no choice, as the mandate provided an option for those schools which did not meet the percentage in the phase in process. Such schools could simply post their check registers online and thus receive a waiver from meeting the standard. Faced with evidence clearly contesting his contention that he had no alterna-tives, Dr. Folks blustered some more and thrust the following gem into the room. He said that schools would be under such pressure by parents and the public to meet the standards that he would have no choice, in a defacto kind of way, but to fire counselors and librarians.The moderator, apparently endeavoring to make sure that he had not heard a misstatement in the heat of the moment, iterated that he wanted to make sure that he understood the Dr.’s position correctly. Adam said, “Are you saying that you would fire a counselor rather than post your check register online?” And Dr. Folks looked straight at him and said a defiant “Yes!” At this display, his education cohorts erupted into laudatory clapping while I tried to wrap my mind around the implications of his words.... |
| FOLKS: Any of the services that are outside that 65% [i.e., guidance counselors] could be negatively impacted when you have to shift a sum of money that may be close to $17 or $18 million in a large school district into that 65%. TEA MODERATOR: But you have an out [by posting NISD's checks online]. You don't have to shift it. Are you telling me the publicity would be worth laying off a counselor? . . . . FOLKS: Probably so. |
| Trouble is, this exchange never happened, or at least not as reported. It took some time to finally locate the tapes; this was during Shirley Neeley's time at the helm at TEA, back when Texas' DOE was less than responsive to queries from the public; this is not a reflection on any individual employees but rather underscores the importance of good leadership--yet another reason why I campaigned on behalf of deputy commissioner Robert Scott, who was appointed commissioner by Gov. Perry on October 16, 2007. Here's what John Folks actually said at the May 5, 2006 F.I.R.S.T. hearings in Austin: |
| Although later in the exchange Folks said he didn't object to check registers being posted, via a Northside ISD employee he said this past March that he had no plans to do so. |
| STEP 2: September 15, 2007 editorial By fall, many major Texas cities either had school district check registers online or had announced formal plans to do so: Houston, Dallas, El Paso/Ysleta, etc. But none in nearby San Antonio. I contacted my local paper, the San Antonio Express-News (bless them for home delivery ninety minutes away) in hopes I could inspire a story, as do many of us who are interested in improving our schools. Instead, they asked me to write an editorial, which they ran on Sunday, September 15, 2007. Nothing happened. No superintendents or trustees came forward with an announcement. STEP 3: Behind the scenes So it was time to go to Plan B, except there was none. Finally, I began calling on folks in San Antonio, asking them to contact their local superintendents and board members, emphasizing to them that any such contact be positive and encouraging, explaining that I've learned myself that our schools -- surprise, surprise -- respond more to a pleasant smile than when they're poked with a stick. (More below; see "Lessons Learned.") STEP 4: November 12, 2007 Imagine my delight to learn that Northside ISD had announced on the front page of the San Antonio Express-News that they'd posted their check register online. Commendably, the SAEN posted a follow-up story on November 16 -- North East ISD and San Antonio ISD both went online that day, although only NEISD was mentioned -- with a list of San Antonio-area districts and where they were in the process, then followed up with a nice mention on November 17 in an editorial. In my book, SAEN editor Bob Rivard (top right next column) has shown the nation how a local newspaper can have a positive impact. God bless them all. Everybody wins, everybody's happy. |
| 1. ATTITUDE Gee, you'd think I'd have figured this out long before now, that folks would prefer to be approached with a smile rather than with a stick. Many of us conservatives fall into this trap, taking a factual, logical approach when dealing with our public schools and being surprised when they react to our direct questions as though to a personal attack; too often, the response has been a series of personal attacks by the schools, resulting in unpleasantness which accomplishes nothing positive in our communities. A pleasant approach in which the other sides' feelings* are acknowledged works much better. 2. ACCURACY We all -- conservative groups, citizen bloggers alike -- really do need to be very careful about what we publish, as with the case of our friends at Americans at Prosperity quoting a superintendent from memory rather than from audiotapes. Our memories really can play tricks on us; as one example, remember the old game, "Telegraph?" Kids would sit in a circle -- usually, as I recall, on rainy days in gym -- and someone would start by saying a sentence to the next person. By the time the circle completed, the sentence sounded nothing like it started. 3. ASKING QUESTIONS It's always a good thing to have a clear purpose behind our requests, and to involve our greater community in our asking questions. It's also good to be wary of hooking up with larger state and national groups whose agendas might be different from our own; often, they answer to a board of directors who pay their salaries, and while we as volunteers might be another entry in a field report for such groups in offices in another city or another state, at the end of the day we are living in our homes in our communities, and the people we are attacking whom we see at the grocery store and church we must somehow find a way to co-exist with peaceably if we are to effect any meaningful change. While anger and agitation may produce dramatic short-term wins, do those wins achieve anything long-term? |
| But did John Folks really say this? Answer: "No" |
| 11.26.07/Contacted AFP for comment. |
| When I got to Edgewood ISD on August 2, imagine my surprise to see a large "Recognized" sign on the administration building's front door. I was so surprised in fact that I took a photo of it, and another one inside the reception area which featured another large Recognized sign. The signage hardly seemed truth in advertising, given EISD's Academically Unacceptable status. Apparently superintendent Richard Bocanegra was not used to folks asking questions. For whatever reason, I soon found myself detained by three armed,uniformed Edgewood ISD police officers who insisted I wait for the district's PR guy. Remembering that EISD |
| police officers had recently been in the news for having shot a suspect they'd followed several blocks off campus, I complied with their request. More here and here |
| Here, then, is the background of two years' toiling in the San Antonio vineyards, a step-by-step guide to how Northside ISD, North East ISD and San Antonio ISD came to post their check registers online the same week, proof that the average person can do something. In addition to hopefully being a guide for how to do this. |
| in your own community, I also share this with you as yet another example of what we all know to be true: Even the worst of situations in this life can lead to greater good. |
| Northside ISD About the same time I was hearing from folks in NEISD, dis- gruntled taxpayers in nearby NISD ap- proached me about their own district, many troubled by |
| Mario Rios, EISD police officers leaving scene, Aug. 2, 2006 |
| When his newspaper's Mexico City bureau chief, Philip True, was killed, Rivard led a highly visible challenge to the Mexican judicial system. He personally was instrumental in finding True's remains and has relentlessly sought to bring his killers to justice. |
| Robert Rivard, editor San Antonio Express-News |
| It's pretty safe to say Bob Rivard and I will never be political allies; in addition to the SAEN having taken a fiercely anti-Iraq war stance, it also refers to "illegal immigrants" as "immigrants." However, he is also fiercely loyal to the causes he adopts -- and to his employees, two qualities to which we all can relate. Here's an excerpt from his 2002 Cabot Prize bio: |
| In 2004 the Jalisco state supreme court returned a final verdict of guilt and ordered the two Huichol brothers-in-law who killed True to serve 20-year prison terms. Both men fled before Mexican authorities could detain them, having been released from custody earlier by a Mexican judge under questionable circumstances. (Ibid,) |
| Rivard's coverage of True's murder led to his writing a book, "Trail of Feathers." Here's an update regarding the outcome of his pursuit of justice: |
| Rivard also played a pivotal role in bringing New York Times reporter Jayson Blair's plagiarism to light: |
| In April 2003, it was Rivard's email to the New York Times that provoked an investigation into plagiarism charges by a reporter named Jayson Blair. Blair had lifted reporting and writing from San Antonio Express-News reporter Macarena Hernandez's published work and presented it as his own. The subsequent investigation led to what became known as the Jayson Blair debacle, with Blair and the Times' executive editor and managing editor tendering their resignations. (SOURCE--RobertRiva rd.com) |
| Hats off to Bob Rivard and his SAEN staff (more at left) for the pivotal role they played in San Antonio school districts posting their check registers online, and for setting such a great example for their fellows in the newspaper business to emulate. |
| Physical plants: Anecdotally, Alamo Heights' schools appear to be old in modern terms but well cared for, whereas at the time of my visits last year Edgewood's new high school was largely unusable because of construction problems; whose fault would that be? Can responsibility for this be laid at the feet of properous taxpayers in other districts--or should folks be asking questions of Edgewood's administrators? Also, while Edgewood, the poor district, has somehow found funds for a staffed Employee Fitness Center; my questions to EISD supe Richard Bocanegra regarding the fitness center, and his relationship to the fellow who has run it for some years now, remain unanswered. On the other hand, I have been unable to determine that Alamo Heights ISD has spent any funds on such a center for their employees. |
| Superintendents' residency: Another question is whether it matters whether a district's superintendent lives in the district; to many of us, it seems logical that a supe should be required to live where he gets paid, as he would have a greater stake in such a community. While Alamo Heights' Jerry Christian lives in AHISD, and Northside's John Folks lives in NISD, and North East ISD's Richard Middleton lives in NEISD, and San Antonio ISD's Robert Duron lives in SAISD, Edgewood's Richard Bocanegra does not live in Edgewood ISD; he owns a house in a new subdivision in Northside ISD although citizens have contacted me suggesting that he actually domiciles elsewhere. Bocanegra has to date declined to answer all questions regarding where he hangs his hat at night. All of this was much in my mind and heart a year ago. It seemed a Gordian Knot with no Alexander the Great anywhere in sight ready to solve it with a single stroke of his sword. "There has to be a better way" The incident at Edgewood got me started thinking: How else could we achieve financial transparency in our schools? Might there be another way? Preferably a nicer, kinder, gentler way, one not involving encounters with armed ISD police officers? Voila -- actually, a few months later -- the idea came to me that if we could persuade school districts to voluntarily post their check registers online many of our transparency issues would be solved. Thus was born the National School District Honor Roll as a means of encouraging and honoring school districts taking that big step towards transparency. |
| HATS OFF: Bob Rivard, The San Antonio Express-News By Peyton Wolcott Tue., Nov. 27, 2007-10 a |
____________
| Edgewood ISD's high school (above) and employee fitness center (below) |
Edgewood ISD I am happy to report that my friend Mario Rios, EISD's PR guy, confirmed this morning that EISD is considering posting its check register online. |
| LESSONS LEARNED |
| 11.26.07/P.S. |
| North East ISD I am also happy to share the following statement from NEISD superintendent Richard Middleton: |
| "Posting our check register is a commu- nity service to our tax- payers. We know that our community has confidence in our academic perfor- mance. By posting our check registers, we can give them a sense of confidence and trust in how we manage their tax dollars." |
| “We want to make our operations more transparent to the public,” superinten- dent John Folks said. “Our voters have passed five consecutive bond issues, so I think this is the right thing to do to maintain and build the trust of our community.” |
| Northside ISD The following is from the general press release NISD issued November 12, 2007, forwarded by NISD's PR guy, Pascual Gonzalez: |
| Northside ISD administration building, San Antonio (top); "Recognized" sign in Edgewood's foyer, receptionist's cage |
| First 3 San Antonio districts with online check registers Nov. 12-16, 2007 +++ Northside ISD - John Folks, superintendent Students: 78,154 Annual: $ 1,039,950,123 Per student $ 13,306 North East ISD - Richard Middleton, superintendent Students: 59,556 Annual: $ 806,762,147 Per student $ 13,546 San Antonio ISD - Robert Duron, superintendent Students: 56,371 Annual $ 557,143,973 Per student $ 9,884 |
| Commentary: An easy way of following school money San Antonio Express-News Op-Ed Web Posted: 09/15/2007 07:00 PM CDT By Peyton Wolcott Several San Antonio-area school districts have been in the news this past year — and not always in a good way. It's hard to stand by and watch a preventable train wreck. As a longtime public school volunteer increasingly concerned about academic failure as costs in our vendor-driven schools skyrocket, one of my primary issues is lack of transparency. While some schools are doing a good job, many are wasting too much money poorly educating students, especially economically deprived children. Money wasted, whether through fraud, waste or faulty planning, is money not being put to best use in classrooms. The fuzzy math/whole language progressive reforms have resulted in too many kids who can't read and young adults who can't tell you what six times nine is without a calculator. Half of students entering community college — the fortunate ones who have not dropped out — need remedial work in core subjects. Superintendents insist our school districts are broke while they attend a seemingly endless stream of education conferences and stay at what most taxpayers would consider luxury hotels. Who's right? Who's wrong? It's a fight with no winners. A light bulb moment occurred last fall when I realized that persuading school districts to post their check registers on their Web sites was an easy and positive solution to this Gordian knot. Simply put, online checkbooks give the keys to the sausage factory to parents and taxpayers. Some sausage is terrific — our family gets some from a San Antonio market that's out of this world — and other sausage needs work. Thus began the National School District Honor Roll with the names of a few tiny Texas districts that were posting their checkbooks online, mostly as part of their BoardBook software. To say this grass-roots movement is catching on is almost an understatement; we already have 60 school district checkbooks online in five states, including Texas' two largest (Houston and Dallas), plus the Texas Education Agency — at least $31.3 billion in annual transparency. But none of the 60 districts are in San Antonio; the closest is Comal in Spring Branch-New Braunfels. So here's a wonderful opportunity for San Antonio- area schools: Who's going to be first to post their check register online and show their communities, in black and white, that they are completely on the up and up? Which superintendent is going to take the first bold step toward transparency? It's hard to imagine any superintendent or school board not wanting to be perceived as 100 percent transparent by their communities. We've learned, with so many districts now online, that most of the issues raised last fall have proven to not be real, such as concerns about the need for new technology and manpower. The Earth has not opened up and swallowed any of the 60 school districts, and taxpayers have not stormed administration buildings armed with lanterns and pitchforks. Far from it. Those districts online are reaping untold public relations benefits in their communities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peyton Wolcott lives in Horseshoe Bay. Information about putting check registers online is available at www.peytonwolcott.com, which includes a "How to ask your district" page and a report from districts that have already done so. |
| Here's the September 15, 2007 San Antonio Express-News editorial: |
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| A MODEL FOR THE NATION: Friends, how so many school districts in a single large urban area came to voluntarily post their check registers online in a short period of time--three in one week in mid-November 2007, several more since--can be replicated. The steps: 1. Wrote editorial for local paper, 2. Approached key local business leaders, who 3. talked with superintendents, board members. Voila! You can follow the steps in your community! It's do-able! It's replicable! |
| Public education's failure to self-police |
| Friends, please benefit from observing my mistakes and/or lessons learned the hard way. You're going to make mistakes -- we all will, as the only folks who don't are the folks who don't do anything -- but, please, make new mistakes. |