Peyton Wolcott - Reader Q & A - Pledges for school board candidates

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

Conservative Commentary - Reader Q & A / Pledges for school board candidates

Get candidates to sign public pledges

Q: You keep talking about
pledges for school board
candidates. Why?

A: Three reasons:

(1) Most important: It's your
only real way to hold your
candidates to their campaign
promises. By having your
candidates sign a public
pledge, they are indicating a
willingness to be held
accountable where it matters--
in the court of public opinion.

(2) It's hard to be a school
board member. Even if you've
attended a lot of board
meetings, it's quite a different
matter to be sitting on a dais
where your votes affect
people's lives. It's too easy in
such circum- stances for busy
trustees to let their
superintendent, who seems
friendly and generally on top of
such things, to tell you how
things really are. A publicly
signed pledge reminds you to
"dance with those who brung
you."

3. A publicly signed pledge
keeps everything squeaky
clean. There's no wiggle-
room for "You misunder- stood
my words and/or my intent or . .
. . " Your candidates know
exactly what you expect of them
in exchange for your support.

What trustees can &
can't do

Q: Is it legal for
school board members
to do business with the
school district?

A: In Texas, yes. They
are supposed to (A)
disclose their business
relationships and (B)
abstain from votes from
which they'd benefit.
Here's what can happen:
Although school board
member Suzie who owns
an insurance agency
can't vote for the district to
buy insurance from her
agency, fellow board
member Sam can. As
things happen, Sam's
got a plumbing business
with a juicy contract with
the district to handle all of
the district's plumbing
repairs. Sam can't vote
on the plumbing
business contract but
Suzie can. In other
words, they work out side
deals with each other.

The Dan Krueger/
Hobart/
Comal ISD Connection

Q: We've found a
candidate we think will do
a good job--any questions
we should be asking?

A: Yes. "Will you sign a
pledge to not do business
with the school district
during your tenure?" Get
them to sign this publicly,
take photos, and circulate
the pledge throughout the
community. It's a great
vote-getter, plus their
promise is now out in the
court of public opinion.
Three other good pledges:
"I will not accept any money
from my school district for
any meals or trainings"
and "I will not accept any
vendor gifts including the
Aramark Thanksgiving
turkey" and "No family
members will work at the
district or do business with
the district during my
tenure as a trustee."

The first one we did in our
local district and voters
loved it. A pledge such as
this is your only leverage
with candidates; once
they're elected they
succumb to the dread
politician's disease,
everyone-wants-to-be-
loved-itis.

Setting a goal

Q: There's so many
problems in our schools,
we don't know where to
start.

A: Find one reachable
goal that you can all agree
on. Write it down in one
sentence. Put a date on
your goal. Then, everything
that crosses your plate
from then on either
supports that goal and so
you do it--or it doesn't
support your goal and
lands in the "later" pile.
Not doing this is where
most reformers get into
trouble. Oh, and it's got to
be a positive goal. Not
"Get rid of the supe." That
may be your private goal,
but for what you share with
the community-- your one
sentence also becomes
your press sound byte--it's
got to be positive.

(Clockwise, from top right)
Long-time Comal ISD board
president Dan Krueger, Hobart
logo, example of Hobart
equipment, Comal ISD's new
Canyon Lake HS (designed by
PBK Architects, who sponsored
"Stilton at the Hilton" for ESC 4,
Jan. 2006)

Rose Cervin (L) of
ACCES$ Comal ISD
filing an open
records request;
while Cervin was a
trustee she asked to
see the district's
legal bills. Krueger
led the district's
efforts to have the
Texas Education
Agency investigate
her. TEA's
findings? Krueger's
claims were
unfounded.

Tips

Rose Cervin (above) often brings homemade
banana bread when she files public records
requests at Comal ISD. It's a way of making nice
with folks who have not always been friendly or
forthcoming, a peace offering. Noblesse oblige.

By the way, I took several other photographs along
with this one above above at Comal ISD recently, a
few weeks after my Edgewood ISD experience, and
despite not having phoned or faxed to announce my
arrival with camera in tow ahead of time, found nary
an armed school district police officer in sight.
Further, I was not detained by one or two let alone
three of them. (August 2006)

Q: Can we post any open
records we get on a web site
or would we need to read the
open records we get and put
our own interpretations of any
records on the web site?

A: Post what you find, as is.
Don't interpret and don't add
any adjectives or "Ain't it awful"
descriptions. People are
smart. You find a $500
restaurant receipt for 8 people
that the school district's tax-
payers are paying for, people
can figure it out for themselves.

Q: We're nervous about
putting our names on our new
website-- ????

A: In my experience, the
most safety for you and your
child lies not in shrinking back
anonymously like you're
ashamed of what you're doing
but by being willing to be big
and loud and noisy about your
cause. My child was never hurt
by my activism, and the
schools knew it wasn't about
her but about all the kids, and
the parents, and the taxpayers.
My photo's on my website not
because it's a glam shot I
wanted to show off--it's a photo
my daughter took out on our
back patio last year on my
husband's birthday--but so
folks can see that I'm an
ordinary person. I personally
get nervous when I land on a
website and don't see any
names or any pictures. I want
to know who I'm dealing with.
You may not be happy with
your supe, but you know
his/her name and where to find
them.

Q: Do you have any design
suggestions for what our
website should look like?

A: Put first things first.
When folks land on your
website here's what they
should see first thing front and
center: your goal, your photos,
your names, your contact
information (email, P.O. box)
and what you're about. If your
biggest item is the $1500
receipt from the Washington,
D.C. school board convention,
feature it on the front page--
don't bury it six links back.

K-I-S-S ! Keep It Simple, Silly.
And keep it positive.
Out-spin your school district.
The local high school's colors
are red and chartreuse? Have
a red and chartreuse banner
across the top of your website.

My website is a continual work
in progress; I keep learning,
as we all do. Women love
color and can handle clutter
whereas guys run from both.

Have a
question
not
covered
here?

More questions will be
posted as received
and as can be
answered. I'm here to
help like-minded folks
who are working
towards improving
their schools.

In the meantime, these
links may be useful for
you:

www.peytonwolcott.co m/h
owtoor ganize.html
and
www.peytonwolcott.co m/
Howtofil eapublicrec o rdsr
equest.html

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

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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?

Signed public pledges for
school board candidates

Q: We have uncovered
some troubling facts
involving violations of state
law in our local schools.
And it appears our
superintendent and his
CFO are doing some funny
business with our money.
But they won't answer our
questions.

A: Our public
schools are
essentially socialist
models and their
engine and currency
is the realm of
emotions and people
skills.
The biggest surprise for
most of us who have
worked in the business
world for any length of time
in dealing with too many of
our local school districts is
the level of indifference and
incompetence we
encounter. It's bad enough
that they hold such low
expectations for our
students, but that they're
wasting so much money
doing it is truly distressing.
      Our kids are our future.
As with other challenges
in our lives, most of us do
research and come up with
factual solutions for our
schools' problems. We
bring our factual solutions
to our principal and/or
superintendent and/or
school board because
we're used to being able to
bring forward factual
information and have it elicit
an appropriate response.
And to a man and woman
we're shocked generally
that our factual solutions
are met with a stone wall of
indifference. Then it sinks
in, "Oh, they don't want our
factual input; they only want
our money and some
cheerleader rah-rah
responses to their latest
money-pit programs."
Once you get this key point,
you will be much more
effective in accomplishing
your goals.

This is why I
advocate:
1. Set a positive achievable
short-term goal.
2. Join together with like-
minded neighbors and
accomplish this goal.
3. Then, and only after
you've achieved your first
goal, move on to your
second goal and/or help
get folks who have signed
the three pledges (at least
3! ) to your local school
board.

Dealing-with-your-
district questions

Website, new group
questions

Q: Our new little group is
thinking about putting up a blog
to encourage a free exchange
of factual information and
ideas about our schools within
our community. Is this a good
idea?

A: Rather than a blog, think
about setting up a very
simple website where you
can (1) post your positive vision
and express your support for
your schools, (2) post your first
goal, and (3) post your 95
questions addressing
community concerns--the new
bond issue, etc.--with findings
from the public records
searches you're doing. Doing
this will better serve your time
and energy.

Here's why I don't think
blogs are effective for
our purposes:

(A) Most parents want their kids
to succeed and will protect
them at all costs. If things are
sufficiently awry in your local
schools that you're at the point
of organizing, there's likely a
climate of fear and intimidation
there. So people will not come
forward even if they agree with
you because they fear reprisals
for their children and
grandchildren. A string of
"comments (0)" after each of
your blog entries will be
interpreted by your district and
your community as no local
support for your ideas, which is
not true.

(B) Most people do not have
time to participate in a blog.
Two-paycheck families mean
Dad's working all the time and
Mom's exhausted doing her
paying job then keeping the
household running. If you offer
people a single realizable goal
which will benefit their children,
it has been my experience that
they will happily put their
shoulder to the wheel for a very
limited (two months?) period of
time.

(C) You're inviting moles from
the school district to participate
anonymously and throw
negative lobs, which is counter-
productive. While you may be
working in the realm of facts,
your school district is working
in the realm of emotion. The
two are apples and oranges.
Here's how I've seen this play
out over and over on blogs: The
blog originator posts a
fact-based observation or
query. Then school district
employees respond with
emotion and personal attacks,
which muddies the water.

Stick to your facts, like
this:
Is your superintendent telling
the community, "We're broke
and need to raise your tax rate
because we can't afford library
books or a full-time nurse at the
elementary school, etc."?
Is this really true? Is your
superintendent also attending
a number of pricey education
conferences?

Your community will respond to
those receipts if they are
presented in the context of "I'm
confused. How can we be truly
broke if Superintendent Bozo Q.
Clowne is spending all this
money on himself?" and "If it's
really all about the kids, why
doesn't Superintendent Clowne
give up his $800 a month car
allowance; don't we pay him
enough that he can pay for his
own car out of his $200,000 per
year salary?" and always
mention the primary truth: "We
love our schools and want
every dollar possible in the
classroom with our kids and
our teachers."

Canopies and canapes--
or library books and school nurses?
(PHOTO/The Adolphus)

WHY SIGNED
PUBLIC PLEDGES
ARE IMPORTANT
No matter how hard you work
on their behalf and no matter
what they say before they're
elected, even the best
candidates can fall prey to the
dread disease, "Everyone-
wants-to-be-loved-itis." One
memorable example of this at
the presidential level was
"Read my lips, no more taxes."
There are almost unimag-

Pledge #1
I pledge that I and my
immediate family,
including parents,
children,
grandchildren and
cousins, will not do
business in any way,
shape, fashion or
form, directly or
indirectly, with the
school district and/or
its vendors during my
tenure.

Pledge #2
I pledge that I and my
immediate family,
including parents,
children,
grandchildren and
cousins, will not
accept any gifts or
payments of any kind
including but not
limited to goods,
services, cash, meals,
travel and
reimbursement from
the school district
and/or its vendors
during my tenure.
This includes all
board trainings and
all board meals and
retreats; I will bring a
sandwich from home
or perhaps a jar of
peanut butter and
some crackers to
share. Better yet,
maybe a big greasy
smelly hamburger
with lots of onions.

Preface for all five pledges: "Because I
am seeking a position on the school board in order to
serve, to give rather than to take, and because I want
every penny possible of our tax dollars to be spent in
the classroom where they belong with our children and
their teachers, . . . .

Pledge #3
I will request that the
district post its check
register online at
each and every board
meeting during my
tenure until such time
as this occurs.

Pledge #5
I will request that the
district get rid of any
and all credit cards
including those main-
tained by the adminis-
tration and board, and
all such cards by any
name including
'P-Cards,' 'Pro-Cards,'
'Procurement Cards,'
'Super Cards,' and the
like.

Pledge #4
I will request that the
superintendent's
employment contract
be posted on the
district's website
along with a salary and
stipend schedule for
all employees.

Pledge #6
I will request that the
board audiotape all
executive sessions.

PLEDGE #2 Issue:
"I can't afford to spend my own
money on a National School
Boards Association trip to
Orlando or for any other
out-of-town trips for that
matter."
PLEDGE #2 Responses:
You don't need to go to
Orlando or anywhere else.
(1) Much of your required
training is available online.
(2) Many interim edu-levels are
set up to provide free trainings;
for example our own ESC XIII
sends people for free--no
mileage charges even, last
time I asked--to come to
member districts to conduct
mandatory board trainings.
(3) Many supes encourage
board members to get a taste
of the high life on these trips
so that the board members
lose any higher moral ground
they might occupy; once a
trustee has stayed in a $150
room, they then cannot say
anything about the supe's
$150 room, etc.
(4) Most trainings--and I've sat
through several in a variety of
settings--are conducted by
retired supes whose primary
goal appears
to be to tell trustees they can't
do anything. Limit your
exposure.
(5) Again, these pledges are to
show your community you're
like the hot dogs who hold
themselves account-
able to a higher standard.

PLEDGE #4 Issues
"Why do we need to see bus
drivers' salaries? And aren't
teachers' salaries based on
years of service and set by
law?"
PLEDGE #4 Responses
(1) Requirements and enforce-

ment along these lines vary by
state; for example,here in
Texas, although supes'
contracts are supposed to be
posted online, several are not.
(2) Alpha sorts will reveal the
amount of nepotism.
(3) Stipends are generally
surprising useful information.

PLEDGE #6 Issue
Why tape what we can't listen
to?
PLEDGE #6 Response
It's not who listens or doesn't,
it's the fact that taping execu-
tive sessions is a means of
holding trustees accountable
for what they say behind
closed doors. This may come
as a big shock to you: Too
often, trustees conduct illegal
conversations and business
behind those closed doors;
as one example, in my own
district when our five trustees
were elected they decided to
start taping executive
sessions, which suddenly--
surprise, surprise--started
lasting only 45-60 minutes
versus the previous 3-4-5
hours.

PLEDGE #1 Issues
"My wife's a schoolteacher."
OR: "I've always sold the
district its sports uniforms."

PLEDGE #1 Response
Oops. The pledges are not for
these candidates. The fellow
whose wife is a teacher? Wait
til she retires then run for the
school board. For your sports
uniform enterprise, either do
business with the district or
serve on the board, but not
both at the same time.

Here's the photo of our 5
candidates signing our
pledge to not do business
with our school district during
their tenure; we featured it in
print ads and flyers.

School board
questions

To blog or
not to blog?

How to approach:
Facts v. emotion

1 pledge or 5 . . . get your school board
candidates to sign something

inable pressures on trustees once they're elected, not the
least of which is the fact that   your superintendent and
vendors are examining them in almost microscopic detail
looking for ways to secure your trustees' votes.
By requiring your candidates to sign public pledges you
accomplish at least two important points:
        1. You hold them accountable in the most important
court of all, the court of public opinion.
        2. You separate the wheat from the chaff.
Although we used a variation of only the first pledge shown
below--because no one had ever done this before, asking for
even one signed pledge was a new and then-untried idea--if
you and your candidate are truly committed to doing things
right, your candidate will welcome the opportunity to sign all
five shown here, and hopefully come up with a few
tailor-made to fit your district. You don't need to hire a lawyer
to pretty these up; it's the intent that matters.
IDEA: Turn the signing into a photo-op then publicize the
signing at every opportunity.   This is what we did, very
successfully; those were our five candidates in the photo
above all of whom agreed to sign our pledge.
The pledges are at left below; to their right are various
issues your candidate(s) might raise, along with suggested
responses which address and solve those issues.

PLEDGE #3 Issues:
"Is this legal?" "Suppose the
superintendent says it's too
expensive or too much
trouble?"

PLEDGE #3 Responses: It's
completely legal and there are
no expenses involved; more
here

PLEDGE #5 Issues
"My superintendent says he
needs a credit card for trips."
Also, "Suppose our band is
out in the school bus and
needs gas?"
PLEDGE #5 Responses
Your superintendent can stop
traveling and stay home, go to
work every day in the district.
There can be one or two
gasoline credit cards which
are handed out only on an
as-needed per-trip basis.

Q: Why do you insist on
being positive? I'm not a
happy camper--too much
has happened to be
cheery.

A: You can live in "The
Land of Ain't It Awful" or
you can start looking for
solutions, but you can't do
both at the same time.
While you may be
completely justified in
feeling angry and
mistreated by your local
school district or the state
edu-agency and/or
anybody in between, to
stay mad at them means
you've given them your
power, which I do not
advocate. This was part of
Paula Deen's (see Oct. 1
report) turnaround, the day
she discovered she was
responsible for her own
happiness. Also,
practically speaking, the
only way any of us can
solve any problems in this
world is to be very, very
positive. Unremittingly so.

Q: I'm so angry at our
school board! At our last
board meeting they were
just plain mean to the
parents who spoke.

A: You can be angry or
you can be effective--not
both. We all have to
learn to not take our
elected trustees
personally. An old friend
told me one time, "You're
telling them they have an
ugly baby." Meaning
many board members
serve with no
recompense save fancy
meals and travel now and
then; even the ones who
are doing business with
your school district still
take some pride in their
work on the school board,
and when you're criticizing
the school district, you're
calling their baby "ugly."
While you may
understandably not like
the fancy meals and
hotels and the fact that
your trustees are writing
themselves checks each
month, you will be far
more effective when you
keep your eyes on your
prize, on the goal you've
set, and let everything
else fall away as
inconsequential.

Act--don't react
You really do have to
choose whether you want
to be angry and sarcastic
and react to your board,
letting them play you like
a fiddle--or set your own
path and become
effective.

Q: I saw a local trustee
drinking at a bar at a
convention. What do I do?

A: Nothing--unless of
course you suspect he or
she has had too much to
drink and cannot drive
home safely. But no, I
think you're thinking to
yourself, "Gotcha!" Our
trustees have as much
right as the next person to
go sit in a bar and have a
few if that's their idea of a
good time.

The only problem I have
with trustees and
administrators drinking
alcoholic beverages at
education conferences
and other edu-related
events such as here is
when business is being
discussed, in which case
I have plenty to say and I
hope you do, too.

Businesses that ply their
prospective clients with
booze in order to solicit
business cannot be
blamed for doing so--
although it does seem
such behavior ranks
them among snakes and
other creepy crawlies that
move along on their
bellies, especially when
school business is
involved.

Q: Our school
secretary used to be so
friendly, but now after 2
ORR's she's become
unpleasant. What
happened?

A: What's happened is
that you've filed some
requests to view public
documents. It never
ceases to amaze me that
so long as we send
money and blindly accept
what our schools tell us
they're friendly as can be,
but as soon as we start
asking questions the
nice mask drops. It's not
personal; she'd treat
anyone filing ORR's the
same way. Remember,
"follow the money." Most
likely her boss the supe
is not happy about having
to produce the records
and she's protecting her
job. Once more, with
feeling: It's not personal,
it's bidness.

Q: We're thinking about
calling our group "The
Piltdown Pit Bulls." Our
school district is "Piltdown,"
and we thought the image of
the pit bull would put our
school board and
superintendent on notice that
we're watching them and we're
serious and that we mean
business. What do you think?

A: Congratulations on
organizing! What a great first
step!

However, I think this name will
not serve either you or your
cause well.

First, your supe and his/her
board will hammer you in the
press and around the
community for being "negative,"
so why choose a name that's
going to create obstacles
needing overcoming from the
get-go?

Second, your community will
want to align themselves with
something that appears to be
positive. And growling barking
dogs are not what most people
consider to be positive. It
suggests that the district is
never going to be able to
please you, and that you're
going to be always standing
there like a disapproving
maiden aunt, arms folded,
finger pointed, forever going
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Third , what do you stand FOR?
Try to include your positive
goal in your group's name.
We've had two PEAK$ groups
in my area; the name sounds
likeable and promises
aspirations towards good
things. As another example,
Rose Cervin (at left), a former
trustee at Comal ISD near San
Antonio, has helped form a
new group, ACCES$ COMAL
ISD. What a great positive-
sounding name. Rose wants
to bring more transparency to
her school district by looking at
public records especially
regarding spending and board
governance issues. For
example, Dan Krueger, Comal
ISD board president (photo
above right), is also reported to
be a sales manager with
Hobart, and most new Comal
ISD schools built since Dan
joined the board appear to
feature Hobart equipment.
There may be perfectly sound
and reasonable explanations
for this, but community
members have come forward
asking questions. "Parents
and taxpayers have a right to
know what's going on," says
Rose.

HOME

What's on this page?
LEFT TO RIGHT: The 5 pledges (below left), a variation of the pledge we used when we successfully placed all 5 of our candidates on our local school board in one election . . .
School board questions . . . ethics . . . morals . . . what to do when your trustees are rude . . .
Website questions . . . designs . . . naming your site and group . . . whether to include a blog or not . . . anonymity vs. coming forward with your identity . . . purpose . . .
What to do when you uncover troubling facts about your district . . . The importance of goal setting . . . Worst supe / worst board?

Worst supe,
worst board

Walk softly --
with a big stick

Q: You don't
understand. We've
got the worst
superintendent in the
world. Around here
he's called "King" --
his house is so big it
looks like a castle --
and he struts around
like a third-world
dictator. He says
"Jump" and his staff
and board ask "How
high?" Speaking of
our school board,
they've totally sold out.

I myself have tried
the nice approach
with him and he was
totally rude and
arrogant. You
advocate asking him
politely to put our
district's checks
online -- hah! It's
going to take a court
order with the King
and his court.

A: Reality check:
I deal with school
districts in all states.
Your situation is not
the worst; it's just the
one you know.

There are two issues
here.

First, no matter how
rancorous your history
with your superinten-
dent, if you will follow
the steps here exactly
as written -- including
suspending all judg-
ment on your part --
provided you
approach your super-
intendent in the right
way it's not possible
for your superinten-
dent to say "no." He /
she will not want to
be viewed by your
community as being
against transparency.

I would not ask
anyone to do
something I've not
done myself. Some
years ago my relation-
ship with the district
where my daughter
went to high school
was so negative that
when the then-school
board president
yelled at me during a
committee meeting it
made the front news
of the local paper. I
later approached
them anyway using
exactly the steps I
suggest -- they are
written as they are
written for specific
purposes -- and the
board voted "yes" on
the spot. These
steps really do work.
They have worked
many times in many
difficult situations.

Second, one of my
favorite quotes -- it's
repeated on my site --
is Teddy Roosevelt's
"Walk softly and carry
a big stick."

Examples of helpful
activities:

o Organize as a
positive group. If
things are as negative
as you say, your supe
is expecting a nega-
tive group. Find
something positive to
unite your community
behind -- like getting
the district's check
register online.

o Your superinten-
dent lives in a palace
in an exclusive gated
community at a time
when your teachers
are struggling on
$35,000 salaries?
Take a photograph of
King's castle and
circulate it.

o Your superinten-
dent is MIA many
Friday afternoons
because he/she is
away at taxpayer-
funded education
conferences? Show
up at the conference
and take his/her
photograph, circulate
it along with receipts,
then ask how atten-
dance at such a conf-
erence might help 3rd
graders learn their
multiplication tables.