| Chattanooga (Hamilton County DOE) trustee Rhonda Thurman |
| 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 |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
Friends, because there's now so much on this site--reports, commentaries, book excerpts, all designed to help you bring improvements to your local schools--I'm in the process of preparing a site map. Underlining indicates active links. Please check back. SITE MAP NEW COMMENTARIES: RANDOM ROUND-UPS ACCOUNTABILITY & OPEN RECORDS ISSUES: School District Checks/Check Registers Online Connecting the Dots Pass the Trash Reader Q & A's SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) Transparency Report ____ GOVERNANCE ISSUES: The American Superintendency Team of Eight ____ Arizona Nogales USD Pima County Ofc. of Ed. Santa Cruz County OE California Glenn County Ofc. of Ed. San Francisco USD Florida Citrus County PS Miami-Dade County PS Michigan Ann Arbor New York New York PS Roslyn Ohio Strongsville PS Texas Bremond ISD Cleburne ISD Dallas ISD Eanes ISD Edgewood ISD Everman ISD Houston ISD Katy ISD La Joya ISD Lake Travis ISD Llano ISD State Board of Education ____ Edu-Conferences ____ BOOK EXCERPTS: Education, Inc. How To File a Public Records Request How To Organize Lax Oversight ____ WHAT OTHER FOLKS ARE DOING: MODERN MINUTEMEN SUCCESS STORIES, KINDRED SPIRITS ____ COMMENTARY ARCHIVES ___ SPECIAL REPORTS: TEXAS LEGE: TEA POWER GRAB PAYING FOR TEXAS PUBLIC EDUCATION: A PRIMER ____ About/In the News 2006 - Year in Review |
AASA - American Association of School Administrators ASA - Association of School Administrators CSD - Consolidated School District DOE - Department of Education ES - Elementary School HS - High School ISD - Independent School District JHS - Junior High School MS - Middle School MSM - Mainstream media NSBA - National School Boards Association NSPRA - National School Public Relations Association PS - Public School(s) SBEC - State Board for Educator Certification SD - School District Sup't - Superintendent TAKS - Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills TASA - Texas Association of School Administrators TASB - Texas Association of School Boards TASBO - Texas Association of School Business Officials TEA - Texas Education Agency TEKS - Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills USD - UnifiedUnited School District |
| GUIDE |
| FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of education issues vital to a republic. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Section 107 which states: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright," the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
| 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 1999-2007 Peyton Wolcott |
| Britain's King George III once ruled our country; despotism by those with power does not last. Public school superintendents would do well to remember this lesson from history. |
My New Book PEYTON WOLCOTT |
| QUERY THE SUPE & THE PR GUY |
TO:
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006
Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006
Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.
DATE FIRST SENT:
FEB. 14, 2006
RE-SENT 03/26/06
Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:
I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....
Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive
1. What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?
2. Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?
Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers
4. What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?
5. There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?
Regarding trainings
and conferences
6. Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?
7. In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?
It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.
FEB. 14, 2006
RE-SENT 03/26/06
Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:
I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....
Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive
1. What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?
2. Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?
Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers
4. What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?
5. There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?
Regarding trainings
and conferences
6. Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?
7. In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?
It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.
| STATUS: No response rec'd from Sup't Gray as of Jan. 22, 2007 |
| QUERY THE SUPE (& CC THE BOARD) |
| CONTACT: Peyton Wolcott P.O. Box 9068 Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657 peyton@peytonwolcott.com Want to subscribe to my newsletter? Send me an email marked "Subscribe." |
| F o c u s i n g o n accountability f i r s t |
| 95 Questions here Online School District Check Registers Here Random Round-Ups Here 2006 - Year in Review here Nov.-Dec. 2006 commen- taries here Pass the Trash here SLAPP reports here and here Reader Q&As |
| Conservative Commentary |
| LOCATION: Texas Association of School Boards/Texas Association of School Administrators - Annual Convention (Houston, Texas) DATE: Oct. 6, 2006 EVENT: UBS Financial Services, Inc. reception FACTS: There were four chairs at this table and a total of five alcoholic beverages (green arrows), according to waitstaff. There's more than one way to skin a cat--or to sell financial services. UBS was not listed on either the 2005 or 2006 TASB/TASA official paid and registered exhibitor list; instead, it appears to have bypassed the vendor hall in favor of doing its selling at receptions such as the one above. This is nothing against UBS; they're no doubt a fine company, plus I'm a pro-business and free enterprise kind of girl. But is this the type of environment in which we want our school superintendent s and trustees to be making important financial considerations involving taxpayer dollars? |
| Friends, can you help me identify the man and two women in this picture from TASB/TASA 2006? Enlarged, with more information, here |
| No, these folks above are not New Year's Eve revelers--this photo was taken Friday, October 6, 2006 at a party hosted by UBS Financial Services. Educated guess: These folks are most likely public school administrators or elected school board members. |
| CONTACT |
| How difficult is it to get your local school district to post its checks online each month? JUST ASK! By Peyton Wolcott-Copyright 2007 Published Mon., Jan. 22, 2007 Updated Jan. 22, 2007/10am |
| EPISD dad Gary Gonzalez |
| El Paso truck driver Gary Gonzalez, whose two children attend El Paso ISD, has asked his trustees twice now at board meetings to post the district's check registers online in the interest of increasing transparency. The second time, local TV reporters noticed and reported his request. |
| Has Gary's approach worked? You bet. EPISD superintendent Lorenzo Garcia has already set an appointment with Gonzalez--for this Wednesday at the district's administration building. |
| Lorenzo Garcia |
| Timing is everything in this life Garcia inherited a difficult situation in El Paso; within months of his joining the district last February, the FBI began an investigation of district vendors Access Administrators and its affiliate Advantage Care Network (ACCESS), EPISD's third-party administrator and network provider. While the district has announced to the community that "the FBI has assured EPISD leadership that the district as an entity is not the target of the investigation," this is not the sort of attention any school administrator welcomes. As with Houston-area Spring Branch ISD, where supe Duncan Klussmann inherited a PR black eye from his predecessor Yvonne Katz--you recall Katz, who had moonlighted as an Energy Education Inc. consultant then brought the vendor to the district for a business deal without disclosing the relationship to her trustees--for Garcia, posting El Paso ISD's check registers online could represent a meaningful and welcome big first step towards transparency. |
| Remember: anyone in any state can ask their school board to post their check registers online. In fact, I asked my own local district, Marble Falls ISD, the one where I began volunteering seven years ago, if I could be put on the agenda--better than what I call "open-mic night," where you show up unannounced for the public comment portion of the meeting (the trustees can discuss your presentation with you if you're on the agenda)--and |
| Marble Falls ISD trustees discuss posting their district's checks online at Dec. 18, 2006 board meeting |
| The power of a question whose time has come I mention the process so that you can see the importance of one person asking. Gary has asked, I have asked, and you, too, can ask. Posting check registers online is a good idea, and with the growing movement towards transparency in our public schools, superin- tendents and school boards would have to be willing to be perceived as being anti-open government and anti-transparency to turn down your request they their post the district's check registers online. |
| Is it a difficult and time-consuming process for districts to post their check registers online? Hardly. As Big Spring ISD superintendent Michael Downes said, the first time they posted, it took all of maybe four or five minutes. |
| SPRING BRANCH ISD Duncan Klussmann, superintendent "Posting our check registers online has been something that's worked for us with very minimal effort to get it up and running; I believe school districts are running moving in this direction. We try to be a very transparent district. We have a strong and supportive community, and we feel that being transparent supports that." Klussmann added that when he first came into education it was common for all checks to be included with the board packets and an approval item at board meetings. Obstacles and stumbling blocks: "Our financial software is older and DOS-based, not designed to generate reports, but once we got our first report as a model it went quickly." Special kudos: "We have a wonderful finance person, Karen Wilson, who took this on." Additional comments: "Anything we can do to take raw data as we're required to report it by the state and make it more accessible to our community is a benefit." Extra expense: None. Fallout? No increase in public records requests. "The only thing you do worry about is someone looking at something and not understanding; you'd sit down with the person and explain it to them." Goals for the future: Make the link more accessible, in fewer clicks. BIG SPRING ISD Michael Downes, superintendent "We don't consider posting our check registers online a big deal as it's a public record; we were already publishing our check registers each month." Along the same lines of making the district's finances more intelligible to the public, "We're also one of the few districts in the state that are recognized by GFOA for the Distinguished Budget Presentation award. Sandra Waggoner, chief financial officer "Posting our check register online really isn't any extra work; it's the same check register we give our board each month, then we just PDF it to our webmaster." Sandra is BSISD's public information officer; the district only receives 3-4 ORR's per year. "Most are not people trying to stir up something, just, 'I'm curious.' " Logistics: BSISD's bookkeeper sends a PDF file to Downe's secretary for TASB BoardBook, and sends a duplicate copy of the PDF file to the webmaster who uploads and creates a link so it's available for the public. Special kudos: BSISD's CFO, Sandra Waggoner. Extra expense: None. Fallout? No increase in public records requests. Goals for the future: Keep each month's check registers online for one year. NEW CANEY ISD Cindy Reynolds, secretary to superintendent/media relations "We've posted our check register online for at least the past year and a half; here at New Caney ISD we have a very open-door policy with the public and the media. Posting our check registers online saves us some time on generating information that people might request otherwise. This is the best way to approach it. It never occurred to us to not post this public information. When you form partnerships with your community, you have to be above reproach. We're all partners, we're all taxpayers. We have to be accountable in all areas." Fallout? "Parents and support organizations question us from time to time regarding expenditures--not that we've been questioned on how but where--and they're certainly entitled to that information." Logistics: NCISD uses TASB's BoardBook. Extra expense: None; check registers are a free feature of TASB's BoardBook. NEDERLAND ISD Gail Krohn, superintendent "I think it's important for a district to share pertinent financial information with the community and the taxpayers; that's what's important. I'm very proud of our business manager that she tries her very best to make things simple and understandable for the taxpayers of Nederland ISD." . |
| Having more transparency in your district by being able to view your district's checks online might be as soon and as close as your asking at your district's next board meeting that the checks be posted. Remember, you're entitled to ask. It's your money and your school district. |
| was, last December Superintendent Ryder Warren thought it a timely and appropriate idea, a natural continuation of the transparency he'd already worked to bring to the district, and recommended posting the district's check registers online to the board, which concurred. |
| "Superintendents and school boards would have to be willing to be perceived as being anti-open government and anti-transparency to turn down your request that they post their check registers online." |
| Here's the report I presented to Marble Falls ISD trustees last month; it addresses typical concerns administrators and trustees might have: |
KEY POINT: "Superin- tendents and school boards would have to be willing to be perceived as being anti-open government and anti- transparency to turn down your request that they post their check registers online." --Peyton |
| UPDATE: El Paso ISD resets meeting with dad Gary Gonzalez By Peyton Wolcott-Copyright 2007 Published Tues., Jan. 30, 2007 |
| Lorenzo Garcia, superintendent of El Paso ISD, has reset his meeting with dad Gary Gonzalez to Thursday, Feb. 1, at 1:00 p.m. at the district's administrative offices, reportedly to |
| enable the attendance at the meeting of two EPISD executives. |
| Check registers online |
| National School District Honor Roll in Hou. Chronicle By Peyton Wolcott-Copyright 2007 Published Tues., Jan. 30, 2007 |
| Helen Eriksen |
| "Would posting [Katy ISD's] check registers improve accountability and openness?" Many thanks to reporter Helen Eriksen for |
| Gary went before the EPISD school board on four separate occasions-- twice in December and twice in January--and asked that they post as an agenda item on the next school board meeting the idea of the district posting its check registers online. The first three times he asked, there was no response from the board. "The fourth time I asked," he said, then I read a statement, then I gave them my agenda." At the top of Gary's six-point agenda? Posting check registers online. |
| Statement of Gary Gonzalez to El Paso ISD trustees January 23, 2007 Open government is a benefit for students, parents, employees and the public. One way to participate in open government is for the board of trustees to post its check register online. Online posting of your check register improves accountability and gives citizens confidence that taxpayers’ dollars are properly spent. Other school districts including Spring Branch have done this and it is a success. I encourage the board to be a leader and call for posting of its check register online. |
| While it's entirely possible that SBISD would have posted their check registers online eventually anyway, it happened this past fall rather than at some unknown date in the future because I took the time to ask one of their board members to discuss the idea at their upcoming board meeting; he agreed to do so, and the result is that SBISD checks are online now, sooner rather than later. |
| Since starting the National School District Honor Roll comprising districts posting their check registers online last October, $745.2 million annually is now more transparent in U.S. public education. The addition of El Paso ISD would bring this amount to $1.3 billion. |
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. --President Ronald Reagan |
Texas-sized news! Showing the way for the rest of our great republic, the Texas Education Agency announced today it has posted its check register online! |
| By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007 Published Wed., Jan. 31, 2007 |
| TEA's check register now online! Texas leads the way in public education financial transparency By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007 Published Feb. 1, 2007/2:17 am - Updated Feb. 17, 2007/11 pm |
| You have no idea how much pleasure it gives me as a native Texan to be able to write this headline. After toiling in the grassroots education reform vineyards as a volunteer for many years, suddenly late last September a light bulb went off and I realized that many of our public records issues could be addressed by a very simple remedy: School districts could post their check registers online. Thus of a simple remedy was born a very simple project, The National School District Honor Roll, honoring those districts posting their check registers online. |
| Texas Governor Rick Perry (left) with Texas Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley and Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott |
| Increased transpar- ency: clearly an idea whose time has come Responding to questions earlier today regarding the Texas Education Agency's decision to post its check register online this week (link below right in red box) in conjunction with the governor's press release today (below right, grey box) deputy TEA commissioner Robert Scott pointed out that increased transparency was the governor's initiative. "It's something he feels very strongly about," Scott said. "We at TEA wholeheartedly agree." |
| Gov. Perry's press release "Texans deserve a budget that make sense. Perry today offered budget reform proposals that he says are meant to promote fiscal responsibility and transparency in state government. The list includes....requiring all Texas agencies to publish expenditures online in a clear and consistent format. Perry says Texas has a record budget surplus, so it's time to make one-time payments to reconcile past accoun- ting maneuvers and accurately balance the budget. The governor also says--starting today-- expenditures made by his office will be available to view online. DATE: 01/31/07 |
| What it looks like TEA's check register as posted online is a jumble of the mundane and the huge, all of the checks the agency's written over the past five months. There's what could be a mileage reimbursement check to TEA general counsel David Anderson back in November for an even $43.00 posted not too far from the $223,543,476.43 paid to Dallas ISD . All for apparent want of a tractor Speaking of Dallas, we note almost $2.2 million since September 13 to Como- Picton CISD, about 45 minutes to the east, not too far from longtime former professional Texas Association of School Boards paid lobbyist Bill Ratliff's hometown of Mt. Pleasant. TEA's most recent check was mailed to CPCISD, presumably addressed to the district's superintendent, on January 26, the same day East Texas Radio announced "Hopkins County Investigator Lewis Tatum and Texas Ranger Philip Kemp are examining the financial and bank records of the Como-Pickton ISD today as the investigation into the activities of suspended superintendent Bryan Neal continues. Investigator Tatum says more charges are possible in the case, in addition to the two already filed." Also, "prosecutors say Neal bought a tractor and a four- wheeler under the school's name at a combined cost of about $30,000 and was paying it off with a payroll deduction. He’s also accused of forging someone else’s name on a check made out to him." From California: 'Texas is way ahead of the game' Tim Crews, publisher of the award-winning Sacramento Valley Mirror, and officer of |
| Check registers online snowballing There's clearly a heightened interest in public school spending and transparency--especially anything available online. People get technology, use it daily in multiple aspects of their lives, and don't understand why their tax dollars which are paying for so much costly and advanced technology in their schools can't produce easily accessible online viewing of all school records including financials. Austin American-Statesman editor Rich Oppel came up with a solution last year: "Put all government records up on the Internet, except for those that are specifically confidential by law." As a counter there will always be the school district apologists, the folks who want you to trust, trust, TRUST your board and superintendent--after all, you elected them--and pul-LEEZ let them do their job without having to stop and look up receipts for every Tom, Dick and Harry who ask. The telling incident in this tale: a blog posting just last week in Houston regarding Mary McGarr's suburban school district, Katy ISD. Ever since Houston Chronicle reporter Helen Eriksen first posted an entry last Thursday asking whether Katy ISD's posting its check register online would improve "accountability and openness" in the district, the comments have ranged from school district loyalists who confuse trust with blind loyalty to angry taxpayers wanting accountability and they want it NOW. While Helen's post today on the naming of a new school has netted one comment, and her post last Friday about a local resident who is staging Friday-night pig races to protest the construction of a new mosque next door has attracted 22 comments, her blog entry a day earlier asking whether Katy ISD should post its check registers online still continues to attract comments, 39 so far, and at a steady pace. This snowball has legs. |
| Tim Crews (PHOTO/AP) |
| Above,Bryan Neal as Como-Pickton CISD supe; police mug shot (below) |
| Calaware, an open government advocacy group, com- mented last night from California, "You can't really understand how something as complicated as education works until you can see where the actual dollars go. As somebody who's fought for transparency in public schools over the past forty years, this is one of the best pieces of good news I've run into. Texas is way ahead of the game. This is good faith with the voters and the taxpayers, a good deal all around." |
| Neal's apparent motivation per Hopkins County DA Martin Braddy: "To avoid sales taxes as well as get a discounted rate." (SOURCE--Oralia Ortega/ KLTV) |
| Elsewhere across the nation Reactions have ranged from shock to high-fives (in my kitchen with my husband) to shouts to the philosophic to the hopeful and optimistic. "I'd sure like to see this in Iowa," said Dick Fredericks, spokesman forIowalive, a growing network of volunteer professionals working to improve all things Iowa, including their public schools. "Texas is first--why can't Iowa be second?" |
| Rhonda Thurman in Chattanooga, who has just this week successfully persuaded supe Jim Scales, formerly of Dallas ISD, to release the names of employees due to receive $13 million from HCDOE for accrued sick and vacation pay, said, "It would be marvelous if we would be that transparent here; it would save a lot of distrust and make this more open to the public. Some people seem to think public education funds are their own private company and they can do what they want. The taxpayers have a right to know." |
| By email from Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, Coast Guard Captain Jim Olsen said, "I look |
| Jim Olsen at Sakai MS |
| forward to the day when Washington State taxpayers and parents will have the leadership the Texas Education Agency has demonstrated by publishing their financial records on the Internet. Our local Bainbridge Island School District #303 still spends taxpayer funds and bonds and levies without any transparency." |
| From Nebraska, education writer Susan Darst Williams took a philosophic view: “The quickest way to expose waste, fraud, embezzlement, bid-rigging and corruption is to get a lot more accounting transparency from our districts. Then, if abuse isn’t there, they’ve done their job–they’ve educated the public on how they’re spending our money, and we can all live happily ever after.” Susan's website is www.GoBigEd.com. |
| From Texas, whoops and hollers Bremond ISD trustee Pat Yezak, who together with her friend Nancy Gadbois successfully helped bring James Kenneth Johnson, their then-superinten- dent, to justice, responded yesterday to TEA's announcement, "I think this is such a positive step! It's awesome! TEA's leading the way!" |
| Gadbois (above left) and Yezak; Kenny Johnson's mug shot |
| El Paso ISD dad Gary Gonzalez (photo above right), due to meet with superintendent Lorenzo Garcia this morning at 8:00 a.m.--with putting the district's check register online first on the agenda--said last night, "I'm ecstatic to learn that the Texas Education Agency has made this move. It's a victory not only for public disclosure and open government but also for the schoolchildren of Texas. I hope that El Paso ISD and all other school districts pay heed to the actions of TEA and follow suit." |
| Teresa Blackwell, president of ACCESS-Cleburne ISD, a parent/ taxpayer group working to improve their local public schools, had this thought: "If the lead agency is posting their check registers online, it should set a precedent for every school district in Texas. This will certainly make it easier for our district to post its check register online." |
| Teresa Blackwell |
| Jim and Pat Donahy, who were instru- mental in bringing sunshine to Llano ISD-- their former superintendent, Jack Patton, became Texas' first Public Inform- ation Act conviction--said late last night, "Fantastic news! It's the first step in the right direction! Hopefully Llano ISD will follow soon in TEA's footsteps by doing the same thing with all of their check registers." Spring Branch ISD board vice president Mike Falick, who persuaded fellow board members last fall that the district's check registers be posted online, commented, "It is good to see the Texas Education Agency following Spring Branch’s lead in increasing transparency for Texas taxpayers. Hopefully, soon all governmental agencies will do so as well." |
| Mary McGarr said, "As a former Katy ISD school board member, it's gratifying for me to hear that Texas Education Agency officials raised the bar of openness by putting the Agency's check registers on line--a move that should encourage school districts statewide to join them." |
| Pat Donahy |
| Mike Falick |
| Mary McGarr |