July 28, 2006

I hope all kids have a great first day of school

Reprinted from KPFT. The author, Conrad Allen is the Chair of Precinct 874..

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I hope all kids have a great first day of school
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
By: Conrad Allen

I hope all kids have a great first day of school
I hope all kids have a great first day of school

How Norman Rockwell and Ruby Bridges cleared my fear away

This fall, my two girls begin Kindergarten and 1st grade at Haude Elementary in Spring, Texas. Like most parents, I'm a little worried about that first day of class when my little ones leave the nest and meet the world. Okay, let me tell the truth; I am scared to death. What if they reach out for me and I'm not there? What if the other kids are mean to them? What if they get scared on the bus? Why do they have to grow up? The kids are doing much better than me. They are excited about starting public school and I encourage that, even though I'm melting inside.

I read a story the Houston Chronicle by Lisa Gray called, "A brush with history" that put things into focus for me. Grays story tells of how one of Norman Rockwell's most famous paintings titled, The Problem We All Live With, hangs in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. It's a scene of a brave little girl on her first day of school and Rockwell's painting captures the anxiety associated with that, but there is something quite extraordinary. The painting reveals a 6-year-old walking under the protection of US Federal Marshals. Law enforcement was needed because some people wanted to hurt this little girl. She was integrating her school.

How ignorant can I be? I worry about my kids trotting off to their quiet suburban school which is just one quarter mile from our house. I'm whining that some kid might make an ugly face or not play nice. What about the parents of this little girl in the painting? How did they feel three weeks before school started, knowing that their daughter would be in the eye of a social hurricane on her first day of school? It was a hurricane that brought this story to the Houston Chronicle. You see, that little girl was Ruby Bridges of New Orleans and she integrated Frantz Elementary back in 1960. That little girl's mother, Lucille Bridges, is a Hurricane Katrina survivor now living in Houston. Very recently she went to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to see Rockwell's original painting of her daughter for the very first time.

Thirty-seven years after Ruby integrated her school, I got a job in the oil industry in New Orleans. Part of the reason I got hired was because the federal courts ordered Texaco to stop discriminating in promotion and hiring practices. There were just a handful of black geologists at Texaco back then and we were doing a bit of integrating ourselves, but certainly nothing like young Ruby endured. For years (both before and after the lawsuit), Texaco let volunteers take time away from the office and tutor kids in the Orleans Parish School System. I was assigned to Frantz Elementary. I'm sorry to report that, in spite of Ruby Bridges tremendous service to our nation, her old school building was in a disgraceful state of disrepair. The building was hot and moldy. Hunks of plaster fell from leaky ceilings. Stairs were broken and dangerous to walk on. I cut my hand on a railing and I still have the scar today. The books were old and mismatched. Texaco donated dozens of computers and some of us bought reading and arithmetic software, but for the most part, comfortable surroundings and modern classrooms were beyond these children. The teachers were absolutely the best. They could have taught in other places, but many chose to teach there. Many grew up in that neighborhood. One lady had a degree from Harvard. I saw those teachers adapt to the deplorable conditions and overcome. The kids were learning, but it was so difficult. One day after school, I brought a load of drafting supplies that Texaco donated and the teacher burst into tears. When people are under tremendous pressure, the smallest act of kindness can be overwhelming. I don't know what became of Frantz Elementary, the teachers or children that went there after Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps some will be at my daughters' school here in Spring, Texas. This community would (and did) welcome them.

The article in the Houston Chronicle reminded me of how difficult things are for the poorest among us. I am pleased that my children are going to a great school. I want this for every child. It's expensive and we have to make choices. If I could take money away from projects like the Grand Parkway being built through Spring and use that to improve schools and teachers salaries, I would do it faster than Spot can run. If I could trim some fat away from the defense budget, which spent billions of dollars that are "unaccounted for", and use that same money to rebuild Frantz Elementary or some Texas school needing it, I would do it faster than Halliburton could make a protest with the Vice President.

Thank you Mrs. Bridges, for allowing your daughter to attend class that on first day because your family's courage made America a better place. Thank-you Houston Chronicle for running the story, because I'm no longer worried about my children's first day of school, but I'm now more concerned about other kids. Thank you teachers, for working in stressful conditions and still succeeding. Thank-you Texas Legislature, for making school finance a priority this session. Now get the job done and make us proud of ALL Texas schools. Remember, we did not send you to Austin as a social promotion. The challenges are tough and we expect successful cooperation between houses and parties. If it takes sacrifice on the public's part to free some children from a downward spiral of poverty, then explain the challenge to us. Recall the courage of 6-year old Ruby Bridges and those teachers at Frantz if you begin to have political fear. Make the public understand how good schools strengthen the social and moral fabric of our society. I can see Texas schools being the very best in the nation. Can you see it too?

Posted by Lyn Wall at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 19, 2006

The lege's plan to KILL public education in Texas

If you were to ask a parent what they most wanted from their public schools , I doubt very seriously anybody would say "fist I want lower property taxes." Yet , governing form their alternate, reality challenged universe that is about all that the Lege did to really fix public education. It finessed adequacy ( as flabby as that is for a standard - imagine Mack Brown telling the Alums at Texas that he now had the resources for an "adequate" football team ), fudged efficiency (which the Teas Supreme Court has ruled means substantially equal state resources for all districts before any local "enhancements", and flat forgot about suitability ( the requirement that the system have the capacity of achieving the other two requirements). But they did give us Tax Cuts ,for now!

Now it has become clear that Republicans cannot govern, because governing to them means rewarding their funders (and fundies) and cutting taxes. It turns out that if you think government is the problem, you treat it as such, striving as Grover Norquist put it so well, to make it small enough to drown in a bathtub. In Texas that means that the Repugs want to assassinate public education via the "death of a thousand unfunded mandates" coupled with endless revenue reductions and mind numbingly reductionist high stakes testing that turns schools into factoid factories.

By unfunded mandates I refer to the ever increasing list of things that local districts are mandated to do, but not given any or sufficient funds to accomplish, even as the TEKS standards are ratcheted every upward. The list here contains 65 such decrees. With a whopping $250 more per student under the new funding legislation, I kinda doubt that this problem will get any better. Somehow, I don't think that this is an accident. Such degrees help to further overburden public education, allowing the Repugs to argue the merits of charter and private schools with a straight, if hypocritical face.

As for the revenue reductions, see the inflation bullet below. Of course the Repugs then argue, even with that straight and hypocritical face that absolute dollar spending is way up, as is increases since date "X", whichever one is most skewed in favor of their point. To top it off, Texas school enrollment is set increase significantly over the next decade. All they have to do is provide increases insufficient to match a rising demographic and they can continue to be shocked, shocked at bad public education is, even when you give it more money.

High stakes testing is another phony pony that the Repugs love to trot out as part of their efforts to kill public education. Pleae read this report . As the author bluntly puts it:. As the author bluntly puts it:

"Statewide testing, envisioned under NCLB as a key part of the solution to
what ails public schools, is fast becoming part of the problem in public education."

In light of this strategic plan to kill public education is it small
comfort to hear that the most recent Educational Funding Bill is a good start. In fact it is a maze of smoke and mirrors, of half measures and time bombs all tending toward the objective of further eroding free public schools.

The center for public Policy Priorities has an excellent briefing paper on the structural problems of Texas educational system here and they have just posted analysis of the revenue shortfall that is guaranteed by the lege's"get out of town and get my ass reelected by following the I cut your taxes" mantra - here

It would take more expertise and time than I have to document all the problems with the legislation, so I will limit my analysis to a few of the more glaring ones.

First, it strives for increased adequacy. This is a dumb standard for a state which


  1. * now ranks 50th for teacher salaries in comparison with salaries of all skilled and unskilled workers,


  2. * spends 1,200 less than the national average per pupil,

  3. * has seen per student spending over the past three years fail to even keep up with inflation


Second, the one shot $2,000 pay rise includes giving back $500 dollars of the $1000 of health care assistance taken away in 2003. Some rise, and when it is in place we will still be in the bottom half of salaries for the US. Add to this the exodus of experienced teacher after the punitive Social Security reform that denied or limited their access to both Social Security and their teacher pensions, and you see that the future of our teacher corps in Texas is bleak indeed.

Third, unless Pie In the Sky By and By is a funding mechanism, even the Republican advocates of the bill know that there will be a $10 billion devil to pay in 2 years or less.

Fourth, the benignly named "teacher incentive pay". This scheme is divisive, impossible to find fair metrics with which to decide who "earns them" and again a great devise for further destroying camaraderie and morale at public schools. See here

You will shortly began to hear the drumbeat for more charter schools, vouchers and the rest. Don't be fooled by all the smoke and mirrors it is really about killing public schools. Don't let them do it! Our future prosperity our very democracy depends on your fighting back!

Posted by Murvin Auzenne at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 03, 2006

A Public Education Workshop! Defining Democratic Values in Support of Equitable Public Policy for All Texans

A Public Education Workshop! Defining Democratic Values in Support of Equitable Public Policy for All Texans

“Talking the Talk”…..About Upgrading Public Education
This is the 2nd in a Series of Interactive, Local Workshops designed to Energize Concerned Citizens by helping them to formulate a Democratic Perspective, and Preparing them for Intelligent Dialog on the Major Policy Issues of this Election Year.

Saturday, May 6, 2006
1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Start:12:30 (registration)
1:00 (first session) End: 4:00 pm

Harris County Democratic Party
( www.HCDP.org ) Headquarters

1445 North Loop West @ Ella Blvd. Suite 110
Houston, TX 77008
(East of IBEW Bldg.)
Phone: 713-802-0085
Fax: 713-802-2082

Email: hcdp@hcdp.org

*Suggested donation: $10.00; refreshments and handouts included.

Registration: Send name, address & phone number to hcdp@hcdp.org or murvin@gmail.com

Posted by Lyn Wall at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 21, 2006

Radnofsky Calls for Debates

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, "called for a debate on education to discuss Senator Hutchison's anti-education voting record." Hutchison voted against an amendment for college loans and grants, and job training. Radnofsky said, "I would have voted for the amendment." Then she pointed out that in addition to opposing new funding for higher education, "Hutchison voted against Head Start seven times." Hutchinson did not vote for Head Start the last time it came up in the fall of 2005.

University of Houston journalist Josh Delano reports today that Radnofsky is, "ready to debate [Hutchison] 'anytime and anyplace.'" As yet, there has been no response to the Radnofsky Campaign's request for a series of debates.

Click here to see how the candidates measure up on the issues.

Posted by Jon Boyd at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 18, 2006

State Rep: "Education is not my area of expertise"

dunce.jpg
Well, I have to agree with State Representative John Davis (in DeLay's district). At a PTA meeting where he was invited to discuss the special session on school finance and education, he stated on a number of occasions "Education is not my area of expertise." And based upon his record on education, I have to agree.

It is unfortunate for the teachers, students, and parents in attendance that their elected official, representing them in Austin and making decisions on education, has no expertise in education, or hasn't taken the time to do so during his 6 years in office. Instead he read a list of statistics that would spin the head of anyone trying to listen or trying to figure out why he doesn't know anything about education, especially since that has been the hot topic over the last few years.

See the entire review here.

Posted by John Cobarruvias at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 20, 2005

Dr. First Tries to Make Up with the Fundie Right

I'm on the way out to head up to Crawford, but couldn't resist sharing this gem before I go.

The is reporting that Bill Frist has decided to endorse teaching so-called Intelligent Design in our schools as a competing theory.

...Such an approach "doesn't force any particular theory on anyone," Mr. Frist said in Nashville...

Posted by Lyn Wall at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 04, 2005

My Housekeeping Skills are Exactly Like the State Legislature

I need to fess up to something here. I'm a terrible procrastinator. Last weekend I had company coming over to spend the weekend with me, but I was in the middle of doing fun things and, before I knew it, I'd used up all my cleaning up time farting around instead when I'd meant to spend it giving my house a thorough cleaning down.

With time running out and only about 30 minutes left until my friends arrived, I gave the chaos a quick glancearound and concluded, 'This is pathetic. What jobs here can I knock out real quick to at least make it look like I'm not a total couch potato?' I quickly dived into the kitchen, finishing the dishes, and then tossed a few loose magazines into some boxes that I hastily stuffed into my hall closet, then finally flew thru the bathroom and rearranged the hygienic accoutrements into a rough order.

Despite my desire at one point in time to put on a real good show of my domestic talents (which I really do have, by the way), by the end I was just dashing about doing whatever slapdash stuff I could just to cover my butt and make it look like I was at least a passably competent homemaker.

So as you can imagine, I was pretty sympathetic toward the Texas Legislature this past week. After seven months of them farting around and finally getting called back for yet another special session, two of our servants decided it was time to quickly clean up the mess and throw together some slapdash, cover their butt education legislation that barely did what they're supposed to do--pay the teachers and buy some books.

Thus spake the Chronithustra:

AUSTIN - Offering state leaders a way out of their quagmire over school finance, two senators announced Tuesday that they will sponsor trimmed-down legislation to simply raise teacher pay and spend more money on textbooks.

The $1.8 billion proposal by Sens. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, wouldn't provide the property tax cuts and so-called "reforms" in the public schools that Gov. Rick Perry and some lawmakers have been seeking...

Ellis and Eltife said their legislation, still being drafted Tuesday, would spend $295 million over the next two years for new textbooks and another $1.5 billion for school employees, including teacher pay raises of about $1,000 per year plus restoration of a health care stipend that was cut by lawmakers two years ago.

So, after seven months of bumping heads and snarling at each other, our wonderful state Republicans have finally come to realize that the usual insanity doesn't have a working majority in the 79th Legislature. Don't get me wrong. Irresponsibility can be a lot of fun, but only if you've got someone to bale you out when things get ugly or the bills come due.

Fortunately for the Lege, the voters of Senate District 13 have been thoughtful enough to send a babysitter to Austin, Democrat Rodney Ellis, who can help them reconcile the huge gaps between their right wing anti-government posturing and meeting the actual responsibilities for which they were elected.

We don't ask much of our legislators, and we certainly have come to not expect much from them. Yet the Republican leadership has piddled around for months, unable to agree on which of their several lamebrained school "reform" concoctions to poison us with. And in the end it takes a level headed Democrat (and yes, it's Rodney's turn to babysit) to come in and say, can we at least buy some books here?

The governor seems amenable to this "half a loaf" approach, knowing that he doesn't want to face voters next year with only his full-loafing around to show for his efforts.

Perry has indicated that he is open to such a compromise, but its fate was uncertain. House and Senate leaders continued to insist that legislators want to accomplish more but still can't agree on major differences.

The quick fix is here. This bill is a simple patch in the hull of a leaky boat, but at least it keeps our underfunded school systems limping along for the next two years, something that all the House Republican "reform" chatter clearly wasn't going to accomplish. Amazingly, Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst and few more ideologically anti-education House Goppers are resisting even this bare necessity legislation, as if trying to argue over what old sea chanteys to sing-along to while the boat sinks.

We're short on teachers and we're short on books and some Republicans are still denying that it's going to take money to fix this problem, still chattering incessantly about the tax cuts they want to pass. Fortunately Senator Ellis is putting together a bill that will meet the minimal needs of our public schools. It's not the full reform package that our low ranking schools need, but when you're dying of thirst you don't hold out for Perrier.

Perry's learned that lesson. Dewhurst is still waiting for the waiter to arrive.

Posted by Bucky at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 29, 2005

Don't trust Perry with your kids education

More reform promises from Governor Perry

This week Governor Perry announced a number of measures as a way to reform public school financing, currently titled "Robin Hood". Unfortunately Governor Perry has a horrible track record for reform in the area of homeowners insurance, tort reform, and the medical malpractice. With this record, how can homeowners, parents and educators trust Governor Perry with reforming our children’s education and the adequate funding of Texas public schools?

Two years ago Texas homeowners had the highest insurance rates in the nation. After Governor Perry passed insurance reform in 2003 insurance rates doubled and provided less coverage. The insurance industry was rewarded with little if any regulation. Homeowners were left with higher rates and without important coverage such as foundation, water, mold, and sewer damage.

Governor Perry also supported and passed a massive tort reform bill which reformed our legal system thereby providing yet another plum with limited liability for insurance companies and businesses in Texas. In return, the citizens of Texas were rewarded with fewer rights to a fair trial in a civil matter. The loss of services and protection with this reform will never be fully understood by a consumer until the consumer needs the services.

Governor Perry supported limiting the liability of medical malpractice suits. He promised reductions in medical malpractice rates thereby providing affordable medical care to Texas citizens. After passage of Proposition 12, the promises of lower medical malpractice rates and affordable care were DOA. The rate reductions, if any, were minimal at best leaving the doctors with broken promises just like homeowners with home insurance.

And now Governor Perry wants parents, homeowners, and educators to trust him with the funding of our children’s education, as he meets with his campaign donors in secret meetings in the Bahamas. He calls for reductions in homeowners property taxes and tax cuts for business, yet has no plan on how to replace the lost revenue to adequately fund our schools. Given his horrible record of promises in Texas, it should come as no surprise when the joy of less property taxes is followed by a decrease in services and increases in other taxes and fees to offset the tax breaks for his business buddies.

The writing on the chalkboard should be very clear to all: Governor Perry’s plan will reward his campaign donors with less taxes, distract homeowners with substantial property tax cuts, then picks their pockets with other taxes and fees. The folk hero, Robin Hood, stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Governor Perry will steal from the many and give to the few who donated to his campaign. With his broken promises on insurance reform, proposition 12, and tort reform, and his private meetings in the Bahamas with his campaign donors, it will be hard to trust the Governor with our children’s education.

John R. Cobarruvias
Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings

John Cobarruvias is President of Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, Texas and a long time consumer activist in new home construction, insurance and tort reform. He has testified in many hearings during the 2003 legislation session including insurance reform and tort reform.

Posted by John Cobarruvias at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 28, 2005

Democratic Tax Plan Goes Down by ONE Vote

Proposal would have cut taxes, increased teacher pay
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The Texas House turned back a Democratic proposal for a school finance overhaul by one vote today, barely avoiding what would have been a major change in the direction of the special legislative session.

The House defeated the Democrats' proposal with a 75-74 vote, with Speaker Tom Craddick casting the deciding vote after the rest of the House was tied. Speakers generally do not vote, although Craddick has regularly done so on major proposals this year.

The plan drew the support of every Democrat and 12 Republicans.

It would have cut the maximum property tax rate for school maintenance and operations from $1.50 to $1.30. Its supporters also wanted to increase the value of a home that is exempt from school taxes from $15,000 to $45,000, although that language was not included in the proposal offered on the House floor.

Democrats said their plan would provide $3,200 in across-the-board pay increases for teachers. The Republican-backed plan that lawmakers will consider later today would give teachers across-the-board increases of $500, plus require school districts to give additional raises averaging $1,000 per teacher. Republicans also want to spend more money on incentive programs for teachers.

On taxes, the Republican plan would cut the cap on school taxes to $1.10 over the next two years. It does not include a homestead exemption increase.

Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, said the Democrats' plan would give larger tax cuts to the average homeowner in 144 of the state's 150 House districts. He also said three-fourths of Texas school districts would see more money under his plan than under the GOP plan.

But Republicans described Hochberg's as a costly plan that would require a tax increase.

"It will trap you into voting for a tax in the next few years that you will not be very proud of," said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa.

The House is expected to debate the school-finance bill all day today. The second major proposal of the special legislative session, one that would raise billions of dollars in state taxes to replace the money lost in property tax cuts, is stuck in committee.

Democrats have not specified how they would replace the property-tax revenue that would be cut under their plan.

All Central Texas Republicans voted against the plan, except Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville. None of the Republicans who supported the plan spoke on the House floor about their votes.

Posted by Stace Medellin at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 24, 2005

Democrat Offers Another Tax Plan

PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF STATE REP. EDDIE RODRIGUEZ
~ Rodriguez' Plan Offers More Funding for School Children ~
~ Lower Taxes for Most Texans ~

Austin, TX// State Representative Eddie Rodriguez (Austin) filed the first school finance bill to address the long term needs of Texas' public schools.

HB 33 and HJR 13 completely abolishes the "Robin Hood" property tax (or "Maintenance and Operations tax). While the Governor's plan offers a temporary reduction (from $1.50 to $1.20 per $100 dollars in valuation), Rodriguez' plan drops the rate to zero. It is the only plan which abolishes the M & O. It also prohibits reinstatement of the tax under the Texas Constitution.

It's the only plan that offers a permanent tax cut for homeowners without raising taxes on renters, who receive no direct benefit from property tax cuts. Other plans being proposed are funded with increased sales taxes that hit poor and middle-income Texans the hardest.

Rodriguez' plan includes full Health Insurance benefits for all public school employees. In addition, it provides roughly $3.5 Billion annually in new money for schools. Funding for all of this is based on a State Personal Income tax, which must be approved by voters.

"The rate of the tax is low," said Rodriguez. "It begins at 1% on the first $25,000.00. So the total tax on a family of four, with yearly income of $100,000.00, is less than two percent."

Rodriguez plan also gives Texas voters direct control over the rate of the income tax, with the right to reject "loopholes" that the Legislature might try to create in the future.

The vast majority of Texas taxpayers will benefit from a lower tax bill that is predictable, fair and based on each taxpayer's ability to pay, unlike property taxes, which rise as the local appraiser sees fit.

"Governor Perry's plan offers a short term property tax solution. It is small and fleeting," Rodriguez said. "That reduction in property taxes will disappear in as little as five years, or the first time you move into a new home. It's a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. The Governor’s tiny cut in property taxes is offset by a permanent increase in sales taxes."

The same can be said of the other plans offered by the leadership, both House and Senate, during the last Regular Session. Both plans offered property tax cuts that would have been lost to rising appraisals within four to six years. These property taxes will continue to rise, even above the levels seen today; meanwhile, the poor will be burdened worse than ever.

"Texas' faulty tax system throws the State Legislature into a budget crisis at least once every decade. Dependence on Sales taxes and Property taxes, without a balance of revenue from personal incomes, will always result in an unstable base of revenue, " said Rodriguez. "As long as they keep going to the same well, we will be right back where we are now."

CONTACT:
TIM THETFORD
(512) 463-0674

Posted by Stace Medellin at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 21, 2005

Democrats Propose REAL School Finance Solution

Thanks to Kuff for posting this on his blog. Just thought I'd post it here for all the Dem activists to see. This is definitely a plan we can embrace and call on our House members to support.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ben Hallmark
June 20, 2005
(512) 463-0524

House Democratic Leaders Propose Real School Finance Solution
Key Legislators Seek Bipartisan Support for Plan that Offers More than Politics, More Funding for Schoolchildren and Lower Taxes for More Texans

Austin -- Texas House Democratic leaders today proposed a school finance and property tax cut plan which puts more new resources in our children's classrooms -where they belong- and gives greater property tax reductions to millions of middle class Texans.

The plan closely tracks the "Learn and Live Plan" House Democrats proposed during the regular session as a responsible public policy approach that rises above politics to do what's best for our schools and the vast majority of Texas homeowners. The plan earned bipartisan support on the House floor, despite lacking support from the Republican leadership at that time.

"Just as we did during the regular session, we have worked to develop a responsible school finance solution that is better for all Texans," said Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston). "Our plan would provide more resources to Texas schools and greater tax savings to the vast majority of Texas homeowners than the bills that passed the House and Senate."

"Like most Texans, we are tired of listening to our leaders blame each other," Rep. Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) said. "During the past regular session, we saw evidence that a bipartisan coalition exists on the House floor that wants to do what's best for our neighborhood schools, and it's time to open up the process to let a bipartisan legislative majority craft a school finance plan that is worthy of our school children and local taxpayers."

"Absent partisan political pressure, a plan that is better for both public schools and homeowners in 90% of house districts should pass with overwhelming support," said Rep. Pete P. Gallego (D-Alpine).

Rep. Hochberg said the plan outlined by House Democrats will be filed as legislation and encouraged legislators and Texans, regardless of political party, to examine the details of a plan that would:

* Provide a responsible, equitable school finance system that approaches 100% equity and would increase state education funding to cover at least 50% of the cost of our children's education;
* Raise teacher pay from 38th nationally to the national average and restore the teacher health care benefits cut in 2003 by the Republican leadership;
* Increase funding for Comp. Ed. programs for at-risk students and bilingual education, mentoring programs, Pre-K and 9th grade initiatives to help children who need help the most stay in school and graduate;
* Provide funds for up-to-date textbooks and technology essential to learning;
* Reduce class sizes with new facility funding for classrooms;
* Continue funding for gifted and talented programs;
* Provide across-the-board property tax cuts and additional targeted tax cuts for Texas families by tripling the homestead tax exemption to $45,000 and lowering the maximum tax rate from $1.50 to $1.25 per $100 valuation.

Posted by Stace Medellin at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 10, 2005

Thousands of Public Schools, Teachers, and Students Left Behind

Rick Perry met with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick this week to discuss school finance reform, which the Lege failed to accomplish, even though it was said to be a top priority of this session.

One of the bills under consideration would have implemented a series of education reforms and increasing education spending by $3 billion over the next two years. The other bill would have cut billions in school property taxes and replaced those taxes with increases in other state taxes, resulting in a shift of the tax burden to those with lower incomes.

Perry has said he will consider calling a special session in order for the legislature to reach an agreement. Perry’s spokesman said that he was encouraged by this week’s meetings.

Last year a state judge ruled the school finance system is unconstitutional. That ruling is now under review by the Texas Supreme Court.

More on the issue from the Austin-American Statesman:

Most jobs are safe, but schools say there's no room for major upgrades.

With little new state money, they must balance needs with wishes

By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Local schools will have enough money to preserve the status quo over the next year, but educators say any costly efforts to reduce class sizes or overhaul classroom programs will have to wait.

The collapse of school finance reform efforts at the end of the legislative session last month left schools with the money they need to pay for expected enrollment growth over the next two years but without the $3 billion that key lawmakers had hoped to deliver. Schools will see some revenue bump as their property tax bases grow, but that growth is expected to be modest in some Central Texas districts.

So as school board members sit down this summer to develop budgets for the upcoming year, they'll find little new money to spend on an education system that a state judge has deemed unconstitutional because of underfunding.

"It would be very difficult to increase staffing at schools beyond what's already out there," said Larry Throm, the Austin school district's chief financial officer.

Gov. Rick Perry could call a special session to give the Legislature another try at the issue, but it would have to start soon to affect the upcoming school year.

The upside for school employees is that officials in some of the largest local districts, including Austin, Round Rock and Pflugerville, say they expect to have enough money to avoid layoffs and to replace teachers who have left their jobs. Throm said that's because inflation has little overall effect on school budgets, unless salaries increase.

He said the Austin district cannot afford to raise salaries this year but is likely to spend $6 million to continue paying all of employees' health insurance costs. Employees still will have to pay some of their own money to cover family members.

Lawmakers had discussed giving across-the-board raises of as much as $3,000 over two years, plus incentive pay for some teachers based partly on student test scores. Now it appears that the state, which ranked 32nd in average teacher pay according to a 2004 National Education Association study, will struggle to move up on that list.

"Whatever we do with salaries will determine what kind of a tax increase we have," said Carter Scherff, chief financial officer in the Hays Consolidated school district.

Hays is part of a shrinking group of districts that do not already tax at the maximum rate for maintenance and operations, which is $1.50 per $100 in assessed property valuation. Another district in that group is Pflugerville, but Gerrell Moore, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, said he expects Pflugerville to make the one-cent jump to the $1.50 rate this year.

In the Leander school district, officials plan to hire enough teachers to staff a new elementary school and to teach more than 1,000 new students. District leaders will decide in coming weeks whether to raise teacher salaries, Assistant Superintendent Bret Champion said.

Leander will have more to spend because its growing enrollment will draw more money from the state and because of a property tax base that, according to preliminary estimates, is about 10 percent higher than last year.

Eanes Superintendent Nola Wellman said her district might have to cut about 15 of its 860 jobs, which she hopes to do through attrition instead of layoffs. District residents raised some money privately this year to prevent more severe cuts, saving about 10 positions.

One reason Eanes leaders are looking at staff cuts is that they're also considering pay increases for employees. The repeated talk of higher salaries by lawmakers working on the school finance issue raised teachers' expectations for more money, Wellman said.

Local officials began planning their budgets well before the end of the legislative session, and several said they did not assume there would be much new money to spend.

School officials said throughout the legislative session that the spending increases that lawmakers proposed would have been constrained by new mandates, such as incentive pay for teachers and electronic testing.

"There were so many constraints on the money, our local trustees were given so many things that tied their hands, that it's better for us that we say, 'OK, let's start over,' " Wellman said.

One area where schools will see more money is through the Student Success Initiative, which provides extra help for students who need to pass state tests to move on to the next grade. This spring, lawmakers increased funding for that program by about $150 million over two years to prepare students for eighth-grade promotion requirements that will take effect in 2008.

Other standards, such as state graduation requirements and federal benchmarks that determine whether students can transfer out of low-performing schools, are increasing as well. For example, less than 70 percent of Texas 11th-graders passed the state graduation test on the first try this spring, and the state will make it even harder for next year's 11th-graders to pass.

"Everybody is at a disadvantage to a certain degree," said Catherine Clark of the Texas Association of School Boards. "The standards we're holding up for student performance and school improvement continue on, whether there's new money or not."

Well at least we will have 66 new "Welcome to Texas" signs that proclaim our pride to 'W'. That sure was a priority if I ever saw one. Who cares about the financial situation of the public school system, our teachers, and our students?

In the words of my illustrious state representative Debbie Riddle (District 150):

"Where did this idea come from that everybody deserves free education, free medical care, free whatever? It comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell. And it's cleverly disguised as having a tender heart. It's not a tender heart. It's ripping the heart out of this country."

And they call themselves "conservatives."

Posted by at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 30, 2005

Texas Teachers and Students Left Behind

Today was Sine Die, and no agreement was reached on school finance. Lawmakers spent Sunday arguing who was to blame, and there was discussion of a special session.

The failure to reach a consensus on school finance will cost Texas schools $3,000,000,000 over the next two years.

From the Austin-American Statesman:

The failure to reach a consensus on school finance will cost schools about $3 billion over two years and left lawmakers without a solution to a problem that affects voters' tax bills and children's education.

Senate and House negotiators strongly disagreed about new taxes to replace billions of dollars in reduced property taxes. Discussions over the past two weeks yielded little movement by House members, who wanted to raise more with consumer taxes, or by senators, who wanted a broader business tax.

Gov. Rick Perry and legislative negotiators tried late Saturday to salvage the other piece of school finance legislation, House Bill 2, a $3 billion proposal that would have raised teacher salaries and reworked the formulas that determine a school's state funding. Lawmakers struggled to forge an agreement on that measure during the last week as well but always talked optimistically about reaching a deal.

Read the complete article, "School finance plans rest in pieces," in the Austin-American Statesman.

The issue of school finance appears headed for the Texas Supreme Court unless Governor Perry calls a special session. The Court is schedule to hear an appeal of a 2004 ruling that the current finance system in unconstitutional, largely because of underfunding. Robert Black, Perry's spokesman, said that he believes lawmakers are close to an agreement on the education proposal and that they will be able to overcome their differences on taxes. He added that once the lawmakers reach an agreement, Perry will call them into special session.

The following is a press release from the Texas Federation of Teachers:

TFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE (800-764-1177)--MONDAY, MAY 30, 2005 (copyright 2005 Texas Federation of Teachers)

Letting Down the Schoolchildren and Teachers of Texas

Texas Federation of Teachers President John Cole issued the following statement as the 79th regular session of the Texas legislature neared final adjournment today:

The governor and legislature have let down the schoolchildren and teachers of Texas. We urgently need a renewed state commitment to bolster high standards of achievement with sufficient resources to help our students succeed. Instead the governor and legislature this session gave top priority to a tax shuffle that would have raised taxes on the vast majority of Texans while leaving our schools badly underfunded. The real problem began on day one of the session, when it became apparent that the tax shuffle was the main focus, with education as an afterthought.

Teachers are not naive, but they do take promises seriously--both when they are made and when they are broken. They want to believe the best about top state leaders and lawmakers. But this session's broken promises and new benefit cuts have severely eroded the credibility of any claims by the governor and legislature to be looking out for the best interests of Texas schoolchildren and teachers.

The Senate passed a plan that at least would have done more than the House version to assure funding equity, raise teacher pay, and restore benefits and programs cut in 2003. But both the House and Senate held fast to a predetermined ceiling on new educational spending, an artificially low ceiling that guaranteed school funding would remain inadequate. A state district court said last fall that meeting the standard of mere adequacy under the state constitution would require an infusion of $4 billion a year in new funding for our schools, yet the legislature never considered providing more than a third of that amount.

Both chambers wasted months conjuring up ill-judged schemes to privatize the operation of public schools, carve out exceptions to state quality standards, and tinker with merit-pay schemes, which are at best beside the point until teachers receive base pay and benefits that will help recruit them and keep them in our classrooms.

Rather than improve teachers' lot, lawmakers this session broke their promise to restore health-care dollars taken away from every public-school educator in the state in 2003. Lawmakers also failed to live up to the promise of raising teacher pay to the national average. In fact, the legislature this session managed to make matters worse for teachers, cutting more than a billion dollars out of future pension benefits for nearly 500,000 current education employees. The legislature also at the last minute reneged on a promise made earlier this session to start restoring the state's contributions to the teacher pension fund. Because the legislature has shortchanged the pension fund for more than ten years and will continue to do so, retired teachers have no hope of an overdue cost-of-living increase--even as the legislature hikes their premiums again for health-care coverage.

Before Texas teachers will believe any future promises emanating from the capitol, they first want to see state leaders keep some of the old ones for a change.

It sure is reassuring to know that we will have 66 new "Welcome signs" announcing how "proud" we are to be the home state of George W. Bush, but cannot come up with a solution to the underfunding of public education in Texas.

So, Kay Bailey Hutchison, will you officially be announcing your candidacy for Governor of Texas? I believe you were waiting to see the outcome of the education bill. Now you have it and it's "failed big time."

Posted by at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 23, 2005

Soechting Opposes Governor's Strongarm Tactics for School Vouchers

Not that these tactics should surprise anyone, but according to this press release, has been making threats to those who don't support school vouchers:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Mike Lavigne

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 512-478-9800

Soechting: Perry Warns Moderates to Support Vouchers or Face Vetoes

(AUSTIN) -- Democrats and moderate Republicans opposed to siphoning tax dollars out of public schools to fund a private-school voucher scheme pushed by Gov. Rick Perry's top campaign contributors came under increasing pressure to vote for a last-minute voucher effort this weekend. A failure to do so risked gubernatorial vetoes of their own legislation, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting said today.

"Phone calls from key Perry staffers carried a clear message: 'Vote for vouchers or face vetoes,'" Soechting said. "It looks like Jim Leininger and the other private-school voucher advocates who have bankrolled Perry's political career are tired of waiting for their payoff."

With just one week left in a regular legislative session advertised as being all about public education, Perry's pressure shows that his true agenda is a narrow appeal to a relative handful of suburban anti-public schools activists, Soechting said. A voucher bill is expected to be debated today.

Leininger, the reclusive San Antonio businessman who has long been a major backer of both national voucher initiatives and Perry's political campaigns, met with a succession of lawmakers in a conference room near the Governor's office, according to press reports.

Also in the meetings was Bill Cerverha, a former lawmaker under criminal investigation for his role in 2002 as treasurer of Tom DeLay's discredited Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee. He is also the defendant in a pending civil lawsuit stemming from the same illegal use of corporate funds in political campaigns that year.

Neither Leininger nor Cerverha is registered as a lobbyist this session, though Leininger accompanied Perry on a secret trip to the Bahamas in February 2004. When reporters learned about the island jaunt, Perry's staff helpfully explained that it was to "discuss public education."

###

Posted by Lyn Wall at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 12, 2005

Why didn't I think of this?

The solution to HISD students difficulty meeting current standards was so obvious, and yet I missed it - Lower the standards!

The Chronicle reports that HISD may lower the math-science requirements.

Just think of all of the problems we can solve with this approach:


I could go on, but I have to go to work.

Winding Road points out that this change would solve another pesky problem:

At least we don't have to worry about them learning evolution because we won't be teaching science.

From the Chronicle:

HISD may alter math-science requirement
Students may cut high school load with early credits; experts fear plan is 'a step backward'


By JASON SPENCER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

RESOURCES
NEW FORMULA

HISD is proposing changes in its math-science requirements:
• Currently: Students must take three years of science and math in high school to earn a diploma.
• If approved: Middle schoolers could earn high school-level credits, allowing them to skip math and science courses after their sophomore years.
Houston ISD students could earn high school diplomas without taking a single math or science class after their sophomore year under a proposal that is drawing criticism from some national education experts.

Critics say the change will leave students unprepared for college and the workplace.

"I'm surprised they would be considering this move," said Anne Tweed, president of the 55,000-member National Science Teachers Association. "That's a step backward."

Superintendent Abe Saavedra wants to do away with a policy that mandates three years of math and science courses for all high school students. Instead, students who pass high school-level courses in the eighth grade would get credit toward a diploma. State law requires three math and science credits to graduate.

Saavedra's proposal, which is expected to win school board approval today, runs counter to a national trend of school systems requiring students to spend more time in math and science classes before they graduate. The decision is even more curious, some education experts said, given the fact that more than two-thirds of HISD's 2004 graduates who enrolled in local community colleges last fall were required to take remedial courses.

"That policy will result in more youngsters having to take remedial math when they go on for further study," said Gene Bottoms, senior vice president of the Southern Regional Education Board and director of the High Schools that Work program. "It will also mean more students will not be able to pass employer exams that have a math component."

Focusing less on TAKS
Saavedra told school board trustees earlier this week that the three-year requirement is unnecessary. It was adopted in 2001, he said, because trustees wanted high school juniors taking math and science classes at the same time they take the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam, which students must pass to graduate.

The current policy is based more on improving test performance than on academic quality, Saavedra said. What matters, he said, is that students take the necessary courses. "We absolutely are not lowering the standard," Saavedra said.

Still, Saavedra acknowledged that having high school students take more math and science classes would better prepare them for college. "If we required four years of math, it would work toward reducing the remedial requirement," he said. "I'm not telling you I won't come back with that kind of recommendation (in the future)."

Without the change, 38 HISD seniors will miss out on graduation ceremonies this year, Saavedra said. HISD typically graduates about 8,000 students a year.

Most trustees, including board President Dianne Johnson, have said they support Saavedra's proposal.

"It's still the same three classes," she said.

That's not necessarily so, said Brett Moulding, curriculum director for the Utah State Office of Education and a former president of the Council of State Science Supervisors.

"In eighth grade, the level of sophistication of science instruction is very different from the level that can occur in high school," Moulding said. "The students' ability to understand that information in the context of more advanced concepts is limited."

HISD trustee Greg Meyers said he hasn't decided how he'll vote.

"My concern is to make sure we keep our high achievement levels in place and I definitely would not stand for any lowering of the standards," he said. "We need to focus on college readiness and if that means they need three years of math and science in high school, then we need to make sure we have that."

Georgia's DeKalb County Public Schools decided this year to require all eighth-graders to take Algebra I. High school students in that predominantly minority and low-income school system of 100,000 students near Atlanta must take math and science from their freshman through senior years.

"The colleges and universities are saying you shouldn't have students sitting out one year, much less two years," said Wanda Gilliard, a former HISD middle school math teacher who is now DeKalb County's executive director for curriculum and instruction. "We want them exposed to that rigor before they get into a college setting."

Rules vary across the state
Graduation requirements vary in Texas. Dallas requires three years of science and math in high school. Cy-Fair requires three years of high school math, but allows students to earn science credit in middle school. Austin school officials are thinking of changing their policy that now allows students to graduate with just two years of math and science in high school.

The Houston school board meets at HISD headquarters, 3830 Richmond, at 3 p.m. today.

jason.spencer@chron.com

Posted by Lyn Wall at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 11, 2005

HB2 Passed by Senate

From Postcards From the Lege:
By Mike Ward | Wednesday, May 11, 2005, 10:20 PM

After more than nine hours of sometimes-emotional debate, the Texas Senate approved House Bill 2, the massive education reform bill, Wednesday night.

The initial vote for approval was 28-3.

Voting no: Sens. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso; Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, and Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin.

Final passage a few minutes later was 27-4. Joining the ‘nos’ was Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.

NOTE: I guess the other 8 Democrats voted for it.

Posted by Stace Medellin at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Local Control of Convenience

After burning the midnight oil on HB3, the State Senate voted to do away with their proposed state property tax, thus assuring Republicans some semblance of "local control" while the Bush administration continues to push "no child" down school board's throats--hypocrisy at its worse. The Senate also decided to fall to corporate and business pressures by allowing these interests the choice to pay a franchise tax OR a payroll tax--both taxes can easily be passed down to consumers and employees. The assault on those with the least continues!

All of this has to be approved by a House-Senate conference committee; however, the deletion of the state property tax, which would have assured a move toward fairness in the distribution of tax dollars, makes the job of the committee easier to pass the tax legislation without many sparks and much controversy.

While increasing the state sales tax, the Republicans also voted against an amendment by Royce West that would have forced rental property owners to pass on the property tax savings--up to 23% in two years--to renters (which make up 53% of Houstonians!). Yes, we know what Republican priorities really are!

Despite legislative analysis covered by the media the last few days that the only group benefiting from this tax plan would be the wealthy, the Senate decided to move on so that the conference committee could close whatever gaps still exist. But with the framework already pretty much decided on--help the wealthy, screw the people--the conference will not provide the vast majority of Texas families with any relief.

With priorities still screwed up on the part of the Republicans, this blogger seriously doubts that the proposal will pass legal muster--especially before Judge Dietz who found the current way of funding education to be unconstitutional. But with a Republican Supreme Court already wielding a big Republican rubber stamp, well, we know what our job is: GOTV in 2006!

Kudos to Senators Gonzalo Barrientos (Austin), Mario Gallegos and Rodney Ellis (Houston) for sticking to their guns.

Posted by Stace Medellin at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 14, 2005

Klein ISD Superintendent Expresses Concerns About HB2 and HB3

Klein ISD Superintendent Dr. James W. Cain wrote a considerate and well-written letter to Senator Whitmire (D-Houston) voicing his concerns about the potential impacts HB 2 and HB 3 will have on Texas school districts.

The Klein ISD is located in Klein, a suburb on the northwest side of Houston. Like many school districts in Texas, it will experience significant growth over the next ten years.

I believe that Dr. Cain, as a superintendent involved with the day-to-day running of the Klein ISD, has a unique and well-founded perspective of the issues that many Texas school districts face.

I would like to thank Dr. Cain for his permission to reproduce his letter to Senator Whitmire on this site.

Please note: The following letter was not written in affiliation with any political party. The letter represents the views and issues Dr. Cain believes are in the best interests of the Klein ISD.

View Letter

For an explanation of EDA and IFA click the following links:
Existing Debt Allotment (EDA)
Instruction Facilities Allotment (IFA)

For more information about the Klein ISD visit www.kleinisd.net.

Posted by at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Who Needs New Textbooks Anyway?

Ronald Reagan said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these walls" and Pope John Paul II's leadership helped bring an end to Communism. But students learning German at Northbrook High School in Spring Branch are still being taught that there is an East and West Germany. Their textbooks are 10 years old and the new budget does not include any funds to update them.

This from Murvin Auzenne, chair of HCDP's Communications and Message committee:

My wife teaches at Northbrook HS in Spring Branch. She served on the textbook search committee for the district for Spanish and was very pleased with the new book they choose. Foreign langauge books for example, are 10 years out of date. The German text still speaks of East Germany. The software too is so old in many cases it can't be used. So, of course the Texas House of Representatives has zeroed out textbook adoption money in the new budget. They will finish funding last year's purchases, but no money this cycle for textbook adoptions. It's sad to see how low Texas students rate when it comes time to put our money where our mouth is.

The Senate has yet to act on the bill, but it would not hurt to let your Senators know how you feel.

MR Auzenne

Go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm to find out who your senator is and let them know today that underfunding education hurts us all.

Posted by Lyn Wall at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 11, 2005

College Aid at Risk: Politicos need a clue

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a Republican proposal calls to tie two higher education financial aid programs together as a means of improving university graduation rates.

Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, is sponsoring the bill that would merge the two programs. In her plan, the first two years would remain a TEXAS Grant, but the second two would become a B-On-Time loan. Students who don't keep a B average or take more than four years to get out of school would have to pay back the loan, interest-free.

"We are trying to get the most for the money we have," Morrison said. "Students are staying in school for six years to get their degrees, and that's a detriment to the state, to the school and to the citizens. Hopefully this will help." Of course, she fails to mention that the vast majority of college students work over 30 hours per week; that we are in an economy that has forced displaced workers to return to college; and that K-12 funding inequities and the over-testing of students is hardly preparing students for college studies.

Currently, the TEXAS Grant program provides students with much needed grant money to assist them in paying their tuition and fees. Recipients of the program must have completed minimum core requirements during high school to even be eligible. As budget cuts to this program decreases the number of recipients, current public policy is ignoring the needs of the vast majority of students. These programs hardly put a dent in the graduation rate program and it is evident that much more is needed to improve those rates.

Now, a Republican wants to tie the grant program with a loan program called B-on-Time, which was designed to force students to graduate within four years. In this proposal, students would get TEXAS Grants the first two years, then would receive B-on-Time loan money the next two years.

Luckily, we have State Senator Rodney Ellis who is leading the fight against the merger and against any call for time restrictions when it comes to financial aid and graduation.

"To fight the plans, Ellis said he is "sounding the alarm." He has written university presidents from around the state, including Jay Gogue, president of UH. He is meeting with student newspapers, editorial boards and has sent information packets to his colleagues.

Public university presidents have been slow to get involved, Ellis said, because they are scared they could lose funding elsewhere. Sometimes it comes down to lobbying for the grants or for a new science building.

"They need to decide what their priorities are," he said, "the students who they are charged with educating, or putting more money into the infrastructure. I'm not all that sure they can't make a case for both."

Gogue said UH students benefit at a far greater rate from TEXAS Grants than they do from the B-On-Time program. He said 82 percent of his students work at least 30 hours a week, and imposing a time restriction for graduation could cause problems.

"That's a pretty tough road for most people," he said.

Gogue said he understands lawmakers are worried about the state's growing population, but if changes have to be made, he would advocate for restrictions on the number of courses a student has to take, rather than the amount of time one has to complete them."

Somewhere along this debate, elected officials on both sides of the aisle are ignoring the roots of the graduation rate problem--lack of college preparedness after K-12; an ever-increasing need for developmental, or remedial, courses prior to enrolling in "regular" college courses; an increasing number of first-generation college students; increasing tuition and student service fees; and a lack of student retention programs, particularly within the first two-years of college.

Although the TEXAS Grant program provides much needed funding for students (115,000 students since 1999), the bottom line is that the graduation rate problem will not be dealt with until Texas legislators put OUR money where their mouths are and increase funding for college programs that target the above-mentioned issues taking colleges and universities by storm. If we are truly serious about increasing college graduation rates, then we will deal with college preparedness, first-generation, and student retention issues first.

Obviously, Republicans care little about assuring a well-prepared Texas workforce. Democrats must take the lead and challenge the Republicans on this issue as it affects the vast majority of Texans.

Kudos to Senator Ellis, and thanks!

Posted by Stace Medellin at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 06, 2005

Senate Substitute for HB2--a little analysis

Republican Texas Senator Florence Shapiro's substitute for HB2--the education funding bill--provides some points that, personally, I would support. But the vast majority of the bill contains some points which raise red flags--BIG TIME!

TAXES & MONEY
The Senate version establishes a statewide property tax of $1 per $100 of valuation--a 1/3 cut in income. While the bill provides for $3.2 billion in additional funding, the Senate's HB3 substitute will not be available for another week or so, so we don't know how increases would be paid for. I would argue that even more money is needed and that some of the increases were developed to appease some of the more rural state reps, and not to improve the quality of education for ALL students.

As far as paying for the increase in funding and the decrease in tax income, chances are they will increase certain taxes to make up the lost money. The bill also allows a local increase in the property tax rate of up to 15 cents over six years for "enrichment" purposes. Of course, while a property-wealthy district can raise substantial amounts of money at this rate, poor districts will be left with little enrichment.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS vs CHARTER SCHOOLS
One item that provided a red flag was the Instructional Facilities Allotment. While "regular" public schools will have the allotment doubled to $500 per student, charter schools will be given up to $1000 per student if these campuses reach exemplary or recognized status. Seems to me that it is those public schools that serve the vast majority of students that need some funding enhancements to assure adequate instructional facilities. The Senate seems to want to do away with low-performing charter schools, while increasing funding to those deemed successful by TEA. Nonetheless, there is some obvious inequity in vastly improving facilities for schools of less than 500 students, while doing little for schools falling apart in mega-districts like HISD.

TEACHER RAISES & BENEFITS
The Senate provides for an immediate $1000 raise for teachers, as well as returning to the $1000 health insurance supplement. The $1000 raise hardly provides a cost of living increase, and more than misses the mark of the state's attempt to meet national standards in teacher pay.

INCENTIVES FOR IMPROVING SCHOOLS
The Senate plan calls for incentives to schools with over 65% low-socioeconomic population if they show the most improvement. The problem is that low performing schools need added funding NOW to reach "improved" status. You can't win a prize without having the equal opportunity to participate in the game.

"Refocuses all schools in preparing
for post-secondary education"
And how do they do this? By linking school ratings to the level of college readiness and ranking all schools according to college readiness. Basically, it sounds like the Senate wants to make it easier for some of the more selective state universities (UT/A&M) to target their recruiting to those schools that have the most talented students. Of course, this would ignore those students that made it through some of the low-performing schools and still achieved academically.

So, while the Republicans will be "selling" the good parts of the bill, such as free tuition for children of teachers who have taught for 15 years, or funding for college entrance exams (SAT/ACT), or a program to grow leaders locally from current staff, or increases in bilingual education at the secondary level, there are certain points to this bill that definitely do not pass the smell test.

I know I'll be further scrutinizing this bill and hope for all of you to do so, as well, and provide your own comments. The bill is available at the Senate website.

Posted by Stace Medellin at 01:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 25, 2005

Pre-TAKS Student Dumping: Senator Gallegos Speaks Out

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Democratic Senator Mario Gallegos is questioning why Houston-area charter schools seemed to have "dumped" as many as 407 school kids between November 2004 and February 2005--the week before the TAKS test.



Gallegos said it isn't fair for a public school to take on a child just weeks or days before the testing is done. He said if it is happening in the Houston area, it is probably going on around the state.

"It's just astonishing," he said. "The (public) school has had to take on the burden of the charter, and the teachershaven't had a chance."

Still, Gallegos is looking for an investigation. He said if the charter schools want to be in the business of teaching, they should be held responsible for their own actions.

"We are talking about keeping a child up to a certain point and then dumping that child due to low performance," he said. "Any way you paint it, that is wrong."

Thanks to Senator Gallegos for fighting for Texas schoolchildren in a time when they are seriously under attack by the Republicans.

Posted by Stace Medellin at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 22, 2005

No Child Left Unrecruited

Included within the 670-page No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is Section 9528, which gives "Children are our future" a very different meaning. Congress passed the NCLB in 2002. Under Section 9528 of the NCLB, high schools must supply student directory information for seniors to the military or risk losing their federal funding. Schools receiving assistance under the Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 must give military recruiters the same access to high school students as they provide to colleges or to prospective employers. Previously, schools could share student information only with other educational institutions.

The NCLB refers to schools as local educational agencies (LEAs). An LEA includes public and private schools that receive funding under the ESEA. Private schools with a religious objection to service in the Armed Forces that is verifiable through corporate or organizational documents or other materials are not required to comply with the law.

Under Section 9528, an LEA must release a student's directory information, including a student's name, address, and telephone numbers to a military recruiter, unless the student's parent has "opted out" of providing the information. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), an LEA must provide at least one notice to parents of the types of student information that it releases publicly (i.e. directory information). However, some schools have been late in notifying parents, and depending on a particular school's definition of directory information, other items about the student could also be released to military recruiters, such as:
- an electronic mailing address,
- a photograph
- date and place of birth
- major field of study
- dates of attendance at school
- grade level
- participation in officially recognized activities and sports
- the weight and height of members of athletic teams
- degrees, honors, and awards received
- the most recent educational agency or institution attended.

Click here to view the US Department of Education’s sample Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Model Notice for Directory Information.

Recruiting strategies may range from calling students to ask about what their plans are after graduating from high school, to setting up booths in hallways and cafeterias at lunch time. Another method of recruiting is the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). In 2002, 1.25 million students in over 14,000 schools took the ASVAB, about 90,000 more than the number of students who took the ACT college entrance exam (Source). The ASVAB is mandatory to enter into any military branch. Its main purpose is to classify prospective service members into suitable jobs. The test is offered to schools free of charge if they are willing to use it as a student aptitude assessment. Each test costs the Pentagon $150. However, some schools make the test mandatory.

The impetus for Section 9528 is the result of the military having trouble getting into 15% of the nation’s high schools to recruit. The Pentagon claims that during 1999, a total of 19,228 schools refused access to military recruiters (Source).

US Representative David Vitter (R-LA) sponsored the new recruitment requirement. He stated such schools "demonstrated an anti-military attitude that I thought was offensive (Source)"

In the case that an LEA does not comply, the law requires a senior officer, a colonel or navy captain, to visit the LEA within 120 days. If the access problem is not resolved, the Department of Defense must notify the LEA within the state governor within 60 days. Any problems still unresolved after one year are reported to Congress if the Secretary of Defense determines that the LEA denies recruiting access to at least two of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force). At that point, it is expected that public officials will work with the LEA to resolve the problem. Schools could lose funds they receive under the ESEA.

Apparently, when Bush expresses his concern that "too many of our neediest children are being left behind," he literally meant 'behind', as in left at home instead of joining the military.

I don’t particularly have a problem with making some kind of requirement for citizens of the United States to give a year or two in service back to our country after completing an undergraduate degree, whether it is in the Peace Corps, VISTA, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, or other similar programs. These programs would provide participants with a unique learning experience and a different perspective of the world that they can bring back to the US, while improving America’s image abroad. I think serving in the military could be an option but only if that is what the person chooses. However, enlisting students straight from high school is too young for someone to go off and fight in a war. After all, many of these students will just have become legally old enough to drive and still be below the legal drinking age. On top of that, students are still trying to figure out what to do with their lives.

Despite what students put down as their interests on the ASVAB, they are usually called anyway because high school students generally do not know what they want to do, and the military offers many incentives to college-bound enlistees (Source). There is a major difference in when you join the military. If you join during high school and change your mind, you can't drop out. If you join in college, you have the option to change your decision. Of course, as the military’s recruits decline in response to the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is devoting more time and effort to trying to enlist high school students. I believe you should have the option to quit at anytime as long as you are attending high school or college.

To US Representative David Vitter, I say, "Let me see you take the 'Noriega-challenge' and then come back and tell me you think it is a good idea to send our young men and women to go fight overseas straight out of high school." I think that our representatives would be a lot less inclined to rush to war if they had a personal connection to it.

Furthermore, I discovered the NCLB is in direct violation of itself. Since Bush has failed to provide the full funding needed to implement the NCLB Act, he is directly violating Section 9527(a):

GENERAL PROHIBITION- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal Government to mandate, direct, or control a State, local educational agency, or school's curriculum, program of instruction, or allocation of State or local resources, or mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act (Source).

The following are the required authorized appropriations mandated by Section 1002(a) of the NCLB:

SEC. 1002 AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. (a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY GRANTS- For the purpose of carrying out part A, there are authorized to be appropriated - (1) $13,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; (2) $16,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; (3) $18,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; (4) $20,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; (5) $22,750,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; and (6) $25,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.(Source)
In the two years since the President signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, none of his budgets have come close to meeting the level of funding authorized in the Act. The FY 2004 budget submitted by President Bush fell $9 billion short of the amount authorized for 2004 and his FY 2003 budget fell $7.2 billion short of approved funding. [Office of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, 6/9/03; Associated Press, 2/24/03](Source)

San Diego State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison published a report entitled "Does No Child Left Behind Place a Fiscal Burden on States? Evidence from Texas" that found the costs of implementing NCLB "costs substantially exceed the additional federal funding." (Source)

Since Congress passed No Child Left Behind in 2002, it has not received the full funding as authorized in the act. President Bush has further cut the funding for No Child Left Behind program by $496 million in his 2006 budget proposal (Source). Last year Texas did not receive $843 million for public schools as promised by Congress and the President, including $548 million for extra academic support for low-income students, $66 million for critical after-school programs, and $30 million to raise teacher quality (Source).

Clearly, the lack of funding will further increase the burden on already tight public school budgets to meet the NCLB's requirements.

Here’s an editorial cartoon from the January 28, 2005 edition of the Washington Post that illustrates the issue.

To find out more about Section 9528 visit: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/hottopics/ht-10-09-02a.html
The US Education Department’s web page for NCLB is http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml

Posted by at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 13, 2005

Another School Voucher Bill

Representative Debbie Riddle (R) of District 150 in Northwest Houston, filed House Bill 3042 on Friday, March 11 that will pay private school tuition with state dollars.

Key points of HB 3042
- $5,500 in tuition available to students to use at a private school. The vouchers will not be limited to low-performing schools or to children of parents with a certain income level.
- Students must be eligible to attend public school in Texas, or be a legal resident of Texas, and have attended public school full time during the last semester of the previous school year, or have received a voucher for the previous year.
- If the cost of attending private school is less than the $5,500 provided by the state, the difference would be placed in savings account where it would be available for the student to use towards future education or college tuition.
- If approved, the bill will go into effect on September 1, 2005.
To view a complete text of HB 1342 visit: www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/reports/daily/79R/house.htm

Before I go on, I would like to say that there are examples of under-performing schools in both the public and private school systems. I don't want to create an impression that private education is all bad and public education is all good. However, I will point out the problems public schools are likely to face under a voucher system.

Why public school funding should not be diverted to vouchers:
- State expenditures per student for May 2004 were $7,330. That amount is less than the national average of $8,156, making Texas 32nd for spending per student (Source).
- Vouchers are likely to benefit the well-to-do families who have the means to drive their children to school everyday and to pay any costs not covered by vouchers.
- Providing vouchers to students could act as a drain of good students and resources from the public school system.
- There is no guarantee that all private schools meet state performance and academic standards, state curriculum requirements, and teacher certification and training standards because they are unregulated.
- By law, public schools must provide expensive, but necessary programs such as bilingual education and special education to students.

Sources of funding problems for Texas school districts:
- The state continues to demand higher standards from public schools with under funded budgets that do not keep pace with inflation and a growing student population.
- The state's contribution to public education has declined over the past decade from 45% to an all-time low of about 36%, shifting the burden to local communities that may not have the resources to support additional education costs (Source - page 2).
- Almost 70% of Texas' 1,045 school districts are at or very close to their state-mandated tax caps (Source).
- President Bush cut the funding for his already under funded No Child Left Behind program by $496 million in his 2006 budget proposal that will further increase the burden on already tight public school budgets to meet its requirements (Source).

Sources of increased costs for public schools:
- Student enrollment in Texas continues to increase by over 70,000 students per year making it necessary to continually build new facilities and expand existing schools to accommodate students (Source - page 1).
- The increasing demands of accountability, higher education requirements and expectations, and new mandates from programs such as No Child Left Behind.
- A growing percentage of new students require bilingual education and accelerated learning programs.
- The education industry is very labor intensive, which means that when insurance rates increase education spending must also increase to cover teacher and staff insurance costs.
- Inflation places a demand on teachers' salaries that must keep up or the teachers essentially receive a pay cut if their pay remains the same over years.

If public school districts do not receive the revenue required to keep pace with inflation and enrollment growth, they will be unable to maintain the quality of education and to maintain current standards. Consequently, taking money away from the public school system through vouchers means that public schools will not have the much needed money necessary to pay for additional campuses to meet the demands of increasing student enrollment, library books, computer-based learning programs, providing adequate salaries and health insurance to teachers and employees, and rising utility costs. Special programs such as art, band, and athletics that enhance student education may have to be cut. Many districts already have to cut staff positions and programs to stay within their budget that increase the workload of teachers who already devote large amounts of time outside of class to prepare for each school day.

Furthermore, according to a study conducted by Texas A&M University, public schools are already operating at a 93% efficiency level. The remaining 7% may not actually be from inefficient use of funds, but could be going toward social studies, science, art, music, and technical instruction that were not included in the study. In addition, the study did not consider food service, transportation, utilities, insurance, or mainte