Peyton Wolcott

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 .

Arlene "it's all about
the kids" Ackerman
sues former employer
San Francisco USD
By Peyton Wolcott
Sun., May 20, 2007/1:45 am

While at SFUSD Ack-
erman made headlines
for charging $45,000 on
her Diners Club credit
card. During her last
year, she persuaded
the SFUSD board to
award her a $375,000
"golden parachute"
severance payment,
enough to fund ten
teachers' salaries,
declining suggestions
that she decline the
payment.
Employed now as a
professor at Teachers
College at Columbia
University, holding the
Johnson endowed chair
and working as a
"Professor of Practice,"
this marks the second
time Ackerman has
sued her public school
district employer.

According to Acker-
man's attorney Waukeen
McCoy, Ackerman has
filed a lawsuit against
her former employer
SFUSD "for breaching its
employment contract
with her by failing to pay
her severance compen-
sation per their written
agreement." The suit
seeks damages in
excess of $172,000 "for
nonpayment of salary
and other compensation
after Dr. Ackerman
resigned from her post
in June 2006." (SOURCE--
Waukeen McCoypress release)

Arlene Ackerman
(PHOTO--Liz Hafalia/SF Chronicle)

Scott Gordon
(PHOTO--Jason J. Molyet/
Manchester News Journal)

Four-color printing
such as the poster and
banners above occupy
the pricey high-end of
the printing cost
spectrum; nothing
apparently is too good
for Rudy Crew, and no
expense should be
spared. The Miami Her-
ald's Spanish-language
sister newspaper, El
Nuevo Heraldo, pub-
lished the following on
May 10th illustrating the
point:

Example 2: "Former
Churchill County [NV]
School Board Presi-
dent Debbie Getto
Smith was arrested last
week on embezzle-
ment charges" amoun-
ting to $287,520." (SOURCE-
AnneMcMillin/Fallon/Star
Press) The police report
states that Getto Smith
told Detective John Frand-
sen that she "has an
addiction to shopping that
spiraled out of her con-
trol." Churchill Schools'
total estimated FY
2007 expenditures: $34
million.

Is Miami-Dade's PR
really about the kids
or is it about supe
Rudy Crew? And how
much is it costing
taxpayers?
By Peyton Wolcott
Wed., May 16, 2007/6 pm

Posters feature MDCPS
supe Rudy Crew (above
right) with students;
exterior building banners

Innovative
"Former Mansfield City
Schools Superintendent
Scott Gordon has been
indicted on two counts
of theft in office by a
Richland County grand
jury." (SOURCE--Lou
Whitmire/News Journal)
The first count, a
fourth-degree felony,
alleges Gordon used the
school district credit
card to buy alcohol, in
violation of school policy;
the second count, a
third-degree felony, char-
ges him with aiding and
abetting theft in office by
giving school district
employees 2 $2,500
stipends for which no
work or services were
received. In October
2005, five months after
being appointed MCS
acting supe, Scott
Gordon formed
Innovative Learning
Solutions, Inc. with
two fellow MCS
executives, Eugene
Thomas and Quinn Haas;
the forprofit had "helped
Richland Academy win
state approval for
sponsorship of charter
schools."(Ibid.) When
this was published in the
local paper the following
May, Gordon went on
sick leave, never
returned to work at MCS.
(Ibid.) According
to ILS, CEO Gordon is
"an avid golfer."
www.ilsohio.com

Do public school
superintendents want
to rule the world or
something?
By Peyton Wolcott
Updated Sun., Apr. 29, 2007/10
am

Supe Rocky Kirk
(posing above amid
periwinkles) appears to
have enough money in
the district's coffers to
wage an expensive
SLAPP suit, and power
enough to attempt
passage of anti-
sunshine legislation (SB
889). Amidst this display
of power and plenty,
here's hoping they can
soon afford a spellcheck
for their well-paid PR gal,
Melissa Loe.

"District Names
New Assistant
Superintendent of
Curriculum and
Insturction" [sic]

NOT-A-MOMENT-TOO-
SOON DEPARTMENT
By Peyton Wolcott
Tues., May 15, 2007/1 am

Comes the news from
Lake Travis ISD:

First it was the
salaries. Many now are
in the healthy six figures
with some at or over the
half-mil mark.

Then it was status--
they wanted to be a
member of a "team" with
their trustees--who used
to be their bosses.

Now we come to
Miami Dade supe Rudy
Crew,who has just won
the ability to set his
trustees' board meeting
agendas.
Last Thursday circuit
judge Ronald Fried-
man "ruled that
Superintendent Rudy
Crew has the author-
ity to decide what
proposals can go on the
school board's monthly
meeting agenda."
(SOURCE--Tania
deLuzuriaga/Miami Herald)

What does this mean?
He who controls the
agenda owns the meeting
and therefore the district.
Rudy can now spend as
much as he wants on,
say, redecorating his
office, with no questions
asked. Or, as another
example, Rudy can hire
as many administrators as
he desires, some of
whom might even
possibly be friends, and
he might even possibly
give them high-paying
jobs, about which his
board can't ask any
questions--not that Rudy
has to answer, anyway.
For Rudy and his crew, I
have three words:

Oh, wait. Given that our
supes have substituted
social stud-
ies for history and third
graders now learn about
Sheryl Crow, let's try
again.

George III was not
Sheryl's boyfriend before
Lance with way fancier
clothes. George III didn't
even ride a bike; they
weren't invented yet.
George
III had another job; he
used to be King of
America (including
Miami where Rudy is now
and D.C. where he's likely
going next) until our
forebearers got fed up
with his tyrannical
ways and gave him the
boot, then they invented
the bicycle.

Object lesson: Here
for them that's alert.

George III

Remember
George III

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

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

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.

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.

My
New
Book

PEYTON
WOLCOTT

TEA's
check
register:

C o n s e r v a t i v e C o m m e n t a r y

DALLAS ISD
Fallout:
"Everything's
absolutely positive,
and there's been
no negative
fallout--we're one of
the first in the state
to post our check
register online,"
said a district
spokesperson.
Logistics, goals for
the future: "We're
talking to our IT
people to see if we
can simplify the
process so that
people can go to
the online check
register more
quickly and directly."

MARBLE FALLS
ISD
Ryder Warren,
superintendent
"We have had
absolutely no
issues."
Kelly Fox, trustee
Feedback: "Peyton
is always
innovatively at the
cutting edge of the
promotion of
school reform.
This is yet one
more example of
her efforts to
improve the quality
of our schools by
championing open
records of our
spending. As a
board member I
highly recommend
that all districts
make their
spending more
transparent and be
accountable to the
taxpayers."

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/m
edia 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."

"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."

The following
is based on
the report
I presented to
Marble Falls ISD
trustees on Dec.
18, 2006 and
addresses typical
concerns
administrators and
trustees might
have; have since
added MFISD and
Dallas ISD
comments.

KEY
POINT:

"Superin-
tendents
and
school
boards
would
have to be
willing to
be
perceived
as being
anti-open
govern-
ment and
anti-
trans-
parency to
turn down
your
request
that they
post their
check
registers
online."

--Peyton
Wolcott

www.tea.stat
e.tx.us/te a/Ch
eckRegister.
html

http://www.ednews.org
/articles/8244/1/An-Inte
rview-with-Peyton -Wol
co tt-quotIs-the-Check-i
n -the-Mail-or-O n-Line-
quot/Page1.html

Education
News
Interview
(Michael
Shaughnessy)
February 19, 2007
www.EdNews.org

ONLY 9
EASY
STEPS
TO ACCESS
DALLAS
ISD'S
CHECK
REGISTER
ONLINE:

STEP 1
START
HERE:
www.dallasisd.
or g

STEP 2
ON THE
LEFT
(GREY BOX
'QUICKLINK
S')
CHOOSE:
Board of
Trustees

STEP 3
YOU'LL
SEE 2
GREY
LINES OF
TYPE;
FROM 2nd
LINE
CHOOSE:
Meeting
Agendas

STEP 4
SCROLL
DOWN;
FOR THE
MOST
RECENT
CHECK
REGISTER
CHOOSE
THE MOST
RECENT
"BOARD
BRIEFINGS"
------
STEP 5
CHOOSE:
FEB. 8, 2007

STEP 6
FIND
"Briefing
Meeting -
February 8,
2007
11:30AM
STEP 7
CLICK ON:
"AGENDA
PACKET"

STEP 8
SCROLL
DOWN TO
4.
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
(Business
Services
Division)
b. Ratification
of List of Bills,
Claims and
Accounts for
Demember 1,
2006 to
December 31,
2006
($74,044,519.0
8)

STEP 9
CLICK ON
"BillsClaims_
Attachment"

VOILA!
YOU'VE
JUST
ACCESSED
DALLAS
ISD'S
CHECK
REGISTER
IN ONLY 9
--COUNT
'EM,
9--
EASY
STEPS!

Fort Bend
Now - Editorial
Feb. 2, 2007
www.fortbendnow.co
m/opinion

Dallas Blog
Feb. 19, 2007
www.dallasblog.com

Houston
Chronicle
Feb. 13, 2007
http://blogs.chron.c
om/insidekaty

Looking for
articles re
online check
registers?

Education
News
www.EdNews.org
Dallas ISD's
check register
online! Houston's
soon!
Feb. 16, 2007

Regarding CISD's
investigation by
the Texas
Education Agency,
Don Rice,
managing editor
of theCleburne
Eagle News, said
by telephone last
week, "This has
been a two-year
process of asking
questions and
seeking answers
and accountability.
It appears..."
More here

CLEBURNE ISD

Don Rice (R) with
Teresa Blackwell

8 months of forward movement: We're
now asking in 9 states! More coming!

Mon.,
Feb. 26,
2007
9:46 am
update:

Here's the
URL for
DISD's most
recent
checks
online--I've
activated the
link several
times this
past week,
but it still
doesn't work;
apparently
DISD wants
its parents
and taxpayers
to follow all 9
of the above
steps. After
being
contacted by
media outlets
in the DFW
area, have
this morning
contacted
DISD PR guy
Celso Martinez
for an update.

www.boardbo
ok.org/apps/bb
v2/temp/FEA9
7082-E7FF-03
5D-147A7676
67FA7F25.pdf

SEEING IS BELIEVING
Katy ISD supe Leonard Merrell's self-named
"Leonard E. Merrell Center" (above) at Katy
ISD bears his name not once but twice,
the only such edifice in the U.S. which a
working supe has named for himself.

Map updated
05/22/07/11pm

ONLINE NOW

ILLINOIS:
Carpentersville SD 300*
Elgin U-46*
Huntley CUSD 158*
Naperville CUSD

MINNESOTA
Milaca ISD

TEXAS:
Arlington ISD
Bellville ISD
Big Spring ISD
Blackwell CISD
Bremond ISD
Center Pt. ISD
Chester ISD
Comal ISD
Conroe ISD*
Cy-Fair ISD*
Dallas ISD
Denison ISD
Ector Co. ISD
Electra ISD
Grandfalls-Royalty ISD
Hempstead ISD
Holliday ISD
Houston ISD*
Hunt ISD
Katy ISD
Keller ISD*
Kerrvile ISD
Leander ISD
Leonard ISD
Malakoff ISD
Marble Falls ISD
Meadow ISD
McKinney ISD
Nederland ISD
New Caney ISD
Nordheim ISD
No.Forest ISD
Pasadena ISD
Quinlan ISD
Royce City ISD
San Angelo ISD
Spring Branch ISD
Tomball ISD
Van Alstyne ISD
Wharton ISD
Wimberley ISD

COMMITTED/SOON
El Paso ISD (TX)
Galena Park ISD (TX)
Miami-Dade CPS(FL)
Richardson ISD (TX)
Sundown ISD (TX)
Temple ISD (TX)
Ysleta ISD (TX)

STATE DOE ONLINE
Texas Education
Agency

MIDDLE EDU-LAYER
St. Clair County RESA
(MI)

PARENTS,TAXPAYERS
TRUSTEES ASKING IN:
Cedar Rapids PS (IA)
ChippewaVall.SD(MI)
Cleburne ISD (TX)
Eanes ISD (TX)
Lake Travis ISD (TX)
Lancaster ISD (TX)
Midway-Waco ISD (TX)
New York CPS (NY)
Omaha PS (NB)
Santa Cruz CPS (AZ)

*No check numbers
(Source for 6 districts-Houston
Chronicle)

* Based on new information provided
by the Texas Education Agency.

Easiest way to
find articles:
Google
"Peyton Wolcott" &
"check registers"
Almost 200 online as
of Apr. 4, 23, 2007

Not a
PR pro?
How to talk to
your local school
board & supe
about putting the
district's checks
online
By Peyton Wolcott
Copyright 2007
Updated Mar. 28, 2007

Friends, a light
bulb went off
recently when an
astute friend
remarked,
"You know, most
grassroots parents
and
taxpayers aren't
good at PR."

This comment took
me off guard, but
do you know what?
He was right.

Many of our best
volunteers are
rational people,
engineers and
accountants and the
like, who are used
to an environment in
which facts reign.

It takes us a very
long while to
understand that our
public schools are
essentially socialist
models and their
engine and currency
is the realm of
emotions and
people skills.

Further, our
superintendents
attend confer- ences
and meetings
where they learn
how to develop their
PR skills, and they
hire well-paid PR
guys and gals who
are skilled in the art
of public relations.
This is the arena
into which we step.

Also, by the time
most of us get to the
point that we are
interested in seeing
how our district
spends its money,
there have been
precipitating
incidents. As
another friend put it,
"I just wanted to
slug someone at
that board meeting."
This man is a
genuinely decent
human being and
the comment
surprised me-- but
it's not the first time
I've heard this from
a parent.

It wasn't always that
way. Generally we
start out assuming
our dealings with
our school districts
will be a rational
exercise. Most of us
are volunteers and
in addition to our
taxes give
generously to our
children's schools.
Then when we
spend a lot of time
there, we notice
things. Years ago I
myself felt sure that
if I showed my local
supe and board
where money was
being wasted in
some areas and not
adequately
safeguarded in
others that they
would welcome this
information with
open arms and
changes would be
made on the spot.
Hah!
Imagine my
surprise when they
reacted as though to
a personal attack
when I was just
trying to help.

At this point we often
start gathering hard
data on our schools
because we
assume--also
incorrectly, as it
turns out--
that "someone"
higher up is
watching out. But
the "someone" turns
out to be us. We
learn that our local
schools have next to
no real oversight; as
just one example
witness the two
dozen state, federal
and local
governmental
bodies and elected
officials two moms
in Texas contacted
in their effort to bring
their local
superintendent to
justice.

Besides, to focus on
spread sheets and
flow charts to take to
"someone in
charge" is to focus
on the wake of the
wave and not the
boat and the pilot.

This is why I have
come to the
conclusion after
years in the
grassroot trenches
that the best and
most effective single
step we can take to
help our districts
reign in costs and
improve our
vendor-driven
curriculums in order
to better educate our
kids is to persuade
our schools to post
their check registers
online.
When we approach
our districts, we
have found there are
some things we can
do which are more
effective than others.
Like I tell my kids,
go and make new
mistakes--don't
replicate mine.
To make it easier for
you to successfully
ask your local
district to put its
check register
online, I've just
posted two new
pages; the first
walks you through
the process, and the
second is a flyer you
can print as is, or
you can copy and
paste* the report
sec- tion in the grey
box on the left.
I've done this
successful- ly, and
wouldn't
recommend that you
undertake
something I haven't
already done
myself.
If I can do it, you can,
too-- and probably
much better!

Our public
schools are
essentially
socialist
models
and their
engine and
currency
is the realm of
emotions
and people
skills.

Asking
Already Online

UPDATE:
Apr.4, 2007
Texas
districts'
Loophole?
Hardly !
TEA Rules
and stats
pink box
here

New York City PS

Rio Rico Schools

Cedar Rapids PS

Omaha PS

Chippewa Valley SD

Texas ISDs:
Cleburne, Comal,
Eanes, LakeTravis,
Lancaster, Midway

From 4 school districts to 46*
--plus a state DOE and a RESA--in 8 months!

Oct. 1, 2006
was the start date of
the National School
District Honor Roll
with four small
school districts in
Texas who'd posted
their check registers
online.
We now have
56 districts either
online or committed--
or where parents
and taxpayers have
begun asking.
Districts are almost all
saying "yes"
immediately.
Why?
Superintendents and
board members
understand it's better
to be on the
beginning of this
wave than in its
wake.

Looking for
previous
CHECK
REGISTER
COMMENTARIES
?

Wondering
who came
online
and when?

Previous
check register
commentaries
have moved
to:

* Please attribute and
include copyright.

. .

Looking for today's front
page Dallas Morning News
article regarding school
districts posting their
checks online?
By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007 - 3:02 pm
Updated Thu.,Mar. 8, 2007-11:30pm

www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/d
ws/dn/education/stories/030807dncco6
5percentloophole.37fad14.html

Hats off to DMN for taking
this big step towards
encouraging public school
transparency by publicizing the
online check register
movement!
There are some good
quotes--plus excerpts from the
list of schools at right--along
with the 9 steps to finding
Dallas ISD's checks published
on Feb. 19, 2007
at www.peytonwolcott.com:

National School
District Honor Roll
FIRST & MOST
COMPLETE U.S. LIST
++++++++++++++++
Updated weekly
++++++++++++++++++
46 districts online
$28.3 billion!

Dallas
Morning
News
March 8, 2007

Because the districts
voluntarily coming online
early are well ahead of the
55-60-65 progression--even
Houston ISD with its large
administra- tive overhead is
already at 63%, 8 points
ahead of schedule--DMN's
so-called loophole does not
apply.
Remember: Rather than
adopting the recommended
NCES formula, Texas
Commis-sioner of Education
Shirley Neeley instead invited
Texas superintendents to
help write their own formula,
so it is to be expected that all
districts will make the 65%
mark on target and on
schedule.

Ysleta ISD commits to
posting its check register
online!
By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 3:02 am

Hector Montenegro, Ysleta
ISD's superintendent, contacted
me last night by email to confirm
YISD is the first school district in far
West Texas to be preparing to post
its checks online.
"We want to follow proper proce-
dures and establish a link on our
web site," said Hector.
Located in El Paso County, YISD has
46,278 students; its total receipts all
funds was $436,804,801 and
general fund amount $281,890,828
for 2004-05, the last reported actuals
per TEA.

Ysleta ISD,
2005 W.Texas UIL champs

www.peytonwolc
ott.com/Ch eckRe
gisterNewsThrou
gh031407.html

UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE

We've just been doing
some spring cleaning; if
you have problems with
links, please email me.
Looking for previous
COMMENTARIES?
Find them now at:

www.peytonwolcott.com/Com
mentary022207-031307.html

WJR-ABC RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC DETROIT
The Frank
Beckmann Show
Monday, March 19, 2007
TIME:
7:10 am PST (California)
8:10 am MST (Colorado)
9:10 am CST (Texas)
10:10 am EST (Detroit,NY)

Frank
Beckmann

Frank, a 30-year
radio veteran,
has just been
named "Best
Personality" by
The Michigan
Association of
Broadcasters.

Listen online here
www.wjr.com/player.
asp (Turn up your speakers)

WJR broadcasts to all of Michigan,
Ohio and Indiana, plus Ontario.
We've been following Detroit Public
Schools for some time now, most
recently former supe (and ERDI
consultant) Ken Burnley's then
successor William Coleman's
purchases of $1.6 million in art from
the Sherry Washington Gallery.
Have found some interesting
insights in Burnley's undated "Final
Report" to DPS which I hope to
share with Frank, along with of
course online check register news,
how folks in the Great Lakes area
can bring this to their schools.
This is a great opportunity, and
many thanks to Frank and his
executive producer, Kevin Collard.
CALL IN: 1-800-859-0957

WJR's other hosts include Rush
Limbaugh (L) and Sean Hannity,
here with Lynn Woolley

Horseshoe
Bay woman's
crusade for
openness gets
help from
lawmaker
Bill calls for
school districts
to post spending
online
By Mark Lisheron
Austin
American-States
man Staff
March 23, 2007

Peyton Wolcott,
a veteran
agitator who
encourages
school districts
to be open and
honest with
parents and
taxpayers,
features
something on her
watchdog Web
site she calls the
National School
District Honor
Roll.

With the help of
State Rep. Bill
Zedler, Wolcott's
honor roll could
swell with the
names of more
than 1,000 Texas
school districts
that would be
required by law to
post on the
Internet every
check they cut.

Zedler,
R-Arlington, said
he was moved to
draft House Bill
2560 by what he
recognized as a
groundswell of
Texans who want
to know how all of
their taxing
authorities are
spending their
money. The bill
has been referred
to the House
Public Education
Committee,
where Zedler
serves as vice
chairman.

Zedler's House
colleagues have
filed bills
mandating that all
state agencies
post their
spending online.

Spending
disclosure has
the support of
Gov. Rick Perry.

The state
comptroller's
office, which
began posting
expenditures this
year, is one of
several agencies
that do so. The
Texas Education
Agency, which
posts its check
register, is
making plans to
provide a brief
explanation for
each payment,
spokesman
Robert Scott said.

Wolcott, of
Horseshoe Bay,
feels as though
she were
prescient in her
quest to prod
school districts to
voluntarily set up
sites outlining
their spending.

"I think something
very interesting is
happening.
Basically, this is a
populist
movement by
people who want
to see their
school districts
succeed and are
concerned when
they see evidence
of waste in
school
spending,"
Wolcott said.

Wolcott said she
made a commit-
ment to open her
home school
district in Llano
after making what
she said was a
broad and clumsy
request for
school records a
few years ago.
The district
rewarded her a
$426 bill for
copying records,
which Wolcott
declined to
accept because
of the cost.

After harnessing
the open records
issue to a school
board race in
2004 that
resulted in the
election of five
new members,
Wolcott turned to
creating a Web
site that would
monitor school
issues not just in
Texas, but
nationally.

On Oct. 1, she
posted the
National School
District Honor
Roll. Making the
roll are 19 of the
state's 1,032
districts and the
Texas Education
Agency. The
Dallas school
district, the state's
second largest, is
among the
honorees.

Houston, the
largest district,
has set a goal to
post its spending
on line by April,
Wolcott said.
Marble Falls is
the only district in
Central Texas on
her list.

Zedler's bill
would ease
Wolcott's task, but
she said the
current
momentum
favors districts
posting their
expenditures on
their own.

The Arlington
school district
has announced
its intent to create
a Web site for
spending
regardless of the
fate of the bill filed
by their
representative.
"I think this whole
movement is
driven by people's
concern over the
explosive growth
of government,"
Zedler said. "I
think something
like this forces all
of us to be a little
more careful in
how we spend
the public's
money."

Austin
American-
Statesman
March 23, 2007

UPDATE: Frank Beckmann has
a terrific and kind manner; there
were so many callers several
were turned away despite his
extending the segment an extra
quarter-hour, all of which radio
folks tell me is good; best of all,
several folks indicated they'd be
asking in their local schools.

Detroit
News
Editorial
March 24, 2007
"Government should
post spending
online
"Texas is pioneering
a practice that
should be tried in
Michigan to see
whether all the fat
has been cut out of
state government.
The Texas
Education Agency
and the State
Comptrollers Office
post their spending
online. Proposed
legislation would
extend this practice
to all state
agencies. A Texas
woman, Peyton
Wolcott, has been
agitating for this
kind of open
government among
school districts, so
a legislator has pro-
posed it. As Wolcott
told the Austin
American- States-
man, ' Basically,
this is a populist
move- ment by
people who want to
see their school
districts succeed
and are concerned
when they see
evidence of waste in
school spending.' "

ALERT: Texas
supes attack
parents' public
records access
By Peyton Wolcott-Copyright
2007-Mon., Apr.2, 2007/1am

SB 889
sends a clear
message to
secret-mongers in
government:

If you want to keep
secrets from people,
be inefficient in
responding to open
records requests,
because then
you can
jack up the costs,
even charge attorneys
fees and slow staff
time, so the costs are
so high most citizens
won't be able to afford
to get the
records they
want to see.

--Bill Aleshire, attorney
Open government
specialist

Senate Bill 889--
which we defeated in its
previous incarna-
tion as HB 226 4 two years
ago--would enable
school districts to charge an
arm and a leg for labor,
other costs after only 50
pages/ month.
BACKERS: Paid
educators--supes--
and their paid lobbyists.
OPPOSED: Parents &
taxpayers trying to look at
their districts' finances via
open records.

Per
Travis
County
Attorney
David
Escamilla:

David
Escamilla

Pictorial: NEISD's
public records
circus revealed....
The lengths to which
one supe went to
make it hard for us
to take a peek at his
expense account
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., April 9, 2007/2 am

You might be assuming at
this point that the
expenses I asked to view
were from some years
past and therefore had to
be retrieved from
storage.

No. These were for the
same year, Jan-
uary through June; I
asked in September and
got to view in November.

You might be asking
yourself: "Why didn't
Richard Middleton simply
keep these in a file folder
in his desk, where they'd
be easy to get to?"

Gee, that's a good
question.

Here's what it
took for me to view six
months of North
East ISD supe Richard
Middleton's expense
reports in suburban San
Antonio:

An employee with a large
late-model Lexus had to
drive two boxes over
from another building then
load them into a rolling
filing cart (above) and
bring them upstairs in the
elevator then down a
long hallway to an empty
conference room. Whew!

Convoluted public
education
bookkeeping/filing
system

NEISD's famous
"rolling filing cart"

A public school
superintendent who
wants the public to view
his/her expenses is
going to make sure
they're filed in a way that
they're easily retrievable.

What a system such as
this would seem to
indicate is a public school
supe in charge who is
not particularly interested
in making these public
records of his/her
spending available to the
public. NEISD is by no
means alone in using this
sort of system.

NOTED: This complicated
exercise is the sort of
machination by school
districts for whom SB
889 is designed to
produce extra labor
charges.

National School
District Honor Roll
featuring
Houston ISD, Arlington
ISD, El Paso ISD, Kerrville
ISD, and Conroe ISD
Congratulations!

Supes in the News

UPDATE:
Sandridge
Elementary
School District
176 (IL)
Sex, Questions &
Videotapes in the
Principal's Office
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., Apr.17, 2007/8:10 am

Supe Diane Dyer-
Dawson (inset); edited
photo of principal Leroy
Coleman's office (CBS)

Clearly, the educa-
tion establishment's
head-in-the-sand
mentality has been at
play here, along with
the double standard
which appears to be
alive and kicking in
suburban Chicago.
You remember the one:
"Do as I say and not as
I do."

From one
blogger:
"HOW LONG DID THE
MYSTERIOUS
CAMERAMAN KNOW
THE ACTIVITY WAS
GOING ON? Taping
those idiots in the act
was the most effective
way to resolve the
issue." (Ibid.)

When is a Starr
not a star?
Board prez admits
to stealing up to
$330,000
By Peyton Wolcott
Sat., Apr.14,2007/11:30am

Melissa Starr (standing,
right) with fellow board
members

QUESTION ON THE
TABLE: How does a
20-student elemen-
tary school district
have enough money
that $665,000 total
can go missing?
ANSWER: "Authori-
ties said most of it
was stolen through
travel vouchers for
trips and training
that were never
taken."
(SOURCE-Lauren
Donovan/Bismarck
Tribune)

Melissa Starr, the for-
mer president of the
Twin Buttes Elementary
School board [on the
Fort Berthold Reserva-
tion], "admitted to steal-
ing up to $330,000 of
the school's money in
U.S. District Court in
Bismarck on Wednes-
day. Melissa Starr
changed her plea to
guilty and promised to
cooperate with a deep-
ening investigation into
criminal activity invol-
ving the school finan-
ces and other matters."
(Ibid.) "Starr and Lone
Bear and five others
from the school were
indicted in November by
a federal grand jury for
conspiracy fraud and
embezzlement of more
than $665,000 in scho-
ol funds over a
three-year period."
(Ibid.)

Credit Cards

A bout

C ontact

Former Bremond ISD supe

Technology

THE BIG PICTURE

Public Records

Pass the Trash

Reader Q uestion s & A nswers

SLAPP suit

Plea Bargain

Sentencing

Bremond ISD

Home of the National School District Honor Roll
4 6 school districts $28.3 billion
How to ask your school district to post its checks online here Flyer here NEW! History here

Archives

2006 in Review

Practical steps: How to Organize 95 Questions How to ask for public records

Conferences

QUESTION: Why didn't
supe Diane Dyer-
Dawson pick up on the
"widespread" rumors
about Coleman's
activities? There's only
one school in her
school district.

World's First & Finest
HANDSHAKE-O-METER
Results just in!
New scientific study
rates the strength of a
male educator's
handshake with that of
a woman journalist

On a 1 to 10 scale the
winners are:

ERDI's Mike Kneale-10
LamarU's Bob Thompson-10

Congratulations, boys!
P.S. Hey, Mike!
Sign me up for your
"Assertive Style" video!
A bargain at $50!

From the Department
of Unlimited Plunder
and Unbridled Hubris,
Texas Vikings Divi-
sion: The origins of
anti-sunshine SB 889
By Peyton Wolcott
Wed., April 18, 2007

Modern Minutemen

Colorado

. .
.

$ 28.3 billion!

Located in the
tip of far West
Texas where Texas
meets Mexico meets
New Mexico, El Paso
ISD has 63,133*
students and total
receipts all funds of
$578.8 million, with
per-pupil expendi-
tures of $9,168 for the
most recent reporting
period, 2004-2005. By
email, Lorenzo recently
confirmed that EPISD is
definitely in the process
of placing its check
register online.

Many thanks to dad
Gary Gonzalez for
bringing this project to
the EPISD board!

Lorenzo
Garcia

El Paso
ISD--
in the
works!
By Peyton
Wolcott
April 17,
2007/1am

Electra ISD is
already online!
By Peyton Wolcott
April 17, 2007/1 am

Electra HS

Situated on the
Oklahoma border
near Mineral Wells, in
Wichita County, Electra,
Texas, the "Pump Jack
Capital of Texas," was
named for rancher W.T.
Waggoner's daughter
on May 1, 1902. The
school district was
established in 1911;
"that year also marked
the rapid population
swell after the Clayco
No. 1
oil well came in," --and
the high school was
built for $41,000.
Local events include
the annual Electra Goat
Barbecue, "one of the
busiest and most
exciting events hosted
by the Chamber."
(SOURCE--Electra
Chamber of Commerce)

Electra ISD has 623*
students and total
receipts all funds of
$5,874,536, with a
per-student cost of
$9,429.

* All figures are most
recent actuals per
TEA: the 2004-05
school year.

Sundown ISD online
soon! Wow! TASA
lobbyist spends
$21,808 per pupil!
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., Apr. 17, 2007/1am

If Electra, Texas
was named for a
rancher's daughter,
Sundown, Texas was
named for rancher Bob
Slaughter's favorite
movie; the town
occupies part of the
original Slaughter
ranch. The former
"Boomtown, USA,"
Sundown is home of
the 29th richest school
district in Texas.
(SOURCE--
Handbook of Texas)

Sundown supe Mike
Motheral, a frequent-
ly seen figure lobby-
ing in Austin on behalf
of TASA--he chairs the
legislative committee--
announced at the Apr.
10, 2007 hearing for HB
2560 (photo above) that
he was posting his
district's check register
online.

Sundown ISD has 561
students, and its most
recently reported total
receipts all funds
amount was
$12,234,224, for a
per-pupil expenditure of
$21,808. SISD is rated
"Exemplary" by TEA.

Sundown supe Mike
Motheral lobbying in Austin
for TASA at House Public
Education Committee; Rep.
Dora Olivos listens

RECAP: Almost
immediately
after an anony-
mous tapester
circulated the now-
infamous tapes to
members of the
community both
Chicago's Sand-
ridge Elementary both
principal Leroy
Coleman and teacher
Janet Lofton resigned.

A day later, "teach-
er's aide Anjayla Reed
resigned after she
was contacted about
allegations she
appears on a separate
portion of the tape
hugging and touching
the principal."
(SOURCE--AP)

From another
blogger:
:"Think about it.....what
would have happened
if someone just repor-
ted it? There'd be an
internal discussion and
the person reporting it
would now have the
principal (most likely
THEIR BOSS) as a
sworn enemy. Most
likely, no outcome
would have been
achieved since it'd be
a he-said/she-said
thing. Or, if it was a
public discussion....
you'd have the princi-
pal's enemies calling
for his head and his
homer's ("look at the
high test-scores!")
trying to excuse his
actions. It'd be a mas-
sive waste of tme and
money, while being
emotionally-exhausting
for the entire commun-
ity. Shouldn't the
school community be
focused on baseball,
track 'n' field and the
spring theatre?
Bravo...
mysterious
cameraman. You got
rid of some unworthy
co-workers.
(SOURCE--Northwest
Illinois Times)

PUBLISHED THE SAME
MONTH THE VIDEO-
CAM WAS TAPING
(JANUARY): "Some
might consider
Sandridge School
Principal Leroy Coleman
a bit old-school. The
50-something educator
doesn't approve of kids
holding hands in the
hallways or
'romancing.' "
(SOURCE--NWI.com)

Gotta love the
bloggers:

Origin of the
National School
District Honor Roll

Abbott ISD Abernathy ISD Abilene
ISD Academy ISD Adrian ISD Agua
Dulce ISD Alamo Heights ISD
Alba-Golden ISD Albany ISD Aldine
ISD Aledo ISD Alice ISD Alief ISD
Allen ISD Alpine ISD Alto ISD
Alvarado ISD Alvin ISD Alvord ISD
Amarillo ISD Amherst ISD Anahuac
ISD Anderson-Shiro ISD Andrews
ISD Angleton ISD Anna ISD Anson
ISD Anthony ISD Anton ISD Apple
Springs ISD Aquilla ISD Aransas
County ISD Aransas Pass ISD
Archer City ISD Argyle ISD Arlington
ISD Arp ISD Aspermont ISD Athens
ISD Atlanta ISD Aubrey ISD Austin
ISD Austwell-Tivoli ISD Avalon ISD
Avery ISD Avinger ISD Axtell ISD

Can you find the
names of the 2 Texas
school districts on
this list below (out of
Texas' 1,032) who,
because they
apparently have
not figured out how to
handle public records
requests, are penali-
zing all Texas parents
and taxpayers by
instigating SB 889,
punitive legislation
which will discrimin-
ate against parents who
cannot afford onerous*
public records retrieval
costs?

It's quite something:
All of Texas' other
1,030 school districts
somehow figured out a
way to handle their
parents' public records
requests.

Azle ISD Baird ISD Ballinger ISD
Balmorhea ISD Bandera ISD Bangs
ISD Banquete ISD Barbers Hill ISD
Bartlett ISD Bastrop ISD Bay City
ISD Beaumont ISD Beckville ISD
Beeville ISD Bellevue ISD Bells ISD
Bellville ISD Belton ISD Ben
Bolt-Palito Blanco ISD Benavides
ISD Benjamin ISD Big Sandy ISD
(Polk) Big Sandy ISD (Upshur) Big
Spring ISD Birdville ISD Bishop
CISD Blackwell CISD Blanco ISD
Bland ISD Blanket ISD Bloomburg
ISD Blooming Grove ISD
Bloomington ISD Blue Ridge ISD
Bluff Dale ISD Blum ISD Boerne
ISD Boles ISD Boling ISD Bonham
ISD Booker ISD Borden County ISD
Borger ISD Bosqueville ISD Bovina
ISD Bowie ISD Boyd ISD Boys
Ranch ISD Brackett ISD Brady ISD
Brazos ISD Brazosport ISD
Breckenridge ISD Bremond ISD
Brenham ISD Bridge City ISD
Bridgeport ISD Broaddus ISD Brock
ISD Bronte ISD Brookeland ISD
Brookesmith ISD Brooks CISD
Brownfield ISD Brownsboro ISD
Brownsville ISD Brownwood ISD
Bruceville-Eddy ISD Bryan ISD
Bryson ISD Buckholts ISD Buena
Vista ISD Buffalo ISD Bullard ISD
Buna ISD Burkburnett ISD Burkeville
ISD Burleson ISD Burnet CISD
Burton ISD Bushland ISD Byers ISD
Bynum ISD Caddo Mills ISD
Calallen ISD Caldwell ISD Calhoun
CISD Callisburg ISD Calvert ISD
Cameron ISD Campbell ISD
Canadian ISD Canton ISD Canutillo
ISD Canyon ISD Carlisle ISD Carrizo
Springs CISD Carroll ISD Carrollton-
Farmers Branch ISD Carthage ISD
Castleberry ISD Cayuga ISD Cedar
Hill ISD Celeste ISD Celina ISD
Center ISD Center Point ISD
Centerville ISD (Leon) Centerville
ISD (Trinity) Central ISD Central
Heights ISD Channelview ISD
Channing ISD Chapel Hill ISD
(Smith) Chapel Hill ISD (Titus)
Charlotte ISD Cherokee ISD
Chester ISD Chico ISD Childress
ISD Chillicothe ISD Chilton ISD
China Spring ISD Chireno ISD
Chisum ISD Christoval ISD Cisco
ISD City View ISD Clarendon CISD
Clarksville ISD Claude ISD Clear
Creek ISD Cleburne ISD Cleveland
ISD Clifton ISD Clint ISD Clyde
CISD Coahoma ISD Coldspring-
Oakhurst CISD Coleman ISD
College Station ISD Collinsville ISD
Colmesneil ISD Colorado ISD
Columbia-Brazoria ISD Columbus
ISD Comal ISD Comanche ISD
Comfort ISD Commerce ISD
Community ISD Como-Pickton CISD
Comstock ISD Connally ISD Conroe
ISD Coolidge ISD Cooper ISD
Coppell ISD Copperas Cove ISD
Corpus Christi ISD Corrigan-Camden
ISD Corsicana ISD Cotton Center
ISD Cotulla ISD Coupland ISD
Covington ISD Crandall ISD Crane
ISD Cranfills Gap ISD Crawford ISD
Crockett County CCSD Crockett ISD
Crosby ISD Crosbyton CISD Cross
Plains ISD Cross Roads ISD Crowell
ISD Crowley ISD Crystal City ISD
Cuero ISD Culberson County-
Allamoore ISD Cumby ISD Cushing
ISD Cypress-Fairbanks ISD

Daingerfield-Lone Star ISD Dalhart
ISD Dallas ISD Damon ISD Danbury
ISD Darrouzett ISD Dawson ISD
(Dawson) Dawson ISD (Navarro)
Dayton ISD De Leon ISD Decatur
ISD Deer Park ISD De Kalb ISD Del
Valle ISD Dell City ISD Denison ISD
Denton ISD Denver City ISD DeSoto
ISD Detroit ISD Devers ISD Devine
ISD Dew ISD Deweyville ISD
D'Hanis ISD Diboll ISD Dickinson
ISD Dilley ISD Dime Box ISD
Dimmitt ISD Divide ISD Dodd City
ISD Donna ISD Doss CCSD
Douglass ISD Dripping Springs ISD
Driscoll ISD Dublin ISD Dumas ISD
Duncanville ISD Eagle Dountain-
Saginaw ISD Eagle Pass ISD
Eanes ISD Early ISD East
Bernard ISD East Central ISD East
Chambers ISD Eastland ISD Ector
County ISD Ector ISD Edcouch-Elsa
ISD Eden CISD Edgewood ISD
(Bexar) Edgewood ISD (Van Zandt)
Edinburg CISD Edna ISD El Campo
ISD El Paso ISD Electra ISD Elgin
ISD Elkhart ISD Elysian Fields ISD
Ennis ISD Era ISD Etoile ISD Eula
ISD Eustace ISD Evadale ISD Evant
ISD Everman ISD Excelsior ISD
Ezzell ISD Fabens ISD Fairfield ISD
Falls City ISD Fannindel ISD
Farmersville ISD Farwell ISD
Fayetteville ISD Ferris ISD Flatonia
ISD Florence ISD Floresville ISD
Flour Bluff ISD Floydada ISD Follett
ISD Forestburg ISD Forney ISD
Forsan ISD Fort Bend ISD Fort Davis
ISD Fort Elliott CISD Fort Hancock
ISD Fort Sam Houston ISD Fort
Stockton ISD Fort Worth ISD
Franklin ISD Frankston ISD
Fredericksburg ISD Freer ISD
Frenship ISD Friendswood ISD
Friona ISD Frisco ISD Frost ISD
Fruitvale ISD Gainesville ISD Galena

Park ISD Galveston ISD Ganado ISD
Garland ISD Garner ISD Garrison ISD
Gary ISD Gatesville ISD Gause ISD
George West ISD Georgetown ISD
Gholson ISD Giddings ISD Gilmer
ISD Gladewater ISD Glasscock
County ISD Glen Rose ISD Godley
ISD Gold-Burg ISD Goldthwaite ISD
Goliad ISD Gonzales ISD Goodrich
ISD Goose Creek CISD Gordon ISD
Gorman ISD Grady ISD Graford ISD
Graham ISD Granbury ISD Grand
Prairie ISD Grand Saline ISD
Grandfalls-Royalty ISD Grandview
ISD Grandview-Hopkins ISD Grape
Creek-Pulliam ISD Grapeland ISD
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Greenville
ISD Greenwood ISD Gregory-Portland
ISD Groesbeck ISD Groom ISD
Groveton ISD Gruver ISD Gunter ISD
Gustine ISD Guthrie CSD Hale Center
ISD Hallettsville ISD Hallsburg ISD
Hallsville ISD Hamilton ISD Hamlin
ISD Hamshire-Fannett ISD Happy
ISD Hardin ISD Hardin-Jefferson ISD
Harlandale ISD Harleton ISD
Harlingen CISD Harmony ISD Harper
ISD Harrold ISD Hart ISD Hartley ISD
Harts Bluff ISD Haskell CISD
Hawkins ISD Hawley ISD Hays CISD
Hearne ISD Hedley ISD Hemphill ISD
Hempstead ISD Henderson ISD
Henrietta ISD Hereford ISD Hermleigh
ISD Hico ISD Hidalgo ISD Higgins
ISD High Island ISD Highland ISD
Highland Park ISD (Dallas) Highland
Park ISD (Potter) Hillsboro ISD
Hitchcock ISD Holland ISD Holliday
ISD Hondo ISD Honey Grove ISD
Hooks ISD Houston ISD Howe ISD
Hubbard ISD (Bowie) Hubbard ISD
(Hill) Huckabay ISD Hudson ISD
Huffman ISD Hughes Springs ISD
Hull-Daisetta ISD Humble ISD Hunt
ISD Huntington ISD Huntsville ISD
Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD Hutto ISD

"No special interest is
more destructive than
the teachers' unions."

Interesting choice
of phrases that,
"special interest."

Interesting choice for
someone with his own
special interests.

Where to begin.
Let's start with Rod's
having paid buddy
Armstrong Williams
$240,000 to plant
favorable articles on
NCLB, then let's move
on, post-USDOE, to the
American College of
Education with cronies
Mike Moses and Randy
Best, and most recently
Paige is involved with
Chartwell Education
Group whose purpose
is:

Public education for
SALE-SALE-SALE!
By Peyton Wolcott
Updated Fri., Apr. 20, 2007

If you connect the
dots and follow the
money, turns out more
often than not the folks
behind these rumors
are superintendents
and edu-vendors. Who
can blame them? How
better to deflect atten-
tion from yourself than
to point the finger
elsewhere?

The latest supe to
spout this nonsense is
none other than Rod
Paige, architect of the
so-called "Houston
Miracle" which turned
out to appear to have
been the result of
smoke and mirrors and
falsified test scores.
Paige writes in his new
book:

Chartwell

Public edu-vendor
Chartwell's Rod Paige

"To advance the
systemic improvement
of education domestic-
ally and globally. The
firm, which is headquar-
tered in New York and
has offices in Washing-
ton, D.C., and London,
United Kingdom, pro-
vides education-related
consulting services to
state and local govern-
ment, foundations, cor-
porations, and even
countries seeking the
best models of
education globally."

Idalou ISD Industrial ISD Ingleside
ISD Ingram ISD Iola ISD Iowa Park
CISD Ira ISD Iraan-Sheffield ISD
Iredell ISD Irion County ISD
Irving ISD Italy ISD Itasca ISD
Jacksboro ISD Jacksonville ISD
Jarrell ISD Jasper ISD Jayton-Girard
ISD Jefferson ISD Jim Hogg County
ISD Jim Ned Consolidated ISD
Joaquin ISD Johnson City ISD
Jonesboro ISD Joshua ISD
Jourdanton ISD Judson ISD Junction
ISD Karnack ISD Karnes City ISD
Katy ISD Kaufman ISD Keene ISD
Keller ISD Kelton ISD Kemp ISD
Kendleton ISD Kenedy County Wide
Common School District Kenedy ISD
Kennard ISD Kennedale ISD Kerens
ISD Kermit ISD Kerrville ISD Kilgore
ISD Killeen ISD Kingsville ISD
Kirbyville Consolidated ISD Klein
ISD Klondike ISD Knippa ISD Knox
City-O'Brien CISD Kopperl ISD
Kountze ISD Kress ISD Krum ISD La
Feria ISD La Gloria ISD La Grange
ISD La Joya ISD La Marque ISD La
Porte ISD La Poynor ISD
La Pryor ISD La Vega ISD La Vernia
ISD La Villa ISD Lackland ISD
Lgo Vista ISD Lake Dallas ISD
Lake Travis ISD Lake
Worth ISD Lamar CISD Lamesa ISD
Lampasas ISD Lancaster ISD
Laneville ISD Laredo ISD Lasara ISD
Latexo ISD Lazbuddie ISD Leakey
ISD Leander ISD Leary ISD Lefors
ISD Leggett ISD Leon ISD Leonard
ISD Levelland ISD Leverett's Chapel
ISD Lewisville ISD Lexington ISD
Liberty Hill ISD Liberty ISD
Liberty-Eylau ISD Lindale ISD
Linden-Kildare CISD Lindsay ISD
Lingleville ISD Lipan ISD Little
Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Little Elm
ISD Littlefield ISD Livingston ISD
Llano ISD Lockhart ISD Lockney ISD
Lohn ISD Lometa ISD London ISD
Lone Oak ISD Longview ISD Loop
ISD Loraine ISD Lorena ISD Lorenzo
ISD Los Fresnos CISD Louise ISD
Lovejoy ISD Lovelady ISD Lubbock
ISD Lubbock-Cooper ISD
Lueders-Avoca ISD Lufkin ISD Luling
ISD Lumberton ISD Lyford CISD Lytle
ISD (for the rest of this list,
please go to Wikipedia)

Coupla questions:
(1) How is it that Lake
Travis and Eanes got
to be so gosh-darned
unlucky with parental
public records
requests?
(2) Rather than, say,
Eanes supe Nola
Wellman toddling off
to, say, the Lamar U.
Supe Academy, or up
to Dallas to stay at
the Adolphus Hotel
while at the same
time telling Channel
8 News, "We're
broke," wouldn't
Eanes be better
served by their travel
dollars being spent
on personal visits to
the other 1,030
school districts who
have successfully
managed their par-
ents' questions, start-
ing at the top of this
list with Abbott ISD?

Just what public
education in this
country needs is yet
another vendor with
a solution.

Public education in
the U.S. is the new
Tammany Hall.

Do you know where
your public school
district's buses are
tonight? And who's
responsible for their
safety? Is there a
chain of command?

Hyatt Hill Country Resort
(San Antonio, Texas)
Site of Mike Kneale's
Feb. 2005 ERDI conference

Golf course, Rancho
Mirage, California
Site of Mike Kneale's
July 2004 ERDI conference

What's the real
solution?
One answer being
discussed is for admin-
istrators to have a
wait time--five years?
--before becoming
public school vendors.
Another possible solu-
tion: Forfeit their gen-
erous TRS payments.

Learning from
others' mistakes
By Peyton Wolcott
Fri., Apr. 20, 2007/2 am

Katy, Texas hires new
ERDI consultant/supe
to replace old ERDI
consultant/supe
By Peyton Wolcott
Fri., Apr. 20, 2007/1 am

Katy ISD
must like
ERDI consul-
tants, having
just hired
their second
in a row.

Alton
Frailey

Yesterday the district
announced Alton Frailey
as their new supe to
replace Leonard Merrell.

Katy will be Frailey's
third place of employ-
ment in three years; he's
leaving DeSoto ISD,
which has 7,955
students and total
receipts all funds of $62
million per TEA, for Katy
ISD with 44,212 students
and $430 million TRAF.

Frailey has just cele-
brated his second
anniversary at DeSoto,
having served as Cin-
cinnati's supe imme-
diately prior to that--
meaning he's been in
three districts in three
years. Interesting.

More about KISD's
supe search guy, Bob
Thompson, below.
More about ERDI here.

Julia Earl (PHOTO/KOTV)

Julia Earl was one
of the two top finalists
for the Lorain City, Ohio
public schools top
spot--until they found
out about her
difficulties at her prior
top spot:

"Earl, who now lives in
Texas, was the
superintendent of the
Nashua School District
in New Hampshire
from 2005 until earlier
this year. She and the
Nashua school board
reached a $250,000
settlement in February,
ending her employment
with the district, accor-
ding to The Telegraph,
the newspaper there.
The settlement came
after several months
of investigations into
Earl's use of city funds
to pay for travel
....Earl used more than
$8,000 in public money
for different trips to
Houston (three times);
Austin, Texas; San
Diego; San Antonio;
and Chicago." (SOURCE
--Alan Ingram/Mor.Jrnal)

Earl's Nashua travel
allowance? $500.

On the radio later today!
When: Sat., Apr. 21
(Time zones below)
What: Paul Preston's
"Inside Education" (The
nation's first radio
show devoted to
education!)
Listen online
(click here):
www.edtalkradio.com
Call in: 1-888-923-1380
or 1-916-923-3300
Where: Sacramento

FIND YOUR TIME ZONE
4:15 pm-California (PST)
5:15 pm-Arizona (MT)
6:15 pm-Texas (CST)
7:15 pm-New York (EST)

TAS/MUS: Texas supes
playing golf Friday of
TAKS testing week
By Peyton Wolcott
Sat.,Apr.21, 2007/2:30 pm

Cy-Fair supe David
Anthony (middle) at
bar cart with vendor
Ken Coffey, VP/IInsti-
tutional Markets, AIG

Yesterday afternoon
Texas superintendents
and vendors played
golf together, often
riding in the same carts,
at Tapatio Springs
Resort in Boerne in
perfect 75-degree blue-
sky weather, far away
from the packing up
going on back home of
TAKS tests--under
secure conditions.

"The 50 pages
in SB 889 is too
low. If there
has to be a cap
on the number
of pages per
month, it
should be
somewhere in
the thousands."

Encouraging news
re Rep. Bill Zedler's
"Check Register"
bill (HB 2560)
By Peyton Wolcott
Sat., Apr. 21, 2007/7 pm

Joe
Crabb

This past
week Rep.
Joe Crabb
of Kings-
wood has
signed on
as co-author

of Rep. Bill Zedler's HB
2560 which would
require all Texas school
districts to post their
check registers online
as of September 1,
2007.

New Caney ISD in
Crabb's district was
one of the first four
districts in Texas to
post its check register
online, and Galena
Park is in the process.

Rep. Rob Eissler (L),
Rep. Bill Zedler (R)

What can you
do?
The next step is for
House Public Education
Committee Chair Rob
Eissler of the Wood-
lands to bring HB 2560
up for a vote; once this
happens--and who
would vote against
transparency?--it will
go to the House floor
then the Senate where
there will be another
hearing and another
vote, then it becomes
law.

Please call
Rep. Eissler:
Austin
(512) 463-0797
The Woodlands
(281) 681-9655
Magnolia
(281) 252-8692

David Thompson

In one of the ironies
of life and politics,
on the same day
testimony was given in
support of HB 2560,
Lake Travis ISD
SLAPP suit attorney--
and paid TASA lobbyist
--David Thompson also
appeared before the
Public Ed. Committee.
Alas, Thompson was
there to support
another bill. When
you're a paid lobbyist
it's useful to remember
who's paying you and
for what purpose.

You can also call:
Rep. Dan Branch
(512) 463-0367
Rep. Scott Hochberg
(512) 463-0492
Rep. Diane Patrick
Austin, TX 78768

More TAS/MUS
photos: Texas supes
golfing at resort
during TAKS week
By Peyton Wolcott
Sun.,Apr.22, 2007/10 pm

Another day in
paradise: Texas'
hardworking supes
golfing with vendors
during TAKS testing
week
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., Apr. 24, 2007/1:04 am

Seattle Times
editorial
investigates
'Investigations':
Real math = Yes
Fuzzy Math = NO!
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., Apr.24, 2007/1 am

Bruce
Ramsey

Hats
off,
Bruce,
for calling
a spade a
spade:

Making the case for
stiff school audits:
Gotta watch them NY
bond lawyers
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., April 24, 2007/1 am

According to Paul
Brooks of the Middle
town Times
Herald-Record, a
public records search
by the paper which
reviewed local
school districts'
2005-2006 audits
"reveals some minor
infractions and one
more major trend:
spending without
taxpayer approval."
Some examples of
their findings re the
findings:

"New-age math,
which is used in most
schools today (includ-
ing many private
schools), came pack-
aged with a garden
basket of fragrant
thoughts. 'It was
hands-on,' recalls
Seattle math teacher
Martha McLaren. 'Make
math fun. Small groups.
Kids learning to work
together, to 'appreciate
the differences.' It was
all going to be some-
how more democratic.'
It was better for girls
and immigrants, who
maybe didn't learn in
such a 'linear' way.
Linear it is not. One of
the leading new-age
series, TERC's
'Investigations,'
leads the sixth-grade
student to scissor out
parts of a disk and
paste them over other
parts. The book tells
the student, he has
discovered the number
pi. The lesson does not
require the student to
solve any problems
with pi. It does not list
the formula c=2 pi r.
Instead, it prances on
to a lesson about how
to estimate the area of
a baby's hand by
counting squares on
graph paper."

More here.

Supes golfing (TAKS week) 1 2 3

"Monroe-Woodbury
borrowed $1.8 million
even though voters
had rejected the
budget proposition that
allowed the spending
for new buses. The
district fired its bond
lawyers as a result.

"Cornwall overspent
its high school cons-
truction project by
$176,639. "There is no
legal authority to over-
spend voter approved
appropriations," the
auditors said.

"State comptroller's
audits: Comptroller
staff can and do look
for fraud and theft.
They now have to
review all school
districts at least once
every five years."

"Fixes: Districts have
90 days to prepare
and give auditors a
plan to fix the problems
found by auditors. Sub-
sequent audits check
to see if it was done.
Usually, corrections
have been made.
Sometimes it takes
years. Sometimes,
the problem has yet to
be fixed. There are no
legal penalties.
Why audits are
needed: Districts in
mid-Hudson spend
more than $1 billion a
year. Bad things can
happen. In 2005, inves-
tigators found 29 Ros-
lyn school district emp-
loyees had stolen
more than $11 million,
including $1 million in
ATM cash
advances.The state
approved new
requirements in the
wake of the scandal.

More about New
York's audits:

[image and
message
deleted]

Tue./May 1, 2007

Remembering
the lessons of
Kristallnacht

* * *
Friends, I am
reconsidering
whether to post
your comments re
the TAS/MUS
conference
including the golf
tournament on
Friday of TAKS
testing week.

Why?
Events of this past
week have led to
concerns whether
superintendents
and their lawyers
might consider
such "misleading."

What are your
thoughts?
Have contacted
TASA's Johnny
Veselka and
Marvin Crawford
of TAS/MUS for
their insights.

Wes VanDenberg
(Mug shot/WZZM 13)

$40,000
restitution
Earlier this week,
former Caledonia
School District supe
Wes VanDenberg
was ordered "to pay
the district $40,000
in restitution" after
pleading "no contest
last year to
embezzlement
charges." He was
also "sentenced to
45 days in jail.
Prosecutors said he
submitted false
claims for
reimburse-
ment" to his school
district. (SOURCE--Matt
Campbell/WZZM13)

Awkward timing
Caledonia schools
are asking their
voters to approve a
$30.5 million bond
issue on May 8.

Purpose of bond
"The money would be
used to build a new
elementary school,
refurbish existing
elementary schools,
upgrade technology,
buy buses, improve
athletic fields and
playgrounds and
purchase land. The
improvements would
address secu-
rity concerns by
funneling everyone
who enters elemen-
tary schools through
offices to better
monitor visitors."
(SOURCE--Grand
Rapids Press)

Context is all
"Not to be lost on the
Caledonia administration
and Board of Education
is the context in which
this request for money
occurs. Just last year
Caledonia's former
superintendent, Wes
VanDenburg, was
sentenced to 45 days
in jail, two years of
probation and 200
hours of community
service....Mr. VanDen-
burg's offenses--he
doctored expense
receipts to pad his
own pockets--added
up to nickel-and-dime
embezzlement. But the
effect of any such
breach on public trust
is always much more
costly than the balance
sheet suggests. The
task for the administra-
tion and board has
been to reestablish
confidence in the
district's leadership
....Fully reestablishing
trust will require the
board and [new supe
Jerry] Phillips to con-
sistently take pains to
make prudent use of
district resources."
(Ibid.)

New Caledonia, MI
supe Jerry Phillips'
salary: $125,000 plus
leased car access

Rudy Crew, of
Miami Dade County
Public Schools

AND THERE ARE
QUESTIONS:

(1) With their chief
employee, superintendent
Rudy Crew, now able to
determine what goes on
the Miami Dade County
Public Schools trustee's
board meeting agendas,
will he also rename the
May 2007 board meeting
"MDCPS Superintendent's
Meeting"? Why I ask: If
he's setting the agenda
now, what goes on
and what doesn't, it
becomes his meeting.

(2) How much did Rudy
spend redecorating
MDCPS offices?

(3) What are his
administrators' names
and salaries and job titles?

(4) Does Rudy's refusal
to answer basic
questions from his
trustees such as (2) and
(3) above sound to you
like an employee's
appropriate response to
his boss(es)?

Uneasy lies
the head
that wears
the crown.

--William Shakespeare
Henry IV

Sun.,Apr. 29, 2007
_____
Because average
kids no longer read
much Shakespeare
or real history in our
schools, today we
inaugurate a new
feature:

Great Quotes

NATOMOS USD/Sacramento
2 supes allowed
NUSD employee to
sell ex-company's
no-bid services to
their district
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., May 1, 2007/1 a.m

Current Natomos USD
supe Steve Farrar (R);
NUSD employee
Frank Harding (L)

Harding a top
NUSD executive
Employed as Natomas
Unified's director of
facilities and planning
since January 2004,
Frank Harding says he
split from his company
before joining NUSD.

Really?
" 'I was divested of
[Educational Facilities
Program Management] in
November or December
of '03,' he said. But
dates on state, court
and tax records indicate
a possible continued
legal connection with
the firm for up to 15
months. Conflict of
interest laws prohibit
public employees from
con-
tracting with companies
in which they have
a financial stake.
"Harding often was
the school district's
sole authority
required to sign off on
work completed for the
contracts. Although
hiring an outside project
manager is intended to
save money, in some
cases construction
costs escalated
under Harding's
oversight and that of
his firm." (Ibid.)

Frank Harding,
"a top Natomas
school official
in charge of building
new facilities for the
booming district, repeat-
edly granted work to a
construction manage-
ment firm [Educational
Facilities Program
Management] he
founded, awarding five
no-bid contracts worth
$433,900." (SOURCE--
T.Hardy/SacramentoBee)

Harding
was hired
by NUSD
supe David
Tooker, who
after retiring
from NUSD
took a job at
Davis USD
as their

David
Tooker

interim assistant supe
for human resources
after a brief stop con-
sulting in Yolo. And
Tooker's successor at
Natomos, supe Steve M.
Farrar, allowed
Harding's no-bid
practices to continue.

Bidness
pardners in
Edumacationland
The presence of Hard-
ing's company's presi-
dent Michael Cannon on
Natomas USD's
education foundation
board couldn't have hurt.

Michael S. Cannon

According to the foun-
dation's website,
"Michael Cannon is the
president of Educational
Facilities Program Man-
agement, LLC, a public
sector facilities planning
and project oversight
firm based in Sacramen-
to. EFPM provides
facilities planning and
construction manage-
ment services to public
schools, colleges and
other public agencies
throughout the Central
Valley and Northern
California. In
Natomas Unified
School District, Mike
has been involved in
the planning and
construction of
Inderkum High
School . . . . "

Inderkum HS/NUSD

Lucky Elk Grove
Harding has left NUSD
for a new job as
facilities chief at nearby
Elk Grove Unified
School District.
Harding's start
date? Today. (Ibid.)

Hats off to Terri
Hardy at the
Sacramento Bee.

School
audits R UR
friend!
By Peyton Wolcott
Wed., May 2, 2007/2 am

Although many
school superin-
tendents appear
to welcome audits
of their districts with
all the glee of a root
canal, comprehen-
sive audits have
proven time and
again to be one of
the few opportuni-
ties for us to get a
real look at the true
financial shape of
our schools.

While superinten-
dents can surround
themselves with all
the rah-rah cheer-
leaders they want--
with some of them
the equivalent of
corporate "yes" men
and others as with
the case of the
Natomas USD
education founda-
tion board member
mentioned at right
appearing to directly
benefit financially
from their support of
their districts--the
bottom line at the
end of the day is the
bottom line on
auditors' reports.

Dennis Wayne
Fortenberry

Natomas USD/Sacramento
What are they
thinking in
Sacramento?
By Peyton Wolcott
Wed., May 2, 2007/2 am

Natomas USD has
just named Michael
Cannon as their new
head of facilities and
planning.

Cozy
As published here
yesterday, Collins
serves on NUSD's
education board in
addition to being
president of Educa-
tional Facilities Pro-
gram Management, a
company founded by
former NUSD facili-
ties head Frank Harding.

As reported Sunday by
Sacramento Bee
reporter Terri Hardy,
Harding had awarded
$433,900 in contracts
to EFPM, a firm he
founded and may have
continued to have had
ties to.

Here's wishing the
SacBee had mention-
ed Cannon's being a
board member of
NUSD's education
foundation
board--during the period
when his company had
been involved in the
"planning and
construction" of
NUSD's Inderkum High
School, plus others.
(More below)

Michael S. Cannon

Paying for our
schools:
Massachusetts'
feoffees
By Peyton Wolcott
Thur., May 3, 2007/2 am

Perspective
Paine's trust was
written about the same
time the historic
Whipple House
(above) was first built.

Hard for us in west-
ward parts of the U.S.
to imagine time that old,
history that long.
Horseshoe Bay, Texas
just incorporated last
year. There are towns
in the Dallas-Fort
Worth Metroplex such
as Southlake with
banners hanging from
street lights proclaiming
their 50th anniversary
last year. Nearby
Keller is a year older;
both cities, with popu-
lations in the 25,000
range, are already
double the size of
historic Ipswich.

Whipple House, Ipswich

Ipswich's
troubles originated
with William Paine's
naming of feoffees--a
term at law in medieval
England--in 1660 in a
trust; their role was to
oversee a small piece
of land for purpose and
benefit of free
education for local
children.

Just like proposed
mayoral takeovers in
NY, LA and DC, Paine's
trust looks good on
paper. Funding for
schools! And
oversight--of a kind!

Beach, Ipswich

Does your
school district
have elected
trustees rather
than the appointed
feoffees (pronounced
FeFF-eez) that part
of Ipswich, Mass.
has to contend with?

What the
trust says
The trust provides that
the feoffees, which
could be compared
with appointed
trustees, of the
Grammar School were
to assure that the trust
"remain to the benefit
of the free school of
Ipswich forever," by
making at least annual
distributions of the
Trust's net income,
after reasonable
expenses and
operational reserves,
to the Ipswich public
schools."

Fast forward to
today's beach-
front renters
According to Brenda J.
Buote, writing in the
Boston Globe, although
the feoffees "are
supposed to collect
enough rent each year
to cover the property
taxes and make a
substantial contribution
to the schools....district
records show that the
schools have not
received any money
from the feoffees in 12
of the past 30 years."
Until a century ago this
would not have been a
problem, as the 27
acres had only been
rented out as pas-
ture. But in 1906 the
feoffees "divided the
property into lots for a
cottage colony. Today,
143 seasonal
cottages and 24
year-round homes dot
the landscape,
boasting sweeping
views." (Ibid.) The
issue last fall became
what a proper
assessment should be,
along with enforcement
of the feoffees' roles.

To be continued . . . .

Check register
bill up for vote!
Today's Lege!
By Peyton Wolcott
Tues., May 8, 2007/1 am

Texas House of
Representatives

HB 2560: Online
school district
check registers

Arlington Representa-
tive Bill Zedler has been
joined by authors Rep-
resentatives Creighton
and Kolkhorst, with
Representative Crabb
as coauthor; this is the
bill that would require
all Texas school
districts to post their
check registers online
by September 1, 2007.
It is on the supplemental
calendar, up for vote
today. Many thanks to
Brooke Terry and our
friends at Texas Public
Policy Forum for their
important contributions
to this bill.

How many times do
we have to defeat
supes' efforts to
quash parents?
2005: HB 2264
2006: SLAPP lawsuit
2007: SB 889
By Peyton Wolcott
Sun., May 13, 2007/1 am

You've got to hand it
to superintendents;
they are a persistent
bunch.

You can't blame supes
who don't welcome
scrutiny of their
handling of district
finances for trying to
discourage lookers by
attempting rewrites of
the Texas Public
Information Act, even if
they're using lobbyists
ultimately paid by our
tax dollars to do so.

2007
Having failed in both
the Texas House
(2005) and in the
judiciary (2006), the
education lobby's next
try was the Texas
Senate, where SB 889
passed unanimously
last month.

Fortunately for Texas
parents and taxpayers,
SB 889, the 2007
version of this same
anti-sunshine
movement, has met
substantial resistance
in the House, most
notably at its hearings
before the State
Affairs Committee this
past Monday and
Tuesday.

May 2005
Hearing
HB 2264

Although professional
lobbyist Thomas Ratliff
(above, left) stated he
was testifying for "Self,"
he has been part of this
from the beginning

2005
First they tried HB 2264
during the 79th regular
Lege. Purpose: It
would have increased
charges for public
records searches.

Backers: Eanes
supe/Texas Ass'n of
School Administra-
tors ("TASA") mem-
ber Nola Wellman and
professional
lobbyist Thomas
Ratliff were named by
Rep. Todd Baxter as
sources for HB 2264;
also at the hearing:
Eanes' paid lobbyist
Brad Shields
(standing above).
Opposers: The only 2
testifiers against the bill
were Eanes mom
Susan Bushart & me.

HB 2264 source
sheet; largerhere

2006
When HB 2264 failed,
their next try was a
SLAPP* law-
suit in Lake Travis ISD;
Eanes filed an amicus
curiae ("friend of the
court").

2005 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY
LIST:

Thomas Ratliff
JR3 Education
Associates LLC
Type of Compensation:
Prospective
Amount: Less Than
$10,000.00
(Thomas' father and
professional lobby
business partner Bill
Ratliff:
Texas Association of
School Boards
Type of Compensation:
Prospective Amount:
$50,000 - $99,999.99)

Brad Shields
Eanes Independent
School System [sic]
Type of Compensation:
Prospective; Amount:
Less Than $10,000.00

RaptorWare [Eanes
ISD has bought]
P.O. Box 162925
Austin, TX 78716
Type of Compensation:
Prospective Amount:
Less Than $10,000.00

Texas Ass'n/School
Psychologists
Type of Compensation:
Prospective Amount:
$25,000 - $49.999.99

Texas Smokestack
School Coalition
Type of Compensation:
Prospective Amount:
$50,000 - $99,999.99

Will Michigan bond
proposal be affected
by former supe's
embezzlement?
By Peyton Wolcott
Thurs., April 26, 2007/3:52 am

May 10, 2007:

+++++++++++

Is it time to
reform the
Texas Public
Information
Act?
Put everything
in one place ?

--Peyton

Texas public
schools poised
to make a huge
leap in
transparency
By Peyton Wolcott
Sun., May 13, 2007/1 am

Friday
afternoon the
Texas House of
Representatives
approved HB 2560
on its third and final
reading and this bill
is now in the Senate.

Brandon Creighton
From campaign:
Make education reform
and teachers a priority
Leadership...not just
representation

Corbin Van Arsdale
interview: He wants to
put "more money into
the school system -
especially the
classroom (as opposed
to administration); more
accountability and
transparency in how
schools spend that
money; more money for
teachers, especially the
better teachers and
those in economically
disadvantaged areas;
more accountability in
school board elections,
including election dates
and polling places.
If the state is going to
take on more respon-
sibility for funding
schools, which is what
the school districts are
begging for, then the
state should fund what-
ever it prescribes for
the schools. But is
should come as no
surprise that the state
will also want more
transparency, disclo-
sure and accountability
in how the districts are
spending those funds. I
think we all know that
we tend to be less
careful when we spend
someone else's money
than when we spend
our own. Safeguards
are needed to keep that
in check. (SOURCE--
Tana Ross/Tomball
Magnolia Tribune)

THE
IMPORTANCE
OF SHOWING
UP IN LIFE

Witness list for
HB 2560
Hearing
April 10, 2007
House Public
Education
Committee

For:
Cervin, Rose (Self)
Gadbois, Nancy
(Self)
McGarr, Mary (Self)
Terry, Brooke
(Texas Public Policy
Foundation)
Wolcott, Peyton
(Self)

On:
Flores, Rebecca
(Houston ISD)
Lain, Jackie (Texas
Ass'n-School
Boards)
McCraw, Ken (TX
Ass'n of Community
Schools)
Moak, Lynn (Texas
School Alliance)
Motheral, Mike
(Texas Ass'n of
School
Administrators)
Santiago,
Gwendolyn (Self
and Texas
Association of
School Business
Officials) ("TASBO")

Registering,
but not
testifying:
For:
Brown, April (Texas
Conservative
Coalition)
Gerstenschlager,
MerryLynn (Self and
Texas Eagle Forum)
Hammond, Bill (TX
Association of
Business)
Schneider, Michael
(Texas Association
of Broadcasters)
Sullivan, Michael
Quinn (Texans for
Fiscal
Responsibility)

Apr. 10, 2007 hearing
House Public Ed Comm.
chair Rob Eissler (L),
vice chair Bill Zedler

A great leap
When I started this
voluntary grassroots
project just over seven
months ago, I never
dreamed it would go
this far this fast; here's
hoping this will
encourage folks in
other states.

Hats off to
Arlington Repre-
sentative Bill
Zedler for writing
this important legislation,
and to Representatives
Brandon Creighton of
Montgomery County
and Texas Eagle Forum
Award winner Lois
Kolkhorst of Brenham
for signing on as
authors, and to
coauthors Joe Crabb of
Kingwood and Corbin
Van Arsdale of
Houston.

This legislation will
require that all Texas
public school districts
post their check
amounts with dates,
payee names and
purposes.

Texas moms again step
forward: Mary McGarr
(L), Nancy Gadbois &
Rose Cervin at April 10
hearing; at rear,
TPPF's Brooke Terry

(From top)
Representatives
Zelder, Creighton,
Kolkhorst, Crabb
and Van Arsdale

TASA officer, supe
Mike Motheral
(below) testifying
April 10, 2007

Happy Mother's
Day

Dear Moms,

Here's wishing you a
special day today. I am
so grateful for the
wonderful women I've
been blessed to get to
know through this
grassroots school reform
movement.

Here's wishing you a few
minutes this afternoon in
the backyard hammock to
rest and watch the sky
and listen to the birds and
enjoy the spring greenery;
I don't know how most of
you keep the schedules
you do.

Here's wishing you
continued strength and
courage and laughter.

Here's expressing
gratitude for my own
mom, a remarkable
woman whose reaction to
our first visit to Century
City together--the
office/shopping complex
developed from the old
Fox back lot--was to look
up at one of the towers
silhouetted against Los
Angeles' brightly lit night
sky and say, "You know,
this started as someone's
dream."

And gratitude for my
beautiful daughters--
strong, smart, loving and
kind--and granddaughters,
who make this family
whole.

Go find that hammock!

Blessings -- Peyton

(P.S. The beautiful tulips
were painted by
SusanPronko)

'Avid golfer' Ohio
supe indicted: credit
card booze, partners'
stipends
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., May 14, 2007/1 am

Lancaster ISD voters
reject 3rd bond try;
board candidate's
accountability
platform easy winner
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., May 14, 2007/2:17 am

With 192 votes
Lancaster ISD candi-
date Marjorie King
defeated LISD's board
president and 10-year
incumbent Nannette
Vick's 135 votes; also,
for the third time in a
row, voters rejected
the district's bond issue
bid--even though the
district had broken the
bond package into six
parts.

Marjorie King
"We don't have unlim-
ited funds, but I think
we can do better if we
use our tax dollars for
the right changes," Ms.
King said. "And I'm also
for more openness in
financial dealings and
more public involvement
in major issues....
We've had some recent
difficul-
ties with things like
estimating budgets, and
maybe we would do a
better job if we just
interacted with the
public more."
(SOURCE--Frank
Trejo/Dallas Morning News)

Lancaster ISD supe
Larry Lewis; defeated
bd. pres. Nannette Vick

Lancaster Junior High

Raise, audit
As area resident Jeff
Melcher reported, last
December the board
under Vick's leadership
approved Lewis' base
pay hike to $197,600;
"Chief Financial Officer
Eugene Smith was in
attendance." Smith has
since departed the
district. Melcher, who
has also tracked LISD's
late audit on his blog,
comments
on Saturday's election,
"the hard core
electorate seems to
have totally repudiated
the current LISD
oversight and direction."

Working together
to bring online
check bill into law!
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., May 15, 2007/3 am

Dallas ISD trustee
Edwin Flores (L);
Governor Rick Perry

The bill's
premise: School
districts post their
check registers
online, including
check numbers.

The schools'
problem:
Concerns about
possible fraud if
uncashed checks
are posted online.

Our premise:
This is not a race,
and it's not a
"Gotcha." We're just
looking for more
transparency. While
schools are con-
cerned about outside
fraud, parents and
taxpayers are worried
about inside fraud.

The
compromise:
Districts can post
their check numbers
online still, just wait
45-50-60 days to do
so, which allows
plenty of time for
checks to clear first.

What people are
saying around
the state:

Governor Rick
Perry: "Gov. Perry
certainly does value
greater transparency
and accountability,"
said his spokeswo-
man Katherine
Cesinger yesterday
in Austin. "At the
same time, he
certainly values
protecting against
putting school
districts in any
jeopardy of potential
fraudulent activity."

Our compromise
addresses this
issue by requiring
districts to wait 45-50
-60 days to post. The
banking executives
with whom we spoke
--all of whom were
unwilling to go on
the record--agreed
that posting check
numbers would not
increase the
likelihood of fraud.

Texas bankers,
off the record:
"There's no real
potential for fraud [by
districts posting their
check numbers
online]." "I don't
think there would be
a fraud concern--but
don't quote me. We
can't afford to lose
the schools' busi-
ness." "The schools
are some of our
biggest customers.
If our good customer
comes to us asking
questions, we're
going to do what we
need to do to keep
them happy."

Dallas ISD
trustee Edwin
Flores: "This
compromise is a
brilliant idea. The
taxpayers not only
demand but also
deserve to know
what's going on in
our schools. It's
their money; we're
merely stewards of
the taxpayers' money
given to us on behalf
of the children."

Michele Connole
Americans for
Prosperity:
(testifying above
before Rep. Dan
Flynn of the House
State Affairs
committee); "You
can put AFP on the
record in favor of your
compromise for HB
2560. Our priority is
transparency, and
check numbers are
an important compo-
nent. We are in favor
of a timely process in
which school districts
can allow for a reas-
onable amount of
time to pass before
posting check num-
bers in order to
prevent fraud.”

Marble Falls ISD
superintendent
Ryder Warren
(above): "Most
school districts
across the state are
looking for ways to
be more transpar-
ent, more account-
able to our parents
and to our taxpayers.
We understand
accountability. The
majority of the super-
intendents I work
with on a day-to-day
basis understand
accountability and
the importance of
being transparent."
Ryder is a member
of TASA's executive
committee and a
board member of
the Texas Center for
Educational
Research.

State official
(asked to remain
anonymous): "It
seems to be a mis-
representation on
the part of school
districts that posting
check numbers
would be a problem
since three dozen
districts are now
online or about to be,
all with no problems.
I think you offer a
good compromise."

Brooke Terry,
Texas Public Policy
Foundation: "The
intent of HB 2560 is to
provide financial
transparency and
prevent schools from
misusing taxpayer
money. Check
numbers are vital to to
this end to ensure all
expenditures are
posted and accurately
match school financial
records."

HB 2560: Will Texas
Education Chair
Shapiro side with
Education, Inc.--or
with everybody else,
including the
Governor?
By Peyton Wolcott
Wed., May 16, 2007/9 am

Feb. 2007: Gov. Rick
Perry (R) with Senate
Education chair
Florence Shapiro
(PHOTO/TPPF)

In the event you can't
read Spanish, the sign
reads, "

FOR THE
EXCLUSIVE USE OF:

School Board
-Agenda-

DO NOT WRITE HERE

R.C.

Interesting that the
above cartoon only
appeared in the Miami
Herald's Spanish-
language paper.
NOTE: This cartoon was
published 11 days after
another image of Rudy
with a crown (mine) on
April 29 (see below).

Grassroots
check register
bill out of
Senate
Education
Committee!
By Peyton Wolcott
Sun., May 20, 2007/1 am

At one point in
John Patrick Shanley's
"Moonstruck" script,
the Vincent Gardenia
character says, not a
moment too soon,
"You'll have your eyes
opened for you, my
friend." Everybody, at
least once in their
lifetime, should follow a
piece of legislation
through the process
and have their eyes
opened. There is truly
no other way to learn
how our government--
with its pressure and
power points both--
really works.

At the end of the day
it's one senator or rep-
resentative presenting
their bill, with support
or opposition from the
public at hearings and
elsewhere--and a
gaggle of paid lobbyists
every step of the way.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth
laying out HB 2560 before
Senate Ed. Committee

(From top) Gov. Rick
Perry, Lt. Gov. David
Dewhurst, Sen. Florence
Shapiro/Jeff Wentworth

Thursday night Sen.
Jeff Wentworth of San
Antonio laid out Rep.
Bill Zedler's check
register bill, HB 2560,
before the Senate ed-
ucation committee
chair Florence
Shapiro and Dan
Patrick; the commit-
tee late that night
approved the bill 6-1;
it next comes before
the Senate for a vote
hopefully this next
week.

HB 2560 (online
checks) hearing
archived here

CAPTION: Ackerman v.
City and County of San
Francisco, Case number
CGC 07-463488

Who watches over
the watcher-overers?
By Peyton Wolcott
Sun., May 20, 2007/9 am

Question: How do we
protect our children
and how do we protect
our school money?

Keeping in mind that
our schools are places
where there is both a
lot of children and a lot
of money, and Willie
Sutton's attributed res-
ponse when asked by
reporter Mitch Ohnstad
why he robbed banks
("Because that's where
the money is"), kindly
consider the following.

Example 1: Ouachita,
Louisiana Schools
trustee Phillip Odom
(on record as wanting to
improve "educational
quality" in the schools)
was arrested by the
"Northwest Louisiana
Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Force for
having sexually explicit
internet conversations
with an agent he believed
was a juvenile girl."
(SOURCE--John A. Prime/
Shreveport Times) Follow-
ing the arrest, Odom was
"booked into Ouachita
Correctional Center as a
fugitive from Caddo
Parish." (Ibid.) This was
not a casual arrest; a
detective had exchanged
emails with Odom, a
banker and married father
of four, for three months.
Participating in the arrest:
the Monroe Police Depart-
ment, the Ouachita Parish
sheriff’s office, the U.S.
Marshals office and Immi-
gration and Customs
Enforcement. (Ibid.) Odom
posted bond and immedi-
ately entered Minden
Medical Center's intensive
care unit for treatment of
a heart condition; he was
released the next day.
(SOURCE--Barbara Leader/
The News Star) Odom
submitted his resignation
from the school board late
Friday. (SOURCE-Ouachita
Citizen)
ACLU says no to
prayer in Ouachita:
Controversy of another
sort was in the air in
Ouachita last week as
local high school seniors
vowed to say prayers at
graduation despite prior
intervention by the ACLU.
(SOURCE--TV 8, Monroe)

Louisiana trustee:
Internet child porn sting*

Nevada board
prez: $287,520
embezzlement*

Myth: Local control of
schools by locally elec-
ted board members.

Reality: Most local
trustees cannot ask
detailed questions of
their supes without
risking "micromanage-
ment" charges.

Further
reality:
There is
little or no
oversight
or control
over trust-
ees other
than the
ballot box.

Miami-Dade County
Public Schools (FL)
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., May 21, 2007/3 am

May 16, 2007
MDCPS Board
agenda item H-9 /
ONLINE CHECK-
BOOK REGISTER:
ACTION PROPOSED BY
DR. MARTA PÉREZ:
That The School Board of
Miami-Dade County,
Florida, direct the
Superintendent to explore
the feasibility of posting
the checkbook register
online and report to the
Board no later than the
July Board meeting.
Cost to the district:
$160.00 (1 hr @ $64 + 2
hrs @ $48).

Marta Perez, MDCPS
supe Rudy Crew
(PHOTO/Scholastic)

Miami-Dade trustee
Marta Perez suc-
cessfully introduced
MDCPS to online
check registers with
her May 16 agenda
item H-9, which
fellow trustees
approved:

* Innocent until proven
guilty in a court of law.

Go to Year: 2007
o Then find May 17
o Then find Senate
Committee on
Education; Part II
o Start at time 1:22

Gov. Rick Perry,
Lt. Gov. Dewhurst
& Lege: Working
to bring sunshine
to our schools
By Peyton Wolcott
Wed., May 23, 2007/1 am

Where we are:
Crunch time
Today's the
Senate's last day.
Transparency is the
direction parents
and taxpayers want
their schools to be
heading, and this
bill is a big first step
in that direction.

Crunch
time--but for
whom?
While it may appear
the crunch time is
for HB 2560, the real
crunch time is for
Texas public school
superintendents
who have an
opportunity to take a
big step towards
transparency by
contacting their
state senators and
voicing their support
for this bill, following
in the footsteps of
the 40 pioneering
Texas superinten-
dents who have
already made this
important move
forward beneficial
sunshine. If you're
at the Lege this
afternoon, please
say "hi" -- I'll be in
the Senate gallery.

Governor Rick Perry
sent a clear mes-
sage to Texas public
schools two years ago
with Executive Order
RP47 requiring
them to put more of
their dollars into the
classroom in a three-
year 55%-60%-65%
progression, then
affirmed his commit-
ment to transparency
this past winter with
TEA and other state
agencies posting their
checks online.

Following a success-
ful hearing before
the House Public
Education Commit-
tee, chaired by Rob
Eissler, HB 2560
next came before the
Senate Education
Committee, chaired
by Florence Shapiro,
on May 17. Despite
the long day, Shapiro
was attentive to
presenters, thanking
one for their
"diligence."
Freshman Senator
Dan Patrick, whom
we note with
gratitude sat through
the entire HB 2560
hearing, thanked a
testifier "for your
diligence." The
fourth plank of
Patrick's campaign
was "Responsible
education funding,"
which states:

Rep. Bill
Zedler took
this a step
forward with
HB 2560
requiring
schools to

Rep. Bill
Zedler

post their checks
online; Sen. Jeff
Wentworth signed on
as Senate sponsor.

Rep. Ken Paxton (L),
Sen. Dan Patrick

Governor Perry
and others have also
weighed in; see their
comments at right.
Rep. Ken Paxton,
(vice-chair, House
State Affairs Commit-
tee, has said, "Tax-
payers have a right to
know how money's
being spent and have
the ability to hold
their school districts
accountable.
Accountability's a
good thing for all of
us."

School budgets
and
administrative
positions have
increased faster
than student
enrollment and
classroom
teacher positions.
The legislature
should require
that 65% of
school spending
be dedicated to
the classroom.
We must focus
education
resources on the
classroom
instruction of
our children.

Midway ISD vs. its
tech vendor USADLN:
another good reason
for HB 2560 and
online checks
By Peyton Wolcott
Tue., May 22, 2007/1:08 pm

In this case, Midway
ISD near Waco is suing
USA Distance Learning
Network, brought to
MISD by former supe
Randy Albers (now at
La Grange ISD), "alleg-
ing that the company
defrauded the school
system out of more than
$300,000 because its
product did not live up to
its billing."
(SOURCE--Tommy
Witherspoon/Tribune-Herald)

Although Albers has
moved on, MISD trus-
tee Pete Rusek, on
board when the pur-
chase was made, is
now MISD board pres-
ident. (Brad Lancaster,
former ass't supe at Allen
ISD, is MISD's new supe.)

For veteran educa-
tors like Donna
Garner, watching such

How often
has this
happened:
A supe
buys a
pricey new

Pete Rusek

unproven technology
then leaves town for a
new job about the time it
starts to fail.

Brad
Lancaster

legal pro-
ceedings
must be frus-
trating; she'd
said in 2004
the company
was a

"terrible distance
learning model."

Just think. If Midway
ISD's checks had
been posted online,
its teachers, adminis-
tration and communi-
ty would have known
how much USADLN
had cost Midway ISD.

Question: Will Mid-
way's new superinten-
dent, Brad Lancaster,
seize the day and
take advantage of this
opportunity to post
MISD's check register
online voluntarily?

Suggestion: Next
time, guys, listen to
Donna Garner.
Here's what she had
to say in her March
29, 2004 testimony
before the Texas
Legislature's Joint
Select Committee on
Public School
Finance:

TESTIMONY OF
DONNA GARNER
(excerpted)

A TERRIBLE
DISTANCE
LEARNING
MODEL

Distance learning has
been touted as a way to
bring inexpensive
courses to e-students,
giving them the
opportunity to take such
courses as Advanced
Placement classes.
Some legislators have
even suggested giving
e-students a publicly
funded voucher.

In a district with which I
am familiar, the
superintendent
approached the school
board last summer with
an idea. He had a great
plan for helping the
district and some of its
teachers to make money.
The plan was for eight
e-teachers to be chosen
to offer e-students
Advanced Placement
courses. The
e-teachers were to have
individual carts in their
classrooms from which
they would tape their
presentations, and then
upload their presenta-
tions to the e-students.

The e-teachers were to
earn $80 per e-student
up to $8,000 per year.
The school district was
to earn $80 per
e-student with no limit on
income. The district was
to buy the carts; but if
the district did not earn
its cost back in three
years, the company
stated they would buy
back the equipment. (Of
course, I wonder if the
district would be
reimbursed for the
original cost of the carts
or at a depreciated
value. In three years,
most technology
equipment would be
almost worthless
because it goes out of
date so quickly.)

Note: The remainder
of Donna Garner's
testimony will be
posted here
tomorrow. More
about Donna here.

Oh, no, Mr. Bill!
HB 2560 (online
check registers) got as
far as the Texas
Senate where it died
about 2:15 a.m.
yesterday morning.

While the grassroots
online checkbook idea
has sufficient
momentum of its own
to continue its
sustained forward
movement, I am sad to
report a bad piece of
anti-sunshine
legislation--HB 2564
--appears to be Gov-
ernor Perry's pens-
troke away from
becoming law.

Based on
confidential
information for-
warded to me by
concerned parties,
yesterday I filed a
series of public
records requests for
information from
certain public officials,
and will be posting
results as they are
received.

Sunshine

California: Capo
USD recall update
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., May 28, 2007/2am

Remember the San
Juan Capistrano USD
recall effort? The one
thwarted by then-Capo
USD supe James
Fleming's administration?

Last week "James
Fleming was indicted on
charges of misappropri-
ating public funds in
creating an 'enemies list'
of political foes, making
him the highest-ranking
school official ever
indicted in Orange
County," according to
DA Tony Rackauckas.
(SOURCE--Sam Miller/Larry
Welborn/Orange County
Register) At the same
hearing yesterday,
"Susan McGill, former
assistant superinten-
dent, also was indicted
but failed to appear in
court... She is charged
with conspiracy and
perjury....If convicted,
Fleming could face the
maximum of fours years
in prison; McGill could be
sentenced to four years
and eight months.
"Fleming retired in
August after 15 years
with CUSD. McGill also
retired that month." The
judge has issued a
$20,000 arrest warrant
for McGill. (Ibid.)

Tony Rackauckas with pix
of Fleming and McGill
(Photo--Bruce Chambers
/Orange County Register)

Sunshine
update:
HB 2560 dead
SB 889 dead
HB 2564 alive
By Peyton Wolcott
Fri., May 25, 2007/ 1am

Q: To Gov. Perry:
Are you going to
side with corrupt
supes such as
Bremond's Kenny
Johnson (prison mug shot
above) or will you stand
with the moms and
dads and taxpayers
bringing them to justice?

Urgent question
before Gov. Perry
By Peyton Wolcott
Sat., May 26, 2007/9 a.m.

Friends, please leave a
message for Chelsea
Thornton in the
Governor's office:
(512) 463-2000 asking
the governor to stay
the course on behalf of
parents and taxpayers
and veto HB 2564.

Email Chelsea:
chelsea.thornton@governor.
state.tx.us

Defining
moment for Rick
Perry's legacy
. . . . and future.
As such moments
always are, Gov. Perry
has a tough choice to
make. Will he go along
with the House and
Senate (both of which
voted overwhelmingly
for this bill) and sign
HB 2564?

Problem is, by
signing HB 2564 into
law Gov. Perry in
effect will be siding
with supes--corrupt or
otherwise--who do
not want parents and
taxpayers to see public
records of their
spending--trips to
Cancun and Las Vegas
and the jewelry store
such as those made by
former Bremond ISD
supe Kenny Johnson
who made it very dif-
ficult for the Bremond
moms to look at his
credit card receipts.

"Had HB 24 been in
effect four years ago,
our then-superintendent
Kenny Johnson would
have been able to
charge us such high
labor fees to look at his
$180,000 in district-
funded credit card
receipts we would not
have been able to meet
his demands and he
would likely still be
superintendent today. It
was our receipts which
the special prosecutor
eventually used in court
to put Dr. Johnson in
prison."

As Nancy Gadbois,
one of the Bremond ISD
moms, said this
morning:

THE BREMOND MOMS:
Nancy Gadbois (R), Pat
Yezak with BISD receipts,
audit (PHOTO--The Eagle)

Texas state represent-
atives who voted
"YES" for HB 2564 on
the most recently
recorded vote:

HB 2564 Yeas —
May 11, 2007
Alonzo; Aycock; Bailey;
Berman; Bohac; Bolton;
Bonnen; Brown,B.;
Brown, F.; Burnam;
Callegari; Castro;
Chavez; Chisum;
Christian; Coleman;
Cook, B.; Cook, R.;
Corte; Crabb; Creighton;
Crownover; Darby;
Davis, J.; Davis, Y.;
Delisi; Deshotel; Driver;
Dukes; Dunnam; Eiland;
Eissler; Elkins;
England; Escobar;
Farabee; Farias; Flores;
Flynn; Frost; Gallego;
Garcia; Giddings;
Gonzales; Gonzalez
Toureilles; Goolsby;
Guillen; Haggerty;
Hamilton; Hancock;
Hardcastle; Harless;
Harper-Brown; Hartnett;
Heflin; Hilderbran;
Hochberg; Hodge;
Homer; Hopson; Howard,
D.; Hughes; Isett;
Jackson; Jones; Keffer;
King, P.; King, T.;
Krusee; Kuempel;
Latham; Laubenberg;
Macias; Madden;
Martinez; Martinez
Fischer; McCall;
McClendon;
McReynolds;
Menendez; Merritt;
Miles; Miller; Morrison;
Murphy; Naishtat;
Noriega; O’Day;
Oliveira; Olivo; Orr;
Otto; Parker; Paxton;
Pena; Phillips; Pickett;
Pitts; Quintanilla;
Raymond; Riddle;
Ritter; Rodriguez; Rose;
Smith, T.; Smith, W.;
Solomons; Strama;
Straus; Swinford;
Talton; Taylor; Truitt;
Van Arsdale; Villarreal;
West; Woolley; Zedler;
Zerwas.

Texas state
representatives
voting "NO":

HB 2564 Nays —
Allen; Anchia; Ander-
son; Branch; Cohen;
Dutton; Farrar; Hernan-
dez; Herrero; Hill;
Howard, C.; Leibowitz;
Mallory Caraway; Ortiz;
Vaught; Vo.

Texas state senators
voting "YES" on most
recently recorded
vote:

HB 2564 Yeas —
All senators voted "Yes."

You've heard
the convention-
al wisdom telling
us that teachers'
unions are the pow-
ermongers behind
our public school
misery.

HB 2564: dallas.org
weighs in on new
Texas anti-sunshine
legislation
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., May 28, 2007/8 am

Dallas.org's
Allen Gwinn--who
posted a year's
worth of Dallas ISD
credit card receipts
in 2005--has joined
the ranks of those
sounding the alarm
on the immediate
negative conse-
quences of this bad
bill. Check out his
comments:
www.dallas.org

NEW LAW MAY
LIMIT ACCESS
TO PUBLIC
INFORMATION
Allen Gwinn
2007-05-26 09:38

BILL ON
GOVERNOR'S DESK
WOULD IMPOSE
ARBITRARY
CHARGES ON
INFORMATION
REQUESTED BY
INDIVIDUALS
A piece of
legislation intended
on restricting
individual access to
a school district's
public information
was quietly passed
the Texas House
yesterday. It is
sitting on Governor
Rick Perry's desk
awaiting his
signature.

House Bill 2564,
pushed by Texas
Representative
Kelly Hancock of
North Richland
Hills, and
co-sponsored by
San Antonio
Senator Jeff
Wentworth allows
school districts to
levy additional
charges against
individuals while
protecting large
news organizations,
and politicians from
these charges.

"It is an attempt to
punish activists for
digging up
embarrassing
information on
some school
districts," said one
parent.

The bill would allow
governmental
bodies to keep track
of individuals who
request information
(except for select
news organizations,
politicians, and
academic
researchers) and
bill for employee
time spent above 36
hours.

The bill does not
specify how
governmental
bodies are to
determine and track
time spent--nor how
much individual
requesters will be
billed.

One attorney we
spoke with
provided this
analysis:

This is an irrational
and arbitrary
classification of
"requestor" – it is an
attempt to make this
section constitutional
under the First
Amendment right to
free press. It not only
targets sites like
[Dallas.Org], but the
ordinary citizen who
inquires as what his
government is doing,
which is also contrary
to the state and
federal constitutional
rights of citizens to
open government
and the right to seek
redress from
governmental
wrongs. I could go
on and on, but I take
your point from your
prospective. The
provision is
constrictive as to
"who is the press",
something the
legislature cannot do
under separation of
powers.

Bloggers,
watchdogs and
activist
organizations, who
have been the
source of
information leading
to high-profile
investigations and
convictions of
corrupt officials,
would be penalized
the most under the
new legislation.

The bill, at this
moment, sits on
Governor Perry's
desk awaiting his
signature which is
expected today.
Dallas.Org will
update this
information as more
becomes available.

Individuals wishing
to express an
opinion may write
Chelsea Thornton in
Governor Perry's
office:
chelsea.thornton@g
overnor.state.tx.us

DEVELOPING

First comment on
Allen's blog:

How Can Hancock?
Anonymous (not
verified) 2007-05-26
09:52
I know Kelly
Hancock, and don't
see how he could
possibly sponsor
this. I'm just aghast.
I have kids in
Richland Hills, and
this is a very scary
trend.

Can anything be
done?

[Ed Note: I don't
know, yet. Our
attorneys are looking
into it. One thing for
certain, we're not
going to forget a
couple of legislators'
names!]

Memorial Day

Honoring
those who serve:
Two points
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., May 28, 2007/10 am

Point One: It's worth
remembering today
why we have a
three-day weekend:

"Let us in this solemn
preserve renew our
pledges to aid and
assist those whom
they have left among
us as sacred charges
upon the Nation's
gratitude--the soldier's
widow and orphan."
--Gen. John Logan (1868)

Please consider
supporting the
Freedom Alliance
Scholarship Fund
which helps
educate the children
of our fallen heroes.

Point Two: Today's
also a good day to
remember why our
soldiers serve. Brave
men such as my hus-
band did not earn
Purple Hearts so that
school district emp-
loyees such as
Dallas ISD's former
PR guy, Celso Martin-
ez, could disregard
district policies and
live in McKinney,
Texas. As he told
KTVT's Sarah Dodd:

"I live in this wonderful
country where many
people have fought and
died for my right, your
right, to work where
you want to and live
where you want to. I
want to exercise that
right."

Tim Rogers at D
Magazine's blog
points out:

"Pardon me? So if
Martinez can't live in
McKinney, the terror-
ists have won? Is that
why we invaded Iraq?
I would like Celso
Martinez to tell me who
died, how, and where
so that he could be
exempt from DISD's
residency requirement.

Further, our brave
soldiers do not risk
their lives protecting
our basic freedoms
so that misguided
public school
administrators can
mistake patriotism
for an "emotional
issue," as did
California middle
school principal
Julie Rich in
banning the wearing
of the American flag
last year. (SOURCE--Paul
Sisson/Paul Eakins/North
County Times)

Nor have our military
fought to enable
such as this last
year at Montebello
High School:

Montebello HS,
March 2006 (PHOTO--Leo
Jarzomb/Whittier Daily News)

Although Montebello
USD supe Edward
Velasquez has poin-
ted out that the stu-
dents who took over
the flagpole were
from other districts,
not his, the question
still stands: The
tenor of the day was
marked well ahead
of time. What spec-
ific steps did Velas-
quez take to prevent
a hostile takeover?
Is this above an
example of how he
protects MUSD
schools, students?

Edward Velasquez

And what of Monte-
bello High School's
principal Jeff
Schwartz? Did he sit
through the hostile
takeover sitting at his
desk? What specific
steps did he take to
enforce all
applicable laws at
the moment the
law-breaking was
occurring?

Jeff Schwartz

I have today asked
the above questions
of Edward Velasquez
and have also re-
quested that he for-
ward them to Jeff
Schwartz and all five
elected MUSD trus-
tees. Their respon-
ses will be posted if
and when they are
received.
NOTED: Velasquez is a
member of the California
Ass'n of Latino Supertinten-
dents & Administrators.
QUESTIONS TO
EDWARD VELASQUEZ:
Why did you join CALSA?
Why are you also a mem-
ber of ACSA--why both?
How much does MUSD
spend each year on such
memberships on your
behalf, including all travel,
meals, education conferen-
ces and institutes and rela-
ted expenses? Have you
attended any sessions deal-
ing with student protests?

Hats off to Orange
County District Att'y
Rackauckas for
having the courage to
undertake
the prosecution of
Capo's capos; here's
hoping other DA's will
be inspired by his
example.

_______________

Open letter to Governor Rick Perry:
Please veto HB 2564
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Governor Perry:
In light of yesterday's 16 indictments against three former Dallas ISD employees, and given that
in many of our school districts the corruption unearthed in recent years originated with public
records requests by parents and taxpayers, we the undersigned ask you to veto
HB 2564. This bill with its exemptions for certain classes of requestors has been written with
the result that all requestors of public records will not be treated uniformly as required by the
Texas Public Information Act.*

(Signed)

Nancy & Robert
Gadbois
Donna Garner
Allen Gwinn
Mary McGarr
Peyton Wolcott

++++++++++++++++
552.223. UNIFORM
TREATMENT OF
REQUESTS FOR
INFORMATION. The
officer for public
information or the
officer's agent shall
treat all requests for
information uniformly
without regard to the
position or occupa-
tion of the requestor,
the person on whose
behalf the request is
made, or the status of
the individual as a
member of the media.
Added by Acts 1993,
73rd Leg., ch. 268, § 1,
eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by Acts
1995, 74th Leg., ch.
1035, § 15, eff. Sept. 1,
1995.

+++++++++++++++
About us:
Nancy and Robert's public
records requests at
Bremond ISD were used
by the special prosecutor
in superintendent Kenny
Johnson's trial; Robert
was elected to the BISD
school board where he
served as president.

Donna Garner, presidential
appointee,National
Commission on Migrant
Education; writer, Texas
Alternative Document.

Allen Gwinn founded
www.dallas.org on which
he posted a year's worth
of Dallas ISD credit card
receipts leading to the
district's eventual
abandonment of the cards
after $71.5 million, largely
unsurpervised, was spent
in three years.

Mary McGarr, longtime
Katy ISD volunteer,
served on the KISD
school board 1991-96.

Peyton Wolcott founded
PEAK$ in two school
districts, Texans for
Education Accountability
and the National School
District Honor Roll.

Questions

Former Bremond ISD
supe Kenny Johnson
(Sheriff Dep't/mug shot)

Former Llano ISD
supe (and Texas' first
Public Information
Act conviction) Jack
Patton negotiating
settlement with board
after trial, after surren-
dering certificate

$38,00 missing and
another PTA mom
in trouble--
preventable? How?
By Peyton Wolcott
Mon., June 4, 2007/1 am

The headlines tell a
too-familiar story:

Julie Ann Carr
Shawnee Mission,
Kansas Elementary PTA
fund raiser chair

o Woman charged
with stealing $17,000
from PTA
o Woman who stole
over $20,000 from
PTA "forgets" check
to pay it back
o Woman Leaves
Court To Cash
Check, Never Returns
o PTA mom turns
herself in

The first amount
mentioned was in the
$17,000 range; by
week's end it was
$38,000; in many
situations such as this,
record keeping is such
that it takes a while for
those responsible for
oversight to determine
the exact amount.

The solution
It's simple and not at
all glamorous: tighter
internal controls,
starting with at least
two people counting
cash at all fund raisers
and at least two people
both of whom are
awake signing all
checks--unlike too-
trusting officers in
Flushing, New York
who signed blank
checks for PTA presi-
dent Laura AlQaisi,
charged two years ago
with mishandling
$40,000--$23,000 of it
from candy sales.

Similarly, PTA officers
in League City, Texas
signed blank checks
over to Walter Hall
Elementary PTA presi-
dent and treasurer
Monica Tidwell, even-
tually charged with
taking $52,000. Often
those involved are
trusted members of
the community; Tid-
well's husband was a
local city councilman.

But what of Julie Ann
Carr, the PTA mom/
fund raiser in Shawnee
Mission, Kansas?

Marjorie P. Kaplan,
Shawnee supe

When Julie Ann Carr
finally returned to court
Friday with her cash-
iers check, the judge
sent her to jail, "saying
that she tried to 'scam
the court' and that her
apology for stealing
from the organization
fell short....Carr, 40,
will spend the next 30
days behind bars after
pleading guilty to
stealing thousands of
dollars from Shawnee’
s Bluejacket-Flint
Elementary PTA. After
that, she will be on
probation for 11
months and will face
six months in prison if
she violates terms of
the probation." (SOURCE--
Laura Bauer/Kansas City Star)

When an apology isn't
About the apology to
the community which
the judge had found
wanting, judge for
yourself:

Dear BJF [sic]
community: I want to
apologize that through all
of my efforts, energy,
and excitement to make
our students, teachers,
staff and school a
greater place, and
extend programs to the
children, my inability to
keep accurate records
was not acceptable. I
want all of you to know
our children were, and
will always be, the first
priority in anything I was
asked to do or to help
with. I have learned
through this situation that
being a volunteer is an
important responsibility. I
believe that not only
have I learned as a
person what to do or not
to do, but our organiza-
tion has created some
finer guidelines for those
of us who want to help
our children and our
school. Please accept
my apology for my
inaccuracies while trying
to help.

Sincerely,
Julie Ann Carr

One of the signatures
being forged was
Baracy's own. As Ser-
geant Mark Clark with
the Scottsdale police
department explains
it, Rice wrote "fake
checks on a school
insurance trust fund,
then depositing them
into her personal bank
account. She had
forged her boss's
signature, which was
circumventing their
internal controls."
(SOURCE--KTAR-TV) Baracy
grabbed headlines a
few years ago for
renaming his employ-
ees' job titles. His
receptionist became
the district's "Director
of First Impressions."
Possible monikers for
Rice: "Forger of
Checks"? "Betrayer of
the Public Trust?"

"Inaccuracies"?
"Inability to keep
accurate
records"?
Julie Ann Carr appears
to not be the only party
in denial. As almost
always occurs, Shaw-
nee Mission School
District appears to
have also put its head
in the sand; it's not
mentioned among the
20 "Top Shawnee
Mission Stories" nor
does the loss appear
in Bluejacket-Flint
Elementary's web
news. And as so often
also happens, the
supe's name is not
mentioned at all.

$306,000 missing
in Arizona
When Scottsdale USD
(AZ) employee Janet
Rice, who worked as
an assistant to the
district's attorney and
had been employed in
SUSD's risk manage-
ment office office for
the past three years,
was arrested Friday
for allegedly embez-
zling $306,000 from
the district's school
insurance trust fund to
cover gambling debts,
SUSD supe John
Baracy was available
for comment: "From
November 15 to this
last check, we found
an elaborate scheme
where she was forging
signatures, doctoring
financial records and
copies of checks and
intercepting bank
statements." (SOURCE
--Carol Sowers/Arizona
Republic)Corrective
actions by Baracy
include "setting up a
bank account that
requires two signa-
tures and a monthly
audit by two different
district officials." (Ibid.)

Janet Winkler Rice

Remember Dallas ISD's tech guy Ruben
Bohuchot's use of vendor's"Sir Veza"?
It's been-- forgive us -- "Rehabbed."