P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
| h o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n -- o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e . Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott |
| Re check registers posted online (National School District Honor Roll) Audio archived here Lynn Woolley Show/101906 |
| SIGNS OF GOOD King George III left the U.S.-- and so will corruption in our public schools |
| Conservative Commentary |
Special Notice ATTENTION: CITIZENS OF NOGALES & SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, ARIZONA Please contact me if you or your children have been molested or abused by any present or former public school employees. Email: peyton@peytonwolcott.com This notice is posted at the request of citizens who are concerned about the safety of children in nogales and santa cruz county, arizona. |
| DO FASHION'N'FUN TRUMP THE FIRST AMENDMENT IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS? By Peyton Wolcott - Nov. 10, 2006 - 7 a.m. |
| Reader Question Q: You keep talking about pledges for candidates. Why?A: They're our only assurance . . . . More here |
| CALIF. SUPE JONI SAMPLES |
| #1 - There is justice |
| This mug shot of former Bremond ISD supe Kenny Johnson is proof our justice system can work. By Peyton Wolcott/Aug. 14, 2006 |
| TRACKING THE 'YUMMY GOOD LUCK ANGEL 'THROUGH GLENN COUNTY, CALIF.'S OFC. OF ED. By Peyton Wolcott-Oct. 11, 2006 |
| SPECIAL REPORT: TRANSPARENCY IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS--HOW THINGS STAND ACROSS THE U.S. |
| Yes, this guy above in this heavily edited photo is wear- ing fluffy white angel wings. Yes, this image was sent from office to office in super- |
| Compare and contrast the high school girls (above right) allowed to wear skimpy clothing at school all day in clear violation of Lake Travis ISD's own dress code with the sheriff's deputy (left) the district hired to stand guard in a nearly empty LTISD building while trustees pondered whether to sue a mom and dad in their Austin, Texas-area district for filing public records requests. As reports of school corruption and incompetence continue to mount, parents and taxpayers everywhere are beginning to ask questions, serious questions--and encountering resistance and hired-gun attorneys rather than open arms and records from their supes. Three-part special report: |
| intendent Joni Samples' Glenn County, Cal. Office of Education, using official GCOE compu- ters and email. More here |
| PPHOTO/Courtesy of Robertson County Sheriff Gerald Yezak |
| Joni Samples |
| Yes, it took three years, but Bremond moms Nancy Gadbois and Pat Yezak persisted. John- son's pre-trial here and Johnson's sentencing here. More on the Bremond moms here |
| "Is this appropriate on school computers?" asks Sacramento Valley Mirror publisher Tim Crews. One clue might be the caption accompanying the photo: "You've been tagged by the 'Yummy' Good Luck Angel!" Writes Crews, "Certainly acceptable on private computers and perhaps some very loose business environments, but pictures of naked people are frowned on when housed in public computers." |
| #2 - Online Checks |
More coming regarding the above special notice. Developing . . . . |
| Local school boards are bringing the idea of districts' open checkbooks back to the Texas Lege. In Texas, Nederland ISD is already posting their checks online, and Houston-area Spring Branch ISD will be doing so by Thanksgiving. More here. |
| LOCAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY, CALIFORNIA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL BOTH INVESTIGATING GCOE & SUPE JONI SAMPLES By Peyton Wolcott/Oct. 12, 2006 |
| I wish supes could understand that one of the drivers behind public records searches is parents' and taxpayers' wanting to find out how our local tax dollars are being spent. Right now, supes control our district's checkbooks and parents have little or no real input. Would you rather spend $3,000 on your supe's trip to a luxury hotel out of state for what amounts to a free vacation--or for books for your child's library? When Austin-area supe Nola Wellman of Eanes ISD goes on TV to say her district is broke--but treats herself to a stay at Dallas' luxury hotel, The Adolphus, it's confusing. This isn't where most families stay--broke or not. Posting all checks online will introduce transparency and accountability to what is now a very closed process. Rather than shooting the messenger--that is, becoming upset with parents and taxpayers who file multiple requests to view open records, districts should be opening their front doors to all comers and let everyone who asks see what on Earth is going on. |
| STATEMENT RE NOGALES FLYER |
| D I S C L A I M E R It is my understanding that a flyer purporting to be a printout of my website was circulated around Nogales, Arizona earlier this week. I have no knowledge of such a flyer and in fact while it may appear to be from my website, this flyer is actually a pastiche of various elements, many of which do not appear on my website. A portion of one paragraph appears to have been lifted from a fax to Nogales USD, to the superintendent's office, and other elements are of unknown origin. I will be contacting superintendent Guillermo Zamudio in order to obtain further information. -- Peyton Wolcott |
| NATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT HONOR ROLL |
| FIRST COAST-TO-COAST RADIO DISCUSSION LAST NIGHT; ARCHIVED HERE By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 20, 2006/2:30 p.m. |
| Many thanks to conservative radio's Lynn Woolley (right) for hosting the nation's first round table discussion re school districts' posting their check registers online, archived here: |
| Tim Crews (PHOTO/ AP) |
| THE AMERICAN SUPERINTENDENT |
| Lynn Woolley |
| RAISING QUESTIONS IN ARIZONA |
| Sacramento Valley Mirror publisher Tim Crews confirmed this past week that the California Attorney General’s Office is investigating the Glenn County Office of Education and GCOE supe Joni Samples. More here Glenn County's Office of Education is located in Willows, California, near Chino. |
| Participants included Spring Branch ISD board vice president Mike Falick (more below) and Sacramento Valley Mirror publisher Tim Crews (at right), fighting a cough resulting from a fire Tuesday night in the building next to his newspaper's California offices; police have determined the fire was arson. "We'd been warned that something was going to happen to us that night," said Crews. Other participants included Susan Bushart whose children attended Eanes ISD schools in Austin; former Comal ISD trustee Rose Cervin of San Antonio, and Miami-Dade whistle blower Bennetter Packman of Florida. Thanks again to Lynn and his producer, Lou Ann Anderson. |
| Just-elected County supe Alfredo Velasquez (left), Nogales USD supe Guillermo Zamudio (right) |
| QUESTIONS FOR AZ SUPE By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 22, 2006/11 pm In pockets throughout our great republic, there are concerned and caring citizens, and sometimes they contact me. I'm nicknaming the ones in Nogales, Arizona the "Santa Cruz County Super Sleuths." These people are amazing. Have forwarded the following questions on their behalf tonight to Nogales USD supe Guillermo Zamudio: |
| Crews, secretary of the board of directors of California Aware, the Center for Public Forum Rights, filed a series of public records requests which led to uncovering questionable circumstances and practices within the Glenn County Office of Education. |
| ANNOUNCING: "NATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT HONOR ROLL"! By Peyton Wolcott-Oct. 1, 2006/10 pm |
| Last Monday night, Spring Branch ISD trustee Mike Falick (right) did something both unusual and courageous: He took the Houston- area district's post- Yvonne Katz move towards greater accountability and transparency a jump step |
| ARIZONA EDU-SUPE-- WHY WAS HE ELECTED? |
| #3 - Modern Minutemen |
| SAMPLES TO ATTORNEYS: CIRCLE THE WAGONS By Peyton Wolcott Sept. 30, 2006/11:30 pm |
| American's hope is our children--and parents willing to stand up for what's right. Here's a salute to America's "Modern Minutemen." By Peyton Wolcott - July 4, 2006 |
| "The Glenn County Office of Education has crafted one set of rules for The Sacramento Valley Mirror and there's another set for everyone else," says Sacramento Valley mirror publisher Tim Crews. "The Office of Education might, from time to time, make another member of the media fill out or write a written request, but so far they haven't. We asked for copies of other written requests and they haven't been able to find any. I can't get a copy of the district's budget without a written request event though Board Policy 1340 says it must be made available during business hours on request." Tim Crews' requests for information regarding GCOE's legal bills have been ignored. |
| Mike Falick |
| farther and asked his fellow trustees to recommend that the district post its checks online. Their superintendent, Duncan Klussmann, said this was doable--and by Thanksgiving. |
| Campaign sign (at arrow) near motel |
| ARIZONA'S SANTA CRUZ COUNTY'S NEW EDU-SUPE ALFREDO VELASQUEZ By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 16, 2006/10 am There are 5 questions Nogales -area voters might want to ask--and get answers to--before Velasquez takes office on January 1, 2007. More here |
| Our first Minutemen were ordinary people like you and me, the Bremond moms, and the Olsen family of Bain- bridge Island, Washington. Jim, a Coast Guard captain, was greeted at their daugh- ter's middle school last year by armed police officers and presented with a "No Tres- pass" letter by the district--all because he'd questioned the district's revisionistic history of WWII, rewritten by the district in favor of the Japan- ese. His wife, historian Mary Dombrowski, has produced a series of documentaries detailing Japanese espion- age and military-related movements in their area. |
| If SBISD with almost 33,000 students and $452,744,565 in total disbursements for 2004-05 can manage to make its checks available to parents and taxpayers to view under the bright sunshine, surely every other district in the U.S. can do so as well. |
| Duncan Klussmann |
| TEXAS NEWS |
| REALITY CHECK$: Do you know how much money your district really takes in? By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 1, 2006/11 pm |
| IS COLLEGE NECESSARY? By Peyton Wolcott Sept. 26, 2006 Not for cooking star and entrepreneur Paula Deen (right) |
| Crews is a member of the California First Amendment Coalition board of directors.. |
| Paula Deen |
| who in addition to living a rich and full life has overcome obstacles that would have debilitated the average person. In fact, losing both parents and having two babies by age 23 did debilitate Deen. "I began to have the symptoms of agoraphobia," she says. Then she and her childhood-sweetheart husband lost their home and business. |
| CALIF. SUPE, 11 AIDES: $244,000 IN ONE YEAR ON DISTRICT CREDIT CARDS By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 21, 2006/6:30 pm |
| More about Jim (above at their daughter's middle school) and Mary here and the other fifteen individuals honored in this year's "Salute to Our Modern Minutemen" here |
| And why did San Antonio Express- News reporter Michelle M. Martinez (above left, at a Harlandale ISD board meeting with First Southwest's Raul Villasenor at far right) underreport Edgewood and other San Antonio- area ISD's budgets by almost half . . . . Answers and more here |
| So she spent most of the next 20 years inside her home. And cooked, and eventually stared down the void and the darkness and emerged to start a modest catering business with her teenaged sons and $200. She is now a full-blown cooking star on the Food Network in addition to running two successful Savannah restaurants, The Lady & Sons and Uncle Bubba's Oyster House and writing several cookbooks. A product of the Dougherty County School System in Albany, Georgia, after graduating from Albany High School in 1965, Deen never attended college, although she employs several college graduates in her businesses. |
| Sacramento Valley Mirror publisher/ editor Tim Crews (left) is publishing a series of reports on business practices by Glenn County's Office of Education, including supe Joni Samples, who has traveled to London and Mexico gratis her taxpayers. |
| #4 - Caring citizens |
| QUESTIONS: EDGEWOOD MOTOR VEHICLES By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 16, 2006 -9 am |
| There is a growing cadre of past and present school district employees coming forward with vital informa- tion regarding the operations of their district. By Peyton Wolcott-Aug. 24, 2006 |
| Excerpt from Joni's email to Joni while at Puerto Vallarta's El Famoso Instituto de Espanol, in English: "I don’t want to go to the pool. I’m not into pools. I like looking at the beach, but I’m not into sitting on the beach with all the sand. I went to walk through the stores and watch the people. I like that." More here |
| What's this burned-out truck doing sitting in Edgewood ISD's bus lot? Why does Edgewood appear to have not one but two large trucks? Why does truck #47, the burned out one, appear to have had the Edgewood ISD logo painted out on its driver door? |
| These are the good folks who have grown sick watching excesses at their districts, examples of waste and fraud for the benefit of senior administrators and some board members, at the expense of students and tax- payers. To all of you from all over the U.S. who are sending so much vital information regarding the goings-on within your school districts, this is my big public thank you. Sample comments: "I can no longer remain silent." "People deserve to know what's really going on here." I couldn't do this work without you and your contributions, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. |
| "God has been so good to me," Deen said [recently] from her Savannah home. "Since the day I took responsibility for myself, God has not missed a day blessing me." (SOURCE--Albany Herald) America needs more entrepreneurs and small business owners like Deen. |
| WHAT AND HOW MUCH SIDE BUSINESS AND CONSULTING |
| SHOULD SUPES BE ALLOWED?B By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 14, 2006 |
| FROM $6 BILLION BUDGET & $112,000 SALARY TO 12 CENTS PER HOUR--WHO'S NEXT? By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 13, 2006/11 pm |
| Edgewood's supe owned day care while supe at Edgewood Although according to the Secretary of State's office Edgewood ISD supe Richard Bocanegra is still shown as one of the owners, along with two other Bocanegras, of Stepping Stone Creations, LLC, the owner of La Casita Learning Center (above), San Juana Alardin, the new owner of the day care on San Antonio's Loop 410, says she bought it this past May. |
| Former GA ed-head Linda Schrenko (left) on way to court for pre-trial hearing in Nov. 2004; entered prison 9/11 for 8 years. More here (PHOTO-Spink/AJC) |
| Joni Samples (above); Canto del Sol pool |
| HOW U.S. PUBLIC ED IS LIKE THE BIG OLD OAK TREE ACROSS THE STREET By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 21, 2006-4:10 pm |
| WHY DID LAKE TRAVIS ISD HIRE A TEAM OF LAWYERS TO FORWARD A RECEIPT FOR 24 SHIRTS? By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 13, 2006/11 Pm |
| #5 - Parents organizing |
| Although a review of Richard Boca- negra's November 16, 2004 contract--the one provided last month by Edgewood ISD in response to a request for the most recent one--does not address whether or not Bocanegra during his tenure as Edgewood's superintendent should or should not be able to operate any other business or do side consulting, several questions arise, chief of which include: 1. During the period Bocanegra owned La Casita, his district was slipping into the Texas academic accountability cellar, "Academically Unacceptable." Did the former impact the latter? 2. Should any Texas public school superintendents be allowed to operate side businesses while they're also running school districts? 3. Did Edgewood's board know? If so, how much were they told? FOLLOW UP: Bocanegra has not responded to requests for comments. |
| When I started volunteering 6 1/2 years ago, there were very few grassroots parent groups with websites. If you Google "grassroots parent group" today you get 9.5 million hits. |
| Remember when I went to the LTISD board meeting last summer and was disappointed to not get to see the Team of Eight (7 elected trustees plus their non-elected supe) in their custom matchy-matchy (thank you, Sister Parish) shirts? That I felt a bit bait-and-switched after seeing these red and black shirts on the district's website then when I got to the board meeting they were wearing their street clothes? Being a curious soul, I wondered what this matchy-matchy finery was costing the district's taxpayers. The receipt has arrived--disappointingly accompanied by a letter on Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze & Aldridge, P.C. letterhead. More here |
| Everybody said for years that it was a troubled tree, rotten to the core. Yes, it still looked like a tree, and there were some branches with green leaves on them, but last week most of it fell off in a big windy rainstorm. We all know public schools in our country have grown big and corrupt and aren't teaching our kids. Lookin' for that big rainstorm. |
| #6 - The Internet |
| The world is now flat It really is true. The Internet has empowered parent and taxpayer efforts in our schools in a way neither our flat-footed districts nor the MSM know how to cope with yet. Here's one example: On a Google search, my coverage earlier this year of the Christine Scarlett/Steve Bradigan "Win a Date With Me at DQ" contest in Strongs- ville, Ohio comes in ahead of ABC News. |
| HEADS UP ! |
| Team of Eight |
| TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT, WHO DO WE NOT APPRECIATE? THE TEAM OF EIGHT! By Peyton Wolcott - June 16, 2006 |
| The Lessons of 9/11 Continue |
| SAN DIEGO REPORTER JOHN MATTES UPDATE By Peyton Wolcott - Sep. 14, 2006/9 am Assad “Sam” Suleiman and Rosa Barraza, the couple caught on camera beating Mattes with fists and a water bottle, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery Tuesday. |
| Edu-reporting alert! |
| WHY IS BERNARD PARKS SILENCING S. CALIF.'S BEST EDU-REPORTING? By Peyton Wolcott - 081306 |
| Comes an interesting question from a friend who is--brave soul--also a school board member. The new supe they've just hired has asked to be included on the dais with the rest of the board, front and center with the president. "Anything wrong with this," my friend asks. Answer: "Plenty. Let's start with the examples of Spring Branch ISD trustees (above) and their former supe Yvonne Katz, and also Ann Arbor Public Schools and their recent supe George Fornero. More here |
| I feel a personal connection to 9/11--as I believe we all should. Not that any of us needs a reason other than militant Muslim fundamentalist jihadists crashed our planes with living human beings on board into buildings filled with more living human beings, and a field in Pennsylvania, because they oppose our freedoms and our ideals. As it happens, I was due to leave Burbank the morning of the first 9/11 and was in Manhattan for the second two. This photo above is from our kids' 19th- floor apartment three years ago today. |
| EDGEWOOD COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE FOR THIS "NON -HISPANIC" By Peyton Wolcott Sept. 7, 2006/11 am |
| "Without any warning or notice the office of Los Angeles city councilman Bernard Parks, chairman of the powerful council budget committee, notified the management of city-run Los Angeles City View Channel 35 that his long time sponsorship of the Full Disclosure public affairs program was terminated," says Leslie Dutton, Full Disclosure producer and host. "The letter of termination states 'Its recent airing of several episodes contentious content has sparked numerous inquires from public-access television producers Citywide critiquing the integrity of the station and, in-turn the City' and did not elaborate what the offensive content was." |
| San Diego's John Mattes |
| Have you seen these images yet of San Diego reporter John Mattes' ordeal earlier this week with two interviewees? Although his investigation dealt with real estate rather than public school fraud, Mattes' violent reaction from Sam and Rita Suleiman took me back to August 3 in Edgewood. Quick: What country is this? After Rosa assaulted John with a water bottle, as she was leaving to go to her car to get "the gun," she asked Mattes which he preferred, Tijuana or Ensen- ada, indicating (expletives deleted) that she would do violence to him there. |
| Should our children's social studies lessons now while our country's under attack be about Sheryl Crow (right) and Beyonce |
| UNBRIDLED HUBRIS |
| TASSONE & GLUCKIN: ROSLYN, A CAUTION- ARY TALE FOR EVERY PERSON IN EVERY DISTRICT IN AMERICA By Peyton Wolcott-Oct. 16, 2006 |
| or something more solid like the history of Muslim aggression against Western civilization for the past 1200 years? Which would be the more useful and life-preserving? More here |
| DOES DALLAS ISD SUPE HINOJOSA STILL DESERVE A STANDING OVATION? By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 9, 2006/11:53 pm |
| I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell. ~ Harry S. Truman |
| Former Roslyn, NY's supe Frank Tassone's (above) journey from wearing taxpayer-funded custom suits a few years ago to taxpayer- funded orange prison garb is a cautionary tale worth a closer look. More here |
| EDGEWOOD NOT MAKING SENSE--BUT WHY START NOW? By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 7, 2006/8 am |
| ILLINOIS SUPE'S MOCU-MENTARY |
| According to my Aug. 3 police report, the reason Edgewood ISD sent three police officers to detain me for 45 minutes was because I had to "get permission from the districts [sic] PR department." Further, Mario Rios, Edgewood's PR guy, told me while I was being detained that I needed to go through him for everything from then on. And so I have. From that day forward, Mario's been cc'd on all of my faxes and correspondence, including public records request. And I've copied EISD supe Richard M. Bocanegra because according to the Texas Education Code he's EISD's official "Custodian of Records." But last night comes an email from Irma Paine--remember Irma? She's the gal who accompanied former EISD supe Luis Gonzalez on a school district trip and stayed in a Four Seasons hotel, apparently promoted to EISD's HR department now. Irma tells me the supe says I'm not to send any correspondence to Bocanegra or Rios. Huh? Make up your minds, folks. Especially when you're going to send armed police officers to detain citizens based on following your "policies." |
| During a reception last October in Dallas (above), part of the annual TASA/ TASB convention, an entire room filled with Texas administrators got to their feet to applaud Dallas ISD supe Michael Hinojosa during a celebration of the Mexican American School Boards Ass'n "Triple Crown" which also included Houston ISD's Abe Saavedra and San Antonio ISD's then-supe Ruben Olivarez. But at the same moment Hinojosa was being loudly celebrated by a roomful of partygoers at the Hyatt, Dallas taxpayers were being robbed, most notably (allegedly) to the tune of $78,000 by Marsha Ollison, a DISD secretary working within a hop and a skip of Hinojosa's executive suite. |
| Emmy-award winning producer Leslie Dutton (above, questioning a demolition company employee at the site of LAUSD's money pit high school, Belmont, now approaching the half-billion-dollar mark) has brought us via her Full Disclosure Network the best and most complete news regarding Belmont, along with news about Capistrano USD's trustee recall drive; yes, they can recall trustees in California although it helps if the registrar plays fair and knows the rules. |
| ILLINOIS SUPE'S SUSPENSION: ANTI-GAY HARASSMENT--OR HIS BAD JUDGMENT? By Peyton Wolcott/Oct. 16, 2006 |
| For the second year running, Bremen HS District 228 supe Rich Mitchell put together a video featuring interviews with |
| Supe Rich Mitchell with martini glass |
| new teachers--spliced with his questions, without their... More coming soon. |
| Hinojosa (above left) with Real Estate Council PAC chair William Mundinger |
| Texas education commissioner Shirley Neeley |
| $20 million on DISD P-Cards During Hinojosa's watch Dallas ISD employees were being allowed to run up charges--at an amount the Dallas Morning News estimates at $20 million last year--on the district's procurement credit cards, or "P-Cards," many of which had no approval and no receipts. So, what do you think? Does Dallas ISD supe Michael Hinojosa still deserve a standing ovation? Is it enough that secretary Ollison has been arrested and the administrator in charge of P-Cards suspended? Why didn't Michael Hinojosa as part of his fiduciary duty of care look into P-Cards when he took the helm of DISD 18 months ago? Why has it taken months of Dallas Morning News stories and an investigation by the FBI to move him to action? Are Hinojosa's fixes enough? Or are they too little, too late? |
| Dutton with Emmy |
| EISD PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUESTS: STATUS By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 30, 2006/5 am |
| Could it be that LA Unified doesn't like having their dirtiest laundry aired so effectively? Could it be true that LAUSD supe Roy Romer has Parks' ear? Dangerous waters for city council member Parks to navigate, especially given the city council's vote yesterday to back Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to take over LAUSD. By the way, is there anyone who thinks Villaraigosa's takeover is about anything but the big pot o'money that LAUSD represents? |
| If Edgewood ISD is not telling the truth on their own front door (below) how do we know we can trust and believe them about anything else? TPIA report here |
| Shirley Neeley at recent State Board of Education meeting; Austin, Texas (Photo/Susan Bushart) |
| The average parent or taxpayer entering the front door of Edgewood ISD (above) would naturally think to themselves, "Hey, hey, hey! My child's going to school in a TEA 'Recognized' district." But this is far from true. On Aug. 1, the Texas edu-missioner announced that Edgewood had dropped to dead bottom: 'Academically Unacceptable.' Hey. |
| TEA EDU-MISSIONER ABOUT TO SHOOT THE MESSENGER? By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 7, 2006/11 am This is so classic. Caveon, the testing analyzers Texas edu-missioner Shirley Neeley hired to find TAKS cheaters, found some. So now Joshua Benton of the Dallas Morning News reports that Shirl's going to fire them. Shoot the messenger? Think about the warning this sends to whomever she hires next. Imaginary conversation at Caveon's replacement, Cave-In, here. |
Why focus on San Antonio's Edgewood ISD? Edgewood has sued Texas taxpayers five times in the past two decades, seeking to take "excess" funds from "rich" districts and give them to "poor" districts in the name of "equity" --with no serious examination as to whether it's worked. Then on Aug. 1, 2006 the state edu-missioner announced that EISD had slid to academic bottom. Hence my inquiry. |
| CURRENT BUDGETS LA USD $ 8 billion City of LA $ 20 billion |
| So it is in this environ- ment that, whatever his motive, former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, now a city councilman, has pulled the plug on Dutton's broadcasts on LA's News Channel 35. I have faxed councilman Parks; let's see what he has to say. Hopefully his pulling the plug on Full Disclosure was an easily corrected administrative error. |
| Texas parents and taxpayers deserve to know what's going on in Edgewood ISD because Edgewood has sued all of us five times now for what they perceive as our excess property tax dollars--but no one appears to have looked very closely at how Edgewood has spent those dollars once they received them. Have Edgewood's trustees and admini- strators been wise stewards of other people's money? No wonder Edgewood supe Richard M. Bocanegra sent three armed police officers in an apparent attempt to try to stop me from taking photos like this one on August 3. More here |
| Texas edu-missioner Shirley Neeley: below right--checking for gravy stains or getting rid of Caveon? (PHOTO/S.Bushart) |
| LA JOYA ISD NON-SHOCKER By Peyton Wolcott - Sept. 7, 2006/8:30 am |
| STATUS: No response from Bernard Parks as of Sept. 11, 2006 |
| WHERE'S SAM? By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 26, 2006/11 pm |
| Anybody know where Edgewood ISD police officer Sam Talamantoz is? Has he gone AWOL? He prepared my police report regarding the detainment incident (three armed EISD police officers detained me on Aug. 3, 2006 for apparently taking photographs in the main administration building without first getting permission from EISD PR guy Mario Rios) but I've not yet received a report signed by Sam. What gives? Who really prepared it? Why hasn't Sam been available this month to sign it? Is he too busy out detaining other grandmothers with cameras? |
| QUERY THE SUPE (& CC THE BOARD) |
DATE FIRST SENT:
FEB. 14, 2006
RE-SENT 03/26/06
Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:
I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....
Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive
1. What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?
2. Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?
Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers
4. What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?
5. There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?
Regarding trainings
and conferences
6. Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?
7. In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?
It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.
FEB. 14, 2006
RE-SENT 03/26/06
Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:
I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....
Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive
1. What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?
2. Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?
Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers
4. What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?
5. There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?
Regarding trainings
and conferences
6. Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?
7. In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?
It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.
| Garza-Uresti hasn't responded to queries re expired SBEC certificate |
| Why hasn't Antonio Uresti answered questions about past, SBEC? |
| ANY SUGGESTIONS FROM INTERNETLAND? I've faxed and emailed both Antonio and Rita and no response. Ideas, anyone, anyone? More here. |
| If I'd not taken this photograph above of Edgewood's front door (at top), how else would anyone outside of Edgewood know that the district is apparently trying to pass itself off as a TEA "Recognized" school district when it's anything but? Or that Texas edu- missioner Shirley Neeley had announced on Aug. 1 that Edgewood has slipped to the bottom-most rung of the accountability ladder, "Academically Unacceptable"? |
| POWER TO THE PEOPLE By Peyton Wolcott - Sep. 1, 2006/1:26 am |
| People in La Joya ISD are upset about their new power couple (below); she's the new La Joya ISD board vice president who works for TEA as an NCLB consultant and he's just been pro- moted from principal of a failing school to the district's ass't supe. Thanks to the Internet the world really is flat now, and the good people of La Joya ISD have started blogging all kinds of news (grey boxes) in hopes the world will notice-- and that TEA and SBEC will investigate. |
| Here's another "Recognized" sign. |
| La Joya ISD's school board, all seven of them; at least the supe's not in the picture--yet. |
| Edgewood ISD main bulletin board |
| NOT MAKIN' THIS UP By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 27, 2006/11:30 pm UPDATED Aug. 27, 2006/1:00 p.m. |
| The only item posted on Edgewood's main bulletin board was--irony of ironies--a memo with instructions for filing public records requests (white sheet, lower right corner above). The memo doesn't say anything about cameras. More coming, including the status of my public information act requests, with responses, if any. |
| Recent carryings-on by the La Joya ISD school board (Texas) (above) present a good case for citizens extracting a signed pledge from their trustee candidates similar to the one we did in Llano ISD in May 2004--before the election. Afterwards it's too late. The nicest, most responsible folks get themselves elected to the local school board and all kinds of unusual things can happen, witness this excerpt from a local paper near LaJoya: More here |
| EDGEWOOD ISD UPDATE By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 24, 2006 - 6 am |
| San Antonio's Edgewood ISD is one of the 20 poorest school districts in Texas and the lead in five historic lawsuits instigated for the purpose of obtaining more money from richer districts. But have "Robin Hood" and its twin "equity" worked? Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley says no; on August 1, the Texas Education Agency rated Edgewood on the lowest rung possible, "Academically Unacceptable," for the 2005-06 school year. |
| EVERMAN'S TEAM OF EIGHT: UPDATE RE WHEN THE GOING GOT TOUGH, GUESS WHO RESIGNED? By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 26, 2006 - 5 pm |
| Everman ISD Team of Eight |
| Friends, I must admit to being mystified by Everman ISD's board president Boyd Andress's resignation over the flap caused by EHS principal Kathy Culbertson's alleged remarks of a racist nature. My mystification arises from the fact that EISD supe Jeri Pfeifer (2nd to right, front row above) is the Team of Eight board member actually in charge of hiring and supervising employees, not Andress. So I have today faxed and emailed Jeri; will post her response, if and when. More here |
| EISD PD Saturday patrol--WHY? |
| Who's on First? We've thrown piles and piles of taxpayer dollars from elsewhere in the state at Edgewood and under the leadership of EISD superintendent Richard M. Bocanegra, Edgewood has landed in the academic cellar. Why don't school boards follow the example set by the great American sport of baseball and throw a losing coach out? To follow the baseball analogy, the transcript of San Antonio Lightning editor RG Griffing with EISD's PR guy, Mario Rios, sounds like Abbott & Costello's classic "Who's on First" routine. More here |
| This past month I've asked several accountability questions of Edgewood's current supe, Richard Bocanegra. To my dismay, I have received no responsesfrom Richard [CORRECTION: On Aug. 2 Bocanegra sent an "initial response" with incomplete information and has yet to follow through] and the responses from his staff, save one, have been less than satisfactory. Further, even though the detainment incident--remember the one with the three armed EISD police officers, apparently because I was taking photographs at the administration building--occurred three weeks ago today, I still have not received a police report signed by either the report's preparer or its reviewer. Curious. |
| Parent-paid-for Edgewood Hurricanes youth sports meet above right and their playing field is in the middle, in the shadow of unused Edgewood Academy at left. The district's fitness center for adult employees lies on the other side of the playing field (see red arrow pointing to barrel vaulted roof). |
| EDGEWOOD ISD UPDATE: A DAY TRIP By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 21, 2006-11pm |
| If you've ever wondered what eight minutes in the mind of a public school PR executive would be like, the transcript of San Antonio Lightning editor RG Griffing's interview with Edgewood ISD's director of communications Mario Rios is here along with photos from my day trip to Edgewood Saturday here including the impromptu surveillance work I did with an Edgewood ISD maintenenance truck--all because I was curious as to what could need doing at time and a half or double time, whatever the maintenance department's going rate is. The answer may surprise you. Oh, and look for a copy of EISDPD's badge. I think I've translated it correctly from the Latin. |
| Compare and contrast . . . logo on expensive taxpayer-funded but supe-allocated banner on Edgewood's Employee Fitness Center (above) with inexpensive- but-does-the-job taxpayer-funded and taxpayer-allocated signage (below) on Edgewood Hurricanes' North American Junior Football Federation clubhouse. |
| EDGEWOOD ISD POLICE REPORT-- GOT IT TODAY! By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 15, 2006 - 10 pm |
| Remember the incident on Thursday, August 3, in which three armed Edgewood ISD police officers detained me for 45 minutes for taking photographs inside the administration building with no schoolchildren present? The police report (above right) finally arrived just before noon today, and it raises more questions than it answers. More here including text of the report plus a close up of the signature on page two. |
| Why is this signature line significant? The preparer's signature space is blank, and the reviewer didn't sign it either. And note the date. More here |
| EDGEWOOD ISD POLICE DETAINMENT UPDATE By Peyton Wolcott - Aug. 13, 2006/11 pm |
| It's now been ten days since three armed Edgewood ISD police officers detained me (above, with EISD PR guy Mario Rios), and incredible as this may sound, given that we live in a republic comprised of free citizens and not a police state, the district still has not produced a copy of their police report. Mario said Wednesday he'd try to PDF a copy by the end of the day, said he could use the scanner the district had gotten him. Maybe Mario had a problem with the computer spaghetti, perhaps there was a bad cable connection, who knows, as he's not emailed me. In fact, as a side note, Edgewood has now blocked my emails. Which doesn't sound very friendly. But then, sending three armed police officers last week would probably not be mistaken as a friendly overture either. For whatever the reason, the August 3, 2006 police report is still not here. This is just about a journalist trying to get a copy of a police report. Extrapolate this situation out, apply it generally to Edgewood's students and parents and taxpayers: How is Edgewood ISD's management letting them down? And I've just started asking questions. |
| STATUS: No response rec'd from Sup't Gray as of Oct. 6, 2006 |
| QUERY THE SUPE & THE PR GUY |
TO:
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006
Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006
Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.
| Edgewood High School (above) was, I have been told by community members, shut down 12 years ago, then re-opened 8 years ago as Edgewood Academy, a performing arts venue. Then it closed again, a district employee told me, a year ago, because of "construction problems." All of this is hearsay because the district has not been forthcoming--surprise, surprise--with information. |
| STATUS: No response received as of Aug. 29, 2006 |
| Edgewood Academy (side entrance above) looks like a very expensively finished office park or hotel with a myriad of pricey architectural details which arguably have little direct impact on students' classroom experience. "You should see this place," a dad emailed me last week from another part of the state. "What a waste of taxpayer dollars." The dad had visited the building a few years before it closed the second time for a band concert and was wowed by what he referred to as the two-story marble foyer and the glass elevator. Well, I couldn't get close enough because of the porta-fence around the perimeter to find the glass elevator; ditto for the marble foyer. Do the glass elevator and the marble foyer exist? Did they ever exist? Oh, I know how I can find out. I'll ask my new friend Mario, the district's PR guy. Bet he can get me the information I seek soon as he gets that computer spaghetti unscrambled. |
| In the meantime, here's another entry on my shopping list of want-to-know's: How is it that a district so poor it has conducted five, count 'em five, lawsuits against Texas taxpayers for mo' money can afford a fitness center (above) for district employees? Sure, it's been converted from the old EHS gym, but still. Inquiring Minds Want To Know Dep't: Here's one more question for you quizzical kiddos: Why is this EISD fitness center (entrance below) available at taxpayer subsidy for adult employees in the same district whose parents during the very same month (August 2006) have to pay for their children's sporting activities out of their own pockets? |
| Which leads us to the biggest question of all: Is Edgewood ISD being run for the school children or for the adult EISD employees? Was it ever really about the kids or has it been about the adults' power and jobs and careers from the get-go? I've spent some time in the Edgewood area over the past two weeks talking with neighbors, parents, folks on the street. "It's crazy, man," one dad told me. "They run our schools like it's their little kingdom." For myself, I keep remembering the EISD receptionist sitting in a steel and glass cage. And I will not soon forget the three EISD officers with guns. |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
AASA - American Association of School Administrators ASA - Association of School Administrators CSD - Consolidated School District DOE - Department of Education ES - Elementary School HS - High School ISD - Independent School District JHS - Junior High School MS - Middle School MSM - Mainstream media NSBA - National School Boards Association NSPRA - National School Public Relations Association PS - Public School(s) SBEC - State Board for Educator Certification SD - School District Sup't - Superintendent TAKS - Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills TASA - Texas Association of School Administrators TASB - Texas Association of School Boards TASBO - Texas Association of School Business Officials TEA - Texas Education Agency TEKS - Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills USD - UnifiedUnited School District |
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| QUOTES |
Separatists in India's north-eastern state of Manipur have shot six male teachers in the leg for allegedly helping students cheat in exams. Two women teachers were beaten with sticks for the same offence, the rebels of the Kanglei Yana Kan Lup group said. The teachers were abducted from their homes after an exam on Thursday. The rebels said the teachers took up to 5,000 rupees ($110) for helping students cheat and warned of further punishment if the cheating continued. The Kanglei Yana Kan Lup (KYKL) is one of many separatist groups fighting Indian administration in Manipur. It said it abducted the eight teachers from their homes in and around the state capital, Imphal, because of reports they had taken bribes. --By Subir Bhaumik - BBC |
| ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS: Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you. |
| Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott |
My New Book PEYTON WOLCOTT |
The question is not how to measure excellence at public schools and education agencies. The question is how to measure competence. -- Dianna Pharr |
| CONTACT: Peyton Wolcott P.O. Box 9068 Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657 peyton@peytonwolcott.com Want to subscribe to my newsletter? Send your request here, with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. |
| F o c u s i n g o n accountability f i r s t |
