| Because the recent announcement by Voyager that it has hired former Houston ISD trustee Kevin Hoffman coincides with Georgia's release of its disappointing state scores, Voyager has one again lept onto our collective national radar -- and what a fortuitous time this seems to take a closer look at vendor Randy Best's edu-creation and see how it stacks up today. First, let's start with the Kevin Hoffman-Voyager connection. Where and when exactly did they get to know each other? One possible place to start is . . . . [DEVELOPING] |
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| Conservative Commentary - Archives February 25, 2008 - May 21, 2008 |
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How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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| How to ask your local school district Flyer History 1st Anniversary San Antonio Triple Crown The Four-Legged Stool COPYRIGHT NOTICE: When borrowing/copying/ citing from this roster please remember to attribute the source: www.PeytonWolcott.com |
| CALIFORNIA Capistrano USD - here Clovis USD - here FLORIDA (01.14.08) Miami-Dade CPS* here ILLINOIS Carpentersville SD 300* Elgin U-46* Huntley CUSD 158* Naperville CUSD [ / ] KANSAS USD 507 (Satanta) (Chk Jrnl) MICHIGAN Clawson - here(BusinessOfc.) Montrose CS - here MINNESOTA Milaca SD - ISD 192 St. Cloud ISD MISSISSIPPI Ocean Springs SD* here MISSOURI Liberty PS - BoardDocs NEVADA Clark County SD**** OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City PS***** S. DAKOTA Mitchell School District* TEXAS** (156) Allen ISD Alvarado ISD Anderson-Shiro CISD - here Anthony ISD Anton ISD - here Aquilla ISD - Baard Packet Arlington ISD Arp ISD - Athens ISD Aubrey ISD Avery ISD Beeville ISD-Agenda Packet Bellville ISD Big Spring ISD Blackwell CISD Blue Ridge ISD Blum ISD - here Bonham ISD - here Borden County ISD - Admin. Borger ISD Bremond ISD Bridgeport ISD - here Brookesmith ISD - here Bryan ISD* Caddo Mills ISD Cameron ISD Canton ISD Cedar Hill ISD Center Point ISD Chester ISD China Spring ISD here Cleburne ISD* - here Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD Colmesneil ISD Comal ISD Conroe ISD* Corpus Christi ISD* Cotton Center ISD Cross Roads ISD Cypress-Fairbanks ISD* Daingerfield-Lone Star ISD Dallas ISD Damon ISD - here Deer Park ISD* Denison ISD Dickinson ISD Dublin ISD - here (About us) East Bernard ISD Ector Co. ISD Electra ISD Franklin ISD Friendswood ISD Galena Park ISD Galveston ISD Grandfalls-Royalty ISD Greenville ISD Gunter ISD Harlandale ISD - here Hart ISD* - here Haskell CISD Hempstead ISD Highland ISD Hitchcock ISD - here Holliday ISD Houston ISD* Howe ISD Hunt ISD Iola ISD Iraan-Sheffield ISD Judson ISD (quarterly) Katy ISD Kaufman ISD Keller ISD* Kerrvile ISD Lackland ISD Lago Vista ISD* LaPoynor ISD - here Leander ISD Leonard ISD Lexington ISD Livingston ISD Little Cypress-Maur. CISD Little Elm ISD Llano ISD - here Lockney ISD Lorena ISD Lovejoy ISD Lufkin ISD Mabank ISD Madisonville CISD Malakoff ISD Marble Falls ISD - here Marion ISD Meadow ISD McKinney ISD Medina ISD Medina Valley ISD* Mesquite ISD - here Miami ISD MidlandISD-AgendaPacket Midway ISD - Mount Vernon ISD Murchison ISD - here Nacogdoches ISD - here Natalia ISD Nazareth ISD Nederland ISD New Caney ISD Newcastle ISD - here Nordheim ISD North East ISD North Forest ISD Northside ISD No. Zulch ISD* Ore City ISD Palestine ISD Pasadena ISD Pearland ISD Port Neches-Groves ISD Pflugerville ISD Quinlan ISD Reagan County ISD Richardson ISD Robert Lee ISD Roby CISD Roscoe ISD - here Rosebud-Lott ISD Round Rock ISD * Royse City ISD San Angelo ISD San Antonio ISD Salado ISD Schertz-Cibolo-U.City ISD* Seminole ISD Somerset ISD* South Texas ISD Southwest ISD* Spring Branch ISD * Stanton ISD Sundown ISD - here Teague ISD Texas City ISD Timpson ISD Tomball ISD Trent ISD United ISD* - here Valentine ISD Van Alstyne ISD West ISD Wharton ISD Wildorado ISD - here Wilson ISD Wimberley ISD Winona ISD Ysleta ISD UTAH Davis School District* WISCONSIN Sun Prairie SD |
| COMMITTED Argyle ISD (TX) - here Clear Creek ISD (TX) Dew ISD (TX) El Paso ISD (TX) La Marque ISD (TX) Plainview ISD (TX) Pottsboro ISD (TX) Southside ISD (TX) Temple ISD (TX) STATE DOE ONLINE Texas Education Agency MIDDLE EDU-LAYER St. Clair County RESA (MI) HONORABLE MENTION ALASKA DOE - Checks over $1,000 MICHIGAN *** Intermediate School Districts TEXAS Brackett ISD (checks over $500) WHERE PARENTS, TAXPAYERS, TRUSTEES ARE ASKING: Cedar Rapids PS (IA) Chippewa Valley SD (MI) Eanes ISD (TX) Lake Travis ISD (TX) Lancaster ISD (TX) LA USD (CA) New York CPS (NY) Omaha PS (NB) Rochester CS (MI) Santa Cruz CPS (AZ) Water Valley ISD (TX) ___________________________ * No check numbers. ** Source for all Texas numbers: TEA PEIMS (most recently reported actuals, 2005-06) *** For online numbers including budgets, salaries, lobbying, PR, legal, autos, more **** Purchase orders *****Encumbrances NOTE: Some districts such as Beeville ISD (TX) call their check registers "disbursement registers" (Source for names of Texas districts: Houston Chronicle (6), San Antonio Express-News (6) ) |
| Heads up to grassroots school reform activists: Be smart, be effective By Peyton Wolcott Updated 12.02.07 |
| Most parents and taxpayers are rational beings whose lives work because we operate in them rationally. When we experience a precipitating incident which warrants our dealing with our local school districts, most of us generally approach them armed with facts and the same rational thinking that enables us to pay for our houses and cars and the property taxes that fund our local schools. Generally this is our first mistake. If we compound our mistake by also being angry, we might as well go stand in front of the administration building and shake a big bag filled with rattlesnakes; no good acting surprised when the rattlesnakes react by hissing and trying to bite us. Watching pushback from schools, especially here in Texas, escalate over the past few years (more at right) leaves me troubled; I believe based on my own experiences and observation of others' that many of the difficulties parents and taxpayers are experiencing can be avoided by changing our approach. |
| Heads-up to citizen journalists, bloggers The Internet is a tremendous gift. We've seen changes here in Texas public education in the past five years which I do not believe would have been possible without the Internet. Many parents and taxpayers are finding themselves pressed into service as citizen journalists who have no formal journalism background. Most often, it is these well-intentioned folks who appear to be getting into the most trouble. We've seen here in Texas in the past two years alone one SLAPP suit filed and another on the way, plus an amicus curiae by a third district. Worse, we've had onerous anti-sunshine legislation encumbered on all of us as a result during this past Lege. Citizen journalism 101: |
| How to change rattlesnakes into teddy bears It starts with changing our mindset. After trying rational thinking, facts and figures, reports and studies with our local administrators, all to no avail -- including a memorable detainment by three armed public school district police officers for taking photos in an administration building during summer with no schoolchildren present -- I realized a new way of doing things was necessary. Because of my experiences over the years as a volunteer organizing other volunteers for charity fund raisers, it was a natural next step for me to organize friends into a group. |
| 5. Who are you? Put your photo and your goals on your home page along with an easily accessible email address. One site I looked at recently posted email addresses for all of the school district's trustees and top administrators -- then made visitors to the site fill out an obnoxious form in order to send an email to the site. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. A group in another state prides itself on its integrity -- yet operates completely anonymously whereas the people the group attacks (constantly) have all been willing at some point to come forward with their names and contact information. 6. Mind your manners. Attribute everything, and properly. 7. Curb your anger. Anger's a funny emotion. It permeates everything we do, renders our best-intentioned work useless, and leaves us worn out. If your administration's done something truly outrageous, sleep on it before posting an angry response. Remember: In order to accomplish anything you're going to have to organize however small a group which means being positive enough in your approach and outlook that people will be drawn to you and your cause. Negativity repels. Positive enthusiasm is a magnet. 8. No community comments. Several reasons. You may run hot for a while but when things start winding down and your local administrators see (0) comments again and again they will assume you have no community support. Also, a lot of anonymous venting can occur. Let your local newspaper handle this -- they can afford lawyers -- or talk to each other in the parking lot of your local barbeque joint or over the produce section at the grocery store. Venting is a form of gossip, and may or may not support your goal. Anything that takes away from your goal is a distraction and to be avoided. 9. Be nice. People will like you more and you'll sleep better at night. 10. Be friendly. Treat your administrators and/or board members and/or any other opposition as you'd like to be treated. I didn't make this up; it's called "The Golden Rule." |
| Rattlesnake (L), Teddy bear (PHOTO--Steiff) |
| Back then there was a real feeling of community participation about the erection of the new school; without the townspeople's pitching in and helping out there was no school; today, we are charged property taxes on our houses to pay for our schools, and most often have little or no control over how our tax dollars are spent. We all love that feeling of being part of something larger than ourselves, some greater good. In order to accomplish anything, you're going to have to have broad-based community support, and this only occurs with positive goals and campaigns. asdf Your good name The name of your group is more important than you can imagine. I do not recommend including any of the following in your name: Watchdogs, Concerned (as in "Concerned Citizens of Clearwater"), Watch (as in "We're watching you and we're never going to be happy with anything you do"). "Accountability" and "responsible" are also good ones to avoid. Same for "taxes" and "taxpayers." Better to choose an innocuous name that your district can't slam you on for being negative, something like "Friends of Clearwater Schools." Your district will learn what you're about soon enough. Here's something that I had a very hard time accepting: While a few people will give you a thumbs-up for your negative campaigns, most people want to associate with something they perceive as being positive and will run from anything they perceive as being negative. Handling your anger There is a general consensus among reporters, politicians, attorneys and business and community leaders with whom I speak off the record that so many folks who become involved in their local schools are just plain angry; for this reason, the establishment discounts what the angry folks have to say -- no matter how justified their comments. Here's one example: Last spring when I visited legislators' offices to lobby against two pieces of anti- sunshine legislation (SB 889, which failed, and HB 2564, which is now law) resulting, legislators testified, directly from too many public records requests filed by parents in suburban Austin school districts (Lake Travis ISD and Eanes ISD) it was interesting to watch legislative staffers respond to telephone calls from parents and taxpayers railing against this bill. I wish those callers could have seen the staffers holding the phone away from their ears and making faces while at the same time responding in a soothing tone to the callers. It's important to not confuse face or phone time with achieving results |
| How we view our public schools: Then vs. now Remember the scene from the musical, "Oklahoma!" in which Curley gives up his horse and his saddle -- everything he owns -- in order to buy Miss Laurey's box dinner? "It's for the new schoolhouse," says the auctioneer, Auntie Eller. Like the new school Auntie Eller was helping raise funds for a century ago in northeastern Oklahoma's rural Claremore, when our small towns were first established in the American wilderness one of the first things to be built was the schoolhouse, a simple one-room building on par with the farmhouses and cabins families built for themselves -- all a far cry from today's Taj Majal high schools with their natatoriums and indoor practice fields. |
| Pick a goal, any goal Find a goal you and your small group can agree on, and distill it into one sentence. This is useful because when reporters come calling you'll already have your sound byte ready. Your goal should be important to you and your group and your community and one you can easily and quickly accomplish in a short period--two or three months and no more than six. If you're not sure where to begin -- the list is so long -- or can't agree among yourselves, a good first goal might be to ask your school district to post its check register online if it hasn't already. (How to here) It's an easy, quick goal. Think of yourselves more as guerrillas than Rotary. No fixed meetings every Tuesday, no announcing how many members you have or who they are, no lists of members, no lapel pins. Instead of meeting at meetings, communicate via email and phone. When you accomplish your goal, your community will sit up and take note, favorably. Then disband and take a breather for a while until you figure out what you want to accomplish next. Your next goal will likely mean different participants because not everyone will be interested in participating in everything. One more thing about goals Many times we want to start big and large, at the state or national level. Better to start small, start simple, start local. Prove that your idea can work locally and others will pick up on it, copy it. This is how ideas spread. |
| Oklahoma movie poster |
| 1. You can be angry and upset -- however righteously so -- OR you can be effective. You can't be both. 2. Using a carrot is more effective than using a stick. Think about it. Would you rather have someone come after you with a carrot or with a stick? Don't you become defensive when somebody shakes a big stick at you? 3. Our school districts -- including administrators, board members and those profiting from friendly relations with them -- may say they want more parental involvement. For some of them this is true. For too many others, what they mean by parental involvement is "Come write checks and say nice things about us and don't question anything we say or do." 4. Our school districts may say they want to improve; here again, some really do want to hear from us; for many others, they don't really welcome your helpful suggestions even when you know you're right and they're wrong. As my wise school board trustee friend told me years ago: "When you criticize them, you're calling their baby ' ugly.' " Your administrators and trustees and their minions will take your factual comments and questions personally and attack you personally in response. 5. Our public schools are essentially socialist models. Their engine and currency is the realm of emotions and people skills. 6. The world of public education is a world of feelings. Think about how often you've sat through a superintendent's budget presentation to his/her board and/or the community and at the end the supe says, "I feel good about this budget." For many of us who live in the rational world we're not much interested in our supe's feelings about the budget. We want to know that based on his expertise with budgets (too often, too little) he has presented a budget which will make ends meet. When you talk with educators, talk about your feelings about a topic rather than your thoughts about a topic. 7. In any endeavor, it's always a good idea to consider your opponent. Really look at them. If the product your company produces is packaged ice, you're not going to head north to Alaska to sell it. No matter how nice you are, they're not going to be interested up there. Along these lines, keep in mind that most school districts today are well-oiled (with your tax dollars) PR machines. The average parent wading in to engage with them armed with facts lubricated by some degree of righteous indignation stands little or no chance of winning. It is like watching lambs marching into the slaughterhouse. Further, public schools are generally the largest budgets in our counties; for this reason they have access to resources such as money and legal help. IMPORTANT: Because your schools can dominate any playing field available to them, you must pick and choose a different playing field. Emotions win over facts every time. No matter how well prepared your spreadsheet is -- you Spreadsheet Dads know who you are -- if you do not have some compelling facts to present to your community, facts which will grip their imaginations and hearts, your spreadsheet will accomplish little. 8. No matter how powerful you may be in your world, your work arena, school is a different arena. You're playing on someone else's turf and it behooves you to pay attention to how they play the game. Your rules don't work in their arena. The sooner and better you can master their rules including their jargon the sooner you can be effective. 9. The broader your base, the broader your focus, the more you want to serve rather than get (get something for yourself and/or your family -- or get even) the more likely you are to succeed in your goal of helping your district. 10. Let go of the idea you're a victim or that you've been wronged. Both will hinder your efforts. So long as you speak the language of woundology (thank you, Carolyn Myss), your community and the press will largely discount what you have to say. We are a nation of sturdy pioneers who overcome our difficulties. |
"Walk softly and carry a big stick." -- Teddy Roosevelt "Trust but verify." -- Ronald Reagan |
| Some basic things to think about: |
| When his newspaper's Mexico City bureau chief, Philip True, was killed, Rivard led a highly visible challenge to the Mexican judicial system. He personally was instrumental in finding True's remains and has relentlessly sought to bring his killers to justice. |
| Robert Rivard, editor San Antonio Express-News |
| It's pretty safe to say Bob Rivard and I will never be political allies; in addition to the SAEN having taken a fiercely anti-Iraq war stance, it also refers to "illegal immigrants" as "immigrants." However, he is also fiercely loyal to the causes he adopts -- and to his employees, two qualities to which we all can relate. An excerpt from his 2002 Cabot Prize bio: |
| In 2004 the Jalisco state supreme court returned a final verdict of guilt and ordered the two Huichol brothers-in-law who killed True to serve 20-year prison terms. Both men fled before Mexican authorities could detain them, having been released from custody earlier by a Mexican judge under questionable circumstances. (Ibid,) |
| Rivard's coverage of True's murder led to his writing a book, "Trail of Feathers." Here's an update regarding the outcome of his pursuit of justice: |
| Rivard also played a pivotal role in bringing New York Times reporter Jayson Blair's plagiarism to light: |
| In April 2003, it was Rivard's email to the New York Times that provoked an investigation into plagiarism charges by a reporter named Jayson Blair. Blair had lifted reporting and writing from San Antonio Express- News reporter Macarena Hernandez's published work and presented it as his own. The subsequent investigation led to what became known as the Jayson Blair debacle, with Blair and the Times' executive editor and managing editor tendering their resignations. (SOURCE --RobertRivard.com) |
| Hats off to Bob Rivard and his SAEN staff (more at left) for the pivotal role they played in San Antonio school districts posting their check registers online, and for setting such a great example for their fellows in the newspaper business to emulate. |
| HATS OFF: Bob Rivard, The San Antonio Express-News By Peyton Wolcott Tue., Nov. 27, 2007-10 a |
| ONLINE CHECK REGISTERS +++ 4 new TX districts Nov. 12-16, 2007! +++ Northside ISD - John Folks, superintendent Students: 78,154 Annual: $ 1,039,950,123 Per student $ 13,306 North East ISD - Richard Middleton, superintendent Students: 59,556 Annual: $ 806,762,147 Per student $ 13,546 San Antonio ISD - Robert Duron, superintendent Students: 56,371 Annual $ 557,143,973 Per student $ 9,884 Gunter ISD - Rick Cohagan superintendent Students: 861 Annual $ 23,440,928 Per student $ 27,225 (As of 11.28.07) |
| San Antonio's Triple Crown here |
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| Edgewood ISD 08.02.06 |
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| Just because you can doesn't mean you should. |
| However righteous or correct your cause, too often parents and taxpayers don't stop to consider the resources of their opposition. Our local school districts are well-oiled and well-funded, all with our tax dollars, PR machines. Our superintendents and administrators attend education conferences and trainings and seminars where they are coached in how to deal with disapproving parents and taxpayers. Our local schools also have apparently unlimited access to lawyers, whom they have demonstrated time and again that they will use all legal assistance available. Are you willing to take out a loan to pay your legal bills? |
| What's your motive? Are you taking action because you're offended that the district is violating rules and/or someone there is stealing? Are you motivated by the principle of the thing or do you want to achieve results and make real changes in your district? |
| Check registers online in 173 districts, 14 states! with $46 billion-plus in annual transparency! ----------------------- 1ST & ONLY ROSTER OF ONLINE SCHOOL CHECK REGISTERS As of 04.11.08, 15% of all Texas school districts have voluntarily posted their check registers online; over 2/3 of all state/local TX school district dollars are website-posted. |
| 1. No adjectives. They tend to be inflammatory. 2. Ask questions rather than make accusations. 3. Be very sure of your facts before publishing -- have a paper record in hand. Wishing doesn't make it so. 4. Give your opponents an opportunity to respond. Note in your blog that your phone calls to the district were not returned, etc. Ask the person about whom you're writing if they disagree with any facts you're publishing and if so and can they please provide a paper record or some such supporting their factual disagreement. |
| More questions... |
| NOTE: We are not asking school districts to post salary or HIPAA-related dollars. |
| After surrounding themselves with hand-picked "yes" men/women, superintendents often seem genuinely perplexed when community opposition surfaces for any reason. Chris B. comments in the Capistrano Dispatch, "Nearly anyone can tear something down, and it takes a real leader to influence a community to come together to build." Chris B. is right. Too often when we bring legitimate questions and complaints to our public schools we do not at the same time present a clear solution, making it easy for supes and our community to see and hear "attack." What's our positive vision for our schools? Our end game? Mine's simple: Better education for less money. |
| "What do you people want?" |
| Welcome to the home of the National Grassroots School District Online Check Register Movement Est. 10.01.06 |
| How to find your district's checks: If there's no link on the home page, try the business or finance page, or it may be listed under links or technology or community news. If the district is paying for TASB's BoardBook software, online check registers are a free feature, and can usually be found in the board packet for the most recent regular board meeting. |
| A model for the nation: More about the San Antonio Triple Crown here_____ How 3 major school districts put their checks online . . . in 1 week! |
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| NATIONAL UPDATES |
| TEXAS UPDATES |
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MENTION: MIAMI HERALD BLOG ENTRIES - 2 ARTICLES |
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| KANSAS Veteran administrator charged with stealing PTA, student council $41,000 By Peyton Wolcott Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 1:08 a.m. Updated Thursday, March 27, 3008-6:31 pm |
| MILDRED ISD Lunchroom supervisor: $86,000 from 700-student district By Peyton Wolcott Thursday, March 27, 2008 - 1:45 a.m. |
| Tom and Dwight, here's a specific example of how posting Great Bend's check register will help your community -- and how, had the check register been posted with some degree of detail in the past, your PTA and student council might be $41,000 richer today, without having suffered the embarrassment your district has just experienced in your community and nationally, not to mention the bother of filing insurance claims and involving local law enforcement. Let's use the example of an administrator such as a high school principal pocketing the PTA's or student council's money donated for a specific item such as a television for the high school, then turning around and asking the district to purchase an identical television but with district funds. Had Great Bend already been posting its check register online, folks in the community would have noticed the sheer number of TV's being purchased by the district. Posting Great Bend's checks online will help your employees -- including the best and most veteran and trusted -- to continued to do the right thing and be honest with funds entrusted to them. So you're doing everybody a favor. I suggest that Great Bend include a listing of all monies donated to the district and for what purpose with its monthly check register, and include for-what-purpose notations. |
| 3 questions for Great Bend supe Tom Vernon Tom, these are not "gotcha" questions. I ask them because the problem you've just experi- enced...keeps reoccurring all across America and every time the superintendent vows to tighten internal controls. The $41,000 -- or whatever the final amount is -- represents a great number of car washes and bake sales. My questions: 1. As an experienced public school superintendent you have had both extensive training to prepare you for the superintendency plus likely attended a fair amount of taxpayer-funded education conferences presumably designed to enlarge your scope of expertise. At any point in any of this did anyone point out to you that trust and the careful handling of money are two entirely different entities, best kept far separate from each other? You are quoted by Adam Everett Marshall at KWCH as saying, "Incidents like these involve trust. And the violation of that trust you just don't expect." 2. Satanta, Kansas schools have voluntarily posted their check register online as a great first step towards transparency. Given the spot you and your schools are in, in terms of negative PR in your community, would you be willing to voluntarily post Great Bend's check register online? Other superintendents in other districts have done so this past year. I will be happy to help walk you through this process; it's very easy and could really help your situation. 3. I noticed that you have applied for the superintendent position in Garden City schools; do you feel you were a bit preoccupied perhaps (with job hunting) and didn't notice the loss of so much money in Great Bend? Have you been job hunting very long? |
| Tom Vernon |
| ______________________ * Conducted by Standard and Poor's and supported by the Kauffman Foundation and the office of the Governor of Kansas |
| Despite being one of only 21 Kansas school districts recognized by Stan- dard & Poor's for best use of district resources -- per the Kansas School |
| District Efficiency Study* -- Great Bend USD 428, located in the heart of Kansas, somehow appears to have lax enough internal controls at its elementary school that former principal Don Atkinson, 54, has been charged with pocketing $41,000 in money collected by his school's student council and PTA. That's a lot of lollipops. |
| Don Atkinson (PHOTO--Great Bend Tribune) |
| According to district officials, who spoke on condition of anon- mity, here's what appears to have happened: school groups would have fund raisers for, say, a new television for a |
| classroom at the elementary school, then present the cash to Atkinson, who would apparently pocket it then ask the school district to pay for a new TV set for that classroom. Without secure internal controls, the equation was, "Money donated for a TV = a TV shows up," so no one noticed. Prosecutors say Atkinson stole the money between 2002 and 2007; he resigned last November after PTA leaders, following a training course in accountability and responsibility, took their con- cerns to school administrators, who called authorities. Atkinson had worked at the district for 28 years, 12 of them at the elemen- tary school. (SOURCE--Kansas News-Leader) |
| MILDRED ISD FOOD BUDGET 2005-06 $ 266,550 2004-05 $ 247,268 2003-04 $ 239,986 2002-03 $ 219,106 |
| Atkinson, who was working out of state -- where and doing what? -- turned himself in to the court and posted bail; his next court date is set for April 22. Query to Kauffman My query yesterday to the Kauffman Foundation in Missouri: |
| Naive leadership? Supe Tom Vernon's reaction was typical of most on learning that a long-time employee had allegedly robbed the till. “It's a crime of trust. You put your trust in people and it's just devastating that things like this happen.” The school district says it is improving internal controls. (SOURCE--KSN) Great Bend is a great example of a school district which would benefit from posting its check register online. At the very least citizens would have noticed the sheer number of TV sets being bought. Here are my questions to Tom Vernon, asked Tuesday, to which he has not yet responded: |
| Jefferson Elementary School |
| While congratulations are in order to Kauffman as they are to anyone doing anything to help our beleaguered American public schools, Great Bend has come to my attention this week via a series of news articles, it strikes me that a district with sufficiently lax internal controls such that a veteran principal could make off with $41,000 in PTA and student council monies isn't very efficient. Based on my experiences elsewhere, I'm wondering whether something like the following occurred: The Study focused on percentages and aggregated numbers, as generally occurs in public ed, with insufficient attention to internal controls including but not limited to embezzlement and theft issues. Was Kauffman's input to S&P only from its education department or did your financial group also contribute? |
| The Kauffman Foundation responds: |
| Standard and Poor's conducted the study to determine how well or how efficiently school districts are spending the dollars appor- tioned to them based on the academic results they are achieving. The study did not look at internal controls of each district nor did it look at how individual schools are spending or using their dollars. Copies of the reports and explanations of the methodology are available through the Standard and Poor's website. To further address any questions you may have regard- ing this study and the practices of the Great Bend School District, I have cc'd on this email Michael Stewart from Standard and Poor's who led the Kansas study team, Jeremy Anderson, Policy Advisor to Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Dr. Tom Vernon the superin- tendent of the Great Bend District. |
| Standard & Poor's response: |
| According to the Associated Press, the principal in question is suspected of taking PTA and student council funds. However, Standard & Poor's performed an analysis of the Great Bend school district's expenditures, not the accounts of a particular school's PTA or student council. Moreover, Standard & Poor's is not an auditing firm, and was not engaged to audit specific financial transactions or to inspect district accounting controls. Rather, Standard & Poor's was engaged to measure the efficient production of student learning; i.e., the relationship between the district's average per-pupil expenditure, and the extent to which the district's test scores fell above statistical expectations in light of the percentage of its students that have socio- economically disadvantaged backgrounds, limited English proficiency, or disabilities. (These factors can place students' academic success at risk, and frequently require additional financial resources to meet students' educational needs.) The district as a whole - and not any one particular school within the district - was found to be among the most efficient districts in the state in this regard, notwith- standing the suspected conduct of a particular school employee. |
| My next question As S&P "is not an auditing firm," and it "was not engaged to audit specific financial transactions or to inspect district accounting controls," why didn't Kauffman engage an auditing firm to do the Study? My suggestions for Great Bend's superintendent Tom Vernon and board president Dwight Young |
| Billie Jean Richardson (Mug shot--Navarro County) |
| How small a district is Mildred ISD? It's got 700 students, and its most recently reported annual budget (total receipts, all funds) was only $6.5 million. Context is important, and the context here is the small number of dollars for any and everything; the loss of $86,215.50 from such a small district must be particularly devastating. In fact, the district is so small you have to wonder how so much money managed to go missing without the lead administrators noticing. |
| Douglas Lane |
| In lieu of a statement regarding the alleged theft, the district offers up the following in its site: |
| Mr. Douglas Lane is the icon of solid leadership at Mildred ISD. After earning his bachelor's and master's degree from East Texas State University, he began his career in education in 1965. With a background in history and his love of coaching basketball, Mr. Lane served as a K-12 principal and then a high school principal in Northeast Texas. He graciously accepted the responsibility of Superintendent for Mildred ISD in 1987. In twenty wonderful years, Mr. Douglas Lane has been a firm director, a dedicated servant of the community, and an exemplary leader. |
| Wondering out loud Wondering why it took Mr. Lane so long to realize the loss. Lemons to lemonade What a great opportunity this represents for Mildred ISD to voluntarily post its check register online. |
| KANSAS: Then-Jefferson ES principal Don Atkinson (L) with PTA president Pamela Kurtz |
| KANSAS More background on elementary principal alleged theft By Peyton Wolcott Monday, March 31, 2008 - 1:08 a.m. |
| TEKS : Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (state-mandated curriculum) TAKS : Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills (state-mandated accountability test) |
| SBOE/TEKS-TAKS "We're planning for the students and future of tomorrow and truthfully that's Hispanic" By Peyton Wolcott Monday, March 31, 2008 - 12:07 a.m. |
| Eliot Shapleigh |
82%
68%
63%
40%
| Gee, this is confusing. Eliot Shapleigh is a United States citizen who was elected to represent he says 704,000 people in El Paso County, Texas as a Texas state senator. I thought our elected officials here in Texas were supposed to promote Texas and the United States. Mexico has its own governmental officials who are voted into office by their citizens to take care of Mexican nationals' needs. But Eliot must not have gotten the memo. Last Wednesday he was allowed to jump to the head of the State Board of Education ELAR TEKS testifiers line -- I wish he hadn't -- and in addition to the quote above about Texas' future being Hispanic, he also recited a list of the percentage of Hispanic Texas first graders. I thought first graders who lived in Texas and attended Texas public school were called "Americans" and "Texans." Eliot told the SBOE that 82% of all El Paso first graders are Hispanic, as are 61% of Austin's, 68% of Dallas,' 63% of Houston's and 40% of Cy-Fair's. On the SBOE tape here he states he carried bilingual bills "in every session of the Senate." Is his goal to create a permanent serf class in El Paso and elsewhere? Bilingual hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried. Gee, this is interesting. Look what our friends at ProEnglish have to say regarding who might oppose immersion programs: |
"In the
Senate I
have
carried the
bilingual
bills in
every
session"
Senate I
have
carried the
bilingual
bills in
every
session"
Hispanic 1st graders
| Remember the whistle blowers in the $11.2 million Roslyn, New York loss? There were two: someone who started the ball rolling with an anonymous letter, and the other an alert clerk at a Home Depot an hour from Roslyn who questioned why someone would be using Roslyn's credit card so far away from the district when there were other Home Depots closer to Roslyn. As it turns out, there were folks in Kansas, too. In 2006, then-Kansas PTA president Laura Kaiser, serving the second year of her two-year term, visited central and western Kansas PTA officers and administrators, along with Patti Jurich, a PTA vice president representing NE Kansas. "It was a challenge preparing for a trip of that scope, she said, "But it was important to make the trip," she says. "Although national PTA offers such good training, including online courses, and we have a state conference every year and excellent resources, because we're all volunteers busy with our own lives we recognize that not everyone is able to take advantage of the trainings available." Kaiser says that the trip enabled her and Jurich to focus on the basics such as good money handling, loss control and risk management procedures, plus informal question and answer sessions. Kaiser also presented local presidents with comprehensive notebooks they'd prepared for principals to use. |
61%
| o Individuals who profit from bilingual education. Bilingual teachers are paid up to $5,000 extra annually and the program provides jobs to thousands of bilingual coordinators and administrators. o Schools and school districts which receive HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of extra dollars for schoolchildren classified as not knowing English and who, therefore, have a financial incentive to avoid teaching English to children. o Activist groups with special agendas and the politicians who support them. |
| Gee, wonder what Eliot might say to that. |
| NEW BRAUNFELS ISD Speaking of the TAKS -- By Peyton Wolcott Monday, March 31, 2008 - 1:09 a.m. |
| Did you hear about the Hill Country principal (John Burks, above left, with supe Mike Smith) who allegedly threatened bodily harm/suicide if his teachers didn't do better on their kids' TAKS? (PHOTO--Raise Your Hand) |
| CORRECTION: Tom Vernon helped with the supe search process at Garden City Schools; I am developing a list of questions for Tom regarding his other side consultant work plus salary info. |
| TEMPLE ISD Retired interim Dana Marable withdraws name By Peyton Wolcott Sunday, April 6, 2008 - 12:07 a.m. |
| According to an article appearing Thursday in the Temple Daily Telegram, interim superintendent Dana Marable -- the former Marble Falls ISD supe who retired from Longview ISD -- was allowed by TISD trustees to remove her name from the list of five finalists for the top job in Temple. No explanation was given for the removal. |
| Dana Marable - TASA MidWinter, Austin 2007 |
| Marable was Marble Fallas ISD superintendent at the time then- Comptroller Carole Strayhorn announced on December 10, 2002 that she was bringing the Texas School Performance Review audit to MFISD; within ten business days both Marable and the district's number two execu- tive, assistant supe Cynthia Clinesmith, had announced their resignations from the district. |
| Marble Falls HS |
| Among the TSPR findings: |
| o Even though the district’s investment policies require a written internal control manual in the investment area, one does not exist. o The 2001–02 financial state- ments were issued with a nega- tive $12,526 inventory amount, which means that more inven- tory was used than existed, an impossibility. When the review team inquired about how this could happen, the district discov- ered than an adjustment was made to accounts payable at the end of 2002 that incorrectly impacted inventory. o The district overspent its 2001–02 budget because collection fees for delinquent taxes and the final food service invoice from Aramark were not included in the budget amend- ment approved by the board. o The district does not have written procedures to safekeep student activity funds. An employee at the primary school, who embezzled money from the school, was caught by another employee at the school. o Football gate receipts exceeding $30,000 per year are not properly counted and secured. When the review team inquired into how the receipts are monitored, no one in the Business Office could explain how money is provided at the gates, how the money is safeguarded, or the controls that should be in place to properly account for the money. |
| More here. |
| COMO-PICKTON ISD Former supe Bryan Neal pleads guilty, starts jail June 11 By Peyton Wolcott Sunday, April 6, 2008 - 12:34 a.m. |
| Bryan Neal's mug shot |
| Lamar University Superinten- dent Academy grad Bryan Neal, the former Como-Pickton CISD supe who is listed as an active staff member (high school math) on Vernon ISD's website, has "entered guilty pleas to one count of forgery and one count of making a false statement to obtain property in Hopkins County District Court Friday morning. In a plea agree- ment, Neal was sentenced to five years deferred probation and was ordered to pay $20,701 in restitution. District Attorney Martin Braddy said Neal will also be required to serve 60 days in the County Jail beginning June 11." (SOURCE--Don Julian/KSST) |
| MARYLAND Why didn't MCPS supe Jerry Weast know about principal's side consulting business--at the school on school days? By Peyton Wolcott - Sun., Apr. 6, 2008 - 1am Updated Sun., Apr. 6, 2008 - 5:00 p.m. |
| It's a concept even the most enterprising edu-entrepreneur would have to admire and appreciate: Do your side consulting |
| Oh, and while you're at it, if you're Moreno "Mo" Carrasco, buy yourself a golf cart for use in the indoor hallways of your day job because the school's so big. Are indoor golf carts a common MCPS practice? "An informal survey of school sys- tems suggests he might be the only principal in the region with a cart." (Ibid.) |
| Moreno "Mo" Carrasco |
| Carrasco, "who was running pricey private seminars, including one scheduled at his school on a weekday, shut down his consult- ing company Friday after The Examiner discovered that his side business may violate the Board of Education's code of ethics. Since incorporating the business in 2006...Carrasco, principal of Rockville's Richard Montgomery High School and Maryland's 2007 High School Principal of the Year, has held several "Breakthrough Principal" seminars at schools around the region, often scheduled during the week." (SOURCE--Leah Fabel/The Examiner) |
| business on the same day and time as your day job (principal), and do it at the day job site (Rich- ard Montgomery HS, MCPS's $87 million refurbished building, long as two football fields and "the most expensive public campus in the county"). (SOURCE--D.deVise/Wash.Post) |
| Richard Montgomery HS |
| MCPS parents react "Parent activists have seized on the golf cart as a symbol of administra- tive excess in a school system that is asking everyone else to endure cuts... Weast has curtailed all but essential spending as the county seeks to close a $297 million budget deficit." (Ibid.) While despite the furor the "essential" golf cart is by all accounts still in use at the high school, Mo's side consulting appears to have braked to a halt: |
| But where was MCPS supe Jerry Weast? Readers have been asking how Mo could have been able to con- duct the "pricey private seminars" at area schools during school days while in the employ of Mont- gomery County Public Schools and under the supervision of MCPS superintendent Weast. |
| Jerry Weast (L) with then-MCPS employee John Q. Porter (R) (PHOTO--Scholastic Mag.) |
| According to MCPS spokesman Brian Edwards, Jerry Weast knew nothing of Carrasco's business activities, saying. "We will investi- gate the matter and take appro- priate action as warranted." (Ibid.) Would that be anything like, "Round up the usual suspects?" For-fee (not 'for free') seminars While a case could perhaps be made for a high school principal conducting free seminars at his campus with the approval of his superintendent for the benefit of fellow administrators, such appeared to not have been the case with Mo Carrasco's ventures. There were the one-day refresher courses for members of the $399 "Principal's Network." The fee for two-day institutes was $469 for each administrator and a secretary, with a minimum of 20 so-called "teams." Although Mo's site is currently "under revision" I was able to find information regarding an April 29 event. Gee, this is confusing. Is the event "open only to members of the Breakthrough Principals' Network" -- or to both members and non-members? |
| Rockville, Maryland One Day Refresher Institute Open only to Members of the Breakthrough Principals' Network Richard Montgomery High School April 29, 2008 Times: 8:00 to 3:00 pm Sign Up! Free Registration for Netework [sic] Members Non-Members $199.00/school (emphasis added) |
| Jerry Weast's leadership This still presents the nagging question, how could Mo's seminars and institutes have gone on under Jerry's nose? How could he have known nothing about them? Which leads us to the next logical question: Is MCPS, with 200 schools, almost 140,000 students and over 21,000 employees simply too big for one person to control? Is it a good thing for students and parents and taxpayers for a district to be 16th largest in the U.S.? Can we chalk up this incident with Mo's side consulting as a result of the district's apparent "Team of Eight" leadership? (The 9th face below, the young one seated at left, is Ben Moskowitz, a student.) |
| Trustee, Committee for Economic Development Member, Public Education Leadership Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School Founding Member, Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education Member, Montgomery County Economic Advisory Council Member, Board of Directors, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Member, Council for Exceptional Children Member, Board of Directors, Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area Member, National Advisory Board of the Montgomery County Education Association and Johns Hopkins University Center for Teacher Leadership Member, Advisory Board, Universities at Shady Grove, University System of Maryland Special member, Graduate Faculty, College of Education, University of Maryland |
| Jerry Weast's MCPS page lists his membership in the following "selected professional activities": |
| MCPS "Team of Eight" 7 elected trustees + their employee, supe Jerry Weast |
| Whoo! Presumably each of the above groups meets with some periodicity, meaning meetings for Jerry away from MCPS. Busy guy! Speaking of busy guys, we come back to Jerry's former tech guy, John Q. Porter, who left MCPS last year to become, for a brief time (until his resignation in January), Oklahoma City Public Schools' superintendent. There was an issue regarding John's participa- tion in a Wireless Generation mCLASS venture; also, according to Maryland public records, John retained ownership of Spectrum International, Inc., per D&B a 24-employee million-dollar outfit. OKC & JWP: Not a good fit? Oklahoma City is not a wealthy place, and former OKC PS supe Bob Moore was a man who watched pennies. By contrast, judging from this excerpt below, John Q. Porter was used to an, um, apparently different sort of operation back in Maryland: |
| [OKC PS] ALLEGATION: Porter submitted reimbursement requests for possible alcohol purchases on six receipts totaling more than $750.... PORTER: Porter said he does not always get an itemized receipt back after his credit card is run. He has never requested one because no one at the district ever told him he needed one. Staff members did not tell him these receipts were not reimburs- able, and they have returned to him other receipts that included itemized alcohol purchases. (SOURCE--Wendy K. Kleinman/The Oklahoman) |
| Questions This single exchange raises many questions: |
| Also, has Jerry complied with the following recommendations made in 2003? 4. Increase limits on procurement cards. Increase list of items that can be procured via procurement card. Use system controls to prevent inappropriate purchases. 5. Continue plan to pay by Ghost Card vs. Individual 6. Negotiate better rebate from procurement card vendor. 7. Explore the opportunity to expand reports from procurement card vendor. 8. Get better services from procurement card vendor. (i.e., Assess purchase profile and make recommendations for better processing.) |
| Hey! Let's ask Jerry! Just copy and paste the above questions into your email. |
| Does MCPS pay for employees' alcohol usage? Does Jerry Weast reimburse employees who turn in credit card bills with no receipts? How many credit cards does MCPS own/use including procurement cards? What arethe names of those persons who have MCPS credit/ procurement cards? How much does MCPS spend on such cards each year? Where might MCPS parents and taxpayers view all receipts or those cards each month? |
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| IDEA: CHILD GRADUATING? How to start a "Class of 2008 Moms Scholarship" at your high school By Peyton Wolcott Monday, April 21, 2008 - 12:06 a.m. |
| Marble Falls High School Prom - Whitewater Pavillion, Horseshoe Bay, Texas |
| Watching friends with their kids Saturday night at their prom at a local hotel -- white tuxes and white stretch Hummer limos and girls in size minus-two $800 dresses and improbable up-do hairstyles can only mean one thing: prom night -- it didn't seem that long ago that my younger daughter was one of them. I'd like to share an idea with you that anyone with a graduating son or daughter can copy in their local schools: Start a cash scholarship for next year, grouped around the Project Graduation parents you've already spent so much time with and gotten to know. The phone tree and emails are already in place. |
| How much? My goal was simple -- $300, chiefly because it was reachable. Also, that was the amount of a sweet scholarship my daughter had been awarded, and I thought it would be cool to help another deserving student join the kids walking across the stage on senior honors night. |
| Yes, that really was a stretch Hummer limo |
| Special invitees Our second luncheon we thought to invite our district's top administrators including the high school principal; they all came and appeared to have as much fun as we did. To my surprise we surpassed our $300 goal, with something like $400 or $450 total. Be sure when you count the money to have two people do the counting; put the money in a plain white envelope with your names and the date, then seal it; most likely you as the organizer will act as the bank until the second luncheon, at which time you again have a two-person count team (always!) then hand the money over immediately to the school district. What's great about this fund raiser: Because there's no overhead -- my favorite kind of fund raiser -- every dollar you raise goes directly to the student scholarship. Would be fun if the dads are so inclined: Have a Class of 2008 Dads Scholarship also. Or find an excuse to organize a group of your own: Grandparents, or The Tuesday Morning Golf Ladies, or the Friday Night Bowling League, or the Sales Guys at the Local Car Dealership, or . . . . |
| How it works This is so simple. Announce a luncheon this fall at a local restaurant for whomever will show up with a $10 bill. Then next spring call another lunch, another $10 bill. That's it. This is what we did with a similar group after my daughter graduated. It was great fun; we got to catch up with each other's families, and because our lives get so busy so quickly it gave us a great excuse for keeping in touch. |
| Scenic grounds at Horseshoe Bay |
| KANSAS FOLLOW UP El. principal in Colorado After being charged with $41,000 KS PTA theft By Peyton Wolcott Thursday, April 24, 2008 - 12:06 a.m. Updated Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - 6:05 a.m. |
| MORE ABOUT VOLUNTARY ETHICS PLEDGES FOR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS & CANDIDATES: Education News and Human Events |
| FROM ALLEN GWINN'S LIVE-TIME BLOG (www.Dallas.org) Dallas ISD board meeting - April 24, 2008 7:15 p.m. - Speakers are done. On to individual board member reports. First up, Carla Ranger. She is giving kudos to every person in her district. One thing I'll say about Carla. She is definitely involved at a very fine layer in the happenings in her district. For that, she deserves kudos. She announced a bond town hall meeting to happen Monday. Now she is getting on to something that seems to be difficult for her. "There is a difference between what is legal, what is right and what is ethical." She is really calling Jack Lowe on the carpet for his statements to the Dallas Morning News. Specifically: "To ask the company to support me while I'm doing this rather time-consuming volunteer job [at DISD], and also to walk away from a significant chunk of business, was not something I was willing to do," Mr. Lowe said. "This is not a question of what is legal, but what is right and ethical," continued Ranger. Nancy Bingham is trying to shut her up! Ranger responded by saying "I have the floor." Ranger continued with more citations: the Houston ISD policy regarding board members who have a financial interest, and the comptroller's position on this. We will try to get Ranger's statement and put it online later. She has asked that the Board consider revising it's ethics policies. Jerome Garza is up now. Happenings in his district. No response to Ranger. |
| Sometimes we must speak 'inconvenient truth' simply because it is the right thing to do. I believe this is such a time. There is a difference between what is legal and what is right or ethical. For example, the doctrine of “Separate But Equal” was once legal in America. However, it was never right, and finally on May 17, 1954 nine judges dressed in black robes took a moral stand and declared that “in the field of education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place.” This Board now has the opportunity to declare that in Dallas ISD the doctrine of mixing “private gain with public service” has no place. On Sunday, April 20, 2008 , an article appeared in the Dallas Morning News under the headline “Dallas ISD Hands Millions in Contracts to Top Leaders' Firms.” [Article at far right] In that article the Board President is quoted as stating: “To ask the company to support me while I'm doing this rather time-consuming volunteer job (at DISD), and also to walk away from a significant chunk of business, was not something I was willing to do.” Is that an accurate statement of what Trustee Lowe said? If so, I am greatly troubled. Because some don't like the message – they attack the messenger. Since the article was first published last Sunday, at least one Board Trustee has made several accusations against the Dallas Morning News. Yes, this is the same Dallas Morning News that has regularly been a cheerleader for Dallas ISD and has supported practically every agenda of this administration. Just yesterday, the Dallas Morning News editorial staff again endorsed the May 10th bond proposal. This Board is now faced with an ethical choice – to correct a situation that is not right or to cover it up and refuse to correct it because doing so serves a political agenda. This is not a question of what is legal. It is a question of what is right and ethical. Ethics has always been a higher standard than politics. Two months ago on Thursday, February 28, 2008, at our monthly Board meeting, in order to strengthen community confidence as we approach the May 10th Bond Election, I requested that our Ethics and conflict of Interest policy (BBFA Local) be placed on the agenda for review and revision. At that meeting, The Board President agreed to do so. I submitted the following one sentence Ethics Policy Reform for the full Board to consider at Board Briefing: (continued above right) |
| DISD hands millions in contracts to top leaders' firms 12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 20, 2008 By LORI STAHL / The Dallas Morning News - lstahl@dallasnews.com The Dallas school district has repeatedly awarded contracts worth millions of dollars to companies whose top executives hold key leadership posts at DISD – including school board President Jack Lowe. Just how much money their construction and architectural firms were paid is unclear, school officials acknowledge, because the district only tracks some payments. And the district could not provide state-required records in which trustees report financial conflicts of interest. It is legal and ethical to hire companies with ties to top school officials, under the district's current standards, as long as transactions are reported and trustees refrain from voting on them. But in recent years, the practice has been criticized by state officials and debated throughout Texas. In early April, some pushed to ban the practice in Dallas, arguing a tougher ethics policy could enhance public confidence as voters decide the fate of a $1.35 billion school bond on May 10. "It strikes me as a conflict of interest," said Joel White, a Houston lawyer who is immediate past president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. "You can't represent your own personal business and the public at the same time." Mr. Lowe, however, said he is able to separate his business interests at TD Industries, where he is chairman of the board, from those of the school district. He is unopposed in a re- election bid next month. He added that he would not have run for office if TD Industries could not continue to do business with the district. Although the district shows only payments of $2.1 million to the firm, Mr. Lowe said he filed disclosure reports showing the figure at $9.6 million since 2002. "When I was thinking about running for the school board in 2002, one of the things I checked out before I did it was, was that going to exclude TD Industries from doing business with the district?" Mr. Lowe said. "Because the district is a pretty big customer for things we sell." TD Industries is a specialty firm that offers a broad range of design, construction and maintenance for many types of facilities. "To ask the company to support me while I'm doing this rather time-consuming volunteer job [at DISD], and also to walk away from a significant chunk of business, was not something I was willing to do," Mr. Lowe said. But trustee Carla Ranger recently urged colleagues to ban contracts with companies with financial ties to school board members. "Adding language which would specifically communicate that the board has tightened up its position ... would put us in a better position with the community," Ms. Ranger said. Others disagree, saying it might prevent executives from seeking office and bringing their business acumen to the school district. "I think it would be horrendous to make an issue out of that," said trustee Jerome Garza. The board decided to study proposed ethics reforms rather than immediately schedule a vote on Ms. Ranger's proposal. Similar policies Dallas ISD is far from alone in permitting contracts with businesses that can indirectly benefit trustees. Plano, Lewisville and Highland Park school districts have similar ethics policies and are also seeking bond measures this May. But the ethics question has been percolating statewide for years. Under state law, trustees must disclose a potential conflict of interest, in writing, within days of becoming aware of it, and they must not vote on the item. In 2003, the Texas comptroller's office pressed for change after finding "clear evidence that board members (around the state) are benefiting ... from business dealings with the districts they serve." That prompted state legislators to consider banning school districts from doing business with most companies in which board members have a significant financial stake, but the measure failed. Nevertheless, in 2004, Houston school officials eliminated contracts between the district and most businesses in which a trustee, or a trustee's relative, has a financial interest. Touted as the toughest in the state, the restrictions were in response to reports that an architectural firm owned by a former trustee's husband was awarded a $1.6 million contract by the Houston district while his wife was on the school board. Some Dallas officials see a parallel to the Houston case and say it's time for DISD to adopt the tougher standard. "I can see real easily where it could be perceived that there's people on ... the board who say we're going to do this for the children but we're also going to make ourselves some money," said Dale Kaiser, president of the Dallas chapter of the National Education Association, which represents many area teachers. Mr. Lowe said that his company had not profited because he is on the board of trustees. He noted that TD Industries, which was founded 62 years ago by his father, Jack Lowe Sr., was a contractor with DISD long before he was first elected to the school board in 2002. A request to the district for copies of transactions with TD Industries prior to 2002 produced no records, and Mr. Lowe could not readily detail the extent of the work. |
| SCHOOL BOARD ETHICS Dallas ISD board ethics under scrutiny: Should trustees answer to a higher law than what's merely legal? By Peyton Wolcott Sunday, April 27, 2008 - 1:09 p.m. |
| Proposed Addition to BBFA (Local) – Ethics – Conflicts of Interest: “After April 24, 2008, the Dallas ISD (the District) may not contract with a business entity in which a Trustee or any one related to the Trustee has any financial interest.” Today is April 24th, the day I had hoped the full Board would vote on this proposal. Make no mistake, I am well aware of the current dynamics of this Board and how decisions are sometimes made. It is likely the majority of this Board would have voted against this proposed ethics policy. Yet, this matter must be cleaned up in order to remove this new ethical cloud now hanging over this Dallas ISD Board and its current President. The Ethics Reform I requested did not appear on the Board Briefing agenda until April 10th – two weeks ago. Then an effort was made to refer it to a committee that I was asked to chair – but in a manner that I believe violated Board policy. After waiting two months, it was expected that this matter would be handled as most others – by the full Board at the Board Briefing. But there was no discussion of the policy recommendation I had made – only extended discussion about delaying the matter to a subcommittee. I later declined to chair that subcommittee because of reasons I have already shared. It appeared to have been created in a manner which violates Board policy. The reform I presented was based on the policy of the largest school district in Texas – Houston ISD. In 2004, 4 years ago, Houston established a policy that prevents elected School Board Trustees from doing business with Houston ISD while serving in office. Today I have distributed a copy of the 2004 Houston ISD ethics policy to every Board member. Prior to the Board Briefing on April 10th, I also presented information to the Board from Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, who in 2003 stated that it is clearly unethical for Board Trustees to do business with the school districts they represent while in office – either directly or indirectly. Now the Dallas ISD Board must act on this matter with full integrity. The Board should adopt a tough Board policy to end the unethical situation which currently exists. Either that or the Board President should resign, or the District should not contract with any business entity in which the Board President has a financial interest - as long as the current Board President serves as Trustee of Dallas ISD. Either one or the other. That is the ethical question before us. This is a serious and necessary matter to address. President Lowe, I ask that you again schedule this ethics reform proposal I have submitted to be placed on the May Board Briefing action agenda and for a vote at the Board Meeting in May. This is my request. I await your reply. # # # |
| Statement by Carla Ranger (Dallas ISD District 6 Trustee) Conflict of Interest of Board President Jack Lowe Presented Thursday, April 24, 2008 at Dallas ISD Board Meeting |
| Carla Ranger |
| Jack Lowe |
| Remember the Hebrew National ads*? The hot dogs who answer to "a higher authority"? The six voluntary pledges I've been proposing for school board candidates seek to accomplish the same thing, by emphasizing clean-hands transparency in their dealings |
| * Agency: Scali, McCabe, Sloves |
| with their schools for our elected officials. Do the pledges ask school board members to be saints? Hardly; these are good folks who voluntarily serve their communities -- most trustees in most school districts in America serve as unpaid volunteers -- and they are entirely free to do what they want in their personal lives; that's between them and the folks who elected them. |
| What many of us are increasingly interested in are our trustees who are doing business with our school districts while sitting on the school board. What's encouraging is that some trustees themselves are also asking. Dallas ISD board member Carla Ranger's questions about DISD board president Jack Lowe have now also been |
| While DISD board president Jack Lowe's company's $9.6 million from DISD as a subcontractor appears to have been completely legal, the larger question is, should a DISD board member be doing any business with the district during his service on the board at all, in any way? Many of us think not. |
| Some years ago in my own local district as many as six of our seven trustees were reportedly doing business -- completely legally -- with our administration during their tenure on the school board. The plumber was a subcontractor at the new Taj Mahal high school, the fellow with a furniture and appliance store was selling us furniture and appliances, the insurance agency owner sold us our |
| Former Llano ISD trustees |
| superintendent's annuity, etc. A group I helped organize used that key issue when we successfully placed all five of our candidates on the school board in the May 2004 election; all five of our candidates had signed a public pledge that they would not do business with Llano ISD during their time on the board. The voters loved the idea, and all five won their spots. Like the Hebrew National hot dogs, our candidates were voluntarily holding themselves accountable to a higher authority. |
| raised by the Dallas Morning News, in a top right-fold page-one story last Sunday (at far right column this site), and in an editorial yesterday entitled, "DISD must tighten ethics policies" which states, "Allowing school leaders to profit from DISD contracts strains credibility and creates potential ethical land mines." |
| Thus far at least five Texas local candidates have reportedly signed all six pledges; so far, Ed Couet of Killeen ISD is the first to send a photo of his signing the pledges and a copy of the pledges he signed. I will publish the names of the others when I have received a copy of their signed pledges. Here's hoping that more will follow suit before election day. |
| Ed Couet |
| Here are the pledges; the all-important preface places them in context: PREFACE - "Because I am seeking a position on the school board in order to serve, to give rather than to take, and because I want every penny possible of our tax dollars to be spent in the classroom where they belong with our children and their teachers, . . . . |
| PLEDGE #1 - I pledge that I and my immediate family, including parents, children, grandchildren and cousins, will not do business in any way, shape, fashion or form, directly or indirectly, with the school district and/or its vendors during my tenure. |
| PLEDGE #2 - I pledge that I and my immediate family, including parents, children, grandchildren and cousins, will not accept any gifts or payments of any kind including but not limited to goods, services, cash, meals, travel and reimbursement from the school district and/or its vendors |
| during my tenure. This includes all board trainings and all board meals and retreats; in lieu of a catered taxpayer-funded dinner even during meetings I will bring a sandwich from home or perhaps a jar of peanut butter and some crackers to share. Better yet, maybe a big greasy smelly hamburger with lots of onions. |
| PLEDGE #3 - I will request that the district post its check register online at each and every board meeting during my tenure until such time as this occurs. |
| PLEDGE #4 - I will request that the superintendent's employment contract be posted on the district's website along with a salary and stipend schedule for all employees. |
| PLEDGE #5 - I will request that the district get rid of any and all credit cards including those maintained by the administration and board, and all such cards by any name including 'P-Cards,' 'Pro-Cards,' 'Procurement Cards,' 'Super Cards,' and the like. |
| PLEDGE #6 - I will request that the board audiotape all executive sessions. |
| HAPPIER TIMES IN KANSAS Then-Jefferson Elementary principal Don Atkin- son with Jefferson PTA president Pamela Kurtz |
| Until I telephoned officials at Colorado Springs School District #11 last Tuesday, Donald Ned Atkinson was still employed by the district -- despite the fact that school administrators had the week previous received a negative FBI report based on his fingerprints. Atkinson was arrested March 22, 2008 in Great Bend, Kansas and charged with 63 counts of theft by deception. (SOURCE--KSN-TV) Prosecutors say Atkinson stole the money between 2002 and 2007; he resigned last November after PTA leaders, following a training course in accountability and responsibility, took their con- cerns to school administrators, who called authorities. Atkinson had worked at the district for 28 years, 12 of them at the elemen- tary school. (SOURCE--Kansas News-Leader) Yesterday I requested a copy of Mr. Atkinson's employment application at Colorado Springs School District #11. The comments I have received from around the nation over the past two weeks focus on concerns that while all individuals have a right and duty to obtain employment in order to support their families, anyone charged with 63 counts of theft by deception in a public school setting should not be allowed to continue working in public schools anywhere until after the judicial process has been completed. |
| Colorado Springs (Inset: Donald Ned Atkinson) |
| http://www.wfaa.com/video/index. html?nvid=240111 |
| THANK GOD & ALGORE FOR THE INTERNET THIS JUST IN: Kansas elementary principal Don Atkinson's Colorado Springs SD employment application By Peyton Wolcott Friday, May 2, 2008 - 2:35 a.m. / Updated 8:56 a.m. |
| 4. Have you ever resigned from any job where you were advised that you would be terminated if you did not resign? "No" |
| Don Atkinson's employment application (Colorado Springs School District #11) |
| Gee, those "No" responses are interesting in light of circumstances surrounding Donald Ned ("Don") Atkinson's departure from Jefferson Elementary in Great Bend, Kansas last November following allegations of financial improprieties involving |
| among other things PTA funds entrusted to his care. Given the heavy redactions in Mr. Atkinson's employment application produced late yesterday in response to a public records request earlier this week to Colorado Springs School District #11 -- this was the district that hired him after he resigned, rather than "retired" as stated on the application, in November after 12 years as Jefferson Elementary principal -- the application in its present form poses more questions than it answers, the first being, "Who are the four folks he listed as personal references on the CSSD #11 application (below)?" |
| The next question is a holdover from last week: Why didn't CSSD #11 police officers escort Mr. Atkinson out of the building the moment his FBI fingerprint check came back to the district with a flag? FOLLOW UP: I have asked Colorado Springs district officials for the identities of the four personal references named by Don Atkinson. I have also asked what the district's usual practices are when receiving a flagged FBI fingerprint report on a new hire. (More at right) Also, based on information received today, I am asking Colorado Springs district officials if they checked Mr. Atkinson's Kansas references. |
| "Personal References" |
( )
| PERSONAL NOTE: Thank you to Rochelle Wolfe and Elaine Naleski of Colorado Springs School District #11 for their quick response in producing the application, and special gratitude for their being willing to produce it electronically. |
Developing . . . |
| Note date application was filled out: Feb. 15, 2008 |
| NEW READER SURVEY! What are your thoughts on Don Atkinson? Great Bend superintendent Tom Vernon? Colorado Springs #11 supe Terry Bishop? Don's the former trusted Kansas elementary principal (below and left) who recently sought employment at a Colorado school district before his trial on 63 counts of theft by deception (PTA and other school funds) begins in Kansas. Should Great Bend supe Tom Vernon have exercised tighter internal controls? Should Terry Bishop have hired Don Atkinson? Do you have any solutions for challenges like this which we face in varying degrees in all of our public schools? Please email me by Sunday night. Be sure to mention whether you are speaking on or off the record. I'll post at least a few of the most representative responses Monday. |
| 2. Are criminal charges currently pending against you? "No" |
| U P D A T E ! Colorado Springs SD #11 has forwarded to me the names of the four individuals listed as personal references on Mr. Atkinson's employment application; at least three of them apppear to be Great Bend USD employees. (05.02.08 - 6:04 pm CST) |
| GREAT BEND, KANSAS Great Bend USD 428 employees named by former GBUSD principal Don Atkinson on his employment application to Colorado Springs School District #11 By Peyton Wolcott Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 5:05 p.m. |
| o David Meter o Janis Link o Carla Maneth o Alvena Spangenberg |
| David Meter |
| Developing . . . |
| New Hampshire radio hosts -- a.k.a. conservative school activists -- Doug Lambert and Skip Murphy (bios below) will be discussing the exploding national online grassroots school district check register movement this Saturday morning, May 10, on their show, "Meet the New Press." |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE RADIO! Saturday, May 10, 2008 We talked about online check registers for school districts Saturday morning! Would you like to see your local schools put their checks on the Internet -- but don't know where to start? Lots of good ideas last Saturday on the radio via online: |
| Doug Lambert (top); Skip Murphy |
| Listen in the privacy of your own home! Anywhere in America! On your computer! |
| TIMES: 9:30 a.m. NY/NJ/NH(EST) 8:30 a.m. Texas (CST) 7:30 a.m. Colorado (MT) 6:30 a.m. California (PST) HOW TO LISTEN TO STREAMING AUDIO: Windows Media Player - Open up Media Player, full mode, go to FILE, open URL, and paste in: www.GraniteGrok.com:8000 STUDIO CALL LINE: 603-527-1490 |
| Doug Lambert A self-described blue-collar conservative, Doug owns manufacturing operations with his wife in Gilford, New Hampshire. Doug has been active in local politics since 1996 and writes a weekly column in the local paper, The Laconia Daily Sun. Together with Skip Murphy, Doug formed Poligrok, LLC, a media company that operates two blogs (links below) and a new radio program, Meet the New Press, which broadcasts and livestreams every Saturday morning on the Web and on NewsTalk 1490 WEMJ. "The blogosphere is, by its nature, a very wild medium," says Doug. "It's the Wild West of the media; boring and mundane, you're not going to find it there. . . . In order to have people look at other ideas, you have to get their eyes."* Originally from Rhode Island, Doug has lived in New Hampshire since 1985. |
| Skip Murphy In addition to serving his community as chair of Gilford, New Hampshire's Town Republican Committee, Skip asks a lot of questions, both via local political meetings and two websites (below) plus a weekly radio show, Meet The New Press. Skip migrated from his home state of MA to NH in the early 80's. He is married with two grown sons (one, a former Iraq Marine veteran) and is a computer consultant for an international software company. He supplies the technical "oomph" to PoliGrok LLC - a media company that operates two websites (below). It also hosts other activist sites and provides e-activist advice to those wishing to take their message to the Web. Unabashedly conservative, he advocates for conservative ideals, citizen involvement and governmental openness and transparency. |
| * Source--Concord Monitor. Sites: www.granitegrok.com and www.gilfordgrok.com, |
| Peyton Wolcott will be on air to answer Doug and Skip's questions regarding online check registers. "Almost 200 districts in 14 states in just 18 months, with $47 billion in annual transparency," says Peyton, who maintains the nation's only roster on her website, www.peytonwolcott.com Typical questions from superintendents include: Is it too expensive for districts to post? Will townspeople descend on the administration building in the dead of night with pitchforks and lanterns if superintendents put their checks online? Will there be a need for expensive new technology and more personnel to answer all the questions? "No, no, no, and no," says Peyton. "We've had nothing but positive reports from districts who have taken this big step towards transparency. Everybody wins: District administra- tors and board members for showing their commu- nities the wise stewards they are of their communi- y's resources, and parents and taxpayers can see how and where the dollars are flowing." Peyton will share specific examples of districts who have successfully posted their checkbooks online. |
| Skip Murphy being interviewed by CNN, June 2007 |
| KANSAS Steps taken by Great Bend, Kansas USD 428 to tighten their internal controls By Peyton Wolcott Friday, May 9, 2008 - 12:07 a.m. |
| Tom Vernon , Great Bend USD428 superintendent, said by telephone yesterday, "We've tightened our internal controls in two ways. First, all cash and other gifts from groups such as PTA's now come through the district's business office and are posted publicly on the school board's agenda for approval of each item by the board. Second, we now have two meetings annually for all groups such as the PTA who give to our schools or are associated with the schools to outline our procedures to them and answer any questions they might have. We've already had one such meeting (February 4) and the next is on June 10, 2008." Tom confirmed that the district no longer allows district employees to accept cash donations from groups; instead, those monies are deposited directly with the business office and receipts are issued on the spot. |
| The Club at StoneRidge -- site of USD 428's recent education foundation fund raiser, a golf tournament. |
| AASA - TAS/MUS - ETC. When will American superintendents study fraud at their education conventions and conferences rather than play golf with vendors? By Peyton Wolcott Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 12:52 a.m./ Updated Tuesday, May 13, 2006 - 6:13 a.m. |
| For decades we trusting American taxpayers have funded what are, by most folks' standards, often-lavish trips to far away places for our local school superintendents. Because we want the best schools possible for our children, most of us in the past have accepted such explanations for our top administrators' absences as, "He's away at a conference." Oh. A conference? But what does that mean? An education conference can mean a great variety of things. |
| Alton Frailey |
| TAS/MUS Spring Conference (April 18-20, 2008) In some districts, superintendents' secretaries would not disclose to callers where their absent bosses were on Friday afternoon, April 18 of the TAS/MUS Spring Conference, even though it was a school day. "I can't discuss his schedule," said Katy ISD superintendent Alton Frailey's secretary B.J. Alvarez regarding her boss's absence from the suburban Houston district on Friday, April 18, at 3:49 p.m. CST. Alton is listed on the TAS/MUS Spring Conference brochure as a director of the organization. |
| Superintendent Rocky Kirk's phone answerers back home at Lake Travis ISD just outside of Austin weren't much more forth- coming that same afternoon -- plus his assistant was gone, also. "We'll be out of the office Friday afternoon," was the recorded message on Rocky's secretary Linnea Bennett's voice mail. According to Rocky's LTISD page, like Alton Frailey he's also a "Director for the Texas Association of Suburban Mid-Urban Schools. " This is followed by: Rocky "enjoys helping prepare future educational leaders by teaching graduate coursework at the university level and is active as a consultant to school board- superintendent teams across the state." |
| Rocky Kirk (Inset, Linnea Bennett) |
| The only superintendent teams those of us observing the TAS/MUS Spring Conference on Friday afternoon, April 18, saw were teams of superintendents playing golf with vendors. The next morning, Saturday, when it might have been hoped, given the challenges that apparently increasing reports of fraud represent in our public schools, that something like "How to Look for Fraud in your Schools" might have been on the agenda, instead, at 9 a.m., the TAS/MUS superintendents listened to a talk by former Texas Tech University coach Spike Dikes. His |
| Former Texas Tech coach Spike Dikes |
| Some of us wonder if sometimes superintendents might be forgetting that their trips to such conferences are paid for by property taxes by folks who pay the assessor's bill for their property taxes by foregoing their own travel to nice hotels. |
| Sometimes when they're away, our public school executives are looking at curriculums. Other times they're considering governance issues. And sometimes, even on school days, they're playing golf -- with vendors -- at resorts, as occurred last month here in Texas at the Texas Association of Suburban/Mid-Urban Schools Spring Conference at Horseshoe Bay Resort. |
| Texas public school superintendents played golf with vendors on Friday afternoon, April 18, 2008 at Horseshoe Bay, Texas during TAS/MUS Spring Conference |
| Prepping for TAS/MUS reception and dinner at Horseshoe Bay Yacht Club |
| presentation -- as was the rest of the conference -- was closed to the public, so the subject of Coach Dikes' talk is anybody's guess. Perhaps it was "How to Look for Fraud in your Schools," and Spike tag-teamed with some accountants. Or a trout. |
| Perhaps next time TAS/MUS will let the public sit in on their conference. That has a friendly, Texas public-school ring to it, doesn't it? "Y'all come!" Yes, that sounds like a good idea whose time has come. |
| SEX IN OUR SCHOOLS Is Hillsborough, FL supe Mary Ellen Elia unlucky -- or should she be fired? Hats off to Bill O'Reilly, with a question By Peyton Wolcott Thursday, May 15, 2008 - 5:00 a.m. Updated Friday, May 16, 2008 - 12:07 a.m. |
| Bill O'Reilly |
| Mary Ellen Elia with (clockwise from top left) Jaymee Wallace, Stephanie Ragusa, Mary Jo Spack, Christina Butler and Debra Lafave |
| What are the odds that a single Florida school district with 192,000 students would have five of its female teachers arrested for having sex with underage students within the past few years? |
| Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said on air earlier this week that Ms. Elia should be fired. Strong words coming from a TV host with Zencore for a sponsor. |
| HILLSBOROUGH 5 ARREST TIME LINE March 20, 2008 - Mary Jo Spack, a 45-year-old honors English teacher, accused of having sex with a 17-year-old boy after buying liquor and bringing him to a motel. March 13, 2008 - Stephanie Ragusa, a 28-year-old math teacher, arrested and accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Oct. 23, 2007 - Christina Butler, a 33-year-old special education teacher at Middleton High School in Tampa, arrested, accused of having sex up to a dozen times with a 16-year-old boy. Oct. 8, 2007 - Former Wharton High School teacher and coach Jaymee Wallace pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a student who played on her girls basketball team. Wallace is scheduled to be sentenced today in Hillsborough Circuit Court. She previously rejected prosecutors' plea offer of three years in prison. November 2005 - Former Greco Middle School teacher Debra Lafave was sentenced to three years of house arrest and seven years of probation after pleading guilty in 2005 to having sex with a 14-year-old boy. (SOURCE--Rebecca Catalanello, St. Petersburg Times) |
| And what was Ms. Elia's reaction to news of one of the recent arrests? Mario Diaz of Tampa Bay 10 reported recently that "Superinten- dent Mary Ellen Elia was shocked when we first showed her the arrest report." Question for Bill: If you're going to decry the moral climate in America's schools, can't you get better sponsors than one selling sex aids? |
| Don Atkinson (PHOTO--KWCH) |
| Questions for Voyager aka ProQuest: (1) What does being de-listed by the New York Stock Exchange mean? (2) What about "going to Pink Sheets"? By Peyton Wolcott Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 1:18 a.m. Updated Wed., May 21, 2008 - 8:19 a.m. |
The New York Stock Exchange...
announced...that it determined that the
common stock of ProQuest Co. (the
"Company") – ticker symbol PQE –
should be suspended prior to the
opening on Wednesday, March 28, 2007,
or such earlier date as the Company
commences trading in another securities
marketplace or if there is material
adverse development. The Company
expects its common stock to be quoted
on the Pink Sheets following
suspension.The decision was reached in
view of the fact that the Company is
a late filer. Also, the Company was
under review by NYSE Regulation in
light of the delay in filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commission
its December 31, 2005 Form 10-K and
certain of its 2006 Form 10-Q filings.
(SOURCE--New York Stock Exchange/NYSE)
announced...that it determined that the
common stock of ProQuest Co. (the
"Company") – ticker symbol PQE –
should be suspended prior to the
opening on Wednesday, March 28, 2007,
or such earlier date as the Company
commences trading in another securities
marketplace or if there is material
adverse development. The Company
expects its common stock to be quoted
on the Pink Sheets following
suspension.The decision was reached in
view of the fact that the Company is
a late filer. Also, the Company was
under review by NYSE Regulation in
light of the delay in filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commission
its December 31, 2005 Form 10-K and
certain of its 2006 Form 10-Q filings.
(SOURCE--New York Stock Exchange/NYSE)
| (L to R) Randy Best, Jim Nelson, Kevin Hoffman, Mike Moses, Linda Schrenko (Atlanta Journal Constitution), Rudy Crew (Scholastic), Mary Landrieu (Washington Post), Ron Klausner (GRAPH - Pink Sheets) |