| 8. Another contract in question by the State Auditor's Office is the one relating to the Gates Honor State Grant. This contract also went to the Austin ESC; Christi Martin (a former senior policy advisor at the TEA) and Jimmy Wynn recommended Shirley Neeley's ex-speech writer for the job. The Austin ESC never went through the legally required bidding process, and the person recommended by the TEA was hired. The State Auditor's report says nothing about Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott being involved in this matter at all. 9. What the State Auditor's Report does say is that all of the individuals who worked under the various ESC contracts did their jobs for which they were paid and fulfilled their contract agreements. 10. The State Auditor's Report ends with some practical recommendations for strengthening controls over contracting and subcontracting at both the TEA and the ESC's, and newly appointed Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott says he will be glad to put these into place. 11. Commissioner Robert Scott has already implemented new transparency procedures at the TEA. He has put the TEA's check register online and has made the fiscal information on the Agency's website much more accessible and easy to use, placing dropdown boxes with actual school district names instead of confusing numbers. [PW NOTE: TEA fiscal information alpha drop-down here] Commissioner Scott has demonstrated humble yet assertive leadership in his dealings with the elected Texas State Board of Education members, and he has already begun to restructure the TEA so that it will work more efficiently. Good things are happening now in Texas education, and it will be important for Texas citizens to become more involved as we all strive to make sure our Texas public school children receive a quality education. ________________ * http://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/main/08-011.pdf |
| 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 |
| P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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| Copyright 1999-2007 Peyton Wolcott |
| I well remember the Texas State Board of Education meeting in which the Texas Alternative Document (TAD) was being discussed along with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). I had just presented a side-by-side version showing clearly the differences between explicit, knowledge-based, academic content (TAD) vs. broad, generic, meaningless performance-based content (TEKS). |
| Raise your hand for a hand out By Donna Garner Copyright 2007 February 18, 2007 Ex-Texas Senator Bill Ratliff and Ex-Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Moses must believe that Texas citizens are all brain dead. These two men evidently think we have forgotten their role in Texas' public school problems. NEW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP FORMED Ratliff and Moses are continuing to swill from the education trough by forming a new organization called Raise Your Hand to pressure the people for more tax dollars for Texas' public schools. Have these two gentlemen any credibility on the subject? William Murchison said it best in the 2.16.07 Lone Star Report, "...keep a country mile away from Raise Your Hand, and from Bill Ratliff, and from Mike Moses, whose solution for dealing with a sinking boat is to pour some more water in the gunwales." Before we citizens put our trust in Raise Your Hand, let's do a quick study of its leaders, Ratliff and Moses. RATLIFF: ROBIN HOOD, LOSS OF LOCAL CONTROL BY TEACHERS Not only did Ratliff author the failed and oft-maligned Robin Hood Plan, but he also drafted SB 1 in 1995 which stripped local teachers of control over what they taught. Due to SB 1, Texas teachers have lost control over their day-to-day instruction and instead must follow the poorly constructed Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards. The English / Language Arts / Reading TEKS are particularly egregious because they are not explicit, measurable, or specific for each grade level; and the curriculum requirements listed in the ELAR/TEKS are much too numerous for a teacher to cover thoroughly in a year's time. Therefore, teachers flit from one TEKS element to the next, never really having time to make sure students gain mastery. It is these poorly written standards (the opposite of back-to-the-basics curriculum requirements) upon which the much-despised TAKS tests are based. RATLIFF: LOSS OF CONTROL BY LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS As the author of SB 1, Ratliff is also responsible for taking the authority away from elected local school boards and placing that power into the hands of unelected superintendents. No longer do locally elected school board members have any real control over the all- important issues of personnel hiring and district curriculum decisions. Local school board members' duties have basically been reduced to (1) hiring and firing the superintendent, (2) buying and selling property, and (3) setting board policy (e.g., those items which involve board members themselves -- elections, vacancies on the board, travel and reimbursement policies, etc.). RATLIFF: LOSS OF CONTROL BY ELECTED SBOE At the state level, Ratliff tried for years to replace the elected State Board of Education (SBOE) with an appointed one. Appointed boards really do not care what voters want. They will do the will of whoever appoints them and of the lobbyists who orchestrate from a distance. Ratliff's SB 1 reduced the authority of the elected SBOE and enhanced the power of the unelected Texas Commissioner of Education who at the time was Ratliff's joined-at-the-hip ally, Mike Moses. Ratliff always pretended that the SBOE had lost control over textbook content; and until Attorney General Greg Abbott's 2006 opinion, the SBOE was shut out of fulfilling its lawful responsibilities. For eleven years the Board labored under Ratliff's false interpretation; and during that time, numerous inferior textbooks were placed in front of our Texas students. Because of Ratliff's influence on SB 1, elected SBOE members cannot even elect their own chairperson; the Governor appoints one. RATLIFF: TAXPAYER-ENRICHED OPPORTUNIST Ratliff is a registered lobbyist and has made large sums of money from a number of clients including the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). Having retired from the Texas Senate in 2003, he began representing TASB on May 10, 2004. That year he received up to $99,999.99 from TASB, and again in 2005, and 2006. We taxpayers paid Ratliff's rich lobbying fees because the membership dues that education entities pay to join TASB come from our taxpayers' dollars. Because the TASB dues come from public funds, we taxpayers are actually paying TASB to lobby Legislators for more school funding so that our taxes will increase. We are paying to lobby ourselves! MOSES: HIT-AND-RUN ARTIST As Texas Commissioner of Education, Mike Moses oversaw the creation of course standards (TEKS) which have proven dysfunctional, particularly in English / Language Arts / Reading (ELAR). Now the Texas State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency are trying to undo the damage by rewriting these TEKS. MOSES: THE TAKS MONSTER The public tends to vent its wrath against the TAKS tests, but TAKS tests are based on the faulty TEKS. If the foundation (TEKS) is weak, then the house (TAKS) built upon that foundation cannot stand. Mike Moses was directly responsible for the entire TEKS process, thus making him responsible for the TAKS. Students, parents, and educators dislike intensely the unfair accountability system built on these tests. Parents, students, and educators are obsessed with the TAKS --TAKS units, TAKS practice tests, TAKS preparation tools, TAKS information booklets, TAKS activities, TAKS projects, TAKS data, TAKS testing strategies, TAKS benchmarks, TAKS tutors, TAKS tests. This constant emphasis on the TAKS is destroying teachers' creativity and students' interest in school, thus contributing to the drop-out problem. According to Jamie Story, education policy analyst at TPPF, "Every hour of every school day, 93 students drop out of Texas public schools." It is disingenuous of Moses to expect the taxpayers to pour more money into the public schools to fix the mess that he helped to create. MOSES: TAINTED ADMINISTRATION IN DALLAS ISD The Dallas Morning News has found multiple dubious behavior patterns during Mike Moses' watch as Dallas ISD superintendent. Allegations have surfaced about out-of-control spending with school credit cards, lost dollars for health plans, abuse of federal e-rate funds, irregular technology vendor contracts, misspent federal bilingual education funds, costly deals with Kinko's, apparent conflicts of interest involving Voyager Expanded Learning, contributions by computer vendors, questionable bond sales, multiple teacher grievances, eyebrow-raising private consultancies, lucrative Coca-Cola contracts, and special privileges for vendors participating in the Education Research and Development Institute (ERDI) conferences. MOSES: GOLDEN PARACHUTE Meanwhile, Moses received the highest superintendent's salary in the nation ($340,000 per year, excluding benefits) even though eleven school districts in the country were larger than Dallas ISD. When the DISD problems began to surface in 2004, Moses resigned and walked away with an additional $480,850. Along with his ongoing and lucrative superintendent search business, he now receives a yearly TRS pension of $224,400 per year. Note that Moses' wealth comes from taxpayers' dollars. MY RECOMMENDATION Instead of expecting the taxpayers to pour more millions into our public schools, why not expect the schools to live within their means. Before the last legislative session, Texas was already spending over $10,400 per public school student, and those figures have increased substantially since then. I agree with Peggy Venable of Americans for Prosperity who has said, "Texas schools do not have a funding problem. We have a spending problem." Case in point: The education dollars heaped upon Ratliff and Moses by our state. MY QUESTION TO RATLIFF AND MOSES Sen. Ratliff and Dr. Moses: Before we taxpayers decide to support Raise Your Hand with you two altruists at the helm, how about disclosing your lobbying contracts (and benefits) with the companies who stand to profit if more taxpayers' dollars are given to the public schools? _____________________ Donna Garner is a retired Texas teacher and served on the TEKS writing team for English / Language Arts / Reading (ELAR). She is also the lead writer of the Texas Alternative Document for ELAR. She is presently the writer/ consultant for an online tutorial to help people (ages 10 through 100) to improve their ELAR skills. She can be reached at (254) 666-2798; wgarner1@hot.rr.com. |
| Politics Reigning over Education Decisions By Donna Garner June 28, 2007 This is why I hate politics. It upsets me terribly when politics usurps control over important education decisions. Here is what I think is happening in Texas. Mind you, I am only surmising. Texas Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley is mad at Governor Perry because she is being forced out of her position at the TEA tomorrow. As a parting shot, she turned over an audit report to State Auditor John Keel a few days ago. Mysteriously, the news of the audit report was then leaked to the Austin American- Statesman which spread the word to the other newspapers around the state. The clear implication in the media is that Robert Scott, who is Gov. Perry's liaison at the TEA, has been involved in unlawful contract decisions. For weeks, the rumor mills have suggested that Robert Scott was to be named tomorrow as the new Texas Commissioner of Education. Notice the timing which is all-important in the political world! Has Neeley been sitting on this audit report, waiting for her big chance to discredit Robert Scott and thereby get even with Governor Perry? Now let's look at this whole situation through the prism of common sense. Robert Scott has a law degree from the University of Texas. He has been the Interim Commissioner of Education and more recently, the Chief Deputy Commissioner at the TEA. One of his duties has been to settle legal appeals which have gone through the chain of command and have finally reached the TEA. Does it make sense that a man who knows Texas education laws like the back of his hand would foolishly flaunt those laws by giving illegal contracts to his "best friends"? This is what is insinuated by the various newspaper articles published yesterday and today. Another coincidence: Today's article in the Houston Chronicle just happens to mention Sandy Kress in a favorable light. Kress is another possible candidate for the Education Commissioner's job, but he has many very questionable skeletons in his closet. Here is what the public must try to figure out: Jimmy Wynn was invited by Shirley Neeley in 2004 to come to Austin and help her transition into her position as Commissioner. Wynn obviously had great political influence under Neeley. Did Jimmy Wynn use his powerful and influential position under Commissioner Neeley to pressure the education service centers to hire Wynn's friends, even his ex-wife? Did Jimmy Wynn use influence peddling to intimidate education service centers, or were they only too glad to go along with Wynn's "suggestions" in order to curry favor and future contracts/ grants with the TEA? Did Robert Scott even know what Wynn was doing? Is Sandy Kress involved in trying to shoot down Robert Scott's chances of becoming the Commissioner? After all, Kress's name is being pushed by many in the Houston political hierarchy as the next Texas Commissioner of Education. Gov. Perry may have future political aspirations of his own. Will he be afraid to appoint Robert Scott and take the politically expedient way out by choosing to appoint Sandy Kress? After all, Kress has deep pockets and has influence all the way to Washington, D. C. The appointment of the next Texas Commissioner of Education should be more than just a political game. What we need in Texas is someone who understands how vital it is to rewrite the education standards and who will help to build an accountability system that will drive real education reform in our state. I am not satisfied to dismiss Robert Scott as the best candidate for the Commissioner's job based merely on inferences and innuendos coming from people with personal grudges and political interests. Where are the hard facts? It is on those that Gov. Perry should make his final decision. |
| The story behind TEA's Insp. General report |
| Mike Moses' and Bill Ratliff's 2007-2009 idea |
| DONNA GARNER Aug. 2007 (re Akin Gump) "In my opinion, Sandy Kress needs to find himself another law firm." |
| DONNA GARNER Dec. 8, 2005 (re Charles Miller, Sandy Kress, TEKS) Lest we miss this important point about Charles Miller in the USA Today article posted below, I don't believe he has ever been a classroom teacher for a single day. Back in the 90's when we Texas Alternative Document (TAD) writers were trying to get the Governor's office to realize the importance of grade-level-specific standards based upon academic knowledge, all Charles Miller, Sandy Kress, and other business executives could understand was spreadsheets. These people never did realize that you can't make students and teachers accountable unless they know to what they are being held accountable! You would think that these brilliant business executives would have understood this all-important point, but they were so busy setting up the Texas accountability system that they missed the most basic principle: You can't make people accountable unless the goals are clearly worded, doable in a year's time, and specific to each grade level. |
| SANDY KRESS July 15 15, 2004 (re Mike Moses): "I think Mike accomplished what he could at this phase of academic improvement. The truth is that the next phase, getting student performance up to where it's among the best in the state, will take another three to five years.....I want to say this in the most positive way: Mike is a good ol' boy. People like Mike. You want to help him. It's an infectious 'Let's be together, let's work together' sort of thing. He has that in abundance. It works to his advantage." (SOURCE--Joshua Benton/ Dallas Morning News) |
| Q U O T E S |
| DONNA GARNER May 15, 2007 (re Pearson) "I believe Pearson PLC is positioning itself to get the lucrative Texas contract for online testing. Since both SB 1031 and HB 2236 appear to be sailing through the Texas Legislature, online end-of-course tests replacing the present TAKS assessment system appear to be almost a done deal. With this $538 Million acquisition, Pearson PLC obviously believes they will be ready to go after the online testing for all of Texas' high schools." |
| eSCHOOL NEWS May 16, 2007 (Pearson) Pearson is an industry leader in the use of technology to improve learning, with a strong presence in the markets for digital learning materials, student information systems, online testing, test scoring, and homework and formative assessment. Last year, Pearson generated more than $1 billion in sales from these digital learning products and services. |
| HOUSTON CHRONICLE May 21, 2007 (Pearson) "The Texas Education Agency has agreed to pay Iowa-based Pearson Educational Measurement about $39 million for field testing conducted from 2005- 2010, according to the agency....Field testing accounts for about 15 percent of Pearson's entire five-year, $279 million contract with the agency." (SOURCE--Ericka Mellon/Houston Chronicle) |
| DONNA GARNER/MAY 15, 2003 (re John Stevens) "It is John Stevens who not only helped create the tripe in the TEKS, but he blocked us writing team members from setting specific, measurable goals for each grade level. Now he is positioning himself and TBEC as the presumed leaders of the great renaissance of learning in Texas, and he plans to reap a pot of fame and money out of his program. I say 'bunk.' I was there at the writing team meetings; I heard Stevens' comments; I know he is personally responsible for the crazy, mixed-up TEKS standards upon which the TAKS tests are based. 'Higher standards' they are not. 'More confusing standards' they definitely are, and Texas has Stevens and his ilk to thank." |
The interesting part is the “among other things.” To get sales, they use their influence as a powerful lobbying body in the state of Texas, and then promise whatever the customer wants. This included lesson plan management, curriculum management, a test item database, etc. None of these capabilities ever were delivered. We worked with Aldine ISD for 2 years while they waited for TBEC to develop features that they promised. They delivered about 10% of what other commercially available packages offered, but the district refused to throw them out and select another product that fit their needs. TBEC markets as a non-profit organization, but they front for a for-profit company who develops and hosts the applications. Basically, they run a shell game. I have spoken to a few TBEC board members. I do not believe that Mr. Stevens is held accountable by the board, or that they even know of his ventures into software. What a paradox that he is involved in establishing guidelines for school accountability. |
| SCOTT PARKS Mar. 5, 2006 (re Sandy Kress) "The word 'lobbyist' was not prominent in his self-analysis." (Dallas Morning News) |
| John Stevens lobbying the Lege 2007 |
| The 1997 TAKS--and Sandy Kress' role By Donna Garner Wed., October 14, 1998 |
| Even though there are growing numbers of people who advocate choice in education, I believe the reality is that the largest percentage of students in the U. S. will still end up being educated in public schools. That being said, I believe the future of our nation then rests on how well this present generation is educated in our public schools. Most parents consider their children to be their dearest treasure, and we adults must realize that chil- dren only come this way once. If we adults do not make sure our public schools are teaching the right things to our children, we will do them irreparable harm. I am committed to investing the time and effort which it takes to help set our public schools on the right path, and I am particularly hopeful that Texas now has the leadership in place at the State Board of Educa- tion and at the Texas Education Agency to redirect our public schools. |
| Sandy Kress was there; and I personally went over to him, introduced myself, and gave him a copy of the TAD. I felt that if he had the two documents actually in his hands, he--a thinking, educated adult who had represented himself as a person who really cared about quality education--would easily see the superiority of the TAD. A few months later it was Sandy Kress who testified before the |
| Sandy Kress during his heyday at White House as NCLB 'architect' |
| SBOE and gave a moving presentation in which he praised the rigorous content of the TEKS. As you may recall, that was the meeting in which I was not even allowed to testify. What Sandy Kress failed to mention is that the TEKS opened the door to School-to-Work and a federal take-over of every classroom in Texas. I guess he forgot to mention that one little detail. |
| John Stevens, Texas Education and Business Coalition By Paul T. Haeberlen Sept. 4, 2003 TBEC markets a software product called Performance Information for Public Education (PIPE), which is supposed to help school districts cope with TAKS among other things. |
| AUG. 22, 2007 NOTE: John Stevens has abruptly left and/or "resigned" from TBEC. Whatever the conditions, Mr. Stevens has left the building, although his name and image still appear on TBEC's website as its executive director. Despite his having been employed at TBEC for the past 15 years, TBEC has no contact information available for callers wishing to reach Mr. Stevens. |
| UPDATE: TEXAS AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT CLEARS ROBERT SCOTT For the Record By Donna Garner Saturday, November 17, 2007 |
| 3. When Ex-Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley first came into her Commissioner's position in 2004, she hired her friend, Jimmy Wynn, to help her make the transition. Because of his widely known position, Wynn soon became known as the voice of Shirley Neeley. When Wynn recommended that the Waco ESC hire his ex-wife (Emily Miller) as a contractor, the Waco ESC did so, assuming Neeley was behind it. Without talking directly to Shirley Neeley or to Robert Scott (Deputy Commissioner) and without going through the proper bidding contract procedure, the Waco ESC hired Wynn's ex-wife, Emily Miller. 4. Ms. Miller was chosen by the Waco ESC to review and recommend changes to the way the TEA and the State Board of Educator Certification conducted the hearings process. Deputy |
| Just to make sure that there is no confusion about what the Texas State Auditor's report* said and did not say regarding the new Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, let me clarify a few things which are either in the report, not in the report, or which have surfaced in the last few months: 1. Under the Texas Education Code (TAC) (Section 8.051), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has the right to use Education Service Centers (ESC's) to implement directives (passed by the Legislature). The TEA does not have to go through the competitive bidding process for these ESC services. 2. The TAC (Section 8.053) also allows the ESC's to contract with public or private entities for services, but the ESC's are definitely required to go through the proper competitive bidding process. The TEA and all 20 of the ESC's have been under these same SB 1 rules since 1995. |
| Shirley Neeley (L), Jimmy Wynn at 2005 edu-conference in New York City |
| Commissioner Robert Scott had made the decision to give the initiative to an ESC because he believed a more objective and impartial entity than the TEA was needed, and he chose the Waco ESC for the job. However, there is nothing in the State Auditor's report to indicate that Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott ever talked to the Waco ESC to recommend Emily Miller for the job. In fact, there is nothing in the report which says that Scott even knew Ms. Wynn had been chosen for the job. 5. Not in the State Auditor's Report is any reference to the case of mistaken identity which was verified in Jason Embry's Austin American-Statesman article on July 6, 2007. Embry reported that when Emily Miller was negotiating her ESC contract, she thought the person on the other side of the e-mails was Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott when in actuality it was the Waco ESC Rob Scott who ironically had been a TEA employee years earlier. This explains Ms. Miller's confusion over the two Rob (Robert) Scotts. 6. A contract issue which is mentioned in the State Auditor's Report involves the Commission on College Ready Texas (CCRT). The Texas Legislature appropriated $1.5 Million under HB 1 (79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session) for the CCRT to assist the state leaders to implement college-readiness standards into the K-12 curriculum; and the TEA was given statutory authority to carry out this initiative. |
| Again, the TEA was not required to bid out this contract if they decided to give the initiative to an ESC. The Austin ESC was chosen, and by law this ESC should have bid out the contract. Instead, the ESC asked Jimmy Wynn for suggestions of individuals who should be hired for this project, and those people were hired. 7. Another contract issue in the State Auditor's Report relates to State Funding Technical Assistance. The TEA Chief Operating Officer (NOT Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott) recommended that the Austin ESC hire an ex-TEA staffer who evidently had broad experience in matters of school finance. The Austin ESC chose this person without going through the correct legal channels of the bidding process. |
| Pat Pringle executive director, Region XIII Education Service Center Austin, Texas |
| Commission for a College Ready Texas chair Sandy Kress (R) presents final report to State Board of Education at November 14, 2007 meeting in Austin; SBOE member Gail Lowe (L) of Lampasas watches. |
| Donna Garner's dream for public education |
LAPTOPS:
Donna Garner's Open letter to Gov. Rick Perry
& Testimony before Texas Senate Education Committee
May 30, 2009
Donna Garner's Open letter to Gov. Rick Perry
& Testimony before Texas Senate Education Committee
May 30, 2009
| C o m m e n t a r i e s b y D o n n a G a r n e r |
H O M E
If you as a Texas taxpayer are concerned about the tremendous expense of
student laptops and of the danger of unscrutinized digitized textbooks being
put in front of our Texas public school children, please help by asking Gov.
Perry to veto HB 4294. This will take a tremendous outpouring of public
student laptops and of the danger of unscrutinized digitized textbooks being
put in front of our Texas public school children, please help by asking Gov.
Perry to veto HB 4294. This will take a tremendous outpouring of public
| LIST OF COMMON PROBLEMS WITH LAPTOP IMMERSION SCHOOLS 1. The software and hardware constantly need to be updated, costing thousands of taxpayer dollars. Laptops become obsolete after three or four years of use. 2. The equity issue would be a possible lawsuit waiting to happen. How could Texas make sure that the laptops and technology equipment in Highland Park ISD are equitable to the laptops in Edgewood ISD? 3. How can 49% of the student population who is considered "disadvantaged" pay for broken or missing laptops? (Withholding a report card for missing or destroying a textbook is one thing, but replacing a $700 - $800 laptop would be another.) 4. What does the school/teacher do when a parent reports that a student's laptop is missing? 5. What about students carrying laptops back and forth to school? Isn't this an open invitation for robbers to hit on students? 6. Laptops and backpacks are heavy. Students would have to bring them home nightly if all of their textbooks were digitized. Students also would have to recharge laptop batteries at home. How durable are lightweight laptops that must endure hard student use? This is not the same type of careful use that an adult would give to a laptop. 7. How about the child who accidentally damages his laptop by dropping it out of his unzipped backpack? I wonder how durable these laptops would be if they were accidentally dropped down a flight of stairs? 8. Parents object to laptops because they feel they limit oversight of their children's activities. 9. A publisher somewhere with the click of a mouse could theoretically change the outcome of the Civil War! Who could and would keep track of changes in all textbooks? Who and what kind of a publisher is behind the mouse? 10. School computer labs are constantly having to rewrite codes to block more and more porn sites, yet students find ways to slip around the system. In fact, many students enjoy the challenge of finding backdoors to school computer systems. 11. If everyone had laptops, the chances of online bullying and mischief would be greatly multiplied. 12. Laptops on every desk put a barrier between the student and the teacher. Laptops become the "authority" rather than the teacher. 13. Students' attention is needlessly distracted. 14. Teachers cannot monitor every student and every screen. 15. Cheating is increased. 16. Individual student progress is hindered because they become dependent on online sources instead of capturing information in their heads. 17. Providing a class set of hardcover textbooks per classroom means that only a few selected students per class could take their textbooks home to study and do homework. If storms should knock out the Internet or other problems should occur, students would not come to school having finished their homework. 18. What would a teacher do if a student said his laptop froze or malfunctioned last night? How would a teacher be able to hold students accountable for finishing their homework when such excuses would obviously be used by irresponsible students? 19. Student laptops would of necessity cause students to read sophisticated text much less because they are simply not going to read classic pieces of literature nor other pieces of lengthy text on a computer screen. We in Texas want to keep our system of electing State Board of Education members who are accessible to citizens’ input, and these Board members should have authority over the setting of curriculum standards and the adopting of textbooks that are aligned with the standards. I believe that it is not a wise use of taxpayers' dollars to provide laptops for all classroom students; and I do not believe laptops should ever replace the direct, systematic instruction of a teacher working face-to- face with a classroom of students. The Texas Technology Immersion Pilot study confirms my beliefs. -- Donna Garner Wgarner1@hot.rr.com |
Education Agency) who will choose
a group of experts. The experts will
obviously not have the time to pour
over every single dot and tiddle of
the digitized textbooks as is done
now in the lengthy textbook
adoption process. The digitized
textbooks that are approved will be
placed on a Commissioner's List.
In our present textbook adoption
process, the public is able to get
hard copies of the textbooks that
are up for adoption and can then
present their findings in public
hearings.
Neal Frey of Educational Research
Analysts told the Senate Education
Committee last week that he had
found 744 factual errors in the
social studies textbooks he had
brought to the hearing. (I believe
there were four of them in the
stack.) Frey said, "These were
factual errors that even Rush
Limbaugh and Obama could agree
upon." It took Neal Frey six months
of laborious reading to locate those
errors.
Because textbook companies are
charged a fee for every factual error
that they leave in their books after
these have been submitted to
them, the publishers try very hard to
correct their books.
It is because of our
well-established textbook adoption
process that many states set their
textbook adoption process a year
behind that of ours here in Texas .
Other states know most of the
factual errors will be caught during
our process.
HB 4294 now changes the playing
field because there will basically
be two separate adoption
processes (1) one with tight
scrutiny, public input, and SBOE
approval and (2) one with very little
scrutiny and no public input. Which
route will most publishers choose,
particularly those with something to
hide? Obviously, with less scrutiny,
the chances of harmful and
misleading information being
placed in the digitized textbooks
will increase exponentially.
Sen. Shapiro has kept assuring
parents that everything will be fine
under HB 4294 because all of the
instructional materials will have to
follow the SBOE-adopted
standards (TEKS). However, look
at the visual aids that Neal Frey
brought to make his point at
Shapiro's Senate Education
Committee! Those social studies
textbooks had followed the TEKS
content also, yet they were replete
with errors -- 744 of them. It was
only because of the thoroughness
of the present textbook adoption
process and Neal Frey's hard work
that those 744 factual errors were
discovered and then changed. The
SBOE-adopted content (TEKS) was
not the problem; the factual errors
were.
Rep. Branch and Sen. Shapiro
keep trying to alleviate parents'
displeasure over HB 4294 by
saying, "A class set of hardcover
textbooks will be in each teacher's
classroom." Big deal. One set of
30 books will be useless when a
teacher has 135 - 150 students. If
the teacher even chooses to use
the hardcover class set, then he
cannot assign students any
homework in which the textbooks
would have to be used; 30
textbooks for 135-140 students
simply will not work!
Here is what Rep. Dan Branch,
author of HB 4294, told the Dallas
Morning News that is supposed to
placate the parents (" Educaton
Bills Pass in Legislature's Final
Days, 5.29.09):
Another education bill [HB 4294] on
its way to the governor would let
school districts speed up their shift
to electronic textbooks. Dallas
Republican Rep. Dan Branch, the
bill's sponsor, assured social
conservatives in the House that the
bill wouldn't diminish the powers of
the State Board of Education
because each classroom still
would have at least one set of
board-approved textbooks.
I guess Rep. Branch thinks
conservatives are stupid. That
class set of SBOE-approved,
hardcover textbooks would gather
dust if students were all supplied
with taxpayer-purchased student
laptops loaded with the digitized
textbooks that have been adopted
under the Commissioner's list and
that have circumvented the close
scrutiny of the SBOE.
As I have stated many times
before, I really respect our present
Commissioner of Education
Robert Scott; but he will not be the
Commissioner forever. What kind
of "experts" would another
Commissioner choose to evaluate
the digitized textbooks to be placed
on the Commissioner's List?
When legislation is passed, we
must consider the future
ramifications for a bill.
I stand by my testimony that I
delivered to the Senate Education
Committee on 5.19.09:
a group of experts. The experts will
obviously not have the time to pour
over every single dot and tiddle of
the digitized textbooks as is done
now in the lengthy textbook
adoption process. The digitized
textbooks that are approved will be
placed on a Commissioner's List.
In our present textbook adoption
process, the public is able to get
hard copies of the textbooks that
are up for adoption and can then
present their findings in public
hearings.
Neal Frey of Educational Research
Analysts told the Senate Education
Committee last week that he had
found 744 factual errors in the
social studies textbooks he had
brought to the hearing. (I believe
there were four of them in the
stack.) Frey said, "These were
factual errors that even Rush
Limbaugh and Obama could agree
upon." It took Neal Frey six months
of laborious reading to locate those
errors.
Because textbook companies are
charged a fee for every factual error
that they leave in their books after
these have been submitted to
them, the publishers try very hard to
correct their books.
It is because of our
well-established textbook adoption
process that many states set their
textbook adoption process a year
behind that of ours here in Texas .
Other states know most of the
factual errors will be caught during
our process.
HB 4294 now changes the playing
field because there will basically
be two separate adoption
processes (1) one with tight
scrutiny, public input, and SBOE
approval and (2) one with very little
scrutiny and no public input. Which
route will most publishers choose,
particularly those with something to
hide? Obviously, with less scrutiny,
the chances of harmful and
misleading information being
placed in the digitized textbooks
will increase exponentially.
Sen. Shapiro has kept assuring
parents that everything will be fine
under HB 4294 because all of the
instructional materials will have to
follow the SBOE-adopted
standards (TEKS). However, look
at the visual aids that Neal Frey
brought to make his point at
Shapiro's Senate Education
Committee! Those social studies
textbooks had followed the TEKS
content also, yet they were replete
with errors -- 744 of them. It was
only because of the thoroughness
of the present textbook adoption
process and Neal Frey's hard work
that those 744 factual errors were
discovered and then changed. The
SBOE-adopted content (TEKS) was
not the problem; the factual errors
were.
Rep. Branch and Sen. Shapiro
keep trying to alleviate parents'
displeasure over HB 4294 by
saying, "A class set of hardcover
textbooks will be in each teacher's
classroom." Big deal. One set of
30 books will be useless when a
teacher has 135 - 150 students. If
the teacher even chooses to use
the hardcover class set, then he
cannot assign students any
homework in which the textbooks
would have to be used; 30
textbooks for 135-140 students
simply will not work!
Here is what Rep. Dan Branch,
author of HB 4294, told the Dallas
Morning News that is supposed to
placate the parents (" Educaton
Bills Pass in Legislature's Final
Days, 5.29.09):
Another education bill [HB 4294] on
its way to the governor would let
school districts speed up their shift
to electronic textbooks. Dallas
Republican Rep. Dan Branch, the
bill's sponsor, assured social
conservatives in the House that the
bill wouldn't diminish the powers of
the State Board of Education
because each classroom still
would have at least one set of
board-approved textbooks.
I guess Rep. Branch thinks
conservatives are stupid. That
class set of SBOE-approved,
hardcover textbooks would gather
dust if students were all supplied
with taxpayer-purchased student
laptops loaded with the digitized
textbooks that have been adopted
under the Commissioner's list and
that have circumvented the close
scrutiny of the SBOE.
As I have stated many times
before, I really respect our present
Commissioner of Education
Robert Scott; but he will not be the
Commissioner forever. What kind
of "experts" would another
Commissioner choose to evaluate
the digitized textbooks to be placed
on the Commissioner's List?
When legislation is passed, we
must consider the future
ramifications for a bill.
I stand by my testimony that I
delivered to the Senate Education
Committee on 5.19.09:
| Sen. Shapiro has assured parents that everything will be fine under HB 4294 because all of the instructional materials will have to follow the SBOE-adopted standards (TEKS). However, look at the visual aids that Neal Frey brought to make his point at Shapiro's Senate Education Committee: Those social studies textbooks had followed the TEKS content also, yet they were replete with errors -- 744 of them. |
| To view Donna Garner's May 19, 2009 Senate Education Committee testimony: Go to www.senate.state.tx.us/avarchi ve/?yr=2009. Click on May 19, 2009 -- Senate Committee on Education (Part 1). Then move mouse to time: 23:17 - 29:53. Testimony before Donna: Neal Frey - Educational Research Analysts Testimony after Donna: MerryLynn Gerstenschlager (Texas Eagle Forum). |
| MerryLynn Gerstenschlager and Neal Frey |
We citizens want to have access to the
types of books that are put in front of our
children’s and grandchildren’s eyes. We
presently have that access through our
elected Texas State Board of Education
members
types of books that are put in front of our
children’s and grandchildren’s eyes. We
presently have that access through our
elected Texas State Board of Education
members
| (L) Texas Governor Rick Perry, Senator Florence Shapiro of Plano |
Testimony to the Senate Education Committee
HB 4294 – Student Laptops and Loss
of State Board of Education Authority
by Donna Garner
May 19, 2009
HB 4294 – Student Laptops and Loss
of State Board of Education Authority
by Donna Garner
May 19, 2009
pressure because the tech lobby and its vendors will be hounding Gov. Perry to let HB 4294 go by
unscathed, thus bringing millions of taxpayer dollars into vendors' deep pockets. -- Donna Garner
unscathed, thus bringing millions of taxpayer dollars into vendors' deep pockets. -- Donna Garner
Donna Garner: What Senator
Florence Shapiro hasn't told
Gov. Perry or fellow senators:
Florence Shapiro hasn't told
Gov. Perry or fellow senators:
The Board, in conjunction
with the Texas Education
Agency under
Commissioner Robert
Scott, has worked
exceedingly hard; however,
we do not want to surrender
the authority over our public
schools to the unelected
Commissioner and TEA
staffers.
The Board has produced
new-and-improved English /
Language Arts / Reading
standards (TEKS) that will
begin implementation in the
fall.
with the Texas Education
Agency under
Commissioner Robert
Scott, has worked
exceedingly hard; however,
we do not want to surrender
the authority over our public
schools to the unelected
Commissioner and TEA
staffers.
The Board has produced
new-and-improved English /
Language Arts / Reading
standards (TEKS) that will
begin implementation in the
fall.
Math standards are to be adopted in the subsequent years.
The system of adopting standards and then textbooks is working the way
it is supposed to work. Please do not mess it up through unintended
consequences.
The Texas Technology Immersion Pilot (TTIP) took place during school
years 2004 through 2008. The U. S. Department of Education chose
Texas in which to conduct this $20 Million pilot program to see whether
immersing students in laptop computers would significantly improve
student learning.
The TIPP study says repeatedly that students made no statistically
significant academic progress in TAKS reading, social studies, and
science; TAKS writing even went down. TAKS math showed small
improvements among Cohorts 2 and 3 but none in Cohort 1.
Even though students were heavily immersed with expensive laptops
($1,100 - $1,600 per student) and teachers were trained extensively in
immersion strategies for over four years, little-if-any positive student
academic achievement was attained.
Instead, laptops broke, costing large sums to repair.
Student self-directed learning did not show positive
gains.
Laptop students during all but the fourth year attended
school less regularly.
Cohorts 2 and 3 did not improve their reading
achievement.
Control group students did better in writing than did the
laptop immersed students.
Cohorts 2 and 3 improved their math scores a bit, but Cohort 1 did not
sustain the positive effect into the high-school years.
Cohort 2 did not improve their 2008 science or social studies scores.
The researchers concluded, "Given the financial and logistical challenges
of implementing and sustaining the Technology Immersion model,
statewide implementation may not be possible."
The system of adopting standards and then textbooks is working the way
it is supposed to work. Please do not mess it up through unintended
consequences.
The Texas Technology Immersion Pilot (TTIP) took place during school
years 2004 through 2008. The U. S. Department of Education chose
Texas in which to conduct this $20 Million pilot program to see whether
immersing students in laptop computers would significantly improve
student learning.
The TIPP study says repeatedly that students made no statistically
significant academic progress in TAKS reading, social studies, and
science; TAKS writing even went down. TAKS math showed small
improvements among Cohorts 2 and 3 but none in Cohort 1.
Even though students were heavily immersed with expensive laptops
($1,100 - $1,600 per student) and teachers were trained extensively in
immersion strategies for over four years, little-if-any positive student
academic achievement was attained.
Instead, laptops broke, costing large sums to repair.
Student self-directed learning did not show positive
gains.
Laptop students during all but the fourth year attended
school less regularly.
Cohorts 2 and 3 did not improve their reading
achievement.
Control group students did better in writing than did the
laptop immersed students.
Cohorts 2 and 3 improved their math scores a bit, but Cohort 1 did not
sustain the positive effect into the high-school years.
Cohort 2 did not improve their 2008 science or social studies scores.
The researchers concluded, "Given the financial and logistical challenges
of implementing and sustaining the Technology Immersion model,
statewide implementation may not be possible."
Letter to Gov. Perry
May 30, 2009
Re: Please veto HB 4294 --
taxpayer-bought student laptops and
digitized textbooks on
Commissioner's List
Dear Governor Perry:
Right now, for a publisher to sell a
textbook to a school, the publisher
May 30, 2009
Re: Please veto HB 4294 --
taxpayer-bought student laptops and
digitized textbooks on
Commissioner's List
Dear Governor Perry:
Right now, for a publisher to sell a
textbook to a school, the publisher
| Who benefits from laptops? |
| Per $20 million TEA TTIP study, it's not students. Who does benefit? Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Bill Gates. Lobbyist-enriched politicians who write pro-laptop legislation. |
must also provide a digitized
form of the book. However,
that textbook and the accom-
panying digitized version
have all gone through the
public hearings and the
careful scrutiny of the
present textbook adoption
process in which the elected
members of the SBOE
ultimately decide whether to
adopt the "instructional
materials."
HB 4294 inserts a comp-
letely separate digitized
textbook adoption process
over which the elected mem-
bers of the Texas State
Board of Education have no
oversight or authority. (They
can only make a comment
that carries no legal weight
whatsoever.)
The digitized textbooks will
be submitted to the
unelected Commissioner of
Education (a.k.a. Texas
form of the book. However,
that textbook and the accom-
panying digitized version
have all gone through the
public hearings and the
careful scrutiny of the
present textbook adoption
process in which the elected
members of the SBOE
ultimately decide whether to
adopt the "instructional
materials."
HB 4294 inserts a comp-
letely separate digitized
textbook adoption process
over which the elected mem-
bers of the Texas State
Board of Education have no
oversight or authority. (They
can only make a comment
that carries no legal weight
whatsoever.)
The digitized textbooks will
be submitted to the
unelected Commissioner of
Education (a.k.a. Texas
The Board also went through a grueling process to
adopt world-class Science standards; but the end
result is a standards document that excites science
students, educators, and parents.
Social Studies standards are in the pipeline right now.
Because the SBOE saw some problems occurring in
the wording of the first draft, they quickly redirected the
process.
adopt world-class Science standards; but the end
result is a standards document that excites science
students, educators, and parents.
Social Studies standards are in the pipeline right now.
Because the SBOE saw some problems occurring in
the wording of the first draft, they quickly redirected the
process.
| Lobbyists lobbying in lobby of Texas Legislature next to House of Representatives (PHOTO--Peyton Wolcott) |
| Lobbyists lobbying in basement lobby of Texas Legislature (PHOTO--Peyton Wolcott) |
| =================================== Helpful links ================================= Texas Technology Immersion Pilot: http://tcer.org/research/etxtip/documents/y4_etxtip_final.pdf "Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops" -- New York Times, May 4, 2007: www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html?_r=2&oref=slogin Research study by Case Western Reserve University , Kindle digitized textbooks: http://blog.cleveland.com:80/metro/2009/05/case_western_reserve_universit_4.html Research Study by other universities of Kindle digitized textbooks: www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S24/16/27G94/index.xml?section=topstories |
| Here is the link to the Texas Technology Immersion Pilot Program: http://tcer.org/research/etxtip/documents/y4_etxtip_final.pdf |