Quotable Quotes from the Texas SBOE March Meeting

Here are some of the quotes I tweeted while at last week's Texas SBOE meeting:

"Somebody has got to stand up to these experts," McLeroy said. "Why does evolution have this lofty status? It's all about ideology." (McLeroy is the chair, and a creationist) “Science has regained its luster.” (again, McLeroy. Apparently, science is like a metal and is shiny.) "Evolution is not vital to understanding the biological sciences." (Yes, McLeroy again, showing off his creationism bonafides) "Some of you are not listening and I am not going over this again." (One of my two favorite quotes from the meeting - from Pat Hardy, a rock star, in my opinion. She was trying to introduce an amendment on allowing a conceptual Chemistry class. Motion failed, which was a real shame. Guarantee: more dropouts due to the new Chem class having too much advanced math required.) "I disagree with the experts." and "I want to stand up to the experts." (Our fabulous chair, dentist McLeroy beating his chest.) "Is there any more amendments to grade 4?" (McLeroy is not science literate or even just plain literate. Subject verb disagreement - what would the experts say?) "We should have seen these changes yesterday." (I don't remember who freaked out and said this on Friday, but several creationists were peeved that a board member dared to try and suggest changes to the science TEKS that dealt with something besides creationism. I mean, darn, we spent all day Wed. and Thurs. trying to get the Bible inserted into the science TEKS, but we couldn't spend an hour making sure the non-evolution TEKS were scientifically accurate?) "examine all sides of science" (This is the new "strengths and weaknesses." If someone can give me an example of how science has sides, please jump in here. And, I'm not asking this of creationists; it's clear what you mean. I'm asking the science community.) "We want to send a clear message to textbook publishers that we expect them to present BOTH sides." (This is my SBOE member, Cynthia Dunbar, revealing what "all sides of science" really means. It means "science" as one side, "creationism" as the other side. She totally slipped up here and corrected herself, "I mean 'all sides'". Yeah, right.) "unguided natural processes" (Sigh. This was McLeroy's suggested substitution for the scientific term "natural selection". How blatant can you be that your whole intention is to insert creationism into the science TEKS?) "scientific theories of cosmetology." (This was from Terri Leo. Honestly, making science a course about make up would be more scientific than making all of them Bible courses.) "just to add that humility." (Barbara Cargill must have used the word "humilty" 20 times over the course of two days. What in the heck humility has to do with science, I have no idea, but she was insistent - over and over again - that we needed to add "humility" to the science standards. This was embarrassing and silly.) "beefin' up on my Bloom's taxonomy." (Agan, Cargill. Not only did she drop her "g's", but she continually used Bloom's as well as legitimate language in the science TEKS to somehow make a persuasive argument to insert creationist language into the standards. It was something to watch - how she got reasonable people on board with her nonsense.) "I want to broaden theories students will have to learn. This is the humility I am talkin' about." (yes, the dropped g and the use of "humilty" lets you know this was Cargill. Here is where she defines "humility." Humility = inserting creationism into the science standards.) "I got lost in your explanation." (This was Pat Hardy to McLeroy. If I could have advised the 8 friendly SBOE members on one thing, it would have been "if it doesn't make sense, it's a creationist argument and vote against it.") "I vote that we reinsert balls. Kids have been playing with balls their whole lives." (Geraldine Miller - another rock star! - delivers my favorite line of the whole meeting. She unintenionally made a funny and provided the audience much needed relief from the craziness in that room. This had to do with something in the elementary science TEKS. Tincy Miller, you are one awesome fighter for public education in Texas!) "We ask the questions." (This was McLeroy being extremely disrespecful of Eugenie Scott, Director of the National Center for Science Education. Dunbar was asking idiotic questions of Scott during the invited testimoy on Wednesday, so Scott asked one back to clarify what in the world Dunbar was talking about. McLeroy had to act like the big man on board - BMOB - and let Scott know who was boss.) I don't have the exact quote, but Mrs. Texas, Austen Williams, tells the Board she learned about intelligent design in a college archeology class. Turns out that was at Southwestern Seminary, a Baptist college. Of course, she didn't say that; we had to dig that up afterwards.) "Who will rid us of these meddlesome state board of education members?" (one of the speakers at the Texas Freedom Network's press conference on Wed., just prior to the start of the SBOE meeting. TFN has my undying thanks for all they did in thier efforts to stand up for science.)

I'll end with that. You can find my blow-by-blow, tweet-by-tweet, live tweeting at twitter.com. Do a search for #txsboe and you'll find all my live reports, plus responses from all over the world. I was the lone tweeter in the room, except for TEA who had a staffer at a computer tweeting procedural things. The whole #txsboe thread is worth reading. If you've heard that the SBOE is a travesty, just know it is worse than that. If you are a glutton for punishment, the archived audio of the 3-day meeting is here.

QR Weighs in on SBOE & TEA

Straight from Kimberley Reeves from Quorum Report. She is right on all points about Texas Education Agency science and other staff having to sit on their hands in the audience, totally mute, with no advisory role:

REEVES: SBOE AND TEA--TWO SHIPS PASSING IN THE NIGHT

Quorum Report correspondent Kimberly Reeves weighs in on SBOE adventures and misadventures

Days like today at the State Board of Education – when competing sides are doing hand-to-hand combat over evolution instead of negotiating the quality of high school science standards -- point to a dysfunction that belongs to more than just the 15 members of the much-maligned elected state board.

Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), witnessing the brewing fight over SBOE dictating creationism should be taught in Texas classrooms, has suggested the board has become a liability to the state’s education system. In his bills, Senate Bill 440 and Senate Bill 513, SBOE would either be limited to the Constitutional function of managing the Permanent School Fund or be put under regular sunset review.

On the surface, today would appear to be a perfect example of why passing Ellis’ bills would make sense. Yesterday, an exhausting parade of more than 130 speakers approached the microphone at SBOE to make the case for and against teaching the so-called “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution.

Instead of a serious discourse on science content – only last session, lawmakers set some of the steepest science standards in the nation for high school graduation – the seven-hour-long meeting took on the atmosphere of a circus sideshow, with dueling press conference, promised fisticuffs and multiple blogs tracking the minute-by-minute developments.

Could this be the state that promised to graduate high school students with four years of math and science, ready for post-secondary education or the workforce?

Agency staff members were spectators to the entire process today, just as they were yesterday. After the vote on “strengths and weaknesses” was taken – a 7-7 tie that mirrored January’s vote on second reading, minus an absent Mary Helen Berlanga -- conservatives Barbara Cargill and Gail Lowe of the board’s Curriculum Committee led the full board through a long list of amendments to the science curriculum. Input from agency staff? Little to none.

More controversial recommendations – for biology and earth science – popped up this afternoon. Did agency staff – which would be dealing with the practicality of the SBOE science recommendations on a day-to-day basis – agree with the recommendations? Hard to tell, although it would be hoped some discussion went on behind the scenes.

In fact, agency staff rarely talks about the specifics of curriculum during the once-a-decade review of core curriculum standards. Instead, when discussing progress on standards, agency staff almost always confines its discussion to process, unless asked a direct question by a member of SBOE.

It can be added that many of Cargill and Lowe’s early amendments appeared helpful, and Cargill stressed that her recommendations came directly from working extensively with science teachers since second reading the standards in January.

So that’s the fault of the SBOE, right? This terrible bloc of elected conservatives has overrun the board and taken unholy control of curriculum in the state.

Well, during a break in today’s discussion – so striking because of the sheer dominance of SBOE members – QR took a quick perusal of the Texas Education Code, and what to our wondering eyes did appear but law that actually instructs the State Board of Education to do exactly what it is doing today.

So exactly how can Ellis – or any other lawmakers – complain?

While other states typically give state boards of education the job to “review” or “approve” code, Texas is specific that it wants this elected board – none of them guaranteed to be educators or experts on curriculum – to “establish” the state’s curriculum. And, by golly, that’s just the board -- assisted by panels of teachers and professors, plus a review by professionals – has done.

In Florida, for instance, curriculum standards start with a small panel of professionals. Then those recommendations are turned over to the teachers for review and the approval of the state board. In Texas, the process starts with a diverse group of teachers, producing a lengthy amoeba-like process that has cursory input from agency staff, subsequent professional review and a final board vote.

And, by the way, the education code gives the Texas Education Agency very little to do with the creation of the state’s curriculum, except to provide assistance to the SBOE and as directly instructed by law. Instead, the current education code has become a curious hodge-podge of duties: creating a easily understood format for financial and academic performance; compiling a best practices clearinghouse; conducting hearings involving state school law; and even developing and implementing a teacher recruitment program as provided by law.

And while TEA is mandated to do all sorts of things when it comes to curriculum -- implement it, measure it, align it, articulate it and create instruments that measure its proficiency – the law gives only a nod to the fact that agency staff might be interested in creating it or improving it. That belongs to SBOE.

Now the cynics might go ahead and say that even if curriculum started with the Texas Education Agency, it ends up with the deeply political SBOE. That is true. But consider the parallels between local school districts and their school boards, versus the State Board of Education and its agency.

The relationship between a superintendent and his school board is clearly defined. The superintendent is in charge, and the one who takes direction and makes decisions. The board represents the community’s interests. They approve the budget, set the tax rate and review the district’s progress. The board also has the power to remove the superintendent if he or she fails to meet standards.

And what is the relationship between SBOE and TEA? SBOE has no control over TEA and TEA has no input into SBOE, other than the input that is requested by members. Asked once why the state’s 10 years of student data was never used when it came time to rewrite the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, one agency official said it simply was never requested. And, because of that, it was never proffered.

Agency staff is hamstrung by the limits of current law. The agency provides no check on SBOE, and SBOE provides no balance on TEA. It’s interesting to add that although the law has given the SBOE and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board roughly equivalent roles, Commissioner Raymund Paredes is much more comfortable recommending the direction of higher ed to the appointed THECB.

Is it any surprise then -- given those parameters as set out by lawmakers -- that SBOE appears to have run amok? And, given that TEA staff serves as neither proxy nor mediator between the two sides, that deep suspicions exist among board members?

SBOE gives final approval to science TEKS on Friday. Next stop is social studies.

My Texas SBOE Testimony In Support of Strong Science Standards

Martha Griffin Public Testimony, SBOE meeting, March 25, 2009 Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about keeping our science standards strong for all Texas students. I want to say a special hello to Barbara Cargill. Barbara and I were friends at Baylor University where we lived just a few doors down from each other in Russell Hall our sophomore year. I’ve spent a long career in science education, as a middle school and high school teacher, a museum educator and as an officer of the Science Teachers Association of Texas. I currently have the privilege of consulting in low performing schools to mentor first year science teachers. I am here to support the high school Biology and Earth and Space Systems TEKS as originally presented by the science writing teams, free from the amendments adopted at your last meeting. We have many new and inexperienced teachers in our schools and they need standards that are clear and scientifically accurate, and that are approved by the scientific community. Let me share one example – out of many I’ve observed - about how weak language in the standards creates confusion in science classrooms. As used in science, we know that a theory is an explanation based on observation and experimentation. It has been tested and confirmed. Theories become more refined over time as technologies change, but the original foundations of the theory stand the test of time. In fact, a theory is predictive and helps us more fully understand natural phenomena. I observed a first year teacher who was covering the IPC objective on the history of the atomic theory. Because of the current strengths and weaknesses language, she told students that the atomic theory could “completely go away in a couple of years and be something totally different because that’s the way science works.” As a new teacher, not completely grounded in science content, she made the common mistake non-scientists make in thinking that because of ongoing refinements of theories, they are here today, gone tomorrow, which is inaccurate for the atomic theory as well as the theory of evolution by natural selection. We need to train and develop science teachers who know how science really works and can share that with their students. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about the need for our standards to be clear and scientifically accurate. Thank you. Martha Griffin has a M.Ed. in science education, and is an independent consultant in low performing schools in HISD and other school districts in Texas, building capacity for student achievement in science. She is a past vice president of the Science Teachers Association of Texas, a former science museum education vice president and a former secondary science teacher. She resides in SBOE10 in Fort Bend County.

What has the Texas House Passed to Date? Gas

So says Republican State Representative Rob Eissler. In this entertaining video by the Austin American Statesman, the question is asked, "We are half way through this legislative session. What substantive legislation has been passed?" A few of the responses:

Rep. Raymond: I would have to go back and look. Rep. Rose: We have a lot of work ahead of us. Rep. McCall (chair of Calendars): No substantive bills have passed out of Calendars. Gov. Perry: (We are on) a steady pace.

I think Eissler's response is the accurate one.

Republican Lawmakers: "We Need More Regulation"

Words you wouldn't think you'd hear from deregulation happy Republicans. You know, the same ones who loathe government intrusion into your lives and hate higher fees and taxes. But there it is.

“A lot of the problems that are going on in our country now appear to have been related to lax regulation . . . ,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan.

Indeed. Tell me about it. Regulate the electricity industry. Please. Regulate the insurance industry. I beg you to do that. Mostly, both sides of the aisle seem terribly alarmed about regulation of banks and investment advisors. But, I don't know. The Chron article seems to be saying that there will be more regulation over a lot of industries. And, that working people will pay higher fees (that's sort of like a tax, folks) to the State to compensate for the additional oversight. This sort of goes against the grain of what Rick Perry said at the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce event I attended in Sugar Land recently. He thinks Texas is avoiding the recession (??) because we do such a good job with our hands-off government that lets business do what it does best. The reality is that Republicans love taxing and spending. We apparently have $2 million to spend on Voter ID that is a solution looking for a problem. Yeah, that's right. I just somehow tied de-regulation to Rick Perry to Voter ID. This is the genius of blogging. You can ramble on and talk to yourself about anything you want!

Are You Smarter Than a Cougar?

If older women have smarter children and older men have dumber children, then: Cougar + hottie = Harvard bound! Read about the scientific case for cougars here.

It concluded that older fathers have dumber children, at least according to tests designed to measure "thinking, reasoning, concentration, memory, understanding, speaking, reading, and motor skills." The simultaneous finding that older women have smarter kids, according to the same measures, was often buried in the second to last paragraph. Crunching the numbers, Nussbaum concludes: "The most intelligent children must be the outcome of 45-year-old career women inseminated by their 21-year-old personal trainers."

Sounds like old guys need to get their vasectomies ASAP, so we can raise the IQ of future generations.

What Happens When You Dynamite A Dead Whale?

Circa 1970. Funniest thing I've seen in a while. Highlights: Most of the explosives "were placed on the leeward side of the mammal." Hoping that "pieces still around after the explosion would be taken care of by seagulls and other mammals." "Humor gave way to run for survival." "Everyone on the scene was covered with small particles of dead whale."

Voter ID Free of Cost?

From the fabulous Elise Hu at Political Junkie. Elise is KVUE's political reporter and she's been liveblogging (and live tweeting @eliselive) today's Texas Senate debate on the Voter ID amendment:

7:57pm: Third witness begins. It's Cameron Quinn, who was not ON the Carter-Barker Commission but advised the commission, speaking FOR SB 362. "Photo ID... can enhance confidence," said Quinn. She reads from the Commission's report: "Any required photo ID must be widely available, easily accessible and free of cost."

Give me a break. Free of cost? This has been my question all along: How much will a voter ID program cost the State when we don't have extra budget, and we have a broken educational system, the biggest percentage of uninsured kids in the nation, electricity rates out the roof and no money in our disaster relief fund? There was a ridiculous back and forth between a D and a R senator this morning. Can't remember who it was, but the D was asking the R how much it would cost to implement an education plan for citizens about photo ID. You know, "hey! we changed the rules mid-stream and ya might want to be sure you have a photo ID!" The R answered, "well, uh, they could put a little piece of paper in those voter registration renewal letters, and that shouldn't cost much, don't ya think? I mean, gosh darn, no I haven't thought about the cost of the program, none of us have. Fiscal note? What's that? Oh, you mean before it's time to renew. Hmm. And, like one of those fancy TV commercials state wide? Billboards (psst . . . someone call my buddies at Clear Channel). Oh, well, no, certainly not. We have not given the cost one minute of thought." It's an embarrassment. And, practically a crime. A bank robbery on the state treasury over a non-problem, a non-issue.

Blogging About Schools

Y'all reading my other blog, Lone Star Schools? Why not! It's very educational. :) Some recent posts: HISD Wrongly Spending Money on Rodeo? Yeah, it's just possible that $100,000 from a fund for benefiting students went to sending teachers and administrators to a rodeo gala. I have some thoughts and questions on that. Education Stimulus: Strings Attached I have some details on when the money starts flowing and what the requirements are for being stimulated. Educationally, that is. Texas Education Agency on Twitter! There first tweets were pretty interesting. Go check it out! No Harris County Teachers on Social Studies TEKS Review Committee? 20% of Texas school kids live in Harris County, yet not one Harris County teacher is on the TEKS review committee. Did the Harris SBOE members drop the ball or did none of our teachers submit their names? Texas Legislature Considering Changing School Accountability System I'm all about changing TAKS requirements and how they get used to punish schools, but the hodge podge of ideas in these proposals do not strike me as data driven or based on research. It Costs $99K to Per Year to Lock Up a Youth in Texas And just $7978 to educate a Texas student for one year. Sounds like a crime to me. All my Lone Star School blog posts go directly to twitter, so I invite you to follow me! @lonestarschools.

Joe Jaworski is Running for Mayor of Galveston!

Go, Joe! Great news! Joe will make a great public servant and leader of Galveston. Sounds like he thought about this over the holidays and made a decision and is running with it. The current mayor of Galveston is Lyda Ann Thomas and she is term limited. Remember, Joe is a former Galveston City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem. I enjoyed watching Joe run a great race for Texas Senate in District 11. He's a proven fundraiser. Galveston needs a smart, hard-working, forward thinking leader and all that certainly describes Joe! GO, JOE!

More On Education Stimulus From Education Secretary

Arne Duncan had this to say about the $100 billion in federal stimulus funds for education (that's out of the $787 billion in total stimulus):

"This is really a chance to avert an educational catastrophe and to save a generation of kids," Duncan said.

$44 billion will be released to states in the next 30-45 days. Education officials are hoping this will be enough to prevent hundreds of thousands of layoffs nationwide and massive program cuts. An additional $49 billion will be distributed within the next six months. The money will go towards three broad categories:

1. Title 1 - for economically disadvantaged 2. special education 3. state fiscal stabilization funds

The Washington Post article makes it clear that states will use the money to reverse big budget cuts already slated for education in some states such as Virginia and Maryland. Some of the early release money can be received by states without them having to file new paperwork. To receive other, later funds, states have to commit to:

raising academic standards testing students of all demographic groups tracking progress over time and sharing those results improving teacher effectiveness and distributing qualified teachers equitably intervening in poorly performing schools

Duncan says:

"I want to be really clear," he said. "Simply trying to keep the status quo is not good enough. We have to push to get dramatically better."

It actually sounds to me like a chunk of the education stimulus will be used to keep the status quo, and another chunk will be used to improve schools. If most of the first part is to prevent layoffs and program cuts, then certainly the stimulus, in part, serves to keep education exactly where it already is. I'll be curious to see how Texas spins its application for the improvement part of the stimulus. What does "dramatically better" look like to the Lege and TEA? We have some clue from the hodge podge of ideas from the Lege about changing the accountability system. I'm hoping Duncan has some real smart people on board ready to put time and attention to data driven solutions as they are doling out the cash. The last thing we need is more stabs in the dark and random dart throws at the dart board as we try to "avert an educational catastrophe".

Education Stimulus: Strings Attached

Education Week has links to education stimulus documents and the requirements for receiving and using the funds. Here's some of what I learned:

States are supposed to spend funds quickly to stimulate the economy. Funds should be used to improve student achievement. Four areas identified to improve student achievement through school improvement and reform: 1.Making progress toward rigorous college‐ and career‐ready standards and high‐quality assessments that are valid and reliable for all students, including English language learners and students with disabilities; 2.Establishing pre‐K‐to college and career data systems that track progress and foster continuous improvement; 3.Making improvements in teacher effectiveness and in the equitable distribution of qualified teachers for all students, particularly students who are most in need; 4. Providing intensive support and effective interventions for the lowest‐performing schools. Because of the large amounts of money and importance of the investment, more rigorous reporting is required than with other grants. The funds are expected to be temporary. The funds will only be available for 2-3 years. Funds should be invested in such a way that programs are sustainable after funding expires. Some funds are available at the end of March (as in three weeks!). Some funds available in fall 2009, including the Title 1 grants, educational technology grants, teacher incentive funds and teacher quality enhancement fund and statewide data systems. There will be a $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" competitive fund for states. Texas, will you be able to race to the top? $650 billion will be set aside for districts AND non-profits with a srong track record of results. Non-profits, start your engines! There will two rounds of Race to the Top grants - fall 09 and spring 10.

The report concludes with:

It represents a historic opportunity to restore America’s global leadership in education.

NYT Logs in on Judge Keller. Again.

Judge Sharon Keller is the presiding judge of Texas' highest criminal court of criminal appeals. She is the one who refused to keep her office open after 5 PM the day a man was scheduled for execution (as is common practice - to keep that office open late for last minute appeals). The execution took place and all hell has broken loose since then for Judge Keller. The NYT has an article about her colleagues opinions of her. I'm sort of sputtering here in astonishment trying to remember that I re-learn everyday that nothing should surprise me. Actual quotes and comments about the marvelous personal qualities of Judge Keller:

“Sharon is a hard worker.” “She never complains, never explains.” Friends say she is witty and well read, an engaging conversationalist in one-on-one encounters over cocktails, but the quietest one at the table at weekly card games with fellow alumni of Rice University. People also say they admire how Judge Keller has raised her son as a single mother and how close she is with her extended family, which financed the bulk of her campaign to join the court.

These sound like excellent qualities in a best friend, or sister-in-law or especially in an administrative assistant. But, in the person who has the sole responsibility of considering last minute appeals of people the State is about to execute, not so much. In her own words, this is how Keller explains what happened that evening:

“I got a phone call shortly before 5 and was told the defendant had asked us to stay open,” she said. “They did not tell us they had computer failure. And given the late request, and with no reason given, I just said, ‘We close at 5.’ I didn’t really think of it as a decision so much as a statement.”

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has charged her with incompetence, violating her duties and casting public discredit on the judiciary. Maybe they can give her a certificate for being a great mom and card player, though. It seems she's deserving of at least that.

It Costs $99K Per Year To Lock Up A Youth In Texas

We are spending $99,000 per year per incarcerated youth in Texas. It's a 66% jump since 2006 although the juvenile inmate population has decreased by almost half in two years. How much does it cost Texas per year to educate these same youth if they are in public school? I don't know, but I'll try to find out. In February 2008, there were 4100 employees per 2400 incarcerated youths. In 2007, there were 4600 employees per 4100 incarcerated youths. Texas spends $17,337 per each incarcerated adult. (2008 figures) This seems to be the right response:

"It's ridiculous," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and an author of the 2007 reforms that were prompted by the abuse scandal. "They've got twice as many correctional officers as they need. ... They've got a big, expensive central office staff they don't need. ... And they're just trying to protect their turf and bureaucracy."

In the 2007 Legislative Session, TYC reforms were passed because of an abuse scandal. It looks like there needs to be reforms this year to bring the bureaucracy under control.

UPDATE: 9th Grade Reading TAKS Day!

I've got two posts up on my other blog, Lone Star Schools, about today's Texas 9th grade Reading TAKS with fascinating insights from my daughter who took it. :) Here's a post from this morning about lockdown, the mechanics of the test, and my experience taking the 2006 released test: Click here. And, a post where the topics of today's reading passages are revealed! Click here. Not an inspiring instructional day for my daughter, but what do you do? According to her you suck up, take the test or an hour, then sleep the rest of the day in your cold testing room.

Happy Independence Day, Texas! Happy Birthday, Sam Houston!

The new nation of Texas was formed 173 years ago today. That wasn't very long ago. We all know people who are 73 years old, so think about how The Great Nation/State was born only 100 years before that person was born. This may explain why we haven't quite got everything right yet. Give us a little more time and we'll have the best educated populace, quality and affordable health care for everyone including the least, the last and the lost, and electricity and insurance rates that have broad coverage and low rates. Heck, we may even figure out a way to get from Sugar Land to downtown Houston in less than an hour on a weekday morning! The Chronicle has an interesting story about the finding of the order for printing 1000 copies of Texas' Declaration of Independence. Sam Houston would be 216 today.

Can Bloggers Take Up The Slack When Newspapers Fold?

There's an interesting article in the Washington Post about something I've been thinking about. Newspapers are folding and slashing staff. The staff cuts have been going on for years and the fallout has been particularly obvious in the State press corps. There are still investigative pieces, but not the day in and day out pounding of bills, bills, bills and everything else that has to do with the Lege. Texas progressive bloggers have stepped in where there is a gap and have reported on bills and amendments, frequently building relationships with legislators and legislative staff in order to get a scoop or get a fuller explanation of intent. But, bloggers rely on traditional media, also, especially when they've uncovered something big (like wide-spread ethics violations) and need a bigger megaphone to get the word out. So, Texas bloggers have built relationships with TV and newspaper reporters. They (me included) all have more than a handful of these folks programmed into their cell phones. When I learned a few days ago that the San Antonio Express-News was laying off a large number of employees, the first thing I did was contact a reporter on the Capitol beat asking if political reporters had been laid off. The answer was "It doesn't look like it", which made me sigh with relief. While I think political bloggers are doing a fantastic job filling in gaps and creating news, we have to have unbiased media, with their ability to go at the stories full time, to keep government accountable. Bloggers have a point of view. There's no getting around that and I'm proud to be a part of that group that investigates and publicizes a Democratic point of view online. The Post article quotes a Virginia blogger:

"Newspapers can describe the candidates for governor in a more balanced, deeper way because you don't have a dog in the race. We bloggers do."

Traditional media is going to have to reinvent itself and their attempts to do that so far are not helpful:

"The smaller the press corps gets, the more you see personality stories rather than pieces about what is at stake for people," says Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. "Smoking in restaurants is always going to get covered, but now, when we make big changes in mental health or foster care, nobody covers it. That has a real impact: It would be hard for campaigns to get even more superficial, but they might."

So who for sure gets the information they need to make the best decions for themselves in this era of shrinking newspaper budgets? I'll let the Post reporter tell you:

But as long as people buy property, look for jobs, send kids to school and pay taxes, they will need credible information about state government. Something will rise to fill the news vacuum, someday. In the meantime, the lobbyists are getting the news they need. The voters, not so much.

Bloggers do their best work when they uncover news the traditional media can't dig into because of small staffs or other priorities. There are new business models that allow bloggers to do new media full time. But, I'm not convinced bloggers can or should fill all the gaps of shrinking traditional reporting. It's a little "d" democracy thing. Unbiased reporting is not an option. It's mandatory.