McLeroy Vote Possible Today

According to several news reports, the Senate Democrats claim they have the votes to block McLeroy's nomination as Chair of the Texas State Board of Education. The vote is expected to come to the Senate floor today and takes 2/3 to confirm. I've said a lot about this and I don't have much else to say except that I completely agree with Senator Shapleigh (emphasis mine):

Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, has been a strong critic of McLeroy.

“He has used his position to push extreme beliefs on 4.7 million school children. He has rejected solid science in favor of ideology,” Shapleigh said. “He has ignored input from experts on what works best for reading.”

The Senate rarely blocks a governor’s appointment.

There is speculation in the Capitol and within the Texas Education Agency that Gov. Rick Perry might elevate Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, to lead the board. Like McLeroy, Dunbar also holds strong Christian beliefs and recently authored a book that advocates more religion in the public square.

“We believe that Texans deserve better than divisive, destructive, extreme leadership,” Shapleigh said. “If the governor chooses to appoint someone more extreme and more divisive, we’ll have to deal with that at the appropriate time.”

You can find contact info for all Senators at this link. We must send a message to Governor Perry and this SBOE that religious ideology cannot guide the Board. If Perry wants to ignore that message and appoint Dunbar, so be it. We'll deal with that in November 2010 at the ballot box.

Let's Get Real On McLeroy

A reminder of who has basically the "no comment" answer to my question: How does the Senator intend to vote on McLeroy's Nomination?: Hinojosa, Lucio, Uresti and (sort of) Zaffirini and Ellis. Now, let's connect some dots. Senate Finance Chair Ogden pushed for the nomination of McLeroy to go to the Senate floor. And, Sen. Mike Jackson caved and made it so. Who is on the Senate Finance Committee?

Chair: Ogden Vice-Chair: Hinojosa Members: Averitt, Duell, Duncan, Eltife, Harris, Lucio, Nelson, Seliger, Shapiro, West, Whitmire, Williams, Zaffirini

Let's assume for the case of argument that all three of those I bolded vote to confirm McLeroy. What is going to be the explanation to the school children of Texas - who can't vote and can't take off of school to go to the Capitol and lobby these powerful Senators on the Finance Committee - of why they went on record and voted for a SBOE Chair whose only purpose is to force a right wing agenda on public schools? And, if they walk the vote, they still would have to explain themselves. Would it possibly be something along the lines of, "I traded favors on the Senate budget and voted against Texas school children?" Hopefully it won't come to that. Public education is supposed to be a Democratic issue, so let's expect every Democrat to do what's right for school kids. Believe me, the religious right is disciplined and they are calling, emailing, and threatening the Republicans to confirm McLeroy. How could we be OK with our folks voting the way the religious right wants them to? As far the argument of, "Oh, noes!!! It could be worse! Big bad Dunbar or Leo or Mercer might be appointed by the Governor!" Hogwash. They aren't worse, they are the same as McLeroy - they all have a single minded focus on their religious right agenda for public schools. Let's put that decision in the Governor's hands. Give him the chance to appoint the moderate Bob Craig. If he puts in another person who is guided by the religious right agenda, we can go after Perry and the new Chair. If we let McLeroy be confirmed, we are agreeing with Perry that a right wing agenda is a good thing for the SBOE. Are our Democrats going to stand with the religious right or with school children?

TX Democratic Senators and the McLeroy Vote

I have been advised by a Democrat who called all twelve Texas Democratic Senators, that there are five who are non-committal on the McLeroy confirmation vote. I just got home from a trip to Austin, so I called the five Senators. I simply stated that I'm a Democrat and an educator, and I was calling to find out how the Senator was going to vote on the McLeroy nomination. I got almost the same exact answer from Hinojosa and Lucio's staff - they do not have an answer. These are two that worry me the most, although I wonder if we should be worried about Uresti, also. I'm pretty sure Ellis and Zaffirini are on board. Keep in mind that one danger is that one or more of our Democratic Senators will "walk" - in other words conveniently not be present for the vote. It requires 2/3 of the Senators PRESENT when the vote is taken, to confirm. If everyone shows up, all we need is 11 votes agaisnt confirmation to block it. Below, you'll find links to the Senators' websites, plus the Capitol phone number you can call to express your opinion. I made it clear to each of them - in a respectful, nice way - that I expected all twelve Democratic Senators to hold together and vote not to confirm McLeroy. Senator Juan Hinojosa - aide does not have an answer at the present time. (512) 463-0120 Senator Eddie Lucio - his aide has not been advised on how Lucio will vote. (512) 463-0127 Senator Carlos Uresti - aide who answered the phone said the staffer who is in charge of education issues is not in the office, so she couldn't speak on how Uresti would vote. (512) 463-0119 Senator Rodney Ellis - aide who answered the phone said she did not know how Ellis was going to vote because she had not discussed it with him. She said she would guess he "might not support" the McLeroy confirmation. (512) 463-0113 Senator Judith Zaffirini - aide says she is almost positive Zaffirini will oppose McLeroy's nomination. She also said she expects to see the nomination on the floor this weekend or early next week. (512) 463-0121 I'll also call the other seven Democratic Senators. You can find their contact info at this link. For complete coverage of the Texas State Board of Education - and all of the reasons why a vote for McLeroy is a vote for the religious right and a vote against Texas school children, see the TFN Insider.

Republicans are Calling TX Democratic Senators for a Yes Vote On McLeroy

Democrats, the far right is disciplined. I was just forwarded this. We need to respond by flooding the Senators with phone calls letting them know we expect them to stand up for Texas children.

Dear Literacy Friends, Please call your senator and ask that he/she vote against McLeroy as Chair of the SBOE. McLeroy spent several days at the capitol and convinced senators to pressure the Nominations Committee Chair, Mike Jackson, to submit his name for vote on the Senate floor. McLeroy is claiming religious persecution because he is against the “experts.” He believes that the subject area experts that belong to national and state organizations are for the status quo. You might want to mention your district’s effort and expense required to remediate the newly adopted ELA standards, and your concerns about student performance. I spoke with Shapleigh’s aide, David Edmonson, a moment ago. Their office is getting many phone calls in favor of McLeroy. David also recommends calling all senators but especially the ones listed below with an asterisk. Please forward this request to others to encourage their action. I’ve listed phone numbers for all senators for your convenience The ones marked with an “E” are on the Senate Education Committee. E* Averitt-(512) 463-0122 * Carona-(512) 463-0116 E• Davis, Wendy-(512) 463-0110 * Deuell-(512) 463-0102 • Dewhurst-463.0001 * Duncan-(512) 463-0128 • Ellis-(512) 463-0113 * Eltife-(512) 463-0101 • Estes-(512) 463-0130 • Fraser-(512) 463-0124 E• Gallegos-(512) 463-0106 • Harris-(512) 463-0109 • Hegar-(512) 463-0118 • Hinojosa-(512) 463-0120 • Huffman-(512) 463-0117 • Jackson, Mike-(512) 463-0111 • Lucio-(512) 463-0127 • Nelson-(512) 463-0112 • Nichols-(512) 463-0103 E• Ogden-(512) 463-0105 E• Patrick, Dan-(512) 463-0107 * Seliger-(512) 463-0131 E• Shapiro-(512) 463-0108 • Shapleigh-(512) 463-0129 • Uresti-(512) 463-0119 E• Van de Putte-(512) 463-0126 • Watson-(512) 463-0114 * Wentworth-(512) 463-0125 E• West-(512) 463-0123 • Whitmire-(512) 463-0115 E• Williams-(512) 463-0104 • Zaffirini-(512) 463-0121 Warm regards, Pat Jacoby Authentic Learning Technologies, LP 307 Stirrup Drive Dripping Springs, TX 78620 512.264.3050 phone 512.264.3063 fax

Looking for Eleven Good Men and Women

Remember when Rep. Mike Jackson, Chair of Senate Nominations, said he wouldn't bring the nomination of embattled right wing SBOE Chair McLeroy to the Senate floor if the votes weren't there to confirm? Well something must have changed because Jackson called a Nominations meeting on Wednesday and they voted 4-2 to send McLeroy's nomination to the floor. Democratic Senator Kirk Watson (one of the two votes against sending it to the Senate) surmised that Jackson must know that a Democratic Senator or two were going to vote to confirm, because if all 12 Democrats stick together, McLeroy's confirmation is dead in the water. That's because confirmation of this Perry appointee requires 2/3 of the Senate to vote in favor. It just takes 11 votes to block. Democrats are pro-public education and the expectation is that they ALWAYS stand up for public schools. I'd be real curious who Jackson thinks is not going to be a real Democrat and is willing to continue McLeroy's reign of terror on school children. I think we need to find out. Call your Senator today, or call all twelve Democratic Senators to find out how they intend to vote. The complete list of Senators identified by party is here, along with contact information. What happens if McLeroy is not confirmed? Governor Perry gets to appoint someone else from the SBOE as Chair. He could certainly appoint someone who is equally as bad - Dunbar, Cargill, Mercer, Leo or Bradley. Or he could appoint a moderate Republican like Bob Craig, who has the best interests of Texas school children top of mind instead of a far religious right agenda. Let that be Perry's political problem. Our task at hand is send a strong message to our Democrats in the Texas Senate that a vote to confirm McLeroy is a vote against Texas school children.

TX House Ethics Committee Exotic Game Ranch Dinner Tonight

The Texas House General Investigating & Ethics Committee is having a work session/dinner tonight at the TDS Exotic Game Ranch in Buda. I got the meeting notice as a TLO alert. I don't know if they will spend officeholder/campaign account money or if they will spend our tax dollars on this dinner meeting. If you google "TDS Exotic Game Ranch Restaurant", you get a lot of entries about wine festivals. This certainly looks like a place where you can go see the deer and the antelope play. Members of this committee are: Chuck Hopson (chair) Larry Phllips (vice chair) Brandon Creighton Pete Gallego Todd Hunter Oh! It's a boys club. That explains the wild game meeting place. It will make them feel like they are hunting and gathering food for the womenfolk. If this was a girl committee meeting, it would be pedicures, for sure. Note there are two Democratic boys on this committee vs. three Republican boys. What will they discuss at their working meeting? Well, their committee site says "No bills have been reported to committee." No, but what are they investigating? Chuck Hopson states in a newsletter to constituents, "The General Investigating and Ethics Committee that I Chair has met once for an organizational meeting and will meet again this week to brief the committee members on a current investigation." What is it? Anyone know? Uh oh. The reps might want to check immigration status of the inhabitants while they munch on ostrich and sip on a fruity Texas wine. I just saw this on the Exotic Game Ranch website:

Our wildlife ranch consists of many foreign inhabitants from Africa, Asia Minor, Australia, England, Israel, India, Middle East, New Zealand, and Pakistan.

Check photo ID's for Addax, Aoudad, Barasigha, Blesbok and Nyala. I suggest the House Elections Committee avoid this place altogether.