musings

High School Paper and Printer Ink Tax

2011-08-29T06:30:00.001-05:00

Recently, I blogged about a "football tax" that a local school is imposing on parents - a pay to play scheme, if you will. The gist of it, was that while voters may clap hands excitedly that their legislators, school board members, etc. are not raising their taxes, the reality is that the draconian budget cuts to state education spending has resulted in some, umm, creativity on the part of school districts. Creativity that involves parents paying more for their child's free, public education. You may not have heard about these creative budgetary maneuvers in emails from your local superintendent. For example, have you heard about the paper tax? The printer ink tax?

At a local high school, teachers have had their access to copy paper severely limited. So, students are required to print worksheets and the like at home - on their printer with their paper - and bring that to school. So, with no new taxes, and no dipping into the Rainy Day Fund, schools are passing their costs onto parents. Sounds sorta like a tax. Or, private school.

Parents, I hope you loaded up on paper and ink when you were getting those school supplies last week.

Next up, the hot topic of The Air Conditioning Tax!

High School Football Tax

2011-08-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

It looks like a local school district got creative with the budget cuts, which means one thing. Costs are getting passed on to parents - many of whom vote for candidates who promised not to raise taxes. I've got a series of examples of expenses parents are picking up, and here is the first one - - a (non)tax on football.

High school football budgets have apparently been cut (surprise! I know, I'm shocked, too) and players and trainers have been given empty envelopes to give and mail to family members who are supposed to fill the envelope with money, and mail back to the child. The money will cover some of the gaps in the athletic budget.

Yeah, I'm not kidding. If this sounds like private school, and not public school, you and I are thinking the same thing. Also, this does not sound like equity because schools that are high poverty are not going to be able to cover budgets with parental cash in envelopes.

So, while school board members can claim they did not raise taxes, parents who can count will realize the school is reaching into their pocketbooks, same as if taxes had been increased. It may amount to more than a tax increase, because my next posts are on . . . .

The Paper Tax and The Air Conditioning Tax.

You can count on two things: Texas high school football lives on and somebody has to pay for it.

Texas Republicans Throw Bush Under the Bus

2011-07-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

Turns out the energy bill that phases out incandescent light bulbs was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2007.

Texas Republican lawmakers are throwing W under the gas guzzling bus, claiming its un-American to take away the power of Texans to choose. Yes, they were pro-choice . . . when it comes to light bulbs?

So, in addition to being pro-terrorism (see: the sanctity of my private parts are a bigger priority than protecting everyone on the plane), Republicans in the Great State also want to prove they are bigger and badder than Mother Earth, legislating that, like the TSA security peeps, she keep her hands off them:

"I just believe that we should be able to buy what we want," Lavender said of the Texas law. "I've had calls from people in every state, and even in foreign countries, saying how much they appreciate this bill."

"This is about more than just energy consumption, it is about personal freedom,'' said Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas.), who's leading the repeal effort in the House. He recently cheered his state's action, declaring on Fox News: "I do thank the Lord that I live in Texas."

And, oh, snap, more evidence that Texas Republicans hate national security:

At his signing ceremony Bush said the bill was a “major step” toward making the United States “a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure.”

Note that Bush's energy bill also required automakers to make more fuel efficient cars. Look for the next Texas legislative session to feature bills that protect the right of Texas bubbas to drive gas guzzlers.

Poor George may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but compared to the yahoos running his Party now, he looks down right progressive.

Fort Bend ISD Trustees in the News

2011-07-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

Two interesting pieces of news out relating to Fort Bend ISD school board members.

First, Jim Babb is stepping down:

Fort Bend ISD Position 7 Board member Jim Babb has resigned from his seat, citing health reasons that he has chosen to keep private.

“It’s a very intimate issue that my family and I have decided to deal with on a private level,” said Babb.

His term runs through May 2013. The board can appoint someone to take his place or run a special election. My guess: appointment (and a conservative one, at that.) My preference: a special election. Let the voters decide who will represent their interests on the school board!

Second, we may have an unresponsive FBISD board member. We certainly have an irritated constituent:

What if you contacted someone running for the school board, never got a response and later when that person was elected, you still couldn’t get a response? Byron Golden of Sugar Land tells the “Star” he’s tried six times. Two of those attempts to get in touch with Fort Bend ISD School Trustee Patsy Taylor were after she took office this May.

What Golden wanted to know when she was running for school board was about her educational background, both her undergraduate and graduate degrees with respect to their names and her areas of study.

[---]

“Dr. Taylor’s arrogant behavior is a disservice to me as a taxpayer and for all FBISD taxpayers,” said Golden.

This is the person who beat Jonita Reynolds by 52 votes out of nearly 8000 votes cast. I could find out very little about her during the election (no campaign website, if I remember correctly) and none of my Democratic friends in Fort Bend knew anything about her. Apparently the Fort Bend Star could not get her to return calls during the campaign. I supported Jonita.

I'm not sure what Golden's motivation is to make such a public complaint, and it will be interesting to see if Dr. Taylor responds.

Houston Area Charters and ISDs Face Budget Realities

2011-07-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

News from the Chron about how legislative budget cut to public education will affect area charters:

KIPP:

The extended school week — one of the trademarks of the popular charter school system — is going by the wayside, along with out-of-Houston field trips and pay raises for employees.

KIPP will replace Saturday classes for middle schoolers with "independent study projects." That sounds like . . . homework. That's disappointing. One of KIPP's advantages with students in poverty is that they get a commitment from students to participate in extended time in school - including those Saturdays. In non-charters, teachers are desperate for extra time with students who need remediation - and the time is usually not there in the regular, required school hours.

YES Prep:

The YES Prep program, which starts its budget year Sept. 1, will spend the remainder of the summer figuring out how to trim about $2.4 million from its budget. They expect to make do with fewer supplies and trips. Increasing class size is also an option, said Ryan Dolibois, a spokesman for YES.

Clear Creek ISD

Superintendent Greg Smith told the school board last week that once the legislation is signed by Gov. Rick Perry, CCISD is looking at about $17.5 less in state funding for the 2011-12 school year and $25 million less for the 2012-13 year.

There hasn't been a lot of public information as to how Clear Creek would handle the funding cuts. Here are some details:

The district will not remove the 5 percent Homestead Exemption for 2011-2012 or 2012-2013. The public, through community forums and an online survey, clearly stated its preference for a tax rate election versus eliminating the Homestead Exemption. There are no plans for a tax rate election for 2011-2012 school year.

Interesting that the public in this very Republican area is willing to have their taxes raised, but not have their homestead exemption taken away. CCISD is considering allowing out of district students to pay tuition to attend Clear Creek schools where there is room (interested parents - see their 2011 TAKS data here) , and eliminating some bus routes. The district will begin charging fees for extracurricular programs and transportation in 2012-2013. There will be a 10% cut in all operating budgets beginning this school year. $12.5 million in fund balances will make up the rest of the shortfall.

Fort Bend ISD Responds to Budget Cuts: Accepting Out of District Students

2011-07-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

I think this is going to draw in some HISD students out of Southwest Houston and into Fort Bend ISD:

The district says they have class available at some campuses that they will open up this fall to out-of-districts students.

Of the district's 11 high schools, five will be open.

There will be even more opportunities at middle schools for out-of-districts students with 7 of its 14 open.

And there are even more elementary campuses allowing the out-of-district transfer with 20 of 45 campuses opening up.

By the numbers:

Fort Bend ISD is projecting a $27 million budget shortfall for the upcoming school year. Their hope is out-of-district students will be a new revenue stream for the cash-strapped district.

A state formula allots the district more than $5,200 per student in state funding. Bringing in 200 more students could mean more than a million dollars.

More details:

The opened up the system last year for employees to bring out-of-district students and that generated $750 million.

All incoming students will have to provide their own transportation.

I can't tell from the FBISD proposed budget how many out of district students they are counting on. (June 7 budget summary here) And, I don't see a recap of the special called meeting of the Board on June 27, that might give that information.

Here is the list of the Fort Bend schools that are open and have space available for out of district transfers (in some cases, only certain grades are "open"):

Elementary:
AUSTIN PARKWAY Only 1st
BRAZOS BEND Only 5th
BRIARGATE (K-6) Only 2nd, 5th
COLONY BEND All grades
COLONY MEADOWS Only 1st
COMMONWEALTH Only 1st, 5th
FLEMING Only K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th(Bil)
GLOVER (K-6) Only 1st, 3rd,4th,5th
GOODMAN Only K, 2nd(Bil), 3rd(Bil), 4th, 5th
HERITAGE ROSE Only 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th(Bil)
HIGHLANDS Only 3rd, 4th
HUNTERS GLEN (K-6) Only K, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th
EA JONES (K-6) Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 1st(Bil), 2nd(Bil), 3rd, 3rd(Bil), 4th
LANTERN LANE (K-6) Only 2nd, 4th, 6th
LEXINGTON CREEK Only K, 5th
MEADOWS Only K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th
MISSION BEND Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 1st(Bil), 2nd(Bil), 3rd, 3rd(Bil),5th, 5th(Bil)
MISSION GLEN Only K, 1st, 4th
MISSION WEST Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 1st(Bil), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd(Bil), 4th, 5th(Bil)
PALMER Only K, 3rd, 4th
PARKS Only K, K(Bil), 1st(Bil), 2nd, 2nd(Bil), 3rd, 4th
PECAN GROVE Only 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th
QUAIL VALLEY (K-6) Only 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th
RIDGEGATE (K-6) Only K(Bil), 1st(Bil), 2nd, 2nd(Bil), 3rd(Bil), 4th, 4th(Bil), 5th
RIDGEMONT (K-6) Only 1st(Bil), 2nd, 5th
SEGUIN Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 3rd, 3rd(Bil), 4th, 5th(Bil)
SUGAR MILL Only 3rd, 4th

Middle Schools:
BOWIE All grades
CROCKETT All grades
FORT SETTLEMENT All grades
DULLES All grades
MISSOURI CITY 7TH, 8TH
QUAIL VALLEY 7TH, 8TH
CHRISTA McAULIFFE 7TH, 8TH

High Schools:
BUSH All grades
TRAVIS All grades
MARSHALL All grades
WILLOWRIDGE All grades
RIDGE POINT 9TH, 10TH, 11TH

All information about the FBISD student transfer process can be found at this link. A list of all FBISD schools with maps of their locations can be found here.

Like I started out saying, I'll be very curious if opening up FBISD will drain more talented students away from HISD in addition to those that have been scooped up by charters. Note that the overcrowded Clements high school - always a top ranked high school in the Houston area - is not on the "open" list. But, one of its feeder middle schools - Fort Settlement - is open to all grades. It's 2010 school rating - exemplary. That's a school that stands out to me as one for out of district parents to consider.

2010 accountability rankings (AEIS reports) for all FBISD schools can be accessed at these links: high schools, middle schools, elementary schools.

Fort Bend: Vote for Jonita Reynolds and Amy Mitchell Today!

2011-05-14T14:16:00.001-05:00

Today is Election Day in Fort Bend County. I voted early for Dr. Jonita Reynolds for FBISD Trustee, Position 5, and Amy Mitchell for Sugar Land City Council, District 3.

Both of these women are extremely qualified - read their bios at the links. As a non-profit executive and a former teacher, Dr. Reynolds will bring a world of experience to the Fort Bend ISD school board, as well as a focus on student success and equity. Amy Mitchell knocked on my door and asked for my vote. This race is beween three Republicans and I chose to vote for Amy who is clearly very, very involved in the community and a tireless worker in all of her many projects.

You can view election results at this link tonight! Polls are open until 7 PM. Find your voting location here.

Over 1000 Jobs Lost in Katy ISD and Fort Bend ISD

2011-04-05T19:42:00.000-05:00

On top of the news that Fort Bend ISD cut 483 positions, comes news of 600 job cuts in Katy ISD:

That number includes 500 teachers, while the rest of the positions would be non-contractual support workers like bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

This comment was left on my Layoff Roundup post today:

Katy ISD - part of the letter dated 4/4/11 sent to all their staff by Alton Fraily:Due to these legal requirements, the district will begin the process of notifying employees regarding their job status later this week. In this initial reduction, we project cutting approximately 500 contracted personnel.

This is beginning to really add up. When you add resignations and retirements in addition to layoffs, you get to some big numbers of jobs lost in our community. Not everyone is really thinking through how attrition numbers will pile on top of educator layoffs to compound the problem of fewer teachers in schools, more students packed in classrooms, and loss of wage earners contributing to the local economy.

In the past, when reductions if force happened in schools in order to deal with budget shortfalls, eventually enough people would retire or resign that many of the laid off employees would be hired back. Last year, Fort Bend ISD laid off 470 employees and ended up hiring half of them back. Districts aren't anticipating that scenario this year, since the budget shortfalls are so severe. Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Tim Jenney said this in an email to employees:

It is important to know that the district’s goal is to be able to offer the opportunity to return to work in the district as many people as possible who have been affected by the Reduction in Force. However and unfortunately, the budget reduction is likely to be much deeper than ever before, and the probability of being able to reinstate as many “Reduced” employees as last year is unpredictable.

Anyone want to predict the total number of education jobs that will be lost in the Houston metro area? Leave your estimate in the comments. I'll do some math and get back with you.

Fort Bend ISD Eliminates 483 Positions

2011-04-05T06:45:00.000-05:00

Fort Bend ISD trustees voted last night to lay off 70 teachers, on top of the over 400 positions that have already been eliminated through the early retire/resign incentive program, as well as vacant positions that will not be filled. The school district cut 470 positions last year in order to balance their budget, and eventually hired 50% of those teachers back. Superintendent Tim Jenney warns teachers that this time hire backs are less likely, with the more likely scenario being more job cuts (see his email to employees below.)

I was startled to see that FBISD school board member Laurie Caldwell has been laid off from her teaching position in another district:

FBISD board member Laurie Caldwell said she knows firsthand what all of this feels like. She is a math teacher in a different district who is also being let go because of budget cuts."I know how it feels to get your letter, open it up and know that you don't have a position for next year," Caldwell said. "I know what these teachers feel like and it's very disturbing to be making these decisions."

Caldwell will not be seeking reelection to the Board. I am supporting Dr. Jonita Reynolds in that race. More on that race in a future blog post.

In strange turn of events, it appears some FBISD teachers were told Friday they would be let go, only to be told Monday their jobs were saved:

The award-winning Digital Media Academy at Hightower High School was facing a very bleak time. Last week, 2 of 4 instructors were told they would not be returning for the next school year.
But late Monday afternoon, a campaign of phone calls and emails turned the tide, according to the director of the academy. The teachers had been rehired.

Email from Jenney to employees:

Dear Colleagues, Since the onset of the devastating news that the district will lose millions of dollars of state funding from its budget for the coming school year, I have been providing you with timely updates on our progress in dealing with next year’s budget shortfall. As you know, the Board passed an early resignation incentive on March 7th as a means of encouraging our employees who were planning to leave the district to submit their paperwork early. Over the last several weeks, we have been monitoring the incentive; and at the Board’s meeting on March 28th, the early resignation incentive was expanded as a means of minimizing, as much as possible, the need to institute a Reduction in Force (RIF). To date, the district has received 316 resignations. At a specially called Board meeting this evening, we will propose broadening the incentive yet again. While the district would prefer not to lose any employees or their positions, it has been bittersweet because even though the number of positions needing to be reduced is much lower than it would have been without the incentive, it is still necessary to reduce positions. Sadly, approximately 107 of our colleagues on Chapter 21 contracts will have their positions eliminated tonight. It is important to know that the district’s goal is to be able to offer the opportunity to return to work in the district as many people as possible who have been affected by the Reduction in Force. However and unfortunately, the budget reduction is likely to be much deeper than ever before, and the probability of being able to reinstate as many “Reduced” employees as last year is unpredictable. Nevertheless, we must be responsive to the financial situation placed upon us and meet the challenges we are facing. Ironically, despite the outcry from districts across the state, the State House of Representatives voted last night to reduce education by approximately $10 billion—which is our worst case nightmare—a $74 million funding reduction. We have a long way to go before our budget work is finished, and most of it depends on the final budget cut number coming out of the Legislature. I am so sorry for the devastating effects these actions will have on you personally, your school, our community and most of all, on our students. I wish things could be different. This district stands to lose many of its best and brightest educators, and please know we will continue to do everything we can to change the stance the state Legislature has taken with regard to public education funding. Sincerely, Tim Jenney

Will Teachers Make Republicans Pay?

2011-04-05T06:30:00.001-05:00

Surely Texas Republican House members are concerned that voters back home won't be happy with teachers being laid off and pubic education being decimated. But, maybe not. They went right ahead and happily made drastic cuts that mean many tens of thousands of educators across Texas will lose their jobs, adversely affecting the local economy and the education of Texas children.

There are some signs that teachers aren't going to put up with it quietly. In Lubbock, several hundred teachers rallied on Saturday. The president of the Lubbock Educators Association made this comment about Republican legislators:

“We don’t believe they were voting these people in to make decisions that would affect their children’s education,” she said.

I think that is very well put, but I also know that Republican legislators have been very single minded, and very vocal, about being voted in to cut government spending. They must think teachers and parents won't demand payback at the polls next November.

In San Antonio on Saturday, another group of educators rallied for education, part of TSTA's 20-city "Day of Action." The board president for the Judson school district talked about laying off new teachers:

“Every cut you make affects kids,” said Gilbert Flores, board president of the Judson school district. “We have to cut everywhere, and unfortunately that means some good, first-year teachers.

All of these educators are very familiar with accountability systems, but will they hold their legislators accountable for their job losses, increased class size, and loss of administrative support? Obama started his re-election campaign yesterday, but Texans need to get fired up and get ready to un-elect the Republican architects of the structural deficit and House Bill 1 next November.

Let Obama take care of himself. We need to take care of Texas and get pro-education candidates lined up to take over the Texas House and Senate.

Republicans Take $8 Billion Away From Texas School Children

2011-04-04T06:30:00.002-05:00

Last night, the Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 1, shorting Texas school children $8 billion compared to current funding of public education. This is the first time since the School Foundation Program was started in 1949 that money was cut. Appropriations chair Jim Pitts (R- Waxahachie) told a startling untruth at the conclusion of the vote:

"It lives within the available revenue that we have to work with," Pitts said, adding, "This

budget is the result of the worst recession that anyone in this room has ever experienced."

Not true. Well, it does work with the available revenue, but the revenue deficit is not mostly due to the recession. It's due to the structural deficit Jim Pitts and his fellow Republicans put in place in 2006, and Pitts knows that. Texas will face a $10 billion deficit again and again every year until the Legislature addresses the lack of revenue their "slash taxes" agenda created. Republicans have been in the majority for eight years in Texas government, and the blame for this scorched earth budget lies squarely on them.

Read this list of 50 things the Republican budget cuts. If you don't like it, call your state representative (find his or her contact info here.) Otherwise, learn to do with less. A whole lot less of what we are used to government providing in Texas.

What HISD's Reduction in Force Means to One High School

2011-04-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

I found this illuminating. Tim Wainwright, the principal at HISD's Westbury High School gives a lot of details about how the reduction in force is being implemented in HISD. It will affect every department, core and non-core, at Westbury. The deadline for the RIF is April 18th.

The information about selecting staff eligible for the RIF is interesting, with the clearing "the scrutiny of the HISD legal team" being the key point, from what I am hearing about RIF's around the state. Districts cannot afford to spend money on grievances from staff, so they are making their RIF choices lawyer-proof.

Also, it's one thing to know that every HISD school is getting $275 less per student, but it's another thing to see that add up to $600,000 on one campus.

HISD Board Budget Cuts and Westbury HS

Posted: March 11, 2011 by ATWainright in Uncategorized

On March 10, 2011, the HISD school board voted to decrease the amount of money given to each school by $275 per student. What this means for Westbury HS is a reduction in funding in the amount of about $600,000. Because of the reduction in funding, it will be necessary to make Reduction in Force (RIF) decisions in order to operate within our budget during the next school year.

In accordance with state law, Westbury employees will have to be notified about the elimination of their position prior to April 18th, 2011. RIF decisions at Westbury, will touch every department, both core and non-core classes, clerical staff, security personnel and school administration.

The method for deciding which personnel positions to RIF is not an arbitrary process. Building Principals have been given very clear instructions and rules to follow in determining which employees are a susceptible for a RIF decision. Once the building principal has made their initial selections in accordance with the rules and regulations, all RIF candidates must clear the scrutiny of Houston ISD’s legal and human resources department. It is only then, that building principals can give employees notification of their position being eliminated.

While the RIF process is very mechanical and impersonal I want to assure everyone that I understand the personal impact the budget cuts will have on Westbury teaches and other HISD campuses across the district. While this is only my first year at Westbury, I have developed a deep fondness for all of my staff and the decision process in front of me is not one I look forward to.

At the end of the day, regardless of RIF decisions, budget cuts and other extraneous distractions that exist in our city, state, nation and world, Westbury students, parents, teachers and administrators have work to do. When we return from Spring Break we will have only 5 weeks to hammer our way through intensive TAKS reviews in preparation for the State Exams. Those exams will quickly be followed by Advanced Placement tests, End of Course exams, Final Exams and Senior Graduation.

Westbuty HS students and teachers are preparing to make a serious attempt to be a TEA Recognized Campus this year. To be successful in this challenge will require a laser-like focus on the part everyone when we return. Please take the opportunity during Spring Break to relax and enjoy some well-earned rest and return on March 21st, ready to work.

Have a restuful Spring Break,

Teacher Layoff Roundup

2011-04-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a roundup of recent and upcoming school district layoffs, made inevitable by the structural deficit caused by Texas' Republican Legislature:

Westwood ISD in Palestine, TX lays off an undisclosed number of teachers.

Lumberton ISD notifies teachers of layoffs.

Marshall ISD considers layoffs.

Irving ISD will vote on Monday on a list of teachers and staff to layoff. 110 teachers and 19 other employees took advantage of a $1000 offer to retire or resign.

Denton ISD begins the process of terminating 102 district employees. An additional 130 positions were eliminated due to vacancies, retirements and resignations. The terminated employees are all under probationary contracts (such as first year teachers.) An early resignation/retirement bonus of 15% of base salary was offered and taken by 64 employees.

45 employees, mostly teachers, receive layoff notices in LaMarque ISD.

Leander ISD to terminate 213 first year teachers to try and close a $29 million district shortfall out of a total budget of $244 million. Leander ISD is the third largest school district in central Texas. 141 central office employees under contract had their jobs eliminated and they will be reassigned to the classroom.

Hays CISD proposes cutting 31 classroom teachers, 51 out of classroom teaching positions, 18 instructional strategists, 18 campus technologists, 16 interventionists, 15 custodians, 2 attendance officers, and 5.5 central office positions.

Cleburne ISD meets Monday to finalize staff cuts. Teachers, administrators, cafeteria workers, maintenance staff and instructional assistants are on the termination list.

The Alto ISD school board will determine next week who will be affected by their reduction in force.

These are in addition to the following school district layoffs that I previous blogged about:

If you have information about other school district layoffs, please leave a comment.

El Paso ISD Lays Off 116 Staff

2011-03-31T06:30:00.000-05:00

By the numbers, the El Paso ISD layoffs:

cuts $5.6 million
eliminates Language Proficiency Assessment clerks (I read elsewhere, at a link I can't put my hands on, the district will be automating some of their functions - ???)
cuts 26 at-risk positions
cuts 28 central office staff

The district may also use $9.9 million of their fund balance to deal with the dramatic loss in funding from the State to balance next year's budget.

There are over 62,000 students in EPISD, with 70% being economically disadvantaged, and 30% are Limited English Proficient. 62% of their students are at risk. 7% are from military families and 4% are immigrants.

Keller ISD Lays Off 200 in Round 1. Round 2 of Layoffs to Follow

2011-03-30T07:30:00.000-05:00

Keller ISD, a TEA recognized district in Tarrant County, recently laid off 200 teachers and staff with more cuts coming in Round 2.

From wfaa.com:

Keller ISD Superintendent Dr. James R. Veitenheimer said 90 percent of this second phase involve people. That means many more teachers and other district employees — from custodians to the chief financial officer — will likely lose their jobs.

Among the cuts being considered: Leadership positions, including 12 teachers, 8 counselors, 10 administrators and 41 paraprofessionals. That will save the district $7.3 million.

The board will also discuss eliminating a big hunk of its school bus transportation. That would impact 8,900 students who currently travel on school buses to and from class.
Before the board meeting ended Monday night, administrators detailed their new plan for more teacher layoffs, including 12 positions from elementary schools, two from middle schools and 57 from high schools.

They also announced that only 58 teachers have elected to take a $2,500 incentive being offered to those who resign voluntarily.

The district is in a wealthy suburb, so it will be interesting to see how parents react. The district is fast growing, with about 2000 new students each year. There are five high schools, six middle schools, six intermediate schools and 22 elementary schools.

Plano ISD Lays Off 344 Employees

2011-03-30T07:15:00.001-05:00

Tuesday night's Plano ISD Board meeting resulted in these cuts, by the numbers:

5% of staff
344 total employees
233 teachers
101 elementary teachers
support services - libraries, counseling and multilingual programs
$26 million in total cuts
$12 million in cuts of teachers
$3.5 million in facility services (custodians)
$3 million in after school programs and tutorials
6% of operating budget cut

Plano ISD has 70 schools, nearly 27,000 students and 6800 employees.

From Richard Matkin, associate superintendent for business services:

"We didn't understand the State's position that you can do cuts outside of the classroom. "It's the only place to go when you're looking at the kind of cuts the state is going to implement."

This would be in response to Governor Perry's commentary:

"The nonteaching core would be the first place I would look if there are going to be reductions."

The first place I would look is for Governor Perry to accept the reality of what is going on with massive teacher and support staff layoffs all across the state.

Fort Bend ISD School Board Candidate Forum on Thursday

2011-03-30T07:00:00.004-05:00

What: Fort Bend Employee Federation hosts a FBISD school board candidate forum

When: Thursday, March 31, 7 PM

Where: Sugar Land Marriott Conference Center, 16090 City Walk in Sugar Land Town Square

Candidates:

West Side Position 1 - Sue Hohnbaum (incumbent), Wade Watassek

At Large Position 1 - Daniel Menendez (incumbent), Bruce Albright, Kevin Daniels, Rodrigo Carreon

East Side Position 5 - Patsy Taylor, Jonita Reynolds

School board members are elected for three year rotating terms. All voters in Fort Bend ISD vote for for all positions and all board members serve all residents of FBISD. The West and East designations for positions indicate that candidates must reside in those areas.

The election is on May 14th. Early voting begins May 2nd. Polling locations at this link.

Magnolia ISD Lays Off 115 Teachers and Staff

2011-03-30T06:30:00.002-05:00

Magnolia ISD (in Montgomery County, next to the Woodlands) with a motto of "dedicated to being the best school district in Texas,"laid off 115 teachers and staff on Wednesday, and might not fill another 64 positions where staff is retiring or resigning. That's a total of 179 position lost. The district has two high schools, two junior highs, two 6th grade schools and eight elementary schools. It became a recognized school district for the first time in 2010.

Included in the layoffs are 55 probationary (first year) teachers, 51 support staff and nine central office staff.

Parent reaction:

"I just hate to hear that all these budget cuts are going to have to happen and we’re losing all these teachers," said parent Tara Carpenter, who has two children in Magnolia ISD schools. "It seems like they barely have enough teachers as it is and they’re going to cut them even more?"

"Above everything education should be number one, period," added parent Stacy Gross. "I don’t agree with cutting back on education at all."

"I’m worried about the quality of education my kids are going to get now," said Carpenter.

From the Magnolia ISD board president:

"It is a dark day in Texas, and I fear we are witnessing the systematic dismantling of public education as we've known," said Cecil Bell, school board president.

MISD employees 1700 staff.

Austin ISD School Board Votes to Lay Off 792 Staff

2011-03-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

I watched most of the Austin ISD board meeting last night online, where they voted to lay off 792 staff, including 500 teachers and administrators. What made the cuts unusual is that the board voted to break contracts. What is typically happening around the state is that districts are letting people on probationary contracts go, in other words, mostly first year teachers and administrators. The AISD board felt it was more strategic to make cuts where they wanted, not just to new employees.

It was painful to watch the public commentary of the band teacher whose job is cut - and his wife's job in AISD is on the chopping block, and they are expecting a child. Students begged the board not to cut their German program.

The board is also taking a one time $43 million withdrawal from their fund balance, a move that many other school districts are doing, which begs the question, how are they going to balance their budgets for the 2012-2013 school year without many more layoffs and cuts in programs?

Note that there was discussion last night from the community and from board members, to consider raising property taxes to get more revenue in, which would require a public vote.

You can read more about the AISD cuts here and here.

Dallas ISD: How Many Teachers Will Be Cut?

2011-03-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

Dallas ISD is expecting a $150 million reduction in funding from the State, and this is with the Lege tapping the Rainy Day Fund. Here's what the district is looking to cut:

1700 employees - 12.8% of teachers and 26% of administrators
furlough days
reduced salaries
increased class sizes

700 district personnel took advantage of an offer 0f $10,000 to voluntarily resign. This included 51 special ed teachers, 41 math teachers, 50 science teachers and 18 principals. 40% of the teachers who agreed to leave had been teaching over 30 years.

The district is considering doing a second round of buyouts to teachers, and including other staff such as custodians.

There is a mid-April deadline for notifying contract employees of their employment status for the next school year, so the extent of the layoffs in DISD will be known very soon.

Dewhurst Intends to Increase Education Spending

2011-03-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

The Dew was speaking at a legislative conference in New Braunfels on Friday, and said this:

"We can still fund education, the Foundation School Program . . . at the same appropriated level we're funding right this second, actually higher."

Note that he said "the Foundation School Program," with no mention of all of the discretionary grant programs that have been benefiting Texas public schools, such as the pre-K program, technology grants, monies for new science labs, Student Success Initiatives, teen parenting programs, etc.

Dewhurst is hunting for $5 billion in non-tax revenue, by possibly selling state lands and making more money from investments. At the Friday conference, Democratic Senator Leticia Van de Putte called Dewhurst her "number one magician." My questions are:

Is the Lt. Governor going to implement more tax swaps and lay more fees on taxpayers, yet again tricking Republican voters into thinking they have not been taxed?

If there is a way to manipulate investments to bring in $5 billion in revenues, what have we been waiting around for? Why hasn't that already been done during Dewhurst's 8-year stent as Texas' lieutenant governor?

Round Rock ISD Lays Off 235 Teachers

2011-03-28T06:30:00.001-05:00

There is a 45-day out law about school districts notifying employees of their employment status for the following year, so we will hear about many layoffs over the next couple of weeks. Below is Round Rock ISD's statement about their layoffs and restructuring.

Summary of RRISD's cuts:
Planning on $60 million loss in State funding
Using $25 million from district's fund balance
Cutting 235 probationary, first year teachers
Cutting 19 instructional support positions (also under probationary contracts)
Cutting 5 central office instructional support positions (also under probationary contracts)
Cutting 22 campus instructional support positions (also under probationary contracts)
Cut 100 other contract positions, but found other places for them
70 other central office staff not under contract will be laid off, and that number might increase
The number of days employees who work over 187 days will be cut

About Round Rock ISD:
45,000 students
5 high schools
10 middle schools
35 elementary schools
enrollment grows by 1200 students per year
77 languages spoken by students
9% African American
11.2% Asian
30.1% Hispanic
45.1% White
.5% Native American
.1% Pacific Islander

District release:

District begins notifying employees of job loss

Posted Date: 3/25/2011

Round Rock ISD has begun the process of notifying contracted employees of their job status for the 2011-2012 school year. Due to the state budget deficit, Round Rock ISD is preparing for a $60 million reduction in state funding. Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees are committed to using $25 million from the district’s fund balance to help lessen the impact of the 2011-2012 budget deficit.

Currently districts must notify contracted employees 45 days prior to the last day of instruction regarding their employment status for the following school year. Due to law requirements, today the district will begin the process of notifying teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses and campus administrators regarding their job loss.

“This is a very difficult time for our district and it weighs heavily on my heart to lose hundreds of excellent employees,” Superintendent Dr. Jesús. H. Chávez said. “We are optimistic that the state’s budget situation will improve and we will be able to rehire some of the employees we have to let go.”

The district will notify approximately 280 probationary employees that their contract will be recommended for termination during a called board meeting in April:

234 probationary classroom teachers (Includes employees who have daily contact with the same group of students, such as core-content, elective and certain special education teachers. Reductions obtained by adjusting the student-teacher ratio.)
19 instructional support/enrichment positions (Includes employees who enhance or support the education of students, such as interventionists, dyslexia teachers, talented and gifted teachers and teachers that support special education students.)
5 central office instructional support positions (Includes employees who work directly with teachers to enhance the instruction provided to students, such as instructional technology specialists and instructional coaches.)
22 campus support positions (Includes employees who assist in the daily operation of campuses, such as counselors, nurses and assistant principals.)

The district has been successful in finding new positions for approximately 100 other contracted employees whose positions are slated for elimination. The district has been unable to absorb the additional 280 employees whose positions are being recommended for termination. Round Rock ISD remains positive and hopes to rehire a portion of the probationary employees being notified of contract termination.

“The elimination of 280 probationary employees takes into account the worst-case budget scenario for Round Rock ISD. As additional dollars become available we will direct the dollars to positions that have a direct positive impact on our students.” said Chávez.

The district has also identified approximately 70 central office and auxiliary employees who will be laid off; however, this number may increase as the district works through the budget process. It’s important to note, that unlike other districts, Round Rock ISD does not provide contracts to central office employees and they are considered at-will. Since these employees are not under contract the district will notify them at a later date, once the information has been finalized. The central office reductions cover all levels of employees, from assistant superintendent; director; coordinator; specialist; and many other hourly support staff, while impacting all departments and programs. We remain committed to cutting a higher percentage from areas outside of the general classroom.

In other cost-saving measures the district plans to reduce the number of work days for employees who work more than 187 days, and some programs will be restructured.

NOTE: Round Rock ISD is represented by these Texas State Legislators. Call them to express your concerns about cuts in staff and programs:

State Representatives

Rep. Charles Schwertner, District 20(512) 463-0309
Email

Rep. Larry Gonzales, District 52(512) 463-0670
Email

Rep. Mark Strama, District 50
Room E2.510, Capitol Extension, Austin, TX 78701(512) 463-0821
Email | Website

State Senators

Hon. Steve Ogden, District 5
(512) 828-5224
Email | Website

Hon. Kirk Watson, District 14(512) 463-0114
Email | Website

Vigil for Texas House Bill 1

2011-03-28T04:56:00.002-05:00

I got this from Texas Impact, a statewide religious grassroots network that advocates for people to advocate with their legislators on specific issues related to social justice:

What: The Texas House begins deliberation on the budget, House Bill 1, on Friday, April Fools Day
When: Friday, April 1st, noon to midnight
Where: Texas Capitol

Don’t let politicians in Austin make an April Fool out of Texas! The House has chosen April 1st for their floor debate on the proposed state budget, but there's nothing funny about this budget. Rally at the Capitol and hold lawmakers accountable. Visit http://texasimpact.org/ for more information.

A Few Highlights from House Bill 1:
• closes schools…
• hikes college tuition…
• eliminates pre-K programs…
• leaves senior citizens homeless…
• devastates community-based services for people with disabilities…

…and ultimately will leave 335,000 Texans jobless—reversing our state’s fragile economic recovery.

Join people like you who care about the future of Texas for a vigil to preserve our state. From noon on Friday until the budget is either passed or defeated, come rally with your fellow Texans for:

• Regular updates from the floor on which Texas priorities survived the cuts
• Teach-ins explaining how the budget will wreck Texas' future
• Prayer vigil in the House Chapel, and Nightlight Vigil on the South Steps
• Musical performances by local artists
• Funeral for all the programs and services the budget would cut

It’s time to draw a line in the sand. The message is simple: Vote NO on HB 1, and get to work crafting a plan that reflects Texans’ priorities.

Debate is expected to extend well into the night.
Come early, stay late and wear black!

If you want to participate in the prayer vigil, sign up for a 20-minute time slot in the House Chapel by contacting Bee Moorhead at bee@texasimpact.org.

Dear Texas 2021, Your Economy is in the Ditch and Your Children are Stupid

2011-03-27T12:09:00.000-05:00

The Houston Chronicle is right. The Texas "budget crunch must not be allowed to penalize an entire generation of young Texans." I'm glad this drumbeat has started, because this is the reality on the ground in Texas public schools - we are not just losing tens of thousands of young teachers who are getting laid off, but we are dooming an entire generation of kids to substandard public education. Once those kids go through grade level by grade level, they can't back track and make up the gaps and regain the knowledge and skills they need for college and career. Peer into your crystal ball and envision Texas in ten years with its economy drowning in ditch water and its children in last place on every educational measure.

I agree with all of this (bolding is mine):

In a single-minded drive to balance the state budget without creating additional revenue sources, the state legislative leadership appears willing to sacrifice an entire generation of middle- and lower-income Lone Star children and young adults.

While they justify these draconian funding cuts in essential health, education and social service programs as necessary to protect future generations, in fact they are putting present political considerations ahead of the children of today, the workers and leaders of tomorrow and the very future of Texas.

We are compelled to speak out on behalf of those too young to participate in the debates in Austin that will impact their well-being — and ours - for decades to come. We believe the majority of Texans understand the value of healthy and well educated children, and would respond to farsighted leadership that makes children's issues the real "emergency" of the current session.

But, Houston Chronicle, we have a problem. The only way to really solve the problem is to get different people in the Legislature, and your editorial board has endorsed some of the lawmakers who are responsible for the structural deficit that has led to "these draconian funding cuts."

For example, in 2008 the Chronicle endorsed Republicans John Davis (HD129) and Dwayne Bohac (HD138). In 2010, the Chron endorsed Bohac again, as well as Ken Legler (HD144).

Legler, in particular, has distinguished himself this session by introducing a bill to require the 100,000 teachers who get laid off to pass a drug test in order to get unemployment benefits. This is what he is worried about, instead of a strong public education system that implements a rigorous and relevant curriculum that prepares students for careers or college.

What concerns me, is that we won't be able to correct the harm this Legislature will inflict on Texas children until we vote in new Texas House and Senate members in November 2012.

Five Weeks to TAKS

2011-03-22T06:30:00.001-05:00

April TAKS testing begins five weeks from today. My eye is on the Science TAKS, which will be administered on Thursday, April 28th to 5th, 8th, 10th and 11th graders. That same week, students in various grades (3rd through 11th) will take Math, Reading and Social Studies TAKS. The accountability ratings schools get this year will last for two years, while the state devises a new accountability system to go along with the new, more rigorous STAAR testing program. As you can imagine, schools have their total focus on TAKS right now, implementing all sort of interventions, remediations and TAKS prep to get more kids than ever before passing their TAKS tests and school accountability ratings up as high as possible.

I say total focus . . . you and I both know that teachers will be getting pink slips as reductions in force go into effect and positions are eliminated over the next month. TAKS time is always very stressful, with a lot of time put on the job, lots of data analysis, and very focused work with struggling students. We'll be doing it this year with as many as one in four teachers knowing they are about to be unemployed. We'll be doing it knowing our class loads will increase next year. We'll be doing it knowing we will have less support next year.

But, as always, kids will be our number one concern. This video pretty much sums up what that is all about:

Please support equitable and fully funded education in Texas. Our kids need all of us.

Gutting Educational Service Centers a Bad Idea

2011-03-21T07:00:00.006-05:00

I watched the end of last Thursday's Senate Subcommittee Meeting on Public Education Funding (archived video here), and was alarmed at the committee's intent to gut funding for regional Education Service Centers. The part I watched had Senator Florence Shapiro interacting with TEA Commissioner Robert Scott, questioning the State's direct funding of the ESC's, specifically $40 million from the State's budget.

Shapiro certainly seemed to indicate that some ESC's should be shuttered, except those that generate their own revenue, such as Houston's Region 4 ESC (and as reward for their entrepreneurial activities, their State funding would go away, as well.)

The purpose and establishment of the ESC's, from the Texas Education Code:

§ 8.002. PURPOSE. Regional education service centers shall: (1) assist school districts in improving student performance in each region of the system; (2) enable school districts to operate more efficiently and economically; and (3) implement initiatives assigned by the legislature or the commissioner. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 268, § 1, eff. May 26, 1997.

§ 8.001. ESTABLISHMENT. (a) The commissioner shall provide for the establishment and operation of not more than 20 regional education service centers. (b) Regional education service centers shall be located throughout the state so that each school district has the opportunity to be served by and to participate, on a voluntary basis, in a center that meets the accountability standards established by the commissioner. (c) The commissioner may decide any matter concerning the operation or administration of the regional education service centers, including: (1) the number and location of centers; (2) the regional boundaries of centers; and (3) the allocation among centers of state and federal funds administered by the agency. (d) This chapter does not: (1) limit a school district's freedom to purchase services from any regional education service center; or (2) require a school district to purchase services from a regional education service center. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 268, § 1, eff. May 26, 1997.

This certainly makes it clear that TEA Commissioner Robert Scott has control over the number of ESC's as well as the flow of money to them. ESC's are required by law to assist school districts in implementing Legislative initiatives, improving student performance and operating more efficiently.

So, what do ESC's actually do, using State monies? As one example, for rural and small school districts, they greatly supplement activities such as training teachers and administrators on curriculum, accountability and data management systems, functions that, in a large school district, are provided by central office support staff. These activities are ongoing and critical for the efficient operation of school districts and for student success. I wrote about the need for this type of support in my post, Why Schools Need More Support Staff, Not Less.

Over the weekend, I heard from educator friends in large school districts around Texas, that they have been notified that they need to be prepared for whole curriculum departments at the district level to go away, including those for core subjects - science, math, ELA and social studies. Individual schools and districts are going to need to go somewhere for curriculum support, and they are probably assuming the ESC's will provide that.

It sounds to me like some school districts are taking Governor Perry's advice to cut administrative support before cutting classroom teachers. Gutting the regional Education Service Centers, while at the same time requiring school districts to drastically cut their budgets, should raise red flags with any thinking person who has even a rudimentary understanding of how public schools function. Without support from somewhere, we are dooming teachers to many fewer resources as they implement new science curriculum (and new social studies curriculum this fall and new math curriculum next fall), get high school students ready for end of course exams, and get elementary and middle school students prepared for the new STAAR tests.

Legislators need to think this all the way through to the end point of how real students, sitting in real classrooms, are going to be successful if too many parts of the current structural support to schools is eliminated.

Why Schools Need More Support Staff, Not Less

2011-03-18T13:25:00.001-05:00

Continually lost in the news from Austin about draconian cuts to education, is a perspective of reality on the ground. I'll provide one example of how support staff works in an actual school district. By support staff, I mean the folks who some Republicans (aka Rick Perry and team) disparage as non-teaching and non-essential. Specifically, these are the support staff at the campus and district levels, as well as at the regional Education Service Centers (who are particularly important to small and rural school districts.)

The SBOE, in all of it's partisan glory, enacted new Science TEKS that we are implementing this school year for grades K-12. The new high school Science TEKS not only have creationist language injected into them (Biology, specifically), but are considerably more rigorous. In the case of Chemistry, we are teaching a lot of material that we have not previously been required to teach. We have a perfect storm brewing with many of our high school science teachers being composite certified, meaning they passed a test that had Bio, Chem and Physics content, but may not be specialists in any one of those subjects. A chemistry teacher in a typical Texas high school might only have a minimal amount of college chemistry. Another part of the perfect storm results from the infinite wisdom and expertise of Texas legislators who decided it was a great idea to require twelve end of course exams as a condition of high school graduation. And, we are implementing the new science TEKS without new instructional materials. How that particular piece is allowable by law, I do not know.

For Chemistry, the entirety of our assessed curriculum for the Science Exit TAKS has been this (7 concepts):

(7) Science Concepts. The student knows relationships exist between properties of matter and its components. The student is expected to
(A) investigate and identify properties of fluids including density, viscosity, and buoyancy; and
(D) relate the chemical behavior of an element including bonding, to its placement on the periodic table.

(8) Science Concepts. The student knows that changes in matter affect everyday life. The student is expected to
(A) distinguish between physical and chemical changes in matter such as oxidation, digestion, changes in states, and stages in the rock cycle; and
(C) investigate and identify the law of conservation of mass.

(9) Science Concepts. The student knows how solution chemistry is a part of everyday life. The student is expected to
(A) relate the structure of water to its function [as the universal solvent];
(B) relate the concentration of ions in a solution to physical and chemical properties such as pH, electrolytic behavior, and reactivity; and
(D) demonstrate how various factors influence solubility including temperature, pressure, and nature of the solute and solvent.

Under the end of course exam program, this is the tested curriculum for Chemistry (24 concepts):

STAAR Chemistry Assessment
Reporting Category 1: Matter and the Periodic Table
The student will demonstrate an understanding of the properties of matter and the periodic table.

Science concepts. The student knows the characteristics of matter and can analyze the relationships between chemical and physical changes and properties. The student is expected to
(A) differentiate between physical and chemical changes and properties; Readiness Standard

(B) identify extensive and intensive properties;Supporting Standard

(C) compare solids, liquids, and gases in terms of compressibility, structure, shape, and volume; and Supporting Standard(D) classify matter as pure substances or mixtures through investigation of their properties. Readiness Standard

Science concepts. The student understands the historical development of the Periodic Table and can apply its predictive power. The student is expected to
(A)explain the use of chemical and physical properties in the historical development of the Periodic Table; Supporting Standard

(B)use the Periodic Table to identify and explain the properties of chemical families, including alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, halogens, noble gases, and transition metals; and Readiness Standard

(C)use the Periodic Table to identify and explain periodic trends, including atomic and ionic radii, electronegativity, and ionization energy. Readiness Standard

Atomic Structure and Nuclear Chemistry
The student will demonstrate an understanding of atomic theory and nuclear chemistry.
Science concepts. The student knows and understands the historical development of atomic theory. The student is expected to
(A) understand the experimental design and conclusions used in the development of modern atomic theory, including Dalton’s Postulates, Thomson’s discovery of electron properties, Rutherford’s nuclear atom, and Bohr’s nuclear atom; Supporting Standard

(B) understand the electromagnetic spectrum and the mathematical relationships between energy, frequency, and wavelength of light; Supporting Standard

(C) calculate the wavelength, frequency, and energy of light using Planck’s constant and the speed of light; Supporting Standard

(D) use isotopic composition to calculate average atomic mass of an element; and Supporting Standard

(E) express the arrangement of electrons in atoms through electron configurations and Lewis valence electron dot structures. Readiness Standard

Science concepts. The student understands the basic processes of nuclear chemistry. The student is expected to
(A) describe the characteristics of alpha, beta, and gamma radiation;
Supporting Standard

(B) describe radioactive decay process in terms of balanced nuclear equations; and Readiness Standard

(C) compare fission and fusion reactions.
Supporting StandardTexas Education Agency Student Assessment Division Fall 2010
Reporting Category 3: Bonding and Chemical Reactions
The student will demonstrate an understanding of how atoms form bonds and can qualify the changes that occur during chemical reactions.

Science concepts. The student knows how atoms form ionic, metallic, and covalent bonds. The student is expected to
(A) name ionic compounds containing main group or transition metals, covalent compounds, acids, and bases, using International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) nomenclature rules; Readiness Standard

(B) write the chemical formulas of common polyatomic ions, ionic compounds containing main group or transition metals, covalent compounds, acids, and bases; Readiness Standard

(C) construct electron dot formulas to illustrate ionic and covalent bonds; Readiness Standard

(D) describe the nature of metallic bonding and apply the theory to explain metallic properties such as thermal and electrical conductivity, malleability, and ductility; and Supporting Standard

(E) predict molecular structure for molecules with linear, trigonal planar, or tetrahedral electron pair geometries using Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory. Supporting Standard

Science concepts. The student can quantify the changes that occur during chemical reactions. The student is expected to
(A) define and use the concept of a mole;
Supporting Standard

(B)use the mole concept to calculate the number of atoms, ions, or molecules in a sample of material; Readiness Standard

(C)calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas; Supporting Standard

(D)use the law of conservation of mass to write and balance chemical equations; and Readiness Standard

(E)perform stoichiometric calculations, including determination of mass relationships between reactants and products, calculation of limiting reagents, and percent yield. Supporting Standard

Formerly our "formula chart" that students used as reference material when taking the Science Exit TAKS was:

Note that only one formula for Chemistry was on the chart - the formula for density.

This is the "formula chart" or reference material students will use when taking their Chemistry End of Course STAAR exam, beginning next school year with incoming 9th graders (most of whom will take Chemistry in the 2012-2013 school year):

It's impossible for anyone - including state legislators - to miss that our new high school Chemistry course increases the level of rigor considerably over our previous Chemistry course.

So, here's my central point: Teachers are in the classroom doing what they do best - teaching students. They are supported by curriculum specialists and professional development staff at central office who are toiling away already - very long days and very long weekends - finding or creating instructional materials that align with these new TEKS (since the state has not provided new textbooks or any other instructional materials that support them), creating common assessments that are implemented frequently to figure out whether the new curriculum is actually being taught and if students are learning it, and creating and implementing training for teachers on the new content (see my above point on composite certified teachers not necessarily knowing their chemistry to the depth and breadth required by the new TEKS.) This effort goes into super high gear next year, as our 9th graders start taking their end of course exams in Biology, World Geography, Algebra 1 and English 1.

I've given the example of one subject in one content area at the high school level. The same is true for all grade levels and all content areas, since all are affected by the new STAAR testing system and all grade levels are affected by the new Science TEKS. The new Social Studies TEKS get implemented next school year, with new Math TEKS to follow in all grade levels in 2012-2013.

I will add one more need we have for more support staff - large high schools typically have one testing coordinator for the entire campus, and one counselor for each grade level implementing and monitoring student progress on TAKS test, district benchmark exams, AP tests, etc. With the significantly increased testing burden on Texas high schools beginning next year, it's going to be impossible to implement STAAR and track student progress towards graduation without more support staff.

I can only guess that Republicans in the Texas Legislature expect teachers to pick up the load on creating their own new instructional materials, figuring out how to get their own professional development on the new Science TEKS in their spare time, tracking who passed and who failed each of the twelve new high school end of course exams, and designing and implementing remedial instruction for students who fail their high stakes tests required for graduation.

Basically, all of that cannot and should not be done by teachers. We cannot do with less support staff and meet the requirements put on us by the Texas Legislature and the State Board of Education.

The folks in Austin need to focus on reality and provide solutions that ensure student success with the new, more rigorous curriculum and testing that they imposed on Texas schools.

Bad Timing for Texas Teachers

2011-03-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

I just sat in on the end of today's House Appropriations Committee
hearing, where Chair Jim Pitts called everyone in Governor Perry's
budget office in an attempt to get someone on the record that he would
use the Rainy Day Fund.

No one answered their phone.

Pitts said the House budget bill - HB1 -would go to print tomorrow. It
will be voted out of committee at the end of next week, then go back
to print. It will go to the full House at the end of March for debate.

Note the bad timing for Texas teachers, many of whom will get pink
slips next week when they return from spring break.

Texas teachers are rallying. The situation is dire. And, the
Governor's staff won't answer their phones.

Sent from my iPhone

Concerned White Men in Suits Invade Texas Capitol

2011-03-14T13:58:00.000-05:00

Today, thousands more Texas teachers rallied to save public education.
Today's crowd plus Saturday's Save Texas Schools rally crowd easily
totaled 15,000.

I'm on the ground at the Capitol, and the educators are competing with
hundreds of middle aged white men in suits.

I caught one of them conversing with a legislator in the Annex about
how the session is interfering with hunting season.

These men in suits are surely lobbyists. There's a bunch of them here
today, rallying to Save Special Interests.

Teachers in AFT t-shirts are here giving them a run for their money.

Sent from my iPhone

School Budget Cuts: Pflugerville ISD

2011-03-01T15:44:00.000-06:00

I ran across a potential budget cut list from Pflugerville ISD with lots of details. Click here to view the document.

Some items that caught my attention:

Reduce budget by $1.8 million by moving high school to a block schedule and increasing class size to 30 students (cuts 36 teachers)
Eliminate one athletic coordinator at each high school, reducing budget by $150,000
Move middle school to a six period day and have a teacher to student ration of 1:28, eliminating 25 teachers and reducing budget by $1.25 million
Eliminate 10 elementary school teachers and increase class size at all grades, reducing budget by $500,000
Outsource grounds and custodial staff, for a budget reduction of $1.5 million
Eliminate assistant directors of human resources and special education, reducing budget by $150,00
Eliminate one assistant superintendent position, reducing budget by $110,000
Eliminate multiple technology positions

Possible sources of new revenue: increase average daily attendance, increase enrollment in career and technology education programs, operate an after school childcare program at elementary schools.

The full list is worth a look, to get an idea of how every school district in Texas is looking at drastically reducing their budget.

Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Robo Dials Parents

2011-02-28T06:00:00.005-06:00

Tim Jenney, superintendent of Fort Bend ISD, left an automated message on my phone on Saturday about the proposed drastic cuts in education from the State. I think it is interesting that he is proposing sin taxes and taxes on sugary drinks. Here is the transcript of the automated message:

Hello, this is Tim Jenney, superintendent of Fort Bend ISD.

By now, I believe everyone knows of the Texas Legislature's proposal to make deep cuts in the funding of all school districts in the coming school year.

I want you to know that the district is slated to suffer a funding loss of between $30 and $74 million. These budget cuts will negatively affect many of the programs and services the district currently provides for your children, for you and our community. This is a significant amount of money and every child in this district will be affected.

However, it is important for you to know that this loss of funding can be avoided and our state education funding does NOT have to be dramatically cut.

There are other means of protecting Texas education funding, such as:

using some of the state's 9 billion dollar rainy day fund

raising sin taxes on alcohol and cigarettes

creating surcharges for sugary drinks

restructuring the franchise tax

reforming target revenues to equalize funding for all children

utilizing adjusted accounting measures

The district is holding three budget town hall meetings to share this information with our community. And, I encourage you to attend one of them. I want you to know about the potential impact these proposed funding cuts from the state will have on this district and your child's education. In addition, we will give you information on how you can make your feelings known to your elected state legislators about the proposals to shortchange education rather than seek other funding alternatives.

Our first town hall meeting is Thursday, March 3rd at Missouri City Middle School.
The second one is Tuesday, March 8th at Colony Bend Elementary School.
And, the third one is Thursday, March 10th at Austin High School.

All meetings will be held from 7 to 8:30 PM in the school cafeteria.

Our FBISD Board of Trustee members and district administrators have been spending many hours meeting with our elected state representatives to express our concerns about the cuts, and offer suggestions for ways to adopt a state budget that will reduce long term effects on public education in Texas.

Your voice needs to be heard, as well. If there was ever a time to exercise your right as a citizen, this is the time. It is important to continue to contact your elected state officials throughout the spring to share your opinion.

Call, email, or write a letter, please. We need your support, and welcome your attendance.

Save Texas Schools: Alief to Austin

2011-02-27T12:52:00.000-06:00

The nonpartisan group Save Texas Schools is having a rally in Austin on Saturday, March 12th to protest the deep cuts to public education.

For the Waiting for Superman crowd, here's your chance to go be Superman or Wonder Woman for Texas school children. Join thousands of parents, students, business owners, members of the faith community and other concerned citizens as they march from 12th and Trinity to the Capitol in Austin to rally for public education:

March: 11:00 a.m. starting from 12th & Trinity (1 block east of the Capitol grounds)

Rally: Noon – 2:00 p.m. at the Texas State Capitol on the South Steps, Congress Ave. & 11th St.

There's a convenient option for folks in the Houston area who want to go up for the rally that morning and come back the same day. Former State Rep Kristi Thibaut and Alief ISD school board members Ella Jefferson and Ann Williams are providing a free bus. Details:

What: Alief to Austin bus for Save Texas School rally at the Capitol
When: Saturday, March 12. 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM
Where: LeRoy Crump Stadium parking lot, 4214 Cook, Houston, TX (map)
Cost: FREE!
RSVP: Natali. Lacasa@gmail.com

Click on the flyer on the right for more details. Kristi Thibaut and others will be on the bus providing background information on the public education budget crisis, as well as training for how to stay involved after the rally is over.

Bookmark the Save Texas Schools website and check back often. Information about buses and caravans from other cities can be found at this link.

Here is the Austin map showing the meetup point one block away from the Capitol:

View Larger Map

And, here is a map for Roy LeCrump Stadium in Alief:

View Larger Map

Fort Bend ISD to Hold Town Halls on "Deep Cuts" of $30 to $70 Million

2011-02-25T05:42:00.000-06:00

Here's the email I received yesterday from Fort Bend ISD superintendent, Tim Jenney. There will be three town halls to shine a light on the budget cuts coming at the district. I'm a parent of a junior in FBISD, so my relief is that we only have to experience one year of whatever "deep cuts" the district makes.

It's a real head shaker that all of these suburban districts are crying out for parents to contact the Legislature about them "shortchanging education rather than seeking other funding alternatives." People, wake up. The shortchange started occurring in 2003 when the less taxes/small government Republicans took control of state government and continued right on through them being elected in huge numbers last fall. Really, if you voted for Republicans such as Charlie Howard at any point, then you were the one who drew a straight line from your vote to the "deep cuts" about to hit your kids and your community.

Hello—this is Tim Jenney, superintendent of Fort Bend ISD.

By now I believe everyone knows of the Texas Legislatures’ proposal to make deep cuts in the funding of all school districts in the coming school year. I want you to know that the district is slated to suffer a funding loss of between 30 and 74 million dollars. These budget cuts will negatively affect many of the programs and services the district currently provides for your children, you, and our community.

The district is holding three Budget Town Hall meetings to share this information with our community, and I encourage you to attend one of them. I want you to know all about the potential impact these proposed funding cuts from the state will have on this district and your child’s education. In addition, we will give you information on how you can make your feelings known to your elected state legislators about the proposals to “shortchange” education rather than seek other funding alternatives.

The first town hall meeting is Thursday, March 3^rd at Missouri City Middle School, the second one is Tuesday, March 8^th at Colony Bend Elementary School, and the third one is Thursday, March 10^th, at Austin High School.

All meetings will be held from 7:00-8:30 pm in the school cafeteria. Check the Financial Challenges link on our district website for more information.

Regards,

Ethics ID Bill

2011-02-01T06:30:00.001-06:00

It would be simpler and more cost effective to just abolish the Texas Ethics Commission, but in case the Lege doesn't get around to that, one of the foxes that is guarding that particular henhouse, State Rep Ken Legler, has filed a bill that would require not one, but two pieces of ID to file a sworn complaint:

(b-1) To be eligible to file a sworn complaint with the commission, an individual must be a resident of this state or must own real property in this state. A copy of one of the following documents must be attached to the complaint:

(1) the complainant's driver's license or personal identification certificate issued under Chapter 521, Transportation Code, or commercial driver's license issued under Chapter 522, Transportation Code;

(2) a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that:

(A) shows the name and address of the complainant; and

(B) is dated not more than 30 days before the date on which the complaint is filed; or

(3) a property tax bill, notice of appraised value, or other government document that:

(A) shows the name of the complainant;

(B) shows the address of real property in this state; and

I know Rep. Legler is trying to keep that guy from California from continuing to point out the failure of Texas legislators to follow the ethics laws they enacted, but there are plenty of legal Texas residents who can fill out the simple sworn complaint forms and keep the lawyers and staff at the Ethics Commission busy slapping elected officials and candidates lightly on the back of their hands for being bad boys and girls.

Fortunately, the Lege hasn't (yet) figured out a way to stop AP reporter Jay Root from his investigative reporting of double dipping by Texas legislators, or the Travis County District Attorney's office from their expanded criminal inquiry into legislators stealing from the State:

Prosecutors have expanded a criminal inquiry into Texas lawmakers' double-dipping on expenses after one representative said he was auditing his spending practices and then repaid his campaign more than $15,000, an official told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Prosecutors already have acknowledged a criminal investigation into state Rep. Joe Driver, but not Rep. Dan Flynn, the only other lawmaker identified by the AP to have possibly double-dipped.

The "review has expanded to include other members that have engaged in conduct similar to Driver's," the official said Thursday.

Again, file and pass all of the silly elected officials protection bills you want, but the bottom line is that the Texas Ethics Commission is a state agency that should be at the top of everyone's budget cut list. Let the DA's office go after the more egregious violators, prosecuting the lawmakers to the fullest extent of the law.

Republican Senator Wants A Sub in Every Classroom

2011-01-31T05:29:00.000-06:00

From the geniuses who brought you Texas' structural deficit:

AUSTIN — School districts should be allowed to give teachers unpaid furloughs and cut their salaries to help deal with a funding shortfall that one estimate says could cost 100,000 jobs, a leading state senator says. (State Senate Education Committee Chairman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano)

“One of those burdens that we have placed on our school districts is that they cannot decrease your salary. They can’t have furlough days. It’s not allowed in the law. The only option is to fire,” said Shapiro. “We need to give them the ability to lower teacher salaries.”

This is absurd and offensive on several levels. For one, teachers work way, way more than a 40 hour work week, and any teacher can tell you that having a sub just means more work - the planning that goes into it, leaving work for the students, and doing clean up and grading when you get back. So, making teachers take furlough days does not decrease their workload. It just slaps them in the face and gives them less pay.

Secondly, substitutes teaching our kid instead of a highly trained educator? Are you kidding me? This is what we want for Texas at time when school becomes more high stakes for students at the high school level next year with twelve end of course tests?

Republicans put this budget disaster on track with deregulation and tax cuts beginning in 2003, and their solution is to cut the pay of already low paid teachers? This is starting to remind me of an abusive marriage where the husband cheats on his wife and she is treated like its her fault, so she stays quiet and puts up with it. "Well, it's better than being poor and being out on the streets." That sort of thing. The fault of this lies squarely on the shoulders of Republicans, yet teachers are supposed to take less pay and thank a Republican for not taking all of their pay?

Come on, Senator Shapiro. Your Party set up the situation where we have this budget crisis. You really want to decrease the quality of our education system in Texas even further? Get into the Rainy Day Fund, increase fees or taxes - do something besides hurt Texas school children and send Texas' economic future spiraling down even further.

FY 2011 Sugar Land City Budget: How Bad Is It?

2011-01-01T11:57:00.000-06:00

A cursory look at the state of the City of Sugar Land's budget, shows the city has the same revenue decline problem as other cities - with a decline in sales tax (5%) and interest income being the main culprits. Property valuation grew, but only because the city annexed River Park.

Sugar Land's fiscal year is Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. To balance the budget, reductions were made in these areas for fiscal year 2011:

elimination of vacant staff positions without layoffs (11)
no salary increases for City employees
continuation of a hiring freeze (in place since 2008)
reducing departmental operation expenses

New or increased fees:

new Public Infrastructure Plan Review and Inspection Fee for new development projects
increased water fees - average of $4.37 increase per month per homeowner to pay for the legislatively mandated 30% reduction in water pumped from underground wells (the city is building a surface water treatment plant to meet the mandate)
increase of $.93 per month to homeowner's solid waste bills (new fee will be $17.63/month)

New and expanded services for fiscal year:

new recreation center funded by a 1999 bond package (which will also bring in new fees to the city from those who use the recreation center)
fire station #7 that will serve New Territory and Telfair, partly funded through an agreement with New Territory (residents in New Territory will pay a higher fire protection fee, as a result of this new fire station)
City operated Convention and Visitors Bureau, funded from restricted hotel occupancy taxes

New capital improvement projects:

the aforementioned water surface plant
minor league baseball stadium, funded through the economic development sales tax
Town Center pedestrian and bicycle safety and mobility (part of a larger bicycle and pedestrian plan for Sugar Land)

There is no change in the tax rate - $.30 per $100 value, the same tax rate we've had since 2007.

One of the things that is interesting about living in Sugar Land, as opposed to the City of Houston, is that the hue and cry over budget changes - particularly things like increased fees - is almost non-existent. We get community papers thrown in our yard (and they exist online), and we get a publication from the City called Sugar Land Today in the mail. There isn't usually any network TV coverage of our city government in action. Unless someone is a hyper vigilant watchdog, you pretty much find out about things like your water rate going up, after the fact.

Texas Budget Fix: Cuts to Colleges and Universities

2010-12-27T11:25:00.000-06:00

So, if publicly funded colleges and universities in Texas are going to take a huge hit when Republican legislators rectify the $25 billion state budget deficit by enacting massive cuts, rather than raising taxes, what is that going to look like exactly? Inquiring minds (aka, parents of college aged children) want to know.

The Chron takes a stab at it today:

Cut financial aid (I'm thinking some of those programs that allow low income kids to go to college tuition free in Texas? Currently, the state requires universities to set aside 20% of tuition increases for financial aid (Senate Bill 1304) - will that requirement go away?)
increase class size
cut course sections (anyone remember the last big budget cut to state supported universities in the 80's? I was in grad school at UH and had a difficult time completely my degree program because courses I needed were offered so infrequently. The solution was to not take them, and to get credit for special research courses that were offered by professors - not as a part of a regular class.)
layoff or furlough professors
increase tuition
community colleges will raise taxes (this is the solution that Republicans love the most - push the tax increases onto another taxing entity, thereby keeping their own promise of "no new taxes" - people (voters) really are too dumb to catch on to this)
collaboration among institutions (as an example, an Aggie friend of mine told me last week that A&M and UT are sharing lobbyists - they have realized their future is linked. I imagine that is a cost savings, as well)

What are other states and countries doing to cut higher ed?

Scotland (from The Courier): voluntary reductions in force, fewer student admissions, less research (grant cuts)

Overall in the UK: monies for teaching and research were drastically cut, resulting in student protests over increased tuition

California: cut special programs like fine arts and deaf studies (San Diego), raise retirement age of university staff and cut retirement benefits, accept less students, cut course offerings, raise student fees, fewer labs (unable to afford the grad students to run them), find innovate ways to raise money and admit more foreign students (University of California system)

Brandeis: close university run museum and sell valuable art

LSU: triage and cut non-core teaching and research functions first (palatable, perhaps, but now they are having to move on to cutting core functions)

Anyone know of other specific cuts to higher ed the Lege is considering? Or, of specific cuts or tuition/fee increases universities will make in response?

As a parent of college aid kids, my biggest concerns are: will my high school junior be able to get into a Texas college and at what cost? Are we going to eat up all of our college savings on the college sophomore?

There are a hundred blog posts in the making on how this is all going to play out, including the huge expenses colleges lay out to remediate our poorly educated high school graduate population. Stay tuned.

What's on Your Reading List?

2010-12-20T17:33:00.000-06:00

Education and leadership is the topic - what are you reading? I am digging into RTI (Response to Intervention), as well as leadership, in general. I subscribe to the Lead Your School blog (excellent, and I highly recommend it), and Sean Cain recommended these books today. Have you read any of these? I've read Good to Great, The Tipping Point, Classroom Instruction that Works and Who Moved My Cheese. I take issue with there being no female authors on this list . . . surely there are females who have written worthy books on instruction or leadership? If not, maybe I need to get busy writing . . ..

Tell me what you think of Cain's choices, and if you have other books on education or leadership that you would highly recommend, please share in the comments!

The First Five

Results Now, by Mike Schmoker. This book sets the tone. If on the whole you disagree with what Mike writes in this book, you are going to disagree with LYS (the Organization and probably the Nation).

Corp Business, by David H. Freedman. The book I made every new AP I hired read. I have yet to find a book that does a better job of laying out the actionable ABC’s of leading people in the field.

Good to Great, by Jim Collins. There are hedgehogs and foxes.Reject your fox instincts and embrace your inner hedgehog.

The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. The primer on the power of the few. Those who question the power of the LYS Nation just don’t recognize the implication of a network of the best Mavens, Connectors and Salespeople in our field.

Classroom Instruction That Works, by Robert Marzano. The final word on the research that proves the effect of best practice.This book is so critical to our profession that if you haven’t read it yet, you don’t deserve a seat at the table when the discussion turns to instruction.

The Best of the Rest (6-10)

The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, by Michael Fullan.

You actually should read everything that Fullan writes, but if time is a factor, this is the one to start with. I do have one small problem with Fullan. He’s too smart. He understands the nuances that drive expert leadership and does a world class job of explaining this (perhaps better than anyone). Unfortunately, the smart/lazy manager type can use Fullan as justification for their repeatedly inane actions (or inaction).

How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins.

Yes, it is a business book, but Collins lays out the doom loop that district after district is currently stuck in. Fortunately, he tells us how to get out of the loop and even prevent it. Unfortunately, most senior leadership doesn’t care and isn’t listening.

Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

The modern classic. I only appreciated it after I read it the second time. First, you have to have tried to manage significant organizational change and made a mess of it; than you are ready understand what Dr. Johnson is really teaching us.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell.

Maxwell is a former pastor. He writes about church leadership. In many ways, church leadership is a better model for school leaders than business leadership. Violate the Irrefutable Laws at the peril of your organization and you career.

Slot number ten is filled by a number of books, that depending on my mood, interest, or need of the person I’m working with, that I might recommend. Some of those books include:

33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene for strategic and tactical planning.

The Federalist Papers, by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. If you are trying to lead an organization of more than three people who have competing self-interests, you might find this worth reading.

It’s Called Work for a Reason, by Larry Wingate. Admittedly a pulp book. But sometimes we have to get over ourselves, cut thru the BS and admit that we had a job to do and how hard we tried doesn’t matter if we’re not successful. Just looking at the title ought to give you a little boost when the going gets tough.

His Excellency, by Joseph J. Ellis. Think you have leadership all figured out? If this study of George Washington doesn’t convince otherwise, you must be pretty darn good.

Budget Fix: Education

2010-12-13T05:43:00.000-06:00

If the Texas budget deficit is around $25 billion, and education takes up 44% ($35 billion) of the state's expense budget, then clearly, there will be cuts to education. This will come at the time Texas schools are gearing up for the new STAAR testing program for grades 3-12, including twelve new end of course exams required for high school graduation.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has a plan to cut $558 million from the education budget by eliminating the 22 pupil class size limit in elementary schools. 12,000 teaching jobs would be lost. According to the Texas Education Agency's 2009 Snapshot, there are nearly 328,000 teachers in Texas, so 12,000 represents 3.7% of the total. My guess it that these job cuts would be met mostly by attrition. Parents won't be happy with the larger class size in elementary classrooms, but this change has been predictable since the Republican controlled Texas Legislature created the structural deficit in the budget in 2006.

The $558 million in savings wouldn't be nearly enough to contribute to fixing the budget deficit, so the education budget would have to be trimmed in other ways:

larger high school classes
less administrative support to schools
student support programs cut (health, social and academic)
athletics
fine arts
less testing

More details will emerge soon, as the Lege gets back in session in January. I'll look at some of the other solutions in future blog posts. Maybe the severity of the cuts will finally get the attention of teachers and parents, and they will vote for pro-education candidates, rather than tax cut happy Republicans.

RIP, Carlos Guerra

2010-12-06T22:49:00.000-06:00

What an absolute shock to read tonight on my Twitter feed (of all places) that my friend Carlos Guerra had died.

Carlos was a former columnist for the San Antonio Express News, and I new him online as a terrific writer and activist. We met in person in Corpus this summer at the Texas Democratic Convention. I recognized him right away in the press room and I played fan girl and introduced myself, then promptly invited him to go out to dinner with me and my friends. What a treat that evening was to get to visit with him . . . hear his tales . . .and get to know him. He gave me a "Do I look like an illegal" button? that I keep on my dresser and see everyday.

We kept up online and he recently sent me very sweet birthday wishes. I'll miss his intelligence, his writing, and his updates on the yummy meals he was making.

Dear, sweet, smart, generous Carlos . . . I miss you already.

Budget Fix: Kick Diabetics to the Street?

2010-12-01T06:30:00.002-06:00

In a continuing effort to point out State Rep Jim Pitts' promise to "throw some people out on the street" (referring to poor, sick people) in order to fix the $25 billion Texas budget deficit that Republicans created, here's a suggestion: throw all diabetics out on the street. From the Texas Tribune:

The number of adult Texans with diabetes is expected to quadruple over the next three decades — a massive spike that demographers and health care experts attribute to the state’s aging population and out-of-control obesity epidemic.

[----]

The numbers, while staggering, are only part of the picture. Diabetes, the sixth-leading cause of death in Texas, currently costs the state more than $12.5 billion a year, according to theAmerican Diabetes Association. One in 10 health care dollars is attributable to the disease.

Any TAKS taking 5th grader can tell you that $12.5 billion is half of $25 billion. I don't know if the ADA figure means it costs the state government that much, but you get the idea. By kicking this subpopulation to the street, you whack away at the budget deficit and at the same time, you leave poor, sick people with no money with which to purchase fast food, so they get well. It's a win-win!

Previous Budget Fix post: Kill the Texas Ethics Commission.

Budget Fix: Kill the Ethics Commission

2010-11-30T06:30:00.000-06:00

State Rep. Jim Pitts is making promises to throw poor, sick people out on the street in order to fix the Texas budget crisis that the Republicans created:

"Pitts told the crowd that the state is studying Medicaid and other forms of government-run health care with the idea of getting out of it. A man in the audience mentioned a friend on the program and asked whether lawmakers would “throw him out on the street.”

“If we did exactly what we’re doing today, we wouldn’t be throwing him out on the street,” Pitts answered. “But if we have any savings on getting out of Medicaid, we will have to throw some people out in the street. I’m not telling you that your friend would be, but the eligibility to receive state benefits will go down."

He also said lawmakers would propose eliminating some state agencies, and I have a suggestion - abolish the Texas Ethics Commission! Why not? John Coby's post on Larry Taylor made me think, really, why not kill this commission right off the bat when the Lege goes into session.

According to a complaint filed with the Travis County District Attorney, Taylor has been stealing from the tax payers by filing for travel reimbursement from the Comptroller's Office. But this travel was paid for by his campaign account, The Coalition To Elect Larry Taylor.

[---]

This complaint was filed by Dave Palmer of California. He couldn't file with the Ethics Commission because the republican House and Senate passed a bill forbidding complaints from outside of Texas. Instead he filed with the District Attorney's office. This is a better move since the TEC will never, and has never, taken action against anyone stealing money from taxpayers or their donors.

The TEC has an annual budget of over $2 million with 37 full time equivalent employees.

I say throw it on the fire, and get rid of this toothless, ridiculous, tax payer wasting agency once and for all. No one will miss it, except for attorneys who make a killing off of defending their clients in front of the Ethics Commission (hello, Ed Shack.) Elected officials and candidates running for office would be able to run amok and steal, cheat and spend their campaign cash however they want with no consequences for misbehavior . . . unless someone wants to file a complaint with the DA like Dave Palmer did against Larry Taylor.

This is a state agency that is not protecting the public interest. Instead it's just protecting the interests of elected officials. Chip $2 million off the budget deficit by making it go bye-bye.

Early Voting: Stick a Fork in it Today

2010-10-29T06:30:00.001-05:00

For those of you who have been inundated with phone calls to go vote - and are sick of it - I have two pieces of advice:

1. Next time, vote early during the early voting process. This should take your name and number out of the universe of calls to be made. Campaigns have access to records that show who has voted to date, and who has not.

2. Get rid of your landline! What in the heck are you waiting for? It's 2010, for goodness sakes. The laws about robo dialing cell phones are much different than for landlines. Unless you have opted in for a campaign to call your cell, you should be getting just about zero "go vote" messages on your cell.

Today is your last day to vote early. If you don't get it done today, expect a ton of calls over the weekend and through Tuesday from everyone who thinks they can influence you - Obama, Hillary, your state rep, your state senator, your kindergarten teacher, and anyone else a campaign can dig up and put in front of a voice recorder.

What does the voting look like in Fort Bend County, so far? Enlarge these photos and check it out (through Wednesday, Oct. 27):

And, for Harris County, here's voting through Thursday, October 28:

Prop 1 Missing Details and Transparency

2010-10-23T10:33:00.002-05:00

I've got some questions about Proposition 1 - the flooding and drainage fee proposition on the Houston ballot:

Why the lack of transparency and details?
With the well funded Renew Houston (google that and it points to the Prop 1 website) campaign, the City has known since January that there would be enough signatures for Prop 1 to be on the ballot.

Why not go ahead and move some obstacles out of the way early on, like make public schools and churches exempt?
Colleges and universities are already exempt, due to state law, so I'm not buying the "schools and churches have impervious cover and are part of the problem, so they need to be part of the solution" argument. For political reasons, if nothing else, those obstacles should have never been there. Move those out of the path early on and the pathway to victory is a more clear - and, it takes away one of the griping points from teapartiers and Republicans and right wing pastors. And, golly, if schools and churches have such a huge stake in making our streets safe, make them exempt from the fee and work very hard to ensure they are vocal advocates of the plan.

Why in the world would anyone think it's a smart idea to make engineers the face of the proposition?
It's not like it's not real clear they are very nearly the only ones funding the campaign to pass Prop 1 (spreadsheet of donors at this link.) Their biggest funder, Bob Jones - president of an engineering firm who will greatly benefit financially if Prop 1 passes, shot his mouth of in an arrogant, racist attack about the concerns of black elected officials. Come on. Engineers are process people and good with details and implementation, but they would not be my first pick for communication and persuasion for an issues oriented campaign. The Renew Houston/Prop 1 engineers' absolute arrogance in response to the HISD school board's unanimous opposition to Prop 1, is a case in point. If flooding and drainage is a crisis issue for Houston, why not bring more stakeholders on board early on - as funders, spokespeople, etc.

Why not have City Council vote on how the 20-year and $8 billion Prop 1 plan would be implemented - at least in terms of the metric that will be used to prioritize projects - before voters go to the polls, and not after the election?
Yes, I know the metric is being developed right now as we speak and that it is complicated. The City's Public Works and Engineering department supposedly has tools AND A PLAN to spend the money on prioritized flooding and drainage projects - what is that plan? The mayor published her proposed principles for implementing Prop 1, but it's City Council who will vote on and approve an implementation plan - and it could end up being very different from the mayor's proposal. Council could have already voted on "if Prop 1 passes, here is how it's going to work . . . the priorities will be determined this way . . . and here is who is going to be exempt." There are models from other large cities on how this type of fee is implemented in regards to rate plans, metrics and priorities. The City's plan for this should already be clear to voters before they are asked to tax themselves and hand billions of dollars over to engineering firms. There is some sort of game of chicken going on here so that if Prop 1 fails, elected officials can throw their hands in the air and say, "hey, I didn't put this on the ballot - this was an engineer driven thing, and it was handled poorly, and I have no idea what we are going to do about our flooded streets now that voters have voted against it." Which leads me to:

How do we fix Houston's flooding and drainage problem if Prop 1 does not pass? The reason lots of folks are saying, "vote for this because there is not another solution on the table" is because there is not another solution on the table. But, I'd really like to hear - from someone who is responsible - if it's so critical to pass Prop 1, seriously, what are we going to do if it doesn't pass. Make that clear.

Exit TAKS Retake Week

2010-10-22T06:30:00.002-05:00

Believe it or not, this is a TAKS week. Yeah, we think of TAKS as being a fun (haha!) spring time festivity, but if you fail one or more of your Exit TAKS as a junior, you get to retake it and retake it and retake it until you pass . . . or give up.

Yesterday was a big day for me and the first period class I teach - 21 great kids who are seniors and need to pass their Science Exit. We've been learning content, going to lab twice a week and doing practice TAKS problems. They have done everything I've asked of them, and they have exceeded my expectations. This is a group of kids who want to learn what they need to learn so they can graduate. Thursday was their Science Exit TAKS retake day. Tuesday was ELA, Wednesday was Math, and Friday is Social Studies.

I believe in these kids. I met them at the door of their testing room and gave them high fives and words of encouragement. We had a last minute review out in the hall of test taking strategies, and a few of them had one last question for me on content.

I met several of them later in the day as they left the testing room and they were smiling at me, telling me they thought they did great. I sure hope so.

TAKS is really not all that easy for many kids - particularly kids in poverty. We are all dreading next year when our freshmen have to start passing the first four of twelve end of course exams to graduate. But, we are preparing. We are not going to let our kids down. We are not going to let them let themselves down.

If you assume TAKS is easy or that the cut score is too low, take a few of them online at this link. The dreaded TPM is not an issue with Exit TAKS. Either you pass them and graduate, or you don't. There is no credit for "growth."

We get our results back the first week in December. Fingers crossed. Graduation is at stake.

Two Days of Early Voting in Harris County

2010-10-20T05:29:00.000-05:00

Here's the record of the first two days of early voting in Harris County (click on the image to make it bigger.) It's by early vote location. Those locations can be found at this link, along with days and hours of early voting.

At first glance, it looks like Republican areas of the county are voting heavily, and Democratic areas not so much, but Kuff crunched the data after day one and didn't find that much difference in percentages from what happened right off the bat in 2006.

I live in Fort Bend, and voted on Monday. I'm sort sad the King Street Patriot poll watchers aren't out here. I would have loved to have been harassed, so I could get them in trouble (read or watch Miya Shay's report on their voter intimidation activities at minority poll locations in Harris County.) Instead, I just had to make my way through road construction and a police officer directing traffic right at the entrance of my early vote location.

As a reminder, here's all the info you need to find out how to vote early in Fort Bend County. It would be nice to see the early vote totals to date in Fort Bend County, but if they are on the always confusing elections website, I can't find them.

Folks, you have until next Friday to go vote early at any early voting location in your county. After that, mark your calendars for Tuesday, Nov. 2nd, where you will need to vote by 7 PM at the polling location in your precinct.

Early Voting Schedule and Locations in Fort Bend County

2010-10-18T05:35:00.000-05:00

I'm about to fall out of my chair - I just discovered early voting at my early vote location is until 7 PM every night this week. Yay! Most of us in Fort Bend commute to work, and being able to vote that late is a huge help. I remember when the first week of early voting meant the polls closed at 4 PM.

All of the Fort Bend County early voting locations, and times they are open, are listed here, with photographs and maps of the location.

At this link is a map of Fort Bend County, with clickable early voting locations.

The first day of early voting is Monday, October 18, and the last day of early voting is Friday, October 29.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd.

I'm excited to vote for Judy Jennings, who is running to be my State Board of Education member, Jeff Weems for Railroad Commissioner, and Linda Chavez Thompson, for Lt. Governor, as well as all of the Democratic candidates, except crazy Kesha Rogers. What a mess. I'm going to have to vote straight D, then uncheck her.

I read in Capitol Inside that Fort Bend County is Ground Zero for Democrats in this election. Well, this Democrat hasn't received any mail, so the ground I live on in Fort Bend is getting zero attention. That's OK, because I have such a strong Democratic voting history, but with all the checking and unchecking going on with Kesha on the ballot, it would probably be a good idea to shore up the triple D's with mail. Maybe it's coming. There may be another unchecking going on with a county D candidate, who is unworthy for office . . .so yeah, it's not going to be the straight D experience I usually enjoy.

If you live in Fort Bend and want to find out who is on your ballot, or even what your precinct number is, click on this link.

Prop 1 in Houston: How to Tick Off Your Supporters

2010-10-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

I thought it was pretty bad that the Prop 1 folks didn't make it clear that schools would have to pay the flood and drainage fee, thereby giving their opponents an advantage in having something juicy to holler about before voting starts in a couple of weeks. HISD got plenty of media attention before and after today's unanimous school board vote to oppose Prop 1.

Just to correct Board President Greg Meyers - he said he didn't like that one taxing entity (City of Houston) was taxing another taxing entity (HISD). Well, Prop 1 is proposing a fee, not a tax. If it was a tax, which would have been a death blow due to Republican opposition, he'd have a point. But, it's not a tax, it's a fee. And, it's a fee on the portion of the property that has impervious ground cover, not the entirety of the property. What I heard today was that there were talks between the City and HISD about some solutions for them to be exempt from paying the fee. So I was hopeful I'd hear something positive in the press at some point today or tomorrow. Instead, I received the press release below from the Prop 1 advocates (engineers who will benefit from Prop 1 passing.)

It looks like they think they can win the war by going to battle with the largest school district in Houston. This is about the most boneheaded move I can imagine. You know, as much trouble as schools are in academically and financially, most parents believe their local public school is good. Also, I didn't know the Prop 1 backers were education experts. My goodness, I'm begging them to please lend their expertise to the school finance problems, since they have so much knowledge about where the fat is in school budgets.

Anyway, here you go . . . the Prop 1 press release going after HISD:

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 7, 2010

Contact:

Kathryn McNiel, (713) 528-3335

kathryn@kchace.com

Carolyn Campbell, (713) 530-4778

ccampbelltx@gmail.com

Vote FOR Prop 1 Campaign to HISD: “Cut the Waste, Not the Teachers”

The Vote FOR Prop 1 Campaign regrets to learn that the Houston Independent School District is taking a position against the best interests of our city, taxpayers, and most importantly our children.

HISD should do a more responsible job of managing taxpayer funds before laying off teachers and opposing a fiscally responsible plan to keep its students safe.

In short, HISD should cut the waste, not the teachers.

HISD has been rocked by at least two scandals this year, from lax oversight of more than a billion dollars in bond funds to spending millions on unnecessary overtime.

HISD needs to provide it's students with safe passage to schools on safe and dry roads. It needs to make sure parents can pick up their kids from school after a heavy rain. It needs to make sure police and fire have quick access to schools to keep our children safe.

HISD does NOT need to use its students as a political football when it can do a better job managing its own tax dollars.

Proposition 1 requires the city to end years of wasteful borrowing and convert to a responsible, pay-as-you-go plan to rebuild our crumbling streets and help prevent flooding. It ties the hands of politicians so they cannot use these funds for any other purpose.

The politicians at HISD should take a lesson and get their own fiscal house in order before penalizing our kids.

We urge the Houston Independent School District to reconsider it’s resolution and join thoughtful leaders supporting Proposition 1 like the Houston Chronicle, Mayor Annise Parker, the Greater Houston Partnership, AFL-CIO, LULAC Council #402, Houston Police Officers’ Union, the Neartown/Montrose Super Neighborhood, Scenic Houston, Brays Bayou Association, Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the thousands of other Houstonians who don’t want to worry about high water and reaching their children at school or on school buses whenever the skies open up.

Is the Real Texas Budget Deficit $25 Billion?

2010-10-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

I realize Rick Perry barely acknowledges there is a budget deficit at all, but the number I've been hearing - from him - is $18 billion. Then, I saw this tweet from University of Houston President Renu Khator:

RT@UHPres In Austin today for Chancellors meeting..overheard that state budget shortfall may be as high as $25 billion!

So, has anyone else heard this number? $25 billion is 39% greater than $18 billion. That's significant.

Of course, if Perry would face us, and appear at debates, we might be able to get some answers.

Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia Has a Message to Latino Voters

2010-10-04T06:30:00.000-05:00

This is a great ad in Spanish by Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia. The gist of it is that it's important for the Latino community to get out and vote in this election - as important as voting in the Presidential elections, because the people elected this November make decisions about our schools, hospitals and parks.

She invokes family, as well. Basically, the message is - vote our voting strength so that we have a say in the future of our families and community.

Excellent. Even this SLL (Spanish Language Learner) got the message!

Phone Bank for a Better SBOE in Fort Bend on Monday!

2010-10-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

EOC's and the State Budget Crisis: A Perfect Storm

2010-09-29T06:00:00.001-05:00

Gov. Perry has a TV ad out right now where the birds are singing and the butterflies are fluttering and he's smiling so big, taking credit for Texas' great economy . . . when in the land of reality, things are a lot more grim.

There's a perfect storm in science education, as one example. Every Texas high school had to implement a fourth year of science course on their campus for all twelfth graders this year. We have new TEKS, some of which have no basis in science. We have no new textbooks. Proclamation 2012, which would have provided money for new K-12 science textbooks was not adopted by the SBOE this year. And, we have End of Course exams starting next year, with most freshman needing to pass EOC's in Biology, Algebra I, English I and World Geography, as a requirement of graduation.

But we have, at a minimum, an $18 million budget deficit in the Great State, and the Texas Education Agency is recommending cutting $260 million in education programs including:

eliminating money for new science labs (which are needed for the 4th year of science requirement)

teacher mentoring

teacher professional development

new textbooks

How does cutting any of these key areas help get kids graduated under the new high stakes End of Course program?

If we are serious about graduating students from Texas public schools, we are going to have to find the money somewhere to ensure we have the trained personnel, facilities and instructional materials to make that happen.

This is the fundamental goal of our public school system - to provide an equitable, quality education to all Texas students. These kids don't vote and it's the responsibility of adults to ensure our education system serves them well.

On the Ground: Teaching the New Science TEKS Without Textbooks

2010-09-28T06:05:00.000-05:00

Looks like I'm not the only one hyper concerned about the costs of the upcoming high school end of course exams (EOC's). I blogged yesterday about the less obvious costs the EOC's - costs of remediating failures, being my main point. The Statesman reports the enormous state budget shortfall may mean no new instructional materials to prepare students for the EOC's, which will be implemented next school year.

To which I say: SO WHAT? People! We have new Science TEKS this year. We are teaching these RIGHT NOW to high school students with no new instructional materials. Our textbooks are ten years old and they were inadequate for teaching the old TEKS. They sit at the back of classrooms as a class set, rarely used.

COME ON. We are living the EOC's right now. We have no choice. While this year's freshmen have to pass four Exit TAKS in the spring of 2013 in order to graduate, teachers are in EOC teaching mode this year. We can't do a disservice to our students and lurch into action next year, doing a half ass job, scrambling to figure out how to get next year's freshmen prepared for twelve tests that determine their graduation.

Where are we getting instructional materials to match the new Science TEKS, the basis for the upcoming end of course exams? Teachers are making their own powerpoints, devising labs, creating quick writes, exit tickets, foldables, graphic organizers, etc. We search the internet and go through our plethora of lab books, cooperative learning activities and other materials to find instructional activities that closely match the language of our new TEKS.

Folks, we have Promethean boards (interactive white boards.) We have student response systems. We have document cameras. We have digital projectors in every room. Textbooks are old technology. Teachers are evaluated on their use of NEW technology!

The State Board of Education spent an enormous amount of time and effort ensuring our new Science TEKS have creationist language - and probably more egregiously, adding many additional TEKS to our already overloaded list of things we have to teach - and now one of the ringleaders, David Bradley, is whining and ringing his hands:

"Either the Legislature needs to find a way to provide new instructional materials or they need to consider postponing end-of-course exams on the new standards," said State Board of Education member David Bradley, R-Beaumont. "It would be patently unfair to test students on materials that aren't available."

Please. The schedule for new TEKS development, new textbooks, and EOC implementation was has been public for at least two years. The SBOE has been too focused on their religious agenda to pay attention to what really matters with real instruction with real children. No worries. Texas teachers are smart, hard working and caring. We are already doing right by our students - without any help from the Legislature or the State Board.

What we would really like are Kindles or iPads or digital notebooks to take our instruction to the next level, with hyperlinked text and instructional videos in the hands of every kid - not to mention science lab facilities and materials to ensure the lab requirements of the new Science TEKS are met. Skip the hand wringing over textbooks and get us what we need to go along with the new TEKS aligned lessons we are creating right now, so we can ensure every Texas student has a fighting chance to pass their twelve End of Course exams and graduate.

End of Course Exams Will Drive Students to Minimum Graduation Plan

2010-09-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Beginning next school year, Texas high school students will have to pass twelve high stakes tests to graduate, instead of the current four tests. This year's freshman class is the last cohort to have to pass English, Math, Science and Social Studies Exit TAKS to earn a high school diploma. This year's eighth graders will have to pass twelve end of course exams (EOC's) in Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English I, English II, English II, World Geography, World History and U.S. History in order to graduate.

Or, will they? Not if they switch to the Minimum Graduation Plan. Texas education law states that all students will graduate under the Recommended Graduation Plan, and can only switch to the Minimum Graduation Plan when they are 16 years old (which typically occurs in their sophomore year), if a parent and school administrator signs off on it, when they have failed to promote to grade 10 one or more times, and have completed two credits in each of the four core subject areas (English, Math, Social Studies and Science.)

The Minimum Graduation Plan is going to become an increasingly attractive option - if not the only option - to get struggling kids graduated from high school. I'm talking about kids who enter 9th grade and start failing multiple EOC's right off the bat, the spring of their freshman year.

For all the talk about increased rigor, and college and career readiness standards - which, to be clear, I believe preparing kids for post high school opportunities is absolutely critical - job one in our K-12 public education system is to get kids graduated from high school.

School district leaders are pondering all of the possibilities for low performing eighth graders right now, as course catalogs for next school year will go to print this Fall. If data predicts that some students won't be successful in the 4x4, they may be steered towards a Science program that includes only two Science credits (allowable under the Minimum Graduation Plan) - Biology (with an End of Course Exam) and IPC (which will have no EOC.) These same kids would take three math courses, with only two of them having EOC's (Algebra I and Geometry). The third could be Math Models, with no EOC.

You get the picture. Is this what the Texas Legislature intended - more kids on the Minimum Graduation Plan because the End of Course system is likely to increase the drop out rate dramatically?

School leaders are wondering if they will be penalized by having increases in the Minimum Graduation Plan, but the future school accountability rating system under EOC's has not been finalized, so who knows.

For another look at unintended consequences, read my post on the unfunded mandates of the EOC's.

End of Course Exams: Another Unfunded Mandate

2010-09-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am tempted to rename this blog "Education in Texas: The Land of Unintended Consequences," because there are so many examples. For starters, several aspects of the new, high stakes high school end of course exams come with unfunded mandates.

I'm in the middle of planning a 15-day out TAKS review for Science TAKS retesters at my high school. Currently, high school students have to pass four Exit TAKS tests to graduate - in Math, Science, ELA and Social Studies. Texas schools are required to remediate students who fail any of their Exit tests. It's not unusual to have multiple TAKS prep classes for senior retesters. It's usually coded for local credit - meaning the credit for the semester long or year long Exit TAKS remediation class does not count for graduation credit. Some districts get around that by coding their TAKS prep class as Environmental Science or some other legit course for graduation credit, but teach it as a straight TAKS prep class. It's not right to code it that way, but these kids now need a fourth year of science credit to graduate, as well as the mandated TAKS prep - and there is not room in these kids' schedules for both, so what do you do? Plus, usually a science Exit retester is retesting in at least one other subject, if not all four, and you have to cram all the remediation in the senior year.

How does this scenario change once we start implementing End of Course Exams next year? Well, for one, we will still be remediating Exit TAKS failures for three more school years. This year's freshman will still take TAKS, so when they are seniors - in three years - they will be remediating. At the same time, beginning in the 2012-2013 school year, we will start remediating sophomores who failed one or more of their freshman end of course exams.

For those who need a primer, here are the twelve courses that will require an end of course exam, starting next year. Students have to pass every single one of them to graduate, and their score on the EOC counts as 15% of their course grade (making the test much more high stakes for students than TAKS):

Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra II
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
English I
English II
English III
World History
World Geography
U.S. History

So, 14 year olds step on our high school campuses, needing to pass all these tests - or remediate. Schools are grappling with how they will deal with all of that remediation. It feels like it will require more teachers putting those remediation classes on their schedules - and needing classrooms and resources that are not provided as part of any revenue stream to schools.

So, there is the cost in personnel, physical classrooms and instructional resources to remediate twelve End of Course exams.

Another cost will be in computers to take the EOC's on a computer. Nobody in school leadership is stupid. Once students get close to graduation, they will need to take the EOC's online, in order to get quick results. The tests will be administered the second week of May, with graduation slated for two weeks after that. Nobody can wait two to three weeks for results of pencil and paper tests, if they are going to adequately prepare for graduation. So, we need more computers and more server capacity.

Also, we need to really plan well for professional development and mentoring support for new teachers. There will be zero room for new teacher to fail their students whose graduation depends on good instruction. There is a cost to all of that support for new teachers.

So, increased costs of mandated EOC remediation will include teacher professional development, more capacity for online testing, and additional instructional resources, including personnel and classrooms.

The next post will be on the effects of EOC's on graduation plans. There will be an increase in students graduating under the Minimum Plan, no doubt about it.

Gubernatorial Debate in Houston Oct 3rd?

2010-09-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

I got this invite. I wonder if Harris County Department of Education realizes Rick Chicken Perry won't show.

You are invited to attend this very special event

Harris County Department of Education and The League of Women Voters of Texas and the Houston Area are hosting

The 2010 Texas Gubernatorial Debate

Moderated by award-winning journalist Melanie Lawson of ABC Channel 13, KTRK-TV

Sunday, October 3, 2010 | 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (Doors will open at 5:45 p.m.)

Harris County Department of Education

6300 Irvington Boulevard 5th Floor Conference Center Houston, Texas 77022

To RSVP, please follow these steps:

1. Go to www.hcde-texas.org 2. Select “Register Now” 3. Select step (2) Search by date 4. Select “The 2010 Texas Gubernatorial Debate” on 10/3/2010;

Click (Begin Search) 5. Click on “Register Now” and follow the necessary steps to log in

6. If you are registering for your first event with HCDE please provide the necessary contact information to create an account so we may contact you with any updates about this particular event

7. If you have trouble registering please call 713-696-0790 for assistance 8. Please print your registration confirmation and bring it with you

to the event for admission No late seating | All cell phones must be turned off during event | No cameras allowed inside

Dan Patrick Wants to Increase Your Taxes

2010-09-17T05:40:00.000-05:00

You gotta know the funding system for public education in Texas is in bad shape when you have Legislators admitting - in public - that they don't understand it, don't have the political courage to do what's right, and will raise your taxes to fix it.

"We need to change our system so people understand it because we don't understand it," said Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, who co-chairs the special committee. . . . "We don't have the political will to change the system around to what we know is right to do," Shapiro said.

"We need to find a better system that works for all of us," said Shapiro, who also is co-chair of the Select Committee On Public School Finance Weights, Allotments and Adjustments.

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said he favors a sales tax increase to fund public education instead of property tax revenue.

Maybe we should develop a TAKS or End of Course test on our public education funding system and require that legislators pass it as a requirement for serving. If they don't pass it, they get kicked out of the Lege. The cut score should be high, with no TPM applied. Remediation would be required for those who fail, and they could retake the test up to four times to try and pass. Their scores would be published in newspapers.

All legislators would be required to take it, not just those serving on the public education committee. It would have Legislative Career Readiness components, and there would be 55 questions. They could take all day to complete the test. If they finished early, then could put their head on their Lege desks and wait for everyone else to finish. They would be provided a calculator and formula chart.

The Lege dropout rate would increase dramatically, but Gov. Perry would attribute that to an increase in dead Legislators.

Burn the Vote!

2010-08-28T08:50:00.001-05:00

Well, the entirety of Harris County's voting equipment - every single e-slate and the machines that assign codes to voters - were destroyed in a fire yesterday. Ten thousand pieces of equipment worth $30 million. The genius Republicans in charge of protecting the vote had all of their election assets stored in one place, and it's all been reduced to ashes . . .and we start early voting on Oct. 18 - seven weeks away.

Chief elections officer Beverly Kaufman is already squawking about reducing the number of polling locations on election day. You can read more about the here and here (click2houston which is an especially interesting read), but I have to tell you, I find it very disturbing that Harris County is where a huge bulk of Bill White's votes are going to come from and here we probably have an arsonist trying to burn up that vote.

This just adds to the egregious situation in Harris County of Republicans trying to suppress votes by rejecting voter registration ballots over the pickiest reasons and having personal for profit schemes being run right out of the elections office.

We have been wondering what Rick Perry had up his sleeve to shut down Bill White's vote. Whee! I don't think anyone could have predicted this.

Back to School - UT This Time

2010-08-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

Hook 'em! Today, I help move my son to Austin. He's transferring into UT as a sophomore after a great academic year at Texas Tech his freshman year.

While I'm gripped by thoughts of how much I'll miss him after a great summer at home where he fed me gourmet meals he cooked and made me laugh with his sharp witted commentary on life, I'm also musing about how fortunate he is to be a part of this family, with all the opportunities he has, and how other equally talented and smart young adults are facing much different scenarios as the college year starts up again.

My precious child has a large extended family network of support - both emotionally and financially. He knows he can not only count on his parents, but also his grandparents to make sure he has everything he needs to succeed (thanks, mom and dad!) It's his choice whether he wants to work or not. His immediate family has college degrees and everyone in my family has graduate degrees, including two grandparents with Ph.D.'s

There are lots of young adults right now who are just as much the future of our country as my son, but they are struggling mightily under the burden of high tuition, fees and room and board. Some of these kids qualify for free tuition at our top Texas universities, but not room and board. They may be living at home taking care of siblings or their own children. They are racking up student loan debts. They won't finish in four years. They may very well be the first in their family to go to college, so they don't have the same role models and support my son has.

I get the same overwhelming feelings I got the day my son was born. He is so fortunate to have been born into this family. On that same day, many, many children were born who were not so fortunate. I'm humbled and grateful for our good luck and am committed to doing my part to make things work better for those who do not have my advantages.

Reality Check: Homeless Students

2010-08-20T06:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone - Texas Legislators, I'm looking at you - needs to get real about what goes on with public school students in their everyday existence outside of the school day. I've said it before - one of my reality checks as a new high school teacher back in the distant past of the 1980's was that everything that goes on in society and that you read about in the media, goes on in public schools or affects school children - assault, incest, abuse, poverty, accidents, illness, homelessness, etc. It ALL plays out in classrooms across Texas every single day.

Which leads me again to my question - why are we embarking on a plan to make every single Texas high school student pass twelve stakes tests to graduate from high school (instead of the current four)? Call me crazy, but this is going to put too much pressure on children and cause the dropout rate to increase.

The Houston Chronicle describes the very real and very pervasive problem of childhood homelessness. None of what they reported is any surprise, in any way shape of form, to any public school teacher:

Locally, social service providers have been keeping a tally. So for this year, there are 5,404 homeless children, up from 2,891 last year, according to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County. These are children 17 and younger who live with a parent in any place that's not fit for habitation. Both counts are considered to be vastly underrepresented, the organizations said.

The story about the high school student is of particular concern to me.

Malcolm, 16, lives at Star of Hope's emergency center in Houston with his mother. The teenager, who guards his emotions, said he worries about whether he and his mother will find a home before their time runs out at the shelter. He also worries about his mother's health because she has diabetes and other health problems.

"She's trying hard to find a home," he said. "I've been trying to help the best way I can, doing whatever she needs me to do. I tell her I love her, and things will get better."

Malcolm's mother, Sheffield, who didn't want her last name used, has a disability and has struggled to find a permanent home since moving to Houston from Lake Charles, La., last year. The family had been living with friends until last month. She said Malcolm shows signs of depression because of their circumstances but he doesn't like to discuss it. But he talks often about having a house with his own room.

"It makes me sad that we're in this situation," Sheffield said, crying.

Note how the reporter points out the multiple issues one student has - this is what we see in a huge number of our high school students (many at risk factors for one kid) - homelessness, a parent with health problems, depression.

Folks, this our reality in Texas public schools. Malcolm is not an outlier. Let me be perfectly clear - with his multiple at-risk factors, he is more the norm than folks outside of public education realize. Pink Dome folks need to get a grasp on this as they head into session in January and once again make education policy that is intended to make kids college and career ready. These kids need a fair chance to check the "I graduated from high school box." I'm not talking about dumbing down anything, but adults can certainly make decisions that take the pressure off of 14-18 year old children and give them a fair chance to progress through high school, and grow and mature into productive adults.

Idaho Drops High Stakes Science Tests

2010-08-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Texas implemented its first high stakes science test for public school students in 2003, and within a few years rolled out all the science TAKS tests we give now. Texas students take science TAKS in 5th, 8th, 10th and 11th grade, with only the 11th grade Exit TAKS being high stakes for students (a graduation requirement). All of our science TAKS tests are high stakes for schools, as each of them is part of the school's state accountability rating, while none of them figure into their federal AYP rating.

Idaho has a different idea as to the importance of high stakes science tests. Just when you think no state has more religious nuts than Texas trying to control the State's education system, we can thank God we are not Idaho, with Mormons flipping out over science tests. Or, for those who are not fans of high stakes testing, maybe the lesson is that we need to grow our Mormon sub-pop.

An article in the Idaho Statesman paints a picture of a state that has:

District created science tests for all 5th and 7th graders (not a common state mandated test)
A state created/mandated test for 10th graders, with no requirement to pass in order to graduate
Students who perform more poorly in science than in math or reading on standardized achievement tests
A graduation requirement of three years of math and science (Texas requires four years of both)

Idaho is moving towards end of course exams in science that students would have to pass in order to graduate, but those do not kick in until 2017.

This all sounded to me like, well, OK, this is different from Texas and it gave me pause for thought about where we would in regards to science education in Texas if science wasn't a big part of our accountability system, when I read this (bolded emphasis mine):

That proficiency requirement was part of an effort to boost math and science requirements in 2007, ending a yearlong battle to raise standards that divided churches, educators and some parents. It required students, starting with the class of 2013, to take more math and science classes to graduate high school.

A similar proposal failed in 2006, in part because some groups, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, feared it would cut into religious training after school. Others feared children would have to scale back activities like band or art.

So there's another state with religious fanatics controlling education policy. The discussion about high stakes testing for graduation and school accountability needs to happen everywhere, but it's a shame when the conversation is about teaching less science in order to protect religious interests.

God bless school children who can't vote, and are at the mercy of small minded adults.

Texas High Schools: Pass 12 High Stakes Tests to Graduate

2010-08-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

Kuff recently interviewed Texas State Representative Scott Hochberg, vice chair of the House Committee on Public Education and chair of the Education Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations. The whole interview is terrific, with even just the first 15 minutes chock full of great stuff for those of us who are education policy geeks.

Overall, I came away from listening to the interview with an enormous of amount of relief and gratitude that Hochberg is in the Lege tending to education. He has a deep understanding of our schools and our student population, as well as of the nuances and minutiae of education policy.

I want to clarify one thing that was discussed. Kuff asked Hochberg about Texas high schools going from four accountability tests to twelve next school year. Hochberg corrected him saying that's not true, we currently have ten and we are only increasing that number by two (go to the 12 minute mark in the interview to get to this topic.)

Well . . . technically that's true. But the reality is we are going from requiring students to take four high stakes tests to graduate to twelve, beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Currently, all Texas high school students take ten TAKS tests during their 9th - 11th grade years. Their graduation requirement is that they have to pass four Exit tests in order to graduate - English, Math, Social Studies and Science.

These are taken during their 11th grade year, and if they don't pass, schools are required to offer remediation (which they offer during the summer and during the senior year), and students can retake those tests up to four more times to try and pass. But, they have to pass those four in order to graduate. Those other six 9th and 10th grade TAKS tests? Students can fail those, and as long as they pass their four Exit TAKS, they graduate from their Texas high school.

What's changing is that current 8th graders will have new, more rigorous testing requirements in their graduation plan. If they don't pass end of course exams in these twelve courses, they don't get a high school diploma:

Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
Math: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
English: English I, English II, English III
Social Studies: World Geography, World History, U.S. History

Like Exit TAKS, schools will be required to remediate when students fail, so starting in the spring of 2012, schools will embark on the complex task of determining for every student if they failed any of their first round of three end of course exams and if they need remediation. At the same time, students will be taking their next round of courses in the next grade with an end game of having to pass end of course exams for those new courses. And, so it will go for each of 2000-3000 high school students on a campus, until they reach the spring of their senior year, where some will have passed all of their high school courses and twelve end of course exams and some will not. A system that currently requires one testing coordinator on every high school campus is going to require at least one full time testing coordinator per grade level.

If this makes you wonder how this doesn't cause the high school drop out rate to increase, you are not the only one puzzling over that.

What makes these end of course exams even more high stakes is that the Texas Education Agency has made it very, very clear that these exams will have harder questions than TAKS and the minimum score to pass will be higher than TAKS.

I recently had the opportunity to be on a TEA educator committee that examined field testing data from the Spring 2010 Biology end of course field testing. At the end of that two day adventure, the TEA assessment division gave us a detailed briefing on the upcoming end of course exams and pointed us to a presentation they made at a recent math education leadership conference as a reference (go to this link, then click on the July 14, 2010 TEA assessment update.) What TEA told us (with my commentary in italics):

Will the EOC's (end of course exams) be harder than TAKS? Yes. (For those of you who think TAKS is easy, we can go over how the current Science Exit TAKS is not a minimum skills test. Another blog post for another day.)

The minimum score to pass each EOC will be higher than TAKS.

The test items will be more rigorous - more detailed questions over more curriculum than TAKS. (Don't be fooled by new "readiness" TEKS being "fewer, deeper, clearer" - the more accurate description is "more, harder and pickier." Trust me on this one.)

The EOC score will count as 15% of the grade for the course. (Can you see the double jeopardy here? Not only do you have to make a passing score on your EOC, but your low score may cause you to fail the class, causing you to retake it, as well as the test.)

Students can retake the EOC an unlimited number of times to try and pass. (Districts will have to set a policy on whether a student who passes the EOC can retake it to try and make a higher grade in the course. Think of high performing students who are concerned about their GPA.)

I'm not sure how easy it is for those not neck deep in public education to understand how much more high stakes the EOC program will be for each and every Texas high school student, but I'll do my best to paint that picture as we go forward in this school year. One thing that concerns us in science education is that while at the same time the state is ratcheting up the stakes on our testing, they are not providing us with new science textbooks to go along with our brand new, shiny Science TEKS we are implementing this year.

I'm really curious if the Lege, while trying to correct the real problem of the four 11th grade Exit TAKS covering subjects taught in 9th and 10th grades, intended to raise the stakes this much on high school graduation.

If you've got a struggling 8th grade or younger student in your own home, buckle up, because you are in for a roller coaster experience in high school, with the real possibility of crashing. If you are concerned about children in general, and the economic future of Texas, you should be paying attention, as well.

More on the Hochberg interview and my reactions in future posts.

Bill White Community College in Clear Lake

2010-08-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

You’re invited

Bill White Community College

Learn how to reach out to prospective voters through proven techniques at a training session for volunteers interested in working on the Bill White for Governor campaign. Advance registration is strongly recommended but not required. RSVP to Suzy Allison atsuzy.allison@att.net

When:  Saturday, August 14th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where:  City of Webster Recreation Center building, 101 Pennsylvania (at the corner of Pennsylvania & S. Austin streets),77598.
Cost:  Free
Food:  Light refreshments will be provided during the break.

Sponsors: BAADWomen (Bay Area Association of Democratic Women) and BAND (Bay Area New Democrats)

If you haven't been able to attend an all-day Bill White University training session at the Bill White headquarters in Houston, you will benefit from this Bill White Community College, a shorter (3 hours), local (Webster) Bill White volunteer training program.

Program segments includes the following:

Block walking training: presented by Sherry and Mark Weesner, CJ Farley and Cheryl Germain. We will have an opportunity to divide up and practice on each other after the presentation.
Virtual phone bank familiarization: by John Cobarruvias, a VAN trainer for the State Democratic Party.
Phone bank training: by Kris Banks.
Strategy overview for the Bill White effort along with problems and opportunities in specific parts of our area using data from the '08 election cycle: by Suzy Allison.
Issues, talking points, and charges and rebuttals: by Bob Tomlinson.
Plans for Bay Area headquarters and an opportunity to sign up to help: by CJ Farley.
Information on all nearby headquarters will be provided.

We hope this will be informative and give volunteers the comfort and confidence you need to get to work to ELECT BILL WHITE OUR NEXT GOVERNOR.

We'd like some clue as to how many will attend, so RSVP to Suzy Allison at suzy.allison@att.net, but feel free to come if you didn't get around to replying.

Taking a Piece out of Rick Perry's Hide

2010-08-05T07:07:00.000-05:00

It looks like Rep. Lloyd Doggett did just that. He introduced an amendment to a House Bill that will require Texas to maintain education spending levels through 2013. Basically, it's a warning that the education stimulus dollars Gov. Perry used to plug holes in the state budget, rather than for their intended purpose to beef up education in Texas, must be used on education - no cutting the education budget at all.

My first thought was that this is a mandate for the 2011 Texas legislative session, but I wonder if this would also affect the 5% mandated budget cuts that are supposed to go into affect Sept. 1, including all sorts of cuts to special needs populations that TEA has proposed.

This bill is projected to pass the Senate today. Read more about it here.

School Accountability Ratings Will Post at 1 PM Today

2010-07-30T07:30:00.001-05:00

Here we go, ready or not with the TPM for the second year in a row. From the Texas Education Agency:

AUSTIN – The 2010 state accountability ratings will be posted on the Texas Education Agency’s website at 1 p.m. Friday.

Commissioner of Education Robert Scott will also hold a press conference to discuss the ratings at 1 p.m. Friday in room 2-195 of the William B. Travis State Office Building at 1701 N. Congress Ave. in Austin.

And, yes, TPM will be used again this year, and like last year - and it says this as big as Dallas on the TEA website just like it did last year - it will improve school scores. It was designed to improve accountability ratings, so I don't know what the big surprise was. In other news, everyone can quit ranting about how pathetic and weak the whole TAKS thing is because Education Commissioner Robert Scott recently sent out this communication to administrators:

The new assessment program, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), will assess the content standards at a greater depth and at a higher level of complexity than the current Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) program. The overall difficulty of the assessments will be increased as a result of including more rigorous items, and by setting performance expectations at a higher level.

The entire letter is worth a read, and I'll blog on it some more in another post. Scott talks about the future of TPM and gives a broad picture of the new accountability tests that begin next year. Just so we are all on the same page, our Texas legislators and state wide officeholders and candidates know that starting in the 2011-2012 school years, high school students will be required to take 12 high stakes tests in order to graduate instead of the current four? And, that they will be harder? And, that we don't have new textbooks to go with the new TEKS? And, that the dropout problem will get worse instead of better?

OK, just checking. We don't want any shock and awe from legislators over the new accountability system they mandated.

Bring Your Own Toilet Paper to Harris County Courts

2010-07-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

We knew Harris County had a big budget shortfall. I heard from a good source yesterday that one way Harris County has cut expenses is by not having janitorial services in their buildings during the day. This includes the Harris County courts. So, all day long, you have the public using the restrooms, using up toilet paper, throwing up, making a mess, and being generally unsanitary and gross, without anyone cleaning up the mess. One judge is bringing his own TP to work.

This stinks.

I don't think they cut janitorial services at Houston Municipal Courts, but they found a new twist to their old scam, disguised as a budget cut. They already had packed courtrooms, where everyone but a couple of people had an attorney. Person after person was given the advice to plea no contest or guilty and pay a fine, in order to avoid jury trial. It was like printing money for the City. Now, they print money even faster by not allowing police officers to appear in court until after 1 PM. So, they are making people wait, and who wants to do that. So, now they have you where they want you, and they want you to pay your big fine and leave.

This stinks, as well, but at least you don't have to carry toilet paper with you to 1400 Lubbock.

Why Latinos Give Up On Education

2010-07-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

In "The Latino Lag," the New York Times starts off with a bunch of statistics about Latinos and education, concluding that there is a gap between Latino high school and college completion rates compared to whites and Asians.

Some reasons given for lack of achievement (some research based, some anecdotal):

discouragement due to anti-immigrant sentiment
not proficient in English
3/4 of Latinos who cut their education short said they had to do so to help their family, including too much economic costs to the family - both in losing income from lack of work and expending money on college
they are more likely to be teenage mothers, needing to take care of infants
the need to babysit younger siblings
lack of education by foreign born parents, with the level of the mother's education being a predictor - leading to a lack of understanding of college options, as well as putting low importance on college
having to take remedial and ESL courses in college for no credit, causing college expenses to go up, as well as increasing the amount of time to earn a degree
lack of college bound preparation in high school
families taking trips to their home countries when work permits - but their kids are in school, causing students to miss too many classes

Some solutions for completing high school and college:

special college bound programs beginning in 10th grade, such as dual credit
high school teachers and counselors sharing knowledge about college admission, scholarships, etc.
language immersion
small learning communities in college

The article is well worth a read. In my work in high schools, I have seen all of the reasons listed above for lack of achievement in play for Latino students. It's been my experience over the past three years or so that we are doing a better job of getting Latino kids graduated from high school, but we haven't been attending very closely to ensuring they get into college and complete college.

Rick Perry Questions God's Actions

2010-07-28T11:04:00.000-05:00

Governor Rick Chicken Perry has changed his opinion on what caused the BP disaster that killed 11 people.

My Oil Business Friends Told Me God Caused It

May 3, 2010: Perry questioned whether the spill was "just an act of God that occurred." "From time to time there are going to be things that are acts of God that cannot be prevented."

A Lawyer Told Me BP Caused It

June, 2010: The truth is that BP has not asserted the cap because it acknowledged that evidence would reveal that the explosion and resulting spill were the product of gross negligence -- which renders the statutory cap irrelevant. We know this because, during a conference call with Gulf Coast attorneys general, BP General Counsel Jack Lynch acknowledged that gross negligence would be revealed as a cause of the explosion that led to the oil spill."

Perry flip flopped because it dawned on him that he could get a whole bunch of money out of BP for the couple of tar bars that washed up on Bolivar - $20 million - if he went the trial lawyer route.

Maybe the title of this blog post should be, "Rick Perry Trusts Trial Lawyers."

Renew Sugar Land?!

2010-07-27T07:35:00.000-05:00

Wow. I got caught in a huge downpour yesterday as I made my way into Sugar Land after a day of appointments, errands and lunch with a friend. I'm talking about the kind of downpour that causes the streets to flood in Houston in a matter of minutes, with drivers stalled and news crews out in force, knee deep in water.

And, you know what? The streets here in Sugar Land functioned like they always do during deluges. The water ran to the sides of the streets where it built up a little (so you have to drive a little more to the inside of the street), then rushed down into gutters at low points.

So, no. We don't need a Renew Sugar Land campaign, but we sure do need Renew Houston, whose slogan is "Good Streets. Good Drainage. A Better Houston." All I could think about today was how I got stuck in a similar downpour at Greenbriar and 59 recently. I had a whole quarter of mile to go to get from where I was onto the freeway. It had been raining 15 minutes. And the streets flooded so quickly, my Prius was almost swamped.

I don't want to be out in that risking my property or my life. I don't want my economic opportunities to make or spend money to be thwarted by precipitation. Except for, of course, that's happened to me that many, many times in the 23 years I've worked in Houston.

I liked what Kuff had to say about Renew Houston in a recent blog post:

Is Renew Houston the best possible solution to the drainage problem we all agree the city has? I don’t know what the “ideal” funding mechanism would be, given that it’s a local issue, so I can’t adequately answer that question. There are things to criticize about Renew Houston, as Tory and Neil have done. But it’s what we’ve got, and the choice isn’t between Renew Houston and some other ordinance/referendum/whatever that could be passed as an alternative, the choice is between Renew Houston and doing nothing for another ten years. I believe Renew Houston is an improvement over the status quo, and I plan to vote for it.

It would be fantastic if those of us who live outside the city, but work and spend money in Houston, could vote for Renew Houston. But since we can't, I'm hoping that common sense and desire for a better Houston will cause the anti-tax crowd to do the right thing and vote to improve streets and drainage.

Dudley! Do Right by the Gulf!

2010-07-27T07:30:00.005-05:00

I would have never thought BP would have a sense of humor, but here they go replacing the very unfunny Tony Hayward with Managing Director (Bob) Dudley "Do Right."

He's an American, so not a Canadian Mountie, and spent some of his childhood in Mississippi, so he knows Southern melodrama. If he succeeds by dumb luck like our hero, Dudley Do Right, that's OK by me.

The strange part is that the villain is BP whom he works for, and I'm not sure who the love interest is, unless it's the American public. He needs a horse to divert our attention away from the environmental disaster. Maybe Magic Sparkle Pony Matt, a commenter over at Bay Area Houston (where all BP posts have been mysteriously deleted,) can donate his horse to the cause.

Anti-BP Testimony Was Flowing Last Week

2010-07-26T20:51:00.000-05:00

A technician associated with Deepwater Horizon testified on Friday about problems with the rig prior to the explosion:

Mike Williams, who worked for rig owner Transocean Ltd., said a three-way alarm system to warn of fire, explosive gas and toxic gas was turned on to monitor conditions, but its sound and light alarms had been disabled.

[---]

The rig's drilling room also had chronic computer problems, including one computer that carried the nickname "the blue screen of death," he said

Williams said the computer had a 1990s operating system and was subject to periodic failure.

Williams also said the Deepwater Horizon was to be sent to a shipyard for extensive repairs. He said he was told the rig would be there for an extended time because "it was in very bad shape."

This hops on top of previous testimony about a leak on a control pod on the blowout preventer and "anomalous pressure test readings" prior to the explosion.

If you still think the BP disaster was an "Act of God," you are either a BP employee, an oil industry lobbyist, Rick Perry or stupid.

Corpse Flower Lois: July 22, 11:15 PM

2010-07-23T01:29:00.001-05:00

Lois waited until we got back from vacation to start blooming, so we decided to pay her a late night visit tonight. Hundreds of other folks had the same idea.

She's really lovely, and quite impressive. To me, she smelled like cooked cabbage - very strong smelling cabbage. To another person in our group she smelled like garbage. They had the Stink-O-Meter at 4 out of 10.

A couple of tips. Buy your tickets online. You'll pick them up at the Museum. Even better - become a member. The member line was much shorter at ticket pickup, and the member ticket price is half of the regular price of admission.

Buy your ticket for early in the day. A little secret is that you can enter the Butterfly Center, where Corpse Flower Lois is, any time after your ticket time, and if you have an earlier ticket, you go straight to the head of the line. Our example - we had 10:30 PM tickets, but a friend with us had a ticket for 8:30 PM. He met us for dinner and when he showed his ticket to the HMNS staffer at 10:15, he was told to go to the head of the line. He graciously stayed in line with us.

Be prepared to wait in line for at least hour, once you pick your ticket up at the ticket counter. You'll wait and wait and wait (with very nice, patient people in line with you) and then enter the Butterfly Center and snake through a line up the stairs through an arthropod exhibit and around to Lois. They let about 20 people at a time into the room where Lois is. They'll make noises about you moving on, but the reality is you can stay awhile and take photos.

It's very warm once you get into the Butterfly Center. That smell you smell is likely your neighbor - until you get to Lois. She definitely has a distinctive smell that apparently is getting stronger by the hour.

Everyone in my group had a great time and we all agreed we'd try to go again, even with the long lines.

If you aren't following @CorpzFlowrLois on Twitter, why not? I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed that real Lois did not talk to me and give me some sass. I was sorry we did not see Zac or Red Shirt Guy. Maybe next time! When she fully blooms, she is expected to be that way - and with her strongest smell - for maybe 12 hours. The museum is open 24 hours a day, so keep an eye on the HMNS blog and follow Lois on Twitter, and plan your visit.

Oh, one last tip - parking is a problem. Try the Rose Garden parking. It's free, and there were spaces there. It was probably 3/4 full at 10 PM.

Campaign Cash: Houston Area Texas House Races

2010-07-21T13:44:00.001-05:00

I've been curious about the June 30th campaign cash numbers for Houston area Texas House races, and today I found a cool interactive app on the Texas Tribune that gave me the numbers. Since I was curious, I thought some of you might be, as well. Click on the link to the HD districts and you'll go to Greg Wythe's Texas Political Almanac, where he has a map and past election data for each House District.

HD 26 Fort Bend:
Phillip Andrews, Democratic Challenger
Raised: $4650
Loans: $2291
Spent: $4635
COH: $877

Charlie Howard, Republican Incumbent
Raised: $4650
Loans: $0
Spent: $18,308
COH: $353,584

HD 28 Fort Bend:
Wayne Raasch, Democratic Challenger
No numbers reported.

John Zerwas, Republican incumbent
Raised: $110,420
Loans: $0
Spent: $36,699
COH: $153,861

Note: Bill White is going to do well in Fort Bend, but we have absolutely zero chance of gaining any House seats here.

HD 127 Kingwood
Joe Montemayor, Democratic Challenger
Raised: $2280
Loans: $0
Spent: $2471
COH: $0

Dan Huberty, Republican Challenger
Raised: $76,676
Loans: $45,000
Spent: $80,305
COH: $4395

HD 132 Katy

Sylvia Mintz, Democratic Challenger
Raised: $2269
Loans: $0
Spent: $0
COH: $650

Bill Callegari, Republican Incumbent
Raised: $61,313

Loans: $0

Spent: $22,856

COH: $231,753

HD 133 Houston
Kristi Thibaut, Democratic Incumbent

Raised: $116,363

Loans: $0

Spent: $48,022

COH: $150,012

Jim Murphy, Republican Challenger

Raised: $111,752

Loans: $0

Spent: $62,630

COH: $124,917

HD 134 Houston
Ellen Cohen, Democratic Incumbent
Raised: $230,181
Loans: $0
Spent: $175,331
COH: $265,536

Sarah Davis, Republican Challenger
Raised: $54,130
Loans: $114,200
Spent: $35,685
COH: $103,073

HD 137 Houston
Scott Hochberg, Democratic Incumbent

Raised: $71,305

Loans: $0

Spent: $14,819

COH: $96,316

Sylvia Spivey, Republican Challenger

Raised: $2055

Loans: $3000

Spent: $4304

COH: $1427

HD 138 Houston

Kendra Yarbrough Camarena, Democratic Challlenger

Raised: $106,663

Loans: $0

Spent: $40,828

COH: $120,532

Dwayne Bohac, Republican Incumbent

Raised: $200,812

Loans: $0

Spent: $86,473

COH: $228,453

HD 141 Houston

Senfronia Thompson, Democratic Incumbent

Raised: $59,653

Loans: $0

Spent: $79,952

COH: $172,775

Michael Bunch, Republican Challenger

Raised: $45,505

Loans: $0

Spent: $83,465

COH: $7706

HD 143 Houston

Ana Hernandez, Democratic Incubment

Raised: $10,000

Loans: $0

Spent: $12,490

COH: $43,084

Gilbert Pena, Republican Challenger

Raised: $0

Loans: $0

Spent: $0

COH: $0

HD 144 Pasadena

Rick Molina, Democratic Challenger

Raised: $92,283

Loans: $0

Spent: $36,949

COH: $23,597

Ken Legler, Republican Incumbent

Raised: $82,135

Loans: $0

Spent: $80,873

COH: $11,546

Did I miss any Houston area races where there is a challenger? If you have any insights into these races, such as who the donors are, or how the money is being spent, please leave a comment.

BP Parody Press Conference on "Bitty Spill"

2010-07-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

I hadn't seen this - hilarious!

Highlights:

calling the oil spill "Bitty Spill" and "Mother Earth's Diarrhea Attack" (and they point out that diarrhea genetic)
admitting that Tony Hayword has made some gaffes, including saying that "plugging the BP oil well will be as easy as popping a zit before a prom"
hoping for other news that will get everyone's attention, including "Is that the little black boy from Different Strokes? There's Gary Coleman, right over there!"

I found it on "Are Americans Bullying BP?" I know some defensive BP employees who certainly think so.

SBOE Candidate Marsha Farney a Tea Partier?

2010-07-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

As I've said before, trust a Republican who claims to be moderate, at your own peril. My example was SBOE 10 candidate Marsha Farney. My example today? Again, Marsha Farney. Moderate, she is not.

She proudly celebrated the 4th of July at Tea Party rally in Williamson County:

Marsha Farney, who is running for a State Board of Education seat, was not as reserved about where she stood. "I'd rather be here than with those America-bashing Democrats," she said.

Great. She's outed herself as standing with the haters - haters of our President, haters of our federal government, haters of accurate history, haters of Democrats.

Any so-called independent or pro-public education endorsing group who endorses Farney loses all credibility with me. There is a highly qualified candidate in the SBOE 10 race - Judy Jennings. Check her out!

Bloggers at the 2010 Texas Democratic Convention

2010-06-27T10:28:00.002-05:00

I counted at least twenty-one progressive bloggers at the Texas Democratic Party State Convention in Corpus this past Thursday-Friday. The highlight for me was the very well attended blogger party Friday night. The $10 per person cover was coming in as fast as we could grab it out of folks' hands, and was then handed over to the bartenders just as fast, to keep our tab going. If anyone has a guess as to the total attendance, let me know. Definitely hundreds. We paid for around 850 drinks, if that gives you any idea.

Many elected officials and candidates were in attendance, including Bill White, Barbara Radnofsky, Senator Kirk Watson, Council Member Melissa Noriega, Congress Member Gene Green, Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Senator Leticia Van de Putte, Representative Aaron Pena and Representative Ryan Guillen. Thank you to the sponsors, guests and organizers for making the event so successful!

Bloggers were at the convention doing much more than blogging. I was on the Temporary Platform Committee, mostly contributing to the education plank, Brian Hamon was on the Temporary Rules Committee, Phillip Martin was helping to run the convention in his roles with the TDP and the Texas Democratic Trust, Matt Glazer was working with his GNI clients, as well as being a panelist at a social media workshop, Rachel Farris organized a successful tweet-up, Vince Leibowitz and McBlogger represented Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert (who was not in attendance due to the death of his mother), TexBlog PAC board members organized the blogger party (all money raised in excess of the bar tab goes to House Democratic challengers), and then, of course, many bloggers were delegates to the Convention, participating in their Senate District caucuses.

Some highlights from Convention blog posts:

George Nassar with The Texas Blue does the best job I've seen anywhere describing the pros and cons of the Texas Two-Step - and the near brawl at the Convention over it. I agree with him that if we can get "to the point where we can cast aside the system that causes so much strife within the party and smacks of unfairness to so many people, all the better."

As mentioned above, Brian Hamon from Eye on Williamson served on the Temporary Rules Committee, which addressed the Two-Step. His opinion of that is definitely worth a read.

Dos Centavos reported on what I thought was the best speech of the convention - from Lt. Governor candidate Linda Chavez Thompson.

John Coby blogged the race for Party Chair, and was critical of the effort of the challenger.

McBlogger talked about the most talked about thing at the Convention - the heat and humidity in Corpus. I see he finally agrees with me - that Boyd Richie has been doing a great job as Chair of the TDP! He hints at some dysfunction in the Senate District 23 caucus.

PDiddie updated the Convention goings-on and brought up something I wondered about - why so few seats for media in the arena?

David Ortez liveblogged his Senate District Caucus - all 45 minutes of it.

Rachel Farris has a great post recapping the tweet up she organized, along with Twitter tips for candidates, photos and a link to all the tweets with hashtag #tdpsc.

And Harold Cook of Letters from Texas summed up the convention with one photo and one sentence. He got it right!

Other bloggers at the convention included writers from: Texas Cloverleaf, jobsanger, Asian American Action Fund Blog, Lubbock Left and Burnt Orange Report.

Bloggers, if I left you off this post - let me know - it was an oversight and I'll add you in!

I enjoyed seeing so many of my friends and readers - including finally meeting some folks face to face who I had only known through social media. The people who attend and participate and provide leadership to our biannual conventions are the Texas Democratic Party and each and everyone of them deserves a round of applause for being in Corpus and doing the work. I'm looking forward to 2012 in Houston!

Rick Perry Wakes Me Up as Disco Chicken

2010-06-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

I'm till not able to process that Bill White came out to "Start Me Up" last night. Oh, well. Maybe I've had the meaning of the lyrics wrong all this time.

Anyway. The TDP convention is a little slow right now. I need some caffeine or maybe a comedy blast from last night . . . Rick Perry as Disco Chicken starts me up! This is hilarious - you are going to want to watch this!

Sue Sylvester Comments on Rick Perry's Hair

2010-06-26T12:04:00.002-05:00

A must see video!

Linda Chavez Thompson!

2010-06-26T11:15:00.000-05:00

Out great candidate for Lt. Governor is speaking at the TDP Convention. Lots of energy. Love her!

LCT Remarks for Texas Democratic Convention
Saturday, June 26, 2010

Hello Democrats! Can you hear me! Are we ready to win in November?

My name is Linda Chavez-Thompson and on November 2nd I’m going to be the next Lt. Governor of Texas.

I’m what the State Board of Education considers a figment of your imagination …

That’s right, I’m a Latina who is about to make history.

Have we had a great convention?

    Later this afternoon when we walk out of this hall, we’re not apologizing for being Democrats and speaking out for working families.

We’re not apologizing for standing up for the education of our children.

    And we’re not apologizing for holding corporations accountable when they put fishermen out of business and leave our Gulf polluted for decades.

This story has played out over and over again. And the result is always the same: Republicans have trouble with the truth.

We may never know what really happened that fateful day when the Governor went out for his jog and came under attack by the fearsome coyote …

But the tall tale that I still can’t get over, are the stories Rick Perry told in his TV ads this past primary.

Did you see any of these? One of them bragged that while Washington was running up massive deficits, Texas had a balanced budget with cash in the bank.

Of course, what Rick Perry and David Dewhurst fail to confess is that they balanced the budget with $14 billion in federal stimulus money. And even at that, a balanced budget doesn’t mean we’ve taken care of our schools, our teachers and our children.

You may have heard that Rick Perry is coming out with a new book called “Fed ‘Up” — I think he should call it “Fess ‘Up” because after being in office for 10 years we’re still waiting for him to tell the truth.

And that cash in the bank he bragged about in that ad — what he doesn’t tell you is that at best, the Rainy Day Fund will cover half of the $19 billion budget shortfall that threatens the education of every Texas child.

Do you know how many zeros there are in $19 billion?

11 when you count Perry and Dewhurst.

And let me tell you why. Because while Perry and Dewhurst put their hand out to Washington to pay their bills, they turned their backs on unemployed Texans who needed help paying theirs.

That’s what makes them zeros in my book.

They say they don’t raise taxes, but tell that to small businesses who just got a hike in their unemployment taxes thanks to the Governor’s short-sighted “tough talk.”

According to CNN, Texas employers are now forced to pay an additional $40 per employee — meanwhile, Texas is still one of the hardest states to qualify for unemployment insurance.

I’m not going to say, “I told you so.” But Republican Senator Kevin Eltife did. He said, “At a time when small business is hurting, the last thing we need to be doing is raise their taxes.”

For those who don’t know my story, I had to quit school after the ninth grade to help support my family in the cotton fields of West Texas. It’s ugly, hard work. So when I got a chance to work as a bilingual secretary for the local construction union, I took it.

Twenty-eight years later, 25 of those with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. I was the first woman of color to serve as the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO.

After a lifetime of working to lift wages up for working families, I’m not going to sit idly by as Republican neglect of education — from pre-K to college — drives wages down.

Perry and Dewhurst like to brag that while other states are hurting, Texas is creating jobs. But a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tells the real story, that Texas has the highest share of minimum wage workers in the nation.

I’ve worked for minimum wage. And for an even longer part of my life, I’ve worked for people earning minimum wage. Let me tell you this, it’s hard to provide for a family earning minimum wage. It’s even harder to be there for your children, and do the real work of parenting when you’re constantly working just to get by.

Here are the facts, 63% of all new and replacement jobs require some college education. Speaking about the state of education in our state, the Texas Association of Business declared we’re facing a “Texas-sized crisis that requires unprecedented leadership.” The Chairman of TDI Industries and Board Member of the Texas Business and Education Coalition added that it’s time for the state’s leaders to “muscle this thing up.”

Well Perry has had 10 years in office and Dewhurst 8. If the boys aren’t prepared to muscle up then it’s time they step aside.

I’m sure you all heard about what happened in Laredo, Texas.

With a population of 250,000, Laredo now has the distinction of being the largest city in the nation without a bookstore. B. Dalton’s bookstore shut its doors for good on January 16th.

And you can put another tombstone in the predominantly Hispanic south side of San Antonio now that Waldenbooks has left, leaving no bookstore for miles.

It’s time Republican leaders recognize that this is an economic crisis of their own making.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, by the year 2014, over 2 million jobs will be created in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

A bookstore would sure come in handy.

But despite the bragging of Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst that Texas is creating jobs, the reality is one out of three students are walking out of our high schools without a diploma. Among Latinos, it’s nearly one out of two.

But dropouts are just a symptom of a larger broken system — a system that has already failed our children before they’ve even entered the first grade. Parenting Magazine, recently spelled out the epidemic that is the early literacy crisis:

“While a child growing up in a middle class neighborhood will own an average of 13 books at any given time, low-income communities average about one book for every 300 children.”

In the face of such a daunting crisis, what does the Republican Party offer? A platform that calls for abolishing federally sponsored pre-kindergarten classes.

They just don’t get it.

Studies show that a child who enters the first grade with reading difficulties is more likely than not to still have reading difficulties in the fourth grade.

They just don’t get it.

From 1999 to 2008 Texas schools took in 659,000 more students. Over 90% of them are classified as low economic status. This problem isn’t going away.

They just don’t get it.

But if the Republican leadership doesn’t want to listen to a lifelong labor organizer and the daughter of a cotton sharecropper, they should at least listen to their own advisors. Steve Murdock, the former state demographer and Bush appointee, warned years ago that, “our fates are intertwined”. “How well our non-Anglo citizens do in Texas is how well Texas will do.”

Murdock warns that if nothing changes — and with Perry and Dewhurst nothing changes — average wages in 30 years will be $6,500 lower than they were in the year 2000.

And that number doesn’t account for inflation, so it’s even worse than you think.

I realize us Texans are known for our big talk. But the outside world needs to know there is some truth to the Texas myth. Because when you’re born in the Lone Star State, you just grow up believing the sky is the limit. It’s true for this daughter of a cotton sharecropper. And in today’s economy, it can still hold true for any Texas child with a book in their hand.

But at the recent Republican Party Convention, the same Rick Perry who has trouble counting dropouts made a bold statement that just knocked my socks off. He said, and I quote, “This is the home of a Hispanic in America: The Republican Party.”

Listen, any home that neglects children like the Republican Party of Texas should be reported to Child Protective Services.

So what is their grand scheme to get the Latino vote?

According to the Dallas Morning News:
•    Perry hired a Spanish speaking Press Secretary
•    He launched a Spanish language web and twitter site
•    And he hired a Hispanic ad agency that sells beer and Domino’s pizza.

Por favor!

To paraphrase my good friend Jim Hightower, you can stuff a jalapeño in a pig but that doesn’t make it chorizo.

But here’s what really gets me. Rick Perry and David Dewhurst haven’t lifted a finger for the children of Texas, yet they have the gall to attack Bill White?

Listen to me carefully … Bill White lifted the aspirations of thousands of kids who had fallen through the cracks. He launched Expectation Graduation — went personally into the homes of dropouts and got them back in school and showed us what it really means to leave no child behind.

Bill White lifted the economy of the 4th largest city in the nation — creating in 6 years more jobs in Houston than 37 states combined.

And Bill White lifted the hearts of a nation when without hesitation, he opened up his arms and his city to the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina — real leadership that doesn’t shy away from the responsibility that we are our brother’s keeper.

When they attack Bill White they’re attacking Texas at its best. And I for one won’t stand for it.

Now we must follow in Bill White’s example.

It’s up to you and me to lift the aspirations of those who have given up hope … it’s up to you and me to lift our economy by electing leaders up and down the ballot who will invest in education … and it’s up to you and me to lift up our hearts and send a message loud and clear that we will not stand for the neglect of any child.

Nosotros tenemos la responsibilidad de luchar por nuestros hijos y nuestros nietos.    Y como Demócratas, no olvidamos nuestros responsibilidades.

We have enough challenges, and 11 zeroes is two zeroes too many.

    There is a lot at stake in this election.

Today, we gather together as family. But tomorrow we need to take it to the streets. Are you ready?

We need to tell the teacher in Dallas who is worried about her job, “Your home is in the Democratic Party and we’re standing up for you.”

We need to tell the fishermen and women in the Gulf, who could lose their livelihoods if the currents change, “Your home is in the Democratic Party and we’re standing up for you.”

We need to tell the business leaders — from the mom and pop shops to the large employers — “Your home is in the Democratic Party because we’re educating the workforce that Texas needs to compete.”

We win when we lift up our voices. So make sure they hear you. Are you ready to go to work? Are you ready to win? I am. Thank you and God bless. Muchisimas gracias y que dios les bendiga.

Katie Naranjo

Texans for Linda

Pol. adv. paid for by the Linda Chavez-Thompson Campaign, Martina Alvarado, Treasurer.

Linda Chavez-Thompson • P.O. Box 6719 • San Antonio, TX 78209 • P: 210-829-0902 • F: 210-829-0221

Start Me Up! Today's TDP Convention Schedule

2010-06-26T11:12:00.000-05:00

Start me up!

Today's excitement is again in the press room with my buddies juancoby and dos centavos. For those who dearly wish you were in the convention hall, this is what you are missing:

SECOND GENERAL SESSION SATURDAY, JUNE 26

Convention reconvenes Arena, American Bank Center Permanent Chair calls the Convention back to order
Report from the SDEC on its nominations for Permanent Officers (other than Permanent Chair)
Election of Permanent Officers (other than Permanent Chair)
Report of the Rules Committee and action on the report
Report of the Nominations Committee for Party Officers and action on the report including the Committee’s nominations for State Party Officers and SDEC members recommended by their respective Senate District Caucuses
Permanent Chair reads the list of Senatorial District nominees to SDEC followed by a formal vote of ratification by the Convention
Report of the Platform Committee and action on the report Report of the Resolutions Committee and action on the report Announcements and further business Adjournment. Following Adjournment, there will be a brief meeting of the SDEC in front of the Stage.

Rick Perry Chicken Recipes

2010-06-26T10:27:00.001-05:00

Let's start an online recipe book with chicken recipes in honor of Rick Chicken Perry. I'll go first.

Easy Chicken Perry A La King

Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup milk
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil. When hot add chicken and saute 4 to 5 minutes until about halfway cooked. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until chicken is lightly browned and cooked through (juices run clear). Stir in the milk, soup, mushrooms, pimentos, onion powder and pepper. Bring all to a boil. Cover skillet and reduce heat. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir together and serve.

From allrecipes.com.

Please send me your best Rick Chicken Perry recipes and I'll post them!

New Media Workshop at TDP Convention

2010-06-26T10:12:00.009-05:00

I'm at a great new media workshop at the TDP convention. My friend Matt Glazer is doing a great job talking about how social media needs to be integrated with all of your communication tools and strategies - and that you need to use all of the social media tools. The integration he's talking about is vertical integration - putting buttons on your website and in your emails that offer the opportunity for people to connect with you the way they want to- through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, email list, etc.

Here are some resources we've been given on social media and politics:

Wikipedia - article from Politics magazine

Google campaign toolkit

Study of best online advertising practices

Facebook Resources:

tips for advertising

Inside Facebook blog

How to Facebook from Wellstone Action

Twitter how-to blog and Twitter guidebook

Singing in the Center!

2010-06-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

I got attacked at the TDP convention!! Just got accosted by LaRouchies outside the convention center. I told them NO and no, again, when they tried to give me some Kesha propaganda. Once inside - and by inside, I mean inside the bat cave (press room) - all I can hear is the LaRouche choir, singing something that sounds very hymn-y. My friends said they had "Obama is a Nazi" sign. I wouldn't know. I turned my back to them and hurt their feelings. They are out in the hall.

The hymn selection so far:

As We Gather By the Center
We're Marching to Britain, Beautiful, Beautiful Britain!
All Hail the Power of Kesha's Name
Come Ye Crazy People Come
We've Got the Whole Extraterrestial World in Our Hands
LaRouche, LaRouche, We Adore Thee

and. . . Standing in the Need of Prayer. Which they do need . . . a prayer and divine intervention for Kesha to have chance.

Mapping the Minor League Baseball Stadium in Sugar Land

2010-06-23T22:18:00.000-05:00

Sugar Land City Council has selected their preferred site for the minor league stadium. It's at the northeast corner of Highway 6 and Highway 90. It looks like that is pretty much right across Highway 6 from the airport.

I'm curious what improvements would be made to Hwy 6 to allow for the increased traffic. It already takes increasingly long times to get to Lifetime Fitness out that way, as well as Super Target and restaurants. The traffic backs up all the time both ways on 6, at the light at 59.

The ballpark is supposed to be ready for Opening Day 2012. It sounds like Sugar Land is gearing up fro AAA, and possibly the Atlantic League. The Astros appear to be blocking any affiliation with a major league club.

I spoke with the Sugar Land City Manager at the preview of the Houston Museum of Natural Science Sugar Land. He explained to me how the Museum was part of the City's strategic planning to make Sugar Land a destination city. It's clear the baseball park is part of that same vision.

I've lived in Sugar Land now for 16 years, and the growth here has been a two sided coin. It's great we have more to do and more amenities within close driving distance. But, crime has gone up and the traffic is bad and getting worse. I'm mostly an optimist, and I embrace progress, so I'm ready to see Sugar Land make the most of this new opportunity.

I'm betting on Sugar Land Express as the name of the team.

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BP Disaster Gets More Disastrous

2010-06-23T20:08:00.000-05:00

It's time for the creators of "BP Coffee Spill" to update their comedy. The news today is that the already not so fabulous cap thingy had to be taken off the underwater oil gusher because a vent on it somehow got closed, probably from one of the underwater rovers bumping into it. Perhaps they could add a rogue toy truck to the video below, to make the coffee spill worse.

On a serious note, two people involved in the cleanup effort died today. And, BP continues to be non-transparent about what's happening in our ocean.