I also have found the Chronicle article to be offensive. It is full of inaccuracies.
The ploy that claims voters are biased against Obama and that there is transfer to a KISD bond election is simply preposterous. Mr. Frailey, who is quoted as saying just that, is way off base.
But he is correct that we are all tired of overspending by governments whether they are federal, state, or county governments, or local school districts. That attitude has absolutely nothing to do with anyone’s dislike of the current President of the United States!
We are more upset that FRAILEY would spend five million dollars on a building that we all voted against him building just three months ago! We are more upset that he didn’t spend that five million dollars on finding more bus drivers and putting buses back in our neighborhoods for elementary school children that HE has put in danger when they have to walk in the street to get to school.
Petri Darby may not have been hired by the District to teach the “basics of marketing” to KISD administrators, but they certainly heard his message somewhere, and if they went to Rice or Harvard to hear it, the trip expenses were most certainly paid for by the school district. Frailey charges us when he leaves the school district’s boundaries to go to a C of C party, and the administrators probably do too. In any event there is a “cost” when those administrators are not in Katy doing their jobs.
Read MY take on this article at http://www.marymcgarr.com/Elections
Dumbing down the
College Board Examination (SAT) (again), means
that in order for the dumbed down students to get
into college, they had to adjust their test. And
notice that it is no longer a "test" but an
"assessment." It became an assessment a few years
ago. Those two words don't mean the same thing.
They just call it an "assessment" to fool the
public.
Taking the essay out is another mistake. The essay
is the most accurate measure of a student's
potential for doing well in college--that and the
vocabulary section.
Bring back ability grouping, place the emphasis in
our public schools on academics, and Voila! We'll
have students who can pass the SAT again as it
used to be twenty years ago..
This change is just another in a long line of them
that have been made in an effort to create a cheap
labor force out of our populace instead of
scholars.
As one who had to put up signs in right of ways when a political candidate, although I preferred getting individuals to put them in their own yards, I know that in the past, the County says that “you can put them up and anyone else can take them down.” There’s nothing sacrosanct about a political sign in a right of way. Once it’s put out in a public place, the sign is fair game and no longer belongs to its owner. However a front yard or on someone’s private property where permission has been given to put it there is not a public place.
One also learns that the County will come along on certain days and take the signs down for you if they are on the County’s right of way.
Signs in front yards are subject to one’s HOA deed restrictions. In my subdivision one can put up a sign 30 days before the election–not before that or after the election.
If we’re going to get into sign problems, let’s go after the realtor signs and business signs (the ones on a stick or wire) that trash up our esplanades and street corners–usually on weekends.
The were two good outcomes of yesterday’s election. The first is that candidate Michael Franks didn’t get in the run-off. Since Mr. Franks doesn’t even live in District 132, that’s as it should be. The fact that he was supported by Katy Tea Party advocates in spite of his inability to be qualified to run for the office is another matter that needs attention. Blind adherence to “contentious social issues,” without regard for the true character of a candidate is something else that needs attention. Those of us who used to contribute to and support the Katy Tea Party no longer have faith in the viability of that organization. Perhaps, as in Montgomery County, a splinter group Tea Party needs to emerge for those of us who are just plain conservative Republicans.
It appears to me that Mr. Franks only wanted to be elected to enhance his “small business” which consists of selling political signs to Republican political candidates. He was probably looking for better access to potential customers.
The second good outcome is that Jared Woodfill lost to Paul Simpson. The Party needed new leadership, and that was clear to anyone who follows Republican politics in Harris County. When Mr. Woodfill cuts off his long curly hair, just for the election, people notice. Can’t change one’s spots so easily, Mr. Woodfill!
My only other admonition to District 132 voters, and all voters everywhere, is that they should never vote early. At least one should wait until the last day of early voting. And don’t do mail ins either. Those candidates push the early voting because they want your vote before you find out the truth about them!
In your list of pivotal events, I would suggest that there is one more that should be added.
In 1995, Senate Bill I (dreamed up by Republican pretender Senator Bill Ratliff and Democrat State Representative Bill Sadler) was passed. Hidden in its bowels were some lines that eviscerated local school boards’ and individual wise school board members’ ability and power to object to the onslaught of a duplicitous testing program:
1. the right of a local school board to “manage and govern” was changed to “govern and oversee the management” of a school district
2. the right of a local school board to control the money of the school district was taken away and given to the superintendent
3. the addition of a phrase that stated that a school board must act as a “body corporate” was added and eventually interpreted (as I’m sure was the original intent) to mean that the board members must act as ONE instead of as One of SEVEN (or so depending on the District) who had been individually elected to represent the constituents of the District.
If those caveats are not there, then some of what you are describing could have been stopped.
There was also actually a provision of Senate Bill I which said in essence that if a Board voted, they could exclude their district’s students from even having to take the TAAS test! Of course that proposition never saw the light of day in Katy Texas or anywhere else!
Maybe YOU should re-read it too! Ms. Crockett after she dismisses the other three board members’ child care ideas goes on to say:
“That (and it’s difficult to tell what the antecedent of “that” really is) is a critically important issue and SHOULD be addressed by the School Board, but not just for the children of teachers and staff but for ALL children. If this is about closing the achievement gap, the School Board should put its money into day-care/pre-K at all our Title I schools and offer it to every family who qualifies for free and reduced lunch, not just to the children of staff.”
SHE wants a child care program that is more expansive! And I’m guessing Ms. Crockett has no clue about the true achievement “gaps” in this school district, and they certainly won’t be corrected by universal day care/PRE/K at “all our Title I schools.”
Ms. Crockett’s statement as quoted above is the essence of government interfering in people’s lives. The government (in this case the local school district government) would like to have control of children as soon as they can and a nation-wide effort (part of Obama’s agenda) is to have universal PreK. It’s an old Hillary idea.
Just for the record there’s no law that says children must attend even kindergarten, but the District had provided half day kindergarten for years. Then without any discussion at all in a public forum, they increased the time from a half day to a full day. (They weren’t necessarily concerned about the students but the fact that it was a way for them to get more money from the State.) There’s still no law requiring that small children need to sit in a classroom all day until they are six years old.
In my opinion (and my opinion is mine and no one can argue with my opinion), little children need to be at home with their mothers playing in the backyard when they are 5 years old and certainly when they are 3 and 4!
Just for the record, most government and private studies show that there is no long term academic OR social benefit to incarcerating small children in public schools before they are six years old.
Incarcerating them there because the government wants them there is my concern.
Mary McGarr Reply to article by Chris Crockett on the Katy Dispatch
November 25, 2013 at 8:37 am
Ms. Crockett just flashed her left-leaning, liberal Democrat views for all to see. Taking care of the child care needs of the children of employees of the school district with any scenario (hers or Dibrell’s) or with any of her other proposed schemes is stepping into an area that is not needed or required. Like all previous teachers (and I am among them), they can obtain child care on their own dime. It’s what Americans do! If one cannot afford to take care of one’s children, one should not have them until such time as he/she can! And for sure, no one should expect the rest of us to do it for them. We don’t need “Katycare at the local level.”
As for the “3 trustees rule,” suggesting that this application of this overreaching governmental rule is “nice” is unbelievably arrogant. Ms. Crockett was part of the school board gang that at Leonard Merrell’s direction, instituted in a back room scheme a plan to keep any conservative Republicans who might get elected to the school board from having the ability to put their ideas on the school board agenda so that they could see the light of day and be discussed. The reasoning was that if such items were to indeed be placed on the agenda, the public would be able to see what the true (liberal) political beliefs of the rest of the Board might be when such agenda items had to be discussed publicly.
In the 1990′s ANY board member could put an item on the agenda. When it came up, if no one seconded it (through a motion), then it died. Obviously the people on our school board didn’t even want to continue THIS tiny embarrassment! Over the years they’ve gone from having to have two board members to approve an agenda item before placement on the agenda to THREE! Next thing you know it will be FOUR!
Ms. Crockett doesn’t appear to even see or understand what she is a part of or what she is advocating here–and if she does, that’s further proof of her liberalism.
Your premise is that it is
the money that is bogus. Here are the amounts from
other school districts that same year: Katy ISD
$4,984; Spring Branch $5,688; Clear Creek $5,034;
Galveston $6,183; Klein $4,849. It doesn't matter
how much money is spent. These amounts are all
over the place, and they are low because the cost
of living in our area is low. "Inequality" doesn't
have a thing to do with this problem. It's WHAT is
being taught in our schools, NOT the MONEY or the
FACULTY or the ethnicity or race of the students!
As long as the dumbed down curriculum is in place,
as long as we keep abandoning the curriculum that
we had for 200+ years in this country, as long as
kids are taught to read (or more accurately NOT
read) using whole language instead of using
phonics, as long as they aren't taught plain old
math and memorize the math facts, as long as they
can't use fractions and decimals and do long
division, as long as they don't learn American
history, as long as they can't write cursively, as
long as they play scientific games instead of
learning scientific facts, we're going to have an
uneducated populace.
You'd think the Kinders would have more sense than
to lend their good name to such a study as this!
marymcgarr
October 31, 2013
It might help the
public to realize the excess of this stadium bond
venture if they look at the current construction
of the University of Houston’s new football
stadium which began last spring and which will be
ready next summer.
That stadium, which will include lots of ancillary
facilities associated with it (but then so will
the new KISD stadium), will cost $105,000,000.
There will be 40,000 seats, and the stadium is
being designed to accommodate 20,000 more seats if
they are needed in the future
KatyISD’s new proposed stadium, will cost
$69,500,000. There will be 14,000 seats.
Looking at the difference, the KISD stadium will
cost, $4,964 per seat while the University of
Houston stadium will cost $2,625 per seat.
Seating is the critical measurement of the value
of a stadium. No one can deny that fact. The
number of seats is the crux of the argument by
KISD for “needing” a new and bigger stadium than
Rhodes.
What’s incredible to me is that the KISD stadium
is costing it’s taxpayers 89% MORE per seat than
the U of H stadium will cost.
When it is suggested that the KISD stadium cost is
excessive, they aren’t kidding.
No wonder PBK architects like KISD’s business!
Shouldn't recliners be installed for that price!
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/02/uh-breaks-ground-on-new-football-stadium
-
marymcgarr
-
October 31, 2013
Perhaps the Bond committee was SUPPOSED to have "100+ members" but an Open Records Request to the district says there were only 43 members of the committee, and only 11 of them went to one meeting. The two meetings that were held were on August 7th and August 12th well after KISD administrators were sending out press releases to the local papers pushing the stadium! Maybe there were 57 smart people who didn't show up because they didn't want to be used by the District.
marymcgarr
11:05 PM on October 16, 2013 (Ultimate Katy Houston Chronicle)
Before we fall for the ruse that we "need" a new 69.5 million
dollar stadium, parents should be concerned with overcrowded schools for their children.
Because of bad planning and poor demographic projections by the school district, we now
have four of our thirteen junior high schools over capacity. As of August 27, 2013, Katy
Junior High has a capacity of 1,231 students but has 1,326 enrolled. Beckendorff has a
capacity of 1400 but has 1,653 enrolled. Woodcreek had a capacity of 1400 but has 1,566
enrolled. Seven Lakes Junior High has a capacity of 1400, but has 1,545 enrolled. If a
parent has kids going to those schools, they should be concerned that such overcrowding is
affecting their children's education in several ways. Just drive by and look at the
temporary portable shacks that are needed to handle the excessive numbers of students if
you want to see the extent of the overcrowding. Before the District can float another bond
and get another junior high school built, these numbers will be much higher. The District
could rezone, but that has political ramifications that none of the Board Members what to
endure.
Morton Ranch, Cinco Ranch and Seven Lakes high schools are 1,038 students over capacity.
Tompkins isn't going to take care of all of that excess either.
Think how long it takes to get a bond started and then build those large schools. The
plans should be in the works now, and yet here we are looking at frivolous puff stuff
instead.
Public schools are supposed to be about providing a basic academic education for students.
All the extracurricular matters should be secondary. Where are the parents of the students
in these overcrowded schools? They should be demanding that necessary new schools be built
before a stadium!!!
(All my numbers were provided to me in an Open Records Request to Katy ISD in September of
2013.)
Mary McGarr says:
Mr. Scott,
When you talk about excessive cost [of a new KISD stadium], it might help the public to realize the excess if they look at the current construction of the University of Houston’s new football stadium which began last spring and which will be ready next summer.
That stadium, which will include lots of ancillary facilities associated with it (but then so will the new KISD stadium), will cost $105,000,000. There will be 40,000 seats, and the stadium is being designed to accommodate 20,000 more seats if they are needed in the future
KISD’s new proposed stadium, will cost $69,000,000. There will be 14,000 seats.
Looking at the difference, the KISD stadium will cost, $4,929 per seat while the University of Houston stadium will cost $2,625 per seat.
Seating is the critical measurement of the value of a stadium. No one can deny that fact. The number of seats is the crux of the argument by KISD for “needing” a new and bigger stadium than Rhodes.
What’s incredible to me is that the KISD stadium is costing it’s taxpayers 88% MORE than the U of H stadium will cost.
When you say that the KISD stadium cost is excessive, you aren’t kidding.
No wonder PBK architects like KISD’s business!
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/02/uh-breaks-ground-on-new-football-stadium/
marymcgarr
9:33 AM on September 4, 2013
I'm all for recruiting volunteers. but I think the
superintendent of schools trying, and I emphasize "trying," to Moon Walk in the
recruitment video is questionable. Is he the leader of the academic education of our
students, or is he a stand up comic? Hard to tell.
I suppose this is more fun for the employees than diatribes about "True North," or
testimonials from people who haven't a clue what they are doing. Did teachers have to sit
through one of THOSE sessions this year?
Surely the Chronicle can find things to report about the beginning of the school year that
are more useful and important to parents, students, and taxpayers!
marymcgarr
8:39 AM on May 10, 2013 Houston Chronicle
[With reference to an op-ed by State Rep. Dwayne Bohac "To Best Teach Our Children, We Need a Diverse Marketplace" http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Bohac-To-best-teach-our-children-we-need-a-4503588.php
Representative Bohac, like so many before him, has bought into the
School to Work mantra.
Public education in America, for at least it's first 200 years, sought to provide the
populace with an ACADEMIC liberal arts education. The purpose of that education was to
pass along the American culture to young Americans. If anyone immigrated to our country,
he was expected to take part in this educational process if he too wanted to be an
American.
Enter mindless politicians like Mr. Bohac who fail to understand the original and
long-lasting purpose of public education and who have allowed themselves to be snowed by
the liberals amongst us. The purpose of public education is NOT to TRAIN workers or CATER
to the "needs" of business and industry. The purpose is to academically EDUCATE. For
America's first two hundred years or so, if the public schools educated a student
properly, he could then go to a vocational school or a college, get a job, or do anything
else his IQ and his ambition would allow him to do once he obtained that diploma (and it
IS a diploma, not a degree).
The purpose of the public education was to pass along the culture and the accumulated
knowledge of that culture, NOT to provide compliant malleable workers who can put part "A"
to part "B" and not complain about low wages!
When the American culture does not get passed along, what we have are people like Mr.
Bohac who doesn't see the handwriting on the wall. He (and those Republicans who agree
with him) will no longer be able to become members of the State Legislature because there
will be no one who believes as he does on matters of politics and therefore will NOT vote
for a Republican!
His stance here is self-defeating and is the problem that exists for Americans. Too bad
for all of us that he can't see what he is doing.
marymcgarr
8:07 AM on April 22, 2013
[With reference to George Flynn, a reporter for the Houston Post and the Houston Chronicle who had passed away] When I saw his name here just now, the words "character, intelligence, fairness, respect" all came to mind. Would that we could all end our lives by giving others such thoughts! I thank him for his efforts to bring us accurate reports of the news.
marymcgarr
9:19 AM on April 11, 2013
Actually it's kind of nice to have an appraisal of a serious world leader which presents an accurate portrayal of her greatness. Mrs. Thatcher's place in history is irrefutable. She is unique, and unfortunately irreplaceable.
marymcgarr
8:25 AM on February 15, 2013 (re: "Special Purpose Districts Are Weaving a Tangled Web"
by John Colyandro and Tom Aldred of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute
Good advice for the Legislature! While they're at it they need to curtail the "tax" being extracted from homeowners by their quasi-governmental HOA's! These "dues" (which are clearly a tax) are also duplicative of city and county services. But none of this effort will go anywhere as long as Senator John Carona is in the Senate. He owns the biggest HOA company in America (Associa), and he grew that multi-state company on the backs of unsuspecting homeowners.
marymcgarr January 1, 2013 in response to Chronicle article about grading teacher training institutes.
This scheme is just another in a long line of them to insure that
colleges of education are in lock step with "education reform" --which isn't reform at
all!
A person can inherently teach or not, and having endured a college of education does not
alter that fact.
If we want better teachers, close down all teacher preparation programs, colleges of
education, et cetera. The best teacher is one who holds an
academic degree from a quality university. He/she had a decent SAT score to get into that
university, and he/she enrolled in something besides "How to Teach ABC" while there.
There is a vast difference between being educated and being trained. I believe that a
teacher who is an academically educated person is one who will be able to pass along our
culture in the most knowledgeable manner. One does not obtain knowledge in a training
institution.
Right now, teachers are not required to have knowledge because of the proliferation of
inane "curriculum management systems" that tell the "teacher" when to jump, and which do
not allow any teacher to use his/her brain.
(And why did we have to wait five days for this article to appear on line?)
marymcgarr
1.52 PM Friday December 21, 2012
In response to http://www.ultimatekaty.com/stories/452338-schools-katy-isd-board-selects-firm-to-design-two-new-elementary-schools
And they didn't post my comment because stupidly one has to be on Facebook to do so, and I'm not that stupid!
"SBWV has been the architect for the last 19 or so KISD elementary
schools. Why is this news?
What was news a while back was the fact that Creech Elementary School, built in 2000 had
architect's fees (Goleman Architects) of $233,322 for a $9,614,406 building. When the
District started using SBWV architects in 2001, King Elementary's architectural fees (SBWV
Architects) were $557,849 for a $11,515,486 building. (Notice the percentage of the fee!)
Now, for example, at Firethorne and Falcon Landing Elementary schools, the cost of a KISD
elementary school has doubled in ten years to $18,653,859!
Doesn't look like they're saving much money to me! And these facts pose lots of questions
that board members should be asking Mr. Frailey before they vote on another of his
recommendations.
We taxpayers are footing the bill for these overpriced schools. These board members and
the superintendent will be long gone while we'll still be stuck paying for their lack of
control of the District funds."
4:45 PM on November 25, 2012
(In response to http://www.chron.com/default/article/Commission-could-solve-state-s-transportation-4057848.php)
I have a better solution. You suggest a commission. Our
government leaders have already committeed and commissioned us to death trying to hide
behind the skirts of the appointed members so they don't have to take heat for major and
often unpopular but necessary decisions.
What keeps elected officials from making major decisions? The fact that they are spending
most of their waking moments trying to get re-elected, and that won't happen if they make
the tough decisions. Institute term limits (two terms for every elected office). Then we'd
see lots of positive actions that didn't have to be initiated by a committee! Elected
offices weren't meant to be a career.
Instant News Katy November 19, 2012 9:50 AM
The Fine Arts in our school district have excelled because of the leadership provided by
Bob Bryant, not Alton Frailey. Frailey likes jazz and so he tags along and supports the
program because of that interest.
He also takes the band directors out to eat, goes to jazz concerts, and tags along when
there's also a Super Bowl to look at.
So I guess that counts as "support."
Others have identified the true backers of the Fine Arts program--it's parents who wish
for their children to have this added dimension in their education, who pay for the
private lessons, who form and support the booster clubs that pay for much of the efforts
of their children, and who attend the concerts to support their children.
Symbolically, Frailey represents those groups, so he gets the award. He probably deserves
this one more than most of them that he gets.
Mary McGarr on November 16th, 2012 3:48 pm in response to article by George Scott on
GeorgeScottReports.com
http://georgescottreports.com/2012/11/16/continuing-the-series-on-jim-robinsons-hcad-when-did-he-know-his-values-on-major-properties-were-wrong-how-much-did-hcad-pay-to-be-wrong/
After reading your columns for several months on this issue, I have to wonder where the outrage is from mayors, county judges, superintendents, MUD District boards and all the other governmental entities that are getting “cheated” out of tax revenue by these unconscionable gifts to the elite.
You’d think they all had a “big pile o’ money” and didn’t need any more!
And then of course there’s John Q. Citizen who has to make up the necessary difference with HIS individual taxes as a homeowner! Where are those people on this issue?
NOTE: Per usual Mary, you pose the best of questions. Where indeed. You and I have always been willing to get out ‘on point’ on issues like this. In the field of public education, there have been few willing to fight as necessary to achieve great change. On this matter, I believe the groundswell is building. And as usual, these officials you mention will be in position by next spring to be leading from behind.
Mary McGarr
says:Mr. Scott has followed up with an explanation of which students are truly excelling in our school district, and which ones are not. If your child is NOT at the top of the class, his chances of getting into a college, staying there and graduating are pretty slim these days. If I had a kid in KISD at this point in time, I think I’d want to know the reality instead of the spin.
The truth is, many of your children, thanks to the mediocre education being provided these days by KISD, are not going to be able to obtain the kind of education their parents have and to be able to afford the kind of a house and neighborhood that they grew up in.
That’s kind of sad.
Mary McGarr
says:DM,
Can you tell me what it is about Web 2.0 that you don’t like? I’m asking, here, for information. I’ve looked at explanations online, and they all seem innocuous. What am I missing?
Mary McGarr
says:I’m afraid I don’t see that what either one of you said has anything to do with what I said!
I’m talking about curriculum and methodology being the reason KISD students are just mediocre on tests. If they’re not given an academic education, they cannot perform well on an ACT or SAT.
I don’t know what you’re talking about!
Mary McGarr
says:“As for family situations, education, and the trajectory we take through life; there is no more potent force than a good education…”
Ross, you make my point. A “good” education can enable ANY student to succeed as a college student and in life.
The problem is, when we no longer provide students with an adequate academic education, but instead waste all their school hours with trivia, then students are not able to score well on tests such as the ACT and the SAT. The TAKS doesn’t cut it in my book as a measure of academic success. Parents who are fooled by this “assessment” instrument are in for a rude awakening with their children.
Mr. Scott pointed out in a column not so long ago how few students from any of our high schools manage to complete a college degree program within 6 years after graduation. The numbers were awful.
But instead of screaming about the poor education being provided, we have parents worrying about buses or football championships or other side line matters. It would be refreshing to have parents instead concerned with what their children are taught and the manner in which they are taught.
Mary McGarr
says:These scores may constitute “college ready” to some, but I’m thinking a student with a 23.5 would be hard pressed to do very well at most Texas colleges with such a score.
See: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/theact/a/top-texas-act.htm
That we are “better than the state average composite score” is just spin. Think about who it is that makes up the “state average composite score.”
And the “average score” for KISD students is elevated by the students at some of our high schools and lowered by the students at some of our other high schools. Just a fact. It would appear that trying to make it look like all of the KISD students are “college ready” is a tad misleading. And are we talking about HCC or the University of Texas?
Whoever decided to put out this press release, needs someone to draw them a picture of the reality of our high schools.
More importantly, if one goes to the link in the story, one sees that KISD students’ ACT scores have declined from the previous year. That fact is much more telling than comparing our district scores to the state’s.
If we had a viable curriculum in place, ALL of our students could excel. I’m not one of those who believe that one needs to live in a big house with a happy family to do well in school. It is a disservice to many of our students that they are not properly taught and so get relegated to a second class life. Some day the students themselves might rebel, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to occur.
Mary McGarr
says:Lots of Katy schools are “Blue Ribbon” schools.
Make note of the fact that at least some of them (and they should tell us this) hired a consultant (used to be $1500) to help them with the paperwork.
The paperwork is to verify that the school is obeying the School to Work, Outcome Based Education, education reform junk that our last three superintendents have put in place in our schools.
The sign on the side of the building used to cost $3,000. Bet it’s higher than that now.
So what does it mean? Well, several things come to mind, but I’ve said them before. If my kids went to one of the last schools in the district to get the award, and if I thought it was a worthy award, I’d be a bit disappointed!
In my view it’s a good thing to be last!
Mary McGarr
says:My admonition about the clarity of the Agenda items at the Work Study session as well as the Regular meeting has some basis in Law and Code:
According the Board Policy BE (legal):
Agendas for all meetings shall be sufficiently
specific to inform the
public of the subjects to be deliberated at the
meeting, setting out
any special or unusual matters to be considered or
any matter in
which the public has a particular interest.
Deliberations or actions
pertaining to the Superintendent and principals
are of particular
public interest, and notice of those subjects must
be worded with
such clarity that the public will understand what
the Board proposes
to discuss or accomplish. Cox Enterprises, Inc. v.
Austin Indep.
Sch. Dist., 706 S.W.2d 956 (Tex. 1986); Point
Isabel Indep. Sch.
Dist. v. Hinojosa, 797 S.W.2d 176 (Tex.
App.—Corpus Christi 1990,
writ denied); Atty. Gen. Ops. M-494 (1969), H-419
(1974), H-662
(1975), H-1045 (1977)
The terms “employee briefing” or “staff briefing”
do not give adequate
notice of the subject matter to be presented to
the Board by
employees or staff members. Atty. Gen. Op. JC-169
(2000)
The subject of a report or update by District
staff or a member of
the Board must be set out in the notice in a
manner that informs a
reader about the subjects to be addressed. Atty.
Gen. Op. GA-668
(2008)
I would also point out that the Agenda for these meetings is created by the Superintendent with the approval of the Board President.
I suggest that they both spend some time learning how to create a comprehensive and understandable agenda for their future meetings. This action would be the first step in cleaning up their mess.
Mary McGarr
says:I keep hearing this line “No one ever wants to see harm come to a child, in any circumstance, and particularly while they are making their way to and from school.” coming from KISD administrators.
I don’t think parents would ever think that ANYONE at KISD would want to see “harm to come to a child,” and one has to wonder why they keep saying that!
The Administration fails to see that parents and patrons are concerned about their obvious efforts to cover up what they were doing last May (posting the Board’s agenda item as “Transportation Service Considerations” at the Work Study meeting and then at the Regular meeting as “Consider Board Approval of the Change in Transportation”.)
Those topics could have covered any number of things, but in keeping with their penchant for using words to deceive, these were the headings chosen. Who could know that such gobbledygook meant “We’re getting ready to cut bus service to a lot of the students in this school district”?
And just for the record, if objections aren’t heard from the public BEFORE the Board meets, then it’s too late. Once they’ve voted, they dig in and put up the fences.
It’s the lack of planning or of cogent explanations, the blatant deception, the lack of transparency and of consideration for parents and their children that have become particularly annoying and which cause parents to claim that the Board and Administrators don’t really care about their children. (There’s a difference between “caring” and “harming.”)
Yes, we know that the superintendent “is listening,” but will he DO anything to straighten up the mess HE created? The fact that the superintendent and most of the Board just don’t understand why people are upset, morphs into the bigger problem of how will they ever solve a problem that they can’t even see!
marymcgarr says:
7:04 PM on July 23, 2012 re: Texas GOP Waging War on Critical Thinking http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Pitts-Texas-GOP-waging-war-on-critical-thinking-3723685.php
If Mr. Pitts understood
the educatorese of "critical thinking," he would
know that the "critical thinking" of today isn't
anything like the "critical thinking" that was
taught prior to 1970.
Of course teachers should be teaching students to
think "critically" about things that they read and
view, but HOTS isn't the way to do that.
College education teachers come up with mindless
little schemes to further their careers by giving
high sounding names to stupid activities. HOTS is
one of those. Most of us have figured out the
plan.
Do your homework if you're going to write about
something such as this, Mr. Pitts!
marymcgarr says re: http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Editorial-Culberson-needs-to-get-off-the-tracks-3697460.php
10:51 AM on July 11, 2012
I'm glad Representative
Culberson stands up for local residents. The
people who live along Richmond didn't want "light
rail" in front of their homes.
I'm also glad that my part of town has been
returned to Representative Culberson's district--I
know from many years of watching that he is one of
the few who always tries to do the right thing and
is truly a "representative" of the people.
[Too bad that in just three short years
Representative Culberson turned on a dime and does
nothing that represents the will of his
electorate! He slipped into the mud of the SWAMP
and dwells there forever.]
Mary McGarr says re: http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy-news/article/No-end-in-sight-to-enrollment-growth-3506466.php
8:34 AM on April 25, 2012
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The superintendent likes to say we're a "high growth" district (I think he belongs to some organization that is made up of "high growth" school districts,) but below is an accounting of the number of students that have come to KISD by October 31 of each of these years over the previous year. Obviously our "high growth" is not as predicted by the demographer and in fact is no longer there.
2008 we grew by 3,037 students.
2009 we grew by 2,429 students.
2010 we grew by 2,253 students.
2011 we grew by 1,816 students.
2012 we grew by 1,619 students.
We've been on a downward trend for the last five years! Our increase has dropped by almost 50%!
In the five months from October 28, 2011 to March 26, 2012, we have lost 219 students at the high school level. The junior highs are up 92. The elementary schools are up 328 (an average of 10 students per elementary school). The total enrollment over that five months is up 201 students for all grades. Doesn't look like "high growth" to me!
My source is from an open records request for the enrollment figures and was provided by the school district. You'd think the superintendent would look at those numbers! When I was on the Board we got those print outs every month.
The Chronicle should do a better job of getting the real facts out there.
Mary McGarr says:
11:45 AM on April 25, 2012
This comment has been removed from our system.
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"The district has targeted five areas known as True North: Student growth and success, safe and orderly working and learning environment, community engagement, effective and efficient operations and organizational improvement, Frailey said."
The superintendent makes the above comment with regard to how the district "achieves success." Is anyone else concerned that nowhere in that list is there anything at all about academic endeavor? Can these students get a job if all they "know and are able to do" is this list of educrat baloney?
I don't think they can, and their parents should be screaming for Mr. Frailey's expulsion from the District!
The foundation was quickly put on the agenda last night. Haven’t heard what happened yet.
Marcy Canady, who I heard didn’t get her two year contract renewed, is making the foundation her swan song. Any board member who votes to keep this bad idea afloat, has rocks for brains. Once initiated, it will be next to impossible to remove–that’s why the rush.
Foundations are a way for the administration (read Frailey) to circumvent the authority of the board. One of the Board’s few powers that they have left is to have control of the money and where it is spent. A foundation eliminates that power as the foundation sets up its own board and doesn’t need School Board approval. The money can be used for any liberal left-leaning plan the superintendent wants to have. No sane board member should ever vote to give up one of his few remaining powers.
When Katy parents ( Booster Clubs, PTA’s and PTO’s) who work so hard to raise money for their own child’s school activities find out that the foundation is going to latch on to their money and spread it around Obama-style, they’ll realize what this foundation was really all about. (Can anyone say “redistribution of the wealth?”)
I find it very interesting that there appears to be no board authority to create this foundation as no board that I can find ever voted for it. Correct me if I’m wrong. As a school board member a long time ago, I fought this idea and stopped it–now it’s back because they think they can ramrod it through.
The other thing we all need to remember is that ousted and soundly defeated board member Chris Crockett is the one who initiated this foundation mess in the first place. She suggested it while running for office the first time she ran and brought it up again last spring. The voters threw her out of office along with her ideas. That fact needs to not be forgotten!
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November 18, 2011 The Katy Times
My Recent Comments
-
Regardless
of what
happened
here, I
see just
another
situation
that
reflects
the
current
Discipline
Management
Plan
policy of
failing to
give a
student
Due
Process.
Under the Constitution, we all are afforded this right, but somehow in this convoluted world, public school students do not enjoy this fundamental right.
What happens in these situations is that an administrator, who, in most cases has absolutely no training in such matters, calls in the accused student, does not inform him/her of his rights because nothing says he must do that, and encourages the student to write down "what happened" thus creating a situation of self-incrimination, and even when the students are minors, the parent is almost never called or informed until after the fact. The written statement may become the basis of the school district's case, and in my opinion the student may be punished for things he/she might not have done.
No adult would stand for such treatment, but somehow adults who create these rules think it's OK to treat public school students this way.
Those circumstances are what need changing and fixing. I railed about the lack of Due Process as a Board Member. Fred Hink has tried for a long time through his Zero Tolerance organization to fix this matter.
If I had children in these public schools, in such situations, I would tell them to not write or say anything until I was called to be there to see and hear what was happening. In real life, the words "I want my lawyer" suffice. Since the school administrators are trying to act like cops, maybe parents should teach their children to act like an adult with Due Process rights!
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Texas Children’s Hospital New West Campus A Reality Thanks To Donors
Compiled From News Reports · November 11, 2010 · 1 Comment
Local News ·
By Mary McGarr
Yesterday, the new Texas Children’s Hospital located on the north side of the I-10 Freeway, held an Open House to allow citizens in our community to view the new facility.
Guests were treated to breakfast, a program, and a tour.
Welcoming remarks by Mark A. Wallace, President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Children’s Hospital, highlighted the long term effort to bring this facility to the Katy area as well as those who made it happen.
An excellent staff, the architect, the generosity of many including David and Mary Wolff regarding the land site, and families, organizations and corporations all came together to make possible what we all got to view–a lovely building dedicated to the welfare of children in the West Houston area.
Various parts of the building have been named to honor those generous donors who support children and their well being. Among them are the Helmle Shaw Foundation, the Rosenthal Family of Physicians, the Lauren and Lara Camillo Family Trusts, Conoco Phillips, the Pi Beta Phi Foundation, Houston Credit Unions, the Hamill Foundation, and the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Association, all of them have areas of the hospital named in their honor.
Others who are “Founding Donors” are the Auxiliary to Texas Children’s Hospital, the Bristow Group, Inc., David Hlebichuk-Race to Heal Sick Children, MacDonald-Peterson Foundation, McCoy Workplace Solutions, Inc., RE/MAX of Texas-Jeanne and Richard Filip, and the Estate of Carmen L. Rulfs.
Other speakers on the program included Michelle Riley-Brown, Vice President, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, whose enthusiasm, I’m sure, has been a driving force over the last few years; Dr. Edmond Gonzales, Jr., who assured us that the renowned quality of medicine practiced at the Medical Center site, will also be evident at the West Houston site; and Dr. Charles Hankins, Chief Medical Officer, Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, who was evidence of Dr. Gonzoles’ promise of staffing outstanding physicians at the site.
Completing the program was a tribute by Margaret Go on behalf of her daughter, Katherine. Katherine has Turner’s syndrome. Katherine first spoke poignantly about her condition, and then her mother elaborated and explained the role Texas Children’s Hospital has played in helping her daughter. Ms. Go was very grateful for the aid provided to her daughter over the last ten years.
I was invited to this open house because my husband and I are donors. We intend to keep on donating as the need will always be there for financial assistance. I would like to thank all of those who have made this hospital possible. I must say, though, that I was surprised that I did not see but one fellow Katy resident that I knew. I don’t know everyone in Katy, but I know a lot of people, so know that you were missed! I did recognize Ann Hodge’s name on the list of people on the local advisory committee.
I’m always about the bottom line, and for me it’s this: there are lots of people in the Katy area who say they have an interest in the welfare of our children. If that is so, the next time there is a function at this facility, I would hope to see the Mayor of Katy, the Katy area State Representatives and Senators, the local school board members from Katy, Cy-Fair, Spring Branch, Royal and Alief school districts, superintendents and administrators from all those school districts, PTA-PTO presidents, and all those active parents in those school districts–because if you are a donor to this facility, you will receive an invitation!
No one knows when this hospital and its staff will come to play an important role in one’s life or the life of someone we know.
Please make a donation today to become a part of this wonderful hospital and its work. Consider your donation a Christmas or Hanukkah gift to your community– and provide that gift every year.
Last reply was November 11, 2010
-
Noel PinnockView November 11, 2010This is wonderful…way to go
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September 29, 2011 The Katy Times
There are 19 special education professionals at Exley, which looks like more than any other elementary. Let's not indict all of them with remarks here.I'm glad two parents spoke up about the matter. They should have been at a board meeting sooner.
Surely the school knows it's being watched. Let the authorities sort it out. Mary McGarr
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September 29, 2011 The Katy Times
I think it's important for people to know that the motion to proceed with the Linebarger matter as suggested by the superintendent was made after all sorts of very important reservations had been expressed by several board members and a citizen. Robert Shaw is the board member who chose to ignore all those concerns. The fact that none of the board members present-- Joe Adams, Rebecca Fox, Henry Dibrell, Bill Proctor, or Neal Howard-- (Terry Huckaby was ill and in the hospital), would second his motion is remarkable and a move in the right direction for our school board.Mr. Shaw appears to be used to doing whatever the superintendent tells him to do! Time for him to realize who is the boss here--big hint, it's not supposed to be the superintendent!
I'm of the opinion that the school district needs to collect its own taxes and keep the current situation of hiring out the delinquent taxes for a 15% fee as it is. The school district claims it costs them $400,000 to collect the taxes. All that amount is for salaries for nine people who staff the Tax Office. Our district probably bills about 110,000 parcels. Probably it is an automated process. Why in the world does it take nine people to do that? And why should the Tax Assessor Collector make $115,000 ???? Isn't this just clerical work?
Look at it this way: if Linebarger or Purdue (sp) can collect the taxes and the delinquent taxes and make a huge profit (else they wouldn't be wanting the business), then why can't the school district collect them efficiently too? I have no way of knowing about the situation that exists, but just guessing, I imagine that the District has too many employees in that office, and they are paid too much for what they do, and so administrative costs are the culprit.Someone needs to explain why it costs KISD so much to collect these taxes. As one of the board memebers pointed out last night, a collection agency can collect taxes--it's the delinquents that are difficult to collect. That's why Linebarger was hired in the first place--I know, I was there when they were hired. At that time, no one much was collecting delinquent taxes, and I brought it up. It had ticked me off that I'd been paying my taxes for 17 years and a fellow living nearby had never paid his at all and no one was bothering to make him pay them. (And just so you know, the school district as a government has the right of foreclosure, and getting unpaid taxes collected shouldn't be that hard for them.)
As for the benefits, for some reason (I guess it's because the District used to fund benefits for the Waller County Appraisal District employees) I'm under the impression that the Tax Office is separate from the school district. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. (Thanks for pointing that out.) I think I've been told that we have to keep paying for the head of the Tax office, but that's all that is required (even if the law firms take it over, the District still has to have him/her.)
No one can argue that administrative costs in this District are realistic. Administrative salaries could be cut by 50%, and they would be more in line with what is proper.
On another note, at last night's board meeting, it was worth the price of admission to see Robert Shaw's face when he pompously made a motion to allow the superintendent to negotiate a contract with Linebarger, and NO ONE seconded his motion! When have you seen that in fifteen years? It was a mindless motion as Bill Proctor had brought up a legal issue that could possibly cause criminal charges to be filed against all the board members and administrators on which he wanted an AG opinion, and Cormac Creaven in the Public Forum had brought up several examples of criminal behavior by Linebarger employees over the years that need an explanation. Obviously five members of the board didn't think Mr. Shaw's motion was very wise.
On another note, I appreciated Rebecca Fox pointing out that the Bond Oversight Committee that was promised by the Board isn't functioning. Mr. Frailey corrected her, (who's the boss here?) by saying that the construction she was talking about was from "old" bond money. I could be mistaken, but wasn't there supposed to be a bond oversight committee for the old bond money too? New bond money has been approved and things are in the works, so asking that question was totally appropriate.
And wouldn't it have been more diplomatic to have "corrected" Mrs. Fox in private? Mrs. Fox was the diplomat in this situation by not reprimanding the superintendent right then! Someone needs to tell him that the "Team of Eight" is gone.
[Looks like Mr. Shaw's support of Mr. Frailey's motions got the STEAM building named for him! There can't be any other reason!]
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September 27, 2011 The Katy Times
That the Katy Times reporter thought this item worthy of reporting and two commenters are wondering why the decision wasn't made a long time ago tells me that there's something else going on here!What is KISD losing by going with the counties or the attorney firms? Some jobs?
Is the superintendent still unwilling to cut back on administrative jobs to save some tax dollars?
On the other hand, why is there controversy over which law firm to use? Politics? Favoritism? Who gave whom the biggest campaign contribution?
Why would a law firm want to take on the collection process and pay KISD workers unless there's some huge profit in it for them?
Why does it cost so much for KISD to collect the taxes? Is it because we overpay the people who do the job? Has KISD hired too many people for the job? I have contended over the years that this is so--and that paying tax office workers all the benefits that KISD administrators get is not a good idea. If the law firms are willing to dump three KISD workers, why can't KISD just dump them?
Perhaps the Katy Times should do some digging and tell us what this matter is really about!
What I'm looking for is four people on the board who keep ethics in mind as they vote, and provide for KISD taxpayers the most honest and fair means of taking care of this tax business. If it costs a little more, so be it--but do what you have to do because you're on the up and up and not for job protection for needless employees or favoritism to campaign contributors.
I'm guessing we'll soon see who is standing up for what is best for students and taxpayers.
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September 23, 2011 The Katy Times
For one high school counselor's testimony on IB and AP, watch this video, please.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBP3Yx-kDAI
She includes a list of the 200 colleges and universities that prefer the AP over the IB coursework.
- As it happens, I DO know a lot about IB programs. One can learn more about them (facts not perceptions) at http://truthaboutib.com/breakingnewsopinions.html)
KISD already has a very fine AP program which far surpasses the IB program academically. Why would we waste tax dollars on a lesser program unless someone is interested in foisting the liberal indoctrination part of it on our students?
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August 11, 2011 The Katy Times
- I'm delighted that the new Wolfe Elementary School is finally getting under way. No community deserves a new school more than this one in the east end of the school district, and no one tried harder than I did over the years to stop a superintendent who wanted to close it down, and get it rebuilt, and keep it from becoming a United Nations school.
No one should forget that this area had two long term school board members (Snyder and Kimmel) who sat on their hands, used the school as a political football, and did nothing to further the re-building of this school for fifteen years!
As I have frequently pointed out, without the high tax revenue generated from the homes in this area, building all the new schools in the west end to entice (for the builders) new home buyers wouldn't have been so easily accomplished. When Mr. Frailey notes that there is a "committment to fulfill to this community" that SHOULD be to what he alludes, but I'm afraid he still doesn't get that part of it.
Mr. Frailey is determined to start an International Baccalaureate school on this site, and all of these descriptors--"interior collaborative instruction spaces, different classroom clusters, six acres of green space, and learning spaces" in this article are all indications, at least to one who understands IB jargon, that an IB school could still be instituted there.
Speeding up the building of this school by a year isn't being done so much in consideration for the "oldness" of the school or to serve this community as it is a precaution that if additional new board members are elected next spring who also don't want a communistic IB school in the Katy School District, they will already have their IB infrastructure in place at this site so that an IB school can be implemented the minute they have a chance down the road.
Remember too that the District has already spent thousands of tax dollars sending Marcia Canady and some other administrators and teachers all over the place to be trained to be ready for an IB school.
So celebrate the opening and be happy to have a new school, but keep your eyes open. All is not as it seems.
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August 11, 2011 The Katy Times
Dr. Harris evidently hasn't lived in Texas long enough to know that legislative matters are spread over two years, not one. She needs to learn what a "biennium" is.
I think no one should forget these constant mistakes that are made by this superintendent and his administration. I know I won't.
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July 21, 2011
Barker" would be a good name for a KISD school. Honoring someone from Katy who worked hard all his life would be inspiring to young students.
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- As it happens, I DO know a lot about IB programs. One can learn more about them (facts not perceptions) at http://truthaboutib.com/breakingnewsopinions.html)
marymcgarr
9:24 AM on July 1, 2011
It's not the money, it's the crummy curriculum and "education reform" baloney that has dumbed down our students! No amount of money will get Mr. Dell more software engineers when students aren't being taught to read or do math in a proper and credible manner! But then, it's people like Mr. Seymour that are behind such dumbing down initiatives. The Business Roundtable and TBEC are your culprits. Blame them.
Read more:
http://www.chron.com/disp/discuss.mpl/editorial/outlook/7634881.html#ixzz1Qrh5J900
marymcgarr
1:49 PM on June 16, 2011
Thomas! I'm not buying your plea for more money for "education." Your part time job as a lobbyist tells me that you'd like to get more money for your clients!
As for returning our schools, I believe it was your father, Senator Bill Ratliff, who sold out our schools in 1995 in Senate Bill 1 and took away "local control."
Not everyone has forgotten yet.
You don't belong on the SBOE, and you sure shouldn't be writing editorials like you know anything at all about education!
Go peddle your wares in some other state.
Thomas_Ratliff
2:44 PM on June 16, 2011
Mary,
First, I have no clients in the education industry. I have no financial interest in public education, period.
Second, my father and Governor Bush worked together to RETURN local control by eliminating many requirements in the Education Code. You're just flat wrong. Oh, by the way, I'm not my father.
Third, 260,000+ voters in my district decided I do belong on the SBOE.
[Mr. Ratliff is a registered lobbyist for Microsoft.]
Mary McGarr posted on Friday June 10, 2011 on Instant News Katy in response to "SuperDad":
It doesn't matter about what Ms. McFarling did or didn't say. Try to get past that and see the real issue!
This is about the law. Mr. Adams would appear to be sending a letter in the name of the "Board" when the "Board" appears not to have voted to allow him to send that letter. There is no record of the "Board" having voted to allow him to represent them in this manner.
Read what you just quoted. It doesn't say "The board President" it says "the board." Mr. Adams is not "the board." The "board consists of seven people, and only a majority of them can direct the board president to act on their behalf.
How can YOU not see that? What are you going to say when you find out Mr. Adams has sent his letter to more than just Ms. McFarling?
In my opinion it certainly looks as though Mr. Adams is trying to shut up anyone with whom
he doesn't agree. That would appear to me to be a misuse of his power.
If there is an agenda item and a vote that was held, then show me. It's not "negative" to question the actions of government officials or to want people to abide by the law. I believe that's my right, and you, SuperDad are way off base.
marymcgarr
2:13 PM on June 3, 2011
I'll settle for lowering just state employees' salaries so that
they don't make more than the Governor's 150K.
Katy ISD's superintendent makes $288,400.00 and in my opinion, he doesn't do too much to
earn that amount. He would probably be a much better superintendent if he only made
$149,000.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7593192.html#loopbeginhttp://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7593192.html#loopbegin
-
Mary McGarr says:
27. May 2011 at 6:07 pmCould Yelocrab (or Barcoley spelled backwards) be dissing Larry Watts and Ms. Soto? We’re all having a hard time, YC, figuring out which side of the fence you’re on!
Yes Mr. Watts is a liberal. One doesn’t brag about trying his first case in front of William Wayne Justice without being a liberal.
HOWEVER, Mr. Watts chose many years ago to go into the legal profession to represent teachers and students who are the victims of government schools, their administrators and board members. He could be retired and living well in Maui if he had decided to get into the other side of school law. That he didn’t is, in my opinion, to his credit.
I have seen him in action while a board member. He knows his stuff. He knows the Constitution and the law with regard to board members, teachers and students. He is a formidable opponent.
Why WOULDN’T Mr. Scott believe him to be the most appropriate person to bring to Katy when the Board just fired 350 teachers when they didn’t need to do so? He made himself available to some of those teachers. I find that laudable and upstanding.
If you have a problem with this approach, you tell us what YOU would do to help these folks out. And then do it.
Mr. Scott is just trying to help. Like me, he wants people to understand that there is more to all of this than meets the eye. We’re all fed up with those who are feeding at the public trough, with those who think board membership is a legacy, and a central education agency that is helping to perpetrate an agenda of dumbing down our children.
The only way to stop those things is to do what we are doing. One step at a time is how it will get fixed.
Posted 5/7/2011 6:07 PM CDT
As long as the administrators are not included in this bill, one can be certain that there's something fishy about it.
Comment on: The Missing School Reform: Improving Leadership. Perhaps Mr. Guthrie's desire to have leaders emerge from existing principals is a bit premature. First, let's give a long hard look at the Colleges of Education, which are mills for producing high paid nobodies, for they are the culprits.
We could close them all down, save ourselves a bundle of money, and be no worse as educators of children than we are now.
Look, if you will, at the curriculum that leads to a Masters in Education or an "educational doctorate." Only then will you understand the problem.
Superintendents and principals are themselves not products of an academic background. How can we possibly expect them to lead in providing an academic education for our students?
We force them, if they want to be a principal or a superintendent, to partake of the idiocy of an education degree. The system needs changing
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Comment on: Let’s use common sense to solve school challenges at 4/22/2011 1:03 PM CDT Any bill that doesn't limit administrative salaries and cut them, is an ill-conceived bill. You're not fooling us! |
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Comment on: Yes to nosy questions: Coercive lawsuits shouldn't keep people from exercising their constitutional rights at 3/20/2011 11:01 AM CDT I appreciate the Chronicle's Editorial Board taking this stand for freedom of speech. While freedom of speech is also in their best interest, securing it for the little guy was not something they had to do. I'm hoping they realized that once the curtain begins to fall in one place, it won't be long before it crashes down everywhere.
Mary McGarr posted at 12:31 am on Wed, Apr 13, 2011.In a Houston Chronicle article from the week of March 31 to April 6, 2011, it is stated that the fund balance on Sept. 1, 2010 was $125,148,770 and the projected August 31, 2011 fund balance is $122,893,304. So the $80 million number that is being used is incorrect. There are 12 assistant superintendents/chiefs whose total salaries add up to $2,150,272.24. (The "chiefs" used to be assistant superintendents--a rose by any other name...) When the District suggests that a shortfall of $19 to $62 million is possible, remember that amount is for two years, not one, so halve it. Anger at Bush, Perry, Patrick, the Tea Party, the Republicans and so on is misplaced. It is the Katy ISD school board that has had ample funds which they have spent wildly on anything they wanted. I don't for a minute think any of the board members decided what to do with the money, but more important they didn't exercise their oversight over the person who DID spend it. They seem inept to me, and their ineptness is what caused teachers to lose their jobs today.
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Comment on: Rick Casey: Make school better while saving cash at 3/2/2011 9:14 AM CST If anyone doesn't understand "transformational outcome-based education," please go to www.marymcgarr.com and read, under Education, the articles written by Robert Holland when he was outlining the process in the state of Virginia. The exact same things were going on in Texas as well as every other state. But only Virginia had an Op Ed columnist who was smart enough to see through the whole mess and tell about it. |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: Make school better while saving cash at 3/2/2011 9:09 AM CST PS If you want people to comment all in one place, fix your software so that is allowed! |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: Make school better while saving cash at 3/2/2011 9:08 AM CST If you do away with the assessment, you'll raise the ire of the controlling forces. I'm guessing that's why I'm first in line at almost 9 AM in the "comments" section. They're still stupefied that you would suggest such a reasonable and obvious solution to cutting wasteful spending. Without constant enforcement, who knows, some REAL teaching AND learning might occur. |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: Make school better while saving cash at 3/2/2011 9:03 AM CST Assessment, like the TAKS, is not really a "test" in the first place. It is the enforcement part of OBE which allows the government school to know if the student has been affectively molded enough each year. If not, the teacher is reprimanded (loss of bonus wages) and more affective teaching must occur. (continued in the next window) |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: Make school better while saving cash at 3/2/2011 9:02 AM CST Clearly, Mr. Casey and Rep Hochberg, while you have a great idea here, you seem not to understand the agenda! And it's just as I thought: installing transformational outcome-based education in Texas schools was done by Rep. Hochberg and his ilk and obviously they didn't understand what it was that they were doing to the children of Texas. (cont. in next window)
Comments by Mary McGarr Posted in the Houston Chronicle Actually the Chronicle wouldn't print this one in response to their editorial on February 25, 2011 regarding superintendent searches with a comment about how highly regarded Leonard Merrell was as evidenced by the arena being named for him: Not all of us in Katy think that Leonard Merrell was so "highly regarded." As a Katy ISD school board member, I voted against bringing him to KISD. He had lackluster credentials in my opinion. He brought the new dumbing down curriculum to KISD in his back pocket and put the district 1.5 billion dollars in debt for building such Taj Mahal places as the arena.
The board that named the arena after him did so without asking the public about their choice. That's their right, but it wasn't a wise decision in my opinion. Contrary to what you say in this editorial, I've yet to meet anyone who wouldn't like to see the place named something else!
As to your main premise, you are absolutely correct; the
superintendent's search needs to be more transparent (to use
their phrase), and candidates who can't reveal their identity
for fear of losing their current job, probably aren't that
good. Good candidates who get offers such as HISD's, usually
have a board that appreciates them and which will make every
effort to keep them once they discover their superintendent is
looking around for greener pastures. |
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Comment on: Fill jobs in sunlight: Public needs to know who are school superintendent hopefuls at 2/25/2011 2:47 PM CST At least correct your error of the "folks in Katy naming the arena after the superintendent." The school board named it. |
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Comment on: Right to know: Taxpayers deserve full access to public information at 2/25/2011 10:56 AM CST How about a law that says they have to post notices on BOTH the Internet and in at least three newspapers that exist within five miles of the school district or other government. And don't talk about their not having enough money. School districts have tons of it--it just all goes to stipends and administrative salaries. |
Comment on Jerry Carswell and Christus St. Catherine Hospita
-
Mary McGarr Says:
22. February 2011 at 1:09 pmRepresentative Callegari has stepped up to do the right thing here.
http://instantnewskaty.com/2011/02/22/19526,
http://www.katytimes.com/articles/2009/01/11/news/doc4963c3019a47a639116407.txt
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy-news/article/Harris-judge-s-sanctions-against-Katy-hospital-1647872.php
Too bad it wasn’t 10 million dollars.
NOTE: The bill sponsored by Representative Callegari was passed and signed into law.
Comment on: Conservative group slams Texas history curriculum at 2/16/2011 8:13 AM CST
The Fordham Foundation is a shill for liberal thought. Anyone supported by the Gates Foundation is quickly identified for having liberal bias. All this is, is the Obama administration getting revenge on Texas and Governor Perry for not taking RTTT funds. This is just another in a long list of stabs by the Obamas at Texas for not being a sheep. Stick to your guns SBOE and Governor Perry. Your standards are far superior to the ones coming from the dolts in Washington, D. C.
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Comment on: Houston dropout rate vexes outgoing schools chief at 2/8/2009 10:02 AM CST What the public also needs to know is that TEA calculates the dropout rate by looking at who leaves (and for very specific reasons) between the SEVENTH AND THE EIGHTH GRADES!!!! So one can imagine what the dropout rate (between the 9th grade and the end of the 12th grade) might be! Mary McGarr |
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Comment on: Houston dropout rate vexes outgoing schools chief at 2/8/2009 9:43 AM CST I'm guessing Mr. Saavdra "regrets" more that Mr. Kimball spilled the beans about Houston ISD's dropout rate! Suggesting that Houston students are "more ready" for college because of his administration's curriculum efforts is farcical. Go read www.georgescottreports.com if you want to find out about what the TAKS test results REALLY mean for students. It's not pretty. And I have to take issue with Saavedra's bad analogy of "When you lift the ceiling, the floor comes up with it." When I raised my roof and the ceiling by ten feet, the floor stayed right where it was. What I think he was trying to tell us is that when the bar is raised, everyone improves, but that's not what is happening in our government schools. The bar is lowered so it LOOKS LIKE everyone is improving, but what is actually happening is that those at the top are just being dumbed down so everyone can look good. No future in that deceptive practice. Mary McGarr |
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Comment on: Administrators share vision to change schools at 1/27/2009 3:17 PM CST This plan is like letting the fox in the hen house. These particular superintendents and their friends are the very people who messed up Texas' public education in the first place. I don't believe a word they say and haven't for fifteen years! No amount of blather from them will convince me that they are sincere or serious. There's too much money riding on leaving the dumbed down stuff in place. This appears to be the TASA and the AASA conniving to fool the public. Don't be duped. Go look at www.georgescottreports.com and see for yourself the ways the TEA has scammed the public and school children with their "standardized" testing (TAKS).. It's outrageous that this group would be so bodacious as to suggest that they, of all people, can fix the mess. Mary McGarr Katy ISD Trustee1991-1996 |
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Comment on: Katy-area growth is topic of Jan. 14 luncheon at 1/9/2009 12:11 PM CST Read this if your memory needs jogging about this "demographer." I wrote it in August of 2007.http://www.katycitizens.org/index_files/Page4776.htm In my opinion Ms. Guseman has been little help to our school district with regard to providing accurate predictions in population. She's part and parcel of the changed former policy of the KatyISD of building schools to serve students who have already moved here and are in place, to a policy of helping developers sell their homes by putting schools on land where no one lives yet. Supt. Merrell changed that policy while the board wasn't looking (again) to assist developers, builders, architects, and so on who all make a boatload of money on these boondoggles. If we would revert to our former policy, we wouldn't have to pay people like Ms. Guseman for her services, and we'd save a whole lot of tax money. If you ask the average homeowner in Katy if he wants more people to move here, you will hear a resounding NO for all the obvious sensible reasons. The only ones looking for more move-ins are people who stand to gain financially from that--people who will take their money and run and leave all of us to pay the governmental costs for what they've done as soon as the homes are sold. |
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Comment on: Texas in danger of losing global race at 12/21/2008 7:54 PM CST We'll have some adult scientists and mathematicians in Texas once our elementary schools start teaching kids to read using pure phonics, teach math using an old John Saxon math book, use drill and kill every day and stop trying to make math "fun," teach kids how to add, subtract, multiply and divide in their heads, and be able to use fractions, decimal points and so on, and stop listening to education "reformers" like those propagated by untaxed "foundations" like the Annenburg's and the Carnegie's, and leave teachers alone to teach what they know. And oh yeah, close down all the college "schools of education" and ship their professors to Lower Slobovia. Puff pieces like this one do nothing to help. If these authors can't see the real reasons for the lack of scientists and mathematicians, then Heaven help us all. All that's being suggested here is that we throw more tax dollars at public schools so they can get some of them. We've been doing that for thirty years and things are worse, not better. There wasn't anything wrong with Texas public education in 1970. What's wrong with it now is that greedy people see $$$$ when they look at public schools. Someone needs to see CHILDREN in need of a liberal arts academic education instead. |
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Comment on: Gayle Fallon: No quick fix for problems faced by urban educators at 11/25/2008 8:11 AM CST Ms. Fallon sees through the vacuous "restructured education" farce. Educational quality will return to our public schools when the curriculum starts being about academic knowledge once more. Penalizing teachers for the flaws and faults of administrative meddling is senseless. Administrative meddling will stop when their numbers are cut by responsible school boards. The whole educational process will be better when big businesses butt out of the process. Leave the teachers alone and let them teach. Ms. Fallon has the whole situation pegged. Listen to her! |
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Comment on: Study group to look at what to do with Wolfe Elementary at 10/22/2008 10:10 PM CDT Does anyone else find it odd that the Chronicle has removed all the previous blogs and posts about Wolfe Elementary? On one of them parents were complaining about the lack of interest by the Katy ISD school board members in the concerns of parents there regarding the construction of a commercial enterprise . The parents felt that the construction was not in the best interests of their children at Wolfe .Here's the post I made that is no longer available: Comment on: Parent complains to trustees about condition of Wolfe Elementary at 8/28/2008 4:59 PM CDT Comments on these two similar articles are getting mixed together by the Chronicle, so I will repost what I said on the other one: So why is it that residents who shouldn't be so easily fooled, buy the "they're going to close Wolfe elementary" scam each year on school board election day? When this happened the first time when friends of Judy Snyder used it to get her elected when she couldn't pull 20 votes off her own street the year before, the whole story was written up in the Katy Times and other papers, complete with an explanation of what had happened and a copy of the fabricated story/flyer that was circulated on election day by Ms. Snyder's friends. You all need to do your homework! The Katy Times, still has the paper that you need to see. So do I ! The day after the election, Ken Burton polled the board, and not one board member could honestly say that the board had EVER considered closing Wolfe--not even Joe Kimmel. It was a former superintendent, Hugh Hayes, who had suggested closing Wolfe, and he was long gone. Instead of buying a pig in a poke, you all need to be demanding that your elementary school be torn down and replaced with a new school. Your taxes have been funding new schools for everyone else in the District for years! Those of you who live there are solely responsible for having such a run down school. Wake up! You also believe that Judy Snyder and Joe Kimmel got you moved out of Mayde Creek High School and moved back to Taylor High School. That's a big lie too. The matter was already on the agenda the month before the election with the four necessary votes to accomplish that eventuality, and Mr. Kimmel, (as president of the Board) pulled it off, preferring instead to use the issue to get votes for Mrs. Snyder. Mr. Kimmel, James Peters, Larry Moore and I had all committed to vote for that move. They only needed four votes. You were all suckered by that issue too. They built the other motel that's close to you when I was on the Board. We had the builder in and asked for modifications so that windows of that motel would not look out over the Wolfe playground. The Board was VERY active in monitoring that construction. Things have changed, and mostly you can blame yourselves! NMGUynmom or whatever, I think you can't read! I just suggested that you demand a new school! Does that sound like I'm anti-Wolfe parents and students? I had lots of support from your area both times I was elected to the school board. I wouldn't have been elected without that support. If you pack the board room with Wolfe parents at the September board meeting, I'll get up and demand that they build you a new elementary school. How's that for putting my money where my mouth is? I'll even get up without a packed room if you'll come stand beside me. As for all those groups you mentioned, other than the AFP, I never heard of them. As for AFP giving me money when I was a Watchdog leader, that didn't happen. Only money I know about is my own money that was contributed to those opposing the school board incumbents or efforts to defeat a bond! Actually, I don't believe I am in need of money from anyone! And please note, I haven't been a member of the Watchdog Leadership team since last March. Anything I've said since then is pure Mary McGarr. The Watchdogs still have the articles I wrote prior to March 2008 up on their web site because they think they'll be helpful to parents. So do other web sites all over the country. In fact, you might read what I had to say about the Business Roundtable yourself as those articles deal with big companies interfering in public education as you mentioned. Go to Mary's Corner at www.katycitizens.org Just for the record my parting with the Watchdogs is amicable. My interest in public schools centers on returning academics and ability grouping (which is the only way to return to academics) to our schools. All the problems with taxes, and fancy school buildings, and the greed of those who want a piece of the tax pie, are only symptoms of what is wrong with our public schools. Mostly, though, it's the curriculum and the methodology that are in need of major repair and where my interests lie. As for your bad analogy about not being responsible for having neglectful parents, may I point out that you don't get to choose your parents, but you do get to choose the people who affect the education of your children--the school board members, by voting for or against some of them every year. So yes, it IS your fault that you have elected a board majority (complete with your own board member) that doesn't give a rip about your deteriorating school! |
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Comment on: Compromise offered on Texas student GPA plan at 10/22/2008 3:19 PM CDT The whole thing is a ploy to slip IB courses into the plan. AP courses, yes, but IB coursework is fed to us straight from the UN and Switzerland. Wake up people! This is just another scam to force impressionable minds into accepting Marxist ideology. Comment on the Texas Projection Measure 8/1/2009/3:36 PM CDT marymcgarr wrote: Actually
none
of
you
understand
the
fraud
going
on
here.
The
Chronicle
explained
the
Texas
Projection
Measure
about
a
month
ago.
George
Scott
(www.georgescottreports.com)
has
an
article
on
it
too,
and
he
does
a
better
job
of
explaining. 8/1/2009 3:36:10 PM
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Comment on: Position 2 trustee candidates hold different views of FBISD at 4/1/2009 7:14 PM CDT Patrons of the district need to go view this file from the Judson ISD Board attorney: http://media.mysanantonio.com/documents/Judson+InvestigationOK.pdf What you will see, in my opinion, is how school boards of Texas school districts operate behind the scenes, how useful their attorneys are, and what all they do to stick it to the public. I saw great similarities with my own school district's behavior, and I imagine you will too! This report was never intended for public consumption, and it is only thanks to WOAI in San Antonio and a Watchdog group in Judson ISD that we all are allowed to see it. |
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Comment on: Position 2 trustee candidates hold different views of FBISD at 4/1/2009 4:19 PM CDT Americans everywhere are looking with dismay on the current state of national and international issues. Those corrupt politicians who are responsible that seem so far away in Washington, all began their careers at the local level and many of them were school board members initially. It's time citizens everywhere stopped to look at just who these people are that control our local schools. Documented evidence has revealed that the liberalized education now being delivered in our public schools is key to the current takeover by socialists. When minds are full of mush and people cannot be analytical and perceptive, the wool gets pulled over their eyes very easily. Academics have fallen by the wayside. The government does not want an intellectually astute populace. Go look at columns by George Scott (www.georgescottreports.com) and see how public education is shortchanging our children. Read about the false accountability and purposes of the TAKS test. See how your children are being cheated. It's time to demand the ouster of the liberals who are running (and ruining) our schools. Look instead for those candidates who espouse conservative fiscal values and an interest in returning academics to our schools. I don't live in your district, but it's not different from the one where I DO live. People owe their children the responsibility of looking carefully at candidates and not voting for the ones that the school district is pushing on you. |
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Comment on: Time may be running out on TAKS test at 3/29/2009 8:55 PM CDT What most don't realize is that the government's plan is to deliberately dumb down 85% of the students thus forcing them to have no alternative other than to follow a vocational track. I know of no parent of a first grader who allows their child to enter the first grade HOPING that they become a hairdresser or an auto mechanic. That so many of them seem headed in this direction is a testament to the plan, devised by Ratliff and his sidekick Sadler, and proffered by the Business Roundtable and both political parties, to keep American children from being truly educated with a liberal arts education as they once were in Texas public schools. Such an education allowed them in previous times to become whatever they wanted to be--even misguided Texas legislators! There is plenty of time AFTER high school to become vocationally educated if that is what one must do. |
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Comment on: School leaders facing challenging year ahead at 3/26/2009 8:41 AM CDT Deficits wouldn't be such a problem for KISD if our Board had maintained the policy (prior to the onslaught of Leonard Merrell) of building schools AFTER the students lived here instead of using our tax dollars to lure home buyers for developers (architects, contractors, vendors, sign sellers, etc.) by building schools in places where there were (are) no students yet. Such a policy was prudent and responsible and should never have been abandoned. All that money that went into false pockets should have instead stayed in the pockets of those who earned it and/or been used on students and their teachers. |
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Comment on: Administrators share vision to change schools at 3/10/2009 12:30 PM CDT Looks like I struck a nerve with 12 superintendents! Don't like seeing the truth about what you are up to in print, do you! |
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Comment on: Committee evaluates options for Wolfe Elementary School at 3/9/2009 11:21 AM CDT Looks like the Katy school board is dragging its feet again! There's no reason why they can't rebuild Wolfe Elementary from the ground up, starting tomorrow, other than the fact that they, once again, want to use this issue as a way to get THEIR guys on the school board in the May election and/or they need to make the rebuilding of the school a hook for the next bond election, i.e., if they can turn out all the parents in the East End to vote for a new elementary school, then the bond will carry regardless of it's wasteful one BILLION dollar price tag. I suppose KISD has had great luck using this ruse for 13 years, why not try it one more time! The tax payers who live in Fleetwood, Barker's Landing, Memorial Thicket, and Thornwood have supported the school district for decades as they were paying the highest taxes for years. They deserve a new elementary school for their children if for no other reason than that one. If the district can't afford to build a new elementary school for these folks, then they should deed that part of the district to Spring Branch, where I'm sure they would all rather be. Those of you who live in those subdivisions need to be parked on (your school board member) Ms. Snyder's front doorstep. She's used you for years to get elected, and now she owes you the respect and consideration that you've paid for many times by making certain that Wolfe is rebuilt from the ground up and immediately. This phony business of having a "committee" decide things that our elected school board should be deciding has got to STOP! |
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Comment on: Texas legislators will consider getting rid of TAKS at 3/5/2009 9:31 AM CST So...School to Work is in it's final stages of implementation. Do I know of a parent of a first grader who is sending him to school to be "workforce ready?" I don't think I do! When did we as a Country decide that we were going to stop providing our population with a liberal arts education and instead make them "human resources" for big business? And how dumb are the big businesses to fall for this scheme of providing the impetus and money for this terrible experiment on children? Haven't any of them noticed that the government is also after control of all of them? Wake up America! The feds want your business, your home, your car and your kids, and your inattention to the process is mind boggling. |
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Comment on: Perks add to school superintendents' bottom lines at 3/1/2009 8:40 AM CST Those performance bonuses "tied to measurable data and goals" are the biggest farce. The "measurable" part is very questionable. The TEA has a sliding scale that they use to manipulate how data and student performance gets measured, and in an effort to fool the public, those "standards" are different every time we see them! To begin to understand how bogus the system is, parents and teachers should go to www.georgescottreports.com to get a handle on the problem. Mr. Scott daily puts it all out there and pokes holes in their agenda. Superintendents' salaries should be tied to the governor's salary. No one can tell me that any superintendent has more responsibility than the governor, and superintendents shouldn't make more than he does. |
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Comment on: Super search: The HISD board should conduct its search for a new leader with full transparency at 2/22/2009 12:42 PM CST Thank you for bringing up the superintendent search firms, whether private or from non-governmental organizations (NGO's) like TASB. Your reporters should devote more time to uncovering what happens with these search firms as to their purposes, who runs them and how much of our tax dollars they take from the State of Texas. These groups have morphed from being a way for over the hill administrators to make a few bucks on the side, by helping with a superintendent search, to being mega money-making endeavors. Take a look, for example, at the Superintendent's Academy at Lamar University. This search firm/academy takes thousands of dollars from the state to "train" prospective superintendent candidates thus creating a stable full of potential candidates all cut from the same mold. They learn things like "how to handle helicopter board members" (you know, those pesky board members who hover over the superintendent and hold their feet to the fire), to how to deal with the press (don't talk to them if you can possibly avoid it), to how to deal with parents--(put them on a committee and make them feel important). The person in charge of the "academy" is also afforded the rare opportunity to vet prospective superintendent candidates as to their personal beliefs and value systems. As a former school board member who lived though one superintendent search, I can tell you that board members are often kept in the dark the same as the public. Only when the "search" was a done deal did I find out that very qualified candidates were ignored by the search firm. My board met for four nights in a row to interview candidates, and then met the following day at 7 AM to "pick" one. It is my belief that the TEA/TASB/TASA et al manage to PLACE people in superintendent's jobs in Texas because they control the process, and the local school board has precious little to do with the selection. Implementing School to Work, dumbing down our children, eliminating ability grouping so that academics are mostly on the back burner, and so on becomes the goal. Covering up what should be the true purpose of public schools with claims of standardized testing "successes," clamoring over wonderful sports teams, doling out precious tax dollars for magnificent buildings in an obeisant gesture to parents to distract them from what is really happening with their children--all tend to obfuscate the real reason for selecting any individual for a superintendent's position: it's all about money and which vendors/builders/contractors get a piece of the tax dollar pie. Having one's "guy or gal" in charge, as the superintendent, decides who gets some of that money. Board members should certainly be smart enough to conduct a "search" for a superintendent without help from anyone. That's their job, and they should not turn the hen house over to the fox. How refreshing it would be for a brave HISD board member to step up and take charge of this process and show some concern for the academic education of Houston's students. Kids deserve at least that. |
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Comment on: School chief Saavedra may exit HISD with $1 million at 2/11/2009 10:29 AM CST Mr. Saavedra makes the case for limiting superintendent's salaries. Superintendent's salaries should be tied to the governor's salary as they are in other states. Anyone think the superintendent of HISD has more to do than the Governor or that he has more responsibility? I think not. In my opinion, they are both overpaid. Mary McGarr |
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Comment on: Maybe some tolerance for children at 5/28/2009 8:18 AM CDT jhbird--I'm guessing that you are one of those obeisant teachers who gets the plum assignments by sucking up whenever possible: "Too bad the holier than though [sic] bloggers have no clue. They are probably ones who have snotty and disrespectful kids."My two kids between them got almost every award given out by their schools, lettered in major sports, graduated in the top 5% and graduated from Rice University. Snotty and disrespectful they weren't. YOU are the one who is disrespectful of other's opinions on this matter. Children in our public schools are routinely denied their Constitutional right of "due process," a concept which you obviously do not grasp. As a former Katy ISD school board member I talked to too many parents whose children were treated badly by administrators. About all I could do was make speeches on the subject as I was outnumbered by clueless board members. Yes, there are good administrators, but their ranks are dwindling as we speak, and they are afraid to stand up for students because it puts their jobs on the line. |
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Comment on: Maybe some tolerance for children at 5/27/2009 1:47 PM CDT Au contraire, Mr. Casey, the lunacy with regard to "Zero Tolerance" has ALWAYS been in the school officials. |
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Comment on: Study: 58.5 percent of Houston-area freshmen graduate at 5/23/2009 9:26 AM CDT Following guidelines from the "National Governors Association" to calculate graduation rates is a big part of the problem. The National Governors Association is the idiot group that initiated School to Work in the first place. They and the Business Roundtable and the Annenburg Foundation have conspired to dumb down our children since 1989. To say that they have been successful, is an understatement! |
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Comment on: Study: 58.5 percent of Houston-area freshmen graduate at 5/23/2009 8:43 AM CDT Katy ISD has a 76% graduation rate--how interesting! This is the school district that gets a "RECOGNIZED" rating, and part of that rating is based on the District's "drop out rate." That drop out rate in no way reflects that 24% of the District's students NEVER GRADUATE!!!!!Of course the Texas Education Agency allows public schools to lie about what they are accomplishing because the drop out rate is calculated on how many students "DROP OUT" between the SEVENTH and the EIGHTH grades!!!! Duplicity is synonymous with "public schools." |
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Comment on: Political power lags behind minority growth in suburbs at 5/9/2009 9:07 AM CDT Cheap shot by the Chronicle to run the incumbent's picture on election day. I thought there was a law that you had to give equal time and space to both sides. Oh yeah, you can't do that--there's no paper coming out until AFTER the election. The incumbents in Ft. Bend are/were on the verge of being tossed out. Last minute smears say more about the smearer than the smeared! |
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Comment on: Position 2 opponents look at Fort Bend ISD differently at 4/27/2009 8:56 AM CDT Public school superintendents beat the bushes looking for "team" players. Ms. Bhuchar appears to be one that was found. NO ONE with any discernment can ALWAYS be rah rah, bullish and supportive of a superintendent's agenda, but it appears that Ms. Bhucar does just that. As one who is an outsider in your school district but who is concerned about the education of ALL Texas students, I urge voters to be careful about electing such people as Ms. Bhuchar. Her quotes here tell us that she is more interested in a "strategic plan" (that's a Total Quality Management device for hiding true agendas), and bond referenda. Ms. Bhuchar's list of "volunteer" activities all seem to have occurred AFTER she became the school board member in 2006. Where is her list of volunteering activities BEFORE 2006? It's easy to get appointed to "committees" with high sounding names when one is already a board member. Those don't count! I'm sure Ms Bhuchar enjoys her improved social standing in the community, but that's not what being a board member is all about. As for her having anything at all to do with improving the academic performance of Ft. Bend ISD students, that's another bogus claim. The "standards" have just been changed/lowered by the TEA to make it "look" like your children are improving academically, but such is not the case. Go read George Scott's information on math and science and the testing of those academic endeavors. Talk about lack of transparency---this takes the cake! (www.georgescottreports.com) Nothing will change in your school district until you throw out the sycophants currently sitting at the Board table--and you need four of them to make a difference, and you need four who won't let the power go their heads, or drink the District water once elected and turn their backs on the people who elected them to become "team" players. |
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Comment on: In science class, students are learning to hate science at 4/10/2009 10:40 AM CDT This article isn't about the TAKS. They just throw that in to keep people from seeing what is really happening. Of course the TAKS is a joke. Many of us have been pointing that out through the TABS and the TAAS and now the TAKS, but no one wanted to listen. This article is actually just more of the same pap pushing "education reform's" fallacious ideas in hopes of dumbing down an academic endeavor so the least apt students can claim their (worthless) credits. There wasn't anything wrong with science education in Texas until about 1991 when those in charge got rid of all elementary science textbooks and went to "hand's on" science. Hand's on science means that the students and their teachers get to play like they are scientists. That's fun, but not very educational, and obtaining an academic education is what public schools used to allow. What did anyone expect when we went from science education to science games? And the state didn't test scientific knowledge until two years ago and then surprise-- no school district's students did very well on a very basic test. So superintendents everywhere started (using TASA talking points) to cry and complain that teachers needed more science "staff development," students needed more Taj Mahal facilities in which to play their "science" games, and school districts needed more tax money to fund it all. I absolutely abhor the argument that science previously was all drill and kill and memorization. That's baloney. Of course one needs to memorize some things in order to move on to the application part of learning, but with a good teacher (not a trained facilitator) science classes (just like all other subject matter classes) can be interesting, rewarding, and beneficial to students' educations as well as sometimes very entertaining. It all depends on the intelligence and knowledge of the teacher. Parents should think about how many times their kids have built a popsicle crate to protect a raw egg so it could be dropped from the second floor to see if the crate was strong enough to keep the egg intact, or built a boat out of cardboard and safely paddled it across a swimming pool all in the name of "science." Kindergarteners spend hours pouring water or sand from one container into another. They do it for years. Those are games that they play, and they are time wasters. Parents need to understand the difference between playing these games and actually obtaining a true academic education. Don't blame the teachers. The dumbed down curriculum comes from on high, and the teachers are just doing as they are told. I just wish so many of them wouldn't buy in to the scam. |
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Comment on: Committee chairman: Proposed science center may not raise FBISD tax rate at 4/7/2009 9:22 AM CDT Perhaps FBISD voters need to consider whether or not they NEED science instruction like that being provided their children in this district. The problem is not that you don't have a big building where your teachers can get "staff developed," but that your science and math curricula are grossly inadequate and poorly designed. Read the following for someone else's opinion about what's keeping your children from scoring well on the TAKS science tests and why something besides a big building is necessary to fix the problem. I wrote this article in 2006 for parents in my own school district: Our President’s recent call to improve math and science education rings hollow. He suggests that more students need to meet high standards in those subject areas. Of course we would all like for students to meet “high standards” and “high expectations” in math and science. Therein lies the problem. Standards that have been set for math and science are not really that high. In fact they have been deliberately dumbed down in an effort to be inclusive of all children’s abilities, obfuscated so that they are truly unclear, and then set out in a public way to give them credibility. The “standards” that President Bush alludes to are not benchmarks of any quality at all. In fact, these standards cause students to slip through their learning years without substantive science and math educations. John Saxon was an educator who recognized the “standards movement” for what it is. Mr. Saxon was a retired military officer who, when he resigned from the service, went to work as a teacher of algebra. What he saw in the school room were corrupted texts, phony curricula, and students not learning true algebra. He set out to correct the situation by creating his own texts founding the Saxon Publishing Company. His signal article, “The Coming Disaster in Science Education in America,” set forth his predictions of the dire consequences portended by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards. He could see that the country was sliding into the precipice of stupid math practices. Mr. Saxon saw it coming and tried to warn us. No one paid attention. Of note is that fact that at the invitation of George Scott, editor of The Katy News, Mr. Saxon, came to the Katy ISD school district on his own nickel and appeared before the School Board. He offered at his own expense to provide Saxon math textbooks for one high school and one junior high, if the district would accept them on a trial basis and use them for a year. The School Board had no response to his offer and even treated him very rudely at the meeting. As a member of that school board, I was appalled at their behavior, but it was typical. Most of them at the time were not willing to listen to factual information about what was transpiring right under their noses. Mr. Saxon warned them of the poor math practices, but they chose to ignore him. Mr. Saxon passed away before his predictions became widely accepted and realized, but his legacy remains. He was a man who stood up to the education establishment and pointed out their flawed thinking, and his predictions were true. Most Texas public schools have suffered below average test scores in science for the last two years (ever since they started being TAKS tested on science).If you want to know why your child cannot excel in science or math, please read Mr. Saxon's article, “The Coming Disaster in Science Education in America.” Please note that he wrote the article in 1993, and enough time has passed to definitively decide on whether he was right or wrong. From my point of view, he was right on the money. He saw that the mush that passes for mathematics education in our public schools was just that. Problem solving, conceptualizing mathematics, and the use of calculators instead of one's brain, have created too many students who cannot perform well on math and science tests. Most Texas public schools adopted many years ago “hands on science and math curricula” for students. The failure of such curricula should tell parents that change needs to occur. (A copy of the article may be found at www.katycitizens.org , then go to "Mary's Corner.") |
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Comment on: HISD to broadcast board meetings at 4/3/2009 10:11 AM CDT Until they broadcast ALL of their open meetings, HISD is merely putting on the regular meeting for show and is playing games with the public. Nothing happens at that particular meeting except voting on the consent agenda, which is an additional device to hide things from the public. They also won't televise the Open Forum session for the same reason--they don't want the public to hear concerns from other taxpayers--might give them ideas. In my school district, Katy ISD, they don't broadcast anything even though taxpayers have asked them to for years. They are resolute in keeping ALL relevant information from the general public. Ask yourself, "Why wouldn't a bunch of politicians want to be on TV?" The answer is obvious: They have things to hide. |
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Comment on: Two no-show FBISD candidates lose union endorsement at 4/3/2009 8:17 AM CDT How nice that Ft Bend has a reporter who actually reports both sides of such meetings! Don't know the gender of "Zen," but he/she is a treasure for your community! So it's no wonder the incumbent board president didn't show up! She's probably not used to having a fair accounting of her words and actions. As for "under reporting" by administrators of campus disciplinary problems, I believe that is illegal so it certainly does need "addressing." |
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Comment on: Wolfe Elementary could house IB curriculum at 9/24/2009 12:56 PM CDT My thoughts on this matter are concerned more with the academic aspect rather than the financial one. Wolfe students (and their parents) should have a new school. I believe strongly in neighborhood schools, and because our district is so spread out, the school board has always tried to maintain the neighborhood school concept with regard to elementary schools. I posted on this matter elsewhere, and this is what I said: The announcement that the Katy ISD school board has voted to install the International Baccalaureate curricula in the “new” Wolfe Elementary school is very bad news. Selling this idea to the public is already under way (the IB originators have a handbook for administrators to guide them in putting this junk over on the public). Once again, we have a committee making the preliminary decision for the school board members who are evidently too lazy to do their own discovery and homework! The IB program emanates from Geneva, Switzerland. It is bound to the United Nations and their agenda through UNESCO. This district is looking at annual fees, lots of teacher training (read brainwashing) and registration fees and exam costs. Once the contract is signed by the “IB school (that would be Wolfe) with the IBO administrators, it is bound by the Geneva (World) Court, so there’s no getting out of it. Just that requirement alone should send red flags out all over the place for anyone with good sense. The curricula is NOT better than that of the Advanced Placement curricula, and KISD has already spent tons of tax dollars to implement AP in all our high schools. Why get rid of something tried and true that comes from Americans, not Internationalists with a leftist agenda? The IB curriculum shelves concepts like individualism, national sovereignty, and capitalism and replaces them with things like environmentalism, redistribution of the wealth, and one worldism or globalism. Please educate yourselves about this program. Go to http://www.truthaboutib.com/ and read what others have to say about IB. It’s not good. I suppose what bothers me the most is that we have school board members who proclaim to be “conservative Republicans,” but they haven’t a clue any more what that means. Most of our community is still a conservative Republican community and growing more so daily because of what we see happening in Washington. Almost all those Washington legislators started their political careers as local officials–either city or county councilmen or school board members. They got by without letting people know what they REALLY believed because they didn’t have to run in partisan races, and the locals didn’t demand of them that they tell them what their beliefs were. And now look at the people we have in charge of our country. The IB program is just another vendor directed initiative, designed to sell our school district a bill of goods which has absolutely NO verification of viability. IB will rake the money off our school district and students will be delivered a hackneyed and progressive agenda. Surely those of you in the Wolfe district care what kind of things are being taught to your children. Surely you can see that this is a bad idea. Surely you’ve had enough of “vendor” led stuff being sold to this school district! For once think about the minds of your children. The International Baccalaureate Program(me) has been around for at least three or four decades. I’m guessing there’s a good reason why other Texas schools have chosen not to implement it. Many schools have dumped it when parents realized what it was doing to their kids. Don’t let Katy ISD experiment on your kids with this effort. And on another blog I wrote this:" As one who has pushed for many years for Wolfe Elementary to be rebuilt, I'm delighted that the far east end of the district, which with their high taxes has supported the building of new schools everywhere but in their own neighborhood, is finally getting their own "new" school. What grieves me is that our school board members, who never do their homework, are going to install the International Baccalaureate curriculum in this school. Parents of Wolfe Elementary students should be outraged! The IB curriculum is a leftist attempt emanating directly from UNESCO and the United Nations. While most American citizens would like to throw the UN out of our country, the Katy ISD school board members are bringing the UN agenda and installing it right in our back yard!Google IB and see what you see. Get past all the rah rah pages and find the sites that tell you how IB has worked out in neighborhood schools. Look at http://www.truthaboutib.com/ Schools all over the place have dumped this program, but not before lots of damage was done to the academic education of their children. Maybe there's a reason why the IB program has been implemented in so few schools in Texas at present. Katy ISD school board members, who have used the east end parents for years to get elected, think all of you are pushovers. Don't be! All I'm asking is that you educate yourselves about this curricula before you let them force it on your children because you weren't aware of its pitfalls. " |
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Comment on: Lowe to guide education board through hot issues at 8/15/2009 7:16 PM CDT I won't hold it against Chairman Lowe that Debbie Graves Ratcliffe decided to call her a "professional communicator," but I would like to point out that most of us have had it up to here with "professional communicators" of late and would prefer an amateur speaker who can control the meetings, keep the political pundits at bay, and let the SBOE do what we elected them to do. Let's hope she also remembers that the majority rules. |
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Comment on: Katy-area legislators form education task force at 8/5/2009 8:19 PM CDT We've all been expecting this effort. What I didn't expect was to see so many "conservative" Republicans joining in the fray. This matter is Bill and Hillary Clinton's, the Bush family's, Lamar Alexander's and the Business Roundtable's big plan coming to Katy Texas. It's taken them 20 years to get here with it; they're trying to pass it off as something it isn't, but I, for one, can see what it is. First they dumbed down the curricula in our elementary and high schools (all in the name of education reform), and now they have to have something for the dumbed down students to do. "Higher Education" is a term that is used here in a misleading context. There's nothing "higher" or "educational" about this effort. Post high school two year institutions aren't your father's Oldsmobile. While you weren't paying attention, they have been morphed into "training" schools. Of course they still offer remedial and basic college course work, but that's not the emphasis. These "higher education" institutions are simply about "training."If there's anyone out there who doesn't know the difference between "training" and "education," I suggest they buy a dictionary. The culprits behind this nationwide effort are big businesses, who need semi-skilled, trained (not educated) workers who are malleable, and don't do too much thinking for themselves. That way they do as they are told and don't cause problems for the big businesses. This is big time greed coming our way, and if you look at the list of people on the "task force," you will recognize the names of those who support public school bond measures for the same avaricious reasons. I've written at length on the subject (go to www.katycitizens.org in Mary's Corner and read my three articles on the Business Roundtable as well as the three on Outcome Based Education if one still doesn't get it.)It's unconscionable what these people are doing to children, and we can bet that the price tag (in the form of another tax) won't be anything to laugh at either! I'm tired of fighting for people who are letting all this stuff happen because they have better things to do with their time. So do I. |
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Comment on: Ratings based on progress, not passing, help HISD at 8/1/2009 3:36 PM CDT Actually none of you understand the fraud going on here. The Chronicle explained the Texas Projection Measure about a month ago. George Scott (www.georgescottreports.com) has an article on it too, and he does a better job of explaining. Basically TEA has declared (and school districts had meetings and seminars about the subject before school was out) that if a kid improves from last year, even if it's a screamingly tiny improvement, the fact that he did so thus indicates to people at the TEA (and not anybody else) that the odds are that the next time he takes their standardized test (in whatever form with whatever name), he will surely do better! Thus the student's school should not be penalized with low ratings but should be given higher ones based on the expectation of future plenty! It's about the most illogical, contorted and devious scheme to have been cooked up by these loons in just years! So yes, the TEA probably changed the test, probably adjusted the passing scores, probably lowered the bar in any other way they could imagine, and then they tacked on the Texas Projection Measure. Of COURSE they don't want the public to understand, and they probably all sat today and guffawed at everyone's guesses and concerns. Shame on the Chronicle for printing HISD's press releases and shame on the Chronicle for not doing a better job of presenting the truth. What's new? |
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Comment on: More HISD students qualify as 'gifted' at 7/26/2009 12:43 PM CDT The purpose of the HISD committee was to change the percentage allowed from 10% to 14% so that the program could be more "inclusive." Their inclusion has absolutely nothing to do with 'giftedness.' If one knows anything at all about "giftedness," one knows that only about 3% of the students at a public school might be gifted, and often there aren't even that many. So what's the purpose of the GT Program? Well, for those who have been paying attention, the Federal Government has declared that only 15% of our population should receive an academic education. Using this program is a way to "include" the students that are supposed to be in this 15%. Never mind that they aren't really the smart kids. Pay attention to the background of our President. His one job was that he was head of the Annenburg Foundation's giveaway of untaxed dollars for the purpose of "school reform." "School reform" is another bogus term that means dumbing down what was there for decades so that schools can create malleable compliant workers for big business. Big businesses will get their executives from the private schools mostly, and the peons in the public schools get to be the Union governed workers. It's really very simple and quite ingenious. Parents are too busy trying to buy the biggest house on the block and drive the fanciest cars to be aware of what's going on with their children, but surely they've noticed that things aren't as they should be. If you're a smart parent, your children probably should be too, and if they're not, then you need to find out why. Help with that is at www.katycitizens.org in Mary's Corner, and you should start with the article on "Who's Really Gifted" which I wrote about three years ago. You can also see how worthless the TAKS test is and how that is affecting your children at www.georgescottreports.com |
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Comment on: Time for school: Shouldn’t summer vacation be over already? Our kids have work to do at 6/26/2009 1:31 PM CDT Longer school days, periods,
semesters, years are all part of
the ploy to separate children
from their parents. When will
the public realize that "school
reform" is a hoax. There wasn't
anything wrong with public
education in America before
1970. The only schools that were
inferior were some of the ones
in minority areas. Instead of
lifting the bar for those
children, the current goal is to
lower it for everyone so that no
one looks bad. The current model
serves no one. |
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Comment on: Another school funding suit ahead for Texas? at 6/22/2009 5:12 PM CDT Go read www.georgescottreports.com to see how your tax dollars, no matter where and when you get them are/have been spent. They're always wasted because the curriculum is so messed up. Your kids are being dumbed down with your OWN MONEY!!! Figure it out. |
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Comment on: Cy-Fair homeowners may hold on to tax break at 6/20/2009 9:41 AM CDT www.cantheman.webs.com,You appear to be starting a watchdog website for the Cy Fair district. Good for you! Couple of suggestions: don't make your membership list public, and create a way for the public to send you emails. While the Katy Citizen Watchdogs are inactive at the moment, their web site is still up: www.katycitizens.org It has been an effective web site for four years. I applaud you for realizing that the problem with public schools is not just in the building/bond program. The main problem is the curriculum that's currently being delivered. If we could fix that, the other messes would go away. |
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Comment on: Cy-Fair homeowners may hold on to tax break at 6/20/2009 9:29 AM CDT Cy Fair residents have enjoyed an extra level of a homestead exemption for many years that the rest of us in other school districts have not had. I don't blame citizens for being angry there because they've endured excessive spending (Berry Center et al) and watched their tax dollars being spent frivolously. Had Cy Fair had a superintendent like the one they had before the TEA placed Berry in their midst, they might still be enjoying a superior district run in a financially sound manner, although it appears that the current superintendent was created in the same mold as Berry. Many of us (Katy, Ft. Bend, etc) have had superintendents "placed " in our districts too whose only purpose seems to be to spend as much tax money as they can rake in. But to expect the state to use money that really belongs to ALL of us to help out Cy Fair now that its overextension is about to usher in its demise, is very unfair. That "extra" money that the state seems to have should be distributed equally among ALL Texas public school students. The trend for taxing citizens for the benefit of someone else who can't seem to live within their means has got to stop. If Cy Fair can't manage it's funds, then the voters need to vote out the school board they have, and find people who can be more responsible to their constituents by hiring a competent superintendent who will cut spending and solve the problem, instead of spending as much as he can and being the cause of the problem. |
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Comment on: HISD expects more schools to reach state's top ratings at 6/4/2009 4:55 PM CDT Everyone needs to understand that this TPM (Texas Projection Measure) is a NEW fraudulent scheme concocted by the TEA to help Texas superintendents save face. All of them will now get to preside over a "recognized" or "exemplary" school district. Never mind that those designations now mean absolutely nothing--if they ever did. The supes can tout this wonderful rating while they soak the taxpayers with new high tax bond issues to help feather the nests of their developer/construction/architect friends. Too many had gotten wind of the TEA's dropout scheme which figures the percentage of drop outs from the number of students who drop out between the 7th and 8th grades, and the public was beginning to see that drop out rates were fraudulent too. The TPM is pure fraud, and the tax paying public should be outraged. |
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Comment on: Perry urged to set aside politics, pursue federal grants at 1/7/2010 9:21 AM CST Why didn't you put this article (on your web site) front and center on the Houston page? Are you afraid your readers will see the comments? I would think the push to complete Obama's takeover of public education would rate at least that privilege! I'm putting my comment on every education article I can find! |
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Comment on: Perry urged to set aside politics, pursue federal grants at 1/7/2010 9:10 AM CST Stick to your guns, Governor Perry. Texas doesn't need more federal "standards" being crammed down our throats! You did the right thing by rejecting the money from Obama. Texas already spends $12,000+ per student when money from all sources is counted. Surely that's enough to educate each of them properly! Local superintendents want that extra Obama money (and how far can it go if one divides it by the State's 1030 school districts?) to spread around to their contractor, builder, architect, sign seller, software vendor friends, and none of if will benefit school children. What these superintendents are actually wanting is for the Federal Government standards, which are simply a way for the Feds to finish their takeover of public education., to be forced upon us. If the Governor really wants my Conservative Republican vote, he'll tell them all to take a hike. |
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Comment on: Perry calls for discipline in state spending at 1/7/2010 8:57 AM CST Stick to your guns, Governor Perry. Texas doesn't need more federal "standards" being crammed down our throats! You did the right thing by rejecting the money from Obama.Texas already spends $12,000+ per student when money from all sources is counted. Surely that's enough to educate each of them properly!Local superintendents want that extra Obama money (and how far can it go if one divides it by the State's 1030 school districts?) to spread around to their contractor, builder, architect, sign seller, software vendor friends, and none of if will benefit school children.What these superintendents are actually wanting is for the Federal Government standards, which are simply a way for the Feds to finish their takeover of public education., to be forced upon us.If the Governor really wants my Conservative Republican vote, he'll tell them all to take a hike. |
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Comment on: Some schools ditching traditional spelling tests at 12/25/2009 10:37 AM CST Many years ago when my son attended Nottingham Country Elementary School in the Katy ISD, the District did away with spelling books. I complained loudly, and the next thing I knew, there was a front page article in the Katy Times (that's how our school district communicates with parents) telling all of us that spelling books were passe' and henceforth our children would be getting spelling lists "that fit the context of other disciplines they were studying" and that we should all be happy with the change. What did I know? I was just but the parent of a second grader. Over time, I became aware of the national (international/UN) agenda to dumb down 85% of our children, and that movement started in elementary school 25 years ago! Spelling books (and you can find them online or at antique stores) were full of rules! THAT is what was passe' for the leftists. Now KatyISD has "spelling lists" on line (http://www.katyisd.org/curriculum/Pages/SpellingWords.aspx)--go look and pick a grade and see how disconnected those lists really are. To suggest that the public schools are "taking a new direction on spelling" is amusing to me. What has happened is that we now have three generations of people who can't spell, and that inability is so glaring that the "wise" educrats decided to cover their big mistake by proclaiming that something "new" regarding the teaching of spelling is in the works. Au contraire, what's "new" is that they've dug up part of what they used to do when the teaching of spelling worked, and tried to mesh it with the fuzzy spelling curriculum of today. Why can't they just admit they were wrong and go back to what worked for decades? American public education before 1975 was the best there was in the entire world. It wasn't broken, and only people who weren't very smart would have tried to "fix" it. That so many of us are on line on Christmas morning responding to the insanity of this matter speaks worlds about how dissatisfied parents and teachers are with what is forced upon school children. |
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Comment on: Group gives bad grade to Texas teacher education at 11/26/2009 12:37 AM CST Teacher education in Texas may not be up to par, but not for the reasons cited by anyone from the National Council on Teacher Quality. This group is just another front for "reformers" who aren't really trying to reform anything at all. They're just trying to create teachers who will follow an agenda that includes dumbing down our children for the sake of big businesses who need malleable and compliant workers who can do as they are told, not complain, and be happy with low wages .Our State's public schools would be better off without Colleges of Education AND the National Council on Teacher Quality! |
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Comment on: Reluctance over Obama schools plan may cost Texas millions at 11/13/2009 7:17 AM CST The word "standards" is misleading. It means implementing Outcome Based Education. If you don't know that, you've been duped by the government (national, state, local school districts) once again. The "standards" exist to dumb students down, not elevate them to a higher level. We are teaching to the lowest and letting the middle and advanced students die on the vine. The less government mandates there are (and I include NCLB) the better off our children will be. Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama have all been in on the scheme to destroy our educational system. Someone besides Obama is going to have to fix it. Stick to your guns, Commissioner Scott and Representative Eissler. Your instincts are correct! |
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Comment on: Coming of age: Raising entrance standards necessary as UH seeks Tier 1 status at 11/8/2009 9:47 AM CST Perhaps those who voted for this amendment should have asked themselves these questions BEFORE the amendment vote instead of after. Anyone who is thoughtful knows that a "Tier I" status comes by first having an elite student body. Research is not what causes Tier I status. It's the quality of the students that does. If the proposal suggests that the minimum scores on the SAT be increased to 1100 and the ACT to 24, I'm guessing, there won't be too many students at all! The much touted Katy Independent School District, for example, can only offer up a mean total score of 1079 on the SAT and a mean composite score of 23.1 on the ACT (2008 Snapshot Report). Those scores mean more than half of the students in that school district could not gain entrance to the now elite University of Houston. UH is what it is. It serves a purpose in providing a college education to those who might not be able to get one somewhere else. Take your "free" money that our state government duped out of the taxpayers, and play your research games, and leave the elite status to those who acquired it honestly. |
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Comment on: Former Police Chief Bradford winning council seat race at 11/4/2009 8:01 AM CST "Jones appeared unfazed by the prospect of a runoff against Jack Christie, a conservative chiropractor who served several terms on the state board of education." Surely someone is going to bring up Jack Christie's activities as a State Board of Education member! Jones needs to talk to current SBOE member Terri Leo who was his opponent one time in a really nasty race. Jones at least needs to do a search in the Chronicle archives. Mr. Christie likes to be all things to all people. Sometimes he wants to be a conservative; sometimes he wants to be a "moderate." Rick Casey declared that he was a "moderate Republican" just two years ago when Christie ran unsuccessfully for a City Council Seat .Doesn't anyone remember the business about where he lived and who got to take the homestead exemption when he ran in the last City Council race? Christie is about as "conservative" as Obama, and IMHO he just needs to practice his trade and stay out of politics. |
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Comment on: Rape suspect charged in Acres Homes murder at 9/24/2009 2:00 PM CDT Isn't it Acres Home not Homes? I've lived in Houston for forty years and I never heard anyone say Acres Homes until yesterday. |
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Comment on: Wolfe Elementary could house IB curriculum at 9/24/2009 1:15 PM CDT "The district will have to overcome several hurdles to establish the program. Officials must take steps to fulfill program guidelines and funding would have to be approved through the passage of a school construction bond, officials said." Katy ISD residents need to see this for what it is. The District is hoping East End parents will be so enamored at the prospect of a new school (complete with IB) that they will ultimately join with the parents of football players who want a new gigantic sports arena to support a bond referendum. The District hopes those two groups will be enough to carry a bond election. The next bond in Katy ISD is going to be one for a billion dollars. Superintendent Alton Frailey was not brought to Katy for his work improving academics in districts where he was hired before. He wasn't brought here because he has a doctorate in education (he doesn't have one). He wasn't brought here because he was a certified superintendent (he didn't get his certificate until last summer (2008) after being employed in Texas as a superintendent for three years), he wasn't brought here to improve academics and make sure our students can get into and graduate from real colleges (that number continues to decline). He was brought here, by the school board, because he had orchestrated successful bond elections in Cincinnati and DeSoto, a tiny district near Dallas. His efforts and those of the board members are supported by the greedy vendors, construction companies, architects and so on who are leeches on our school district. The setting of the hooks will take a while, but it has already begun. |
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Comment on: Textbook failure: Memo to the Texas State Board of Education: America isn’t a theocracy at 3/21/2010 12:20 PM CDT Once again the Chronicle is misleading the public. The SBOE didn't take Thomas Jefferson out of the history books. They took him off a list of European philosophers where he didn't belong. He's still in the history books where he's supposed to be. That's another DUH, Chronicle editors! It's also interesting to see that before the TFN called all their buddies late this morning, the comment clicks were all supportive of the SBOE. Those comments were reflective of the general public. Now it's skewed as usual by the radical progressives. |
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Comment on: Francis Fendley, longtime trustee with HISD, dies at 3/18/2010 10:12 AM CDT Saying that Mr. Fendley was a school board member who always came to the board meetings prepared by having read all the material and having gathered all his own facts, is the highest compliment that could be paid by Superintendent Reagan. There aren't any school board members like that anymore. |
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Comment on: Key Middle's ex-chief draws support despite cheating probe at 3/13/2010 9:26 AM CST This kind of corruption has been going on longer than the 1990's! I taught at Booker T. Washington High School in the early 1970's. I was a "crossover" teacher. Witnessed the collection of a dollar each from teachers to buy "shot puts" for the track coach (when another coach said he had "plenty of them"); saw the numerous "talent" shows put on by the kids where $1.25 would get them in to the assembly and out of class for the afternoon; saw the collection of funds from the seniors for a "senior gift" which never appeared; saw the principal set up the school like a normal school (phone in the teacher's lounge, curtains on the windows--made by the home ec teacher at the principal's direction), cleaned up floors and windows (ordinarily I had to wash my own windows and mop my own floors), and a book of "courses" that included Driver's Ed which we didn't have --all of which were designed to impress the inspectors from the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges when that group used to issue accreditation for high schools; saw the kids dropping typewriters and movie projectors out the window for later pick up, had failing grades earned by athletes changed; saw all kinds of other fraud and theft; reported it to the Central Office and HTA with no results from that; left teaching as soon as I could! One also needs to know that the "punishment" for questioning any of this was to be assigned four preparations and have 190 students!(Although it's almost forty years old, I still have a copy of my report if anyone is interested!) |
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Comment on: School lunch programs can reverse child obesity at 3/5/2010 8:22 AM CST Don't think I agree with your premise! While "good" food for those who might not already be getting some is a worthy goal, public schools are notorious for not being able to deliver wholesome meals. Visit any public school at lunch and see what you see !Here's an article I wrote on the subject about five years ago. Nothing's changed since, so I had no effect either. I'll agree that there IS a problem! Eating In The Cafeteria by Mary McGarr Chances are your child eats in the school cafeteria regularly or at least every now and then. Hopefully during your child’s school career, you’ve gone to the trouble to visit his school during lunchtime to sit with him and eat the same thing he eats. Depending on your personal experience you may or may not like what you had for lunch. Good nutrition helps your child be a good student. Once as a parent (when I complained about the nutritional value of what was being served to children) I was asked to be on a KISD committee that went around and ate at various school cafeterias. It was an interesting experience, but was mostly a waste of my time and the administrator who had to escort us around. No one changed a thing because of the committee. What’s new? I read with interest the Houston Chronicle story concerning the CATCH curriculum that’s being pushed by Harris County's Public Health and Environmental Services Department to get children eating healthier and exercising more. The curriculum is being tried out at Schmalz, a Katy ISD elementary school. KISD implemented a “district wide wellness program that officials hope will help stunt obesity at the local level” last year (January 21, 2004). See Katy Times article “Katy ISD Program Takes Aim at Student Obesity.” I’m sure some other program will be implemented along these same lines next year. Actually, I’m growing a bit weary of programs that pay lip service to nutrition. It doesn’t even take a dietician with a Ph.D. to come up with balanced meals for children that don’t look gaggy when placed on a plastic serving tray. Any mother could do it. It also doesn’t take hiring Lance Armstrong to come up with a physical fitness program to get kids out of their chairs and running around. What it does take is some leadership by a school board that cares about the physical well-being of children. I have to wonder what these programs that come down the Pike cost the taxpayers. Some of them may be “free” if they come from another governmental source, but CATCH sounds like it probably costs something. According to the Chronicle, around 20% of Texas children are overweight. Actually, I would say that their parents are responsible for most of that excess weight because they let their children sit in front of a TV for too long every day. I also think that if children are overweight, that’s not any business of the public schools! I was a bit appalled by the information that Schmalz Elementary third grade teachers “sent home forms for children to complete with their parents. For a week or so, they track what they eat and the physical activities they do together, such as walking. When the forms come back, teachers give points for eating certain foods and taking part in physical activities. A class totals its points, trying to be the third grade at Schmalz with the highest number.” Does anyone besides me believe that what parents serve their children to eat and whether they go for a walk with them or not is any business of a public school and/or its teachers? This questionnaire that must be filled out is just a good example of the social engineering that is going on in our schools that takes the place of academic endeavor. If the public schools want to make children physically better off, they will address the common practice of limited recess time. Recess in this day and age is about a third the length it was when I was in elementary school. I recall that we got an hour off for lunch and recess twice a day. That exercise worked off a lot of pent up energy, and teachers didn’t find themselves with a room full of wiggly children every afternoon. The fresh air and exercise took care of the problem. If there are obese eleventh and twelfth graders in the Katy schools, it’s probably because in January of 1997 when they were in elementary school, here’s what they had for lunch the week of the 13th: On Monday, Turkey fingers, steamed rice/gravy, cheesy broccoli and a fresh baked roll; on Tuesday, cheeseburger on a bun, spicy fries, a fresh vegetable choice, and pickles; on Wednesday, pepperoni pizza, seasoned green beans, Texas-size bread, and a fruit choice; on Thursday rotini/meatballs/sauce, mozzarella cheese, tossed salad/dressing, garlic bread and pineapple tidbits; on Friday, chicken patty sandwich, vegetable soup, crackers, seasonal fruit. This week (October 3, 2005) they can have on Monday, popcorn chicken, tortilla cheese rolls w/salsa, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes/gravy, hot roll; on Tuesday, pepperoni pizza, chicken tenders, pan cheese pizza, baby carrots/Ranch Dip, breadstick, chilled pears; on Wednesday, cheeseburger, hamburger, meatless Italian pocket, tossed salad/dressing, Potato Starz, fresh fruit; on Thursday, chicken fajitas, tortilla cheese rolls, lettuce, tomato, cheese, cornbread, peach slices, on Friday, corndog, deli cheese sub, vegetable sticks, sun chips, mixed fruit. I sure wouldn’t feed my kids that stuff. Looks like it’s pretty loaded with carbohydrates and fat to me. If this menu meets government standards, then I would say someone needs to look at the standards. Whatever happened to just plain meat? or Jello? or vegetables besides corn? That’s why I made, over twenty years of having kids in school, 4,320 sack lunches. I wouldn’t eat what they serve in our public schools, and I didn’t want my kids to have to eat it either. And yes, I fussed about the schools' cafeteria food while I was on the school board, but no one agreed with me that there was a problem. |
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Comment on: HISD campuses in line for IB program at 2/19/2010 9:49 AM CST IB schools are placed in "wealthy" areas because that's where the money is--not because the UN discriminates against the poor! The IB programme is ALL about the money! In essence students (or their school districts) are BUYING an IB diploma which is outrageous since the AP program has been proven empirically to be the better course of study. In Nashville, Tennessee here is how the IB program is going. Note the costs versus the accomplishments!"The program produced 12 graduates in 2009, down from the all-time high of 20 two years ago. Metro Schools spends more than $200,000 each year on the program, and each high school Hillsboro, Hunters Lane and Hillwood spend $10,000 annually on licensing fees. ... students have to pay $92 for every course test they take, plus a one-time $135 student registration fee."Full story: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100116/NEWS04/1160340/ |
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Comment on: HISD campuses in line for IB program at 2/18/2010 10:08 AM CST Nowhere in this report does the reporter mention that the IB programme is a United Nations scheme. Most people I know would like to see the United Nations in the East River and certainly not having a presence in their neighborhood! People fall for it because they aren't discerning enough to realize how they are being duped. Go to www.truthboutIB.com and read some factual oppositional statistics. Education is the means being used by Progressives and education elitists for changing our country's belief system and eliminating the existing culture. According to these perpetrators virtues such as individualism, national sovereignty, and capitalism must be banished from our country. The United Nations doesn't care about the education of your children. They simply use IB schools as a source for cash flow while gaining access to the minds of your children. Parents need to wise up and stop this terrible scheme. |
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Comment on: 400 HISD teachers may face firing at 2/11/2010 9:15 AM CST Since curriculum and the accompanying tests are about students having behaviors and thoughts in line with the Progressive Movement and not about acquiring actual knowledge, it's a bit frightening to see the government deciding to fire those who are not adept at transforming students into automatons as measured by the TAKS test. Obviously the government is getting more serious about the mandate. Hello Brave New Word! The ones fired under this mandate may be the very best "teachers" that HISD has! Imagine that! |
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Comment on: Districts wonder if higher degrees merit higher pay for teachers at 2/10/2010 9:21 AM CST Perhaps if HISD needs 7+million dollars to fund teacher's salaries they could borrow it from Katy ISD. That school district evidently has cash to spare as it recently built Astroturfed football PRACTICE fields at all its six high schools that nobody asked for or wanted just because the superintendent thought they would look nice! They cost 5 million dollars! |
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Comment on: Districts wonder if higher degrees merit higher pay for teachers at 2/10/2010 9:16 AM CST How about paying more for an "academic" Master's degree. You remember those--English, history, math, biology, chemistry, physics--subjects that are knowledge based. Then teachers would indeed be improved teachers because they would know more that they could "teach." Oh yeah, I forgot, public schools aren't about teaching any more, they're about "learning." Education degrees are about "how" to teach, not "what" to teach and therein lies the problem. No matter how much one knows about HOW to teach, if one doesn't know anything TO teach, that ability is wasted. It's the same bogus principle that suggests that students don't need to know anything--just "HOW" to learn! Remember, the Progressives don't want educated people because dumbed down people are easier to control and manipulate, so creating teachers that aren't educated themselves, serves that purpose. |
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Comment on: Perry urged to set aside politics, pursue federal grants at 1/7/2010 10:12 AM CST http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/790.html |
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Comment on: HCC mum on probe of trustees at 9/2/2010 6:37 PM CDT There is no way they've spent a quarter of a million dollars and not produced any written documents! This is all about Judson ISD and the FBI investigation there. WOAI in San Antonio got wind of a lawyer's report to the school board about things they had done. The AG made them cough it up.http://media.mysanantonio.com/documents/Judson+InvestigationOK.pdf |
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Comment on: HISD business chief offers ethics plan for watchdog panel at 7/22/2010 10:24 AM CDT On the other hand, when an HISD "chief business officer says that he wants to propose eliminating those bond committee members who have vested interests from the committee," or that those who serve are precluded from contracting with the District for a year, that's revolutionary. Of course the greater issue is that we elect these board members (and whole bunches of them at that) to make decisions for us. That's what a representative government is all about. But when the board members give up their powers to unelected committee members, we all have to wonder why. Aren't they smart enough to make decisions themselves? Did they not count on spending some time doing the District's board business? Are they being bought off? What could possibly motivate an elected official to give up all that power he/she worked so hard to acquire? Out here in Katy, we only put people WITH vested interests on our bond committees, and there aren't but a handful of us west of Hiway 6 who think that's unethical, so HISD is way ahead of us with this proposal. |
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Comment on: Casey: Kids' failure is adult's 'success' at 7/12/2010 11:06 AM CDT Mr. Casey deserves the credit for this story! He's the one who got Scott Hochberg interested in it. Of course, Mr. Hochberg is a year late to the party as the Texas Projection Measure as a piece of the TEA fraud showed up LAST summer. When no one challenged it, it was put into effect. So now we have all kinds of schools being labeled "exemplary" and "recognized" when they aren't that at all. But better late to the party than to not show up at all. And if Mr. Casey and Rep. Hochberg get rid of the TPM, I'll be happy! |
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Comment on: Education chief may end policy that boosts ratings at 7/11/2010 9:43 AM CDT The Chronicle's Rick Casey is responsible for shining a light on the Texas Projection Measure. and deserves credit here. State Representative Scott Hochberg was a year late to the party, but better late than never. I was at a Katy ISD school board meeting two summers ago where the TAKS results were announced, and all the administrative faces were long and scrunched. A small discussion was held concerning the continuing low TAKS science scores that had been produced by Katy ISD students. The TEA had just instituted a TAKS test on science with a rather low level of minimum standards, and Katy students had failed to meet even that mark. One could just see the chagrin of the new superintendent, Alton Frailey, and the other administrators. Couple of weeks later, Voila! The TEA lowered the standard for passing even more and all of a sudden KISD was back in the money --I mean back to a "recognized" status. Of course it was all smoke and mirrors --and fraudulent .The next year here came the Texas Projection Measure with explanations that bordered on the bizarre. And mostly no one could figure it out, and so it went into effect. We can probably thank the Texas Association of School Administrators' lobbying group for this scheme. Those administrators know on which side their bread is buttered and how to fix things to their liking .Miraculously, last year Katy ISD bounded into the "exemplary" status and continues to stay there. Once again, fraud at its best. Standards as designed by the State and now the Feds are worthless. We can thank Bush as well as Obama for them. They are a political ploy to fool parents and taxpayers. Parents are led to believe that their children are learning something, when in fact they aren't learning anything. Don't blame teachers for that; it's the curriculum (or lack thereof).Taxpayers are fooled because the school districts need to pass bond referendums so they have money to spread among all the greedy dolts that feed at the public trough. Taxpayers are more prone to vote FOR a bond if they think their schools are academically superior. The TAKS test is supposed to tell them that, but of course it doesn't. And so the parents stay happy, the bonds get passed, the vendors get rich, and the students are the losers. If Mr. Casey, Scott Hockberg, the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas News are able to turn off the Texas Projection Measure, it doesn't matter to me how late they were to the party, my hat's off to them all! |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: Hochberg unmasks TEA’s controversial rule at 7/9/2010 9:13 AM CDT Congratulations to the two of you for jumping on the Texas Projection Measure. Unfortunately it's OLD news! There were discussions in the Chronicle last summer (2009) on this subject. Where were you then? Now that the system is in place, just about every school in Texas is "exemplary" or "recognized" which means diddley. The TEA did this to help all the school districts that are wanting to pass a bond--which is most of them. I imagine the TASA is behind the ploy. They need to get money before Obama takes it all away from us. People vote favorably for bond referendums if the parents think their kids are getting a fine education (Rice poll taker says so). "Exemplary" status does the trick. Never mind that SAT and ACT scores are (in spite of being dumbed down with great regularity) constantly declining.. Hope you include these FACTS in your Sunday column! |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: How schools get credit for a TAKS zero at 7/7/2010 2:41 PM CDT The problem is bigger than the TAKS or the TEA. The problem comes from a Nation that has been committed to dumbing down our students since the late 1980's. We're seeing the result of that effort. Unfortunately it's the likes of the Rockefellers, the Bush family, Obama, --and all our other leaders who are bent on one worldism. State representatives and state senators are useful pawns who have allowed this stuff to happen. Mr. Hochberg went to Rice. How did he get there? Well, he probably went to a public school that taught him how to read, write and do real, not fuzzy, math. There wasn't anything at all wrong with public schools until the likes of Mr. Hochberg started trying to "reform" them! How ironic that he's "surprised" by what his efforts have accomplished! |
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Comment on: Rick Casey: TAKS grade inflation nothing new at 6/20/2010 11:01 AM CDT Rick Casey has hit a home run in this morning's Houston Chronicle. Unfortunately, it's 10:30 AM and they still haven't put his column on line, so here it is! I'm guessing every superintendent in town who was hoping to float a bond issue based on spiralingly upward test scores had a heart attack when they read this morning's paper. You're welcome! Lies, Damn Lies and Magic Statistics If you were depressed by last Sunday's discussion in this space of the fact that Texas students could pass the TAKS test with scores as low as 44 percent, consider this: Even with such low standards, the Texas Education Agency decided to rate hundreds of Texas schools and scores of Texas districts as "academically acceptable" last year--the lowest "passing category --by counting students who flunked the TAKS as passing it. This academic alchemy was achieved through a statistical exercise called the "Texas Projection Measure." This complex formula, based on statewide TAKS scores from the year before, is said to identify students who failed this year but are likely to pass next year. Or maybe the year after that. Or possibly the year after that. Education reporter Ericka Mellon last month wrote about the fact that HISD's long-troubled Sam Houston High School won recognition from Gov. Rick Perry and even Education Secretary Arne Duncan for improving its rating. She noted that the school was bumped up one level because some of its students who failed portions of the TAKS test were counted as passing because of the "Texas Projection Measure." That recognition drew the attention of Houston State Rep. Scott Hochberg, vice chairman of the House Public Education Committee. Hochberg, considered by members on both sides of the aisle to be something of a guru on Texas education, decided to figure out just how the Projection Measure works, talking to experts and poring over statistics at TEA's website. INFLATED NUMBERS The first thing to understand is that this bureaucratic boost, which began last year, is no small matter."It's not nibbling around the edges," said Hochberg .For example, TEA reported that statewide the number of "exemplary" campuses, the highest rating, more than doubled from 1,000 in 2008 to 2,158 in 2009. But without the statistical projections that some failing students would later pass, the increase would have been only 44 campuses. At the other end of the spectrum, the TEA reported that the number of "unacceptable" campuses had increased by 43, from 202 to 245. But without the magic of statistical projections, the real increase was 401 "unacceptable" campuses--almost 10 times the massaged number. Hochberg said the new system is disturbing not only because of the large number of schools that are receiving upgraded ratings under it, but also because of the statistical formula itself. You may have assumed, as I did, that it projected a student's future success based on improvements that student had made over the past few years .It doesn't. It's based on a statewide analysis of all students indicating that at certain score levels students who failed math but passed English (or vice-versa) on average went on to pass both. It isn't a measure of progress, but of the statistical likelihood of progress. Like Enron's legendary "mark to market" accounting, which booked future profits in current quarters based on a variety of fanciful assumptions, it is counting eggs before they hatch .REALLY 'UNACCEPTABLE' Hochberg notes that a similar analysis might also show that certain students, statistically speaking are heading in the other direction." But they're not doing that," he said. "If you're projected going up, you're counted as passing. But if you're projected going down, you're not counted as not passing."So Perry and Duncan celebrate the "improved" performance of our schools. But HISD officials, to their credit, are skeptical of the enhanced scores. An independent study they commissioned and released this week, based on actual performance rather than on statistical "projections," shows that about half the ninth-graders of the class of 2005 enrolled in college and less than a fifth of those graduated in four and a half years .Nearly a third of those ninth-graders dropped out. HISD trustee Anna Eastman called it "unacceptable,' just the opposite of how the TEA rates HISD. rick.casey@chron.com |
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Comment on: Agreement limits tech vendor contributions to HISD trustees at 5/7/2010 11:35 AM CDT A good investigative report would have included a list of all the trustees in the Houston area who have received campaign funds from E-Rate vendors. It would also be of interest I think if the Chronicle would emulate the Dallas News' article of a few years ago when Scott Parks listed all the public school superintendents who attended a vendor "retreat" (ERDI in this report). Katy's then (Leonard Merrell) and now (Alton Frailey) were both on the list as well as Houston ISD's Terry Grier when he was at another school district in North Carolina. The list is a veritable parade of upwardly mobile public school superintendents--all publicly tied to school vendors. |
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Comment on: Agreement limits tech vendor contributions to HISD trustees at 5/7/2010 11:34 AM CDT http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news/longterm/stories/071804dnmetretreat.c430.html |
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Comment on: State senator urges closing the book on state ed board at 3/24/2010 7:36 AM CDT Maybe someone needs to file legislation to "appoint" senators from McAllen. I'm sure the Republicans could come up with someone wiser than Senator Hinojosa. After all, I don't like what he says and believes, so that means I'm allowed to suggest we find a way to remove him from office, yes? |
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Comment on: District began cutbacks 2 years ago anticipating state shortfall at 1/27/2011 10:07 AM CST Only Joe Adams would give out a quote like that! He still thinks tax money falls from the sky. And after it "falls," he doesn't know how it's divided or spent. As for the superintendent cutting the central office spending by 10% beginning in 2008--why do the stats from TEA show that he increased the number of central office administrators? What did he cut--the number of thumb tacks and rubber bands they could buy? Is this another play on words designed to fool the public? Could this be more spin? In looking at what he has done since the minute he got here, does he really think we would believe that he's cut anything? In 2007 there were 196 central administrators when he got here; in 2008 there were 206, in 2009 there were 247. Doesn't look like a "reduction" to me! |
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Comment on: To restore schools, learn from the past at 1/10/2011 5:27 PM CST Stop cutting time in class short. High school kids need to be in each class for 55 minutes--no more no less. Eliminate staff development and quit brainwashing the teachers. Stop acting like minority students can't do the work. They can if taught right. Stop trying to fix the world's problems by using public schools to do it. It's not the place of public schools to engage in social engineering! And the next time the Chronicle says we can write 2500 characters in one of these posts, don't believe them! |
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Comment on: To restore schools, learn from the past at 1/10/2011 5:25 PM CST How does it get fixed? Cut numbers and salaries of all administrators. Give them one year contracts like teachers have. Give the teachers a raise. Consolidate school districts. Leave teachers alone to teach what they know (and make sure they have an academic degree instead of an education degree--close schools of education). Get rid of "aligned" curriculum. Ability group so every level can be taught by a teacher. A teacher can't teach the smart kids if he has to teach the slow kids too and vice versa. Stop making the smart kids teach the slower kids. Parents want a qualified teacher teaching their children-not some other student. Continued in the next post... |
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Comment on: To restore schools, learn from the past at 1/10/2011 5:23 PM CST When Comm. Christie said to a SBOE committee, "We don't need Shakespearean educated students anymore---they can't get a job!" we all knew we were doomed. Of course Christie only has a vocational education himself and had no business trying to fix education. No one really wants to "fix" public education. It's doing exactly what they wanted to do--create uneducated students. Sounds crazy, yes? But that's exactly what has happened. Continued in the next post... |
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Comment on: To restore schools, learn from the past at 1/10/2011 5:21 PM CST Well, for one thing, businesses decided (Business Roundtable et al) that they needed compliant workers who would do as they were told and not complain too much about the menial work and low wages. To get that, they had to dumb everyone down. They set about in a systematic way to coerce state politicians to change our public schools. In Texas it was TBEC, the TEA, Skip Meno and his sidekick, Bob Thompson, and Jack Christie as well as Mike Moses who led the way. Continued in the next post... |
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Comment on: To restore schools, learn from the past at 1/10/2011 5:19 PM CST My first question to him is, why do you think we have "education reform"? Could you please tell me what was wrong with American's public schools that we had to "reform" them? The answer is, there was nothing wrong with American's schools until people like Mr. Frels started meddling with them for political reasons. If one got an American public education before 1975, one received the best education that has ever been provided. What changed? Continued in the next post... |
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Comment on: To restore schools, learn from the past at 1/10/2011 5:16 PM CST Mr. Frels, like most other businessmen/professionals, doesn't have a clue what is wrong with public schools. Continued in the next post! |
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Comment on: Our teachers hold the key to an effective education at 10/1/2010 12:36 PM CDT Don't miss the point here. Bill Ratliff is the major developer of "restructured education" in Texas. He and Paul Sadler took away local control from locally elected officials and gave it to the "local" superintendents in Senate Bill 1 in 1995. Since then he pops up every now in then with another fascist scheme. This editorial is about him and his cohorts wanting to take the training of teachers away from the state and give it to the FEDS. Don't let him! Just what IS an "effective teacher"? I'm guessing my definition is very different from Mr. Ratliff's. And for sure the FEDS don't have ANYTHING at all to do with effective teachers. Name one thing that the government has ever done well. You can't! We need to get back to providing students with a sound academic education. We should start by closing down college departments of education. Let teachers major in a subject field. They would be much better prepared to educate their students if they actually knew something to teach! And don't blame the teachers; they just do what they have to by law in order to obtain a teaching position. Their professional organizations could help, but they are all in tune with the education establishment and are worthless at the present time. Personnel costs in my school district (Katy) take up 88% of the budget! We have almost one "other" employee for every teacher. Teachers should be angry about that because when we have too many excess employees who are NOT teachers, the amount of tax funds available for teachers' salaries are decreased. In Katy, for example, we have one aide for every six teachers! No one seems to know why we have so many. My point is, don't take anything Bill Ratliff has to say at face value. He's a shill for big business and industry.
Comment on Mr. Frailey
trying to shut down the ability for the
public to acquire public information
requests: marymcgarr> wrote: Frailey doesn't even understand what he's done or why anyone thinks it's wrong! He also doesn't know when to shut up about it, but I'm thinking he mostly just doesn't like criticism, even when he earned it! FRI 12/05/2003 Houston Chronicle, Section A, Page 47, 3 STAR EditionA&M and diversity flap [Regarding the Chronicle's Dec. 4 article, "A&M defies trend, won't use race as admissions factor"]: Minority students gaining admission to Texas A&M University can now be proud of their selection. Like everyone else, they will have earned the right to go to one of our state's finest universities. Hooray for A&M's President Robert Gates. It took great courage to stand on principle and insist on merit-based admissions. Mary McGarr, Katy
I would like to
respond, on behalf of the Board, to a
letter that appeared in the February 1
issue of the Katy Times.
The letter
began by addressing a previous editorial
that had appeared on January 25.
That editorial explored the differences
between TAAS test scores as well as other
pertinent factors that exist between Katy
ISD schools and Plano ISD schools.
The editorial was well written and
researched and made some very valid
points, the most important being that
Plano, according to the information cited,
appears to be garnering better TAAS test
scores than Katy.
As anyone who
listens to me knows, I have made similar
remarks and drawn similar conclusions at
public board meetings many times over the
years I have been on the Board.
Making valid comparisons between KISD and
similar school districts based on TAAS
scores or any other criterion is a
worthwhile activity. While striving to
better understand the validity and meaning
of TAAS test scores, the Board often asks
questions about those scores, the “group”
with which we are compared, as well as the
practice of “teaching to the TAAS test”
with regard to our students. Members
of this Board ask questions about our
relative status with regard to other
school districts all the time. We
constantly concern ourselves with
providing an excellent education for our
students and obtaining the most value for
tax dollars spent. I could speak for
an hour on the things we have done over
just the last year that would support that
assertion.
That being
said, I am greatly dismayed by the next to
the last paragraph of the reader’s letter
to the editor that proceeded to quote
purported remarks made by James Peters.
I also attended the instructional audit
parents meeting at Mayde Creek Junior
High. While Mr. Peters sometimes
makes light of an issue in an effort to
focus serious attention on it, he never
said or would say that the Board would
believe that “academic performance is not
important” or that what is important is
that “the parents think the schools are
good.” Mr. Peters never said those
words in the way they were attributed to
him.
I have known
Mr. Peters for several years now, and I
know that his belief in the importance of
high academic performance begins at home
with his own children, both of whom rank
near the top of their respective classes
at Katy High School. This concern
for academic performance transfers to
everyone else’s children at every
opportunity with regard to Mr. Peter’s
Board activities. For anyone to
write a letter deliberately taking remarks
out of context or creating false passages
to make a point does a great disservice to
Mr. Peters specifically and the Board
collectively, and I believe that such
efforts not only harm us as individuals
but our school district’s students
and teachers as well. This Board
will not let untrue statements about
itself or its individual members go
unanswered. For the greater good I would
hope that parents will choose to work
within the system to improve our students’
academic performance and refrain from
making unwarranted statements about Board
members.
Thank you for allowing me to correct what I consider a great injustice.
Mary McGarr
May 8, 2008
I made this post on May 8th, 2008, at 8:45 PM after someone named "tom pogo" had tried to say that KISD was doing just fine because the TAKS test said so. He then endorsed Crockett, Duhon and Snyder.
Here is my post: (The data is from Snapshot 2006-2007-- the latest available at the time.)
The incumbent KISD board members [Crockett, Snyder, and Duhon] like to compare KISD to Ft. Bend or Spring Branch, since they are close, but we all know those school districts are not like Katy ISD. Perhaps voters should look at a school district in Texas that has always been Katy's arch rival. That would be Plano ISD which is a suburban school district by Dallas.
Plano has 52,753 students/Katy has 50,725. On the TAKS Plano had 88% of all grades passing all tests taken, while Katy had 83%.
Plano has 6,608 total employees, while Katy has 6,505. Plano has 3,855 teachers, while Katy has 3,421. Plano has 58% of its total staff in teachers, while Katy has 53%. Katy has 29% of its total staff in "auxiliary" staff, while Plano has 17% in that category.
The average administrative salary in Plano is $85,045 while in Katy it is $96,849. The average school administrative salary in Plano is $71,168 while in Katy it is $74,453. The average teacher salary in Plano is $46,945 and in Katy it is $47,646. The number of teachers with advanced degrees in Plano is 34.4% while in Katy it is 22.9%. Plano places 10% of the students in the GT program and spends 3% of the budget on them while Katy places 6% of the students in the GT program and spend 2% of the budget on them. Plano spends 1% of its budget on athletics while Katy spends 2% of its budget on athletics.
Probably the most notable statistic for parents wanting their children to attend college are these: In Plano 87% of the students take the SAT or the ACT while in Katy there are 80% taking those tests. The percent at or above criterion on those tests is 60.9% in Plano but only 46.5% in Katy. The SAT Mean Total Score in Plano is 1149 while in Katy it is 1088. The ACT Mean Composite Score in Plano is 24.4 while in Katy it is 22.9. The differences in those scores are indicative of the type of university to which a student may aspire. The SAT and the ACT are far better tests with regard to determining knowledge acquired and the ability to pursue further education, which is what most parents in our district are seeking. And remember, our children compete with those Plano students for admission to Texas universities.
Don't let anyone say that the TAKS means anything at all with regard to achievement. It is not an achievement test. The Conservative candidates are calling for an achievement test to be given at several grade levels so that parents truly understand what their children know as they progress through the grade levels. KISD used to rely on such tests, but now they spend all the teachers' and the students' time on the meaningless TAKS.
My source for this information is http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/snapshot/
Just for fun, let's look at the Snapshot figures three years later after two these three board members have been in office for a while: (2009-2010 data--the latest available)
Plano now has 54,683 students/Katy has 58,444. On the TAKS Plano had 90% of all grades passing all tests taken, while Katy had 88%.
Plano has 6,762 total employees, while Katy has 7,579. Plano has 3,941 teachers, while Katy has 4,120. Plano has 58% of its total staff in teachers, while Katy has 54%. Katy has 28% of its total staff in "auxiliary" staff, while Plano has 19% in that category.
The average central administrative salary in Plano is $88,178 while in Katy it is $108,332. The average school administrative salary in Plano is $77,306 while in Katy it is $79,085. The average teacher salary in Plano is $52,375 and in Katy it is $50,374. The number of teachers with advanced degrees in Plano is 33.0% while in Katy it is 22.6%. Plano places 13% of the students in the GT program and spends 2% of the budget on them while Katy places 6% of the students in the GT program and spend 3% of the budget on them. Plano spends 1% of its budget on athletics while Katy spends 2% of its budget on athletics.
Probably the most notable statistic for parents wanting their children to attend college are these: In Plano 78% of the students take the SAT or the ACT while in Katy there are 74.7% taking those tests. The percent at or above criterion on those tests is 64.4% in Plano but only 46.3% in Katy. The SAT Mean Total Score in Plano is 1165 while in Katy it is 1082. The ACT Mean Composite Score in Plano is 25.5 while in Katy it is 23.6. The differences in those scores are indicative of the type of university to which a student may aspire. The SAT and the ACT are far better tests with regard to determining knowledge acquired and the ability to pursue further education, which is what most parents in our district are seeking. And remember, our children compete with those Plano students for admission to Texas universities.
Looking at the comparison, it would appear that the re-elected incumbents didn't do very much to improve anything except the number of students (brought on perhaps by their policy of building schools to help developers sell homes), and administrative salaries over their last three year term. |
February 26, 1997
Editor
The Katy Times
Dear Editor,
In the April 1995 issue of Texas Lone Star, the
publication of the Texas Association of School Boards, Governor Bush is quoted as saying,
“The biggest struggle of all is going to be to free school boards, teachers, and parents
from the clutches of the Texas Education Agency and the unfunded mandates of the Texas
Legislature.” Reportedly a ballroom full of school board members from across the
state “applauded in support of the promised deregulation efforts.” Governor Bush
initially campaigned for the office of governor with the promise that he would “do away”
with the TEA.
The recent letter sent to the Times by the commissioner
who runs the TEA, Mike Moses, would seem to provide good reason for the governor to
carry out the promises that he has made. The TEA, under Mr. Moses’ leadership, works
diligently each day to establish the National Center on Education and the Economy’s
restructured education plan in our states’ public and private schools. Mr. Moses, in
characteristic ostrich-like fashion, denies he is supportive of the tenets of Outcome
Based Education and restructured education, but with his very next breath utters OBE’s
patent phrase-- “...we should develop standards about what children should know” and “be
able to do.” Those are words straight from Marc Tucker, Bill Daggett, William Spady,
and all the others who are proponents of the OBE/School to Work initiative. If the
commissioner is going to practice duplicity, he needs to get his act together.
Mr. Moses is very definitely leading the rush to implement OBE
“and all that that entails.” He may not have started the push, but his agenda is the
same as Skip Meno’s, and his protestations are wearing thin. For him to suggest that
he is not a member of the Board of the NCEE when his name appears on all kinds of
documents from that organization is ridiculous. If he is not on that Board, he has had
ample time to get his name off their materials. If the TEA paid that organization 2.1
million, what exactly were we (taxpayers) buying? I would imagine that the positions on
the NCEE Board came with the payment and the contract, and if Mr. Moses were doing his
job, he should have known the terms.
It occurs to me that perhaps Mr. Moses’ name on things does not
mean as much to him as it does to me. I resigned from my elected position when I
realized the intent of these people, and I could not bear having my NAME affixed to their
programs, curricula, policies, etc. that so negatively affect school children. At
the SBOE meeting on February 6, in response to the Republican SBOE members’ charges that
he had not been truthful with regard to the implementation of OBE, I heard Moses deny that
this state has OBE, but the evidence of its existence is everywhere.
I clearly believe there is a plan to place 80% of Texas’
students into vocational tracks at a very early age, where the State (school district)
will decide for each child the course of his future education. The consent of that child
and his parents will not be a requirement. The State will also decide which jobs
each person may hold throughout his lifetime. If I am wrong about the existence of
this plan, then my friends can start calling me “Chicken Little” instead of “Six to One
Mary.” However, if Mr. Moses is wrong, he will have ruined the lives of millions of
Texas school children. That’s a heavy burden, and I wish he wouldn’t be quite so
cavalier about it.
In 1992, a great effort was made to bring a commercial airport (the Westside Airport) to the area west of Katy ISD--an area lying in Waller County. Lots of pressure was put on the Katy school board to get them to endorse the plan. Here is my statement to the rest of the board. I was a board member at the time:
Since I believe that the primary function of this school board is to be concerned with the education of children, and since the jury is still out on whether or not the commercial development and enhancement of the expected ad valorem tax base of the Katy Independent School District from the building of the Westside Airport in Waller County would be a benefit to all of our school district, I will not be able to support this resolution, and I believe it is inappropriate for us to concern ourselves with this issue. For what it's worth, I would not endorse a resolution to be against the airport either.
This proposed airport does not lie within the boundaries of this school district. The project has been highly controversial for any number of reasons. Although proponents argue about the "good" that will come from the airport most of us understand that large landowners are simply trying to make as much money off their land as possible and to get the federal government to drain land so developers can develop at less cost. Those motives are in and of themselves part of the American way, but I object to the use of this school board to help them.
The increase in air traffic over our homes, the increase in vehicular traffic, the commercial development that will include bars, liquor stores, topless dancers, prostitutes and so forth, the crime that will come with the influx of these kinds of people, are all the things that most of our residents were moving away from when they moved to this school district. We were all looking for a certain quality of life that a commercial airport will destroy. We have all seen the crime that accompanies just simple commercial enterprise along Mason Road. Are we ready for the problems that will accompany the commercial development that will be 1,000 times greater? The large landowners don't care about our quality of life; they will take their money and run, and those of us who live in a house on a slab will be left to watch our property values deteriorate and pay the increasing taxes that will be required to address all these issues. No one can show me a school district that includes or abuts a major airport that has quiet subdivisions and no crime. As recently as last weekend there were reports of the quarterback at an Aldine high school who was shot several times in the legs. Some of the newspaper accounts of that incident attributed the crime and others like it to the Aldine school district's having Intercontinental Airport on its northern border.
Our school district needs to actively and aggressively seek light industry that will locate within our boundaries to increase the tax base, but I don't see that happening. If the large land owners in Waller County want to sell their land for airports and landfills, that is their business, and some of you on this board may owe your votes to those interests, but I don't. I think some of the rest of you need to think about who else you represent and how you got here and vote to protect the quality of life that we all enjoy and that the majority of us want to maintain. We need to keep this board's nose out of things where it doesn't belong.
(Of note is the fact that the Westside Airport didn't happen because Kathy Whitmire, in her only worthwhile decision as Mayor of Houston, decided that she didn't want a Westside Airport! I had nothing to do with her decision. My note above was merely a comeuppance for some misguided school board members who needed to mind their own business and stay out of the airport business.)
Mary McGarr posted at 9:35 am on Fri, Jun 3, 2011.
The budget consultant was paid $48,500--that would have paid for one of those fired teachers! A consultant is hired (just like a board committee is formed) so that the consultant takes the blame for the budget cuts instead of the superintendent.
When I asked earlier about a consultant who decided whom to fire, I was told there wasn't one. (I would swear I read that there had been one.)
Everyone please remember that the Board was mistakenly under the impression that there would be a 19 to 62 million dollar shortfall EACH of the next two years, when in actuality the amount was half of that. Dr. Harris erred with her power point presentation in April. They didn't need to fire anyone.
The point that Mr. Frailey seems not to get is that he needs to quit SPENDING SO MUCH!!!!! He wouldn't be in this mess if he hadn't overhired personnel in the first place. He LIKES the thought of being in charge of lots of buildings and people--he's said that many times, comparing Katy ISD to a university! Megalomania is that last stage of a superintendent's evolution, and I think Frailey is there.
Mr. Frailey's five year iron clad contract says that his insurance for himself and his family will be paid by the District "pursuant to the Health Care insurance provided by the District," so it is not clear to me if he will continue to have it paid for if there is no plan offered to any other employee. I'm guessing that's one item he failed to foresee when he renegotiated this contract.
As for the budget items that are proposed, it would appear to me that Mr. Frailey is trying to scare the voters, parents, teachers, taxpayers, etc. into backing down from their demands for cuts in spending. The threat of loss of bus service is always the first thing superintendents recommend. Hugh Hayes did the same thing in the 1990's. They want us all to think "Gosh, we really don't want to do without those things, so I guess we'll just be really happy to pay more taxes so we can have them!"
That's baloney. There are plenty of "fluff" things that they could cut that no one would miss. Start with all those assistant superintendents that Mr. Frailey has hired to surround himself with so he doesn't have to (1) do anything at all and (2) interact with the public. (MY list of proposed cuts is at www.marymcgarr.com go to Education and then Budgets.)
The superintendent has a very sweet deal --just read his online contract. He made sure he got his slice before he told the rest of us that there was a shortfall.
I hope our new board members have the will power to refuse to be a part of this superintendent's scheme to get more money to spend on nonsense. No more employees should be fired until a lot of administrators are gone. No more employees should be fired until they stop floating excessive and padded bond referenda. No more employees should be fired until we no longer have to pay $39 each way for Mr. Frailey to have "leg room" when he flies all over the place. The man can pay for THAT luxury out of his $288,400.00 salary (plus perks).