TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY COMPLICIT IN DUMBING DOWN OUR CHILDREN:

Here are some questions for parents of Katy school children:

1. Who decided to drop academics, ability grouping, and the traditional way of teaching knowledge?  Were any of you in on that discussion which should have been very public?

2.  Who decided that BUSINESS had any BUSINESS intervening in the curriculum of OUR public schools?

3.  Who decided that public schools existed for the purpose of providing job skills?

4.  How dumb are these people that have bought into this nonsense?

If  you as a parent don't get this, don't try to stop it, then your children deserve what will become of them.  They are dumbing your kids down right in front of you and laughing at you for being so stupid as to let them do it!

 The following article was printed in the February 5, 1997 issue of The Katy Times and was written by Dave Mundy, the Managing Editor

Top State Officials Linked to New Standards: TEA Paid 'School-to Work" Group $1 Million

The future curriculum for students in the Katy Independent School District could well be influenced by an organization which has been paid more than $1 million by the State of Texas, raising serious questions about possible conflicts of interest on the part of two of the state's top education officials.

Dr. Mike Moses, the state Commissioner of Education, and State Sen. Bill Ratliff (R-Mount Pleasant), credited as being the primary author of 1995's Senate Bill 1, are listed as members of the New Standards Governing Board.  New Standards is part of the National Council on Education and the Economy (NCEE), based in Washington, D. C., which has been paid $1 million over the last five years by the state [Texas].

The news comes as the State Board of Education is poised to vote Thursday on the format to be used in the state's curriculum rewrite.  The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which follows guidelines set forth by the New Standards, has been called "mush" by Gov. George W. Bush, and the state board's decision will dramatically affect what is taught in schools around the state including Katy.

NCEE furnished a list of 31 state and local members to The Katy Times on Tuesday. That list included, in addition to Moses and Ratliff, Forth Worth ISD Superintendent Thomas Trocco and Fort Worth ISD Board of Trustees member Marsha R. West.

The NCEE was paid $1 million by the Texas Education Agency under contracts signed by former education commissioner Lionel R. "Skip" Meno in 1992 and Moses in 1995.  The contracts state that "Texas schools and its State Department of Education will work with ...NCEE, committing time and resources" to the development of national standards and assessments for education and job training.

A report in the June 13, 1995 Dallas Morning News by staff writer Joseph Garcia confirmed the state's payments to NCEE, adding that a "private donation" covered an additional $200,000 contribution from the Fort Worth ISD.  The Katy Times has filed a request under the Texas Open Records Act to obtain copies of the state's contracts.

A spokesperson for Moses said Monday the commissioner is not a member of the New Standards board, and did not know how his name came to be placed on the list.

"Actually, he's not (on the New Standards Governing Board)," said TEA Communications Director Debbie Graves.  "He's never been formally asked to serve, and truly wouldn't have the time."

"We're happy to participate in the New Standards, because it's been very beneficial to some of our school districts," Graves added.

Ratliff's office was contacted for comment, but he did not return the call.

An NCEE spokesman in Washington, Andy Plattner, said Monday that Moses' name likely appeared on the governing board simply because he succeeded Meno.  Former Texas Governor Ann Richards also served on the board, but current Governor George W. Bush is not listed among its members.

"All the chief state school officers of all the partner member (states) are automatically made members," Plattner said.  He added that, to his knowledge, Moses has never been to any of the twice-yearly new Standards Board meetings, although Meno did attend.

Ratliff's 1995 SB1 was promoted as providing more autonomy for local school districts, but has instead drawn criticism for doing just the opposite.

Katy ISD Trustees were criticized locally last fall for approving several local policies which took responsibility and authority out of the hands of trustees and placed it into the hands of administrators, on the advice of attorneys who had reviewed the bill.

Provisions in SB1 also bind the Texas Education Agency to federal education directives regarding "School-to-Work" programs, and the contract with NCEE commits the state to furnish students for "field trials" of the system.

The bill also mandated the State Board of Education no longer had the authority to reject textbooks which contained material the SBOE considered objectionable, State Attorney General Dan Morales later issued a legal opinion reaffirming that interpretation. [That would be the same Dan Morales who about 2002  pled guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to four years in prison.MM]

Critics, especially conservatives, have charged that local school district textbook-adoption groups will not give books as thorough a critique as has been traditional at the state level, and certain materials -- in particular textbooks promoting, alternative lifestyles and rewritten history -- will thus be adopted by local school districts.  Katy schools are scheduled to begin their official textbook hearings this month.

New Standards is the renamed "New Standards Project," the attempt to define national education  goals tied to the Goals 2000 program.  Among the original participants in that program were Marc S. Tucker, Hillary Rodham Clinton, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and Ira Magaziner, known at the architect of the Clinton Administration's ill-fated health-reform package.  Tucker remains a director of the organization, and is president of NCEE.