Importance of Funding Innovation in Education

Back from Montana by way of St. Louis.  Daughter is in southwestern Alberta researching grizzly bears, Son is in his new house but summering in Chicago, and GrandDog is here visiting.  Whew!

With one child at UT and one graduated from A&M, I try to keep up with what is happening in the world of Higher Ed.  I'm glad to see the University of Texas receive a foundation grant that will allow them, along with other institutions of higher learning, to develop and implement cost-effective ways of increasing educational attainment and improving student success.  The Lumina Foundation has given the university and others a $745,000 grant to expand collaboration among higher education institutions, with the goals of improving educational access and increasing postsecondary completion rates.  
This is exciting, important work that should be done a larger scale.  I suspect UT would not be able to do this work without the grant, because in May, the Regents elected to freeze tuition for the next two years for in-state students, against the recommendation of UT President Powers.  Like K-12 public education, any innovation in education will happen only when funded from outside sources, because the current funding systems are only sufficient (and even that is arguable) to cover current delivery.  Fortunately, there are foundations that understand the critical role they have in fostering innovation and improving the "industry" of education by funding projects like these.  It's unheard of for a major corporation to not have a "research and development" department, but this is not something that our legislatures have agreed to fund in the educational arena (although they understand the critical importance of it as evidenced by the P-16 initiative).  As a result, we have school districts and colleges doing great jobs of educating the current crop of students with the current crop of teachers using current thinking and current tools, but not many are able to fund anything innovative.  As a result, what will education look like in 25 years?  

Board Meetings are Finally Available On-Line

How great is this? Here I am struggling to thumb-type on my i-pad in Great Falls, Montana, but I was able to watch last night's board meeting online at www.katyisd.org (sorry; can't get a link to work).

While my daughter is thoroughly bored, I am very glad to be able to watch what went on in the last meeting. This new tool was too long in coming, and I'm glad it finally happened. Thank you to the Old New board members who got this idea moved from bucket list to reality.

ALL change is not bad...

Primary Elections

Primary elections are May 29, with early voting going on right now.  Here are links to information from
Harris, Ft. Bend, and Waller Counties.  In Harris and Ft. Bend, you can even vote on Sundays, although the hours are different, so check out the websites.

In many of these races, the only real contest is between two people in the same party, so it is very important that you vote in the primaries.

GO VOTE!

Mrs. Murray Langley is Brewing Tea...

For heaven's sake-- what a tempest in a teapot.  This is a response to the ridiculous allegations raised by Cynthia Murray Langley and "reported" in Instant News Katy--  I won't comment there because I don't want to actually acknowledge them as a "news" source.  Perhaps one of my readers will post this to INK so others can get the full story.

Anyway, if Mrs. Murray Langley had taken three minutes to ASK the election officials what the delay was, as I did, she would have had the whole story, too, and put her mind at ease:

To set the stage for those not present:  the election officials were counting the ballots in the back of the ESC.  Observers in the room included Eric Duhon as the properly appointed Poll Watcher named by Michalsky and/or Griffin.  Mrs. Blackman's and Mrs. Majors' husbands were there representing them.  This is customary and there is nothing sinister about it.  They were present early in the process (by 7:15 p.m., I'm told) so they could see the ballot boxes and electronic machines come in after the polls closed, and were present during the count.  A rather large gathering of interested persons were assembled in the lobby and in the board room awaiting the results.  (Typically, results are announced between 9 and 10 o'clock.)  I saw Mr. Adams and Mr. Shaw come in the FRONT of the building along with all the other interested parties (including myself) and never left that area of the building; I imagine they were reluctant to go past the big sign "ELECTION OFFICIALS ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT" placed just past the bathrooms near the board room.

Results were not announced until around 12 o'clock.  The reason it took so long to announce them explains the "missing" votes:  The machines are new to the district, because the State's redistricting nightmare pushed the primaries to May 29, so we couldn't have the machines we usually use.  No matter; the various election judges went to trainings and were ready to go.  Apparently something had to be done to the machines after early voting but 2 of the polling places followed the directions in the booklet provided by the voting machine manufacturer which unfortunately omitted that step.  The remaining polling places followed the directions provided in the training and did that step.

As a check to the whole process, Kathy Adams, the assistant to the Election Official, Bill Haskett, kept a chart showing the exact number of early and election day voters.  When her list did not match the list that came out of the electronic machines plus the paper ballots, she would not sign off on the results, and caused a ruckus with the electronic machine company's representative over the two lists not "balancing".  Eventually, they narrowed the issue to the few machines that were treated differently, fixed the problem and re-ran the tape from the electronic voting machines.  VOILA, they balanced perfectly with the hand-written chart that Mrs. Adams kept, so there was confidence that the number of ballots cast were there on hand to be counted, and therefor the results were correct.

Yes, it was a long night, and I'm sure tempers were taut.  But I have to give Kathy Adams and Bill Haskett a big atta-boy for maintaining order and ensuring an accurate count.  Mr. Haskett did NOT allow additional poll watchers, including Mrs. Murray Langley, to bust in while they were attempting to reconcile why the two lists had different numbers of voters.  This was exactly the correct thing to do-- the LEAST productive thing would be to allow additional people in the room.  If you ever worked as a cashier or bank teller who had to balance the books at the end of your shift, you know what I'm talking about:  what you need to figure out the discrepancy is quiet reflection and no additional fussing with your cash drawer.  Since poll watchers from both "sides" were already present who could attest to what transpired, adding additional people halfway through the process is actually COUNTER productive.  I find it telling that it was someone standing OUTSIDE the room that is belly aching the loudest; Mr. Blackman and Mr. Majors are NOT saying anything was amiss.  Since they were present in the room as every ballot was counted, I want to hear what THEY have to say, not Mrs. Murray Langley!

While I'm talking about Mr. Haskett and Mrs. Adams, I want to note they have conducted Katy ISD elections for many years, and I dare you to find more earnest or honest people.  This lady and gentleman take great pains to be fair and above-board with everything they do.  To have Bill Proctor verbally assault them is reprehensible, and to have the process of tabulating these votes called into question by Mrs. Murray Langley is ridiculous.  Bill Proctor should be ashamed of his appalling behavior towards these people.  I certainly am.  While I understand his extreme disappointment in the outcome of this election because it derailed his power grab, he needs to learn to control his temper.

In summary, Mrs. Murray Langley's complaint to the Secretary of State is a terrific waste of her time, his time, and your time.  More theatrics for political gain.  I encourage you to dismiss this behavior as such.

Teachers of the Year

Last week, I attended the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year luncheon, and had a wonderful time celebrating this year's best teachers. What an amazing group of teachers--they represent a small portion of the talented men and women who move mountains every day in our classrooms.  I was happy to have the opportunity to congratulate them on being chosen by their campus peers for this honor.

It was also great to be with a wonderful community of business leaders and elected officials that appreciates what teachers do for our kids and how the health of our school district impacts every aspect of our community, such as our home values, business income, availability of skilled workers, ready customers, informed electorate, etc.  Their generosity to these teachers is absolutely incredible, and reminds me that people other than students' parents recognize the importance of a strong school district.  Please say "thank you" to them for showing our Teachers of the Year that the Katy community is grateful for these dedicated educators.  For a list of sponsors, see here.  Also thank HEB Katy Market for beautiful floral arrangements, and Sam Schultze of Country Park Portraits for photographing the event.

What's Next?

Check out this idea.  Babytiger has done a great job of identifying a vacuum in our community, and suggesting a way to fill it.  I look forward to hearing how many people show interest in establishing such an organization.  I hope many do; I know three different people who have already talked about a similar idea.

Gotta work on the name, though, and think BIGGER!  My independence-loving nature would rather not identify it with any political outlook, because in my experience, the "liberals" of Katy (who aren't all that liberal compared to, say, Massachusetts) might differ with you on "national" issues but agree whole-heartedly about wanting Katy to be the best community in the State, doing the right thing, and elevating the good in our community.  When you say "What if they just came together from all over our area and started to, you know - talk", think beyond geography!

Party affiliation is irrelevant for school boards (and SHOULD be for judges, too).  This is because school boards occasionally act in a judicial capacity and the LAST thing you want a judge to do as he is considering an issue is to factor in your political affiliation-- it is not relevant.

Perhaps Keep Asking and Thinking Year-round (K.A.T.Y.)?

Election Results Are In!

The election is over!


For Position 6: Bryan Michalsky won with 55.8% of the vote.  (2931 votes to 2322 for Majors)
For Position 7: Charles Griffin won with 48.6% of the vote.  (2569 votes to 1846 for Blackman, 635 for Howard, and 233 for Powell).  


My take-away: 

1. 5283 voters cast ballots.  YEAH!  While this is still well under 5% of the registered voters in the district, it is more votes than those cast in recent years by a good bit, particularly since this was a 2-seat race with no real hot-button issue: 
• 2008: 4893 voters.  3-seat races typically bring out more voters.
• 2009: 2063 voters.  2-seat race.
• 2010: 1744 voters.  2-seat race, but Fox was unopposed.
• 2011: 4544 voters.  3-seats plus a hot-button issue: teacher layoffs.
2. It would appear that a lot of new voters came to the polls.  That is a good thing-- people in Katy are beginning to pay attention to and understand what is happening in the community and do what is necessary to protect it.  We are no longer in an environment where it works to express your overall satisfaction with the district by NOT voting.  
3. Many new people worked on the various races, and that is a VERY good thing.  More engagement by a broader base of people means more viewpoints factored into our trustees' decisions.  
4. Enough people voted for Griffin to avoid allowing Blackman to win with 35% of the vote.  That's exactly how Huckaby won last year.  While I respect Neal Howard and his service to the board, incumbents faced huge challenges this year.  Just check out Ft. Bend ISD's election results.  I appreciate Betty Powell's willingness to run for the board and hope she will continue to be engaged in the process.  I hope she will do Leadership Katy next year and be a resource to new board members regarding technology.   

Is it over yet?  Already rumors of voter fraud and tampering are being spread by the Nay-Sayers.  Lawsuits are being threatened. Fortunately, Mrs. Blackman's and Mrs. Majors' husbands served as poll watchers and witnessed the counts.  Although there was a technical problem with the electronic voting machines, the election judges waited until all issues were resolved before announcing results around midnight.  Perhaps a good night's sleep will help people see there was no wrong-doing, just as there was none last year.  

Now, the real work starts:  The new board will have to form a new team (because the board as a WHOLE, not individuals, oversees the district's management).  That will be difficult, given that Proctor and Huckaby hand-picked and openly campaigned for Majors and Blackman, including Instant News Katy  comments, robo-calls and mass e-mails.  I hope the remaining five members can move Proctor and Huckaby to work for the good of the district rather than for power plays.  I also hope the new board can make a commitment to stop infighting and get out of the way of the district's regular business.  Too much has been put "on hold" for the past year. 

"A bend in the road is not the end of the road...unless you fail to make the turn."

--Unknown

Why You Should Phone a Friend

If you voted early, WAY TO GO.  Numbers indicate about 5% of registered voters will wind up voting in this election, so every vote has impact.  That actually is a (relatively) large increase in the number of people voting this election compared to recent years, even though it's still a small number.

I spent some time this morning wondering why people don't vote.  5% is so small-- why do over 100,000 registered voters let 5,000 people decide on the Katy ISD school board?  And yes, that number is REGISTERED voters.  I'm sure a large number of people aren't even registered, given Katy ISD has over 250,000 residents. 

Yet 93% of infrequent voters and 81% of non-voters in a survey said it is an important part of being a good citizen and an important way to voice their opinion on issues that affect their families and communities.  

The strongest motivators influencing infrequent and non-voters are conversions with family (65%) and friends (59%).  So, TALK TO THEM!  Encourage them to get to the polls on Saturday.  They will listen to you!  If everyone who voted talked to 3 friends and only 1 of them made it to the polls, that would double our turnout!  WOW.  A small effort with a huge impact.

POLL INFO:  Here is the rub:  in order to cut costs, the number of election day polling places was reduced this year.  

IT IS LIKELY THAT YOUR POLLING LOCATION CHANGED.  

Be sure to check this map  before you head out.  Saturday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Be a good friend, and tell them where their polling place is when you call them...

Questions Remain as Election Day Approaches

The Chronicle has published a story about an ethics complaint filed against the Save Our Teachers PAC by John Eberlan.  Read it here. 

Now that an 8-day report has been filed, where is the missing $88.68?  The report is here.  Perhaps we need to elect Mrs. Horsley to the school board, since she was able to pay a $900 bill with $838.11.       :-)

So many questions remain unanswered as we rapidly approach election day. The treasurer for the Unity PAC (it paid for a mailer that was sent on behalf of Mrs. Blackman and Mrs. Majors) has not returned my calls.  His name is Curtis Williams, Jr., and he, as well as a Michael Harris are listed on the PAC establishment documents I received in response to a PIR as the "contribution and expenditure decision makers."  I'd like to know their connection to Katy ISD, and who contributed the money to mail these fliers.

Also of note:  as I read the election laws, Unity PAC was also required to report their activities to Blackman and Majors so they could report it on their own campaign finance reports.  I wonder if they are trying to figure out who is behind Unity PAC?

By the way, hurrah for new law that requires the school districts to post on-line the campaign finance reports of the candidates and PACs.  So much easier than public information requests, and more cost-effective for school districts, too.

VOTE! 

ELECTION DAY: SATURDAY, MAY 12, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

Find your precinct location at the bottom of this page. 

He's No Relation To Me...

Whoa-- someone confused me the other day for the Crockett mentioned in another blog, "babytigersays." My name is Chris Crockett, and although my middle name is Anne, I am NOT the Ann Crockett mentioned in the post, nor is MY mister the W.E. Crockett that babytiger mentions.  My husband is David Crockett and he and I are not related to Ann and Bill Crockett and we don't know much about them.  My husband's family hails from West Texas, not this area, and we moved here when my husband's job transferred him to the area in 2000.  
When I heard that a candidate's family was being attacked, I was horrified. In the past, candidates were called names, but an unspoken rule was in place that families were "off limits."  Please, PLEASE, PLEASE do not confuse me or my husband with this "gentleman."  Anyone who knows me knows that I believe his tactics are beyond the pale.  I am so saddened by what his actions say about our community.  Thank you, babytiger and others, for standing up to this kind of bullying. 

Why I Will Vote for Michalsky and Griffin

I've had people say to me, "OK, Chris, I get who you are AGAINST, but who will you vote for?"  This is an updated post from several days ago:

Bryan Michalsky is my choice for Position 6.  He is chief financial officer for a local company, and has five children ranging in grades pre-K through 12.  He has children at both Seven Lakes and Katy High Schools.  The board needs someone with a strong financial background, and Mr. Michalsky's business experience will serve the board well on many of the decisions coming up.  

In Position 7, I will vote for Charles Griffin.   Mr. Griffin is a retired Lt. Colonel and airline pilot with strong Katy roots, having graduated from Katy High School and the Air Force Academy.  He has four children, and his wife was a cafeteria monitor who was let go when those positions were eliminated last year.  His uncle is Michael Griffin, after whom Griffin Elementary is named.  He brings a depth of knowledge about our heritage, and is anxious to work hard to improve the reputation of the district, and he is keenly interested in improving the communications from the district. 

Like most Katy voters, Mr. Griffin and Mr. Michalsky were not paying attention to school board elections before last year.  They are working hard to catch up fast.  They have met and are meeting with administrators, teachers, community leaders, former school board members such as myself, and the current board members, including Proctor and Huckaby, in order to ask opinions on issues the district is facing.  They will bring a diversity to the board that is envisioned in the State Law that requires seven board members elected from the community to oversee the professional educators who will actually run the district.  We don't need five superintendents; we need one superintendent properly tasked and evaluated by seven school board members who bring to the board expertise in a wide variety of areas such as business and financial acumen, community relations, technology, human resources, law, government relations, etc.

I have tremendous respect for Neal Howard and would be happy if  he won, too. However, given the anti-incumbent fervor I still see in our community, I believe it will be impossible for an incumbent to be re-elected this year.  I also respect Betty Powell for being part of the electoral process.  However, remember: in our school board elections, THERE ARE NO RUN-OFFS.  Whichever candidate gets the most votes will win, even if it's only 26% of the vote in a four-person race.  I am very concerned Cynthia Blackman will win if the vote splits, just like Huckaby won last year with only 35% of the vote.  Please vote, talk about the election, and encourage your friends and neighbors to vote. 

Early voting is Monday and Tuesday this week only;  7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m at:

KISD Education Support Complex,

Wolfe Elementary,

Cinco Ranch High School, and

Taylor High School. 

You can vote at any of those locations during Early Voting.  On Election Day (Saturday, May 12), you will need to vote at your polling place.

More information on voting is here.

Questions About the PACs Supporting Blackman & Majors

The purpose of the Campaign Finance Laws is to ensure transparency as to who is financing a particular candidate, so that voters can make an informed decision when they go to the polls.  So who is backing Majors and Blackman? Their campaign finance reports can be found here.  They show an interesting line-up of people. Also interesting is what is MISSING from their reports: Political Action Committees.

Two different PACs have spent a lot of money trying to get Mrs. Blackman and Mrs. Majors elected, including a series of ads on Instant News Katy and a expensive flyer.  There may be others, but until they are reported, we won't know.  Fortunately, PACs who support a candidate are required to report contributions and expenditures in their own campaign finance reports. That's how we get an idea of who is funding a particular candidate.

• The "Save Our Teachers" PAC, which had not filed anything in months and is the subject of an ethics complaint, did file an 8-days-before-the-election report, reporting it had bought $900 ads in INK.  The PAC actually only had $811.32 in contributions, so who paid the additional $88.68?  Did John Pape and INK advance them that amount?  How was that bill paid if they didn't have any money? Something is missing from this report...
• The "Unity" PAC paid for a bulk mailing of slick flyers.  As of this writing, they have not filed their required 8-days-before-the-election report (due 5/4/12).  You can check here to see it when it gets filed.  Hopefully, it will reveal who is willing to bankroll these ladies' candidacy.  These flyers are very expensive to mail, even more so to produce.

In their defense, if Mrs. Blackman and Mrs. Majors were unaware of the mailings and ads, they did not have to report it on their own campaign finance reports.  But, whoever proofed the copy knew an awful lot about them!

Frankly, I don't mind people contributing money to candidates and financially supporting their efforts to get elected.  That is an expression of free speech, too. However, the campaign finance laws are there to enable us to know WHO likes a particular candidate, and when they don't file reports that are complete or in a timely manner, we don't know what we need to know.  What I DO mind is having people who do not have a stake in our community (either children in schools, a home, a business, or work in the district) throwing money around to get someone elected to the Katy ISD board.  And I find hypocritical those candidates who beat the "transparency" drum so loudly while not insisting their own backers be transparent by following the laws on campaign finance reporting.  

A Question of Transparency

I received a slick, expensive bulk mail flyer supporting Majors and Blackman. It raised a lot of questions in my mind about who paid for it, the "Unity PAC". Here is a posting that raises most of the same questions I have about this group.  
In addition to the questions raised in that link, I would ask:  Why is a State-registered General Purpose political action committee that has NOT registered with the Katy ISD election authority, with a downtown Houston filing address and a Treasurer from Sugarland, interested in the Katy ISD school board election?
And to reiterate babytigersays' main questions:  Who is funding this? And what do they hope to gain from having Majors and Blackman win?

"Covert Proceedings" is a Bunch of Hooey

Katy school board has two types of meetings each month, a "Work Study" and a "Regular" meeting.  Basically the same issues are discussed at both meetings.  The "work study" is usually 1-2 weeks ahead of the "regular" meeting and is a meeting for the board to ask questions and discuss the issues so that the administration can figure out where a consensus is likely to be.  Once that is discovered, the superintendent and administration can make a recommendation at the regular meeting where the issue will be voted on, hopefully 7-0 or close to that, so that the direction from the board is clear. Frequent 5-2 or 4-3 votes indicate a dysfunctional board. For more on that, see here.  


Now, within each type of meeting, there are two "sub-meetings": a "Closed Session" and an "Open Session."  The Closed (sometimes called "executive") Session is exactly as it sounds: closed to the public.  Everything that the school board discusses must be done in open session, unless the topic is one of the exceptions listed in the Open Meetings Act.  For school districts, the exceptions include discussions involving personnel matters, matters involving specific students, consultation with an attorney, employee complaints, purchase or lease of real property and security measures.  These matters are set aside for logical reasons, like protecting the privacy of individual employees and students or not wanting to give away a negotiating position.  The board discusses the items in closed session, but all votes must later be made in an open meeting.

Proctor and Huckaby walked out of that meeting to kill the quorum and avoid voting on individual employment contracts. Blackman and Majors say there should have been public input before vote was taken.  They are wrong.  Discussion about employment contracts is  never appropriate for open discussion or public input.  Therefore, there was no reason NOT to vote on contracts in a work study meeting.  The exception to this would be the new hiring of someone whose job is of wide public interest, like a principal, where the vote should be taken after the public has had an opportunity to speak at the Open Forum part of the regular meeting.  The district is a BIG BUSINESS, one of the largest employers in west Houston, and needs to move forward in a timely matter.  


So, why are Blackman and Majors (and Proctor and Huckaby) talking about "covert proceedings"?  It is a catch phrase with no merit but lots of emotional weight.  When you vote, don't be swayed by rhetoric that is not backed up with solid information and common sense.  


Early voting continues this week through May 8; 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Taylor and Cinco Ranch High Schools, Wolfe Elementary, and the Education Support Complex.  

Teamwork and Volunteers and Voting

I had the BEST time yesterday morning.  This time of year I always enjoy the camaraderie and "reunion" feeling at the annual VIPS Breakfast thanking the district volunteers.  I see people I worked with on elementary projects and get to hear about what those cute 4th graders are doing in college now (yikes!).   Once again, Janet Theis, the Partners in Education department, and the Volunteers in Public Schools board had very inspirational speakers-- the team that worked with Gabby Giffords at TIRR Memorial Hermann.  Also inspirational-- the awarding of campus Volunteer of the Year awards-- individuals whose work this year made them the stand-out performers of teams of campus volunteers.  

I'm mindful these days of the great work being done by individuals and the great work being done by teams.  Even accolades going to individuals are often a reflection of their leadership of a team.  Most of the great work being done in the world is done by teams of like-minded people all moving in the same direction.  

As you, the voters, work to assemble the team that is the School Board, think about whether your team will go farther if everyone is pulling in different directions, or in the same direction?  And which direction do you want?  Campus teams are directed by the Administration.  Administration is directed by the School Board.  The School Board is directed by the community of voters who put them in office.  

Vote!

Congratulations to Tory Hill, MCJH Principal!

Congratulations Mr. Hill!!  Last night, Mr. Hill was recognized for having been named Region IV Middle School Outstanding Principal of the Year!  This explanation is from the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals' website:
The Texas Association of Secondary School Principals is an association formed by and for over 5000 campus level administrators. Established in 1922, its purpose is to build an active network of educators that want to take responsibility for the quality of school leadership....School administrators are nominated and chosen by their peers within their regions and then applications from these recipients are reviewed by the TASSP Principal Image Committee who selects the finalists. Nominations are based upon exemplary performance and outstanding leadership in secondary education.  
So typical of Mr. Hill-- When I ran into him in the board room just before the meeting, we talked about the construction going on at the school and I assumed he was there for Teacher of the Year or a student recognition.  I've known for a long time that he does a wonderful job leading Mayde Creek Junior High, and have watched him lead by example with humility and compassion.  I'm so pleased and proud to see him recognized by this organization! Katy is lucky to have such a terrific administrator and leader.
Frankly, this is a big deal, and I am disappointed I can't find it on the Katy ISD website :-(
Good luck in Austin, Mr. Hill!  I hope you win Texas Middle School Outstanding Principal!