You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today’s podcast features, Bobby J. Rigues, the Vice-President of the school board of Aledo Independent School District, and its Superintendent, Don Daniel. Bobby and Don discuss AISD’s unique and inspiring grassroots efforts to reach out to the local community. But what started out as a local effort by Aledo ISD’s board members to educate their constituency about how the “target revenue” system of funding public education was hurting their community, in general, and, in particular, their school district and its students’ educational opportunities, has now turned into an state-wide effort of school board members to obtain fair and equitable funding for all public school systems. The effort climaxed with yesterday’s mass email to school board members throughout the state calling for immediate action, including signing petitions and passing a resolution calling on the legislature to fix the broken system. By getting individuals and board members all across the state behind a common message to make education a priority, they want to work with the legislature and state leaders and influence state policy. The Equity Center applauds their leadership and agrees that an overhaul is necessary and long overdue. You can read their resolution, more about their project, and review their “Board Member” call-to-action email at www.schoolpriority.com.

Bobby J. Rigues

Don Daniel

In 1988, Bobby J. Rigues gave up the duties of teaching and coaching high school students for the pursuit of self-employment. Over the years, the memories of being a positive influence to the students that crossed his path grew with value. In 2004, Bobby rekindled his passion for student education from a different position. Today, into his 7th year as an Aledo ISD Board Trustee, he currently holds the position as Vice President.

Don earned his Master’s in Education from Tarleton State University and his Bachelor of Science from Texas Wesleyan University. He has also done post-graduate work at UCLA and at Lamar Universities. He began his career in education as a teacher/coach at Crowley ISD, ultimately becoming its Assistant Superintendent. He became Superintendent of Aledo ISD in 1999. He lives by the motto “Do not see the child for what he is — See him for what he can become!”

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We are honored to have Mayor Bill White as our podcast guest today. Bill White
is the Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas and a supporter of public schools. Today, he speaks with Wayne Pierce, Executive Director of the Equity Center, about issues that are important to Equity Center members. They discuss the inequities of the current school funding system and the Target Revenue Hold Harmless.

Mayor White emphasizes the importance of every child in Texas having access to a high-quality education. He also expresses his disapproval of the state forcing school districts to spend their fund balances to cover the statewide budget shortfall. Mayor White also talks about his support for pre-kindergarten programs and his goal to make public and higher education the top priority if he is elected Governor.

Bill White grew up in San Antonio, where both of his parents were public school teachers. Mayor White’s civic involvement began when he led voter registration drives on the San Antonio’s West Side almost forty years ago. He was elected Houston’s Mayor in 2003 and was re-elected twice with margins of 86% and 91%. During his time as mayor, the Houston area led the nation’s cities in job growth, adding more jobs than thirty-seven states combined. He believes that public education is the most important business of state government because investments we make in students now will determine the economic future of our state.

*Note: The Equity Center also invited Governor Rick Perry, Republican candidate for Governor, to be a podcast guest. We were notified on July 28 that he declined the invitation. The invitation, however, remains open and we are hopeful that we will host Governor Perry on Equity Center Radio in the future.

Bill White

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Our guest today is Martin Pena, Executive Director of the South Texas Association (STAS) of Schools. Wayne Pierce, Executive Director of the Equity Center, talks to Martin about STAS and its mission. After serving in the public school system for 40 years, including as a superintendent for 17 years with Point Isabel ISD and 6 years with Los Fresnos ISD, Martin formed the association in 2000 with the belief that schools in South Texas had unique needs and needed to be uniquely represented. What started as a group of school district leaders from Region 1 grew into an effort by districts across South Texas to keep legislators who represent those schools fully informed about the needs of member districts and how specific legislation would impact schools in South Texas. As one of the areas with the most population growth and lowest funding levels, South Texas is fortunate to have STAS as they fight for adequate and equitable funding for their children.

Martin Pena

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Today’s podcast features two school board trustees from Aledo Independent School District. Aledo ISD is located about 20 miles west of Ft. Worth with a student population of roughly 4,500 ADA. Wayne’s interview with Bobby Rigues & Jay Stringer reveals their unique and inspiring grassroots efforts to reach out to the local community and the state to gain support for overhauling the current inequitable and inefficient school finance system. By getting individuals and board members all across the state behind a common message to make education a priority, they want to work with the legislature and state leaders and influence state policy. The Equity Center applauds their leadership and agrees that an overhaul is necessary and long overdue. You can read their resolution and more about their project at www.schoolpriority.com.

Bobby J. Rigues

Jay Stringer

In 1988, Bobby J. Rigues gave up the duties of teaching and coaching high school students for the pursuit of self-employment. Over the years, the memories of being a positive influence to the students that crossed his path grew with value. In 2004, Bobby rekindled his passion for student education from a different position. Today, into his 7th year as an Aledo ISD Board Trustee, he currently holds the position as Vice President.

Jay Stringer’s interest in the Texas Public School System began in 1989 with the realization of the vital role the local community plays in the success or failure of the education we provide to our children. Jay has served as an Aledo ISD trustee since 2009. He is a business owner and the proud parent of two children attending public schools.

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Wayne Pierce interviews two students from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Amber Lynn Diaz and Chris Everett, who are studying to earn their Doctor of Education degrees at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, under the auspices of Drs. Austin Vasek, the Director of Graduate Programs, and Marlene Zipperlen, the Dean of the College of Education, at Mary Hardin-Baylor, who also join him today in the broadcast booth.

Mary Hardin-Baylor’s College of Education offers students in its Doctor of Education degree in Leadership in Educational Administration (LEAD) a means of obtaining an advanced degree in a unique three year program. Educational leaders and practitioners in the LEAD doctoral degree program visit and study in, during the summer months, in order, for each of the three years in the program, Austin, Texas, learning about how state governments’ work in relation to public education; Washington, D.C., studying the federal government’s impact on public education; and, finally, in The Netherlands, comparing their techniques of governance and philosophies of educational financing to our system. The experience provides each doctoral student with knowledge of the world of education in a different environment than the one with which they are most familiar . The Institutes are one of the unique aspects of the design of this particular doctoral program. Through the opportunity to travel to The Netherlands, where they are supervised by Mr. van Hezel, doctoral students are immersed in another culture, organization, and ideas.

Educational administrators and board members, our public officials and others interested in the United States public education structure need a world view, as culture, society, and learning become increasingly complex and interrelated.

On today’s program, hosted by Wayne Pierce, our guests explain this distinctive doctoral program. Interesting and informative, to say the least. We are sure that this different perspective on public education and a dissimilar system of its delivery will enthrall the listener.

Mr. Everett is currently completing his 11th year as a public school educator. Raised in the booming metropolis of Salado, Texas, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology/Biology from Sam Houston State University. After completing 22 hours of masters degree work in Sport Management at Texas A&M University, he changed paths and completed his Masters of Education in Educational Administration at Tarleton State University. He has served as a teacher of Science, PE, and Health from grades 6 to 12, as well as a coach for football, basketball and track. For the past 4 years, he has been an administrator in the Alvarado Independent School District and is currently the principal of the Intermediate School.

Ms. Diaz received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Wyoming and her Masters of Education degree from Texas A&M Central Texas. Over the last 9 years she has been working as an English Language Learners teacher in Killeen ISD, where she is responsible for providing instruction to Limited English Proficient students. She is also a professional development consultant for Region l2, providing training for educators to become ESL certified; and, as if this were not enough, works as a Graduate Assistant at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Drs. Austin Vasek & Marlene Zipperlen

Chris Everett

Amber Lynn Diaz

Dr. Austin Vasek was educated in the Waco Public Schools. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Texas Tech University; his Master of Education degree from Tarleton State University; and his Doctor of Education degree from Baylor University. Dr. Vasek worked 18 years in the P-12 education environment as teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, and director of curriculum & instruction.

Dr. Marlene Zipperlen received her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Mary Hardin-Baylor; her Master of Science degree from Baylor University; and her Doctor of Education degree from Baylor University. Dr. Zipperlen worked 37 years in the P-12 education environment as teacher, coach, counselor, principal, and Superintendent.

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Wayne Pierce, Equity Center’s Executive Director, in today’s broadcast, interviews Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, the education beat writer for the San Antonio Express-News. In this lively conversation Ms. LaCoste-Caputo discusses her role in reporting on the legislature and the differences in techniques and, indeed, types of stories, between her and the regular capital reporters. She feels that given her in-depth knowledge in the field of education and unique background, she at times actually has an edge.

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo has been a member of the San Antonio Express-News Education Team since August 2004, when she joined the newspaper. She’s the team’s senior education writer, covering the city’s two largest school districts, as well as focusing on policy issues such as school funding and reform and has won several awards for her education coverage in Texas.

Before moving to Texas, Jenny worked for the Pensacola (Fl.) News Journal where she covered education for six years, winning state and national awards for her work reporting on the voucher debate in Florida, issues facing high-poverty, high-minority schools and environmental links to developmental disorders and learning disabilities. Prior to that, Jenny worked for the Northwest Florida Daily News and the Clovis (N.M.) News Journal.

Ms. LaCoste-Caputo graduated from the University of Maryland University College in Tokyo, Japan in 1995 with a degree in history, with an emphasis in journalism. While living in Japan for three years, Jenny worked for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools program as a special education tutor at Edgren High School on Misawa Air Base. She also was a substitute and taught English as a second language to Japanese students – experiences that sparked an interest in education that never went away.

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

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Today, our host, Lauren Cook, has a lively conversation with Richard Kouri, the Assistant Executive Director of Public Affairs for the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA), about the current state budget shortfall and how difficult it will be to fight for new funding for schools during the 2011 Legislative Session. Richard emphasizes that new funding is a must if Texas is to compete nationally and globally. They also discuss how crucial the concept of equity is, and how inequities in our current funding system trickle down to the teacher and student level, with a devastating effect.

Kouri served as TSTA president and vice president between the years of 1989 through 1993. He is the former president of the Austin Association of Teachers. While employed in the Austin Independent School District he taught English for 13 years at Anderson and Johnston high schools. He was one of a select group of teachers chosen to staff the Liberal Arts Academy which was an innovative magnet school program at Johnston.

Richard Kouri

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

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Today’s broadcast features Keith Bryant, Superintendent of Bullard ISD and President of the Texas Association of Mid-Size Schools (TAMS). Keith previously served as Superintendent of Lamesa ISD. He may be reached at keith.bryant@bullardisd.net Prior to being named Superintendent in Lamesa, he was a teacher, Vocational Director, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Assistant Superintendent.

Dr. Wayne Pierce, Executive Director of the Equity Center, speaks with Keith about TAMS, which represents 230 districts across Texas. They discuss the diseconomies of scale that exist among districts and the importance of the mid-sized adjustment, a funding allotment enacted by the Texas Legislature in 1995. [You can read the legislative language by clicking Allotment Here ] The mid-sized adjustment provides much needed funding for school districts with enrollment of 1,600 to 5,000 students, and was phased in to full implementation by 2001.

Keith Bryant

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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Please join us next Friday at 10:45 for another interview with a leader in the field of education and school funding

http://www.equitycenterradio.org/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1115&message=1#titlediv

Equity Center Radio | Another Interview With Joe Smith of TexasISD.com Hosted by Ray Freeman

We are pleased to have him back on our show and think you will learn much from this interesting man.

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You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

In today’s broadcast, we interview two of the Equity Center’s staff who work with our members in budgeting, financial forecasting and other economic areas that call for special actuarial, computer program design for economic spreadsheets and databases, and statistics expertise. Tim Wolff and Charles Aki fit the bill to a tee and the Equity Center is delighted to have them here to be interviewed by our Deputy Executive Director, Ray Freeman.

Tim Wolff has worked since January 2007 as our programmer/analyst, a position he held for seven years in the Legislative Budget Board‘s public education team prior to joining the Equity Center. Previously, he had worked as an actuary in the Life Insurance industry and as a statistical programmer in the pharmaceutical sector. He began his working career by serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy. You can email Tim at Tim Wolff

Dr. Charles Aki is the Director of Research here at the Equity Center. He is in charge of all the tasks related to running the school finance model and analyzing the impact of legislation on the funding of school districts. Charles has been with us since February 2004. Prior to that, he was with the Texas Education Agency, where he served as a program administrator and principal financial and systems analyst in the State Funding Division. Charles has over 25 years’ experience in school finance, research, and economics. He holds a Ph.D. in resource economics from Ohio State University, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Austin Community College. Charles can be reached by emailing him at Charles Aki

Charles Aki

Tim Wolff

Tim Wolff

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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Lynn Moak, who has over 40 years’ experience in the realm of school finance and equity issues, provides unique insights into the operation and financing of public education in Texas. Today, he and Wayne Pierce, the Executive Director of the Equity Center, hold an impromptu conversation about school finance, equity and the upcoming legislative session.

Lynn served as Executive Deputy Commissioner of Education and has also been a senior staff member in the Texas Education Agency, the State Comptroller’s Office, and the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. Since 1999, he has been a partner in the firm Moak, Casey & Associates, Inc.. His firm provides legislative, financial and accountability consulting services to school organizations and districts in Texas and other states. He is widely recognized as one of the state’s leading experts in information systems, research and school finance.

During his long career in public administration, Lynn has been involved in virtually every major education finance policy change since 1967. He has presented in every major case regarding public school finance since the Edgewood litigation in 1984. He has conducted research into many facets of public education finance including administrative costs, cost variations associated with size, economic factors, community differentials, and changing state policy. He has participated in the basic design of state systems to gather and report financial and other information. At the regional and local level, he has assisted districts in projects ranging from the design of data systems to the analysis of revenue and expenditure options. So, we feel that this exchange of views should be very informative. We hope you, our listeners, agree and enjoy today’s show.

Lynn Moak

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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Today, our host, the Equity Center’s Executive Director, Wayne Pierce, interviews Vivian Baker, the Superintendent of Schools for Belton Independent School District (“BISD”).

Today’s guest is Vivian Baker, currently the Superintendent of Schools for Belton ISD. Belton is located in the heart of Central Texas, just 60 miles north of Austin and 40 miles south of Waco on I-35. Belton ISD is located in the county seat of Bell County, has over 15,000 residents and is a historic downtown district that surrounds the county courthouse and Mary Harden-Baylor University campus. BISD has two high schools, two middle schools and eight elementary campuses.

BISD is a very fast growing school district, which has a proud tradition of excellence in education, but, because it is also a low wealth district, faces numerous challenges as it tries to ensure that every child within its boundaries achieves maximum educational potential. In spite of its meager resources, for 2009, Belton ISD was rated Academically Acceptable by the Texas Education Agency based on students’ performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Four elementary campuses received an Exemplary rating; four received a Recognized rating; Belton High School a Recognized rating; and the remainder of its campuses were rated Academically Acceptable. Many campuses received Gold Performance Acknowledgments for individual subject areas.

Equity Center radio is happy to have Vivian talk about the struggles she faces as she fights to provide an education that challenges all of its students to excel and maintain the district’s high standing in the education community.

Belton ISD’s per pupil expenditure is $6,645. The District’s budget for the 2009-2010 school year is $65,087,240 with a total property tax rate of $1.41 per $100 valuation.

Vivian Baker

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

A visitor from Mars; no, but Henk van Hezel is visiting from almost as far away. He is visiting the United States from the Netherlands to study our system of public education. Mr. van Hezel is an educational consultant in the Netherlands and works with numerous public school “districts” on how to best run their schools. He also works in the Netherlands with the Summer Institute’s international program for Doctor of Education students at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, under the auspices of Dr. Austin Vasek, its program director, who also joins him today in the broadcast booth.

Mary Hardin-Baylor’s College of Education offers the Summer Institute in Holland for third year students in its Doctor of Education degree in Leadership in Educational Administration (LEAD). Educational leaders and practitioners in the LEAD doctoral degree program visit, during the summer months, in order for each of the three years in the program, and study in, Austin, Texas, learning about how state governments’ work in relation to public education; Washington, D.C., studying the federal government’s impact on public education; and, finally, in The Netherlands, comparing their techniques of governance and philosophies of educational financing to our system. The experience provides each doctoral student with knowledge of the world of education in a different environment than the one with which they are most familiar . The Institutes are one of the unique aspects of the design of this particular doctoral program. Through the opportunity to travel to The Netherlands, where they are supervised by Mr. van Hezel, doctoral students are immersed in another culture, organization, and ideas.

Educational administrators and board members, our public officials and others interested in the United States public education structure need a world view, as culture, society, and learning become increasingly complex and interrelated.

On today’s program, hosted by Wayne Pierce, our guests explain this distinctive program and some of the differences between education in Europe, especially in Holland, and the United States. Interesting and informative, to say the least. We are sure that this different perspective on public education and a dissimilar system of its delivery will enthrall the listener.

Our Guests, Dr. Austin Vasek and Henk van Hezel, with Host Wayne Pierce

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

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Today, Dr. Catherine Clark, the Associate Executive Director for Governance Services at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), 12007 Research Blvd., PO Box 400, Austin, TX 78767–where she can be reached at 512-467-0222 X6515 (business) or 800-580-8272 (toll free business)–reveals how her organization is working to promote healthier school funding in the State of Texas and how it is now at work enhancing the school finance environment.

As the Associate Executive Director for Governance Services, Ms. Clark is responsible for legal services, policy service, consulting services for school districts, school board member training programs, and online governance tools for board members. Prior to becoming associate executive director at TASB, Catherine served as director for research and policy at the Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Before she joined the Dana Center she was director of the Texas Center for Educational Research in Austin, Texas, from 1991 to 2000. She has expertise in school finance and tax policy and provides training to school board members and administrators on school finance, school budgets, and property tax policy.

On today’s program, hosted by Lauren Cook, our guest explains the principles that govern TASB and discusses how its goals are being developed by its outreach to other organizations that also represent the interests of Texas public schools and our school children. According to Catherine, TASB will be working in the upcoming legislative session to shape school funding for generations to come with additional student funding per capita so that Texas schools can keep pace with those in the rest of the country.

Catherine Clark

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, our special guest host, Lauren Cook, the Communications Director here at the Equity Center, has an in-depth discussion about school politics with Carolyn Boyle, the founder of the Texas ParentPAC. Carolyn, one of the true movers and shakers in the Texas political arena, and, currently, the Chair of the Texas ParentPAC, P.O. Box 303010, Austin, Texas 78703-0051—where she can be reached at 512.391.1911 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              512.391.1911      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              512.391.1911      end_of_the_skype_highlighting—reveals how Texas ParentPAC came into being and how it has grown into an influential political force, a potent advocate for promoting healthier school funding in the State of Texas and how it is now hard at work enhancing a positive academic environment in our public schools.

The PAC Supported Numerous Republican and Democratic Winning Pro-Public School Candidates for the Texas Legislature during the past primary season. A list of their winners can be found at Winners.

Today’s guest explains the core principles that govern the group and discusses how its goals are being achieved. According to Carolyn, the upcoming November general election is going to be crucial for the State of Texas, and, especially, for the future of public schools. Texas is, whether our state officials wish to admit it or not, facing a substantial budgetary shortfall. Carolyn fears that the legislature and governor may attempt to solve the crisis on the shoulders of public schools. ParentPAC is laboring to try to prevent money from being siphoned away from public education as a short term (and short sighted) fix for Texas’ budgetary woes. By electing candidates to the Texas Legislature who support high quality public schools, ParentPAC believes that schools can be made a priority in the legislature’s budget for the next biennium.

Carolyn Boyle

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

We have reached the end of our unique series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. Today, in an expanded broadcast, we conclude with Mr. Tilson’s estimate of what it will take to bring the nation’s educational system back from the brink and avoid our slipping catastrophically behind our foreign competitors. Later, his schedule permitting, we will have one more interview with Mr. Tilson so that he can answer your questions. And, if you do have questions for him or comments about the show, his views or the plight of the American educational system, please send them to us at the email address listed above. We want to hear from you.

In prior broadcasts, Mr. Tilson explained what the two Achievement Gaps facing school systems throughout the United States are and why it is so important that the educational community within our country overcome therm. He laid out a strong case about how we, as a nation, are failing our children and discriminating against a vast number of them. More importantly, he explains, as has the Equity Center in the past, why this disaster damages not only the children being deprived of a satisfactory education but the totality of all states and communities. Now, he closes these in-depth interviews with some ideas about how we can turn things around and end the plight.

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform premiered on April 7, 2010. You can order the DVD by clicking HERE.

The 2 Minute Trailer to A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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We are entering into the homestretch of our multi-segment series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. And, because we have had numerous requests for the complete interview with Mr. Tilson, we have decided to expand our last two broadcasts beyond our normally allotted time of 10 minutes so that we may complete the program; the two extended broadcasts, today’s and next weeks, will bring to a conclusion this extraordinary dialogue. We hope that you have enjoyed listening to it as much as Equity Center has enjoyed producing it.

Over the past few weeks, Mr. Tilson has told our listeners about how he came to create his documentary–after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, he thought to himself, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. He did just that, creating A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform. The PowerPoint presentation used in the documentary (approximately 240 slides long) is posted at The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform)–and why he deems it an important accomplishment.

We judge the documentary to be an exhaustive examination about the achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future—between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers—and a challenge to our governmental leaders. Mr. Tilson believes that “we are failing our children” and ourselves. “Simply put,” he maintains, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.” You may differ with Tilson’s particular proposals for mending the American educational system, but we doubt that you will wrangle with his proposition that the condition of schooling is at a watershed and that our educational structure is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform premiered two days ago, on April 7, 2010; now, you can order the documentary on DVD by clicking HERE.

The 2 Minute Trailer to A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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Please join us next Friday at 10:45 for the conclusion of Equity Center’s interview with the creator of A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform, Whitney Tilson.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Now, in part 3 of our unique series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson, we reach what he believes is the crux of the crisis facing our school systems, the second achievement gap, the fissure ensnaring low-income, minority students from their more affluent peers.

Without restraint, in this broadcast, Mr. Tilson explains what Achievement Gap #2 is and why it is so important that the educational community within the United States overcome it. He makes a strong case about how we, as a nation, are failing our children and discriminating against a vast number of them. More importantly, he explains, as has the Equity Center in the past, why this disaster damages not only the children being deprived of a satisfactory education but the totality of all states and communities

Mr. Tilson, previously told our listeners about how he came to create his documentary. After seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, he thought to himself, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. He did just that creating A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform. The PowerPoint presentation used in the documentary (approximately 240 slides long) is posted at The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform).

We deem the documentary as one of the most exhaustive examinations about the achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future—between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers—ever filmed. In today’s podcast Mr. Tilson explains his second premise, and the subject of this broadcast; how “we are failing our children” and ourselves. “Simply put,” he maintains, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.”

Mr. Tilson’s film is a significant supplement to the corpus of reflective scholarship concerning the necessity for inclusive school transformation. He provides perceptive material and an outlook that is worth paying attention to; and Equity Center Radio is pleased to present his opinions–and we would like to hear your opinions about Mr. Tilson’s documentary. You may differ with particular proposals he has for mending the system, but we doubt that you will wrangle with his proposition that the condition of schooling is at a watershed and that our educational structure is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform will be premiered on April 7, 2010; however, you can pre-order the DVD by clicking HERE.

The 2 Minute Trailer to A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today we present part 2 of our unique series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. In this broadcast, Mr. Tilson explains what Achievement Gap number 1 is and why it is so important that the educational community within the United States overcome it. He makes a strong case about how we, as a country, are falling behind our economic competitors and and how the rest of the world is passing us by when it comes to educating children for the coming century.

Last week Mr. Tilson, told our listeners that after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, he thought to himself, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. He did just that, and, using a PowerPoint presentation that is approximately 240 slides long (it’s posted at: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform) he created A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform.

In his documentary, education reformer Tilson gives the most in-depth exploration ever committed to film of the twin achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future: between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers. In today’s podcast Mr. Tilson explains the first of the twin achievement gaps that exist in the public schools. His first premise and the subject of this broadcast is that our country is increasingly falling behind our economic competitors. “Simply put,” he maintains, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.”

You can read more about Mr. Tilson by checking out last week’s podcast below and following the links that are provided in the accompanying text. Next Friday, at 10:45 a.m., Mr. Tilson will talk about the second achievement gap.

Although the Equity Center certainly takes issue with some of Mr. Tilson’s views, his documentary is an important addition to the body of thoughtful assessments surrounding the need for overall school reform. He provides insightful information and opinion that is worth listening to; and Equity Center Radio is pleased to present his opinions. You may disagree with some, maybe all, of his proposals for fixing the system, but we doubt that you will quarrel with his premise that the state of education is in crisis and that it is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform will be premiered on April 7, 2010; however, you can pre-order the DVD by clicking HERE.

The 2 Minute Trailer to A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
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You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

We know that today is not Halloween but you are in for both a trick and a treat; the trick is that we will begin a unique series for Equity Center Radio. Instead of just one or two parts to our interview, we will begin a month long series. And the treat is that today and continuing until completed, our host, the voice of Equity Center Radio and the Equity Center’s Executive Director, Wayne Pierce, joined by the Deputy Executive Director, Ray Freeman, will have an in-depth discussion about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. Mr. Tilson, by day, the head of Tilson Mutual Funds, 145 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022–where he can be reached at 888.484.5766–and by night, a true educational crusader, reveals how our school systems, nationwide, are in crisis and explains, in great detail, why.

Mr. Tilson, after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, thought to himself, he explains to us, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. Since he had spent the last few years developing a PowerPoint presentation that is now approximately 240 slides long (it’s posted at: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform; more broadly, you might also be interested in his school reform web page at: My Views Regarding School Reform), and prompted by Bob Compton, a highly successful businessman who in retirement has dedicated himself to also addressing our educational failures by producing a series of documentaries entitled 2 Million Minutes, he did so. The result is A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform.

In his documentary, education reformer Tilson gives the most in-depth exploration ever committed to film of the twin achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future: between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers. After spending more than two decades on the front lines, witnessing first-hand public education’s shocking failures and, especially at the higher education level, remarkable successes, Mr. Tilson was inspired to assemble a powerful and at times unsettling documentary about these twin achievement gaps. His premise: “Most Americans have long known that our public schools aren’t getting the job done, but as our country increasingly falls behind our economic competitors and a wide academic gap within our country persists between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers, these twin achievement gaps have reached crisis proportions.” “Simply put,” he continues, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.” All is not lost, according to Mr. Tilson, “but it won’t be easy.” Because children do not have a vote and the parents of minority and poor students, for multiple reasons, do not really participate in the main stream political process, they are losing the chance at the “American Dream.” The text on the back cover of the soon to be released DVD of his documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform, puts these judgments flawlessly, “The system,” it says, “while failing children, has been working very well for the adults, who fight ferociously to maintain the unacceptable status quo. The outcome of this battle will determine the long-term future of our country.”

Now, utilizing the research that he used in his film, in this series of podcasts, he verbally paints the identical detailed portrait of American public education and its failures that is presented in his upcoming documentary.

Whitney Tilson committed himself to this issue more than 20 years ago, when he was one of the first people to join Wendy Kopp in starting Teach for America. She in turn later introduced him to David Levin, the co-founder of the KIPP network of charter schools, and he has served on KIPP’s board in New York City for nearly a decade. Mr. Tilson is also one of the founders of Democrats for Education Reform, Rewarding Achievement (REACH), and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and serves on the board of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the Council of Urban Professionals, and the Pershing Square Foundation. Mr. Tilson received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was elected a Baker Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in Government. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and three daughters.

Although the Equity Center certainly takes issue with some of Mr. Tilson’s views, his documentary is an important addition to the body of thoughtful assessments surrounding the need for overall school reform. He provides insightful information and opinion that is worth listening to; and Equity Center Radio is pleased to present his opinions. You may disagree with some, maybe all, of his proposals for fixing the system, but we doubt that you will quarrel with his premise that the state of education is in crisis and that it is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform will be premiered on April 7, 2010; however, you can pre-order the DVD by clicking HERE.

The 2 Minute Trailer to A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, our host, the voice of Equity Center Radio and its Executive Director, Wayne Pierce, has an in-depth discussion about the school finance coalition with Amy Beneski. Amy, the Executive Director of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), 406 E 11th St, Austin, TX 78701–where she can be reached at 800.725.8272–reveals how an influential alliance of associations originated and banded together to form a potent league to promote healthier school funding in the State of Texas and how it is now at work enhancing the school finance environment.

The coalition, aptly named the Coalition to Invest in Texas Schools, is comprised of the following organizations:

• Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) | TASA, which was founded in 1925, is an organization that represents public school superintendents and administrators among others, before the legislature and provides numerous other services to assist its members in the professional roles.
• Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) | Created in 1949, TASB is a voluntary, nonprofit educational association that serves the needs of Texas’s 1045 school districts.
• Equity Center | The Equity Center, who sponsors this podcast every Friday morning at 10:45 am, is the largest research and advocacy organization of its kind in the nation. It is the only group in Texas which exclusively represents the interests of low and mid-wealth (Tier 2) public school districts. You can find out more about the Equity Center by clicking HERE. Whether researching or developing policy alternatives, crunching numbers for a multitude of finance proposals, testifying before legislative committees, making presentations to school groups across the state, or working with state agencies, the Equity Center concentrates all of its energy on improving the financial status of our school districts.
• South Texas Association of Schools (STAS) | STAS is made up of sixty-two school districts in deep South Texas. It purpose is to promote excellence in education and an equitable distribution of public resources for the benefit of all public school children in this State;
• Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS) | TACS, whose executive director, Ken McCraw, appeared on this show just last week, strives to promote, support and develop excellence in student achievement through the collaboration of member schools. A community school is defined as a school district having no more than one high school in the district. Institutional members are community school districts or Education Service Centers. Associate members are persons interested in improving education through the community schools concept.
• Texas Association of Midsized Schools (TAMS) | The Texas Association of Mid-Size Schools mission is to impact the state’s school finance system in order to obtain equitable funding of education resources while addressing disparities in size and diseconomies of scale. TAMS pledges to actively participate in the legislative process to insure continued support for the unique financial needs of districts up to 5000 regular ADA.
• Texas Association of Rural Schools (TARA) | TARS was created to enhance the fiscal capacity of small school districts and narrow the funding gap between small districts and other districts.
• Fast Growth School Coalition (FGSC) | FGSC was created in 1997 in response to the need to promote an agenda to assist the approximately 100 school districts throughout Texas that accounted for nearly all of the student growth in Texas, just as they do today.
• Texas School Alliance | Founded in 1990, the Texas School Alliance (TSA) represents 29 of the larger, diverse school districts educating approximately one-third of all Texas students and more than one-third of all minority students. These districts work together to provide a positive and significant impact on public education by bringing together selected school districts with mutual concerns to work cooperatively for the benefit of all public school children. The alliance, including the large urban districts, formalized an excellent working relationship between urban, suburban, and mid-sized districts across the state.
• Texas School Coalition | The Texas School Coalition is organized for the purpose of bringing together independent school districts that have an interest in improving the school funding laws for all school districts. The organization provides research, information and consultation regarding school finance legislation.
• Texas Rural Education Association (TREA) | TREA is a statewide organization with a formal affiliation with the National Rural Education Association. It promotes quality educational opportunities and experiences for all children from rural public schools which will enable them to live and compete in a global society.

Today’s guest explains the core principles that govern the group and discusses how its goals were collaboratively developed. According to Amy “the Texas public school system is at a crossroads” and the coalition is working to shape school funding for generations to come with additional student funding per capita so that Texas schools can keep pace with those in the rest of the country.

Amy Beneski

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, our host, the Equity Center’s Deputy Executive Director, Ray Freeman, interviews Ken McCraw, the Executive Director of the Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS), 1011 San Jacinto Blvd., Ste. 204, Austin, Texas 78701-2431. Ken can be reached at 512.440.8227.

Today’s guest is Ken McCraw, currently the Executive Director of the Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS). TACS is an organization that has been active in Texas since 1951. For the first 25 years it was known as the Texas Association of Small Schools and housed in the Texas Education Agency building. In 1976 the association changed its name to the Texas Association of Community Schools and became independent.

TACS represents school districts with no more than one high school; which means its membership comprises the small, mid-sized and rural school districts in Texas. There are 986 school districts eligible for membership.

TACS is the legislative voice of the single high school community in Texas and Ken is the voice of TACS. Ken started his career as a math teacher in Lamesa ISD in 1971 and worked his way up to Superintendent, taking over that position in 1994, where he stayed until 2004 when he joined TACS as its Executive Director.

While Superintendent of Lamesa, Ken was one of the driving forces that created the Texas Association of Midsize Schools (TAMS), and lobbied hard for the mid-size adjustment. It was during these years that Ken became one of the pioneer school personnel involved with school finance lobbying and learned the ins-and-outs of the legislative political processes. Now, Ken is considered by many as an icon in the area of Texas public school politics, having spent those numerous hours in the halls of the legislature working on behalf of, first, mid-sized schools, then, second, the small, predominately rural schools.

Now, when someone needs to know information about how the political environment is going to affect school districts, one of the first individuals they turn to is Ken.

Equity Center radio is happy to have Ken talk about the political environment in Texas and how it has an impact upon our public schools. With the primaries over with (excepting run-offs), and attention now turning to the general election, Ken’s interview, hosted by the Equity Center’s Deputy Director, Ray Freeman, is both timely and informative.

Ken McCraw

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, our host, the Equity Center’s Director, Wayne Pierce, interviews Omar Garcia, the Director of Statewide School Finance for the Education Service Center, Region XIII

Omar Garcia is an icon in Texas public school finance, having spent much of his adult life working in the school finance division at the Texas Education Agency, and later in the statewide school finance arena at Education Service Center, Region XIII. He graduated from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M Kingsville) and then went on to earn his MBA from that school.

While employed at the Texas Education Agency (where he worked for over 28 years) in the Division of State Funding he became an expert on the use of technology to audit and estimate state aide and school district’s anticipated overall revenues, a necessary component to producing schools’ annual budgets. This expertise lead Omar, about 20 years ago, to develop one of the first widely used electronic templates to help public school personnel estimate state aid for use in school budgets. These early, simple templates were developed using an early version of Lotus 1─2─3 software. Over the years, as public school funding became increasingly complex, “Omar’s Template” increased in sophistication to meet the challenge.

Today, this trusted tool is used by every Texas district regardless of wealth or size. Currently, it is designed to produce a ballpark estimate of a district’s total revenue (excluding facilities) for school years 2008-09 through 2012-13. Once the data are loaded, the user can make any necessary changes to the data for any year and produce reliable, updated forecast for school district funding purposes.

In January 2002 Omar retired as the Senior Director of the Division of State Funding for TEA and became employed at Region XIII Education Service Center. He started with Region XIII in February 2002, as the Director of Statewide School Finance–where he continues to update and improve his template, and now develops numerous others too.

Today’s interview focuses on how he came to develop the template and how it is used by school districts throughout the State of Texas.

You can learn more about Region XIII and the numerous finance templates it provides for school districts by logging into their web pages at Region XIII | Introduction to Statewide School Finance The Service Center (and Omar) may be reached at Education Service Center Region XIII, 5701 Springdale Road Austin, TX 78723, 512.919.5313. Omar’s direct phone number is 512.919.5349 and his email address is Omar Garcia at ESC13 .

Omar Garcia

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

Today’s broadcast of Equity Center Radio features Part 2, the conclusion of an interview began on February 12, 2010, with Dr. Albert Cortez, the Director of Policy for the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). You can find a link to his web pages, read a short biography and/or hear Part 1 of this two-part series by clicking here: Dr. Albert Cortez Part 1.

- Hear Part 2 of Dr. Albert Cortez –

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Hear the February 19, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast by Clicking Here

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, the Equity Center’s Associate Director, Ray Freeman, interviews Dr. Albert Cortez, the Director of Policy for the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). Dr. Cortez is one of the leading experts on minority education policy in the State of Texas and, indeed, in the nation. He has helped in the development of school finance legislation, and works with numerous organizations and schools in the areas of dropout prevention and immigrant education. He also has conducted pioneer research in assessment and English Language Learners education. He holds a master’s degree in cultural foundations of education and a doctorate in cultural foundations of education with a support area in educational administration.

IDRA was founded by another well known expert in the field of multi-cultural education, Dr. José Cárdenas. The organization sees as it purpose the defense of all children, no matter their background, and, in particular, their right to an excellent and equitable education. Children who are minority, poor, or non-English speaking often have no voice. Few organizations will take a stand for them; for 30 years IDRA has.

IDRA is a dynamic, independent organization with vision, commitment, principles, and courage. The group is dedicated to the improvement of educational opportunities for children. Because the issues IDRA has framed and the solutions that have been created, by IDRA and its partners, like the Equity Center, are all are so crucial to the future well-being of the State of Texas, both economically and socially, Dr. Cortez comments are a must hear for any caring Texan.

We wish to thank Dr. Cortez for taking his time to talk to our listeners and hope you will return to Equity Center Radio next week at the same time to hear the conclusion of his interview

Dr. Albert Cortez Podcast Part 1.

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Hear the February 12, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast by Clicking Here
To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.

Today’s broadcast of Equity Center Radio features Part 2, the conclusion, of remarks made on January 24, 2010 by State Senator Steven Ogden, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to the 10th Annual Equity Center School Finance and Legislative Workshop. You can find a link to his web pages, read a short biography and/or hear Part 1 of this two-part series by clicking here: Senator Steve Ogden Part 1.

Senator Steve Ogden Podcast Part 2.

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Hear the January 29, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast by Clicking Here

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org

Today’s broadcast of Equity Center Radio features State Senator Steven Ogden, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. His biography can be found at Steve Ogden Biography, while additional information about the Senator is posted on the State Senate’s official web pages at Senator Steve Ogden: District 5.

On January 24, 2010, Senator Ogden spoke to the 10th Annual Equity Center School Finance and Legislative Workshop before a packed house at the Austin Convention Center. Today, the Equity Center proudly broadcasts the first of a two-part program featuring the Senator’s remarks. The second and last installment will be aired on Equity Center Radio at 10:45 a.m. on February 5, 2010.

Senator Ogden was elected to the Texas Senate in January 1997. Because of his work on the Senate Finance Committee—he now serves as Chairman—, he is considered one of the state’s governmental leaders on budget issues, school finance, higher education funding, child protection, transportation safety and criminal justice.

Ogden has been in the oil and gas exploration business for over 20 years and is currently president of Ogden Resources, an independent oil and gas company based in Bryan. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1973 and served nine years as an officer in the United States Navy submarine fleet. In 1987, he received his Masters of Business Administration from Texas A&M University.

Senator Ogden was first elected to the state legislature in 1990 where he served for three terms, until 1997, when he became a member of the Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party and represents the 5th Senatorial District.

Recognized as a leader in the Texas Senate, Ogden has received the Bob Bullock Award for Outstanding Public Stewardship. Following the 79th Legislative Session, he was named among the “Ten Best Legislators” by Texas Monthly magazine, a “Top Texas Legislator” by Capitol Inside, and Pro-Life Chairman of the Year by Texas Right to Life. He has been honored by the Texas County and District Attorneys Association, The Texas A&M University System, and Sam Houston State University.

We are certainly pleased to have the Honorable Steven Ogden, State Senator for the 5th Senatorial District, on our show.

Senator Steve Ogden Podcast Part 1.

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Hear the January 29, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast by Clicking Here

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org

Today’s broadcast of Equity Center Radio features Lauren Cook, the Equity Center‘s new Director of Communications and Member Services.

Lauren, drawing on her experience as a former legislative aide to State Senator Judith Zaffirini [Democrat/District 12-Laredo] provides tips about how to be effective with the legislature and how to get the “Equity” story across. A portion of her excellent presentation follows. We are sure you will enjoy this opportune and dynamic dialogue.

[Lauren:] Not long after graduating from UT Austin with a degree in English and then a Masters degree in Spanish, and I felt the urge to work in the public interest sector and I got a job with state Sen. Judith Zaffirini [Democrat/District 12-Laredo] at the Texas capital. During two legislative sessions, I worked as the Senator’s public education legislative aide. So I was responsible for managing all of the Senator’s bills related to public education. Most specifically, bills relating to pre-K, bilingual education, special education, student discipline and school finance. I worked on a total of 18 of her bills during those two sessions and that included the drafting, the vetting and the guiding of those through the legislative and budget processes. I was able to work with agency staff, other legislative offices, the governor’s and the lieutenant governor’s staff, public school advocates, such as the Equity Center, other lobbyists and constituents. And I was also able to represent the Senator at educational events in Austin and throughout Texas and her district in South Texas. And it was really a pleasure to work for her and promote her efforts to provide access to, and adequate funding for, high-quality education for every student. It was a great experience.

[Wayne Pierce:] Lauren, having worked as the education legislative aide in the Senate, can you give us any the tips about what you’ve seen or heard that could help or hinder our members as they work to get their message across?

[Lauren:] Absolutely, Wayne. During my time at the capital, I observed countless committee hearings and meetings with legislators and constituents, and helped respond to correspondence from superintendents, Equity Center members and Texans from across the education community. The most important advice I would give to Equity Center supporters is to make your voice heard, loud, clear and often; writing a letter or an e-mail or calling your legislator once a week, isn’t too often when issues important to you are being discussed. You may talk to a different staff member every time you call, but eventually your message will get through. Encourage your colleagues, family members and friends to also contact their legislators; numbers matter; and a grassroots effort really can pay off. Now for some more specific advice. If you can make it to an education committee hearing in Austin, by all means do. Even if you don’t have time to wait your turn to testify, at least submit a witness card and register your position. If you do have time to testify, make sure your message is concise and to the point. Nothing seems to frustrate legislators more than when witnesses repeat the same message over and over again. It’s okay to say, “I agree with Dr. Wayne Pierce”, or whomever may have testified before you, and then add something of your own. A good mix of anecdotal and data-driven evidence to support your position is best. Also have a handout prepared with your testimony in case committee members are absent. On the handout, be sure to include your name, whom you represent, where you live and the source of your information, especially if your testimony contains data.

If you’re lucky enough to be able to schedule a meeting with your legislator when you’re at the capital, or you if you happen to find them when you pop by their office, it is a great idea to thank them for all their support up to that point. But then tell them your needs directly and simply; don’t just say, our district needs additional funding—tell them how much you need and for what. Remind them that your district focuses on efficiency, but you need to have additional funding to have the best possible chance of succeeding on the TAKS [Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills] test, or increasing the graduation rate, or whatever it is that your district is trying to improve. If you aren’t able to meet with your legislator, but you meet with a staff member instead, don’t hesitate to give them just as much information. Make it simple and to the point, but don’t forget to highlight things they may not know about your district. For example, “did you know that our district received $500 less per student than ‘X’ district next door? We really need your boss to help make our system more fair.” Lastly, stay in close communication with your representation. The Equity Center has the privilege of representing almost 670 school districts. And we are constantly improving our means of staying in touch with each one; but we can only do so much to get the information into the hands of our members. You, our supporters, must make an effort to engage and be active participants in the process. Wayne [Pierce] and Ray [Freeman] are pros at giving testimony and influencing legislators, but they need the Equity Center members to back them up and reinforce their message. Read and act on our legislative alerts. Give us feedback and make sure we are aware of what is going on in your area.

We are certainly pleased to have Lauren Cook on our show.

Lauren Cook
Be an Effective Voice for Equity in School Funding in Texas

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Hear the January 22, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast:

Equity Center Radio | January 15, 2010 | An Interview With Dick Lavine, the Senior Fiscal Analyst for the Center for Policy Policy Priorities

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today Equity Center Radio hears from Dick Lavine, the Senior Fiscal Analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities (“CPPP”). Dick joined the center in 1994. He focuses on state tax and revenue issues. Before coming to the center, he was a Senior Researcher at the House Research Organization of the Texas House of Representatives, where he covered budget and tax issues. He is widely acknowledged as one of the leading experts in the fields of public finance, state budgets and state and local taxes.

Dick discusses the short fall in state revenues and how it could affect the need for greater taxes when the legislature meets next year. The state will probably have to deplete the “Rainy Day Fund;” and still not have enough money to fund all the state’s agencies and programs. A prediction of the dire consequences of a system of taxation that simply does not work.

We are sure you will enjoy this timely and lively interview.

We are certainly pleased to have Dick Lavine on our show.

What the Future Holds for the State of Texas: Lack of Adequate Funding for Programs and Higher Taxes

Dick Lavine

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Hear the January 15, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast:

Equity Center Radio | January 8, 2010 | An Interview With Judge Scott McCown, “the Edgewood Judge”

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today Dr. Wayne Pierce completes his interview with the Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities (“CPPP”), F. Scott McCown. For the decade of the 90s and until 2002, when he retired from the bench to lead the CPPP, McCown was the state district court judge who presided over all of the Texas’ public school finance cases, giving him the nickname the “Edgewood” Judge and turning him into one of, if not the most, knowledgeable experts in the field of school finance law.

Today’s interviewee was called by Texas Monthly magazine the voice of the voiceless and the conscience of Texas politics.

We are sure you will enjoy this timely and lively interview. Judge McCown makes a compelling argument about why we need to have equity in the financing of our educational system and explains why the State of Texas in behind the eight ball in our methods of equiping our school system to do its important function of educating our students. He also articulates the reasons why the State is falling further and further to the rear of other states.

We are certainly pleased to have Judge McCown on our show.

Judge F. Scott McCown

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January 8, 2010 Equity Center Radio Podcast

Equity Center Radio | December 18, 2009 | An Interview With Judge Scott McCown, “the Edgewood Judge”

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today Dr. Wayne Pierce begins the first installment of his interview with the Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities(“CPPP”), F. Scott McCown. For the decade of the 90s and until 2002, when he retired from the bench to lead the CPPP, McCown was the state district court judge who presided over all of the Texas’ public school finance cases, giving him the nickname the “Edgewood” Judge and turning him into one of, if not the most, knowledgeable experts in the field of school finance law.

Today’s interviewee was called by Texas Monthly magazine the voice of the voiceless and the conscience of Texas politics.

We are sure you will enjoy this timely and lively interview.

We are certainly pleased to have Judge McCown on our show.

Judge F. Scott McCown

Please note that this abbreviated interview will continue after the new year when schools return from the winter break. The continued telecast will be Friday, January 8, 2010, at 10:45 a.m. Have a Happy New Year, party safely–remember those are our children on the streets–and we will see you next year!

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

Quoted from TEA News

We will have more to say on this and other similar issues in 2010. Please tune in on Fridays at 10:45 am to hear the latest news, information and opinions on school equity and finance. And, of course, make sure to point your browser to Equity Center Radio to hear Judge Scott McCown on December 18, 2009, our last podcast for this year.

Equity Center Radio | An Interview With Joe Smith of TexasISD.com Hosted by Ray Freeman

Joe Smith

Equity Center Radio | Dr. Jerry Roy, Superintendent of Lewisville ISD, Talks About School Finance and Deficit Spending

Dr. Jerry Roy

Buck Wood

Ray Bonilla

Today we are interviewing Buck Wood and Ray Bonilla, partners in the law firm of Ray, Wood & Bonilla. The broadcast will concentrate on the request by the Commissioner of Education to the Attorney General of the State of Texas for an opinion about whether school districts can use monies raised from maintenance and operations can be used to pay debt service on school district funds. You may download the Commissioner’s Request for Opinion in a PDF format by clicking here.

As everyone in the school district community knows, the target revenue system perpetuated by HB 3646 has created a situation where many school districts are faced with incredibly tight budgets this school year. The outlook for upcoming years is even less favorable in many cases. Numerous districts were forced to use available fund balance to avoid making cuts in important programs and services.

In this environment, there has been tremendous pressure on districts to look for creative ways to expand funds available for operations, and there has been a great deal of talk about “tax swaps” and the appropriate use of M&O
and I&S tax revenues. In obvious response, on August 17, 2009, Commissioner of Education Robert Scott requested an opinion of the Attorney General on three important issues.

The questions presented to the Attorney General are:

1. May current year M&O tax collections be used to pay debt service on school district bonds?
2. May school districts pay debt service on bonds from unrestricted fund balance?
3. May school districts pay debt service from Tier 1 funds received from the State?

The Equity Center recognizes the financial pressures on its member districts, and believes that the flexibility afforded by a positive AG opinion has the potential to provide at least some relief to many school districts. We filed a letter brief with the AG in which we emphasize the opinion of the Beaumont Court of Appeals in the 1939 case of Madeley v. Trustees of Conroe Indep. Sch. Dist., 130 S.E.2d 929 (Tex. Civ. App. – Beaumont 1939, writ dism’d, judgt cor.). In that case, the court concluded that surplus maintenance funds could be used to pay for capital expenditures. The relevant statutes have not changed in a material way. We contend that the operative question, then, is not whether maintenance taxes are current but whether they are needed for the support and operation of the schools. If not, they are surplus and can be used for debt service.

As for the use of unrestricted fund balance to pay debt service, we believe that such funds may be used for any constitutionally permissible purpose. That certainly includes payment of debt service on bonds issued by the district. Similarly, a review of the relevant statutes, as well as the legislative and administrative history relating to the permissible uses of Tier 1 funding, makes it clear that Tier 1 funds can be used to pay debt service costs.

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or just listen to our first broadcast at Interview with Buck Wood & Ray Bonilla.

Ray & Wayne in Recording Booth

Hear about our new weekly podcast, Equity Center Radio, that will bring you information and opinion about the system of public school funding in the State of Texas. We will have interviews with the leaders of the State and with people who are the movers and shakers in the realm of school finance and funding; politics, too, will be featured. You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or just listen to our first broadcast at Introduction to Equity Center Radio.

Our first podcast will be on the air Friday, November 13, 2009, at 10:45am. While this podcast will not be live, future ones will be and you will be able to call in and ask questions and talk with the host of the show, our Executive Director, Wayne Pierce. We will be publishing the call-in number soon. Look for it here.