Americans For Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual's right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFPF believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFPF educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits.

Educators Witness Protection Program

...A special project for Parents, Teachers, and Taxpayers

"Do you think public schools spend money in a wasteful fashion?" was asked in a poll conducted by Baselice & Associates, Inc., in July 2003. Likely voters responded: 56% - yes, 35% -no, and 9% were unsure or refused to answer. Parents, teachers, and taxpayers are interested in eliminating wasteful education spending and want more education for our dollars before we put more money into education!
Some education employees – teachers and staff – as well as parents and other taxpayers have witnessed wasteful spending siphoning dollars from the classroom. Though wasteful spending is widespread, many individuals are not speaking out for fear of retaliation by administrators and the education bureaucracy. Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) wanted to provide a vehicle for these people to anonymously share their observations -- so the Educator Witness Protection Program was established.

In addition, many good investigative reporters have uncovered fraudulent and wasteful education spending, which have bilked taxpayers and students out of millions. Some of those investigations are ongoing. Recognizing that there is no composite listing or central location for this information, we determined that not only would we collect new information but would attempt to bring to the forefront, those cases which have received media coverage. This listing is not complete but is intended to alert taxpayers, school board members, voters and legislators of the need for vigilance.

The objective of this compilation is not to provide a vehicle to advocate cutting education spending, but rather to eliminate wasteful spending and direct more of our education dollars into the classroom. Quite simply, we want more education for our dollars before we put more dollars into education.

What people are saying about the Educator Witness Protection Program:

Former school board member, Margie Raborn – "I am so thrilled that someone is exposing the brainwashing that school board members go through – all in an effort to insulate the education bureaucracy. During my tenure, I tried to be a good steward of taxpayers' dollars only to find that questioning a school administrator was not in my job description! I understand this same administrator will most likely go to prison for fraud-I guess tax dollars will continue to pay his retirement while he watches TV in jail. I received veiled threats on my life, was harassed in executive session which could not be made public and was frequently reminded that the superintendent sat on all the committees for local scholarships! Needless to say, my son received no scholarships!

Parent Tina Peyton – "I fought against a bond election in my district and as a result, I received threatening phone calls, was told my children would never get through school, and was generally harassed. My children have now graduated and I want to speak out and praise the current effort by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) for implementing the Educator's Witness Protection Program (EWPP). Believe me, there are horror stories out there which are not being told for fear of retaliation – not only against teachers, but against parents."

Current teacher, Michael Pearce – "In February of 2002, my school district launched its final of three installments of "Emotional Intelligence" training, designed to make teachers, aides, bus drivers, custodians, food service personnel, and others more aware of their feelings and emotions. We were encouraged to discuss our personal lives, draw pictures, and share our thoughts about a variety of issues with our colleagues. The workshop was a personal pet project of our superintendent, who mandated the attendance of all 4,800 district employees. Shortly thereafter, I wrote a letter to the editor exposing the waste I had witnessed. As a result, campus administrators made every effort to make my life a living hell. No one realizes what a hold the school bureaucracy has on those responsible for teaching. If only we could teach and not have to worry about union agendas and flawed social policy which lower academic expectations, our children would be better educated. I am happy to work with an organization that has the guts to finally expose what really goes on in the education bureaucracy."

Current teacher, Kathy Conroy – "In a few more years, I will be able to take early retirement through TRS from public education. However, when I do, my job as an educator will not be over. It will then be my responsibility to educate the public. I will tell them why some of their children graduated from high school without being able to balance a checkbook or read a newspaper. I will tell them how an attorney, disbarred for fraud, managed to hold a Texas Teachers' Certificate and misappropriate thousands of taxpayer dollars. I will tell them how out-of-control administrators can literally destroy school districts and force gifted teachers to seek other professions. Until that time, I'm pleased that AFPF has begun this education process."

Background
As Texans consider revamping the school finance system and ending Robin Hood, some big-government advocates are demanding taxpayers provide an additional $6-8 billion a year for public education.

Texans support education and our spending reflects that commitment to Texas schoolchildren. The amount of per-pupil spending has tripled over the last 30 years. Yet as we spend more money on education, a decreasing amount makes it into the classroom. Fully 1/3 of the state budget is spent on education, yet only about 50 cents of every dollar actually goes to classroom instruction. Texas ranked second among 50 states in total public education expenditures for 2002-2003.

Some legislators and Texas Education Agency staff may consider high administrative costs and wasteful spending a local control issue. We disagree. Taxpayers all across Texas foot the bill for schools. Taxpayers resent the fact that the education bureaucracy constantly lobbies the state legislators for more school funding; each time the education bureaucracy aggressively declares that the issue of school financing is a state issue. However, if parents and taxpayers take their concerns to the same legislators and cite specific examples of waste, fraud, and abuse of school funds, the taxpayers are told to take their concerns to their local school boards because education spending is a local control issue.

One taxpayer reported, "Each and every time we contacted the TEA for assistance in these matters, (fraud, waste, and abuse) we were told we had to go through the proper channels within our district. Of course, those proper channels meant the administration and then the school board, the very people who were responsible for these abuses." This school district subsequently came under investigation for millions of dollars in potential fraudulent activities. Parents and taxpayers were again told by legislators during a past hearing that fraudulent and wasteful school spending was a matter of local control and that bond issues were passed by the citizens. A taxpayer testifier, who was presenting at the hearing, stated correctly, "It all comes out of the same pocket."

Wasteful and fraudulent spending is occurring for several reasons. Elected school board members are brainwashed by the education bureaucracy not to interfere with the Superintendents' decisions; this leaves the Superintendents free to spend taxpayer dollars without careful oversight by the duly elected board members. Star Telegram reporter Dave Lieber described one such school board meeting this way: "Rarely can you attend one meeting and see so much of what is wrong with Texas school governance."

Budgets are such that the general public and even local school boards cannot understand them. The problem is worsened by school officials' reticence to comply with open records requests which is evidenced by charging the requesting party outrageous copying costs to comply. The Dallas ISD presented a projected sum of $28,000 for one open records request and when taken to court settled for $65.

Parents are also inhibited by the education bureaucracy. On Nov. 21, 2003, the Dallas Morning News reported, "The Plano school district has ended a four-year court battle over a handout policy that was ruled unconstitutional when enforced, only two weeks after taking steps to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Parents said the district violated their free speech when they were not allowed to hand out fliers critical of a math curriculum during after-school parent meetings in 1998. The policy required district approval of any materials distributed on campuses. The district agreed this week to pay $400,000 in attorney fees and costs to parents to end a lawsuit filed in 1999. School board trustees also agreed to admit that their handout policy was unconstitutionally applied during the parent meetings."

If there is one thing that is clear, it is that the education bureaucracy controls the education process in Texas. It intimidates parents, teachers, and school board members. It lobbies with taxpayer dollars to get more of those dollars, and it is hard if not impossible to tell if those dollars are really needed. The only way to begin to get an insight into local expenses is through listening to local taxpayers.

We have done that; and the following are examples of fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer dollars gathered by the Educator Witness Protection Program. They come from teachers, former teachers, current and former school board members, parents, concerned taxpayers, newspaper articles, and professional and agency publications. Runaway spending in the school system can be categorized into (1) Administrative costs, (2) Wasteful spending, and (3) Fraudulent activities.

1. Administrative Costs
In the 2001-02 school year, the Texas Education Agency through its PEIMS (Public Education Information Management System) report released the following information: "other support staff" increased 8,911 persons or an increase of 57.31%. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers increased 2.82%, elementary teachers 2.74%, and secondary teachers 2.74%.

The newly released 2003-04 School Salary Data from the Texas Education Agency (www.tea.state.tx.us/adhocrpt/) indicates that there are 289,481 teachers, 47,504 support staff, 58,741 educational aides, 159,679 auxiliary staff, and 19,886 administrators. Teachers' salaries increased 1.26% from the previous year while administrators' salaries increased 2.01%. The superintendent in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD earns a base salary of $340,485 (enrollment of 74,877). The top charter school superintendent's base salary at Two Dimensions Preparatory Academy is $210,000 (enrollment 542).

When Dr. Mike Moses was hired at Dallas Independent School District in the fall of 2000, he was given an annual base salary of $280,000 a year; an annual $10,000 annuity and an allowance to keep the Superintendent's family in another city until one of his children graduated from high school; a $1,000 per month car allowance; a $450 a month cell phone allowance; and round-trip tickets "home" for weekends. In 2003-04, Dr. Moses' base salary was $337,500.

ISD savings can be realized – and can be significant. Based on recommendations in the Performance Review, in 2002-03, Laredo ISD reduced its central office administrators by eight positions, resulting in annual savings of $545,000. The district also reassigned secretarial and clerical staff to vacant positions saving an additional $250,000 in 2002-03.

A former teacher states, "Part of the reason why school costs have escalated is due to the TEKS [curriculum standards for the state of Texas]. Because the TEKS are unclear, broad, generic, and filled with education jargon, school districts felt they had to hire a myriad of consultants and curriculum directors to try to interpret the TEKS for teachers. For example, I know of a Central Texas school district in our area where student achievement had always been far above average and where the student enrollment was stable; yet six new administrative positions were created after the TEKS became law. Those six new jobs have cost the district at least $350,000 per year."

2. Examples of Wasteful Spending
A teacher in East Texas has complained that $1.6 Million was spent for "leadership training for administrators in a district with only one high school while she has few resources for her special education children."

An inquiring parent found that $1 Million was spent on storage space to store hundreds of thousands of dollars of "obsolete" computers, which could not be sold because the loan had not been paid off.

Ft. Worth just invested in a new discipline program called Cooperative Discipline for $196,206 which states, "Students won't always remember what we teach them, but they will never forget how we treat them"!!!!! "Teachers are to build relationships through kindness and praise."(Star-Telegram 4/28/04)

8 "E-teachers" complained of hundreds of thousands of dollars for distance learning carts and materials but after purchase and extensive training, leaving regular students with less teacher time, there were no distance learners and therefore no additional money for the school.

After 9-11 schoolteachers in a district were called in at taxpayer expense to a session on "cultural sensitivity" where they were coached to tell students the attack could have been avoided if America had better understood the culture.

A commercial masonry contractor in West Texas estimated statewide that school districts could save at least 20% or $400 to $500 Million annually on school construction just by scaling down the posh, extravagant design of many school facilities. "Recently, I bid a project in my area that included an ornate, expensive cast stone entryway. As an alternate in the bid, we had to quote to the school district what money they would save NOT by removing the fancy stone entryway, but to take off 4 CLASSROOMS!!! This is typical in school districts all across Texas. One parent observed that it was ridiculous that her daughter's school was much more elaborate than the house she could afford to live in! Here are some examples:

1) Keller ISD Natatorium http://www.kellerisd.net/swim/photos.asp

2) Westbriar Elementary, http://www.fkp.com/portfolio/ProjectSheets/WESTBRIAR.htm

3) Brookline Elementary, Houston ISD – visit this architectural page to see many school buildings and designs. http://www.philipewald.com/projects/brookline.htm

4) Garland McMeans Junior High, http://www.fkp.com/portfolio/ProjectSheets/MCMEANS.htm

Several teachers have complained that $4 Million was spent in one school district for the Diana Day Discipline Management Program (http://dianaday.com/) only to be cast aside because of its ineffectiveness. Day has no published references or validated research results accessible by the public on her website. One suggestion she offers is that teachers should send students who are discipline problems to another teacher to handle. According to Diana Day's website, 24 other school districts in Texas have also scheduled her services. There are no records on how much Texas taxpayers have paid for this "fad" program.

Teachers have reported this training is a huge waste of education dollars. The Flippen Group (http://www.leadershipsolutions.com/) is another example of an in-service training program which teachers claim is not research-based. Districts all over the state have signed multi-year contracts for their school personnel to attend sessions which are similar to psychological manipulation, and sensitivity training. Substitute teachers have been hired, fancy resorts (e.g., Salado) have been booked, expensive food has been served -- all at taxpayers' expense. Many teachers who have gone through the training never implemented it, and some teachers who did buy into the program soon abandoned it in a few short weeks. Several people have complained about luxurious buildings. One is Midway ISD – the arena - see how this district spends its money http://www.midwayisd.org. Go to "Virtual Tour" (under Points of Interest) and "The Arena" -- it is not like Dad's basketball court!

Teachers were upset when the Dallas ISD paid Stephen Covey $89,000 to give a one-day motivational presentation -- not for teachers but for administrators. The amount was hidden in the June 26, 2003, budget under "Liability Account." One parent commented that if high paid superintendents are not motivated enough by their "compensation packages", maybe they should try the unemployment line!

One teacher reports that Dallas ISD paid Voyager Learning Systems $4 Million. Voyager is a Dallas-based corporation and has sold its programs to Plano ISD and other school districts. Until recently Voyager Passport had no independent research of its program. Previously their "research" had been done by themselves on themselves. The teacher states that only programs which have been validated and replicated over a long period of time meet the criteria of No Child Left Behind and this program does not meet that criteria.

A former teacher complained that Dallas ISD has a six-year, $18 Million contract with Hewlett Packard to maintain administrators' computers -- not computers for teachers, libraries, or computer labs. Dallas announced on April 13, 2004, a $123 Million grant to pay for updated technology infrastructure. Katy ISD purchased more than $3 Million in new Hewlett-Packard technology support. Houston ISD contracted with Hewlett-Packard for what could turn out to be a $120 Million deal. Richardson ISD in 2002 passed a $47 Million technology bond.

A teacher reports that after in-service training on Plato Computer Labs, none of the English teachers in a Central Texas school district were convinced that the system would result in students gaining grade-level skills. The district went ahead and purchased the system anyway. The school board was told they would receive progress reports from the staff as to the gains of students using Plato. As always, nobody held anyone accountable. The system has now been discarded completely -- more taxpayers' money wasted.

A parent reports that in a North Central Texas district, a superintendent required an architectural firm, which was under contract with the ISD, to use the superintendent's interior decorator for three school buildings. This interior decorator selected expensive Italian marble tile for one school and costly features for other schools.

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports that during the past two years, the Keller School District paid as much as $2,400 in club memberships for two employees using an account that many district leaders thought was earmarked for student activities.

The Waco-Tribune Herald reports that a Connally ISD technology coordinator used a federally funded TEA grant to send 40 teachers, staff, and two Apple trainers on a "technology training cruise" for five days and five nights on the Carnival cruise ship "Celebration" leaving Galveston and going to Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Calica on Aug 6, 2003. (Waco Tribune-Herald, Aug. 12, 2003) Waco has three institutions of higher learning which all have well-equipped computer labs and advanced training courses.

One Austin-area TV station reported the Del Valle ISD Superintendent spent thousands of dollars on a personal image consultant to help him win "Superintendent of the Year." He won in his region, not thanks to the good work of the image consultant, but because he was the only entrant.

A parent reports that after testifying against another salary increase for the superintendent, Round Rock ISD parents were outraged when school board members gave the superintendent $8,000 toward his retirement account saying, "It is not a raise." The Superintendent in 2003-04 made $176,000 base salary. His wife and daughter are also employed by the district. Citizens have raised the issue of nepotism. At a recent school board meeting, the superintendent challenged a taxpayers' right to question his actions by leaving his seat and standing in front of the citizen, pointing his finger in his face.

3. Examples of Fraudulent Spending

A scam that went undetected for six years cheated a Fort Worth area school district out of $10 Million in construction (concrete supplier) kickback schemes involving an associate superintendent, an assistant athletic director, and contractors.

FBI investigations are ongoing in the Keller School District. Allegations of kickback schemes and bid rigging between a superintendent and a contractor led to the resignation of superintendent Charles Bradberry. Bradberry was recognized as Superintendent of the Year in 1998, by Texas Association of School Boards (TASB.)

A series of scandals, widely reported by the local media, embroiled the Dallas school district in 1997 and 1998. Thirteen employees were indicted on conspiracy and embezzlement charges in a case involving more than $168,000 in overtime pay for hours claimed, but not worked.

The Ft. Worth School Board decided to pay Superintendent Tocco termination pay of over $500,000. They were dissatisfied with him because they blamed him for the fact that a contractor had embezzled $10 Million from the district. (Superintendent contract buyouts are an enormous drain on education dollars.)

After FBI investigations forced him to resign, the Keller school superintendent got a $122,000 settlement and received a paycheck for approximately four months.

The Keller ISD, where the former administrator is facing prison for financial fraud and mismanagement of millions of dollars, was issued a report by the TEA showing that the district had achieved the highest level of financial integrity under the Schools FIRST (Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas) rating system developed by the TEA.

Carroll ISD received the same TEA highest level of financial integrity rating, but two months later found $5 Million in excessive, un-approved spending. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD discovered conflict of interest purchases.

It was reported in the Dallas Morning News that thousands of dollars of musical instruments have been stolen and pawned in the Dallas ISD since 1986, and the district is just now doing some aggressive investigation.

A former teacher reports that a major abuse of financial programs designed to help students is abused. They reported some schools cheat on achievement profiles. Students continue to pass and then require remedial classes; this means more money for "tutors," special classes, etc.

Bremond ISD has a $500,000 shortfall this budget year; the previous superintendent resigned under suspicion he had misused district funds. A special audit commissioned by the district found that the superintendent and a former business manager owe the school more than $200,000 and that the superintendent had charged on the school credit card such things as alcohol, and trips to Hawaii, California, and Cancún.

Carroll ISD school trustees did not approve expenditures of nearly $5 million over a four-year period, according to the President of the school board. As indicated in the Carroll ISD website in a publication called "Breaking News: February 2004," a new audit firm was hired last summer and found that the district's savings account was $1.5 Million lower than previously reported during the 03-04 budget cycle. Previous employees have been blamed for the errors. (source)

In a 1996 news report, Edinburg ISD employees were accused of stealing more than $100,000 in goods, including food meant for use in a low-income lunch program.

El Paso investigators said the Socorro School District was defrauded of more than $4 Million in costly background checks which were not needed. A former school district official was sentenced.

In 2001, Tarrant County College Trustee Gwen Morrison pleaded no contest to tampering with government records in connection with a dispute over $1,500 in duplicate travel claims. She had been accused of accepting travel money from both the college and her employer, the Fort Worth School District. She received six months' deferred adjudication probation which allowed her to avoid a criminal record.

A wide-ranging investigation by the Texas Rangers revealed kickbacks and bid-rigging involving several San Antonio-area school districts, a community college, and City Hall. In 2002, nine people were indicted. In a 22-page confession, a man who worked as a bond project manager and architect for school districts described how, for years, he and contractors had bribed public officials for work.

These are only a few of the complaints and allegations we have received through the Educator Witness Protection Program. Each of these instances of waste, fraud, or abuse represent dollars diverted from teacher salaries or from programs which help schoolchildren in Texas. There is no doubt however, that there are many school administrators, teachers, and board members are striving to be good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars and to provide a quality education for Texas schoolchildren. These revelations serve to provide some insight into why ISD budgets and operations need public scrutiny and why measures such as increased transparency in ISD budgeting and expenditures are needed.

Note: the Educators Witness Protection Program website is constantly posting new information. You can find the site at: www.EducatorsWitnessProtectionProgram.com

Americans for Prosperity Foundation - (formerly CSE Foundation)
807 Brazos St, #210, Austin, TX 78701-9996

phone: 512/476-5905; fax: 512/476-5906

Examples of Wasteful Spending in School Buildings

It is estimated that taxpayers could save between $400 and 500 Million dollars if schools were built to best serve the needs of a community. Publicly financed buildings should not be used to promote architects' careers. Wal-Mart and other corporations adhere to this principle and they build what is cost effiecient. Although schools are built with money from elections, if districts can afford to build schools like this, why are taxpayers being asked again to tighten their belts for additional school funding. Taxpayers don't like to think Welfare recipients are driving big cars and eating steak when they are not, nor do we want schools to be better than the houses we can afford to live in.

Testimony:

Joint Legislative Committee on School Finance
Monday, March 29, 2004

Speaker: Randall Pugh
Keller, TX 76248
www.ourkeller.com

I would like to thank the committee for giving the public this opportunity. I also applaud the committee for looking at innovative methods to reward schools that truly educate our children. My name is Randy Pugh. I live in Keller, TX, a community within the DFW Metroplex. My wife has taught for 13 years in Texas and I have 3 children attending public schools.

Our school district, Keller ISD, has about 21,700 students. We are known as a "fast-growth" district but we are not a Robin Hood district. The district is growing at an annual rate of about 1,500 students per year and includes students from nine (9) different cities.

I am not here today to suggest additional alternatives on financing education. I will leave that to brighter minds than mine.

Today, I am asking for your help.
Help to identify financial mismanagement within school districts.
Help to prevent fraud and harassment by school administrators.
Help for parents and citizens to freely obtain complete and accurate information regarding the financial and academic performance of their schools.

Early last year, another parent, Jim Maine, and I became actively involved with our district because of hairnets and falling scores. An odd combination, I admit, but as a result, we began asking questions of the school board and the administration. The more questions we asked, the more resistance, evasiveness and excuses we heard. We were labeled "trouble-makers", "time-wasters", Enemy #1, "Exaggerators" and "Little Liebers". This last title was a reference to our supposed closeness with a local reporter.

After spending hundreds and hundreds of hours, here are a few of the items we found that we believe show gross financial mismanagement:

1. In FY 2001, our district ranked #8 statewide in total debt service with $635 million. That indebtedness grew to $890 million during FY 2002 placing us #11 in the state just behind Arlington ISD, according to the Texas Bond Review Board. With 21,700 students, the debt service per student now averages more than $40,000/student. An amount almost 6 times greater than the Texas average.

2. However, fast growing districts have to build schools and build them we have. Hanging in our superintendent's office is an award. It is not an academic recognition award, it is an award for excellence in the architectural design of one of our schools. Schools that boast of imported Italian tile in the corridors and atriums lavishly adorned. Schools built with some of the most expensive metal roofs. Roofs, by the way, that leak or simply rip away in storms.

3. We found that our elementary schools cost about $135/sq ft to build or 30% higher than schools in Frisco or Mansfield – other fast growing districts. That means for every 3 elementary schools built in other districts, we can only build 2 elementary schools. We have averaged about 2 new schools per year for the past 5 years at an 'extra' cost of $25 million dollars more than comparable districts.

4. In 2000, the voters approved the expenditure of $1.1 million dollars for a Teacher Training Center. The cost for that center has since escalated to $2,175,000 - without voter approval.

5. We found hundreds of thousands dollars of 'obsolete' computers sitting in a warehouse that we cannot get rid of because we haven't paid-off the loan. To remedy this problem, the administration wants to add $1 million of new warehouse space to handle other inventory.

6. We have spent millions of dollars on technology only to hear teachers ask, "How do you format a disk?" We utilize less than 10% of the million dollar 'backbone network' we installed. We have a professionally equipped video center but we can't get board meetings shown on cable TV.

7. We purchased land last year with M&O money. But, we use 30-year bond money to buy thermometers, athletic uniforms and sheet music.

8. And the financial mismanagement doesn't stop with just bond money. The district outsources its maintenance services. We pay more than $1 million dollars annually for just the firm's managers. This fee includes the cost of five or six managers, two (2) secretaries and the cleaning chemicals for 27 buildings. And, three (3) of these managers were former school district maintenance managers who were unable to manage the maintenance while district employees but are fully capable now.

9. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on copiers. Not just ordinary copiers, but specialized copiers that sit in Intermediate schools ready to make 3' wide banners. Each year, teachers must resort to making thousands of copies of textbook pages because we didn't order enough books or we are over our allotment.

10. We were spending more than $85,000/year on cellular phones.

11. We found school activity funds being spent for memberships in clubs by prinicipals and other administrators.

This waste is aggravating and burdensome for each of us. To add insult to injury, during this same time period, the TEA issued their FIRST report showing that our district achieved the highest level of financial integrity. How can this happen?

You might say that our district is a single example but we are not alone as we have discovered over the past few months.

Carroll ISD received the same TEA rating and 2 months later found $5 million in excess, un-approved spending.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD discovered conflict of interest purchases. Fort Worth ISD just uncovered a massive fraud.
Dallas ISD continues to uncover financial abuses.

In addition, each and every time we contacted the TEA for assistance in these matters, we were told we had to go through the "proper channels" within our district. Of course, those "proper channels" meant the administration and then the school board; the very people who were responsible for these abuses.

Today, you will probably hear from representatives of TASA or TASB. These organizations, funded indirectly by taxpayers through membership dues charged to each school district, preach and teach school personnel and board members to be a "Team of 8". They emphasize and indoctrinate board members not to ask controversial and embarrassing questions in public. They emphasize that board members not get involved in the operations of the school district. They sponsor workshops and classes such as "The Care and Feeding of School Board Members" and "Conflict Resolutions" – a program that suggests how wrong it is to be a "lone wolf" on the school board. In essence, it is a lobby paid for by taxpayers that continues to want more restrictions placed on the very people who fund the groups.

In summary, our school tax payments have increased more than 50% since 1997 while our educational level has declined. Our TAAS scores have steadily risen over the past 5 years, while SAT & ACT scores have stagnated. Our Advanced Placement Exam scores have fallen by 35% over the past 6 years, according to the TEA. In addition, our participation rate in this exam is currently the lowest in the area.

The percentage of students obtaining college scholarships has declined. The quantity of students failing TASP has increased. And, the quantity of students requiring remedial course completion to enter college or during their first year of college has increased.

We have a growing percentage of inexperienced teachers especially in the middle schools and high schools. We have a teacher turnover rate of 16% according to the TEA; a rate that has doubled since 1997 and includes many teachers with 8+ years of experience.

Our district has one of the highest student/staff ratios in the area, according to the TEA.

In 2001, DEC completed an audit of the district. It is unclear if the district has implemented any of their
recommendations.

The Board of Trustees and the committees formed by the Board appear to "rubber stamp" all of the administration's requests. Very few, if any, committee recommendations differ from the superintendent's original requests. In addition, some of the Board members have never cast a negative vote since the superintendent's arrival in 1997.

Regardless of the financial formula you approve, eliminating waste and prosecuting abusers must be an initiative that is included and enforced, vigorously.

I respectfully request that you consider these requests for help.


Testimony Submitted to the Public School Finance Committee on March 29, 2004
By Steve and Kathy Conroy,
Carthage, Texas

It's time to put an end to the charade. Things are not right with Texas Education. And, unlike a fine wine that also grows more expensive as time goes by, it isn't improving with age. I am an educational diagnostician, and, in my 13 years working in special education, I have seen so much abuse on a regular basis by and of educators, that nothing surprises me anymore. Children are denied services. Parents are lied to in ARD meetings. Teachers are bullied by administrators. Money is squandered. And, the children continue to suffer. TEA, who is supposed to be the enforcement agency for Texas Education Code, hasn't the power to enforce anything. In many ways, I'm glad they don't. For this agency to fall victim to the Texas Sunset Act would be a blessing to the taxpayer.

Unlike some teachers, I fulfill my responsibility and report wrongdoings in the Texas public education system as I see them. In return, I only suffer retaliation while my pleas fall on deaf ears. I'm a fighter, and I stand up to those who retaliate against me, and I have even legally recovered damages from those who do. However, this does not help the children. And the taxpayers, parents, and children have had enough of this abuse.

My husband taught post-secondary education for nine years in the field of computer technology. He decided to quit and go back to being a full-time business owner when he was forced to begin lowering his standards to accommodate the public school students coming into his college classes.

In a few more years, I will be able to take early retirement through TRS from public education. However, when I do, my job as an educator will not be over. It will then be my responsibility to educate the public. I will tell them why some of their children graduated high school without being able to balance a checkbook or read a newspaper. I will tell them how an attorney disbarred for fraud managed to hold a Texas Teachers Certificate and misappropriate thousands of taxpayer dollars. I will tell them how out of control administrators can literally destroy school districts, and force gifted teachers to seek other professions.

I will also tell them how the district I work for now is under constant monitoring by TEA and OCR for special
education violations. I will tell them how the special education director here got their job by lying on their resume' about their qualifications. I will tell how this same district had two out of four elementary campuses declared unacceptable by TEA. I will also mention how this same district, which has only one high school, pays their superintendent $160k/yr plus health and dental benefits for his family, a housing supplement, and provides him with a $10k/yr annuity. At the same time, the special education department in this district can't afford to buy printer cartridges.

Finally, I will tell them that I'm not the only one who has seen such atrocities in Texas public education.

On the other hand, I would prefer to tell parents and taxpayers how the Texas educational system really is the Texas Miracle. You have a little time left, and the choice is yours.

Sincerely,

Kathy and Steve Conroy
496 CR 459
Carthage, TX 75632

Amid the Education Bureaucracy's insatiable desire for more of your tax dollars,
millions in wasteful spending is being exposed all across Texas.

Kickback schemes and bid rigging to the tune of millions of dollars in education administrator's pockets. The Superintendent involved was once recognized as Superintendent of the Year by a professional association, now faces prison for taking over 10 million of your dollars which should have gone to instruction and teachers salaries.
Contractor squeals on school officials kickback deals in San Antonio. He tells exactly how these schemes are engineered. See if his deposition raises any questions about shenanigans in your school district. Acquiring information about how YOUR money is being spend is nearly impossible due to officials attitudes that taxpayers who nose into the "schools business" are troublemakers and have no rights. They know close scrutiny, in many instances, will be their downfall. But take heart, read about the open records lawsuit that was won by citizens.

Don't know why the educational bureaucracy is so hard to crack? Even candidates for school board members are indoctrinated and told they have to support their Superintendents. These parents spent months uncovering the fraud resulting in padded wallets of school officials in their district. One of the best parent websites we've seen. Every district should have one although we have found only a
few in Texas. However, if what these parents uncovered is common place (and we have reason to believe it is), school district parents could save millions in local tax assessments by closely watching their school budgets and administration officials.

"I have a story to tell...." - the most incredible and inspiring story about parents who were denied the right
to question "New Math". They sued and won! Parents won but it wasn't easy to exercise their freedom of speech with the school bureaucracy. When you visit this web site go through it thoroughly. You'll be surprised at what you read about Your money and heavy handed school politics.