Well I guess that's what board president, the honorable, lol, Ed Kirkland meant when he said "If you can't trust your superintendent you have a problem" as quoted in the Dallas Morning News.
Wow, so much crap, so little time. First thing, Ed! we know that we have a problem. His name is Larry Lewis and one of his accomplices is you. Tell us what you really mean Ed. Do you mean trust me?
Trust me is what your best friend the salesman tells you as he writes up that pretty SUV with the 20" wheels at list plus.
Trust me is what the ceo says to the board as he loots the treasury and tanks the share price on his way to a golden parachute.
Trust me is what the con man says as he convinces the senior citizen to sign that power of attorney that gives him control of her property.
Trust me is not what a trustee accepts from employees of his district. The trustee recalls the testimony of Glori Orapello, secretary of DISD, who testified that the reason she racked up $450,000 in charges on a district credit card was that no one was watching her. That came of course while she was trying to convince a federal judge to give her probation. It didn't work. He gave her one year.
The trustee is not as alleged dumber than a rock and realizes that rules and oversight are meant to keep honest people honest. Thieves are going to steal anyway. If you don't do your job Mr. President some of those honest people will too.
We did not elect you to trust anyone. Remember the words of Ronald Reagan "Trust but verify".
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Save our Schools
I am convinced that the root of our problems in public school operations is a legislative one.
The legislature has designed a system, characterized by Peyton Wolcott as socalist, that designates certain powers to a superintendent or Czar.
To balance this power is an elected board consisting of basically part time, non paid volunteers. This is not a fair fight. It is the equivalent of a knife fight in a phone booth and only the superintendent gets to have a knife. The Czar has the benefit of tens of millions of, or in the case of Dallas and Houston, billions of our dollars to buy consultants and outmaneuver us patriots.We the people are the ones who struggle unpaid for the interests of our children.
I am convinced that the only fix to this mess is in the legislature. While tactically fighting in the trenches in LISD is the order of the day, strategically repairing the system is a struggle for the legislature. With Governor Perry at the helm the time may be right for major reform.
Part of our approach might be contacting legislators, inviting them to meetings and shedding light on what goes on down here in the trenches. It is my belief that the position of superintendent whose primacy challenges the ultimate authority of the board is obselete.
I propose a tri parte administration. Itill consist of three superintendents, one for Instruction, one for finance and one for legal and law enforcement. These three will be required to be promoted from within and have a minimum of 5 years service at positions involving their specialty within the district. There will be no outside hires at superintendent level.
These superintendents will serve at the pleasure of the board and the board shall be subject to recall by the voters. In addition any violation of the education code, the government code, board code of conduct or board rules will be considered a class a misdemeanor. However the state will indemnify an act endorsed by the superintendent for legal affairs.
Do this and I'll be doggone if you don't get control of your schools back.
The legislature has designed a system, characterized by Peyton Wolcott as socalist, that designates certain powers to a superintendent or Czar.
To balance this power is an elected board consisting of basically part time, non paid volunteers. This is not a fair fight. It is the equivalent of a knife fight in a phone booth and only the superintendent gets to have a knife. The Czar has the benefit of tens of millions of, or in the case of Dallas and Houston, billions of our dollars to buy consultants and outmaneuver us patriots.We the people are the ones who struggle unpaid for the interests of our children.
I am convinced that the only fix to this mess is in the legislature. While tactically fighting in the trenches in LISD is the order of the day, strategically repairing the system is a struggle for the legislature. With Governor Perry at the helm the time may be right for major reform.
Part of our approach might be contacting legislators, inviting them to meetings and shedding light on what goes on down here in the trenches. It is my belief that the position of superintendent whose primacy challenges the ultimate authority of the board is obselete.
I propose a tri parte administration. Itill consist of three superintendents, one for Instruction, one for finance and one for legal and law enforcement. These three will be required to be promoted from within and have a minimum of 5 years service at positions involving their specialty within the district. There will be no outside hires at superintendent level.
These superintendents will serve at the pleasure of the board and the board shall be subject to recall by the voters. In addition any violation of the education code, the government code, board code of conduct or board rules will be considered a class a misdemeanor. However the state will indemnify an act endorsed by the superintendent for legal affairs.
Do this and I'll be doggone if you don't get control of your schools back.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Reasons to fire Larry
This from the archives:
On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, some time after 7:00 p.m., at the Janie Krebs Smith Memorial Auditorium, located between Lancaster Park Drive and Westridge, in Lancaster, Texas, on the old Elsie Robertson High School Campus, a town hall meeting was held. Former City Manager Jim Landon and Superintendent Larry Lewis spoke. They spoke concerning Lancaster’s future growth and the needs of the schools in preparation for that growth. At that meeting, Superintendent Larry Lewis said, “Give me $75 million in February, and I will give you the best school district in the nation in five years.” I immediately recorded that statement in writing. My wife was present with me and also heard the statement. She confirms the accuracy of my memory. I have recorded that statement in letters and memos I have written since then. I vividly recall the statement.
He went on to say, concerning the children, “We’re going to feed them, clothe them, house them, brush their teeth, and comb their hair.”
Hat tip to Dave Allen for documenting this bit to the hilt.
Now then, here we are preparing for the 2007 -2008 school year. Let's assess the situation.
Apparently the pledge to feed them etc. only applies to Monday thru Thursday.
Texas schools are evaluated as follows:
Exemplary
Recognized
Acceptable
Unacceptable
Other
In 2003 our schools were evaluated as follows;
Exemplary 0
Recognized 2
Acceptable 5
Unacceptable 0
Other 1
Now let's take a look at 2007. The latest school rankings are as follows:
Exemplary 0
Recognized 0
Acceptable 7
Unacceptable 2
Other 0
You can see that we no longer have any recognized schools. To add insult to injury Larry bulldozed one of our recognized schools and replaced it with an acceptable school at scarcely an increase in student population. We began with no unacceptable campuses and now have two. In addition, we still have no exemplary campuses.
Even Cretin, visiting our small planet would have to conclude that this administration and this superintendent is a massive failure. We have fallen from to having 2 recognized and no unacceptable to 2 unacceptable and no recognized. So then the inevitable conclusion is that Dr. Lewis, bless his heart, has failed miserably and failed to deliver on his pledge. Therefore he should find a compelling need to spend more time with his family.
Therefore Dr. Lewis, giving props to props not due, should live up to his pledge. Dr. your family needs you. Go spend more time with them.
Hat tip to Jeff Melcher for his heroic effort in compiling this information to a spreadsheet available documents on LPP@yahoogroups.com.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you , then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatami Gandhi
On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, some time after 7:00 p.m., at the Janie Krebs Smith Memorial Auditorium, located between Lancaster Park Drive and Westridge, in Lancaster, Texas, on the old Elsie Robertson High School Campus, a town hall meeting was held. Former City Manager Jim Landon and Superintendent Larry Lewis spoke. They spoke concerning Lancaster’s future growth and the needs of the schools in preparation for that growth. At that meeting, Superintendent Larry Lewis said, “Give me $75 million in February, and I will give you the best school district in the nation in five years.” I immediately recorded that statement in writing. My wife was present with me and also heard the statement. She confirms the accuracy of my memory. I have recorded that statement in letters and memos I have written since then. I vividly recall the statement.
He went on to say, concerning the children, “We’re going to feed them, clothe them, house them, brush their teeth, and comb their hair.”
Hat tip to Dave Allen for documenting this bit to the hilt.
Now then, here we are preparing for the 2007 -2008 school year. Let's assess the situation.
Apparently the pledge to feed them etc. only applies to Monday thru Thursday.
Texas schools are evaluated as follows:
Exemplary
Recognized
Acceptable
Unacceptable
Other
In 2003 our schools were evaluated as follows;
Exemplary 0
Recognized 2
Acceptable 5
Unacceptable 0
Other 1
Now let's take a look at 2007. The latest school rankings are as follows:
Exemplary 0
Recognized 0
Acceptable 7
Unacceptable 2
Other 0
You can see that we no longer have any recognized schools. To add insult to injury Larry bulldozed one of our recognized schools and replaced it with an acceptable school at scarcely an increase in student population. We began with no unacceptable campuses and now have two. In addition, we still have no exemplary campuses.
Even Cretin, visiting our small planet would have to conclude that this administration and this superintendent is a massive failure. We have fallen from to having 2 recognized and no unacceptable to 2 unacceptable and no recognized. So then the inevitable conclusion is that Dr. Lewis, bless his heart, has failed miserably and failed to deliver on his pledge. Therefore he should find a compelling need to spend more time with his family.
Therefore Dr. Lewis, giving props to props not due, should live up to his pledge. Dr. your family needs you. Go spend more time with them.
Hat tip to Jeff Melcher for his heroic effort in compiling this information to a spreadsheet available documents on LPP@yahoogroups.com.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you , then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatami Gandhi
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
WE WIN,FOR NOW
The Texas Education Agency has asked Lancaster school officials to answer 15 exhaustive questions about their proposed four-day school week that could spell the end of the controversial plan.
The News is reporting that LISD is withdrawing this ill conceived plan but will reintroduce. I especially note that the questions published in the news are the major concerns of the parents submitted in a letter to the TEA.
Also, the TEA maintains that the proposed schedule will actually reduce instruction time instead of increase it.
It's not over, the fat lady is on a diet and can't sing. Continue the struggle.
The News is reporting that LISD is withdrawing this ill conceived plan but will reintroduce. I especially note that the questions published in the news are the major concerns of the parents submitted in a letter to the TEA.
Also, the TEA maintains that the proposed schedule will actually reduce instruction time instead of increase it.
It's not over, the fat lady is on a diet and can't sing. Continue the struggle.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Truth comes out
The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday that Lancaster schools superintendent Larry Lewis said Friday that the district won't face a shortfall next academic year even if the state does not approve a four day schedule that he initially proposed to save money.
In this must read article, the news goes on to say that if the 4 day school plan is not approved, the district will only have $971,000 in reserve which is far short of the $8 million recommended by the TEA. Also w hear of the $3 million understatement in 2005-2006, and the use of bridge loans to supplement funding during certain periods.
You will of course remember that $1.9 million that Lewis said we would save in the beginning. It morphed into something around $700,000 and now in this article Lewis asserts that some cuts may never materialize. Apparently TEA thinks the district has a budgeting problem absent in other districts.
My question is how much smoke does there have to be in order for it to be obvious that there has to be some fire somewhere and we have either already gotten burned and don't know it or the that light you see in the tunnel, just around the bend is going to be more cataclysmic than the Krakatoa?
And begging the next question how much financial mismanagement does it take to demand use of article 21.211.21.212 of the Texas Education Code describing the grounds for dismissal for cause?
The truth will set you free but for some people it will just get them fired.
In this must read article, the news goes on to say that if the 4 day school plan is not approved, the district will only have $971,000 in reserve which is far short of the $8 million recommended by the TEA. Also w hear of the $3 million understatement in 2005-2006, and the use of bridge loans to supplement funding during certain periods.
You will of course remember that $1.9 million that Lewis said we would save in the beginning. It morphed into something around $700,000 and now in this article Lewis asserts that some cuts may never materialize. Apparently TEA thinks the district has a budgeting problem absent in other districts.
My question is how much smoke does there have to be in order for it to be obvious that there has to be some fire somewhere and we have either already gotten burned and don't know it or the that light you see in the tunnel, just around the bend is going to be more cataclysmic than the Krakatoa?
And begging the next question how much financial mismanagement does it take to demand use of article 21.211.21.212 of the Texas Education Code describing the grounds for dismissal for cause?
The truth will set you free but for some people it will just get them fired.
Friday, July 27, 2007
The courage of trustee Morris
This link leads to the DMN story of trustee Morris' meeting at Cedar Valley. The news reports "Ms Morris said that Dr. Lewis wouldn't authorize security for the meeting, so attendees took up a collection to raise the $350 dollars needed for two security guards from Cedar Valley College."
This is absolutely amazing. With all of the millions of dollars of campuses, administration building and police force riding around in $35,000 chevy crew cab pick up trucks, trustee Morris has to go to Cedar Valley to hold a meeting and pay for security herself.
Fast forward to Thursday when Larry Lewis spirits away a group of his yes people to Austin on a school district bus. Earlier he told trustee Morris that he did not have resources for security to support her meeting.
This of course begs the question "whose money is it and whose resources are they?"
Ordinarily I would stray away from a word like hubris. It is a little pretentious and I would use the more common, simple and direct arrogance. You have probably often heard that word in the same sentence as the words Larry Lewis. But when confronted with the actions of this man the word hubris leaps to the fore. It is arrogance taken to an unbelievable other level.
I think it is clear that standing up to the powerful and malevolent forces arrayed against her is an incredible act of courage by trustee Carolyn Morris. Thank you Ms. Morris.
This is absolutely amazing. With all of the millions of dollars of campuses, administration building and police force riding around in $35,000 chevy crew cab pick up trucks, trustee Morris has to go to Cedar Valley to hold a meeting and pay for security herself.
Fast forward to Thursday when Larry Lewis spirits away a group of his yes people to Austin on a school district bus. Earlier he told trustee Morris that he did not have resources for security to support her meeting.
This of course begs the question "whose money is it and whose resources are they?"
Ordinarily I would stray away from a word like hubris. It is a little pretentious and I would use the more common, simple and direct arrogance. You have probably often heard that word in the same sentence as the words Larry Lewis. But when confronted with the actions of this man the word hubris leaps to the fore. It is arrogance taken to an unbelievable other level.
I think it is clear that standing up to the powerful and malevolent forces arrayed against her is an incredible act of courage by trustee Carolyn Morris. Thank you Ms. Morris.
LISD goes to TEA
The Dallas Morning News reported that Lancaster ISD officials, supporters and opponents of a measure to adopt a four day school week met with the Texas Education Agency. Follow the link to read the article.
It's a good article but it says nothing about the administration kept this trip a closely guarded secret. If trustees Carolyn Morris and Marjorie King had not gone to Austin to hand deliver a letter to the TEA it would have seemed as if the entire town of Lancaster were Larry Lewis lovers and think that the 4 day school week is a jolly good idea.
These events underscore the differences between opponents of this measure and proponents. The opponents welcome discussion and debate and hold open meetings for anyone to attend even spies. The proponents sneak around surreptitiously in the dead of night attempting to rig the outcome in their favor.
Note Lewis' statement that parents would overwhelmingly support the plan after it is implemented. I wonder what in that Thursday meeting last week with the overwhelming opposition to his plan would make him think that anyone is ever going to like it.
The forces arrayed against us are cunning and smart. We showed up ready for a fist fight while Larry Lewis and his pocket sized board showed up with artillery and close air support all financed with our money. Lesson learned, next time we'll bring nukes.
It's a good article but it says nothing about the administration kept this trip a closely guarded secret. If trustees Carolyn Morris and Marjorie King had not gone to Austin to hand deliver a letter to the TEA it would have seemed as if the entire town of Lancaster were Larry Lewis lovers and think that the 4 day school week is a jolly good idea.
These events underscore the differences between opponents of this measure and proponents. The opponents welcome discussion and debate and hold open meetings for anyone to attend even spies. The proponents sneak around surreptitiously in the dead of night attempting to rig the outcome in their favor.
Note Lewis' statement that parents would overwhelmingly support the plan after it is implemented. I wonder what in that Thursday meeting last week with the overwhelming opposition to his plan would make him think that anyone is ever going to like it.
The forces arrayed against us are cunning and smart. We showed up ready for a fist fight while Larry Lewis and his pocket sized board showed up with artillery and close air support all financed with our money. Lesson learned, next time we'll bring nukes.
Save our school district
I have created this blog to use as an organizing tool for parents and other interested citizens of the Lancaster independent school district. I will post everything I can find concerning the operation of the district and our current crisis. Like minded individuals are encouraged to join and contribute to the discussion and the struggle.
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