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LULAC Chapter 4996
Todd Bensman & Robert Riggs
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02/09/06 No One on the
DISD School Board has the sense God gave a goose.
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If they need to go to voters with another wasteful
bond program, it might behoove the members of the DISD School Board to present
themselves as reputable and fiducially responsible. Apparently, that is
not a remote possibility, considering the makeup of the current School Board.
It's time we pluck the tail feathers of some of these birdbrains who are
doing everything possible to prevent Dallas children from being educated and
law abiding children. |
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From the mayhem days of Yvonne Gonzalez and Lounge Lizard Rojas, we have had
years of embarrassing disclosures of corruption and mismanagement. We
thought things were going well under Dr. Mike Moses, but that pesky Kinko/Fed Ex
contract with the golf perks for DISD administrators happened under his watch.
We supported that DISD bond package with the hope Dr. Moses would be there to
oversee implementation of the promised capital improvements. When Dr.
Moses announced his departure, many of us were disappointed. Then, the
Board picked homegrown Dr. Michael Hinojosa, and it looked like he was the right
man for the job. Wrong! |
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Greg Mullen:
I don’t think another DISD bond program should even be considered before
vouchers are put in place.
www.friedmanfoundation.org/index.html
As you know, the last time the DISD floated their $1 billion dollar bond,
they did not put any operating expenses in for the new buildings. D’oh! |
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As I've said before, it may be that no School Board
Superintendent should be a former educator. Apparently, former educators
do not make good top administrators. Could be that they know nothing about the
real world where the rest of us live. If a billion dollar corporation
operated like the DISD, the shareholders would be up in arms, and the
authorities would be looking to arrest someone. Oh, yeah, the authorities
have arrested someone(s) at the DISD, and might be planning to do it again over
the Micro Systems shady doings. |
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02/10/06 James
Northrup:
Bilingual scofflaws. I'm not too
sympathetic to the notion of hiring illegals paid with public - including
fed - funds.
This is a bad idea from all
perspectives - not the least of which is that bilingual education should be
a remedial exercise - for the linguistically handicapped - not a primary
task in public education.
If the DISD continues to drift away
from the core curriculum into race baited culture clashes, then vouchers are
going to be the only viable option for inner city parents.
We should support a voucher law at
the state level. |
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No one seems to care about anything beyond a flashy headline. Once the
PAID media do an exposé, they move on to another search for flash and dash.
There's no follow up.
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Except for DallasArena.com, have you seen or heard any stories in the print or
video media about Lew Blackburn continuing to hold a seat on the DISD School
Board while he keeps his high salaried job with Wilmer-Hutchins ISD, which is
now a part of DISD? It's not just a conflict of interest situation; it's
not legal. Hey, but we're talking about the DISD. Integrity gets
checked at the door. |
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02/12/06 JC:
While the essay is correct that they are stupid, the
pressing question is:
Who is paying the salary of all these
stupido's???
If they are so stupid (and they are),
how is it that they are smart enough to get into those positions of
power and get money?
Stop funding this terrorist organization known as DISD,
and you have in fact solved the problem.
Hands down no questions asked.
They are willing to break the law
because they are the bad guys and the good guys won't
break the law.
So change the law,
before they get the law changed to suit them. |
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When the word got out Wednesday about Trustee Hollis Brashear's resignation, there
was all sorts of speculation as to why.
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Brashear resigns
from DISD board;
Decision,
effective in May, shocks some members
February 8, 2006
by
TAWNELL D. HOBBS and KENT FISCHER / The Dallas Morning News
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Hollis Brashear, the Dallas school
district’s longest tenured board member, threw his fellow trustees an
unexpected curve Wednesday when he resigned from the post.
... One believes that it has something to do with
racial tension amongst black and Hispanic trustees.
... He didn’t deny trustee Ron Price’s belief that
racial strife between black and Hispanic trustees had an affect on him.
“Our board meetings have become very
stressful in the past year,” said Mr. Brashear, who is black.
... Board president Lois Parrott said Mr. Brashear
handed her a short resignation letter Tuesday night after a board meeting.
... “He’s been such a tremendous service to our
school district,” Dr. Parrott said,
... “When Lois called me, I had denial,” said
trustee Lew Blackburn. ... |
One community source says
Trustee Brashear is too involved with the Micro Systems Enterprises scandal.
See
What's next?
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Vendors donated
$25,000 to Price;
Trustee says contracts not aided;
1 of the 3 let tech chief use boat
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 By JESSICA
LEEDER and PETE SLOVER / The Dallas Morning News |
All of Dallas school trustee Ron
Price's $25,000 in political donations last year came from
three closely associated computer contractors, including the one who
gave the district's top technology boss years' worth of free fishing trips
and use of a yacht.
Mr. Price, who
has played down the school official's sea trips, reported in a
campaign filing that Frankie Wong, president and chief executive of
Houston-based Micro System Enterprises, gave him $10,000 in October.
On the same day, Mr. Price got
$10,000 from Larry Lehman of Giddings and $5,000 from Frank Trifilio of
Houston, according to the filing.
Asked why he believed Mr. Wong and
his business partners would make the donations, which are large by local
school board standards, Mr. Price said Tuesday: "He's
a great guy. I'm a good guy.
... State corporation records show the three donors, in various
combinations, run a web of interrelated computer companies.
Micro System is the head company in a
consortium that is designated to receive more than 96 percent of federal
technology grants DISD has applied for – $369 million in all.
... Mr. Price has been outspoken in playing down
revelations in The Dallas Morning News that Ruben Bohuchot, the district's
associate superintendent over technology services, had regular use of a
59-foot yacht owned by Micro System.
... Until May, Mr. Price was chairman of the
trustees' business briefing panel, which considers technology and other
contracts before they are reviewed and voted upon by the entire school
board.
... "All you do is chair the meetings," Mr. Price
said, adding that Mr. Wong's contributions had "zero" effect on the
multimillion-dollar contracts Micro System has been awarded by the district.
... Mr. Price said when the campaign money came to
him last fall, he had scant knowledge of the men who provided the bankroll.
... Mr. Price said he has since been introduced to
Mr. Wong – at a fundraiser thrown for him by a Houston school trustee.
... However, nine months after getting the money,
Mr. Price said he still knows nothing about Mr. Trifilio or Mr. Lehman, nor
of their business links to Mr. Wong.
... The three donations put Mr. Price easily at
the top of the list for trustee campaign contributions in 2004. Hollis
Brashear pulled in the second-largest total, just over $18,000. No other
trustee reported donations from Mr. Wong or his associates last year,
according to documents on file at DISD. ...
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It can't be a pleasant
situation for any of the Trustees. Well, Joe May probably is having a good
time. He's getting lots of press. He's too dumb to know the
difference in good press and bad press.
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Hollis Brashear has been Lois Parrot's puppet master. She's going to be
like a fish out of water without Brashear telling her what to do or not do.
With Ron Price leaving soon to start campaigning for Shakedown Leo Chaney's
council seat, things are going to be very different on the DISD School Board.
For some reason, Dr. Edwin Flores and Jerome Garza are acquiescing to every
bird-brain and racist idea Joe May proposes. Dr. Flores says he was a
former prosecuting attorney, but he's been silent about May's scheme to have the DISD violate federal law to continue a failed program. |
Bilingual education has not worked in Dallas or anywhere else. Children
are not learning English as fast as they should. There is no bilingual
education for children from Asia, but those kids are excelling over all their
peers. The cost of bilingual education has drained millions from taxpayer
funds that should have gone to educate all children.
When Dr. Michael Hinojosa was attending and excelling in Dallas schools, he was
not taught in bilingual classes. Does he think Hispanic children of 2006
are not as smart as he was as a DISD student?
There is no wonder parents are pulling their children out of DISD schools and
making whatever sacrifices necessary to put their children in private schools or
even move to other school districts.
All of the education experiments that have been tried in the DISD system have
failed.
We can't get decent people to even consider running for the School Board because
they know it's hopeless. Even if they win a spot, look at the people they
would have to associate with. With Joe May calling the shots and a slim
majority of the Board going along with him, there is little one or two honorable
members could do to turn the sinking ship around.
If Lois Parrot had a lick of sense and an ounce of backbone, she would have
refused to put Joe May's ridiculous proposal on the agenda in the first place.
The fact that the Superintendent and the Board spent all that time discussing a
proposal that would violate federal law tells you they have little or nothing to
do. At least or nothing to do that relates to educating our children.
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DISD board looks at
hiring options;
Trustees debate
ways to tap illegal immigrants as bilingual teachers
Wednesday,
February 8, 2006By TAWNELL D. HOBBS /
The Dallas Morning News |
For one young woman at the Dallas
school board meeting Tuesday, the discussion about hiring illegal immigrants
as bilingual teachers hit close to home.
She entered the United States from
Mexico illegally as a child with her parents 18 years ago. And she recently
graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in
bilingual education.
... "After going to school for so many years and
not getting nothing out of it, it's not right," said the 25-year-old woman,
who attended the meeting but asked not to be identified, fearing
deportation. "I'm a certified teacher, but I can't work."
School board members, confronted with
a growing shortage of bilingual teachers, are exploring ways to solve the
problem.
... A lawyer knowledgeable in international law
and a university professor with expertise in bilingual education discussed
changing the federal law that prohibits hiring illegal immigrants.
... Trustee Joe May, who brought the issue before
the board, said the district is in crisis mode because it doesn't have
enough bilingual teachers to educate students.
... Superintendent Michael Hinojosa supports
changing the law.
... The options discussed at Tuesday's meeting:
•Using lobbyists to help get the law changed.
•Meeting with Dallas' legislative delegation for help.
•Combining forces with other urban school districts with similar shortages.
•Seeking a provision in the law that would address only DISD's hardship in
hiring enough bilingual teachers.
"There's a way to ask for something
narrow to serve our needs," trustee Jack Lowe said.
... Florentino Ramirez, an attorney with Ramirez &
Associates in Dallas, said the solution for DISD is the DREAM Act, a bill
that has been stalled in Congress for two or three years.
The bill allows illegal immigrants
who graduate from high school to apply for conditional status, which allows
them to stay legally in the United States for six years. During those six
years they must graduate from a two-year college or complete at least two
years of a four-year college degree or serve at least two years in the
military.
If they successfully complete the
requirements and maintain good moral character, they would be granted legal
permanent resident status. ... |
Exactly how does a teacher tell a student to
behave and follow the rules when the teacher is
himself a lawbreaker?
If her illegal immigrant parents
hauled that woman up here against her will,
then she should be mad at
her parents. No one else had anything to do with
her current predicament.
It is sickening how hard some strain to be
politically correct, rather than
striving to be sensible.
Stan Aten:
The proposal to have illegal immigrants teach in the DISD is
incredible. Does this mean, DISD should hire prostitutes to teach sex
education or drug dealers to teach civics classes?
Where does this nonsense end? What are the recall
procedures for a DISD trustee who has lost the trust of the taxpayers? |
Stan is right. But then,
Stan is almost always right. The problem with Stan is he is always so
sensible and logical. You cannot apply either thinking to the goings on
among DISD School Board members. That's why they get into such ridiculous
messes and waste so much of our money. Even when someone tries to warn
them, they either don't understand the issue or don't see a way to profit from
doing the right thing for DISD students or DISD taxpayers.
Anonymouse:
Sharon, I told DMN's Hobbs about
the Kinkos story two years that DISD would have problems. You're
right. She only got part of the story.
A relative of mine worked for Lexmark, who is a
partner on this deal.
I game Joe May
a sample of the Kinkos-Lexmark contract.
The problem is caused by the printers being turned off and
not being able to sync to a server in Lexington. Lexmark
ESTIMATES the
billing (always in their favor). If the next month is less,
the numbers are reconciled. Lexmark bills Kinkos,
which bills DISD. However, they often forget to
do this. I have told May how this works. He was too
stupid to understand. The man can
barely work his computer. |
There's a simple way to get the
attention of Superintendent Hinojosa and his bureaucrats and the DISD School
Board. We must vote down any bond program they propose. If you vote
to approve their next bond proposal, you are expressing approval of their
behavior and mismanagement.
Surprise, surprise -- THE DALLAS MANAGED NEWS is endorsing Joe May's wacko plan.
The DMN Editorial Board is dominated by people who are not from Dallas.
The head chick of the Editoral Board is from Phoenix, Arizona.
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This May Have Promise: Trustee's idea could be
guest-worker pilot
Editorials
Thursday, February 9, 2006 |
Oh, that Joe May. What will he think
of next?
First, a bilingual mandate for
principals. Now, hiring illegal immigrants to teach bilingual education. At
first blush, that sounds on par with recruiting drug slingers to run Just
Say No class.
But with respect to the
jail-and-deport crowd, being a Dallas school board member doesn't
necessarily mean Mr. May is misguided. Let's think this all the way through.
... Is it such a stretch to consider employment in
a worthy profession like teaching as a way to recoup some of that
investment?
Forget it, you say.
It's against the law to knowingly hire an
illegal immigrant. The feds would never go for this.
Stay with us.
We support President Bush's push for a guest-worker program that
would put many of our estimated 11 million illegal immigrants on a
citizenship path. The U.S. economy would turn south – no pun intended –
without them.
... What he needs – and smart representatives
should demand – is evidence that his program would work.
Let DISD provide the lab. Set up a
pilot program here that would grant the school district a waiver from
legal-status requirements for, say, 200 teachers. (The other half must come
from the already legal population.) ... |
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DISD
students are not lab rats. |
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DISD students
aren't learning due to all of the "innovative" ideas of the past 20 years. |
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DISD students
need for their teachers to get back to the 3 R's in their classrooms. |
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DISD
students need to have non-English speaking children (from all foreign
countries) put in an English emersion class. |
Here's a flash for Macarena, Joe May and the Dallas Managed News Editorial
Board: Mexico is a foreign country. Mexican citizens are not U.S.
citizens until they LEGALLY enter the country and go through the appropriate
process to become naturalized U.S. citizens.
If you come into this country illegally from Europe or Asia, you should be
deported. If you drag your children along in your illegality, they should
be deported with you.
Dr. Hinojosa says
"It wasn't their fault they were brought here.
Their parents brought them."
What happens to
children whose parents break our laws and rob a bank? Many of them are
taken from their family and put in foster care, and it
wasn't their fault their parent broke the law. College
graduates who are here illegally because their parents brought them here as
children, should be mad at mommy and daddy.
Stan Aten is right. We cannot have LAWBREAKERS teaching our children how
to be LAW-ABIDING citizens.
sb
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