Mike Falick's Blog

Texas Education Agency Does the Right Thing: Agrees Federal Hurricane Relief Funds Should ALL Go to School Districts

This afternoon, the Texas Education Agency issued a press release (.pdf) that "All federal impact aid sent to Texas to help cover the cost of educating Hurricane Katrina evacuees will be promptly sent to affected school districts and charter schools."  There has been significant pressure on TEA for several months to comply with the intent of the Federal Disaster Relief legislation that directed money to school districts on a per student basis for students who were forced to relocate due to the hurricanes.  TEA had previously contemplated retaining a portion of the federal funds, something clearly not contemplated by the legislation.

The TEA press release also states

When Congress appropriated $645 million in impact aid to be shared by 49 states, lawmakers had planned to provide $6,000 in federal funding for each regular education student and $7,500 for each student with disability. However, the initial count turned into the U.S. Department of Education by the states shows that districts are educating 157,743 students eligible for this funding, which means funding proration is all but certain. Some Texas congressmen are predicting that about $4,000 per student will ultimately be available.

With approximately 1100 evacuee students in Spring Branch, we could be looking at $4.4 million which will be very helpful as we attempt to meet the educational challenges faced by many of the evacuee students.

FEMA Continues to Ignore Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Hypocrisy of Alaska's Senator Stevens

On Tuesday, Governor Rick Perry sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.  Most troubling in the letter is the fact that Governor Perry has once again had to request that FEMA "swiftly assist Texas in identifying Katrina sex offenders and violent criminals" in order "to ensure the safety of the evacuee population and communities that have welcomed them."  It has been more than 2 months since Hurricane Katrina hit, and it is inexcusable that FEMA continues to fail to provide this basic information.

In the letter, Governor Perry asks that Texas recovery efforts for damage caused by Hurricane Rita be treated by FEMA in the same way as Louisiana recovery efforts for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.  Seems fair enough on its face, but it seems ridiculous that FEMA is skimping on Texas reimbursements when you consider this.....

Tucked away in Senate Bill 1932 (PDF), the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005, is a provision designed to direct Medicaid money for Katrina affected states (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) that gives Medicaid relief to (Hurricane ravaged?) Alaska.  That's right, under the Deficit Reduction bill is a provision that in addition to providing money for Katrina states, changes the way Alaska receives federal assistance for its Medicaid services. By changing the federal funding matching percentage for Medicaid in Alaska, the provision will provide an additional $130 million in federal Medicaid funding for Alaska.

Last week when the Senate debated Senator Coburn's amendment to defund the Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere" and give the money to Katrina efforts in the Gulf Coast, Alaskan Senator Stevens took the Senate floor to denounce the effort. In his speech he threatened to resign should the amendment pass.  "This is the first time I have seen any attempt by any Senator to treat my State in a way differently from any other State. It will not happen, it will not happen," shouted an angry Stevens.

Can you say hypocrite?  Perhaps next time his fellow Senators should take him up on his threat....

Hurricane Rita Information

Watch Houston ABC Channel 13 live feed.

Watch Houston CBS Channel 11 live feed.

Watch Houston NBC Channel 2 live feed.

Channel 2 Hurricane Tracker

The National Hurricane Center website is updating Rita information every 3 hours (next at 7pm) and updating the projected path every 6 hours (next at 10pm).

Check the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project website to see if your home or business is in the floodplain.

LAST POST September 24, 2005 @ 4:00 PM

Spring Branch ISD Schools Closed Thursday and Friday

From the SBISD website:

Due to the possible effects of Hurricane Rita, Spring Branch ISD is canceling all classes for Thursday, Sept. 22, and Friday, Sept. 23. The decision is being made because forecasts are predicting that the Greater Houston area will be significantly impacted by the storm late Friday and early Saturday.

All extracurricular activities are also canceled for these respective dates and throughout the weekend. Makeup dates for the school days and activities will be determined in the near future.

The cancellation of classes will enable families of our students and staff to have the time to make preparations for the storm. We have worked very closely with city, county and other school district officials to monitor the storm.

Please check local television and radio stations for up-to-date information on when our classes will resume.

_______________________________________

Posted September 22, 2005

The Spring Branch ISD website will be taken down Thursday afternoon, September 22 in order to protect our equipment and allow us to quickly bring the website back up. The website will not be brought back up until the storm has cleared and facilities have been restored.

April 2005 Johnson Space Center Study of Hurricane Impact on the Houston/Galveston area

Fellow Houston attorney Bill Lowerre just emailed me this very timely PowerPoint presentation prepared in April 2005 that models what would happen to the Houston/Galveston area if a category 4 hurricane followed 1961 Hurricane Carla's path.

Tropical Storm Rita: Just What We Don't Need

This is the latest projected path for Tropical Storm Rita.  The NOAA public advisories, projected path, and strike probabilities.

This link provides excellent family disaster plan information.

Tom Kirkendall's Houston's Clear Thinkers blog has a good discussion today about the impact this storm will have on the oil and gas industry.