Mike Falick's Blog

My Day at the Capitol: Advancing the Board's Legislative Priorities

As the Board's Legislative Liaison since 2004, I have had the privilege of making many visits to Austin to advance the Board's Legislative Priorities.  Today, my fellow trustee, Susan Mathews, and I were in Austin and had the opportunity to discuss these Priorities with the following members of the House and Senate who represent Spring Branch:

• Representative Beverly Woolley, Senator Kyle Janek, Representative Hubert Vo, Representative Dwayne Bohac, Representative Jim Murphy, Senator Dan Patrick and his staff, staff member Isaiah Warner in Representative Jessica Farrar’s office, and Von Byer from Senator Shapiro’s office.

All of the Representatives and Senators, and their respective staff members expressed their support for Spring Branch.  They all recognized the financial difficulties facing the District as a result of Robin Hood.  We will continue to advance the Board's Priorities as the 80th Session continues.

Texas Education Agency Joins Spring Branch and Posts Its Check Register Online: Another Victory for Transparency

Following Spring Branch's lead, the Texas Education Agency has posted its check register on the internet.  The TEA check register is available in both Excel and html formats.

It is good to see the Texas Education Agency following Spring Branch in increasing transparency for Texas taxpayers. Hopefully, soon all governmental agencies will do so as well.

Website Provides Comprehensive Guide to Illegal Substances and Symptoms of Each

This website provides a comprehensive guide to illegal substances and the symptoms they cause.

From the website:

If you’re a parent, or if you’re concerned that someone you love may be taking an illegal substance, it is vital to understand what the many different types of drugs look like and the kinds of symptoms they can cause. This knowledge will give you the ammunition you need to make informed decisions and it may even save someone’s life. While there are a myriad of illegal substances, each one has a unique signature that can help you determine exactly what is going on. Here’s a guide that will make it easier to understand what you’re dealing with and what to look for.

Table of Contents

• Ecstasy
• Narcotics and Painkillers
• Morphine and Opium
• Amphetamines
• Methamphetamines
• Stimulants
• Barbiturates and Methaqualone
• Tranquilizers
• Phencyclidine (PCP)
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)
• Mescaline and Peyote
• Psilocybin
• Heroin, Opium and Fentanyl
• Cocaine and Crack Cocaine
• Amyl Nitrite
• Butyl Nitrite
• Chlorohydrocarbons and Hydrocarbons
• Nitrous Oxide
• Marijuana
• Hashish and Hashish Oil

 

The Faces of Addicts of Crystal Meth: This Should be Mandatory Viewing

I have previously posted on the dangers of crystal meth (here and here), both to the users/addicts and the children of users/addicts.  Now the Partnership for a Drug Free America website has posted pictures that prove that a picture really is worth a thousand words.  The pictures show before and after affects of addiction to this drug -- and the pictures are harrowing. 

Family Watchdog Provides Easy Access to National Sex Offender Database

I recently came across the Family Watchdog website.  By putting in your address or zip code, this website will identify all of the registered sex offenders in your area.  Each red square on the map to the left represents a registered sex offender.

Texas law requires all convicted sex offenders to register.

The website reports that Texas has the fourth highest per capita number of sex offenders (Arkansas, South Dakota, and Utah rank ahead of us).

Some additional sobering facts from the Family Watchdog website:

• 1 of 6 boys will be sexually molested before his 18th birthday.
• 1 of 5 children has been propositioned for sex over the Internet.
• 2 of 3 sexual abuses are perpetrated against teenagers or younger children.
• 90% of sexual assaults are committed against someone the perpetrator knows.
• The median age for male molestation victims under 18 is 9.8 years old.
• The median age for female molestation victims under 18 is 9.6 years old.
• There are new 400,000 victims of sexual assault every year.
• There are over 550,000 registered sex offenders in the US.
• There are over 100,000 sex offenders that fail to register in the US.
• 76% of serial rapists claim they were molested as children.
• Over 40% of male juvenile delinquents were molested as children.
• 1 of 5 girls will be sexually molested before her 18th birthday.

Speaker Craddick Announces House Committee Assignments: Rep. Eissler New Chair of House Public Education Committee

Speaker Craddick has announced the committee assignments (.pdf) for the 80th Legislative Session.  Serving on the House Public Education Committee are:

Rep. Rob Eissler (R) (The Woodlands) (Chair)
Rep. William "Bill" Zedler (R) (Arlington) (Vice Chair) (new to Committee)
Rep. Dan Branch (R) (Dallas) (CBO)
Rep. Harold Dutton, Jr. (D) (Houston)
Rep. Scott Hochberg (D) (Houston)
Rep. Anna Mowery (R) (Fort Worth)
Rep. Dianne Delisi (R) (Temple)
Rep. Dora Olivo (D) (Missouri City) (new to Committee)
Rep. Diane Patrick (R) (Arlington) (new to Committee)

Spring Branch Announces Bad Weather Make-Up Day

On January 17, Spring Branch along with most school districts in the area closed school due to potentially severe weather.  The District's 2006-2007 calendar (.pdf) provides two potential bad weather make-up days, April 6 and May 25.  The District has announced that the make-up day for January 17 will be May 25.  The announcement appears below.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Bad Weather Make-up Day Set

The bad weather make-up day for the school closure on January 17 will be Friday, May 25. This day was designated on the school calendar as a Bad Weather Day.

Since May 25th was designated as a Teacher Workday Day, we will need to determine how the lost work time from January 17th will need to be made up. Once the process is determined, it will be communicated to all staff. Additional information regarding revised early release schedules and revised final exam schedules for the final week of the school year will be provided next week.

The Quorum Report Says Speaker Craddick will not Release Committee Assignments Today

The Quorum Report is reporting that Speaker Craddick will not announce

Quoting from Alexis DeLee, spokesperson for Speaker Tom Craddick:

We will get them out as quick as we can. The ice storm and speakers race and other issues last week put us back a bit. We want to make sure that he has an opportunity to meet with everybody.

Spring Branch Invites Residents to Review Proposed Textbooks February 5-9

From the District's website:

Spring Branch residents are invited to review textbooks now being considered for adoption.

Textbooks in the following subject areas are being considered for the 2007-08 school year: Mathematics, grade 6-12, and Advanced Placement.

The textbooks will be displayed for citizens' review and input at the Spring Branch ISD Central Warehouse, 1031 Witte Rd. Bldg.E, the week of February 5-9, 2007. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9am till 3pm; and Tuesday, from 12pm till 6pm.

There will be citizen-input forms that may be completed by interested patrons. These forms will be read and considered by the district Textbook Committee before making final textbook selections.

Recommendation for adoption of textbooks goes before the Spring Branch ISD Board of Trustees no later than the March, 2007 meeting.

A Really Good Way to Visualize Pi

As I try to explain (and re-learn) 7th grade math, I came across this very good, visual explanation of pi.