Mike Falick's Blog

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Issues Its State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness: Texas Gets a "C"

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has issued its State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness.  As shown on the picture to the left, Texas falls right in the middle, largely because of a "D" on Truth in Advertising About Student Proficiency.  The grade on this item was based on the difference between the percentage of students deemed proficient by the state in 2005 and the percentage identified as proficient on the NAEP in 2005.  For a state that spends in excess of $50 million each year on development of the Texas TAKS test, this cannot be good news.

On the plus side, Texas gets grades of A and B in most other areas.

The report for Texas is available here here.  In addition, here are the grades for Texas according to the report:

Early Voting Starts Tomorrow for the Spring Branch School Board Election

Early voting for the Spring Branch School Board Trustee election begins tomorrow and continues through May 8.  You can vote at the Administration Building located at 955 Campbell from 7:00a until 7:00p Monday through Friday and from 8:00a until 12:00p on Saturday.  Voting on Election Day, May 12, will take place at your local elementary school.  You can enter your address here if you need information on your local elementary school.

Watch the Spring Branch Education Foundation Video Here

I have had the privilege of serving as a member of the Executive Board of the  Spring Branch Education Foundation since 2003.  Since 2003, the Foundation has continued to increase the amount of money given to the District, with a record $650,000+ last year.  The Foundation has created a video that tells its story.  I invite you to watch it and see the good work your Foundation is doing for Spring Branch.

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the Foundation, you can do so here.

Amazing (Interactive) Information About the Human Heart

This incredible website has literally everything you could ever want to know about the human heart.

Recap of Tonight's Candidates' Forum

Tonight's Candidates' Forum  presented a striking contrast on the only contested race.  (My handout is at left but as an unopposed candidate is simply informational).

Rather than re-create the forum, I will annotate the article written by Annette Baird of the Houston Chronicle.  My comments appear below in red.

____________

April 25, 2007, 11:47PM
Spring Branch trustees state their positions at forum
By ANNETTE BAIRD
Chronicle Correspondent  

The incumbent running for a third term in the upcoming Spring Branch school board elections pledged to take the district beyond TAKS and use taxpayer money wisely if he is elected to a third term.

David Converse, 51, said his long experience volunteering in the district, his commitment to kids, his passion for education and unfinished business were the main reasons he was running again.

Challenger Brigitte Laki expressed support for a school voucher system. She also voiced concerns about a possible bond issue for a facilities-improvement program and touted total immersion for all non-English speaking students.  Ms. Laki has been to very few of our schools and is unfamiliar with our recently adopted significant revision to accelerated English language acquisition.

The two candidates, along with Susan Mathews and Mike Falick, both of whom are running unopposed for a second term, fielded questions about everything from their own voting records and district facilities to the superintendent's job performance on Wednesday night at a candidates' forum.

Citing his long experience serving the school district in various capacities, Falick, 43, blasted Laki for her lack of knowledge and experience on district issues and her nonexistent voting record in school board elections.  (As an aside, I'm 41....).  Ms. Laki has never voted in a SBISD School Board election despite living in the District for a decade +.  As I said at the Forum, the first vote you cast should not be the vote you cast for yourself.

"It is not OK to say 'you should vote for me because I'm a taxpayer,' " Falick said.  It's not being a taxpayer that is the issue.  Rather it's the lack of participation -- no voting history, lack of volunteerism, lack of attendance at Board and budget meetings, etc.

"I guess I'm the spoiler," Laki told about 30 people in attendance.

Laki, 59, cited her experience as a parent of two Memorial High School graduates and her longtime management experience at ExxonMobil before retiring four years ago.

She said she was running because taxes had gone up while the quality of the schools has not. Laki said the district has had an "acceptable" rating, not the highest ranking attainable, in the state's accountability system during Converse's time in office.  What Ms. Laki seems to miss is that we are a Robin Hood district.  Her entire increase, as all of our increases in property value and the resulting increase in taxes has gone out of Spring Branch.  We have maintained a flat tax.  In addition, the broken rating system based on the lowest common denominator does not take into account the success experienced by our schools.

Converse, a research scientist with ExxonMobil, said he has worked on the district's long-term plans that address education, technology and facilities. He said his experience and continuity are needed to implement them.

While the incumbents agreed that many district facilities are aging and in need of renovations or replacement, Laki said the need for a bond issue is overblown.  I believe Ms. Laki needs to visit our schools before she can render this opinion.

"Most facilities are in good condition," she said. "I don't think you need to raze buildings to the ground."  While some schools may need to be razed, i.e., those where the cost of replacement is close to the cost to repair/maintain, all do not.  That is why we have the Long Range Facilities Plan.

Converse disagreed. He said the district has significant facilities needs. He pointed out that an 80-member bond committee is studying the district's needs.

Mathews, 48, said a bond election is critical to finance improved facilities.

"We have had a history of deferred maintenance," she said, adding that the bond committee will advise the board on how much and what the money should be spent on.

Tommy Tune Awards: Stratford Wins 3 Awards for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and Spring Woods' Wins One for Kristina Love's Performance in Cinderella

Students from Stratford, Memorial, and Spring Woods were nominated for the Tommy Tune Awards, which "provide recognition and reward for excellence in the production of musical theatre by high school students and their teachers in the Houston area."  From the District's website, here's the information on the Tommy Tune Awards presentation from last night.

________________________________________________________________

Stratford Playhouse cast and crew win three Tommy Tune Awards

The much acclaimed Stratford Playhouse won three separate Tommy Tune Awards on April 24, and Spring Woods High senior Kristina Love was awarded one of only seven $3,000 Theatre Under the Stars scholarships during the same awards presentation.

Stratford High’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie took home top prizes for Best Musical Direction and Best Ensemble/Chorus, and Sydney Helbling was named Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mrs. Meers.

Stratford High Playhouse was nominated for 11 Tommy Tune Awards, and Memorial and Spring Woods high schools won four more nominations in the annual regional drama competition.

The Tommy Tune Awards are named for the famous Houston native, one of the nation’s great dancers and performers.

Stratford Playhouse was nominated for top awards for Musical, Direction, t Music Direction, Scenic Design, Costume Design and Ensemble.  Nominated students were Ben Cooksey, Lead Actor; Caley Crawford, Lead Actress; Emily Mechler and Sydney Helbling, both for Supporting Actress; and Emmy Silak for Featured Performer.

Memorial High School was nominated for its Orchestra and Costume Design, and Memorial High’s Marlen Nahhas for Supporting Actress in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Spring Woods High School’s Kristina Love was also nominated for Lead Actress in Cinderella.

Memorial High School is Hosting a Parent Forum on Internet Safety on May 3 at 7:00pm

Memorial High School is hosting a parent forum on May 3 at 7:00pm.  The forum will feature author Anastasia Goodman, who has written Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online.  The forum will focus on cyber-bullying, cheating and plagiarism, social networking, and the good and bad of the internet.  More information from the Houston Chronicle's This Week article by Annette Baird appears after the jump.

Here's the Legislative Update I Provided for the Newsletters at Rummel Creek Elementary and Memorial Middle

I currently serve as the PTA Legislative representative at both Memorial Middle School and Rummel Creek Elementary School.  Below is the legislative update I recently provided for their newsletters:

The 80th Session of the Texas Legislature is down to its last 6 weeks. We are currently tracking approximately 800 bills that relate to education and our Board’s Legislative Priorities. If you are interested in seeing the bills related to each of the Board’s Legislative Priorities, you can see them here: http://www.springbranchisd.com/admin/gov/session/80th/Bills-Related-Board-Priorities.pdf.

Among these bills is House Bill 2236/Senate Bill 1031 which would replace the current TAKS test in high school with end of course exams. In addition, House Bill 3425 would give the Legislature 2 years to study the current TAKS system which would be revised or replaced in 2009. I have discussed at length the current problems with the TAKS testing system with our legislators. While I believe accountability is important, I think spending hundreds of millions of dollars and weeks of instructional time preparing for a test that 98% of 3^rd grade students pass is not a wise use of resources.  The current system does not provide good instructional data and fails to reward success.  Indeed, at our last budget meeting, we had a presentation from a group that has analyzed the top 200 districts (by size) in Texas.  Using a model that includes TAKS results, 4 year graduation rates, and ACT and SAT scores, Spring Branch ranks 1^st out of the top 200. That’s the kind of useful comparison information that I believe matters, as opposed to focusing on a single test.

We are also following a number of bills that would modify the top 10% rule for college admission, provide for teacher salary increases and modifications to the teacher retirement system, vouchers, and Robin Hood.

Finally, our biggest issue continues to be the cap on revenue established by last Spring’s Special Session. Since student population in Spring Branch is not a growing, the effect is to flat-line our revenue. The school finance reform bill included no provision for basic inflationary costs, including cost-of-living teacher salary increases, increasing energy and transportation costs, and increasing health insurance and benefit costs.  As a result, we are facing a $12 million deficit budget for 2007-2008 based solely on these inflationary cost increases.

Please remember to vote in our upcoming School Board election.  Early voting begins on April 30 at the Administration Building.  Election Day is May 12 with voting at your neighborhood elementary school.

Recap of Tonight's Board Meeting

Our Board held its regular monthly meeting tonight.  Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.

After Trustee Dave Converse's invocation, we began our Special Presentations.

• Our first presentation honored Beverly Litton, the CATE Counselor at the Guthrie Center, as our April 2007 Employee of the Month.
• Our next presentation honored David and Elaine Davenport as our April 2007 Volunteers of the Month.  I have known the Davenports for a number of years, and these uber-volunteers are well deserving of this honor.
• Our final Special Presentation honored a very special group of students with the Character without Question Award.  This award is given to one student on each of our 45 campuses who have demonstrated an enduring commitment to high character traits of honesty and integrity, responsibility and dependability, respect, perseverance and effort, courage, kindness and caring, and citizenship and civic virtue.  The students are nominated by both teachers and their fellow students on the campus.
• Dr. Jackson and I provided a Legislative Update You can get the materials we provided to the Board here.  The update includes a mid-session update from Moak Casey that highlights a number of the bills that we have been tracking that relate to the Board's Legislative Priorities and Positions.
• The Board then received an update from Don Irby with Null-Lairson, our outside auditor, on the 2006 Audit Findings.  The bottom line is the District has received a clean bill of health from our auditors.
• We then reviewed the District's Quarterly Investment Report.
• One of the things our Board has focused on is updating and revising our Board Policies.  Trustee Theresa Kosmoski and Dr. Jackson have worked hard to bring these policies to the Board, and we have spent considerable time on many of them.  Tonight's meeting included a review of GKD (Local) Community Relations: Nonschool Use of School Facilities.  This Policy will be discussed at our May 14 Board workshop with an eye toward final approval at our May 21 Board meeting.  We then gave final approval to DMA (Local) Professional Development: Required Staff Development, EHBE (Local) Special Programs: Bilingual Education/ESL, and Adoption of Local Policies: TASB Policy Update 79.
• We next approved the Budget Status Summary and Amendments, the Facility Improvement Program, and contract awards.
• The Board approved the re-engagement of Null-Lairson as our outside auditor.
• We also approved an Interlocal Agreement for Special Response Team to improve area law enforcement response to critical school related situations between our SBISD Police Department and the Memorial Village Police Department, the Hedwig Village Police Department, the Spring Valley Police Department, the Village Fire Department, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
  
• We then approved the renewal of the Lease with the Japanese Institute of Houston.  The Japanese Institute has leased space at Westchester Academy for International Studies for several years.  This market-rate lease provides funds to the District, and gives our students access to the Japanese Institute's programs.
• Finally, we approved the Consent Agenda, which included approval of Payroll and Operating Expenses, Tax Overpayment Refunds, Odyssey of the Mind Travel to 2007 World Finals, Disposal of Property, Acceptance of Gifts, and Approval of Minutes.

PTA Council School Board Candidates Forum Wednesday April 25 at 7:00pm at Frostwood Elementary: Come Hear the Candidates

As you know, I am running unopposed for re-election to our School Board.  While there is only one contested race (incumbent Dr. David Converse for Position 5), Dr. Converse and his opponent, as well as Trustee Susan Mathews and I will all be participating in the Candidates Forum sponsored by the Spring Branch Council of PTAs. 

Come hear our positions on the issues facing Spring Branch, and please take the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the operation of our District.

The Forum begins at 7:00pm at Frostwood Elementary (in the cafeteria).  Frostwood is located at 12214 Memorial at Gessner.

The PTA Council's flyer for the Candidates Forum is available here (.pdf) or by clicking the pictures on the left of this post.