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.

New Orleans City Council Abdicates Its Responsibility: Says Poor are no Longer Welcome

In an astonishing move, three of the seven members of the New Orleans City Council have publicly said that those evacuees who are unable to work are not welcome.  Council President Oliver Thomas began the diatribe against his own citizens by saying

We don't need soap opera watchers right now.  We're going to target the people who are going to work. It's not that I'm fed up, but that at some point there has to be a whole new level of motivation, and people have got to stop blaming the government for something they ought to do.

Thomas was joined in this opinion by Council Members Clarkson and Pratt.

I certainly agree with the idea that those who can work should, but let me get this straight.  When I volunteered at the Reliant Arena helping those bused over from the Superdome, I don't recall hearing anyone asking Houston who should and shouldn't be helped.  When the City of Houston provided housing for the evacuees, again, I don't recall any questions being asked.  Imagine if at the height of the crisis, Mayor White and Governor Perry had said anything remotely like what Thomas, et.al. are now saying.  When Spring Branch took in over 1000 new students evacuated due to Katrina, it was again in the spirit of helping.

But now it's ok for a near majority of the New Orleans City Council to pick and chose which of its citizens are "worthy"?  That level of arrogance goes a long way toward explaining why a city would spend millions on Mardi Gras while abandoning its own.  Truly a sad day for New Orleans and those it thinks should be abandoned.

Former FEMA Director Mike Brown Attempts to Perfect the Art of "Failing Up"

In Hollywood when one fails, i.e., has a show cancelled, and then gets promoted, that's called "failing up."  While this may be a frequent happening in Hollywood, it seldom happens anywhere else -- except maybe for former FEMA Director Mike Brown who this week announced that he has formed Michael D. Brown, L.L.C., a consulting firm specializing in....drum roll please...."helping businesses to focus on their needs in case of the unexpected before disaster strikes, and responding correctly once an event occurs."  Wouldn't you like to see the business plan for this L.L.C.?

Wikipedia's posting on Mr. Brown contains the story of his brilliant failure as the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association, (IAHA), from 1989-2001. After numerous lawsuits were filed against the organization over disciplinary action, Brown was forced to resign.

Nevertheless, Mr. Brown's current business would be laughable were it not so ironic.  Remember, this is the former Director of FEMA who, at the height of the Katrina crisis, received the following email from Marty Bahamonde, FEMA's only employee in New Orleans, "Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical...many will die." Brown's reply: "Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?" See E-mail.

My prior posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here....show the FEMA related issues Texas has faced since Katrina.

I hope my business is never in a position where we would have to rely on the services of Michael D. Brown, L.L.C. in his latest effort to "fail up."

FEMA Finally Provides the Elusive Louisiana Sex Offenders List

10 weeks after Hurricane Katrina and more than a month after Governor Perry requested the information, FEMA has finally seen fit to provide Texas with the list of Louisiana registered sex offenders.  Well done FEMA -- 70 days and 4 possibly preventable sexual assaults later.

FEMA's Continued Incompetence and Louisiana's Sex Offenders

I was shocked to see this article in Saturday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Despite the fact that it has been almost 11 weeks since Hurricane Katrina, FEMA and the Louisiana government continue to fail to provide Texas with a list of Louisiana sex offenders.  When I posted about this weeks ago, I thought Governor Perry's plea to FEMA would be heeded.  Now we find out from the Star-Telegram that there have been 4 reported sex crimes committed by Louisiana evacuees.  As if that isn't disturbing enough, the most recent of the reported assaults, which involved an 11 year old, occurred in a room at an EconoLodge paid for by......you guessed it....FEMA.

Governor Perry is quoted in the article: "I think there are some deep problems in that agency," Perry said Friday. "For some reason or other they are not being able to function in an efficient way to serve the people of this country. I'm really disappointed and frustrated."

FEMA's pathetic response: it will look into Perry's complaints about possible evictions.

While it is incredible that this level of incompetence continues to pervade FEMA, it is unacceptable that these deviants are unaccounted for due to that incompetence.

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....

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings Proposes $2.3b for Katrina Education Aid

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has just announced a proposal for a $2.3 billion aid package for the education of students evacuees of Hurricane Katrina.  The funding applies to to any school that accepts more than 10 displaced students.  $1.9 billion would be set aside for the support of displaced students in public education and $488 million would be set aside for private or parochial school vouchers. The proposal would fund 90 percent of instructional costs, up to $7,500, for one year.  Congress will likely take up this issue very shortly.

Click here to see more details of the USDE Proposal.

Speech to the Nation by President Bush

President Bush's address Thursday, as released by The White House:

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. I am speaking to you from the city of New Orleans, nearly empty, still partly underwater, and waiting for life and hope to return. Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to Alabama and into Florida, millions of lives were changed in a day by a cruel and wasteful storm.

In the aftermath, we have seen fellow citizens left stunned and uprooted, searching for loved ones, and grieving for the dead and looking for meaning in a tragedy that seems so blind and random. We have also witnessed the kind of desperation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to know — fellow Americans calling out for food and water, vulnerable people left at the mercy of criminals who had no mercy, and the bodies of the dead lying uncovered and untended in the street.

These days of sorrow and outrage have also been marked by acts of courage and kindness that make all Americans proud. Coast Guard and other personnel rescued tens of thousands of people from flooded neighborhoods. Religious congregations and families have welcomed strangers as brothers and sisters and neighbors.

This is Wrong!: Feds Won't Cover Costs for Teachers

Texas school districts have opened their doors to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.  The Houston Chronicle reports this morning that the federal government has said it will not pay for additional teachers and textbooks at this time.  $62 billion in disaster relief and not a penny for schools educating Katrina evacuees.  Texas schools are providing first responder counseling services and a first-rate education to 29,000 students today, but the feds aren't going to support these children?  What that means is that a national-level disaster will be bourne on the heads of the taxpayers in each local school district, with most of that weight on the shoulders of Texans.

Now is the time to act!  Contact your US Representatives, and implore them to do the right thing by providing the resources to local school districts today. (If you live outside Spring Branch ISD, click here to find out who to contact.)

I have posted a survey to determine if you think the federal government should respond financially to this issue.

Education Secretary Spellings: No Clear Answers Yet on Where the Money will Come from to Educate Katrina Evacuee Students

The Associated Press interview of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings (below) shows why it is important to contact our US Congressional delegation to obtain financial assistance and additional relief for the Katrina evacuee students.

Contact information for our delegation can be found here. 

AP Interview: Spellings says 370,000 students displaced

9/12/2005, 1:28 p.m. CT By BEN FELLER The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hurricane Katrina has forced at least 372,000 school children to flee the Gulf Coast, and there are no clear answers yet on where the money will come from to educate these students, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said Monday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Spellings gave the most sweeping assessment of how the hurricane has affected the education community just as a new school year begins.