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Click here:  Animator vs. Animation

 

To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

- Albert Einstein

 

 

All children deserve an equal playing field.

- Ed Allen, Westlake Picayune April 2008

 

 

My vision for Eanes can't be seen on a Jumbotron ...

- Eanes ISD parent
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

   "The truth is like the sun.  You can block it out for a time but it ain't goin' away."  - Elvis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If You Aren't Completely Appalled You Haven't Been Paying Attention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. - Mark Twain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Information is currency for democracy.

-Thomas Jefferson

 
 

 

 

 

 

It's about power and money and the law firms who control and run the school districts.
- K. Yeaman,  Mom


 

 

 
 

 

 

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

- Albert Einstein

 
 
        William Tell Overture for Moms
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The best protection of the Texas Public Information Act is enforcement of the Texas Public Information Act. 

- Dianna Pharr

 


    One school district, one child, one parent at a time ...

PRIVATE attorneys get RICH, RICH, RICH ...  


 

  WHERE ARE OUR SCHOOL TAX DOLLARS GOING?

Announcing:  The Eanes ISD Job Program for Private Attorneys

During the latter part of 2007, Eanes ISD retained private attorneys to submit a complaint against an award-winning physics teacher who had served our district well for decades.  KeepEanesInformed covered that issue and eventually the district agreed to withdraw the complaint (click here to learn if that ever happened.)  So, while working hard to win a complaint against this outstanding educator, the same law firm was busy at work "investigating" this site (while we were busy at work covering this issue - is there a connection here?)

The legal invoices below ($1200.00) characterize me as an "individual not affiliated with the district."  In truth, my affiliations with this district are numerous including parent, volunteer, and taxpayer. 

Further, Feldman & Rogers describes my site's email address as "deceptively similar to the district's email address."  Deceptively similar?  Are they joking?  So, to clear up any confusion:  Yes, the email address references the very same Eanes ISD that is the subject of this site, KeepEanesInformed.

Meanwhile, I appreciate the communications I received from Eanes ISD community members, employees, students, and other citizens from around Texas.  Happily, they were all well aware that the email address belongs to KeepEanesInformed related to this website since it began in October 2003:  eanes_isd@hotmail.com.  Every person who contacted this site also understood my "affiliation" with the district.  

And about this "Job Program for Private Attorneys" funded by our school tax dollars?   It's thriving all over Texas!  In October 2007, Feldman & Rogers was also hard at work suing a citizen in Galveston who maintains a site about the operations of her community school district.  Click here to see the letter that finally preceded the withdrawal of that lawsuit:  Attorney Responds to David Feldman's Demand Letter. They stay real busy helping school districts withhold public information from the public, too.  Maybe Eanes ISD should focus on the district's apparent inability to effectively manage bond projects instead.

And I'll let you know if I ever receive that $1200.00 letter.  In fact, I'll post it!  Visit this site's page on Private Law Firms to learn more about the "Job Program."  

 


   

Note:  The following is only a sampling of the district's legal expenses Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schultz and Aldridge law firm and does not reflect the legal representation costs associated with the 2007 Valley View Elementary sexual harassment lawsuit.  Further Walsh, Anderson, Schultz, Brown and Aldridge is just one of many law firms retained by Eanes ISD and funded with our school tax dollars.

70670      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 10/27/2006          $600.00

71899      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 12/15/2006       $11,430.44

      72473      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 01/19/2007       $38,153.22

73541      WALSH AN000 WALSH, ANDERSON, BROWN, SCHULZ R 02/22/2007        $4,615.71

96824 07/12/2007        37,331.22     WALSH, ANDERSON, BRO 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 Legal Services through May 15, 2007

07/12/2007                   68,207.05     WALSH, ANDERSON, BRO 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 Legal Services - May 1, 2007

97445 08/23/2007         1,857.71     WALSH, ANDERSON, BRO 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 Legal Services Through July 2007

96806 07/12/2007 17,025.00 STERN, WILLIAM PHD 199 E 41 6211 00 732 0 00 000 as of 06-29-07 Legal Services  Spec. Ed. Due Process


Here we go again.  Feldman & Rogers (also Eanes ISD private attorneys)

Failed and Bullied by Texas Public Schools

Please watch this video:  Local Mom Battles School District


Rethink special education

The current special-education system is an arrangement that only lawyers could love.  It creates rights that can only be enforced in court — if then. It creates conflict between families and schools. It is all about process and not about results. Adding vouchers to the mix changes all of that by giving families an alternative mechanism for getting what they need, reducing costs and conflict, and ensuring better results for all disabled students.

Introduction:  Rethink special education -  In a three-part series beginning today on our Op-Ed page, the authors of the report, Marcus A. Winters and Jay P. Greene, explain the effects of Florida's McKay voucher/special education program, and why parents view vouchers and special education as a good match — "more than 90 percent of parents participating in the McKay program report that they are satisfied or very satisfied, while about a third of them were similarly satisfied with their previous public school." In the third installment that will be published Thursday, the authors look at vouchers and special education through the lens of the federal government and presidential politics, encouraging "a fresh approach to school choice that would allow parents of disabled students to use federal special education dollars in any public or private school they see fit." 

Part 1:  Vouchers and special education - by Marcus A. Winters and Jay P. Greene April 29, 2008

Part 2:  Vouchers for special-ed students - by Marcus A. Winters and Jay P. Greene - April 30, 2008

Part 3:  The politics of special-ed voucher - by Marcus A. Winters and Jay P. Greene - May 1, 2008


The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement:

Evidence From Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program

Comment: This report shows some clear evidence that vouchers do not negatively impact students with disabilities that remain in the public school system vs. taking the vouchers to attend private placements.  In fact, the report indicates that the students in the public school system showed significant progress academically because of the option for school choice. And this report breaks down data by area of disability. 

“Our results from evaluating Florida’s McKay program provide additional evidence that rather than being harmed, public schools respond to the challenge of exposure to school choice by improving the education they provide. These findings are consistent with most previous research, which demonstrates school-choice policies’ positive effect on public school achievement.”

by Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters

Executive Summary

This paper evaluates the impact of exposure to a voucher program for disabled students in Florida on the academic performance of disabled students who remain in the public school system. The authors utilize student-level data on the universe of public school students in the state of Florida from 2000-01 through 2004-05 to study the effect of the largest school voucher program in the United States, the McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities (McKay), on achievement in math and reading by students who have been diagnosed as disabled and remain in the public school system.

This paper is the first empirical evaluation of the impact of exposure to a voucher program designed to allow students with disabilities to enroll in schools other than their local public schools on the achievement of disabled students who remain in their local public schools. Vouchers for disabled students are the fastest-growing type in the United States. Programs similar to McKay are currently operating in Ohio, Georgia, and Utah and have been recently considered by other states.  Full Article Here

Highlights of the study include:

  • Public school students with relatively mild disabilities made statistically significant test score improvements in both math and reading as more nearby private schools began participation in the McKay program. That is, contrary to the hypothesis that school choice harms students who remain in public schools, this study finds that students eligible for vouchers who remained in the public schools made greater academic improvements as their school choices increased.
  • Disabled public school students’ largest gains as exposure to McKay increased were made by those diagnosed as having the mildest learning disabilities. The largest category of students enjoying the greatest gains, known as Specific Learning Disability, accounts for 61.2% of disabled students and 8.5% of all students in Florida.
  • The academic proficiency of students diagnosed with relatively severe disabilities was neither helped nor harmed by increased exposure to the McKay program.

For the complete report go to:  http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_52.htm

 


Winkelman Decision Synopsis - (regarding pro se representation of rights)

As a result of the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Winkelman v. Parma City School District, decided May 21, 2007, parents of children with disabilities can now litigate their right to a free appropriate public education for their children without hiring a lawyer.

The key to this decision is the Court's finding that it is not only the child that has entitlement to a free appropriate public education. Parents also have this entitlement for their children. Therefore, parents are litigating their own rights, and can do that without hiring a lawyer to appear in court. As a result, parents are not representing their children pro se, but are representing their own rights in court.


Texas Taxpayers and the TEA:  The Fleecing of Special Education

If you are a taxpayer, read this.

So whenever a school bond issue comes up, and you as a taxpayer are asked to give more money, ask the school board how much was spent in one year on attorney fee’s to defend against parents who have children with disabilities.   Ask what the cost was of what the “frivolous” request was from the parent; and for the love of Texas, ask what they instead chose to spend in attorney fees to deny that request.  - Michelle Guppy


 

Private Attorneys to the Rescue!

Laughing all the way to the bank, tax-funded Private Attorneys Train Public Schools Districts How to Protect Against Children with Special Needs.

Refuse participation of parents, advocates, teacher educators and other professionals.

1/26/07 - Located in Westlake Hills, "National Educators Law Institute" (NELI) boasts of multiple Eanes ISD private attorneys as speakers and presenters (Feldman & Rogers, McGinnis & Lochridge.)  The website states that the training is "always served up with a healthy dose of famous NELI humor."   Here's the little superhero (no doubt fueled by our tax dollars) ready to help those school districts protect again a little child with disabilities.  Really?  Is it that funny?  And you'll be even more disgusted to learn that school board members can count this conference as training!  In the area of "Vision, Structure and Unity."  Are you laughing yet?

1/29/07 - UPDATE:  CONFERENCE organizers UN-INVITE parent advocates ...   Click Here

Excerpt from NELI letter :  I'm sure you will understand that based on the curriculum in the brochure, our regular attendees would be a bit nervous to have a representative from Advocacy, Inc. in the audience.  This is terribly rude, but I must "uninvite" you to our Houston conference!

GREAT QUOTE:  "If parents see the school district as a "Pot of Gold" as you describe - it is only because schools seemingly have an abundance of money when it comes to hiring attorneys and going to due process - versus - not having any money to provide the service needed." - Michelle Guppy, Parent and Advocate

 1/30/07 - ANOTHER DENIED REGISTRATION...   Click Here

Your choice to exclude me leads me to question the purpose of your training and if you have some sinister purpose or hidden agenda. There is no reason to unilaterally limit parents, teacher educators, and private service providers from attending if your purpose is genuine. - Melissa L. Olive, Ph.D., BCBA

Excerpt from conference invitation:  When it comes to protecting your district from costly special education litigation, there is nothing more empowering than knowledge of the law. To get it, you dont (sic) even need a cape or X-ray vision!

Topics Include:
 
  • "Super Kids": Evaluating for Autism Under IDEA
  • "Kryptonite - ABA and TEACCH and PECS, Oh My!": Autism Methodology Cases and What Can be Learned From Them
  • "The Superhuman Challenge": Meeting All Eleven Requirements Under the New Autism Supplement
  • "Deflecting Financial Bullets": Requests for Outside Services and Private Placements
  • "Using Your X-Ray Vision": Determining Eligibility for LD Under the New Commissioners Rules
  • "Leaping Tall Buildings in a Single Bound": Addressing Challenging Behaviors Under Autism and Other Disabilities
  • For more party invitations, click here or go to "Private Law Firms" page link - see menu bar on left side of this webpage.


        Here we go again.

    Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schultz and Aldridge (Eanes ISD private attorneys)

    CLICK HERE:  Lawyers get rich on the backs of special needs kids  

    Greg Groogan’s latest story on the school district attorneys and special education in public school:  It's become all too common for public schools and parents to fight over what should and shouldn't be done for a special needs child. FOX in Focus, Greg Groogan shows just how far one Texas district was willing to go to get its way.  Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar.

    VIDEO HERE:  Parents of Special Needs Kid Battles Public School District

    Share comments on Greg’s blog here:  http://community.myfoxhouston.com/blogs/Greg_Groogan

     


      Click here to review the publications for sale by Eanes ISD private attorneys Walsh, Anderson, Schultze, Brown and Aldridge including these:

    THE ADVENTURES OF ARD MAN: SEVEN STEPS TOWARD EFFECTIVE ARD MEETINGS  - ARD Man lays out seven critically important steps toward improving the Admissions, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee process in an extraordinary and enlightening DVD. (38 Minutes)

    SECTION 504: LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES - Join Jim Walsh and his guests for a highly informative and entertaining excursion through the intricacies of Section 504. (47 Minutes)


    It's about power and money and the law firms who control and run the school districts.

    This private law firm Walsh Anderson Brown Schultze and Aldridge benefits greatly from  Eanes ISD education tax dollars.  Let the PARTY begin! 

    CHEERS!? 

    Having trouble obtaining a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for your child with disabilities?  *

    Does your child need an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) as required by federal law? *

    Apparently, your child's needs and rights  are sometimes just a  BIG JOKE.    

    * FAPE, a federal educational rights for children with disabilities is a "Free Appropriate Public Education", not "Firewater, Alcoholic Potions & Elixirs" as our tax-funded attorneys like to joke, all in good fun of course.  

    Bottom line:  Our education dollars are funding these attorneys (and their idea of FAPE) instead of funding FAPE for our children.  Cause for celebration?


    And the FUN AND GAMES continue ...  but this is no ordinary school play rehearsal. 

    A look behind the curtain:

    Autism: The Sky is Falling! By Chicken Little

    Click here to view script ...

    Henny Penny played by attorney Nona C. Matthews --- The same Nona C. Matthews who is employed by ...

          Walsh Anderson Brown Schultze and Aldridge!   "Her practice emphasizes representing school districts in special education litigation."

    Loosey Goosey played by public school Special Education Director Pamela Carroll --- Lake Travis ISD Special Services

    Duckey Luckey played by public school Lead Speech Therapist Bobbye Records --- Grapevine-Colleyville ISD

    TIP #1:  GOT MONEY FOR GOOD ATTORNEY???                      HINT:  It's in the district's check register - our tax dollars.

    TIP #6:  Courage to eliminate those who get in the way?     HINT:  Parents, Teachers and CHILDREN.

    Last and clearly least ... Chicken Little      ... who was not invited to rehearsal.


    One school district, one child, one parent at a time ... 

    Different child, different parents, different school districts ...

    same private law firm ... Walsh Anderson Brown Schultze and Aldridge

    Read more about the outrageous actions of Lake Travis ISD against the Lovelace family ... all funded by tax dollars.    $800,000

    The August 2, 2007 edition of the Lake Travis View has an excellent article written by Charles McClure regarding the LTISD and their wasteful use of tax dollars to persecute my family.   Information link from www.ltisd.info


        Here we go again.

    Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schultz and Aldridge (Eanes ISD private attorneys)

    How much money have these districts deposited into the pockets of private law firms funded with our tax dollars to battle against the rights of children? 

    During the summer of 2006, I recognized that the Lake Travis ISD leadership was violating the privacy rights of children in that district. 

    Background:  Eanes ISD published and publicly distributed my child's confidential information including medical information ... yes, more than once. When the district denied my formal complaint "within" the district, I complained to the U.S. Department of Education.  That federal agency issued an adverse finding against Eanes ISD and how did the district respond?  By hiring private attorneys funded by our tax dollars to battle against my child's privacy rights.  Yes, the district appealed the adverse finding.  Still, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed the adverse finding against the district.  Want to learn more about the school district's reaction to open government and advocacy for a child?  Click here.

    So when I discovered the Lake Travis ISD (also represented by private attorneys funded by our tax dollars) distribution of confidential education records of children on its website, I took action and submitted a formal complaint to the Lake Travis ISD Board.  

    Like Eanes ISD, Lake Travis ISD retained a private law firm funded by tax dollars. 

    Like Eanes ISD, the Lake Travis board denied my formal complaint "within" the district.  

    Like Eanes ISD, Lake Travis ISD responded to my subsequent formal complaint with an outside agency by continuing to retain tax-funded attorneys to battle against the private rights of children.

    Like Eanes ISD, when Lake Travis ISD received an adverse finding from the Texas Education Agency, the district continued to spend education tax dollars to retain those same private attorneys and continue to battle the rights of children.  

    Like Eanes ISD, Lake Travis ISD lost its appeal.  I did not retain an attorney and yet, won both complaint against the two Central Texas districts and their tax-funded private law firms. 

    Read more about the LTISD issue here ... the following excerpts courtesy of www.ltisd.info

    Did you know that the LTISD was found to have violated student confidentiality?  Did you know that it was the Texas Education Agency (TEA) who found them to be in violation?  Did you know that the LTISD failed to submit the required corrective action plan material to the TEA? Did you know that Dr. Kirk and the district's attorney told the TEA that they did not have the authority to rule on this matter?  

     

    The private law firm, FELDMAN & ROGERS, that profited from this lawsuit also benefits greatly from Eanes ISD education tax dollars.

     

    Klein ISD sues mom over evaluation request
    By Jennifer Radcliffe
     
    Angela Harris acknowledges her relationship with the Klein school district is tumultuous. She's been fighting for years to get extra help
    for her 12-year-old son, who has special needs. Still, she was stunned when she learned earlier this year that the northwest Harris County district was suing her.
     

    Rather than pay for the independent evaluation that Harris requested, the district took her to "due process," a legal proceeding used to resolve special-education disputes.
     
    "It's a very uncomfortable situation and it is not a cost-efficient way of doing things,
    " said Harris, whose son, Marshall, was born with a type of brain injury called periventricular leukomalacia. "Klein has abused their authority to oversee tax dollars."
     
    District spokeswoman Liz Johnson said the matter cost about $20,000 to $25,000 in legal fees. On top of that, the state spent roughly $13,000
    to provide a judge and court reporter for the two-day proceeding, TexasEducation Agency officials said.
     
    A lawyer for the district estimated that it would cost a fraction of that — between $500 to $1,500 — to perform the test the mother requested.
     
    While these cases are rare — 23 of last year's 341 due process hearings in Texas were filed by school districts — parents and advocates fear
    that districts may increasingly opt to take parents to court to intimidate them, and others, from insisting on the services they believe their children need.
     
    Feeling overmatched
     
    It's another frustrating roadblock for parents of Texas' estimated 500,000 special-education students, said Louis Geigerman, a Houston-area advocate for special-education students. Parents in such situations, he said, often find themselves overmatched by school districts' high-priced attorneys.
     

    "They would rather litigate than provide services. That's the theme,"
    Geigerman said. "They need to look at a cost-benefit analysis when they want to litigate, for $20,000 or $40,000, something that would cost less than $5,000."
     

    She asked district officials to drop the case, but they refused, leaving her to represent herself. Feeling overwhelmed, she said, she sought legal advice from area nonprofit and advocacy groups. She was frustrated to find that no one could help her.
     
    Harris' troubles with the district started when her son brought home straight F's in the first grade. Despite her pleas, she said, the district was slow to offer extra help.
     
    After Harris filed a complaint with the Texas Education Agency, Klein was ordered to provide Marshall more than 50 hours of extra tutoring for writing. He is still struggling in class and on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, however, which prompted Harris torequest another round of tests.
     
    "The law tells you you're entitled to different things, but no one tells you what to do when it doesn't happen," Harris said. "I never thought advocacy could end me up in due process."
     
    jennifer.radcliffe@chron.com
    HoustonChronicle.com

    Link to full article:  http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/spring/news/5139670.html


     

      

    In Wake Of Investigation, FBISD Board Fires Outside      Legal Counsel (Feldman & Rogers)

    Jan 10, 2006, 12 29 PM    FULL LINK HERE

    The Fort Bend Independent School District board of trustees voted at Monday night’s meeting to terminate the Feldman & Rogers law firm, long-time outside legal counsel for the district. The motion passed 4-1-1 with trustee Cynthia Knox voting no and Sue Hauenstein abstaining.

    David Feldman, Feldman & Rogers principal, interrupted the proceedings to demand an explanation for the firm’s termination. At one point, Feldman said, “you don’t have to fire us, we resign.” He later recanted and said, “No, go ahead and finish your vote and fire us.”

    FBISD Investigation Reveals 'Extreme And Significant Problems

    The report focused on several alleged improprieties by Associate Superintendent of Business and Finance Charles Dupre, and also found significant fault with actions by FBISD Superintendent Betty Baitland, inside FBISD counsel Bernadette Gonzalez, outside counsel David Feldman, and FBISD Risk Manager John Griffin.

    SUMMER 2006 --- Eanes ISD hires Bernadette Gonzalez as inside counsel and David Feldman as outside counsel.


    School district must divorce its lawyers   (Note:  Feldman & Rogers is also an Eanes ISD private law firm.)

    - Published February 24, 2008

    Excerpt:  

    Galveston school trustees should find a new law firm. At issue is the revelation that Superintendent Lynne Cleveland used the district’s firm, Feldman and Rogers, in October to file a divorce petition.

    Nichols is describing the good-old-boy system. Never mind that the legal advice often is bad and always is more expensive; I do you favors from time to time.

    Nichols doesn’t even understand who his client is. It’s not Cleveland, who got the favor, nor is it the school board. It’s the legal entity called Galveston Independent School District. Nor does he understand that doing favors from time to time for your client’s employees is by definition “giving a benefit to someone to induce them to give you something.” That something being the district’s lucrative legal business.

    For the record, David Feldman repudiated Nichols’ comment, saying the firm does not do favors for clients. The public record says otherwise, however.

    The taxpayers deserve better than this firm appears equipped to provide.  Click here to read FULL ARTICLE.


       Feldman & Rogers, again ...

    Officials with the public school district have blamed high legal costs on lawsuits, open records requests, an epic federal desegregation lawsuit and personnel issues. Under the recommendation of Feldman and Rogers, trustees also sought, then dropped, legal action against a blogger they accused of defamation.

    Galveston public school district in 2006-07 paid Feldman and Rogers $99,639.67, according to school district records.

    This year, the district has paid almost $150,000 to the firm. Earlier this month, administrators attempted to almost double the district’s legal budget, but the attempts were met with skepticism by Mytelka.

    Mytelka, who is an attorney, refused to vote in favor of a budget amendment that would increase the budget for the firm by $117,500 from $150,000 to $267,500.

    I think we need to exercise a little more control,” Mytelka said then. “I would like to approve the bills before the check is cut.”


     

        Here we go again.

    Feldman & Rogers (Eanes ISD private attorneys)

    UPDATE: GISD and its private attorney David Feldman (also an Eanes ISD attorney) have apparently backed off from their threats after receiving this powerful letter from a local attorney who is representing Ms. Tetley pro bono:

    November 2007 - Sandra Tetley's Attorney Responds to David Feldman's Demand Letter.

     

    Link:  District May Sue Web Site for Defamation

    Citizen Sandra Tetley RESPONDS here

    Katy ISD Watchdogs response here:    Let me clue all of you into something; taxpayers in this state are angry and they are getting angrier every single day.  Our ranks are growing daily as more and more taxpayers begin to come out of their apathetic stupor and begin to realize what is REALLY going on in their school districts.  We are tired of wasteful, irresponsible and sometimes fraudulent school district spending.  We are sick of “blank check” bond initiatives that only encourage wasteful, irresponsible and sometimes fraudulent school spending.  We’re tired of school districts operating deficit budgets.  But most of all we are really weary of school districts “passing the hat” before they have made absolutely sure that their own economic house is in order.

     

    David Feldman:  “It’s like you’ve been figuratively raped,” he told the newspaper, somehow failing to add “But then again, it’s obvious I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.”

    Galveston ISD Threatens to Sue Watchdog Group  Thu Oct 25, 2007  Houston Press blog comments here

     


    Tuesday 10-30-2007 9:25pm CT

    The Galveston ISD has locked horns with a taxpayer watchdog group over what the district calls "defamatory" statements made on the group's website. 

    The lawyer for the district, David Feldman, says his client has no problem with the existence of the "GISD Watch," but he says anonymous bloggers on their site have been making "libelous statements" about bosses at the district for quite some time. 

    In a letter to the operator of "GISD Watch," Sandra Tetley, Feldman asks her to take down blog postings that falsely accuse bosses at the school district of crimes.  Feldman says the school district will take Tetley to court if she doesn't do what he's asking. 

    Listen to my interview with Mr. Feldman here: 

    Tetley received the letter from Feldman on Tuesday afternoon and talked to me about it shortly after that.  She says what this is really all about is school administrators who are unable to handle it when citizens criticize the way their tax dollars are being spent.  Listen to my interview with Tetley here:

    If you'd like to check out the website for yourself and decide whether it's appropriate, click here.

     


        One school district, one child, one citizen at a time ... PRIVATE attorneys get RICH, RICH, RICH ...

    Learn more about SLAPP suits (Strategic Litigation or Lawsuit Against Public Participation) 

    COURT DISMISSES SLAPP SUIT ARISING FROM OPINION COLUMN http://www.gannett.com/go/newswatch/2001/november/nw1121-2.htm
    http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/sbeder/SLAPPS.html
    http://www.answers.com/topic/strategic-lawsuit-against-public-participation?cat=biz-fin
    http://www.casp.net/survival.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAPP
    http://www.casp.net/chambers.html 
    Here's a bit of information about an attorney who is interested in this issue:  http://orthomom.blogspot.com/2007/02/orthomom-lawsuit-update.html

     


    Published July 23, 2007

    How a school district responds to requests for public information says much about trust and confidence.  article

        When everything is going right, we rarely question the operations and expenditures of our school districts.  There were many years when I simply baked cookies for the teacher appreciation luncheon, volunteered in my child’s elementary school, served on various committees and wrote an annual check to the booster club.  I did not know the location of the central administration building of my school district much less the board room.  I had more than hope ... I had faith ... in my public school district.

    Sometimes in life, our perspective changes without warning, sometimes so dramatically that we are moved to action.  

    When our community began its public discussion of our district’s budget “crisis” in 2003, I began asking Eanes ISD for basic public information that was not readily available from the district or in any other venue, seeking information to answer questions about spending and other topics, hoping to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of proposed cuts to academic or other programs.  Many in our community questioned our district's abundant athletic spending and its apparent absence from the evolving lists of proposed budget cuts.  

    Community members and teachers provided the ideas for my information gathering efforts.  Afraid of retaliation, many feared submitting their own requests to the district.   "Can you get the board minutes and agendas?"  "Are the coach’s salaries and stipends public information?"  "Are disabled children appropriately identified and served in the gifted program?"  "Are we charging private athletic clubs to use our public facilities?"  "Who benefits from the money generated by the Jumbotron?"  "How safe are our school campuses?" "Does the district comply with federal law ... are our school facilities accessible as required by ADA ... playgrounds, stages, and restrooms?"  "Are emails between and among the superintendent and board members public information?"   "Have the board members completed required conflict of interest forms?"  As I reviewed documents related to the operations and expenditures of our district, I formed a perspective that was truly troubling.  I was also shocked by the inability or unwillingness of the district to provide information in an efficient and effective manner.

    When my school district refused my offer as a volunteer to post the public information to the official district website, I created my own website and posted the public information without editorial comment.  Our community library supported open government and reserved a portion of the reference shelves for hard copies of the information.  The library also linked www.keepeanesinformed.com to their site for easy online reference.  I recognized that all who reviewed public information would have varying perspectives.  Information is the essential first step to action - all sorts of actions.  I hoped that others would use the site’s information to learn, form, and then communicate their own opinions regarding the policy, practice and priorities of our school district.  

    Almost immediately after I published my website, my focus was diverted.  In November 2003, the Eanes ISD board published my young son's confidential information including his medical information and released it to the public in writing during a board meeting.  As always, I first attempted to resolve this matter within the school district.  Eanes ISD retained an outside attorney to represent the district.  I represented my son pro se.  When the Eanes ISD administration and then board denied my complaint, I submitted a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.   Again, the district retained attorneys to battle my child's privacy rights.  I represented my son pro se.  In January 2005, when the agency ruled against the district and found that it did not comply with FERPA law, Eanes ISD could have simply complied with the federal law, protected children, and changed their policy and procedure - at no cost to the district.  Instead the district again retained attorneys to appeal the adverse finding.  Again, I represented my son (and therefore every other child whose records are maintained by public schools) pro se.  Again, in March 2007, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed its finding against Eanes ISD.   I did not sue the school district for damages.  Instead, I followed administrative complaint processes in an effort to convince Eanes ISD to comply with federal law created to protect children.  A point to ponder:  the district described the release of my child's confidential information as "inadvertent."  Yet our district leadership chose to retain tax-funded attorneys to battle my child's privacy rights.  Inadvertent?

    I have learned much from my interactions with Eanes ISD.   The work was both difficult and profoundly illuminating.   When I enrolled my children in the Eanes ISD, I believed what I had heard - that Eanes ISD would educate and protect my children.  I did not question the status quo or the decisions of those in charge.  That was a mistake.