ALERT

To CWA and those who care about Texas schools:

An immediate need is for calls to Governor Perry's office to express concerns about the Governor's appointment of a new Commissioner of Education. This appointment could be made anytime. Contact numbers are below.

1. We urge your support for appointing Robert Scott, who is serving now as Interim Commissioner.

2. We urge the rejection of Sandy Kress as Commissioner. Reasons are outlined below.

The points below are taken from Donna Garner, retired public school teacher and independent education advocate and researcher. Donna Garner wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Robert Scott: Since the departure of Shirley Neeley in June, Robert Scott has been serving as the Interim Commissioner of Education. During that time, he has already established a good working relationship with the Texas State Board of Education; and they are formalizing a plan to make sure the new English / Language Arts / Reading standards will bring real education reform to our state.

Robert Scott has taken a principled stand against aligning himself with big-time education vendors. Scott has also managed to work effectively with the education establishment while at the same time letting them know that he will not be their mouthpiece to advocate for the status quo.

During the 40+ years in which I have closely watched the Texas Education Agency, I believe that Robert Scott is the most independent voice to have served in the Commissioner's office. He is not seeking higher political office. He is not after power, fame, and fortune. He is not prideful, arrogant, and boastful about his many past accomplishments although they are many. He is teachable and humble; he is professional in his duties. He is honest and forthright in his dealings with the public, and he does not use flattery and manipulation to get his way. He is also not autocratic and domineering. Scott is nobody's fool. He is exactly the type of education leader which our state so badly needs. Robert is a father who loves his two public school teenagers and realizes that the most important thing he can do as the Commissioner of Education is to make sure the curriculum is right for his children and for everyone else's children.

Sandy Kress: simply must not become our Texas Commissioner of Education. He is a lobbyist with contracts and income from education vendors. An author of the "No Child Left Behind" federal initiative, he is not a conservative who encourages local control of public schools.

Emily Pyle of the Texas Observer said Sandy Kress has "made about $4 million in lobbying contracts, in large part from companies that profit from provisions of the [No Child Left Behind] law he helped to design." http://ttprw.org/

Scott Parks, reporter for The Dallas Morning News, said, "On the one hand, Mr. Kress is a leading advocate of using test data to hold schools accountable; he says his motivation is to make education better for children. On the other, the accountability movement that he espouses benefits the clients who have made him wealthy."

Peyton Wolcott, popular Internet reporter, has asked, "Would Sandy Kress be willing to show us his last five years of IRS filings, with attachments?" http://www.peytonwolcott.com/AkinGumpTXLobby.html http://www.peytonwolcott.com/AkinGumpDCLobby.html

Richard Kouri of Texas State Teachers' Association said. "Basically, it would be a case of a paid education lobbyist becoming the most powerful bureaucrat in the state of Texas."

The Quorum Report says: the other aspect of Kress' personality that education groups and lobbyists often mention. Kress often is perceived as inflexible and out of touch with the day-to-day details of school operations, so fervently committed to his bigger ideals that he has problems admitting those ideas might be best overhauled or replaced. Given the chance to propose educational reform during the last couple of sessions, Kress typically has been inclined to layer more courses, more tests and more requirements on school systems - the current NCLB, simply bigger and bolder -- rather than taking a nuanced "out of the box" look at how the current system might be improved.

Because right now is a quintessential moment for our state's public school children, please voice your support for Robert Scott by calling Gov. Perry's office. The Citizens' Hotline for Texas Callers is (800) 252-9600; the Citizens' Hotline for Austin and Out-of-State Callers is (512) 463-1782. E-mails to Gov. Perry can be submitted at http://ttprw.org/.

CWA TEXAS SOUTH
http://stexas.cwfa.org/
PO Box 1167
El Campo TX 77437-1167
Phone: 979-543-8780
Pat Hanson, Texas South Area Director
se.director@texas.cwfa.org
Beverly Roberts, Legislative Liaison
legislation@texas.cwfa.org
Norma Jeter, Records Correspondent
events@texas.cwfa.org
njeter@family.net