Lynn Walsh

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD is going live Monday evening, fielding your comments, and Texas Watchdog will be there
Mon Jun 28 21:54:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

It’s not quite High School Musical, but HISD trustees and top administrators will be fielding your comments and questions Monday (tonight) through an interactive LIVE TV show before a live studio audience.

Good thing that the event will be interactive — because the show is invite only.

According to HISD’s Sarah Greer the meeting is not open to the public, largely because of space issues.

“It is not open to the public because we cannot fit that many people in the studio,” she said.

But that raises other questions. Would it be possible for HISD to stack the audience with supporters?

Texas Watchdog asked if it is possible that the audience will be stacked in favor of HISD and their plan; Greer said she doesn’t think so.

“We have been hearing very frank and direct comments and I have invited those people,” she said. “People who have said some things we may not want to hear or thought about will be there.”

The interactive show will focus on the “Strategic Direction,” of HISD, essentially the long-term plan for the school district.

Greer said she sent close to 200 e-mail invites to parents, teachers, PTA leaders, community members, teacher union leaders and members of faith-based groups throughout the city of Houston. All of the people invited have attended Houston ISD strategic plan meetings before, Greer said.

HISD will be broadcasting the show live on their website and fielding calls via phone, e-mail and Twitter; but, according to Greer, the phone numbers and e-mail address to use will not be released until the beginning of the show.

Why? Greer said it is just a matter of not having anyone to staff the phone calls, “until the volunteers arrive for the show.” Some good news: the public can message the district via the Twitter account @HoustonISD.

If you are not one of the lucky ones to get a personal e-mail invite, view it here online or on TV, Comcast channel 18 and AT&T UVerse channel 99.

Texas Watchdog will also be at the show taping live tweeting throughout; just follow or search for the hashtag: #HISD. We welcome your comments, questions and thoughts throughout as well.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

How does your Houston school rate? Local parents, teachers and community members are letting you know online.
Mon Jun 28 16:33:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Want to know how HISD schools rate? Parents, teachers and community members are letting you know….online.

For example, here’s a sampling:

“These teachers can’t maintain order in their classrooms therefore can’t teach…”

“this school have a very low discipline… this year was the worse. I have to talk with the director this year four times, because my daughter was bully on the bus and nothing happened…”

I’m going there next year and went last year it’s the best school!! You find so many friends of all different races and backgrounds I recommend you go to SFMS or your child does it’s an awesome school!! )

These opinions are on Everyblock, a public record and information aggregator that has been popping up all over the nation to cover neighborhoods. It now has a Houston site and with it comes school reviews for schools in the Houston Independent School District, as well as private schools in the area.

The information on Everyblock, is aggregated from another school rating website, GreatSchools, an independent national non-profit funded by national and regional organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Results for Houston Independent School District campuses show schools with four stars, like Carnegie Vanguard High School, and some with just two, such as Marshall Middle School.

Parents, community members and teachers can log on and rate the schools by awarding a campus between one and five stars. On the school rating pages, GreatSchools says: “A great school has…Excellent teachers, Strong principal/school leadership and Challenging academic programs.” While reviewing you can identify yourself as a “parent, teacher/staff member, or other.”

But how non-biased are the comments?

GreatSchools Spokeswoman, Karissa Sparks, said that their policy how comments are monitored and how schools are rated has evolved.

“A team of parents used to be responsible for deciding which comments and rating were approved on the site,” Sparks said. “We recently have changed that.”

Now, GreatSchools requires people to verify an e-mail address with the website and if problems or questions arise from the comments the site will contact those involved to gather more information.”

Sometimes the site will even put school ratings on hold, Sparks said, if they have found a violation of the websites terms of use.

The page outlines basic federal libel and slander laws and also outlines “GreatSchools Parent Community Guidelines.” Some of their guidelines include:

* Do not use ALL CAPS in your post

* Do not believe everything you read

* Do not re-post deleted content

New technology and the Internet continues to open new doors to local communities allowing their voices to be heard. But will a bad rating deter parents from sending their children to a particular campus? And will four or five star campuses draw more students?

Let us know what you think of the site and if you have used it or plan on using it, Lynn@Texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter: @Lwalsh.