Lynn Walsh

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association:

Meeting the Source

Nov 22 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

You get a tip, whether it is a phone call, an e-mail or even a letter in the mail, story tips are a part of daily life in the news business. Some are crazy, some sound like they have potential and others lead to a great stories.

Once you have decided the tip has potential or could lead to a great story, you start doing your research. Most of the time that includes follow-up with the person who provided the tip to you. And sometimes that follow-up can mean a meeting in person.

No problem right? Well, those of us who have went to a coffee shop to meet a “tipster” know it is not always that easy. I have met with my fair share of tipsters and here are some tips I have picked up along the way.

1. Always meet in public. Sometimes people will invite you to their house, don’t go! This may seem obvious but when you are caught up in the moment you may sometimes find yourself agreeing to anything, no matter how crazy it sounds.

2. Be aware that the person most likely wants to remain anonymous. Do not tweet your location or use social media to announce your meeting at all. This could not only tip off your competition, but it could jeopardize the identity of your tipster.

3. Let them know what you will be wearing or what you look like. Sometimes it can be hard to identify who your tipster is when you do not know what they look like. Instead of asking them what they look like, provide a link to your profile page on your news organizations website, tell them what you will be wearing, etc. This will help eliminate asking other people in the coffee shop if they are your tipster.

4. Make sure it is somewhere you can comfortably talk about the tip. If the location is too crowded, suggest a different location nearby. The more comfortable your tipster is the more information you will be able to get.

5. Always ask which is the best way to follow-up with the tipster. Do they prefer cell phone, e-mail, meetings, etc. Also make sure you know whether the person wants to be identified or would like to remain anonymous. That is very important especially as you continue to develop your story.

The meeting is the first step, but it can be one of most important. Good luck and happy tip-hunting!

An investigation by Lynn Walsh featured on My Fox Houston:

HISD Student Spending Varies Dramatically at Different Campuses

Updated: Friday, 19 Nov 2010, 7:02 PM CST
Published : Friday, 19 Nov 2010, 7:02 PM CST
GREG GROOGAN-Reporter

HOUSTON – Newly released numbers show that when it comes to funding for their education, all Houston Independent School District students are not exactly equal.

Data analyzed by the investigative group Texas Watchdog reveal big differences from campus to campus in per pupil spending.

At West University Elementary, located in one of the areas most prosperous neighborhoods, HISD spends about $4,500 per pupil, but at McDade Elementary on the northeast side, the District spends a lot more, close to $7,100 per student.

At high-performing Bellaire High School, HISD spends about $4,700 per student, but across town at Kashmere High School in one of the city’s most economically-challenged neighborhoods, HISD spends close to $12,000 per student.

Texas Watchdog investigator Lynne Walsh says while it may appear some campuses are getting short-changed, there are many legitimate reasons that per student spending differs, often dramatically, from school to school.

“When you look at the database, there are close to 40 different sources from which HISD provides funds. Some of it is state money. Some of it’s federal money. Some of it is money from HISD such as small school subsidies and magnet funding. Look to see how your school compares to a school down the street,” said Walsh.

The database provides per pupil spending for all HISD campuses, including revenue for programs like special education.

Parents can find out how much is being spent on their child and the funding sources by checking the database at:

http://www.texaswatchdog.org/HISD-per-student-funding-data-search-page

http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2010/11/hisd-schools-per-pupil-funding/1290099737.story

An investigation for Texas Watchdog:

Rich school, poor school: How much Houston ISD spends to educate each child varies greatly between schools

Thursday, Nov 18, 2010, 01:40PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

The sounds of fast-moving students, laughter and loud conversations greet you as you enter Ryan Middle School on a Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. — but the students are not headed home. Their day in class, learning, will continue for at least another hour.

The longer class days are just some of the changes that came this year to the school in the Third Ward as Houston’s public school system launched a $29 million program to revamp failing schools. Also added at Ryan: a longer school year, new school leadership, new academic programs and additional tutoring.

The school system is slated to spend more than $10,000, on average, on each of Ryan’s 380 students this year, according to district records. The total expense for the school this year: $3.9 million.

Just three miles away, in the Montrose neighborhood, each child at Lanier Middle is slated to have $4,470 spent on them this year. And while Ryan is struggling, Lanier is rated as “recognized” by the state, the second-highest designation the Texas Education Agency gives to public schools.

The amount of money spent to educate children in the Houston Independent School District is severely inconsistent from school to school, a Texas Watchdog review of HISD data has found.

The gap between spending at Ryan and Lanier middle schools is only one of numerous discrepancies, and few patterns can be found in how the nation’s seventh-largest school system decides to spend money educating children.

(Texas Watchdog has made all of HISD’s school funding data available for you to see for yourself — click this link to visit our search page to see all the funding sources for any HISD school.)

Some schools ranked “exemplary” by the state spend enough on each child each year to buy the kid a brand new car — such as T.H. Rogers Middle, west of Memorial Park, where each child is slated to have $18,027 spent on them this year.

Other exemplary schools could only buy each kid a used car. A really used car. That’s where Pin Oak Middle in Bellaire falls, with just $4,800 being spent per child. Pin Oak and T.H. Rogers are just five miles’ distance from each other.

The funding levels are also all over the map for schools that aren’t doing so well. Students at Ryan Middle were already having more than $10,000 a year spent on them last year, before HISD began pumping millions of extra dollars into the school as part of its turnaround program dubbed Apollo 20. Meanwhile, struggling Westside High School — ranked only “academically acceptable” by the state — spends just $4,714 per student, HISD data shows.

“The discrepancies in school funding have bothered me, and I have been arguing with the district about them for a while,” said Jay Aiyer, a Pin Oak parent. “There is no rhyme or reason to how HISD funds schools, and I have been pushing for this review for a while.”

Pin Oak, ranked “exemplary” by the state this year, will receive $5.19 million in funding this year, or slightly more than $4,800 per student.

Aiyer has been e-mailing district officials about the funding discrepancies related to magnet programs and overall school funding in HISD and finally received a response in April around the same time the school system began talks about reviewing its roughly 100 magnet programs.

He’s not the only one asking questions.

“It is mind boggling,” said Debbie Taylor, a parent at Parker Elementary, another HISD school in Bellaire that was rated as exemplary this year and which falls in the middle of the elementary school pack, funding-wise. “I can’t really grasp why this is happening, and the amount of money that some school receive when they are not even some of the best schools in the state.”

T.H. Rogers and Ryan middles have the third- and fourth-highest per-child expenses of all the middle schools in HISD, the data showed. (Two other middle schools, Harper Alternative and the HCC Life Skills program, have still higher per-child spending rates than T.H. Rogers and Ryan, though they are both alternative or non-traditional programs that would likely offer more expensive, specialized services to their students, driving up the per-child expense.)

Meanwhile, the middle school spending the least, New Aspirations in Sharpstown, will spend just $2,706 per student.

Pin Oak is limited in the programs it can offer, such as in foreign languages, because of the lack of funds, Aiyer said. “I think there is a minimum level or threshold of money every school should receive,” he said. “I also think that certain kids need certain amounts of money, but sometimes that money is not being used properly.”

LOTS OF POTS

Some of the confusion stems from the numerous pots of money from which HISD’s 300-plus schools get cash each year.

The school district approves a dollar amount each year — as part of its annual budget — that acts as a sort of minimum level that will be spent on each child. (For an elementary school this year, it’s $3,485, for middle schools, $3,510, and high schools, $3,474.) Each school then receives that amount from the school system for each child enrolled.

That’s the main pot of cash that funds each school.

But then there are 37 others, too.

Some schools, including Ryan, get extra money for having magnet programs. Some get extra money for being small. Some get bilingual supplements. Some get career and technology funds. Then there’s the campus project fund. Summer school money. Some get additional money from a transportation and maintenance fund. The list goes on.

More than 100 schools in HISD receive magnet funding that ranges from more than $473,000 a year per school to just a little more than $5,000.

Magnet school funding — totalling $16.9 million this year — varies drastically from campus to campus, HISD data shows. HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has brought in a non-profit education group, Magnet Schools of America, to review HISD’s magnet programs. It is expected to make final recommendations to the board of trustees next month.

Another example is the small school subsidy, given to campuses across the district that meet certain thresholds for having low enrollment. This year HISD is expecting to give more than $10 million to small schools, varying from $301,000 at Williams Middle, on the north side of town, to just around $2,000 for Kelso Elementary on the south side, which the state has rated academically unacceptable.

Each school can get money from some or all of the pots in a given year. Ryan Middle, for instance, will receive in $268,000 in small school subsidies, nearly $50,000 in magnet funding for the 12-student gifted education magnet program, stimulus money and federal and state funding this year, on top of general fund revenue from HISD.

HOW RYAN MIDDLE USES ITS FUNDING

What does a $10,000 middle school education look like?

At Ryan, it is not about having the most high-tech equipment or innovative building in the district. It is about hiring people who can make a difference and motivate students who may not receive the motivation and encouragement they need from home, according to members of the HISD staff who work or volunteer with students at Ryan.

With new staff members from some of the most elite charter schools in the country, like KIPP, Ryan is developing programs and classes that create an atmosphere of trust and respect in the classroom. On top of new staff, all of the classes, except gifted-ed and the magnet program, are gender-specific, including lunch.

“These students come from families in which they may never see respect in the household,” said Wendi Turner, who helps oversee some of the volunteer programs at Ryan. “We are trying to create and instill trust and respect first so it then transforms into academic success in the classroom.” Hear more about what Turner and the Ryan staff are doing in the clip below.

One program Ryan is using to do this is the “Butterfly” group — a weekly meeting of female students, staff and community volunteers who openly discuss how young people can keep anger under control and respect one another and themselves.

“I never had this growing up,” said Epiphany Sahar, a volunteer and artist. “I was never told I could succeed, and if you are never told that how are you supposed to want to?”

Sahar grew up in the neighborhood surrounding Ryan and flies back and forth from New York City to Houston weekly to help with the Butterfly group. Watch all of her comments in the clip below.

At the same time, parents at successful schools that don’t get $10,000 a year per student said success takes more than just money.

“I think the culture of the school breeds a certain academic excellence,” Aiyer said of Pin Oak. “They force academic involvement, whether it is a student that is struggling or a Vanguard (gifted) student. There is an expectation of academic rigor that is there.”

It’s the staff and the community’s dedication and approach to discipline that help create academic excellence, Taylor said.

Her child’s school is expected to receive $3.9 million in school funding this year for more than 800 students. With a little more than $5,200 per student, Parker is right in the middle of the amount of funding an average elementary school in HISD will receive this year.

The diversity of the school — its enrollment is roughly a third white, a third black and a third Latino — is a plus, she said. Also, the school has good teachers, and PTA involvement at the school is huge.

“It is a hands-on PTA and there is a lot of manpower involved,” Taylor said. “The money raised and what they achieve with it is worthwhile.”

Martha Jenkinson, a PTA leader at Bellaire High School, knows first-hand what money raised through parent organizations can do.

Deemed a “recognized” school by the state, 3,000-student Bellaire is expected to receive more than $14.4 million in funding this year, or $4,769 a student — spending less per child than many other high schools in the district.

To augment that, each year the PTA at Bellaire awards equipment grants to teachers.

“The grants are for equipment they think might be an advantage to their students. Sometimes it is a camera, additional microscopes — things a teacher might need that they cannot afford to purchase through the school budget,” Jenkinson said.

The PTA at Bellaire gives out about $25,000 in teacher grants every year, Jenkinson said.

“The business officer at the school sits with us and looks at what the school can fun and what it cannot,” Jenkinson said. “If the school cannot cover the cost, the PTA will try to.”

Bellaire is not the only school that funds programs or equipments with the help of parents.

At Parker, Taylor pays a $150 magnet fee each year to cover additional costs associated with the school’s music magnet and says the money spent “is worthwhile.”

Do you have an opinion about school funding in HISD? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow her on Twitter, twihttp://twitter.com/lwalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD elementary school for kids with disciplinary problems spends as much to educate each child as it would cost to pay 3 years’ tuition at Harvard Medical School, records show
Monday, Nov 22, 2010, 09:50AM CST
By Lynn Walsh

A tiny Houston elementary school for kids with severe disciplinary problems spends as much to educate each child as it would cost to pay three years’ tuition at Harvard Medical School, Houston Independent School District data shows.

North Alternative Elementary School is housed in the old Chatham Elementary campus in the Trinity/Houston Gardens neighborhood northeast of the 610 Loop. The school’s website describes it as a K-6 program that may, in “special situations,” take in 7th and 8th graders, though HISD’s main website says it is K-5.

It is expected to spend, on average, $147,403 educating each student this year — making it the most expensive school in HISD, based on per-student funding. The school has just four students this year, HISD data shows.

The per-child cost at North Alternative is seven times that of the H.P. Carter Career Center, which HISD trustees voted earlier this month to re-purpose because of declining enrollment and cost of the school. The career center was expected to spend an average of $20,356 on each of its 132 students this year.

North Alternative’s website says it educates students from across HISD’s north region who have committed the most serious disciplinary infractions, violating rules in levels four and five of the HISD student code of conduct. Those can include include assaulting a teacher or bringing guns, knives or drugs to school, committing a felony on campus, or sexual misconduct.

“We have a mandate to focus on student behavior,” its website says. “We do this using positive behavior modification, counseling, diagnostic services, and by fostering a sense of community within the school. We have full programs in both Special Education and Bilingual Education as well as General Education.”

The official school affirmation begins with “Today begins the rest of my life,” and includes the phrase “If I do something wrong, I will accept responsibility for my actions.”

Students at North Alternative are required to wear uniforms, and the school provides all of their school supplies. They are not allowed to bring backpacks, iPods or media players to school and are not allowed to have more than $5 with them.

North Alternative had 10 staff members last year, according to an HISD salary database, who were paid a total of more than $468,000. They include a three-person special education staff and a bilingual teacher, according to the school Web site.

Alternative schools must often provide their students with the services of counselors, psychologists and other staff with special skills or training, which drives up those schools’ per-student expenses. Of the five HISD schools expected to spend the most per child this year, four of them are alternative or nontraditional programs of some kind, including North Alternative, Harper Alternative, the HCC Life Skills program and the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program.

North Alternative Principal Michael Bledsoe, who previously was principal at E.O. Smith Education Center, declined to speak with Texas Watchdog. An HISD spokesman said he could not find “anyone who is willing to do an interview” regarding the costs associated with alternative education.

Contact Lynn Walsh at (713) 228-2850 by email at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Rogers Middle School’s per-pupil funding boosted by $4.8 million for special education

Friday, Nov 19, 2010, 05:09PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

With just over 450 students enrolled at the school this year, T.H. Rogers Middle School is expected to spend more than $18,000 to educate each child — a whopping figure considering that some schools in the Houston Independent School District only spend a couple thousand dollars per child, according to a Texas Watchdog report on the district’s wide variations in per-student funding.

That figure is higher than other schools in HISD because Rogers’ bottom line gets a boost from the nearly $5 million the school receives to fund special education teachers, equipment and supplies.

Last year, according to the Houston Independent School District, 23% of the students at T.H. Rogers were special education students, most of which require more attention because they have multiple impairments, are deaf or require speech therapy.

“Some of the special education student require special nursing attention,” said Martha Jenkinson, who volunteered in the PTO when her child attended the school a few years ago. “In some cases there will be two or three staff members that are assigned to one student.”

T.H. Rogers is expected to receive $4.8 million in special education funding this year — more than half its total anticipated budget of $8.4 million, HISD records show.

But though Rogers offers extensive services to some of the neediest students in Houston, it also serves some of the brightest through its Vanguard magnet program for students who are considered gifted and talented. The school consistently receives an “exemplary” rating from the Texas Education Agency, the highest academic achievement ranking for public schools in the state.

According to HISD, more than half the staff members at T.H. Rogers are dedicated to serving special ed students, close to a third serve the more than 360 gifted and talented students, and the rest work with traditional students.

Texas Watchdog recently published a searchable school funding database that details how much funding every school in HISD is expected to receive this year. The database, which can be found here, details which money sources, the number of students enrolled at each school and the amount each school is expected to spend this year per student. The database was made public under the Texas Public Information Act.

Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow her on Twitter at @lwalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Houston ISD takes step toward transparency with details on school funding sources
Thursday, Nov 18, 2010, 04:35PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

As the Houston school district prepares for anticipated multi-million dollar budget cuts from the state, the district is gathering public input and providing detailed budget information to you.
Money bag

With a $1.6 billion budget this year, close to 300 schools and more than 30 school funding accounts, following the money in the nation’s seventh-largest school district can be, to say the least, a little confusing.

Earlier today, Texas Watchdog published school funding data from HISD that includes the amount of money every school in the Houston district expects to receive this year, where that money comes from and how much each school expects to spend per student in 2010-11.

In the database, the amount of money each school receives from a particular fund is clear. What isn’t clear from the data is what that particular fund does — with names like “Title III,” “federal turnaround” and “unique per-unit allocation add-on.”

HISD’s chief financial officer, Melinda Garrett, this morning provided trustees with explanations of what the different general funds are and what kinds of materials or services a school might use that each fund for.

View the entire general fund explanations here.

For example, HISD is expecting to provide schools with more than $99 million in special education funding from the general fund this year. According to the funding documents, all the money will be spent in one of three categories: special education life skills, speech therapists and special ed staff based at campuses.

What are special education life skills? According to HISD, money in this fund will pay for trips and other learning experiences outside school.

As HISD braces itself for major budget cuts in state funding that could range from $82 million to $135 million, the district says it is important to be transparent during the entire process. View the most recent budget update here.

The definitions and explanations provided Thursday are just for the school district’s general fund — its main checking account — and do not include grant or federal fund definitions, which Garrett says will be made available to trustees and the public next month.

If budget transparency is HISD’s goal, this is a big step in the right direction — and with plans for a budget website that would have links to all budget documents, the Houston district will hopefully continue down the transparency path.

But there is still more it can do. For instance, how about a breakdown of the number of special ed teachers and speech therapists each campus employs and how much those personnel cost each school? What about showing where the money for the special education life skills program is going?

What would you like to see HISD do as it continues to strive toward budget transparency? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow her on Twitter at @lwalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD: Vendors can still give computers to schools as gifts despite gift-giving ban enacted in the wake of scandal

Monday, Nov 15, 2010, 03:44PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

School districts across the country are still able to accept technology gifts from computer companies despite gift-giving bans enacted in the wake of scandals in the Houston and Dallas school systems, documents show.
Just last week the federal government reached a $16.25 million settlement with Hewlett-Packard for violating the bidding process in the Houston and Dallas independent school districts as part of the federal computers-in-schools program E-Rate.

As part of the settlement HP signed an agreement that limits what kind of gifts and marketing materials employees of the computer giant can give to school districts — but it does not ban them from giving.

According to the agreement:

“HP and its employees may continue to provide gifts of equipment to section 501(c)(3) organizations and accredited educational institutions under HP’s Global Contributions Policy…HP may continue its various HP in Education grants initiatives pursuant to its
Global Social Innovation Policy…”

Would HP be able to donate a computer to HISD? The district’s E-Rate compliance officer, Richard Patton, said that is a difficult question to answer.

“My gut reaction is no,” he said. “But you can’t take one situation and apply it to all situations. Each has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. I would shy away from a computer donation from HP because they are an E-Rate vendor.”

HP wasn’t the only vendor involved in the federal investigation into HISD’s E-Rate program. The school district wound up paying an $850,000 settlement, agreeing to hire someone solely to monitor ethics in the E-Rate purchasing system, and agreeing to a more strict gift-giving policy for employees and school district trustees.

In exchange for being able to donate, HP must provide documentation to the Federal Communications Commission of gifts worth $10,000 or more if the school district participates in E-Rate, according to the agreement. The gifts can also not be “made in a manner that would be, or create the appearance of being, a bribe, a kickback or other corrupt practice.”

According to the memorandum report in the HISD investigation, HP offered HISD employees $1,000 tickets to technology forums, a free computer and printer and possibly a trip to Las Vegas for a conference.

Because of HISD’s history with HP and other E-Rate technology vendors, Patton said he has asked that all donations, including scholarships and grants, from technology companies go through his office, “even if it directly benefits our educational mission and has nothing on the surface to do with E-Rate.”

HP is not the only technology company that is allowed to give gifts to school districts.

According to a presentation at a recent conference Patton attended on behalf of HISD:

“Gift rules are not intended to discourage companies from making charitable contributions to schools, as long as those contributions are NOT directly or indirectly related to an E-Rate related procurement.

Now that it is clear HISD is able to accept technology gifts, Patton said his office “will allow the District to steer clear of improprieties and the appearance of such. We will do what is right.”

Do you think HP and other technology vendors should be allowed to make donations to school districts if they are E-Rate vendors? Texas Watchdog wants to hear what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Hewlett-Packard to pay $16M+ as more problems come out in HISD, DISD E-Rate program
Thursday, Nov 11, 2010, 05:28PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

A major computer company with strong local ties is being forced to pay more than $16 million to the federal government and people in Houston and Dallas in the aftermath of allegations of fraud in a federal program supplying computers to the Houston and Dallas school districts.
According to the settlement, five people, all from Texas, sued Hewlett-Packard for violating the bidding processes associated with the E-Rate technology program.

“…during the period from 2002 to 2005 in the Dallas and Houston Independent School Districts: (1) conspiring to rig the competitive bidding of E-Rate contracts; (2) subverting the competitive bidding processes for E-Rate contracts through the provision of gratuities, including meals, trips, and tickets, to school district representatives in violation of school district policies or rules and E-Rate Program rules; and (3) unjust enrichment from E-Rate contracts received as a result of violations of the competitive bidding processes.”

HP is based in California but has a substantial presence in Houston. It bought out Houston-based rival Compaq a few years ago.

HISD’s E-rate compliance officer, Richard Patton, told Texas Watchdog he had not been aware of the interaction between HP and the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.

“I can tell you this, I was not aware of this … All of those things do not run through my office, either,” Patton said. “The Secret Service or the FBI may have spoken with the parties at the time, but it was a complete surprise to me.”

Patton was hired by HISD in February of this year. The district had been forced to agree to hire someone to look over its E-Rate contracting processes.

David Galbraith, a lawyer for HISD, said he was aware of the suits against HP but said HISD was not involved with them. “We did not get into any of that. We knew the suit was going on, and the suit did hold up our settlement a little, but we were not a party to the case.”

The latest settlements are a part of a string of investigations and lawsuits related to the E-Rate programs at both HISD and DISD, two of the state’s largest school districts.

HISD was forced to pay $850,000 to settle a suit earlier this year after allegations of E-Rate vendors giving gifts, sporting tickets and meals to district employees, including the HISD superintendent at the time, Abelardo Saavedra.

The investigations in Dallas led to prison sentences for a former DISD employee, Ruben Bohuchot, and a former DISD and HISD E-Rate vendor, Frankie Wong. The two men had been charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Appeals were denied this week for both men, the Chronicle reported.

In the HISD investigation, allegations against HP and other E-Rate vendors were outlined in a memorandum provided to the federal government by the school district. The allegations against HP in the memorandum include:

* In August 2006, Hewlett-Packard offered HISD two complimentary passes, worth more than $1,000 each, to the 2006 HP Technology Forum, which was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.District employees Mark Landrum and Carl Bradley attended the event.

* In April 2005 HP sent a computer and printer to HISD technology employees Ken Eaton and Wayne Franklin as a “thank you” for serving on a panel. The computers were supposed to be donated to an HISD school but remained at the school district’s west region office. Franklin is no longer employed at HISD, a district spokesman said.

* HISD documents show that “an unidentified district employee” registered for a conference in May 2005 atMandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the memo says. But HISD is “unable to confirm” that Steve Kim, HISD’s networking manager at the time, “accepted a trip to Las Vegas from HP on any of these dates,” the memo says.

According to the most recent lawsuit settlement with HP, the computer company will pay $16.25 million to the federal government. More than $7.4 million is associated with allegations in DISD and more than $8.8 million for the allegations associated with HISD. HP will also have to pay more than $200,000 in attorney fees, according to the settlement.

Once the federal government receives the money, it will give more than $1.4 million to plaintiffs Dan Cain and Pam Tingley and close to $800,000 to Dave Richardson, Dave Gillis and Barry Clauss, according to the settlement. In the documents, all five of the individuals are listed as being associated with real estate companies, Cain Realtors and Richardson Realtors.

HP is currently on the approved vendor list for HISD, Patton said, and it most likely will stay on.

“We do not do a lot of direct business with HP. We will analyze that (whether HP should remain on the list) but I do not think it would be smart to remove a solid vendor like that. It could potentially be very costly to change midstream.”

According to Patton, HISD primarily buys HP equipment through resellers and does not do a lot of direct buying from the company. An HISD contract database obtained by Texas Watchdog shows payments HP receiving close to $20,000 in payments from HISD from 2005 to 2009. Hewlett-Packard banned ACS and Micro Systems Engineering, two HISD E-rate vendors accused of providing sporting tickets and other gifts to HISD employees, from selling its equipment in late 2006, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Patton said the only way HP would be removed from the district’s vendor list were if the federal government specifically asked the district to do so. He also said HISD will review the compliance and settlement agreements HP signed with the federal government but does not think they will have an impact on HISD.

“I don’t think the district will be at a loss as a result of this agreement. We were not a part of the investigation,” he said. “Prior to our settlement agreement we had gaps and holes but we have closed those.”

Cain, from Dallas, spoke for the first time about the lawsuit in a recent story in the Dallas Observer. According to the story, Cain, a Realtor, did not work for DISD but his cousin, Chuck Spivey, did, serving as a district assistant superintendent and chief technology officer.

“One day in the fall of 2002, Bohuchot told Spivey that he and some dude from Houston named Frankie Wong were going in on a big ol’ boat together — a 46-foot Post Yacht dubbed the Sir Veza. It was worth more than $300,000. Spivey knew just the perfect folks to work that sucker: His cousin Pam — Danny Cain’s sister — and her husband, Dan Tingley. Dan would captain; Pam would serve as first mate — hostess, in other words…”

According to the story, Cain soon began receiving mail at his house from Coast Guard about the yacht and other pieces of mail that were addressed to Wong and Bohuchot.

“…he was furious: ‘Here were all these people stealing money from school kids — and they were using my house for an illegal enterprise,’ he says. ‘I didn’t care if it was my brother-in-law and sister.’”

Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Bohuctot received 11 years. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, both were denied appeals Tuesday in a New Orleans-based federal court.

Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh. You can also follow her at @TexasWatchdog.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Principals at struggling HISD schools may get bonuses of up to $30,000 in incentive-pay plan
Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010, 07:09PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Principals at some of Houston’s most academically challenged schools may see $30,000 bonuses this school year if trustees approve an incentive-pay model Thursday — one for which the principals helped create the metrics.

The Houston Independent School District principals helm four high schools and five middle schools that are part of the $29.5 million Apollo 20 academic turn-around program launched this school year. The goal of the program is to improve student performance through a lengthened school year, longer school days and tutoring services.

Leading the drive toward academic success are nine principals who, according to HISD, were heavily recruited to bring academic excellence to Lee, Kashmere, Sharpstown and Jones high schools, as well as Fondren, Key, Ryan, Attucks and Dowling middle schools, which make up the first round of the Apollo 20 program. Eleven elementary schools are slated to enter the program next school year.

On top of receiving sign-on bonuses that cost the district more than $49,000 this year, Apollo 20 principals could receive an additional $30,000 at a high school and $20,000 at a middle school if trustees approve the bonus-pay model at the November school board meeting.

HISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez said he is not sure this is the right time to be “handing out” bonuses. “Not all HISD employees received raises this year, and with the current budget, they may not receive them next year. I am not sure this is the time to be handing out bonuses to principals,” Rodriguez said.

Trustee Harvin Moore disagreed. “We are not handing out bonuses. These principals will be earning them,” Moore said.

On top of this, the principals — as all principals — can earn up to $15,530 a year in bonuses through the district-wide performance pay program, ASPIRE.

According to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting (see item E-4), principals would receive the bonus by meeting a combination of targets related to student attendance, student achievement and graduation, dropout or grade completion rates — all of which were determined through input from the nine principals and using testing and attendance data from previous years.

A detailed description of the incentive pay model can be viewed here.

The maximum total cost of the incentive program if approved would be $239,000 and would be funded through federal money and private grants, according to HISD.

Parent Visionaries, a group of parent leaders representing schools throughout the Houston district, is concerned general funds — the school system’s main checking account — will be used if the district does not raise the $6 million in private funding it still needs for the Apollo 20 program.

According to an e-mail from Michel Pola, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier’s chief of staff, that is not the case.

“General fund is not being used to fund the incentives. The three sources being used are state transformation grants, schools’ per pupil title II allocations (Title II is federal entitlement money for recruitment, retention, and performance); third source is private funds…The HISD foundation is aggressively raising funds for the Apollo program. There are funds set aside for the Apollo program; however, we anticipate raising sufficient private funds.”

The November HISD board of education meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hattie Mae White building in Houston. Follow @TexasWatchdog on Twitter for live updates during the meeting.

For a complete look at the most recent Apollo 20 budget, click here.

Questions about this story or other education news can be sent to Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850, or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story written for Radio Television Digital News Association:

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Nov 01 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

Stepping outside your comfort zone – no one likes to do it and it can be quite a challenge.

The trouble with being in the news business is that every day is not the same and there are always new topics, new subject matters and new people we, as journalists, find ourselves writing about, learning about and talking about.

Whether it is a feature story on a sport you have never heard of or a hard news piece on the economy, we have to know the details, those details have to be correct and we have to tell a story that the audience can relate to and understand. It can be easier said then done, I know, but there are some things you can do to make the transition from novice to expert a little easier or at least more comfortable.

Have websites ready. The great thing about the internet is that it is full of information; a downfall of the internet is that it is full of information. When it is crunch-time in the newsroom, just “googling” words and phrases and people is not going to always cut it; you have to know where you are going and if the information is helpful. Set up a Delicious account and begin saving bookmarks and web tools as you find them. If you see a great story on the economy, bookmark the site it mentions. Bookmarking sites as you see them makes it seem more manageable and less overwhelming.

Attend trainings and Webinars. Journalism training is everywhere and not all of it is expensive. Organizations like RTDNA offer Webinars for free to members. There are also a lot of online Webinar training opportunities offered by non-profits, business groups, etc. The key is to participate in a session that will teach you something new. If you never cover the economy, try attending a financial seminar, etc.

Make contacts. Attend events in the community and put yourself out there to be contacted. Try to attend a variety of events and not just events associated with your beat or specialization. You never know when you will need a contact in the medical field, oil and gas or a lawyer.

Be organized. Now that you have made contacts and have web resources keep them organized. The key is to make sure you can get to the information you have collected quickly. Try organizing business cards by career fields or creating an online spreadsheet with all of the data (that way it can be searched).

The more you prepare and are ready to cover a subject matter you are not familiar with the more comfortable you will feel while doing it. Think of it this way: you can learn something new and you might even enjoy it!