Lynn Walsh

A story written for the Society of Professional Journalists:

10 Tips for Building Better Resumes

Exams are almost over, and now is the time to start working on developing your resume. The Society of Professional Journalists wants to help maximize and jump-start your career with these great tips for building better resumes:

Like some news stories, a resume seems to be something that is never perfect and that you are never done writing.

The good news is that a resume should be a “working document” that needs to be tweaked and changed from time to time. Here are 10 tips to help you create or improve your resume.

1. Use updated contact information. Will you be moving back home after graduation? Make sure all contact information will be current for at least six months after sending out a resume. Do not include a school address you will not be living at after graduation or a school e-mail address that may not be active six months after graduation. Also make sure all the contact information for your references is up-to-date and be sure to give all references a heads-up before adding them to your resume.

2. Experience means experience. Whether it was an internship or job, whether you got paid or you did not, if you gained experience that will help you in a future job, it should be included. This includes a website or podcast you do as a side project or the Pulliam/Kilgore FOI Internship.

3. Awards and honors are more than statues. It is important to include examples of when your work was recognized. Most of the time this includes awards like the SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards, but do not forget other honors like scholarships or a training/conference you were selected to attend.

4. Chronological order may not always be the best. Just because it is the most recent position does not mean it should always go first. Lead with what will show a potential employer why you are the most qualified for the job you are applying for. If your last position was as a copy editor, but you are applying for a reporter position and have four years of reporting experience, lead with the reporting experience.

5. Don’t hide the lead. Potential employers know what interns do so leave the boring details for the end or completely off. Were you put in charge of all the news interns at a station? Did something you wrote get published? Did you win an award while working for the publication? Say you are an award-winning journalist, say you were in charge. Always lead with what sets you apart from other candidates. Leave the transcribing details for the very end or off the page.

6. Make sure skills are skills. A section dedicated to the skills you have can be valuable if utilized correctly. Lead with what sets you apart. Do you know HTML? Flash? Make sure those skills are at the top and leave Microsoft Word and Windows toward the end of the list.

7. Cater your resume. It is a great idea to have a basic resume ready at all times. But, when applying for jobs, you should not be sending the same resume to two difference places. If you are applying for an online position you will want to showcase your online experience; if you are applying for a producing position, showcase your producing experience, etc.

8. Don’t get lost in titles. Whether it is an award or a publication you worked for, if it is not easily recognizable, come up with an alternative way of saying it on first reference. Names of publications and news stations may ring-a-bell in that particular city, but across the country or the world they will probably not mean much. Use call letters instead of station names. Describe the scholarship as a journalism scholarship from your school then follow with the title.

9. Presentation is everything. First, your resume should always be one page. I know we all have done a lot, but at this point in your career it needs to be only one page. Second, make sure the font is legible and not too small. A few other things: make sure the paper you are using is not distracting, do not be afraid to use boxes to separate some accomplishments and do not be afraid to bold or italicize key words.

10. List and use social media. If you use Twitter professionally, make sure you include your username prominently on the resume. On a paper resume I would leave off Facebook and LinkedIn URLs because they are too long – but ALWAYS include them electronically and mention you are on them. Send people to your personal website or blog and make sure it is updated. If your accounts are not professional, do not link to them and it is probably a good idea to clean them up before applying for jobs.

Lynn Walsh is an investigative video journalist with Texas Watchdog and chairwoman of the SPJ Generation J Committee.

Written for and published by the Society of Professional Journalists: The Quill:

Generation J Toolbox
Polish your paper and online portfolios
By Lynn Walsh

It’s the end of yet another year, and as the holiday season begins to consume our lives and singers of the past attempt to entertain (or haunt) us with holiday music downloads, “best of” and “worst of” lists are taking over the radio, television and Internet.

From Top 40 song countdown lists to the “Best of (fill in the blank) in 2010” on VH1, everyone and everything is getting ranked, including journalists and news stories. As award season in the journalism world is in high gear, now is the time to make sure you land on the top of lists and not near the bottom.

Whether you are applying for a fellowship, a graduate program or a prestigious award, make sure you, your work and your online identity are polished and ready to be dissected under the microscope of judges and admission counselors.

Thanks to the Internet, information is more readily available now than ever before. A quick Internet search can turn up various types of information about a person in mere minutes. And because most fellowships, awards or job applications will involve more than a written component, it is important to make sure you are putting your best lead and montage forward online, on paper and in person.

Online:

● Search yourself. Don’t worry about what a co-worker would say (they most likely do it themselves). I was once told you want the first page of search results to either be links you “own” or control or nothing related to you at all.

● Update all social media profiles. Take a day and go through the steps to make your profile 100 percent complete on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Actually use the “find connections on Twitter/Facebook” tools. Get recommended on LinkedIn. These profiles, if used correctly, can serve as a longer, more-detailed resume.

● Create or increase your personal Web page. Whether it is a blog on Blogspot, a website or a Tumblr page, create it and use it. How can you apply for an online media position, fellowship or award if you don’t have a Web presence?

● Make sure what is online is what you want your professional contacts, future and past, to know about you. If a friend’s post on your Facebook page makes you uneasy, delete it! Real friends will understand.

On Paper:

● Update your resume. You do not want to be scrambling the night before an application deadline to fix the header and footer on your resume. Take a night or a Sunday afternoon and get it in order; making it a regular habit helps.

● Make sure your references are recent and make sure they are aware they are your references. Need new ones? Join professional groups and organizations to develop new relationships.

● Write a cover letter. Every cover letter should not be the same, and sometimes writing one when you really don’t need it can produce better results.

● Practice answering the usual questions. Practice makes perfect, right? So why not take time to answer typical application questions about yourself once in a while?

In Person:

● Keep updated business cards on hand at all times. You never know who you are going to run into.

● Know your elevator speech. What are your strengths? What sets you apart from other journalists? What does your job description really mean? Know the answers to these questions and be able to share with someone in plain English in about 15 seconds.

● Use new technologies to sell yourself. Consider using QR codes that link to your website, your best work, a video or contact information. Bookmark videos or pages of your best work on your smart phone (if you have one) so they can be quickly accessible. Download mobile apps that allow for you to instantly share contact information. Of course, make sure your contact information is up to date!

If you are having a hard time, bring in outside help. I’m not talking about a consultant, and it does not have to be someone in the business. Get an outside perspective; have a parent or non-journalism friend take a look. Sometimes an “outsider” can provide insight or a new perspective on how to highlight your strengths.

Updating resumes and social media profiles can be overwhelming and tedious, so try to space it out and do it regularly. Set aside time once a month or so to focus on putting your best foot forward online, in person and on paper.

Lynn Walsh is chairwoman of the SPJ Generation J Committee; she works as an investigative video journalist for Texas Watchdog in Houston. Contact her on Twitter @LWalsh or at Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com.

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association:

Slow Newsroom Around the Holidays?
Dec 10 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

Let’s face it, if you cover City Hall, the Statehouse or any government organization for that matter, getting a hold of people around the holidays can be pretty difficult. Whether it is a few weeks without a returned phone call or a few days without an e-mail response, getting in touch with anyone around this time of year is a little tricky.

Sounds like a great time to lay back and relax, right? Well, why not take advantage of the time? Here are some suggestions on how to spend the “down-time” being productive:

1. Investigate. One of the biggest complaints journalists have is that there is never enough time for a story. Well, now is your chance to dig-in and read or at least skim that 1,000-plus page report on the school system. Or maybe it is a database of contractors the city uses that you want to search through and wrap your head around. Now is the time to do that. Someone at the city or the school district may not be available for contact, but when they are you will be more than prepared to ask the tough questions.

2. Experiment. Whether you are producing a newscast or a reporter covering a holiday travel story, use the opportunity of covering something a little less “newsy” to try something new. Whether it is a new stand-up or a new online tool to incorporate in your broadcast, trying out something new is a lot easier to do with a story on Christmas than it is on a breaking news story where several people have lost their lives.

3. Reach out. People love coming together on the holidays. People also like an excuse to get out of the office. Why not give it to them? Is there a contact you have been dying to reconnect with? Let them know and invite them to get coffee or lunch or a drink. People are busy around the holidays but it may also be the perfect excuse to get in touch with them — the year is ending and you want to catch up!

4. Branch out. Have you always wanted to cover the education beat? Or maybe you have been dying to cover city government? In news, the holidays also mean short-staffed newsrooms and lots of vacation requests. Use this to your advantage and pick up the extra shifts, even if it is not something you would normally do. Try out the morning news or maybe you want to see what night-side is all about. Always ask permission first and who knows, you might find a new favorite beat or shift!

5. Learn. Everyone has a story that they just cannot forget about. Sometime you are left always wondering if there is more to it than what was reported or that authorities let you know about. Now is your chance to see if your inclination is true. Reach out to an expert in that field or pick up a book about the subject. Research what other news organizations have covered related to it, contact the reporter who wrote the story to see how they went a little deeper. The more you learn the more you can tell your viewers.

The holidays are fun and people tend to be happy or looking for an excuse to be happy. Give it to them. Happy Holidays!

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association:

Story Follow-Up Is Just as Important as the Story!
Dec 20 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

Growing up my eyes were always glued to news coverage. Whether it was a major tragedy (Princess Diana’s death and the Columbine shootings) or a high-profile court case (O.J. Simpson) I watched ad national and local news outlets told the stories.

As a journalist there is one thing that’s always frustrated me about big stories – there is very little follow-up.

Whether it is a national story or a local story, you will see non-stop, wall-to-wall coverage for a few days or maybe weeks, but then nothing (until the six-month or year anniversary).

Take the Gulf Oil Spill as an example. Almost every station had a live feed of the oil spilling into the gulf on their websites or TV coverage. The national news outlets covered it at least hourly and most local news stations probably had at least one story a day in their newscasts. But now, the coverage is near obsolete.

I think why the absence of follow-up in news coverage bothers me is because it is really not too difficult. As a reporter or a news organization you have already made the needed contacts, you probably have enough video and quotes to do completely fresh stories and you already KNOW the facts.

With the Internet and social media following up on stories is even easier. Here are some tools that will make follow-up stories a little easier.

Mark your calendar – almost every story is going to have future dates where something is happening. For trials it may be deadlines for appeals. For murders or other tragedies it may be deadlines for lawsuits. If there are audits going on in government there are normally lots of deadlines of when information is due. Elections have lots of paperwork deadlines. Take the time to write these down and save them to a calendar.

No new news does not mean don’t report – Information that you get for a follow-up may no be that interesting. No one filed for a lawsuit or no new information was found in an audit. That doesn’t mean people don’t want to know about it. Will it go in your A-block or front page–probably not but there are other ways to share the information. Use social media accounts to send the update and link back to past coverage. Write a short blog about the update or have it going across the screen in a ticker.

Don’t forget about the characters in the story – Sometimes you are not able to talk to everyone involved in a story (especially a victim or accused) continue to reach out to them even after the story leaves the headlines. If the story was big enough people will not care if a year or more have passed since the incident happened.

Legislation or new laws – Sometimes major events can trigger lawmakers to put laws in place to prevent the same thing from happening again. Keep a close eye on if this is happening and be sure to point out the connection. Sometimes the bigger story is that no one is doing anything to prevent it from happening again. That’s when you can ask why and it could lead to a bigger investigation.

If the story was big enough to break into Oprah then it probably deserves some follow-up attention!

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Houston ISD school board to let Terry Grier collect unused off-days tax-free
Thursday, Dec 16, 2010, 03:36PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

CORRECTION: This story was updated Thursday night to make it clear that the contract amendment means Grier can deposit payments into his account tax-free but must pay taxes on the funds when he draws money out of the account.

The head of Houston’s public schools will not have to pay tax — possibly for years to come — on payments for his unused sick days, vacation days and personal days after school board members approved an amendment to his contract Thursday.

According to the amended contract, Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier has 30 days of vacation, 30 days of sick leave and five personal days available each year. If he does not use all of the 65 days-off a year, they will be moved to a savings plan where he receive the money tax-free. The amount paid to Grier’s plan cannot exceed the maximum amount allowed by law.

Grier won’t have to pay taxes on the money put into the saving plan until he draws money out of that account, whenever that might be, HISD officials said.

In Grier’s previous contract, payments from unused time off were to be paid directly to the superintendent in a “lump sum,” where it could be taxed.

The new contract for Grier resolved “a tax issue in which he would have had to pay tax on money he had not received yet,” HISD spokesman Norm Uhl said in an e-mail Thursday. It does not include any increases in bonus pay, and the length of the contract was not extended, HISD said.

Each unused day off, is worth more than $1,100, based on Grier’s annual salary of $300,000 and the “254-day work year” referenced in his contract.

The amendment to the contract was discussed Thursday by school board members in closed session then unanimously approved with no discussion. HISD school board members not present for the vote were Mike Lunceford and Anna Eastman.

See anything interesting in Grier’s contract? Contact Lynn Walsh.

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

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Houston ISD releases list of 66 ‘small schools’ being discussed for possible closure, consolidation
Thursday, Dec 16, 2010, 10:51AM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Want to know if your child’s school could be on the chopping block as the Houston school system considers whether to close or consolidate its smallest schools?
The Houston Independent School District this morning released the official list of 66 “small schools.” School board members began discussions this morning on the possible school closures.

The school system named nine high schools on the list of 66. Even though the district had previously said it considers high schools with less than 1,000 students to be “small schools,” the nine schools named today each have less than 1,250 students. (School board member Larry Marshall, for one, had told Texas Watchdog earlier this week that he thought 1,250 was a better cutoff point than 1,000.)

The nine high schools include Houston’s two oldest high schools for African-Americans, Yates and Wheatley. The complete list:

* Scarborough
* Washington
* Kashmere
* Wheatley
* Furr
* Yates
* Jones
* Worthing
* Sterling

Fifteen middle schools are on the list, each with less than 750 students. They are:

* Williams
* Black
* Key
* Hogg
* Fleming
* McReynolds
* Ryan
* Grady
* Long
* Sharpstown Middle
* Sugar Grove
* Fondren
* Cullen
* Attucks
* Thomas

And 15 elementary schools are on the list, each with less than 500 students. They are:

* Osborne
* Wesley
* Durham
* Burrus
* Paige
* Houston Gardens
* Mcdade
* Kashmere Gardens
* Isaacs
* Ross
* Looscan
* Atherton
* Field
* Love
* Stevenson
* Memorial
* Crockett
* Crockett ECC
* MacGregor
* Blackshear
* Henderson NQ
* Pleasantville
* Port Houston
* Briscoe
* Hartsfield
* Whidby
* Alcott
* Grimes
* Frost
* Rhodes
* Young
* Fondren Elementary
* Elrod
* Shadowbriar
* Gordon

The list also includes seven pre-kindergarten programs, each with less than 750 students. They are:

* Wharton
* Rusk
* Gregory-Lincoln
* E.O. Smith
* Woodson
* Wilson
* Briarmeadow

Not included on the list of 66 are schools designed to be small, such as unique and separate magnet schools, charters, alternative schools, early colleges, early childhood centers and specialty high schools.

Also excluded from the list are schools where plans are already in place to make major changes, such as already planned construction and consolidation work.

For a list of schools receiving extra funding for being small this year — a total of 79 — check out our story from yesterday at this link. The enrollment thresholds to receive the extra money, according to HISD, are 1,000 for high schools, 750 for middle schools, and 500 for elementary and early childhood centers.

Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. On Twitter, follow her at @lwalsh and at @TexasWatchdog.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Houston ISD employees offer suggestions on how district can cut budget
Wednesday, Dec 15, 2010, 03:18PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Cut district travel, eliminate breakfast in the classroom, reduce magnet funding and cut lights off at night — those are just some of the suggestions made by Houston school system employees to cut the budget of the seventh-largest school district in the country.

As the Houston Independent School District braces itself for multi-million dollar cuts from the state, it is asking its employees and the community at large for suggestions on how to reduce cut spending. (To submit a suggestion, send an e-mail to CFOcomments@houstonisd.org.)

There are some thrifty suggestions: require double-sided printing of all documents, combine supply closets, and require the use of printer refill cartridges.

Some human resource suggestions: require all administrators to serve as substitute teachers two days every semester, voluntary pay cuts, a four-day work week and closing down the district during the summer.

Some energy-saving suggestions: turning lights off at night, adjusting thermostats, unplugging equipment when it is not in use and turning off the AC when students are not in school.

(HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said the district is not seeing any problems with lights being left on in schools or air conditioners cooling empty buildings. “Trust me,” he said. “If these were problems, we would know about it. People would be calling us.”)

And some suggestions on what to cut: after-school programs, travel, food at campuses and central administration, breakfast in the classroom, trinket purchasing and overall supplies.

Along with cutting travel, employees recommended requiring people to share rooms when traveling. In an investigation this year, Texas Watchdog found poor planning, a preference for costlier direct flights, and the use of a travel agency that charges $30 for each plane ticket, costing the district thousands of dollars each year.

Pre-K funding and summer school made the list of suggested items not to be cut. You can view all of the suggestions from employees here.

To be clear, these are just suggestions. But they will all will be reviewed and considered by members of the HISD administration and budget committees, according to HISD’s chief financial officer, Melinda Garrett.

One committee, the Superintendent’s Budget Committee, is made up of HISD administrators including Grier’s chief of staff, Michelle Pola, and chief human resources officer, Ann Best. A complete list of people on the committee can be found here.

The other budget committee, the Budget Advisory Committee, is composed of 10 HISD principals and six people who are either HISD parents or members of the community. The committee has met twice this year and will begin meeting twice a month in January. Details on who sits on that committee were not released by HISD.

The cuts from the state, Garrett said, could range from $60 million to $163 million for HISD next year. She said the state is expected to make cuts in textbook funding and reduce the number and amount of state-funded grants it gives out to school districts.

Next year, HISD is also anticipating an additional cost of $3 million-4 million associated with the Renew Houston drainage ordinance. The district has asked the city to be considered exempt from the fee associated with the ordinance, but has not heard whether that will happen yet, Grier said Tuesday during a conversation with the media.

“We don’t think we’ll get it,” he said. “Unless it comes from the legislature, we don’t think we’ll see it.” The fee was approved by Houston voters in the November election.

On top of that, HISD will no longer be able to depend on stimulus money, which is set to expire at the end of this financial year, and it expects increases in overall health insurance costs, Garrett said.

According to Texas state law, HISD must approve a budget by June 30, 2011. Approving a budget, according to Garrett, usually takes between seven to nine months.

IHISD has planned a series of community meetings in January to discuss how the state budget shortfall will affect the district. The meetings will take place Jan. 18, 19, 22 and 24. More details on the times and where the meetings will be held can be found here.

How do you think HISD could save money? Texas Watchdog wants to hear what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter, @LWalsh and @TexasWatchdog.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Curious about HISD’s building projects? See complete construction, renovation budgets for HISD’s school building program.
Thursday, Dec 09, 2010, 02:37PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

First it was in the red, now it is millions under budget — view the cost details of the projects in the Houston Independent School District’s $1 billion school construction program.

The bond program will build 23 new schools and renovate 134 others. Through state public information laws, Texas Watchdog requested detailed budgets of all of the construction projects and uploaded them here.

The best way to search: Use the search box located at the top of the page using HISD and the name of the school you are interested in. The page will have other documents on it as well so the fastest and easiest way to get the information is by using the search box at the top of the page. The best way to search is by school name and “HISD”

For instance, a search for Roosevelt Elementary will send you here. HISD will spend $16.1 million at the Greenspoint-area school, more than doubling its square footage.

The budget reports show the design fee the Houston district paid for the school ($840,000 at Roosevelt), whether land was purchased (for Roosevelt, it wasn’t) or how much HISD expects to spend furnishing the schools once construction is complete ($1.8 million in furnishings at Roosevelt).

Other details available in the budget documents for each school construction project include cost of a media centers, technology equipment and science lab upgrades, construction management fees, demolition costs and more.

Voters approved the bonds for HISD to build and renovate schools across the district in 2007. Since then, details about how much the district is spending, how much each project is costing and whether there would be enough money to fund the projects, has been fuzzy.

In July, a report from the nonprofit Council of the Great City Schools said the $1 billion construction program suffered from communication problems, lacked planning and was missing budget reports.

In August, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said publicly that the program was $39 million over budget.

But in October, an outside consultant said the HISD bond program budget was “healthy,” and was $4 million under budget.

HISD trustees are expected to vote tonight on proposed changes to the budgets for construction projects at more than 10 schools. Details on what schools are involved can be found here.

Did something catch your eye while looking at the construction project details for a school? Think the amount being spent is a little high? A little low? Did the school just get a new science lab, gym or classrooms? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feed in your newsreader. We’re also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, NewsVine and tumblr.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Five years after scandal prompted funding freeze, E-Rate money returns to Houston ISD
Tuesday, Dec 07, 2010, 04:46PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

For the first time since news broke of employees accepting gifts, meals and cash from vendors, the Houston public school system is once again receiving money from the federal computers-in-schools program at the center of the controversy.

The Houston Independent School District is set to receive $1.3 million from the E-Rate program for basic technology maintenance at more than 200 of the district’s roughly 300 schools.

“This is just the tip of iceberg,” said Richard Patton, the HISD official tasked with making sure vendors and school system employees keep on E-Rate’s straight and narrow. “It’s a really good sign.”

The school system, the nation’s seventh-largest, applied for almost $70 million in E-Rate funding earlier this year. E-Rate is brings cut-rate telecommunications services to public schools, nonprofit private schools and libraries.

HISD employees were accused of accepting meals, sporting tickets and cash from E-Rate vendors — a violation of the tenets of the federally funded program.

Those cozy relationships with E-Rate vendors cost HISD $105 million in federal funding. HISD was required to hire Patton, pay an $850,000 settlement and agree to strengthen its district ethics and disclosure policies. It also saw its E-Rate funding frozen in 2006, a freeze that has apparently now thawed.

The money can cover maintenance of power suppliers, servers and switches, Patton said. “We were approved at the 90 percent level, which means the district pays 10 percent of the cost” and the federal program picks up the rest, he said.

The contractor approved to receive all of the money from the projects is Netsync Network Solutions, a Houston-based IT company.

Netsync is the same company HISD trustees recently hired to upgrade the district’s computer system. HISD has given more than $17.9 million to Netsync this year, according to the school system’s online check registry.

The computer upgrade and increased security is expected to cost the district up to $15 million and was triggered by a hacker accessing personal information of HISD employees and students in October. HISD did not put the Netsync security contract up for competitive bids due to time constraints and vulnerability of the current system, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said.

Have questions or comments on HISD’s E-Rate program? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@Texaswatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Juliet Stipeche bests Judith Cruz — by 44 votes — in Houston ISD board race
Wednesday, Dec 01, 2010, 04:17PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Local lawyer Juliet Stipeche will fill the vacant seat on the Houston Independent School District board of trustees.
RazorRazor-thin margin: 44 votes decide school board seat in nation’s 7th-largest school district

A graduate of HISD’s High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Stipeche defeated Judith Cruz by less than 50 votes in Tuesday’s run-off election. According to HISD, Stipeche received 1,048 votes and Cruz received 1,004, for a 51%-49% split in votes cast.

Stipeche will fill the District 8 seat on the HISD board, which was left vacant when former Diana Davilla resigned from her position in July with more than a year left in her term. Stipeche is expected to be sworn in next Thursday.

Cruz and Stipeche were forced into a runoff after neither candidate managed to receive more than 50% of the total votes in the Nov. 2 election. The two women outpolled competitors Dorothy Olmos, Peter Schwethelm and Roberto Centeno.

Check out the links below for more information on the HISD District 8 race:

* Juliet Stipeche campaign finance report.
* Judith Cruz campaign finance report.
* Roberto Centeno campaign finance report.
* Peter Schwethelm campaign finance report.
* Dorothy Olmos campaign finance report.
* Video: Cruz, Stipeche and Centeno discuss parent involvement at a candidate forum sponsored by Parents for Public Schools of Houston.
* Parents for Public Schools of Houston Q&A with candidates.

Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.