Lynn Walsh

A story written for BrowardBulldog:

A First Amendment battle has erupted between a prominent South Florida developer and a blogger, who so far has only been identified as “John Doe.”

Raanan Katz, a minority owner of the Miami Heat, and his family-owned company R.K. Associates are suing the anonymous blogger for defamation and libel for reports he claims are false and malicious.

The blogger’s Fort Lauderdale attorney, Robert Kain, argues in court papers that his client is a “citizen journalist” deserving of First Amendment protection because his reporting on Katz is about “matters of public concern.”

“Doe is an anonymous citizen journalist critically reporting what he considers to be abusive litigation tactics and prior criminal convictions by a well know public person Raanan Katz and Katz’ companies,” the papers say.

Katz’s filed the case in state court in June, but it has since been removed to federal court in Miami. Katz dropped an additional claim for false advertising against the blogger last week.

(continue reading…)

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Neighbors fear ‘eyesores’ if HISD closes four schools; old Bastian Elementary to be bulldozed
Thursday, May 12, 2011, 11:30AM CST
By Lynn Walsh

The proposed closures of four Houston elementary schools could leave those neighborhoods with more eyesores and create safe havens for illegal activity, some neighbors have said — but school district administrators said they’re taking steps to prevent that from happening.

As Houston Independent School District trustees consider closing four elementary schools, community members are reminding them of the forlorn condition of another campus, the old Bastian Elementary building on Calhoun Road.

“The fact that an unoccupied, unused, raggedy, unmonitored, closed school … sits within 1.3 miles of Grimes Elementary School and only 3 miles away from Rhoads Elementary School is very unsettling,” Tristan Washington told HISD Superintendent Terry Grier and trustees in an e-mail. “We don’t need another school closure which results in another ‘old Bastian Elementary’ situation.”

(continue reading…)

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Audit report recommends axing nearly half of Houston ISD’s magnet schools
Friday, Jan 07, 2011, 04:56PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Almost half of the Houston public schools’ 113 magnet programs have been recommended for the chopping block by an outside group brought in by the school district.

The final report from Magnet Schools of America highlights 55 magnet programs the third-party national education group believes the Houston Independent School District should eliminate — a move that would save the district nearly $8 million in magnet funding. HISD spends $17 million a year on magnet programs.

“This is just a springboard,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said Friday. “Trustees and staff have to look at where we are, be honest and analyze that what we are doing is best for all kids in the district. There will be some tweaks to this. These are all just recommendations.”

MSA recommended eliminating magnet programs that do not meet its requirements for a magnet program, schools having limited building capacity and schools that are part of the district’s school turn-around program, Apollo 20.

HISD trustees will ultimately have the final say on what changes, if any, happen with HISD’s magnet program.

MSA recommends that changes start in the 2011-12 school year — during that year, HISD school buses would continue to ferry students back and forth to the magnet programs recommended for elimination, and those schools would continue to receive 40% of their total magnet funding that year. But when that school year ends, all funding to those programs would cease, according to MSA’s recommendations.

(View all of the documents associated with the MSA review here. Texas Watchdog has also created a database with funding information, MSA recommendations and state accountability ratings here.)

Criticism over the amount of money HISD spends on magnet programs — some of which are at failing schools — coupled with the overall effectiveness of the programs and the funding discrepancies between the programs prompted the MSA review process, which began in October.

“We have magnets that were never authorized to be magnets,” Grier said Friday. “I believe to be a magnet school, you ought to be an exemplary school.”
Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit documentstexaswatchdog

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HISD MSA magnet review Individual School Summaries From: texaswatchdog Reads: 104
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Outside Consultants Suggest Plan for HISD Magnet Schools From: texaswatchdog Reads: 112
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet audit – current proposed magnet schools 2011 From: texaswatchdog Reads: 65
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit — attachment Phase I/Phase II/Interim From: texaswatchdog Reads: 46
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Houston ISD magnet school audit final report Jan. 6, 2011 From: texaswatchdog Reads: 56
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit Magnet Demographics Charts From: texaswatchdog Reads: 48
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit magnet letter- parents From: texaswatchdog Reads: 35
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit FAQ From: texaswatchdog Reads: 38
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit principal’s meeting briefing From: texaswatchdog Reads: 46
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HISD 2011 Magnet School Audit School Feedback Form From: texaswatchdog Reads: 26

+ Add your documents to this collection
Create and share your own collection on Scribd

Grier also said that some of the schools are spending magnet money on non-magnet expenses like school nurses. When asked how this could have happened, Grier said he wants to focus on the future.

“We need to develop a better accountability system, and we will do that,” Grier said. “MSA recommends a magnet review every five years. Frankly, I think it should be every three years.”

This MSA review cost the district $269,000, the school district said.

Grier said some principals have said the information and data used by MSA was inaccurate. While he does not suspect widespread data problems, Grier said there could be some.

“Help us correct it,” Grier said. “Let us know so we can fix it.” Most of the errors, he said, were due to incomplete data and data-entry flaws.

According to HISD, 42,000 students are enrolled in magnet programs this year. HISD says it plans on holding community forums in different areas of the city to obtain feedback from parents and community members.

HISD trustees are also set to discuss the magnet review at a board workshop Monday. Follow @TexasWatchdog on Twitter for live updates during the meeting or search for #HISD.

Is your child’s magnet school one of the 55 on the list recommended for closure in the new magnet audit? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or @LWalsh on Twitter.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Local Democrat questions GOP turkey-and-bike give away at Houston public school
Thursday, Jan 06, 2011, 05:55PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

A program by local Republicans to give free turkeys and bikes to kids at a Houston elementary school crossed the line into a political event and should be stopped, a local Democratic activist and blogger says.

The Harris County Republican Party has donated turkeys to students at J.R. Harris Elementary in southeast Houston for the past nine years, according to a complaint filed with the district by John Cobarruvias of Houston.

“There needs to be an investigation,” said Cobarruvias, who has filed a formal complaint with the Houston Independent School District. “Bringing candidates into a school and having the students make banners for the Republican candidates is not OK.”

According to county GOP newsletters, more than 200 bicycles were given to third, fourth and fifth graders who passed all three sections of state achievement tests. The bikes were distributed in May 2009.

In December 2009, the party continued its “tradition of donating holiday turkeys to economically disadvantaged families” at Harris, according to one newsletter.

“First and foremost this activity must stop immediately,” Cobarruvias wrote in a letter to HISD trustees and Superintendent Terry Grier. “Partisan political activity in a public school is illegal. And second, I am requesting the HISD board to call for an investigation into this activity to determine if rules and/or laws were broken with appropriate action being taken.”

HISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez said he has been told by the district that nothing was against the law.

“After checking with the district, there was probably some gray area, but nothing that was illegal,” Rodriguez told Texas Watchdog. “They were not handing out GOP literature. They made posters, but that was not, per se, a political event.”

Cobarruvias, who blogs at Bay Area Houston, disagrees. “We cannot have them listen to the president of the United States, but they can bring their candidates into the school and everything is OK?” he asked, referring to how some parents in Houston and elsewhere objected to allowing public school students to hear a live talk by President Obama on the importance of education in 2009 . “It’s about more than political differences.” (For an opposing blogger viewpoint on the giveaways, here’s a piece sharply critical of Cobarruvias at Rhymes with Right.)

In an e-mail to Cobarruvias, Sam Sarabia, head of HISD’s elementary schools said:

“There was no such activity this year at JR Harris. As you are aware, we do accept partnerships which are willing to assist our children. At no times do we allow political banners inside the school or promote one political party over another one.”

“No turkeys were given out this school year,” Sarabia told Texas Watchdog. He said HISD would accept bicycle donations from the county GOP again this year or in the future.

Dem Cries Foul Over Free GOP Turkeys: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

“At this point, yes,” Sarabia said. “This is a 10-year partnership. If they were to offer any incentives for student performance, we would accept them. It is almost like a scholarship for these students,” he said.

In the past, he said, the bicycles were handed out during school assemblies. But because of a new state law, now and in the future, the bike donations or other incentives for students in HISD would be handled with a voucher system.

“If there are 100 students at the end of the year that qualify for an incentive, each would receive a letter and a coupon for the bike in a sealed envelope,” Sarabia said. “In the past, yes, there was an assembly, but not anymore.”

At press time, neither the Harris County Republican Party nor the principal of J.R. Harris Elementary responded to phone calls from Texas Watchdog. However, blogger Rhymes With Right has published here a spirited defense of the GOP incentive program.

Do you think it’s acceptable for a local political group to give turkeys and bikes to elementary school students? 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.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Review of HISD’s magnet schools states the obvious: Problems with funding, standards in Houston’s public schools

Monday, Nov 01, 2010, 04:38PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

The Houston public schools’ 100-plus magnet programs suffer from funding discrepancies, a lack of standard guidelines and requirements for programs and no district-wide answer to what being a “successful” magnet means, according to a preliminary review of the district’s magnet programs.

All three observations have been previously made by Houston Independent School District trustees and staff, parents and the media.

The report by Magnet Schools of America outlines 10 “emerging themes” the education nonprofit has found in HISD’s $17 million magnet program. After meeting with HISD trustees and administration and holding parent and community forums throughout October, MSA, which will receive up to $275,000 for the magnet review, has come to the following “preliminary” conclusions:

* HISD magnet programs lack equitable funding.
* There are no standard magnet guidelines or requirements in place for HISD magnet programs.
* HISD is not able to define what being a “successful” magnet school means.
* HISD magnet programs have strong parent involvement and district leadership support.
* There is concern over the inconsistent quality of magnet programs in HISD.

Last month, former HISD magnet chief Dottie Bonner, told Texas Watchdog that “there is not a written formula at all, and even back then, there was not a whole lot of sense to how it was given.” Bonner served as the head of HISD’s magnets for seven years.

To see the funding discrepancies for yourself, Texas Watchdog published the most recent funding data for HISD magnet programs here.

According to MSA, the next report will include more detailed information including data collected during the community and parent forums.

“All information collected was catalogued by MSA consultants and will be included in the Phase I report on November 1, 2010 as raw data in the attachments section; this includes survey question cards collected from individuals and the group discussion notes from each table.”

The next report with the data is due Monday and, according to an HISD spokeswoman, the report will be made available on this page of the district’s website.

What do you think of the MSA magnet review findings? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Former magnets chief: No sense to HISD magnet funding patterns
Tuesday, Oct 26, 2010, 02:00PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

The method of funding for the 100-plus magnet programs in the Houston Independent School District does not make any sense, the former head of the district’s magnet programs said.
Magnet

“The problem is that they established a funding formula at a time well before any money was being given to programs for gifted students or special ed students,” said Dottie Bonner, who retired in August after seven years as head of HISD’s magnets.

“There is not a written formula at all, and even back then, there was not a whole lot of sense to how it was given,” she said. (Texas Watchdog published the most recent funding data for magnet programs in HISD at this link.)

Bonner began working in HISD in 1981 as an English teacher at Yates High School and was also involved in developing the district’s English curricula.

The hope is that the discrepancies will be ironed out as a national education nonprofit, Magnet Schools of America, finishes a review of the 113 magnet programs in the district. The review, which will cost the district up to $275,000, is expected to be complete in December.

Bonner recalled that magnet funding dates back to the early 1970’s, when school systems, HISD included, provided additional money to campuses for after-school programs. The after-school programs soon began to make their way into the classrooms during regular school hours — the origins of the first magnet programs.

“The funding makes no sense. I can guarantee that if you ask the schools, ‘Why are you getting this money?’ they do not even know why,” Bonner said.

Most of the magnet money a school receives must go toward personnel costs, Bonner said. “If the school is making the magnet program a priority, then they have to make classes and teachers available to the students,” Bonner said.

There are also administrative costs associated with magnet schools that are used to fund a magnet coordinator for the magnet program. Last year HISD spent more than $5.6 million paying the salaries of more than 90 magnet coordinators, according to an HISD salary database obtained by Texas Watchdog through the Texas Public Information Act.

“I have been in education for 40 years and I know money does not make a good school. It really does depend on the quality of the teachers and the quality of the classroom,” Bonner said.

What do you think of the way magnet programs are being funded in HISD? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD launches $25K website on having an effective teacher in every classroom; site does not disclose how many current teachers aren’t effective
Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010, 09:49AM CST
By Lynn Walsh

The Houston public school system has a new $25,000 website up and running to update the public on the district’s goal of having an effective teacher in every classroom within 5 years.
Web site

What you won’t find on the site: An assessment of how many current teachers are less than effective, or how much progress the district has made on getting rid of them.

Nor will readers find data from the surveys taken this summer of the district’s principals and teachers, asking them for their views on teacher effectiveness and how the school system could address it — data the Houston Independent School District released months ago and which Texas Watchdog has already published.

But readers will find PowerPoint presentations including strategic plans and blue-sky thinking on how the school district can improve the quality of its teaching.

The site, www.HISDeffectiveteachers.org, which went live Friday, also includes a service where readers can subscribe to e-mail updates, a feedback section for parents and community members and dates of upcoming meetings at which committees will debate broad questions such as, what is an effective teacher?

The estimated cost for the site is $25,684.95, HISD spokesman Norm Uhl said. That will cover “the cost for the initial development, domain registration, hosting and maintenance of the effective teacher portal over the 5 year project,” he said in an e-mail.

The costs are being covered by a donation from the Houston Endowment. The nonprofit has previously given the district $250,000 for its effective-teacher initiative.

The site was built by a New York-based education nonprofit, The New Teacher Project, which has been consulting HISD since late last year on its hiring practices.

The website is part of TNTP’s four-phase, $8.4-million project that aims to help HISD attract and retain the best teachers with the hope of boosting student achievement. Phases one and two of the project are complete; the results of the surveys and the data the group has collected can be viewed here.

The HISD communications team and district leadership helped design the website with help from TNTP staff, Uhl said.

Last month, the district was awarded a $31.5 million five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will primarily fund performance pay for principals and teachers. Days before the money was awarded to HISD, a national study was published showing that rewarding teachers with cash bonuses does not necessarily mean higher test scores or better academic performance by students.

Have you used the new site yet? What do you think? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@Texaswatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

School board to take final vote on ban on HISD employees taking gifts from vendors
Thursday, Oct 14, 2010, 02:05PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

All Houston Independent School District employees may soon have to sign conflict-of-interest forms prohibiting them from accepting gifts from current or prospective district vendors — a requirement currently imposed only on HISD’s high-level administrators.
Gift pic

The ethics proposal bans employees from accepting “any gift, favor, service, entertainment or anything of more than token value.” If approved by trustees Thursday, all employees would sign the statements twice a year.

The proposal is one of two measures aimed at accountability that HISD trustees will take up this week. The new rules come in the wake of allegations that district employees got cash and other freebies from potential vendors in a scandal that cost the district $105 million in federal technology funding, plus another $850,000 in federal fines.

The other ethics-related proposal on Thursday’s agenda would prohibit employees who work closely with vendor contracts from communicating with bidders after the district requests a vendor’s services.

This “code of silence” would ban any communication “regarding a request for proposal (RFP), bid or other competitive solicitation” between any company or individual seeking work from the district and certain HISD staffers, including any:

“… Board member, the superintendent of schools, and any senior staff member, principal, department head, director, manager, or other district representative who has influence in the evaluation or selection process.”

The proposal will allow others to see the school system is being transparent, HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett said. “We (HISD) are not going off in some back room and signing contracts,” she said.

But HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, who has been at the helm of the nation’s seventh-largest school district for about a year now, has called the district’s contracting process into question.

“I have seen a procurement department made up of independent folks rate bids from a variety of different companies across the district to do a lot of different work,” Grier said in May. “And then I’ve seen staff — just for whatever reason — pull names off of a list and put other names back on a list, (with) no rhyme or reason except, quite frankly, influence where influence has no business coming from.” View his entire comment in the video below.

Grier said the goal of the two policies is to inform vendors trying to do business with HISD that the Houston district operates differently than some other school systems.

“In school districts across the country, vendors will come into a district and offer sport jerseys to district employees in exchange for computer contracts. Don’t think it doesn’t happen because it does,” Grier said. “HISD will not allow for this type of behavior, so we are banning all gifts.”

The proposed new conflict-of-interest policy allows for “items of token value” to be given as gifts. According to the proposal that includes “coffee mugs, key chains, caps, and the like.”

The policy does not consider plaques or other commemorative items as gifts, but it bans any meals from a single person or vendor worth more than $100 single calendar year. Any meals given in the $50-$100 range in one calendar year can be accepted, but must be disclosed on the biannual statements.

In 2008, HISD employees and the district were at the center of a federal investigation following allegations of employees accepting gifts, meals and entertainment from vendors associated with a federal technology program, E-Rate. Three HISD technology employees at the time allegedly accepted meals, birthday parties and cash from E-Rate vendors that were doing business with HISD at the time.

Those three former HISD employees all signed conflict-of-interest statements with HISD stating they did not receive any gifts or meals worth $100 — even though public records said they did accept meals and gifts worth more than that amount. The three former employees also did not report receiving any meals worth $50-$100.

The individuals subject to the “code of silence” would be notified when the quiet period is to begin for each contract process. The period of no communication would continue until HISD trustees have approved the bid or awarded the contract.

According to HISD, if a vendor broke the rules by contacting a board member or employee during the quiet period, that company would be banned from doing business with the school system for at least two years.

Thursday is the second time HISD trustees will take a vote on these proposals. The HISD trustees approved both of them unanimously last month. The policy change requires two votes by the trustees before it can be put into effect.

The trustees will meet after a public meeting on the district’s financial accountability rating that begins at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hattie Mae White Building on West 18th Street.

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

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Learn how to investigate schools and school districts on next Tuesday’s TrentTV webinar
Thursday, Sep 23, 2010, 02:16PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Investigating education can be overwhelming. With all of the meetings, lots of staff turnover and complicated budgets, it can be hard to know where to start.

That is why Texas Watchdog is dedicating the next episode of “TrentTV” to education. Learn some tricks of the trade that I’ve picked up while covering the Houston Independent School District.

From understanding the different allocations of funds to scanning over school board members’ conflict-of-interest forms, TrentTV is going to cover it all. Join us for our broadcast at 11:30 a.m. CDT Tuesday, Sept. 28, on www.newmediatv.org.

Trent TV is a free monthly webinar for journalists, citizen-journalists, activists and bloggers. The episodes are streamed live in partnership with New Media TV. All previous episodes are available on our YouTube channel.

Follow along in the discussion on Twitter — follow us at @TexasWatchdog or search for “#TrentTV.” Contact me with any questions or topics ideas you would like to see discussed on Twitter @LWalsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org or 713-228-2850.