Equity Center Radio

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, Dr. Catherine Clark, the Associate Executive Director for Governance Services at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), 12007 Research Blvd., PO Box 400, Austin, TX 78767–where she can be reached at 512-467-0222 X6515 (business) or 800-580-8272 (toll free business)–reveals how her organization is working to promote healthier school funding in the State of Texas and how it is now at work enhancing the school finance environment.

As the Associate Executive Director for Governance Services, Ms. Clark is responsible for legal services, policy service, consulting services for school districts, school board member training programs, and online governance tools for board members. Prior to becoming associate executive director at TASB, Catherine served as director for research and policy at the Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Before she joined the Dana Center she was director of the Texas Center for Educational Research in Austin, Texas, from 1991 to 2000. She has expertise in school finance and tax policy and provides training to school board members and administrators on school finance, school budgets, and property tax policy.

On today’s program, hosted by Lauren Cook, our guest explains the principles that govern TASB and discusses how its goals are being developed by its outreach to other organizations that also represent the interests of Texas public schools and our school children. According to Catherine, TASB will be working in the upcoming legislative session to shape school funding for generations to come with additional student funding per capita so that Texas schools can keep pace with those in the rest of the country.

Catherine Clark

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To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
 

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Today, our special guest host, Lauren Cook, the Communications Director here at the Equity Center, has an in-depth discussion about school politics with Carolyn Boyle, the founder of the Texas ParentPAC. Carolyn, one of the true movers and shakers in the Texas political arena, and, currently, the Chair of the Texas ParentPAC, P.O. Box 303010, Austin, Texas 78703-0051—where she can be reached at 512.391.1911 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              512.391.1911      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              512.391.1911      end_of_the_skype_highlighting—reveals how Texas ParentPAC came into being and how it has grown into an influential political force, a potent advocate for promoting healthier school funding in the State of Texas and how it is now hard at work enhancing a positive academic environment in our public schools.

The PAC Supported Numerous Republican and Democratic Winning Pro-Public School Candidates for the Texas Legislature during the past primary season. A list of their winners can be found at Winners.

Today’s guest explains the core principles that govern the group and discusses how its goals are being achieved. According to Carolyn, the upcoming November general election is going to be crucial for the State of Texas, and, especially, for the future of public schools. Texas is, whether our state officials wish to admit it or not, facing a substantial budgetary shortfall. Carolyn fears that the legislature and governor may attempt to solve the crisis on the shoulders of public schools. ParentPAC is laboring to try to prevent money from being siphoned away from public education as a short term (and short sighted) fix for Texas’ budgetary woes. By electing candidates to the Texas Legislature who support high quality public schools, ParentPAC believes that schools can be made a priority in the legislature’s budget for the next biennium.

Carolyn Boyle

You can subscribe to our weekly show by pressing the RSS button here or hear the broadcast by pushing the button below:

To find out more about the Equity Center and the important work that it performs for the school children of Texas and its member school districts, please click on www.equitycenter.org.
 

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

We have reached the end of our unique series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. Today, in an expanded broadcast, we conclude with Mr. Tilson’s estimate of what it will take to bring the nation’s educational system back from the brink and avoid our slipping catastrophically behind our foreign competitors. Later, his schedule permitting, we will have one more interview with Mr. Tilson so that he can answer your questions. And, if you do have questions for him or comments about the show, his views or the plight of the American educational system, please send them to us at the email address listed above. We want to hear from you.

In prior broadcasts, Mr. Tilson explained what the two Achievement Gaps facing school systems throughout the United States are and why it is so important that the educational community within our country overcome therm. He laid out a strong case about how we, as a nation, are failing our children and discriminating against a vast number of them. More importantly, he explains, as has the Equity Center in the past, why this disaster damages not only the children being deprived of a satisfactory education but the totality of all states and communities. Now, he closes these in-depth interviews with some ideas about how we can turn things around and end the plight.

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Our sponsor of the week is Ray, Wood & Bonilla, Attorneys-at-Law.
Call them at 512.328.8877 or go to their web pages to discover more about this gold sponsor at
www.rwblaw.net

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

We are entering into the homestretch of our multi-segment series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. And, because we have had numerous requests for the complete interview with Mr. Tilson, we have decided to expand our last two broadcasts beyond our normally allotted time of 10 minutes so that we may complete the program; the two extended broadcasts, today’s and next weeks, will bring to a conclusion this extraordinary dialogue. We hope that you have enjoyed listening to it as much as Equity Center has enjoyed producing it.

Over the past few weeks, Mr. Tilson has told our listeners about how he came to create his documentary–after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, he thought to himself, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. He did just that, creating A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform. The PowerPoint presentation used in the documentary (approximately 240 slides long) is posted at The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform)–and why he deems it an important accomplishment.

We judge the documentary to be an exhaustive examination about the achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future—between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers—and a challenge to our governmental leaders. Mr. Tilson believes that “we are failing our children” and ourselves. “Simply put,” he maintains, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.” You may differ with Tilson’s particular proposals for mending the American educational system, but we doubt that you will wrangle with his proposition that the condition of schooling is at a watershed and that our educational structure is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform premiered two days ago, on April 7, 2010; now, you can order the documentary on DVD by clicking HERE.

Our sponsor of the week is Ray, Wood & Bonilla, Attorneys-at-Law.
Call them at 512.328.8877 or go to their web pages to discover more about this gold sponsor at
www.rwblaw.net

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

Now, in part 3 of our unique series about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson, we reach what he believes is the crux of the crisis facing our school systems, the second achievement gap, the fissure ensnaring low-income, minority students from their more affluent peers.

Without restraint, in this broadcast, Mr. Tilson explains what Achievement Gap #2 is and why it is so important that the educational community within the United States overcome it. He makes a strong case about how we, as a nation, are failing our children and discriminating against a vast number of them. More importantly, he explains, as has the Equity Center in the past, why this disaster damages not only the children being deprived of a satisfactory education but the totality of all states and communities

Mr. Tilson, previously told our listeners about how he came to create his documentary. After seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, he thought to himself, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. He did just that creating A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform. The PowerPoint presentation used in the documentary (approximately 240 slides long) is posted at The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform).

We deem the documentary as one of the most exhaustive examinations about the achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future—between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers—ever filmed. In today’s podcast Mr. Tilson explains his second premise, and the subject of this broadcast; how “we are failing our children” and ourselves. “Simply put,” he maintains, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.”

Mr. Tilson’s film is a significant supplement to the corpus of reflective scholarship concerning the necessity for inclusive school transformation. He provides perceptive material and an outlook that is worth paying attention to; and Equity Center Radio is pleased to present his opinions–and we would like to hear your opinions about Mr. Tilson’s documentary. You may differ with particular proposals he has for mending the system, but we doubt that you will wrangle with his proposition that the condition of schooling is at a watershed and that our educational structure is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform will be premiered on April 7, 2010; however, you can pre-order the DVD by clicking HERE.

Our sponsor of the week is Ray, Wood & Bonilla, Attorneys-at-Law.
Call them at 512.328.8877 or go to their web pages to discover more about this gold sponsor at
www.rwblaw.net