Archive for October, 2010

Catherine Clark, The Executive Director for Governance Services for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), Discusses TASB’s Legislative Agenda, and the Move by Some To Adopt a Statewide Property Tax

Friday, October 8th, 2010

Equity Center Radio | October 8, 2010 | Catherine Clark, the Associate Executive Director for Governance Services at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) tells our Audience all About TASB’s Upcoming Lobbying Effort on behalf of Quality Education in Texas for all School Children. She also Addresses What’s Behind the Move to Adopt a Statewide Property Tax.

 

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Today, Dr. Catherine Clark, the Associate Executive Director for Governance Services at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), reveals how her organization is working to promote healthier school funding in the State of Texas with a proposal for revamping the school finance environment to insure that every Texas school district receives an equitable share of state dollars. She also answers a question posed to her by Ray Freeman, today’s broadcast host, about the move by some to adopt a statewide property tax. Ms. Clark feels that the proposal will not blend with TASB’s attempt to have the legislature pass a finance plan that is both equitable and educationally sound.

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.



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.
 

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Posted in Catherine Clark, Equity Center, Equity Center Radio, News & Talk Radio, State Taxation, TASB, Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Legislature, Wayne Pierce, school boards | Comments Off

Dr. Bonnie Lesley, the Author of “Money Does Matter! Investing in Texas Children and Our Future”, Discusses the Study and What Its Results Mean for Texas

Friday, October 1st, 2010

Equity Center Radio | October 1, 2010 | Today’s Host, Wayne Pierce, the Executive Director of the Equity Center, Speaks to Dr. Bonnie Lesley, About the Equity Center’s Recently Released Pamphlet, Money Does Matter! Investing in Texas Children and Our Future, Which She Authored.

 

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Today’s podcast features Bonnie Lesley, the principal author of the Equity Center’s latest publication, Money Does Matter! Investing in Texas Children and Our Future. Bonnie worked with the Equity Center’s Money Matters Committee over the past year to develop and write the 50-page paper. Money Does Matter is a call to action based on the premise that “[t]he high values of liberty and prosperity… are in Texans’ DNA, and we know that high-quality schools are prerequisites for both.” The information contained in Money Does Matter gives our citizenry, in general, and our policymakers, in particular,

the facts about how money matters in providing a quality education for all. The call to action is for everyone to focus the “eyes of Texas” on the legislature and leadership so that they know that Texans will accept nothing short of educational excellence for all students, real funding equity, and real taxpayer equity. Excellence is impossible to achieve without equity since equity includes both equitable funding and also equitable access to effective teachers and to opportunities to learn.

Other highlights from the opening Overview are:

  • “Texas schools are in a crisis.”
  • “Technological changes require constant updates in networking, hardware, and software.”
  • “Inflated energy, transportation, and health-care costs are huge challenges when budgets don’t grow at the same rate.”
  • “To add insult to injury, educators look at the inequitable revenue allocated to districts, and they have to question why they are held accountable for the same outcomes as much better-funded districts.”
  • “It takes money to address the citizens’ expectations for improved schools, and the problem is that the system by which Texas schools are funded is…inefficient, inadequate, inequitable, unsustainable, undemocratic, and just plain wrong!”
  • “This broken system hurts all children [and i]t victimizes taxpayers.”

    • Dr. Lesley was a classroom teacher for 17 years and a curriculum administrator in Ysleta ISD for seven years. She served as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum in Waco ISD, Austin ISD, Kansas City, Kansas SD, and Little Rock SD and as Associate State Superintendent for Curriculum in Delaware. She has also served as adjunct faculty at four universities. After 41 years in education, she served as president of a private business for seven years. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of North Texas, administrator certification at The University of Texas at El Paso, master’s at West Texas A&M, and doctorate at Baylor University

    Here is what others have to say about Money Does Matter! Investing in Texas Children and Our Future:

    ★ “Wow! Compelling. Overwhelming.”   ★ “It was too much to digest in one setting….but I couldn’t stop reading.”     ★ “Really well done – lots of information in a concise format.”     ★ “You are all to be commended!”     ★ “Bonnie did a great job but I know you all had significant roles in it.”     ★ “So many gems in this document. I plan to read it again but slower.”     ★ “I started highlighting but some pages had more text highlighted than not!”     ★ “The comparison charts are incredibly powerful.”     ★ “Loved the chapter on “Inequities…” comparing districts.”     ★ “Undeniable realities.”     ★ “Nice format — good overview at the beginning and the end, with strong data in between to support the premise.”     ★ “Money matters — because children matter. I like that.”     ★ “Wow! Well done.”     ★ “Thanks for working so diligently on behalf of our children!”     ★ “Thanks for your work on “Money Matters”. For what it is worth, it is the best document I have ever seen regarding the issues we face. How can anyone who reads this, argue against making our system equitable?”

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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

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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.
     

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    Posted in Bonnie Lesley, Equity Center, Equity Center Radio, ISD, Independent School Distict, Money Does Matter, News & Talk Radio, School Reform, State Taxation, Wayne Pierce | Comments Off

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