http://defenzor.blogspot.com/
y Jackie Flores: Homero Villarreal is a man of integrity. Here at the college, some members of the staff were discussing this matter, "Who really sold in the Fernandez's case in South Texas?" Only one name and one business came up. El Defenzor has rapidly become one of the most effective media tools. Not only the brainpower but the culture spirituality is so strong, in Homero Villarreal, that it will melt the toughest spear. One whisper from Homero Villarreal and loyalties will shift.
Re: Uncensored Political Reporting
The mainstream media, in our estimation, has been co-opted. No longer can we hope to get the unfiltered message. Therefore, it is my hope that through these blogs and the Defenzor newspaper we all can share in a free and open internet forum.These sites provide many individuals with their political news and provide another vehicle for people to get uncensored political reports.Homero Villarreal
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“Vela is doing what he needs to do to get his cand...
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DOES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY STILL EXIST?
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Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Nueces Democrats: Robert Zamora:A Man of Strength & Stability ; Winning Back The Nueces County Democratic Party For All South Texas Democrats
Nueces Democrats: Robert Zamora:A Man of Strength & Stability ; Winning Back The Nueces County Democratic Party For All South Texas DemocratsZamora Announces for Party Chair
Updated:
var wn_last_ed_date = getLEDate("Jan 1, 2008 1:31 AM EST"); document.write(wn_last_ed_date);
Jan 1, 2008 12:31 AM
A local attorney has announced he is running for chairman of the Nueces County Democratic Party.
There has been talk that several people might run. On Monday, attorney Robert Zamora officially announced that he has filed for the position, which is now held by Alex Garcia Jr.
"I have not only experience as a lawyer operating my own business for close to 30 years," Zamora said. "What I would like to do is lend the energy and the experience that I have to the operation of the Democratic Party here in Nueces County.
The race will be decided in the state presidential primary in March.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 3:25 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Sunday, December 30, 2007
EL Defenzor.net: Nueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent
EL Defenzor.net: Nueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent
Sunday, December 30, 2007
JOE BENAVIDES
Joe Benavides a Retired Marine and Teacher Fighting for Our ChildrenMany in our community know Joe Benavides as not only a retired Marine and combat veteran, but a nonstop community volunteer. For the past several years Benavides has worked tirelessly helping our elderly by coordinating children (many of them court-ordered) to cut lawns, remove debris and help the elderly by taking away some of the burdens they face.Now Benavides, is helping children by intervening through becoming a teacher. Benavides has done a remarkable job at the Adult Learning Center by helping children obtain their education. He has also worked with many community leaders and business owners such as Pete’s Chicken and More, Flint Hills, Valero, Greenwood Doors and many, many other leaders to provide support in saving our children. The drop out rate has nearly doubled over the last two decades in Texas. Many programs that were previously there to aid our children have been underfunded and the educational system is in crisis. Private citizens like Benavides have risen to the challenge and not only gotten children and parents involved in striving to complete their high school degree, but also to have the potential and financial wherewithal to attend college.Education is Our Freedom is a well-recognized program spearheaded by Judge Joe A. Gonzalez and Joe Benavides. The program has aided over a hundred children who many in our community had given up on obtain not only their high school education but also attend college. The program has been such a success that funding and success rates have doubled each year since it inception. “We must help our children and pay for programs upfront. Whether you or a conservative or a liberal it is important to pay for preventative programs such as Education is Our Freedom in order to create a workforce that not only has education as a goal but that prepares today’s youth for the workforce tomorrow” said Benavides.We at the Defenzor wish to commend Mr. Benavides for the efforts he has made over several years and also his sacrifices for his country. His eldest son has followed in his father’s footsteps and has answered the call to duty and is a two year Marine Corps veteran and is soon to be deployed to Iraq. Joe Benavides is a man that has never stopped sacrificing and never stopped serving our country. In this New Year we extend our warmest wishes to Joe Benavides and the efforts he is making with at-risk teens. IF ANYONE IN THE COMMUNITY WISHES TO HELP OUR YOUTH IN THESE PROGRAMS CONTACT JOE BENAVIDES AT 361-633-9308.Posted by HOMERO VILLARREALNueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbentWith this precinct I have not a vote however, the County Commissioners are engaged towards progress for our community as a whole.Dannoynted1:
"Our Large Family attended the "Annual Feast of Sharing" event held at the Bayfront Plaza.Joe Benavides was one of our servers (i believe he was a soft drink server), and Mrs.Banales also was there with her husband.I will not talk about the burnt tamale(only I got) but lets just say the mashed potatoes were the best my man says the rolls were the best.Considering it is election time, I am surprised most politicians were absent. But with the way they rushed you out after you ate, You certainly did not have any time to "network".The candidates that did attend, I apologize for not mentioning you as I was there only a small window of time..."It was so different from the last time I went, which with regret, was not last year.I must say the food was better at the events that cost money."JK:We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent but I do know Joe was working and he volunteered out of his commitment to the community. Joe has over the years volunteered and donated his services diligently. One might argue he is only volunteering his time and services because he wants to "get elected".I dont believe this is the case. I have known Joe for a little over two years and I know his father. In the past, Joe Benavides has run a couple of times for office but, he volunteers regardless of whether he is running or not.Will Joe Benavides continue to volunteer if he wins?We can only know after we vote for him.We do know his incumbent opponent was not volunteering at the Feast of Sharing.We do know Joe Benavides' incumbent opponent was parading around with her hubby in tow. Was she making a statement? The message IMO was she is not worried about her challenger, she does not take him serious and she is not going to change her routine ways for her constituents. We do not know how she represents her constituency but we do know she is not going to change it.All we can do is allow Joe Benavides to tell us how is going to represent his constituents.We can ask him questions and hear his answers.With Joe Benavides' incumbent opponent we dont have to ask her anything because we have her record to refer to.The only thing I remember is that, "She could work harder" if she gave herself a pay raise.I also know she was walking around when she should have been working.As far as the Family name and integrity, we might should ask the ME about the trangressions.Ask her about the real reason she decided to run.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 11:29 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Friday, December 28, 2007
Nueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent
Nueces Democrats: We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbentWith this precinct I have not a vote however, the County Commissioners are engaged towards progress for our community as a whole.Dannoynted1:
"Our Large Family attended the "Annual Feast of Sharing" event held at the Bayfront Plaza.Joe Benavides was one of our servers (i believe he was a soft drink server), and Mrs.Banales also was there with her husband.I will not talk about the burnt tamale(only I got) but lets just say the mashed potatoes were the best my man says the rolls were the best.Considering it is election time, I am surprised most politicians were absent. But with the way they rushed you out after you ate, You certainly did not have any time to "network".The candidates that did attend, I apologize for not mentioning you as I was there only a small window of time..."It was so different from the last time I went, which with regret, was not last year.I must say the food was better at the events that cost money."JK:We dont know that Joe Benavides will make a better Commissioner than the incumbent but I do know Joe was working and he volunteered out of his commitment to the community. Joe has over the years volunteered and donated his services diligently. One might argue he is only volunteering his time and services because he wants to "get elected".I dont believe this is the case. I have known Joe for a little over two years and I know his father. In the past, Joe Benavides has run a couple of times for office but, he volunteers regardless of whether he is running or not.Will Joe Benavides continue to volunteer if he wins?We can only know after we vote for him.We do know his incumbent opponent was not volunteering at the Feast of Sharing.We do know Joe Benavides' incumbent opponent was parading around with her hubby in tow. Was she making a statement? The message IMO was she is not worried about her challenger, she does not take him serious and she is not going to change her routine ways for her constituents. We do not know how she represents her constituency but we do know she is not going to change it.All we can do is allow Joe Benavides to tell us how is going to represent his constituents.We can ask him questions and hear his answers.With Joe Benavides' incumbent opponent we dont have to ask her anything because we have her record to refer to.The only thing I remember is that, "She could work harder" if she gave herself a pay raise.I also know she was walking around when she should have been working.As far as the Family name and integrity, we might should ask the ME about the trangressions.Ask her about the real reason she decided to run.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 2:58 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Parkdale Bank: Ray Mc Murrey Is From Here, He Still Believes Like It Says In The Intro, "I'll be a straight-shooter & a square-dealer "& He Does "Reme
Parkdale Bank: Ray Mc Murrey Is From Here, He Still Believes Like It Says In The Intro, "I'll be a straight-shooter & a square-dealer "& He Does "Remember The Alamo"
"I'll be as hardy of mind as I am of body. I'll be a straight-shooter and a square-dealer. My family name will be sacred My word will be as good as any contract. I'll remember the Alamo. I'll stick by my friends. And I'll eat more chicken-fried steak."
"We do not win by replacing a corporate Republican with a corporate Democrat," said Mr. McMurrey, speaking to about a dozen supporters at an East Austin residence.
Ray told me this before he spoke at his Official Announcement to run against the Corporate Democratic Military Industrial Complex Candidate for Texas US Senator.A very passionate candidate who is anything other than a fake or what some like to call a politician.Ray is not a Politician and this is a very very positive attribute.Dont get me wrong he is very well suited for the Senate and the diplomacy is there but there is a sternness that demands his respect kind of like the respect and command he possesses in the classroom. I think we can all agree, if he can handle our youth in the classroom he will do well for us in Washington.Two more thingsRemember the AlamoandStay tuned for Jan 2 next year.
"We do not win by replacing a corporate Republican with a corporate Democrat," said Mr. McMurrey, speaking to about a dozen supporters at an East Austin residence.
Ray Mc Murrey is from Corpus Christi.He tells us upfront of his progressive leanings and his disappointment in both of the Hegemonic Parties.Hegemony,.... Watch the Movie "Hot Fuzz".
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 1:14 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, December 21, 2007
“Vela is doing what he needs to do to get his candidates in to win.
FIL VELA: THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS: REPRINTED FROM EL DEFENZOR
Sunday, December 16, 2007THE PRODIGAL SONTHE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS???
FILEMON B. VELA, JR.Backed by a prestigious background in politics and son of the late and great Federal Judge Filemon B.Vela, Sr., “Fil” Vela has risen to power on his own over the last decade and half. Many consider him a political genius while others, such as members of the Trial Lawyers “Club” in town view him as a dangerous threat to their survival. Now that he is controlling his vast power and law firm which has merged with the former power Lyons and Rhodes of Houston and San Antonio, many of the old guard which are the white and powerful “Yacht Club” trial lawyers have run for cover.
Many believe that this Ivy league trained (Georgetown and U.T. Law) bilingual son of a federal judge although very modest and low-key, is one of the greatest political strategists and true politicos that South Texas has ever seen. His blue eyes and light features coupled with his modest dress and low-key manner lull many into believing that this man of modest appearance is of no serious consequence, but those in the political know realize that “Fil” has connections from Brownsville, Texas to Washington D.C. that run deep for decades and woe to those who challenge him politically.
Vela’s movement in the shadows and chess-like and political warlike mentality led many to follow him, especially when he was the Democratic leader along with Kingmaker and attorney Rene Rodriguez in the 90’s and early 2000’s in Nueces County. After 2003, some believed that his “leaving” Corpus Christi was a sign of weakness, but now many are learning the hard way since the 2006 cycle that this thought was dead wrong; rather, Vela according to the Southside Defender sources was creating a vast web of contacts on the Democratic and Republican side to form a steel mesh that would ensure that his chosen candidates would achieve victory whether they be Republicans in Corpus Christi or Democrats in San Antonio.Many Democrats in South Texas were bitterly disappointed when his wife Rose Vela ran as a Republican and announced the same in January of 2006 but now others believe that Vela is supporting candidates on both sides of aisle including Democrats in San Antonio, however, over the last year their has been no complaints over her rulings now in a higher court or when she was on the bench for a decade in the 148th District Court as a Democrat. One politico commented, “Vela is doing what he needs to do to get his candidates in to win. Who really cares if a judge is Democrat or Republican if they are going to be fair and middle of the road? Look at Tom Greenwell…he is the only Republican Judge in Nueces County on the district level and has the overwhelming support of the public and of lawyers and what horrible fate has occurred to the voters of South Texas with him being in the last 6 years? Nothing! Is Vela hypocritical? Aren’t Democratic politicos who have their hand out and wear three layers of different candidates t-shirts over each other on election day and display the t-shirt from the candidate that is paying them the most the real hypocrites?”Many have rumored that Vela caused great rifts and crossover in the Democrat party by his landslide victory of his wife Rose Vela in the Court of Appeals races. Most thought that there would be no way that Rose would win so handedly in a several county race including Hidalgo, Nueces and Cameron but she did. Not only did she do that but her victory helped “pull” votes for other candidates such as Sheriff Kaelin (who is a force of nature himself) and County Judge Lloyd Neil. Still others believe that the leadership void that was left by Fil was taken over by the white patrones like “Compadre Watts” who presently has his own troubles after resigning from his “Exploratory Committee” for U.S. Senate. Family reasons were claimed as the reason for the resignation but many firmly believe it was the scandals with Thomas J. Henry as the accuser and Mauricio Celis being the accused over the last several weeks.What is happening in Nueces County and other areas for the paradox of more democrats crossing over while the rest of the nation has Republican fatigue? In a nation that grows tired of the Iraq war and repeated Republican scandals, South Texas seems behind the times by a decade and playing catch up on the Republican side. OR is it more likely that Republicans realize that the values and virtues they extol, of conservatism, family and hands off business are parallel with born citizen Mexican Americans and new immigrants? Definitely when Karl Rove was the key note speaker at the Bay Area Citizens against Lawsuit Abuse (BACALA) event on November 27, 2007 there was a diverse demographic representation of 50% Anglo and 50% Hispanic with a few African Americans and Asians in the crowd. Approximately 2000 people attended. One noted politico made the comment that, “these people in BACALA are steamrolling…the Celis and Watts issues are boiling over…we can’t even get the Caller Times to publish the issues and show the problems some lawyers are causing and political scandals occurring in Corpus and the San Antonio Express News’ John McCormick is educating us about our own backyard through the paper and on the web site www.mysa.com”. Many feel the frustration that this politico who wished to remain anonymous has.Even the local politicos and media personalities have had vigorous debates about the phenomena over taquitos and coffee. Many hope that the Democrats can maintain their seats and contend that South Texas has always been a stronghold for Democrats and does not fall in line with many of the ultraconservative agendas that individuals like Karl Rove pushed for over the last several years. Others who decided to vote split ticket or follow the “Velacrats” led by Rose and Fil Vela and turn Republican are of the contention that Fil Vela has made it “easier” for many Hispanics who relate to conservative values to crossover and the continuous tumult in the Democratic party itself leads to the ability for the Republicans to make inroads with Hispanics. One politico stated: “You look at the numbers and South Texas is almost doing a “180” of what the rest of the country is doing…slowly but surely Republicans have been gaining traction in South Texas and it is likely that Texas will stay Republican controlled at least for the near future.”It is uncertain whether or not one man like Filemon B. Vela, Jr. can be seen as the person changing politics in South Texas but it is for certain that he started an avalanche that you cannot reverse. Whether he is seen as a political mastermind or the “Darth Vader” of politics is an opinion that is split among many. Hundreds of Democrats are still loyal to him and showed it in the 2006 election voted for Rose Vela his wife who won handedly. To complicate matters more, many Hispanics no longer identify with the Democratic Party which has proven to be a party of many camps fighting against each other and occasionally but not often uniting together. Democrats are under crisis and many are drawing opponents including an unconfirmed rumor, all three of the State Representatives, Ortiz, Herrero and Garcia. Mr. Herrero may even be facing an independent from Robstown to complicate matters although again such information is unconfirmed. Many democrats who admire Fil only wish that he was not Republican which begs the question: Would many Hispanics crossover and join Fil on the other side?Time will tell if the movement that spread across America will finally trickle down to South Texas and cause many to switch far right in the political spectrum paradoxically as the nation may very well shift center or left. Republican Nueces County Chair Bertuzzi hopes this to be the case due to the recent scandals brought out by trial lawyers and the suspect campaign contributions associated with the scandals which may further cripple and weaken the democratic party which relied on heavy money from individuals such as Mauricio Celis and Mikal Watts who for years were the “Patrones”. Other factors such as the uncovering of possible voter fraud in Robstown by local “politiceras” in 2006 and the other individuals who many feel have “their hand out” in the Democratic party to create and entrepreneurship out of politics may have turned many average Democrats off. It is rumored that the Republicans desire to have a candidate against every seated Democratic official in South Texas. These factors combined may further cripple the already fragile Democratic controlled Coastal Bend and Rio Grande Valley.Perhaps the bleeding of Red (Republican) and Blue (Democrats) colors into one may be beneficial to all of us. Many believe that you cannot sustain Democratic controlled counties in South Texas with the latest series of scandals involving lawyers and Karl Rove reading the now infamous letter by Mikal Watts stating that he has great influence over judges in South Texas to the applause of many at the BACALA event. Many believe you cannot sustain an attack from within and from without. A group is truly only conquered when they themselves turn from their beliefs from within which may be happening here with the Democratic party. Only a strong and unified front may save the control in South Texas by the Democratic party from the party of Lincoln. But can the Democrats truly be saved if young and powerful men like Vela are blazing a path that is uncertain as to whether their choice is Republican or Democratic one?MORE TO COME IN OUR NEXT ISSUE AS THE POLITICAL SEASON IN SOUTH TEXAS HEATS UP.HOMERO VILLARREAL
Posted by HOMERO VILLARREAL at 5:04 PM
3 comments:
Jaime Kenedeño said...
Hey Homer, Nice to see your work back on the web. Whenever you need anything, we are here. Well anything we can provide. Now to the business at hand.Why is the Velacrat here in our City?Fil Junior only seeks a Federal Bench for RoseVelacrat is making friends with the Federal Entrapment gang and sycophants up to the ones he believes will elevate his Rose to a Federal Judicial Bench.
December 20, 2007 11:16 PM
Jaime Kenedeño said...
I am going to digest the rest of the articles and will respond.
December 20, 2007 11:18 PM
HOMERO VILLARREAL said...
provide defenzor.net
Article Links
▼ 2007 (12)
▼ December (12)
FIL VELA: THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS: REPRINTED FROM...
JOE BENAVIDES AGAINST PEGGY BANALES
WHAT THE REPUBLICANS THINK ABOUT IMMIGRATION AND H...
PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES
DEFENZOR WELCOMES THE AMERICAN PRINCE
CELIS MOUNTING HIS DEFENSE TO CIVIL AND CRIMINAL ...
car accident. Man dies minutes after surviving cra...
GALLUP POLL FOR PRESIDENT 2008
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY 2008 DEBATES: SEE IT ON YOUTUBE...
A WAR HERO IN SOUTH TEXAS FIGHTING THE BATTLE OF H...
THE PRODIGAL SON
DEFENZOR IS NOW BLOGGING!
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 8:18 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Corpus Christi Watchdog Authority: Guy Watts filed for divorce on last Friday 12/07/2007
The Caller Times continues to censor and manipulate public input while using the same censored material in their own articles and claiming it as their own work product. Below, the most recent material submitted to be included in the public comments for public viewing. On a positive note, we take it as a compliment.Corpus Christi Watchdog Authority: Guy Watts filed for divorce on last Friday 12/07/2007
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 12:19 AM 4 comments Links to this post
Sunday, December 09, 2007
B.A.C.A.L.A.: Velacrat is making friends with the Federal Entrapment gang and sycophants up to the ones he believes will elevate his Rose
B.A.C.A.L.A.: Abel Herrero has proven himself and his record is there for all to see; he is a fine representativeAbel Herrero has proven himself and his record is there for all to see. I am proud of Abel, he is a fine representative.There is a natural law I always like to follow, "If it isnt broke , then it don't need fixin".On the other hand,Velacrat is making friends with the Federal Entrapment gang and sycophants up to the ones he believes will elevate his Rose to a Federal Judicial Bench.Is Fil Vela going into the fraud abuse prosecution racket & the manufacturing of fraud abuse prosecutions? Inroads (for GOP) into South Texas?Hurt? Injured? Need a Lawyer? Too Bad!TLR?? ..................................three little bitty letters; nah, I wouldnt worry bout em.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 3:56 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Thursday, November 15, 2007
South Texas Judicial Watch Dog Authority: A Bill for the Creation of a Robstown Nueces County Constitutional Judge?
Now, Dick Cheney can shoot who he pleases and whenever he chooses to; after all was not Bo Hubert (John John's Consanguinity) one of the ones who covered the incident up for the inebriated Dick ?South Texas Judicial Watch Dog Authority: I submit the legislation to be illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of election codes, government codes and a circumvention of trickery to spite the failed legislation that attempted (and failed) to create a new Judicial district in Kleberg & Kenedy Counties.Sen Bill 1951 of the 80th Leg: 1 District Court with 2 District Attorneys no where else but the 105 Posted on November 14, 2007 at 11:52:34 PM by Jaime KenedenoIsn't that like having 2 Attorney Generals for the same state.Can a County elect 2 County AttorneysCan a County have 2 County Attorneys for the same county.ADA's & ACA's are not elected nor are they appointed to serve by the Governor.I submit the legislation to be illegal, unconstitutional and in violation of election codes, government codes and a circumvention of trickery to spite the failed legislation that attempted to create a new district in Kleberg & Kenedy Counties.The legislation that created the New District Attorney Position in Kleberg & Kenedy County must be challenged.There is only one district.There can only exist 1 District Attorney per District."Anything else, would be uncivilized"Senate Bill 1951 of the 80th LegislaturePolitical Bigomy After All Karl Rove is From UtahPosted on November 15, 2007 at 00:41:33 AM by Jaime KenedenoIs it not illegal for two to be espoused to one?Think we can legislate another Congressional Rep for the 27th Cong Dist to help Solomon with the "backlog" of legislation in the applicable counties.The precedent has been created get busy and start exploiting it.A Robstown Nueces County Constitutional Judge?Create a County Constitutional Judge's office for both Robstown & Calallen/Annavile, and get Gov. Rick Perry to give the nod to Patti or Randolph Boothe or Sam Keech as first County Constitutional Judge of Robstown & Calallen/Annaville.Political Bigomy After All Karl Rove is From UtahPosted on November 15, 2007 at 00:41:33 AM by Jaime KenedenoIs it not illegal for two to be espoused to one?Think we can legislate another Congressional Rep for the 27th Cong Dist to help Solomon with the "backlog" of legislation in the applicable counties.The precedent has been created get busy and start exploiting it.A Robstown Nueces County Constitutional Judge?Create a County Constitutional Judge's office for both Robstown & Calallen/Annavile, and get Gov. Rick Perry to give the nod to Patti or Randolph Boothe or Sam Keech as first County Constitutional Judge of Robstown & Calallen/Annaville.
Potential Juror 26........Posted on November 15, 2007 at 00:59:29 AM by d1was told "Just trying to stay out of trouble"....LIAR...because If you were "you lied"!Go back to Iraq where they need your kind of prosecution......I forgot your Farsi/Arabic sucks."Your Honor, I'm gonna have to spend the rest of the summer in the library"More like the rest of your life......Your hate is well documented as you can READ English, do you understand/comprehend English?TLR/Totally Live Recognition........Now, Dick Cheney can shoot who he pleases and whenever he choices to.With you in his pocket....no need to utilize Jaime Powell.WATT is the Number of the Judicial District for this so called District AttorneyPosted on November 15, 2007 at 01:21:39 AM by Jaime KenedenoSec. 43.182. DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR KLEBERG AND KENEDYCOUNTIES. (a) The voters of Kleberg and Kenedy Counties elect adistrict attorney. The district attorney has the same powers andduties as other district attorneys and serves the district courtsof Kleberg and Kenedy Counties.(b) The district attorney shall attend each term and sessionof the district courts of Kleberg and Kenedy Counties and shallrepresent the state in criminal cases pending in those courts. Thedistrict attorney has control of any case heard on petition of writof habeas corpus before any district or inferior court in thedistrict.(c) The commissioners courts of the counties comprising thedistrict may supplement the state salary of the district attorney.The amount of the supplement may not exceed $12,000 a year. Thesupplemental salary must be paid proportionately by thecommissioners court of each county according to the population ofthe county. The supplemental salary may be paid from the officers'salary fund of a county. If that fund is inadequate, thecommissioners court may transfer the necessary funds from thegeneral fund of the county.The Legislation Failed but if you notice the language is the samePosted on November 15, 2007 at 01:26:39 AM by Jaime KenedenoSec.i24.567.ii423RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT (KENEDY AND KLEBERG COUNTIES). (a) The 423rd Judicial District is composed of Kenedy and Kleberg Counties.(b)iiThe 423rd District Court shall give preference to criminal cases.(c)iiIn addition to other jurisdiction provided by law, the 423rd District Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the county courts in Kenedy and Kleberg Counties and the statutory county court in Kleberg County over all matters of civil and criminal3832 79th Legislature — Regular Session 79th Dayjurisdiction, original and appellate, in cases over which a county court has jurisdiction under the constitution and laws of this state. Matters and proceedings in the concurrent jurisdiction of the 423rd District Court and the county court or county court at law may be filed in either court and all cases of concurrent jurisdiction may be transferred between the 423rd District Court, the county court, and the county court at law. However, a case may not be transferred from one court to another without the consent of the judge of the court to which it is transferred, and a case may not be transferred unless it is within the jurisdiction of the court to which it is transferred.(b)iiSection 24.207, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:Sec.i24.207.ii105TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT ([KENEDY, KLEBERG, AND] NUECES COUNTY [COUNTIES]). (a) The 105th Judicial District is composed of [Kenedy, Kleberg, and] Nueces County [counties]. The court shall give preference to criminal cases.(b)iiThe terms of the 105th District Court begin[:[(1)iiin Kenedy County on the first Mondays in June and December;[(2)iiin Kleberg County on the first Mondays in April and October; and[(3)iiin Nueces County] on the first Mondays in February and August.(c)iiThe judge, with the approval of the commissioners court, may appoint an official interpreter of the court [in Nueces County] who serves at the will of the judge. The official interpreter shall take both the constitutional oath of office and an oath that he will faithfully interpret all testimony in the district court as official interpreter. The oath is sufficient for his service as official interpreter in all cases in the court [in Nueces County] during the interpreter's term of office. The judge may also assign the official interpreter to assist the court's probation officer in the discharge of the probation officer's duties.(c)iiThe heading to Section 43.148, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:Sec.i43.148.iiKENEDY, KLEBERG, AND NUECES COUNTIES [105TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT].(d)iiSubsections (a) and (c), Section 43.148, Government Code, are amended to read as follows:(a)iiThe voters of Kenedy, Kleberg, and Nueces counties [the 105th Judicial District] elect a district attorney. The district attorney has the same powers and duties as other district attorneys and serves all the district, county, and justice courts of Nueces County and the district courts of Kleberg and Kenedy counties.(c)iiThe commissioners courts of Kenedy, Kleberg, and Nueces [the] counties [comprising the district] may supplement the state salary of the district attorney. The amount of the supplement may not exceed $12,000 a year. The supplemental salary must be paid proportionately by the commissioners court of each county according to the population of the county. The supplemental salary may be paid from the officers' salary fund of a county. If that fund is inadequate, the commissioners court may transfer the necessary funds from the general fund of the county.(e)iiThe local administrative district judge shall transfer all cases from Kenedy and Kleberg Counties that are pending in the 105th District Court on September 1, 2005, to the 423rd District Court.Thursday, May 26, 2005 SENATE JOURNAL 3833(f)iiWhen a case is transferred as provided by Subsection (e) of this section, all processes, writs, bonds, recognizances, or other obligations issued from the 105th District Court are returnable to the 423rd District Court as if originally issued by that court. The obligees on all bonds and recognizances taken in and for the 105th District Court and all witnesses summoned to appear in the 105th District Court are required to appear before the 423rd District Court as if originally required to appear before that court.(g)iiThe 423rd Judicial District is created September 1, 2005.SECTIONi7.ii(a)iiEffective January 1, 2007, Subchapter C, Chapter 24, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 24.569 to read as follows:Failed Creation of the 423rd DistrictWhy did they try to create the 423rd Judcial District?Posted on November 15, 2007 at 01:36:58 AM by Jaime KenedenoSounds like how Hitler thoughtDid they think they needed a new Judicial District to create the new District Attorney position?We have here in this situation a District Attorney without a Judicial District.Tell me I am wrong and back it up, any takers?
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 12:17 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, October 28, 2007
H.R. 3189, PARENTAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
H.R. 3189, PARENTAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTHEARINGBEFORE THESUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD,YOUTH AND FAMILIESOF THECOMMITTEE ON EDUCATION ANDTHE WORKFORCEHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESSSECOND SESSIONHEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 7, 1998Serial No. 105-103Printed for the use of the Committee on Educationand the WorkforceTABLE OF CONTENTSSTATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH FROM THE STATE OF OHIO *STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN ROEMER FROM THE STATE OF INDIANA *STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MARTINEZ FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA *STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN TIAHRT FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS *STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN LARGENT FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA *STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN GREEN FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS *STATEMENT OF JOHN REINHARD, PARENT *STATEMENT OF CINDY DELULLO, PARENT *STATEMENT OF LARRY DAVIS, MATHEMATICS TEACHER, ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS *STATEMENT OF DANIEL DOMENECH, SUPERINTENDENT, FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS *STATEMENT OF JIM MEANS, PRINCIPAL, WEST HIGH SCHOOL, WICHITA, KANSAS *STATEMENT OF JEFFREY K. TAYLOR, ACTING DIRECTOR FOR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, CHRISTIAN COALITION *APPENDIX A -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MARTINEZ FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA *APPENDIX B -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN TIAHRT FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS *APPENDIX C -- VALUES APPRAISAL TEST *APPENDIX D -- SEXUALITY SEMINAR TEST [PLEASE NOTE THIS MATERIAL MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN] *APPENDIX E -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF JOHN REINHARD, PARENT *APPENDIX F -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CINDY DELULLO, PARENT *H.R. 3189, PARENTAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTMay 7, 1998House of RepresentativesSubcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and FamiliesCommittee on Education and the WorkforceWashington, DCThe Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:00 A.M., in Room 2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Representative Frank Riggs [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.Present: Representatives Riggs, Souder, Martinez, Payne, Roemer, Scott, and Kucinich.Staff Present: Sally Lovejoy, Senior Education Policy Advisor; Kent Talbert, Professional Staff Member; Rich Stombres, Legislative Assistant; June L. Harris, Minority Education Coordinator; Alex Nock, Minority Legislative Associate; and Roxana Folescu, Minority Staff Assistant.Chairman Riggs. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I would like to call to order this hearing of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families on House Resolution 3189, the Parental Freedom of Information Act, offered in this session of Congress by our good friend and colleague, Congressman Tiahrt of Kansas.It is a pleasure to welcome each of you here today, and I want to tell all of our witnesses at the very commencement of our hearing that I very much look forward to your testimony. My name is Frank Riggs. I represent the First District of California and I chair the Subcommittee.More than ever before, policymakers need to rally behind parents and families. Why do I say this? Well, obviously when families are strong and healthy, our country is healthy. Families, after all, are the basic unit of society around which cultures are organized. And parents, as the leaders of families, play the number one role in determining the strength and the health of the family.I might add that the idea of stronger families in communities is a common theme and a common, if you will, cause that unites Congressional Republicans as we work to lower taxes, to build a smaller but more effective Federal Government and stronger families and communities. Too often the Federal Government has not been family-friendly in the policies that the executive branch of government has set and in the laws enacted by the Congress, the legislative branch of the Federal Government. Too often Federal laws have not recognized and respected the primary role of parents in the education of their children.In some instances, as I think we may hear today, schools have been outright hostile to parents. If anything, education in our country should respect and acknowledge the key role of parents in the upbringing of their children. Everyone knows that when parents are actively engaged in the education of their children and remain engaged, the children do better.In fact, I want to note for the record that in the experimental or pilot choice programs that we are finding now in the Milwaukee and Cleveland public schools, the early data suggests that there is a correlation between parental involvement, a greater parental satisfaction with the education that the children of those parents are receiving, and, we believe and this is where the data is most encouraging a corresponding increase in student achievement and pupil performance.Yet in some instances parents face roadblocks put in their way by local school and State education authorities. Unfortunately, parents are sometimes treated like outsiders. The bill before us today by Congressman Tiahrt takes the opposite approach. Rather than shutting parents out of the educational process, it seeks to bring them in. It seeks to include, rather than exclude.We have an obligation to do all we can to promote policies which actively engage parents, which welcome parents as full partners into the classroom, which fully disclose what is being taught in the curriculum at that particular school and in that particular school district, and would seek parental consent on major life issues involving their children.At this time I want to again thank our witnesses for their participation in our hearing. On the first panel, which has already been seated, we will hear from three colleagues: Congressman Tiahrt, who is, as I mentioned at the outset of the hearing, is the sponsor of the legislation before the committee today; Representative Steve Largent of Oklahoma, one of the key leaders on family and Parental Freedom of Information Act issues in the Congress; and Representative Gene Green, a former Member of this committee.On the second panel we will hear from two parents, Dr. John Reinhard and Cindy Delullo I hope I am pronouncing it right; one school superintendent, Dr. Daniel Domenech; a principal, Mr. Jim Means; a teacher, Mr. Larry Davis; and Mr. Jeff Taylor of the Christian Coalition.So with that I will conclude my opening statement. The Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Congressman Matthew Martinez, has not yet arrived. When he does, time permitting, we will recognize him for an opening statement.At this time I would yield to either one of my colleagues or both of my colleagues if they care to make an opening statement. Mr. Kucinich?STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH FROM THE STATE OF OHIOMr. Kucinich. I want to thank the Chair for calling this hearing. I think you are raising some issues that certainly need to be discussed. I certainly favor parents being more involved in the schools. Whether or not that needs to be codified is an issue of debate here.I will be unfortunately having to go to welcome a group of students who are coming in from Ohio to our Nation's Capitol. But there is one bit of advice I would like to offer, quite friendly advice, I might say, to some of the panelists. Having read the testimony of some of the witnesses not Members, I might add who are prepared to testify, I note in some of the testimony what I would consider remarks that would tend to impugn the position on this issue of Members of Congress. And I would caution witnesses about coming before a congressional committee and doing that, just a little bit of friendly advice.So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to your meeting today.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Mr. Kucinich. Mr. Roemer.STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN ROEMER FROM THE STATE OF INDIANAMr. Roemer. Mr. Chairman, I don't have a formal opening statement but I do want to make two comments. One, I want to welcome my colleagues, Mr. Largent and Mr. Tiahrt from the Science Committee, where they previously served and oftentimes took some controversial positions, especially my good friend from Oklahoma who has fought with me on a couple of different issues. I welcome them and welcome their testimony.I also want to welcome my good friend from Texas, who is a previous Member of this Education Committee, where he made a host of substantive contributions to improving access for children across the country to higher education in particular.I am one who believes very, very forcefully in parental involvement in our schools. We have got a lot of problems in our schools, and there is no single one solution that is going to solve those problems, but parental involvement seems to me to be one of the keys. Parental involvement in my life was one of the keys, when my mom and dad became more involved, when there was cooperation between the school and my family home.I look forward to the testimony today, and I look forward to learning ideas from Democrats and Republicans as to how we get more parental involvement in this country. I thank the Chairman.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Mr. Roemer. And the Ranking Member, Mr. Martinez.STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MARTINEZ FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIAMr. Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.I have a statement but I am going to submit it to the record so we can get to the witnesses. I just want to say, you know, in all of my years of my children going to school and when I went to school, I can remember organization after organization always encouraging parents to get involved in what is happening in the school.You know, school is really not successful unless the parents get involved. The more deeply parents get involved, the more successful the school, as evidenced by those schools in more affluent districts where the parents are actually strong supporters of the school and form booster clubs and support in every way they can all the activities and extracurricular activities.I never really heard, even in my area where there are some schools that are in the neighborhoods with a lower socioeconomic background of people living there, that they would ever deny a parent any access to any information. The school board, as a matter of fact, all the school boards are locally elected, and those school boards, those elected officials and I am sure my Chairman, Mr. Riggs, can agree with me because he was a school board member are always attentive to the constituents and their requests. If one of those people came to them requesting information about the school and the curriculum in school and all the other activities that the school is undertaking, those school board members would certainly make sure that that school board, that that school or that school administration made sure that the parents had that information.I don't know I don't think any of us are against parental involvement or against parents knowing what is happening in the schools. I am not sure exactly what we are trying to accomplish here. If you want to set up a court system or provide employment opportunities for attorneys, that is great. But I think we ought to be very careful as we move forward in over-regulating or, like they said last night on the Floor so many times, micromanaging local school boards. I think we have to be careful of that.So I will submit my statement for the record, and I look forward to hearing from the witnesses, especially our colleagues. Whenever our colleagues appear before us, we can be sure that it is going to be insightful and informed information. Thank you.SEE APPENDIX A -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN MARTINEZ FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIAChairman Riggs. Thank you, Congressman Martinez.On February 11th of this year, Congressman Tiahrt of Kansas introduced House Resolution 3198, which is similar to bills that he has introduced in the past on parental rights. There are currently 60 cosponsors of that legislation, and perhaps more since this particular bulletin was published. Members of the committee who are cosponsors of this legislation are Congressmen Souder, Talent, McIntosh, Peterson, Graham, Hilleary, Norwood, and Hoekstra.Congressman Tiahrt, we are pleased that you could be with us this morning. Please proceed with your testimony.STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN TIAHRT FROM THE STATE OF KANSASMr. Tiahrt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to take this opportunity to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I will submit formal testimony for the record and somewhat summarize my remarks.Chairman Riggs. I would just interject to say, the entire written testimony of all of our witnesses will appear in the record, so feel free to abbreviate or make other remarks.Mr. Tiahrt. I also want to thank the members of the committee for this hearing. I think this is a very important piece of legislation, and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about how we can bring parents and teachers together with a goal of strengthening goals and improving the education of children.I have been actively involved in education for some time. I am a graduate of public schools. My children attend public schools. My wife taught in public schools. I have served as a Member of the Education Committee in the Kansas State Senate. I have also taught at the college level, where nearly all of my students were products of public schools.From my observations, which include teaching, parent-teacher meetings, speaking with teachers, administrators, parents, it is quite obvious that students do best and schools do best when parents are actively involved in their child's education. For some reason, when parents care about the quality of their child's education, the child cares more about being educated.So what my legislation does is encourage parents to be more involved in their child's education by removing barriers that currently exist, barriers that prevent parents from being involved.This bill, H.R. 3189, is the Parental Freedom of Information Act. As I said, its basic purpose is to get parents involved in education. It does that by clarifying FERPA or the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.Let me go back to 1974 when Senator Buckley brought to the Floor the amendment called FERPA. He brought it there with the intention of bringing parents into the education process by opening up school educational materials. I believe this was good policy, Congress believed it was good policy, and it became the law of the land.However, in some places the law is vague; particularly when explaining educational records, where the law lists records, files, documents and other materials which contain information directly related to a student. From the record of the Floor debate, it is clear that Senator Buckley's legislation intended to include curriculum and testing material.But now across America there remains some conclusion about what parents can see in order to help their children. There is been a considerable amount of court action and many frustrated parents, teachers and school systems that have struggled to determine what the law means. The mix of State and Federal law has contributed to this frustration. Our office has been contacted by dozens of people who have, and we have a long list of court cases, all trying to find a little clarification to a very good concept.My goal is simple. I want to clarify existing law and bring parents into the education process of their children. This bill achieves that goal in three ways.First, it provides access by defining instructional material and specifically listing textbooks, audiovisual material, manuals, journals, films, tapes and other materials supplemental to the education curriculum of a child.Second, the bill defines testing material, again, providing access to tests without answering, of course without the answers, of course, or excluding and it does exclude standardized tests.Third, it involves parents when the school requires a medical, psychological or a psychiatric exam at the school.This is not a complicated bill. It is a simple clarification of existing Federal law with the intention of bringing parents into the education process of their child.Some who are opposed to this bill would say there is no need for this legislation. However, there has been a string of State and Federal court cases looking for a clarification of existing law. My office has been contacted by dozens of people, as I said earlier. There is a need for simple definitions and this bill accomplishes that.Others have said this would create an administrative burden. Later you will hear from Principal Jim Means, who represents the Wichita School System, the largest school system in the State of Kansas. He will tell you that having clear definitions and bringing parents into the education process actually reduces the administrative burden on schools.One may argue that this bill would create court action in Federal court over textbooks, over suing to change curriculum. This bill only provides access. Parents, fully exercising this law, could see a textbook or could see curriculum, but in no way could they sue to change educational material. This bill simply opens up to the parents the information and it provides that access, which is a good concept.Some say we shouldn't consider this because it is a State issue. The fact is that Federal law does exist and it does need clarification.Originally teachers were concerned that they could not act in the best interests of a child because of this legislation. But it does not prohibit teachers from providing emergency care or acting if a child is at risk. Anytime a child voluntarily asks for help, there is nothing in this bill that would prohibit that.Again, the goal of this legislation is to bring parents and schools together to improve education. Teachers and administrators and parents all agree, as do members of this panel, that when parents are involved in their child's education, the schools are stronger and the children are better educated. This bill works toward that goal by removing these obstacles that stand in the way and improving education and strengthening schools.In closing, I want to thank Chairman Riggs for calling this hearing and for the support of this legislation, and I urge the committee to act on this legislation this session. I would welcome your questions.SEE APPENDIX B -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN TIAHRT FROM THE STATE OF KANSASChairman Riggs. Thank you, Representative Tiahrt.We turn to our next witness, another colleague, Congressman Steve Largent, who has been actively involved, as I mentioned earlier, in family and parental rights issues over the past few years, actually since coming to Congress. During the 104th Congress, the last Congress, he introduced House Resolution 1946, which prohibited Federal, State and local governments from interfering with or usurping the rights of the parents to direct the upbringing of the children. That bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee.Steve, we are happy to have you here this morning. Please proceed with your testimony.STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN LARGENT FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMAMr. Largent. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would just summarize my remarks.I had a conversation here this morning. I appreciate all the opening statements by the members that are present because it will shorten my remarks. As all of us understand, it is not an earth-shattering revelation to understand that when parents are involved in their children's education, children get a better education and parents are more satisfied. I mean, that has been revealed in surveys for a long, long time. We are all very aware of that.Education, frankly, is not a partisan issue. We all want good education for our children. I understand that and I come in that spirit this morning. I would say that I think that the issues that this particular bill addresses probably in most schools are not an issue, because I am aware of many public schools that I represent that do everything that they can to include parents in the decisions that they make and in the curriculum that they offer and the testing that they do. But that is not true in all cases.I would say that the question that you really have to ask yourself when you are considering this bill, in fact that I was thinking before even coming to testify this morning, is why would a school not want parents to have access to testing materials and curriculum? Why would schools not want parents to be involved and informed in their kid's education? I don't understand why a school would not want that. But in fact some schools have gone across the line, and that is what makes this legislation necessary.I think the thing that we need to underscore, and oftentimes in these discussions, is that parents are not the enemy. Ignorance is the enemy, but parents are not. Too often I see battle lines drawn between parents and school boards and parents and school administrators, and that shouldn't be. We are all working for the same thing, and that is to get a quality education and a safe environment for our kids when they are receiving their education.So Todd and I are kind of working as a team. As he kind of laid out the purpose of the bill, let me give you a couple of examples of what we are talking about when parents do not have access or are not informed, the types of experimental testing and experimental things that are taking place in the education process.The first one and I didn't make copies of the first one because I can read some of the more invasive questions that were asked again, this was in Pennsylvania, this was without parental notification or consent. This is a test that was given at Mount Lebanon High in Pennsylvania in late October of '95. It asks 26 different questions. I just highlighted some of the more egregious ones.Question Number 6 was, do you actively practice your religion? How does it affect your daily life and community? How much money does each family member earn each month? What are your monthly household expenses? What is each family member's most valued possession? What other possessions would you like to acquire? What types of sacred objects are around the house? Alcohol, tobacco and firearms, are they available and what members, what family members use them? What is a typical breakfast, lunch and dinner? Are you satisfied with your food?These are questions that I think are very inappropriate. At the very least, even if you don't think that these are inappropriate questions, I think that there is a question that exists as to whether these types of questions should be asked of our kids and that parents should at least have the ability to see this type of testing done on our kids before it is conducted, not afterwards, as this one occurred.The next test, this is actually one that was an 8th grade science test about sexuality from a school in Oklahoma. And, Mr. Chairman, I would just like to pass out this test to members on the committee because I quite honestly, what I would like to do is just refer to the different questions and allow you to read them for yourself, because I am embarrassed to read them in front of this committee and for the record. But I would like to distribute them.I will just refer to the numbers and let you guys get I highlighted some of them on my copy, and when you get that, if you would I just highlighted two, but there are many, many others that and again, this may be an extreme example, but it is not a total anomaly of what is taking place in schools across the country.But if you would take a look at this test, and it is about three pages, it has a total of 84 questions that deal with everything from homosexuality to petting. But just on the first page, and you will keep a copy and read it later, I guess, don't show it to your children, but look at Question Number 6 and Question Number 12, but I don't want to repeat them in public.I don't know about you, but I have a 6th grade son, a 7th grade son, an 11th grade daughter, and a son who is a freshman in college. There are a lot of things that should be confined to the conversation between a father and a son or a mother and her daughter, that are on this test, that I think are highly flammable and inappropriate to say the least at any age, much less 8th grade.So again, these are just a couple of the examples. There are others. But this is the type of thing that angers parents, and we get calls from them all the time about different issues like this, and why I am in support of the Parental Freedom of Information Act.Now, I yield back my time, Mr. Chairman.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Congressman Largent.Congressman Green? Gene Green, as I mentioned, is a former Member of this committee. We are pleased that he could be here today.Gene, please proceed with your testimony.STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN GREEN FROM THE STATE OF TEXASMr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.I will tell you if I had an 8th grade student, I would be upset about this test also. In fact, if I was the Member of Congress, if that was in my district, Miami, Oklahoma, I would talk with my school board member and my superintendent.I appreciate the chance to be here today, and I join my colleagues here. One, I am not going to sit here and testify or speak against parental involvement, because I think all of us know if you have children, you want to be more involved, and you want to have as many opportunities as you can to be involved with your children in public school.The concern I have about the bill is, it is really a solution in search of a problem on a Federal level, because I know I served I bring not only experience, I served two terms on this committee, but as a State senator, and I served seven years on the Education Committee and in the Senate before that as a State representative, working on education policy. I know in Texas we have current law that was passed, in fact, it was amended in the '95 session of the legislature, but it provides for a lot of things that this bill would do on a local level.I commend the efforts to encourage parental involvement in our children's education. I have two children that are now in public institutions in Texas in college, but they both attended and graduated from public schools in Houston, and my wife is a high school algebra teacher. I notice later on your panel I believe a Larry Davis will be testifying, and he is a math teacher from Waco, Texas.As a Member of the legislature, I supported parental access to curriculum and testing materials. However, some provisions of this bill, I think, go beyond and may border on even dangerous; one, because it codifies in Federal law what is being addressed by State law already, and it provides for Federal remedy.Now I feel kind of awkward as an attorney sitting here and saying I don't know if I want somebody to have the opportunity to go to Federal court, because I think oftentimes that is a system our forefathers set up for us, and to expand an ability to go to court is really what an attorney is all about, I guess, so I feel a little uncomfortable doing that.But I also don't know if Federal court is where these cases ought to be, since most of the Federal funding for public schools in my district borders on 10 percent, on the average of 6 or 7 percent State nationwide. So I don't know if that is really where we want our school districts to be, when there is a remedy already at State court.Under this bill, parents are given the right to sue the local school district and the state education agency if they are denied access to any instructional or testing materials. In addition, parents could receive the right to recover attorneys' fees during the litigation.Most States give parents specific rights. Why are we infringing on these State laws or local laws or procedure? I think it is unnecessary. Like I say, I have a copy of the Texas statute, again, that was amended in 1995, parental rights and responsibilities. It has, again, been in State law for many years, and again, just like we do, changed every year, and the legislature in Texas updated it in 1995.In my State, as in most States, parents are entitled to review all teaching material, textbooks and teacher aids used in the classroom of the parent's child. In addition, a parent is entitled to review each test administered to the child after the test that is administered.If access is denied, parents can appeal first to the local superintendent, then to the school board, and eventually to our State Education Commissioner. If it doesn't stop there that State Education Commissioner may deny it they can go to the State school board, and ultimately to the district court. Not unlike the procedure we have, an administrative remedy, and ultimately to the Federal court system if someone is aggrieved on the Federal level.Parents and teachers and administrators and State officials carefully considered these State procedures, and we shouldn't just discard them very easily. Because I have parents in my district who have and even teaching personnel, that is also the process for their appeal and they take that appeal very seriously.We need to encourage additional parental participation, and I think local law does that. My wife, again, is a 21-year algebra teacher in high school. In her district the last few years, required by State law, it requires teachers to visit with the tardy students' parents on a daily basis, and they have a revolving system of every day, every hour, there are two teachers who have during their conference period to visit with parents.So we see that. Those parents are required to bring, come up to school with their children if they have so many tardies. You see that already, and I see my wife visiting now with lots of parents who want to, so State law already has the opportunity to do that. In fact, my concern about this bill is we are spending time on this committee on it, and there are so many other things that we could do.I would hope that we could help our local school districts with smaller class sizes, additional teachers, the 100,000 teachers that the President talked about. But before I end, and I know I am going to get a red light in a minute, let me talk a little bit about and brag about Texas, because in 1984 Texas passed a reform, education reform bill, and every session since this then has had to deal with it.But we have a recent report by the Rand Corporation in January that shows that Texas students are being better educated than students in other States. Credit for this success goes primarily to smaller elementary classes, pre-kindergarten programs and higher standards. We have, under 1984 law we have a limit of 22 to 1 from kindergarten to the fourth grade, which is the best education reform.That is why I would hope this Congress would realize the benefits of what States have done, and say let's help States like Texas or other States who may not be able to afford it to lower that pupil-teacher ratio so we can really provide for quality education. The Federal Government cannot be providing prescriptive things. We can provide assistance to the local districts and to the States, who are on the front line, whereas we are not.Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to the questions.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Congressman Green, and thank you again to all three of our colleagues for taking time out of their busy schedules to be with us this morning.Let me see if I can clarify the concern about unwanted Federal intrusion and/or unnecessary litigation that might ensue from the enactment of Congressman Tiahrt's legislation. I want to be clear, committee staff just handed me a copy of the bill, and as I interpret it, Congressman Tiahrt's legislation provides for funds being withheld under any applicable program; and "applicable program" is, with reference back to the General Education Provisions Act, is defined as any program for which the Secretary of Education or the Department of Education has administrative responsibility as provided by law or by delegation of authority pursuant to law.So, Congressman Tiahrt, is that a correct interpretation of your legislation, that it that it only applies to those local education agencies or those school districts that receive Federal funding, and it is designed to protect the rights of parents whose children are educated at schools that receive Federal taxpayer funding for education programs or categorical aid?Mr. Tiahrt. I think you are on track. There is nothing in here that would override State law. There is confusion with the Federal law, and that is all that this really addresses. It does apply to where Federal funds are involved, and it just says if parents request material, the school system has 30 days to provide it. If they don't, they could go to court to seek access to that material, and the full scope of penalties would be that they would get lawyer fees and the school system could potentially have funds withheld, Federal funds withheld during that time until they provide the material.Chairman Riggs. Let me ask you and Congressman Largent, why do you feel it is necessary to give parents a cause of action, in other words, civil recourse? I am assuming that would be in Federal courts. Why isn't it simply withholding funding?Mr. Tiahrt. We could have that provision in FERPA, and I believe it is in FERPA. There has been no instance in the last since it has come into existence where funding has been withheld. Yet the problem exists out there. There is still the confusion, both in the school systems and with parents as well as in the State and Federal courts, and this clarification allows parents to act, gives them recourse to act rather than just wait on somebody in the Department of Education to act, which has never occurred.So this is something, it is an enforcement relief mechanism for parents that they don't have today, and I think it is very necessary.Mr. Largent. Mr. Chairman, it is my understanding that what this bill really does is just kind of fine tune and bring into focus the original intention of FERPA. Again, the bill is meant to be a preventive measure. The idea is to sensitize the schools to parents in the first place, those that aren't, so that before they administer a test or psychological testing or anything else that is borderline, that they will first at least notify the parents. So the bill is meant to be a preventive measure, not a punitive one.Chairman Riggs. But you don't have concerns, Congressman Largent, about clogging Federal courts as a result of giving parents the legal recourse to file a civil action?Mr. Largent. Again, the issue is clarification. I think the clearer that the law is, which is what this bill does, then the less that you will have less litigation as a result of that.Mr. Tiahrt. If I can add, there will be fewer court cases because we have some clear definitions here. They are very specific, and I think that is one of the goals, is to eliminate that. I think in later testimony you will hear that, as when Representative Green said that where these things exist that you have a better system, you have less of administrative burden. I think it will also lessen the burden that is currently in the court system.Chairman Riggs. Todd, you know if we move forward with this legislation, we will hear concerns from colleagues who believe that perhaps this is too intrusive or it would bring, as I said earlier, unwanted Federal involvement, further Federal involvement in local education matters, and it might conflict with the long-standing American tradition, the doctrine, if you will, of local control and local decision-making.You acknowledged that concern in your testimony, but can you elaborate on your argument, your rebuttal to that concern?Mr. Tiahrt. Well, I think, you know, we currently do have Federal law. There is some involvement with the Federal Government in local schools. This would lessen the involvement, in the fact that it makes clear definitions so parents know what existing rules are. It does not impede States from trying to accomplish the same purpose of bringing parents and schools together for better education of their children.So I think what this law does is it doesn't increase Federal involvement. It would actually, long-term, reduce it by allowing clear guidelines for school systems to operate by, and as I said in subsequent testimony, I believe you are going to hear that school systems run smoother when you have clear definitions and when you bring parents in. I think that is an admirable goal, and I think we will see the quality of education increase when this legislation becomes law.Chairman Riggs. But assume for a fact this is the point that I think Congressman Martinez alluded to assume for a moment that both you and Congressman Largent, that I am a locally elected school board member in your district, I am one of your constituents, and I come to you or I find out about the legislation and I say, "I understand and support the intent and purpose behind the legislation, but you should leave it to us to safeguard the rights and the interests of parents. We are locally elected."Again, as I said earlier, that is very much in keeping with the long-standing American tradition of decentralized public education where that local school district is fairly, should be anyway, fairly autonomous, and that locally elected policy decision-maker, a school board member, is accountable to the voters of that school district and to the parents, the consumers of education in that school district.Assume I am your constituent, that local school board member. Assume that I am a conservative Republican locally elected school board member. How are you going to respond to them when they tell you that, again, they understand the concept behind the legislation, they support it conceptually, but they still think it will create too many problems at the local level, and again it might usurp or might conflict with the autonomy and the authority of local school boards?Mr. Largent. Well, I would just say, you know, the premise of your question is that the Federal Government is not in the classroom already. The fact is, it is. If you compare the Federal Government in the classroom to the 800 pound gorilla, what this legislation is doing is saying that we just want to make sure that the parent gets to stay in the classroom too, and has access to the textbooks, the curriculum, the testing, and is involved in a proactive manner, rather than a reactive manner.So this bill doesn't take the Federal Government further down the road than it already is. It is just clarifying where the road is and that it needs to stay on the road.Mr. Tiahrt. I would say that by having parents allowed access to the material that is currently there actually reduces Federal involvement, actually reduces administrative burden. It actually brings parents into the process. So it doesn't impose any additional Federal time or money in here. All it simply says is we will provide access for educational material, we will let parents get involved in the process, we will remove those barriers.I think we will have less of a problem, less of Federal involvement in the classroom and more local control. Parents will be more involved. They will be talking with their school boards. And I think it will improve the quality of education.Chairman Riggs. I understand that, and I thought those were very good responses. You keep emphasizing access, but the other feature of your bill is consent. Correct?Mr. Tiahrt. Yes.Chairman Riggs. I think therein will probably lie the route we are trying to do with reforming Federal bilingual education programs, to require that local school district to first seek the consent and the written permission of the parent before the child can be placed in a native language program, a non-English program.We have heard some concerns about that creating administrative burden on the local district and the difficulty of and I am not too sympathetic to this but we have heard the concerns about the difficulty of districts communicating with parents and the mechanics of how they actually do that. Do they send a note home with the child? Do they send a certified letter to the home? Do they make repeated phone calls?So it is the consent aspect that I think is problematical in terms of the actual implementation and administration of your bill, and I want to give you a chance to respond.Mr. Tiahrt. Some of the administration portions of getting consent, the mechanics, once the system is developed, I think it runs smoothly. But I think you are hard-pressed to argue when you get parents involved that it is not better for the education process. We want to get parents involved.This bill is rather limited in parental consent. It just says if you are going to require something from a student, when it is related to medical exams or psychological exams or psychiatric exams, that you just get prior written informed consent. It is not for everything in the curriculum. It is limited to examinations that are medical, psychological or psychiatric, so it is somewhat limited.And it does require that if you are going to go into some questions that would impose on people's privacy, that you get their consent, and I think that is fair. I think we all abide by the concept that this society gives us some privacy and that we should protect that privacy.So it is somewhat limited in parental consent because it only acts on those areas where we have had particular problems. Once the mechanism is in place, you know, it works smoothly pretty much. My children are in the Fairfax school district now, and we have consent forms for field trips and for specific activities, and the mechanism is in place and it works rather smoothly.Chairman Riggs. Do you know if those consent forms are mandated by Virginia State law?Mr. Tiahrt. I do not know the mandate, whether it is the Fairfax County Schools that require it or whether it is Virginia State law, but I know they come home in the mail. We get one notice and two notices, sometimes a phone call if there is no response, but we have yet to get a phone call. You know, it always seems to work well with us.Chairman Riggs. Thank you. Congressman Martinez.Mr. Green. Mr. Chairman, may I respond? Let me quote Texas law on consent required for certain activities. That is why I say this bill is a solution in search of a problem. In the Texas education code, an employee of a school district must obtain the written consent of a child's parent before the employee may conduct psychological examination, test, or treatment under the examination tests, make or authorize the use of videotaping and employ a school district for the purposes of safety, including the maintenance of the school or maintenance of discipline and order.So we already have current State law in Texas on that, and the last thing we need is a Department of Education coming in and saying, well, we are going to overlay because maybe your procedure, and again quoting the bill, in section 2, any education agent that has a policy of denying or effectively prevents now, again, "effectively prevents," I have a pretty good idea of what it may do. But I would worry somebody in Washington, whether it be this administration or some future one, would say the procedure we have in Texas, the administrative procedure we have "effectively prevents" a parent from doing that. Again I think you are giving more power to the Department of Education than I think my colleagues may want to do.Chairman Riggs. Well, if I just might respond for a moment, I won't quarrel obviously with your interpretation of Texas State law. It sounds to me like it is pretty much on the money.Congressman Tiahrt's bill, though, or the Tiahrt-Largent legislation goes one step further, and it basically would expand upon Texas State law in those school districts in Texas that receive Federal funding, Federal taxpayer funding for Federal education programs or what I called earlier "applicable programs," to quote actually from the legislation.I don't see it as conflicting with Texas State law. I see it, as Congressmen Tiahrt and Largent have testified today, strengthening Texas State law. Congressman Martinez.Mr. Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Let me begin by saying that I am as adamant as you are about wanting the parents to know what is going on with the children in the school. I had five children and they all went through the public school system, as yours did. There were times when I had conflicts with the school in the way they were doing things, and I was able to, through my local school board, to rectify those things.I know that a lot of times it is simply that you say the law is vague, and it is vague. Even more than just being vague, the fact is that so many of our citizens aren't aware of the laws that are on the books and what steps to take to remedy any problem they have in their own community.But before I get into any of that, I want to talk to Steve for a minute. I have a grandchild, I have 14 grandchildren, in fact, but I have one particular grandchild who was a fantastic football fan when he was about 5 years old. When he was 5 years old, my son used to take him to all the Rams games, and the Rams were his favorite team. His second favorite team was Seattle Seahawks. But the amazing thing about it is he knew every player on the Rams team and their number, and every player on the Seattle Seahawks and their number.Now my grandson is 15 years old and starting his first year in high school, and he is on the freshman team there playing football himself. So I would like to make a request of you. If you have an autographed picture laying around that you can give me to autograph to Mark, that is his name, Mark, I would appreciate it, and one to Jonathan, his brother, who is an avid fan as he is.Anyway, I think that you know when you look at this bill, it is pretty hard for anybody to say they would be completely against it, except that you are putting into Federal law the ability for people to go to court, to a Federal court, and that is one of the problems. The other problem is that in this bill, we did we had CRS do a survey or search for court cases involving this particular issue, and they didn't come up with any.So, Steve, you mentioned two cases of tests that were given, one in Pennsylvania and one in Oklahoma. I have got to agree with you, I think any parent would be offended by somebody giving that test. I would just like to ask the question, was that a sex education class? It says science on the top, but was it a sex education class?Mr. Largent. I think it was a science class that had a section on sexual education, yes.Mr. Martinez. So it was in conjunction with that portion of the class that dealt with sex education. I still would like to know, and it seems like the bill is getting at trying to get at one problem is that you can't really I don't put a handle on it how to grab hold of it because you are talking about actions that a school may take or a test that a school may give or a curriculum that a school might provide, and you find out about it afterwards. So the harm has already been done, if it is a bad situation.Your bill does nothing about doing that, except unless the parent themselves want to become very astute about what is happening in their schools and I think they should be and ask for what is the curriculum going to be like afterwards, and I doubt very many parents would do that.I agree with you maybe this thing wouldn't create a lot of litigation, because the fact is that right now as we search for a CRS search for court cases of this type, we couldn't find any. In the two actions that you cited, were any court cases involved in that?Mr. Largent. Not to my knowledge.Mr. Martinez. See --Mr. Tiahrt. We will be able to provide you, my office will provide you a list of the court cases I am referring in my testimony.Mr. Martinez. Would you please? You may be able to provide information that CRS wasn't able to. I know they looked through Lexis-Nexis and all of those computer programs, it is garbage in and garbage out. And they may not have all of the information we need.But I think what we really need is, one, to clarify the vagueness of the law as it is written now, not to add a whole complete law, while maybe you would have to pass a bill to correct that, amend that. You know, if it just dealt with clarifying the vagueness of the law as it exists now, and there is one section there referring to the things that should be available to the parent, I would agree with that.But the fact is I would not want to where there is local court action, as in the case of Texas, there is remedy available to the parent who has been denied that access, is there not, Mr. Green? Mr. Green?Mr. Green. I am sorry.Mr. Martinez. Is there not in Texas and according to the Texas law a remedy for parents who have been denied access to that information?Mr. Green. There is remedy in the statute. Again, it is also for discipline procedure for personnel. But if I am denied something as a parent, I obviously go to the superintendent well you typically start with your school , your principal, and then you go to the superintendent, your school board. Then you go to the State Education Commissioner or the State-elected school board in Texas, and ultimately you can go to the district court, because you have to exhaust your administrative remedies. Again, just like we do on, you know, worker's comp cases and other things before you go to court.Mr. Martinez. I would rather see something like that in law that would require a procedure by which parents can and then again we have to make parents aware. You would be surprised how many laws we pass here, like the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, every day I tell people in my district who complain about the IRS, do you know there is a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights?We pass laws and don't disseminate information, and that is one of the problems that I have had since being here and seeing there are laws on the books if people would enforce them. We don't need more laws, there are so many damn laws now, but the fact is we need to enforce those laws that exist, and we need to clear up the vagueness of those laws if there is vagueness in those laws.But to create another whole law which then shifts the ability from locals because I come from local government and I have always been a defender of local control. Our school boards are more responsible for our children, and sometimes I know the ebb and flow of the child depends on the quality and caliber of the people elected to the school board, and that is not always the greatest and there is nothing we can do about that, because that is the system of laws that we have.But I think that we ought to be looking at working with locals and allowing them to set procedures or maybe requiring them even to set procedures, because in this law here, it only affects those that will take Federal dollars, and the Federal dollars is 6 percent. I would hate to see some school district that really needs that 6 percent, because most of them do, being unwilling to take it because it would come under the purview of this new law.Thank you both for that.Mr. Green. Mr. Martinez, if I can respond, I know the witness in a few minutes from the Association of Texas Professional Educators supports, like a lot of us, the general idea of the bill but suggests that instead of the procedure H.R. 3189 sets up, to really do a model policy, which I think most States already probably comply with. That would say this is something that you need to accomplish for parental involvement, instead of the way that H.R. 3189 is currently. He will be on the next panel, I believe.Mr. Martinez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Mr. Tiahrt. If I can comment, I just want to say that I appreciate your advocating Texas law. I think they are a good model in trying to bring parents into the process. But this clarification still needs to occur on a Federal law. Texas law cannot do that, it hasn't done that, and the need still exists.So I think it is important that we do pass this legislation so we can clarify existing Federal law. Again, we would be glad to provide the court cases that have been part of the basis of starting this process.Mr. Martinez. Just let me respond this way. Well, I would hope that you would be amenable to some amendment to the law to make it in such a way that we could be bipartisan about it and actually do it on a bipartisan basis, because I think both sides of the aisle are tremendously concerned about parents' involvement in their child's education.Mr. Souder. I think it is safe to say we are at the beginning of a process, not at the end of a process, but this lays out what we would support as a supporter of this bill.I wanted to clarify with Mr. Tiahrt and Mr. Largent, there is an implication that as conservatives somehow we don't believe this should be in the Federal purview, that this is a State issue. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions.As conservatives we believe in the constitutional, national, Federal Bill of Rights. Is that not correct?Mr. Tiahrt. I think that is safe to assume.Mr. Souder. We believe that religious freedom is a Federal issue, is that not correct?Mr. Tiahrt. Correct.Mr. Souder. We believe that civil rights are a Federal issue. Do both of you support the right to life being a Federal issue?In other words, there is nothing inherently that says that basic rights aren't Federal issues. We believe that education should be run at the local level, but it doesn't mean that we don't believe that basic rights aren't a Federal issue.Also, one other thing. In this country, in fact, while States may do a good job of protecting civil rights in some cases, we have had a national precedence that we decided that basic human rights and civil rights are a Federal issue; and we weren't going to trust certain basic human rights and civil rights at the State level. We fought a Civil War over that question. We have had repeated battles in Federal legislation.There are three bills, including the Students Right to Know, FERPA, which we have already referred to, and one other, the Protection of Pupils Rights Act, that I actually worked an amendment through a few years ago on the education bill when I had a survey to my eighth grade son asking if they had anal sex and oral sex in the classroom distributed at the school. I was offended as a parent.While that wasn't a direct Department of Education, the first moving vehicle was an education bill where I attached an amendment.Furthermore, in this committee, in the Student Right to Know Act, we had the same people coming forth arguing this was Federal legislation, that we shouldn't have to release university data on rapes on the campuses because it is not a Federal issue, students don't have a right to know, trust the States, trust the universities, it might discourage different people.We had a debate in this committee whether these were Federal or local issues, and Congress voted that certain basic civil rights are there.Is not one of the points of this you have addressed the litigation question already at length, but, in fact, if your bill becomes law, is it not true that it is likely to have a chilling effect on the type of surveys that we saw earlier?Mr. Tiahrt. It would be my opinion that it would have a chilling effect. Once this openness exists, there will be no closed doors. Parents will have access to information that they need to help with their children's education.That would stop a lot of these people who have put out tests like that you referred to for your son and that Representative Largent has handed out which occurred in Miami, Oklahoma. Those things would stop because they do not withstand the scrutiny of the public eye. When parents have the ability to see that, I think it will stop a lot of the problems that we have today.Mr. Largent. The intent is that this legislation is really refining or bringing into focus more clearly the FERPA law which is already on the books. It would be more of a preventive nature than punitive.So that not only, as Mr. Martinez said, parents need an education as far as the laws and the rights that they have that are available to them and the recourse that is available to them, but educators also need an education in terms of sensitizing them more so to parents' prerogative and direction and sensitivity to psychological testing, sex education and those types of issues.Mr. Souder. And part of this type of approach, in the case of the survey that was passed out by a school magazine at the school where my son was, the fact is that it was very embarrassing to my kids. In fact, the school board convened; and they changed the policies of how they were going to do it, which is what Mr. Green referred to as a process. But, I as a parent, had we had this type of law, it is unlikely that the school would have gotten into the first place, put my children in the awkward position of having to, in effect, go squeal because the parents didn't know and the parents having to go fight.Mr. Green. We have a Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which is Federal. We have laws which protect workers in the workplace that are Federal. We have drug and alcohol laws that are Federal. Why wouldn't this be a Federal question as well? It is a basic right of parents with their children.No doubt. I would hope, Mr. Souder, if my children were in the eighth grade in Miami, Oklahoma, it wouldn't take an act of Congress to get this test out of the school.Mr. Souder. The question is, could an act of Congress prevent the test from being there in the first place?Mr. Green. I don't think that this bill will do that. It says, you have access to those tests. In Texas, we already have access to that information.Parents oftentimes do not know it until after the fact, just like my colleague said. We have the ability right now if a parent had access to this test in the State of Texas right now, you better believe they would go to their school board member or their superintendent or principal; and that test without even passing this law, that test would be taken out of the school.This bill does not require it doesn't require the parent to know the test before it is administered. It only requires the parent the access to it.If a parent doesn't go to the school maybe their children didn't bring a copy of the test home whether this bill is passed won't help at all.What we have to do is encourage parents. We already do that on I say "we" because I have school board members who are friends and neighbors, and they do that right now. But they get frustrated because they don't have parental involvement, which is required by State law for school districts to involve parents now.Mr. Souder. But you are not requiring that school boards that are paralyzed by the fear of lawsuits aren't going to be more cautious if they know that there is a lawsuit potential?Mr. Green. My first concern in my opening remarks, you are right, school districts are paralyzed by the fear of going to Federal court.I don't think that this bill again, we have State action already. You can go to State court. I think that may be the best venue instead of providing another way that school boards could be taken to Federal courts. Let's let State courts take care of it. I would hope that we wouldn't have to have a Federal law to get this test out of a school in Oklahoma or Texas or wherever.Mr. Souder. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Payne.Mr. Payne. Thank you, very much.I certainly agree with the panel that there needs to be more parental involvement, and I am sort of shocked that a test of this nature would be given. It would not be given in the school district where I taught in Norton, New Jersey, for a number of years. I am kind of shocked that it was given wherever it was. Perhaps they need to have a stronger school board.I am a little confused not so much about the legislation, because I haven't had an opportunity to thoroughly read it, but I am confused about the philosophy. Because, on the one hand, since the new majority came in, I have been hearing about Federal intrusion, States' rights, welfare, for example, better run by the States and counties. Everything has been back to the local people. The local folks know the problem better.And I am a little shocked really. Of course, I support the role of the Federal Government. I think the bigger the better. Maybe that is why we are in the minority right now. We wandered for 40 years, and so I can't expect you guys to have your act together in 4, and that is why I am so confused about this business, and I respect both of you guys.I will take a picture, also. I have a grandson, too.Mr. Largent. We will be glad to give you a picture.Mr. Payne. Just the contradictions. A hundred thousand policemen on the street; great, everybody supports it. A hundred thousand new teachers for the school districts; opposed to it, totally incongruent. It just doesn't make sense.That is why I am confused at and I did hear a new term about I guess it is refining. I guess when you feel that the Federal Government should come in like this, it is refining the law; but when you want the Federal Government out, it is local control.I think, as a matter of fact, I have seen probably the most concerted effort on any political level by people who believe in the Christian Coalition's philosophy. And I think there are a number of good points. I am a very strong Baptist; and black Baptists are very, very conservative. And so I have seen school boards all over the country in a concerted effort being taken over by efforts of the right, and I think they are probably the most significant change in any political level. I don't know whether that is good or bad, but it appears that people on a local level are exerting their influence. And so, as I indicated, I am truly confused as to the strong support of all of my conservative colleagues on this question of Federal intrusion.As a matter of fact, in New Jersey we have the only State constitution in the country that guarantees a thorough and efficient education. It is more progressive than any State.Now, the Federal courts I mean the State courts have recently said that the State is not providing a thorough and efficient education and have told the State legislature that they must come up with several hundred million dollars for the poor 30 districts in the State. Because when our State constitution was written it guaranteed a thorough and efficient education, and so there was the Bonner decision where a person sued the State because they didn't get a thorough and efficient education.So I think we don't go from the particular to the universal to pass out this obnoxious test that someone did in some little town I don't even know. I thought Miami was in Florida. But Miami, Oklahoma, that is like going from the particular to the universal.Because you have a silly, simple obnoxious test somewhere that you pass a Federal law that covers 270 million people, to me, you know, like I said, I am more confused about the concept of the Federal Education Department more or less, which most conservatives feel should be abolished in the first place, not having more power.I don't have any specific questions, but I agree that there should be more parental involvement. I wish we could legislate it, but we can't. We have to work at a local level and push people into being more concerned about their children. We are even starting to attempt to come up with some new concepts in my local school district as to how that can be done.Like I said, I applaud you for your interest. I just think that we are sort of, in my opinion, going in the wrong direction as relates to this issue.Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Mr. Tiahrt. If I could comment. I agree that we agree on a common goal of trying to get parents involved. And you are right. You can't legislate that. All we can do is remove those barriers that prevent that from occurring.As to States' rights issue, as a conservative I believe in States' rights and have worked for those issues, but there are some basic rights which are Federal issues civil rights, for example.I think the Supreme Court decision has indicated that parents do have some basic rights in seeing that their children have a good quality education, and all this does is clarify existing Federal law. We are not writing a new statute. We are trying to bring parents into this process.We can't prevent a test like this passed out here from Miami, Oklahoma, but by having parents involved we can bring an openness to education that is healthy. Bring an openness that will help remove these barriers so that this openness will prevent tests like this from ever being circulated again. It removes the barriers that prevent parents from actively contributing into these areas; and once those barriers are removed, I think we will see a higher quality of education. I think we will see tests like this being prevented before they even occur.Mr. Souder [Presiding.] I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a values test that I was given by a parent from Casa Robla High School in the San Juan Unified School District in California, which turned out to be very similar to the survey distributed in Pennsylvania, showing it was moving nationally.SEE APPENDIX C -- VALUES APPRAISAL TESTMr. Souder. I also ask that the survey from Miami, Oklahoma, be placed in the record and somehow we put a warning, but I think it is impossible for people who read this record for historical purposes to understand what we are debating without having that in the record.Any objection? If not so ordered.SEE APPENDIX D -- SEXUALITY SEMINAR TEST [PLEASE NOTE THIS MATERIAL MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN]Mr. Souder. Mr. Scott, the gentleman from Virginia.Mr. Scott. Thank you. I was delayed at another hearing, and I would like to thank the witnesses for testifying. I will just yield back the balance of my time so we can get on with the panel. I appreciate the members coming.Mr. Souder. Thank you, Mr. Scott. You have been a leader in many of the juvenile issues.With that, the first panel is adjourned. And will the second panel come forward?The second panel includes John Reinhard, who is a parent of three children and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His interest in school matters arose from concerns regarding the parental rights in the schools. He serves as Chairman of the school's governance committee at Phillips Knoll School in Chapel Hill and presently serves as a board member of the governing body that oversees two charter schools in Chapel Hill and in Orange County, North Carolina.Mrs. Cindy DeLullo is a parent from Charles Town, West Virginia. She is a full-time homemaker and mother of four. She has been actively involved in her children's education for 12 years. She has been a strong advocate for a greater role of parents in the schools and generally having a greater role in the education of their children.Mr. Larry Davis is a mathematics teacher from Waco, Texas. He is president of the Association of Texas Professional Educators. Mr. Davis has taught in the public school system at the secondary level for 18 years and is the parent of two children, both of whom attended public schools.Mr. Jim Means hails from Wichita, Kansas. Currently, he is the principal of Wichita High School West. His school is part of the Wichita Public School District which is the largest public school district in the four-State region of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. He has been involved in public education in Kansas for 16 years.Mr. Jeff Taylor is Acting Director for Governmental Affairs for the Christian Coalition.Mr. Daniel Domenech is superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools and president-elect of the American Association of School Administrators. My children used to attend the Fairfax public schools but left before you came in when I went back and ran for Congress.Mr. Souder. Dr. Reinhard will go first. If you haven't been able to see, you have 5 minutes for your testimony; and the yellow light will come on with a minute to go.STATEMENT OF JOHN REINHARD, PARENTMr. Reinhard. I thank you very much for the opportunity to speak before this committee on what I consider to be a very important issue.I am the parent of three students in the Chapel Hill City School District. My oldest child has since chosen to leave the school district and obtain a GED instead. He did so in opposition to a program of mandatory community service which, while it had no avowed educational merit, was nonetheless imposed upon us by our elected school board.When we opposed this in court, we were told that schools did not have to justify any of their actions because, quote, parents have no fundamental rights in the direction of their children's education, end quote. And it is for that reason that I strongly support this legislation and only wish it could go further and render as fundamental the right of a parent to direct the education of their child.As I said, I am in support of this legislation; and I am glad to see that Representative Ballenger will probably support it; and I would certainly invite my representative, David Price from the Fourth District, to represent it as well.I am saddened that the very process of education has been politicized by partisan groups such as the National Education Association that have come into the local level and virtually dictate, certainly in Chapel Hill, who is elected to school boards.It is a process through which the very process of democracy can be corrupted. The very fact that this bill should have to come up is a sad reflection of the state of our republic in 1998. I can't imagine why anyone would object to parents wanting to know what their children are taught.And in response to an earlier remark by Representative Martinez requesting whether this has been in court, I would ask how many times the Federal Freedom of Information Act has been invoked so that parents can get this information.I believe that parents have a responsibility if not a moral obligation to question the content of a school's curricula; and I don't want to sound inflammatory, but I will cite two examples from our school system in Chapel Hill.The first arose from the school's "multicultural education action plan for the promotion of respect for diversity." It is a mouthful.A required English course would involve work by gay and lesbian authors, and understand this was not an opt out. The reading list provided by the instructor may not have been adequately reviewed. When concerned parents objected, we tried to read some of the works on the reading list at a school board meeting, and we were told we couldn't because it was indecent. If it was indecent at a school board meeting, how could it have been decent for our children?The reading list really was just unbelievable. Some of the vulgar material would never have withstood peer review from the community. You just don't get into sadomasochism and acts of homosexuality in your children's education. If nothing else, this bill would make it harder to slip objectionable material into our children's curriculum.My second illustration was an article my son had removed from the media center of the high school. The articles about marijuana use were unusual in the manner that it was depicted. "Illicit weed generates cash for university grad." Quotations such as, "I've had a very good year. I dress nicely now. I go on trips anywhere in the world," are little more than an advertisement for the cultivation and use of a controlled substance.Still, one may question why is it necessary to legislate common sense. In response, Voltaire noted that "common sense is not altogether common." Indeed, common sense is a most uncommon commodity in many of our schools. The deviation from common sense is a mission creep that our schools have embraced. Rather than teaching numeracy, literacy, history and geography, our schools have been laboratories for testing education theories. Our children are the unwitting subjects. Moreover, the experiments are not properly designed or justified.I am a biological scientist. I am charged with the responsibility of conducting interpretable experiments. We use laboratory animals and are beholden to a number of Federal and State regulations that limit the scope of our investigation.In sharp contrast, our education experiments which are not based on sound hypotheses, they involve our children without our consent. We do not know whether they are going to provide a definitive answer or even if they are harmful.If we were to test medicine with unproven safety and efficacy in patients without their consent, we would be guilty of malpractice. What we witness today is tantamount to malpractice in education, and our children have less protection from unsound experimentation than do laboratory rats.The answer is to empower parents to become involved in their children's education. It sounds simple, but it is not. H.R. 3189 will provide a financial incentive for schools to cooperate with parents.I recognize that there is much this proposed legislation will not accomplish. However, it is a small step for parents that will indeed be a large step for the future of our society.Thank you.Mr. Souder. Thank you.SEE APPENDIX E -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF JOHN REINHARD, PARENTMr. Souder. Mrs. DeLullo.STATEMENT OF CINDY DELULLO, PARENTMrs. DeLullo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee. I want to thank you for allowing me this opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee today.I am Cindy DeLullo; and I am a resident of Jefferson County, which is a small, rural community located in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, only about 70 miles west of the Washington metropolitan area.I am a full-time homemaker and mother of four school-aged children. I have been actively involved in my children's education for more than 12 years. My husband and I chose early in our marriage that the children would not grow up in a household with both parents working full time. This necessitated many sacrifices financially for our family, but we have never regretted our decision. Although we live a modest life-style, we feel it is more important to ensure that our children have a sound family support system than to have meaningless material things.For this reason, I have always made every effort to ensure that my children obtain a proper education. Over the years I have come to realize, however, that good intentions from parents are not often viewed by educators in a welcomed fashion.What I have discovered through my experiences is that this endeavor of parenting is being restricted by educational bureaucracies that would rather preserve their own position than adhere to the laws protecting constitutional and civil liberties of students and families upon which FERPA is based.It is my belief that the responsibility for a child's education, physical, social and emotional well-being rests primarily with the parents. When these parental protections are ripped from us like threads in a seam, it will not only be detrimental to our children but it will set the stage to further unravel the basic framing of our Constitution.I am pleased to know that the Congress is taking another look at the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act in light of parental concerns nationwide.I, too, am one of these concerned parents. I have encountered numerous situations with the public school system in my district where public school officials have either ignored or purposely violate children and parents' rights. One most recent incident, in fact, occurred just last week in Jefferson County, West Virginia, where the public school system attempted to subject students to a research study by a private physician.I was shocked to have received in the mail a notification from my daughter's school only informing parents of the study but not requiring written parental permission for the student's participation. What was clearly evident in the notice was that the school officials and the physician would assume that the child would be participating unless the parent notified them otherwise, this is what we call "permission by omission," a tactic that is frequently used with regards to research studies, medical evaluations, screenings and immunizations.Another situation involved an incident which originally occurred about a year ago when the superintendent disclosed private information about my child during an open public school board meeting a meeting at which I was not in attendance. I accidentally discovered this disclosure some time later when I was reading a copy of the board's published minutes from that meeting.In light of the fact that this was the second incident where the school board had discussed my child's confidential information at an open public school board meeting, I filed another complaint on May 16, 1997, with the U.S. Department of Education. To my surprise, I received a postcard dated June 9, 1997, stating the following: "Due to the large amount of correspondence this office receives, we currently have a backlog. However, your letter is important to us and we are actively working to provide you a detailed response as soon as possible."I immediately contacted my U.S. Senator from my State, expressing my dissatisfaction with the bureaucracy, delays and obvious potential violations of regulatory time lines for responses.After approximately 10 months I finally received a response from the Family Policy Compliance Office. Through this entire tedious process we have yet to receive any relief from the local district or from the U.S. Department of Education who is mandated to oversee and enforce compliance.Mr. Chairman, we could probably sit here all day for hours on end and discuss infractions of FERPA regulations that occur just in our district alone. It seems fruitless for parents to take an active role in their child's education not only to protect them but to further promote good education.It appears to me that the bottom line is accountability, and there is no enforcement mechanisms in place for the Family Policy Compliance Office to take swift and immediate action to penalize such violation.Mr. Chairman, you and I both know that the Secretary of Education is not going to take away Federal funds from Jefferson public schools just because they continually violate my child's rights or someone else's rights. The public school officials know there is no penalty personally or professionally. Thank you very much.Mr. Souder. Thank you.SEE APPENDIX F -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF CINDY DELULLO, PARENTMr. Souder. Mr. Davis.STATEMENT OF LARRY DAVIS, MATHEMATICS TEACHER, ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORSMr. Davis. I am a high school teacher. I spend a lot of time with parents on a daily basis talking about some of the issues that are brought forth in this.I also have a full-time job as president of ATPE. With 88,000 members in the State of Texas, it is the largest non-union, independent State professional educators' association.So, in both instances, I spend a lot of time with parents and dealing with parents. Most of the educators that I deal with are also parents.We basically endorse this bill. We believe in strong support for parental access sought by the bill. However, we have a little bit of problem with some of the ways it is being proposed. We would like to propose a model initiative policy versus what is currently in it. We want to add to it, not change it.What this would do is, the State Commissioner of Education would have 1 year to adopt or design and adopt a policy which would use a percent of the Federal money being used for this. And this will be submitted to the local boards, and the local boards would have 1 year to consider the State policy or, if they don't do it that way, they can also come up with an alternative method. Some school boards have these already in place, and Texas has had this in line since 1995.Representative Green hinted that there was a problem in relation to this. If a State already had it in effect, what would they do? We are proposing a waiver system. The State commissioners could submit a waiver to the Department of Education. The policy is already in effect. Also, if the policy was being developed in the State, you would not have to directly follow the Federal guidelines because you would already have one in line at the State level.One other concern we have is, if it is done at a local level, collective bargaining is not involved. We do not want it to be an issue on a local level in connection with collective bargaining.The other thing involved in this is basically parental involvement. If we are doing the model on the State level, we need parental involvement on the State level. We need to notify the parents what is happening and have them come and talk and give advice. At the State level, we need to do the same thing and have parents directly involved.This particular model would bring forth the concept that there is parental involvement. That is what you are trying to get at right here, parental involvement in the situation.If a local alternative method is developed, then the local alternative method must include the issues that are currently in H.R. 3189; and the local school boards have to consider something that is being brought forward by the public also.I noticed in the bill that you are excluding standardized tests. In the State of Texas, we do not exclude standardized tests. We have a Texas assessment of academic skills, and the test is allowed to be shown after the test is given.I do have a problem, though, with going into a prior year. That presents a problem with educators. They have to go back and dig out a test that is given in the prior year.As far as legal recourse, I am concerned about Federal versus State courts. I agree with Representative Green in the sense that we need to follow the chain of command of the school district. You go to the principal, the superintendent and up the chain of command to the school board and then to the State and then to the Federal court.In summation, ATPE supports parental excess measures contained in this bill. We are supporting the bill. However, we would like to see the model policy initiative put into effect allowing parental involvement.In forming that particular issue, the State has 1 year, the local has 1 year, and at the end of 2 years you would have something in effect across the United States.ATPE offers their assistance in passing an amended version of H.R. 3189. We offer our help in this sense to develop the model such as we are talking about. We also express our appreciation to Congressman Tiahrt for bringing this before this committee and for the hearing.SEE APPENDIX G -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF LARRY DAVIS, MATHEMATICS TEACHER, ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORSMr. Souder. I am going to recess the hearing while we vote.I want to say that your testimony was very helpful, Mr. Davis. As we work through this bill we will see what we can accommodate, but those are the types of specific objections and recommendations which are very helpful.The committee stands in recess.[Recess.]Mr. Souder. I want to apologize for being a couple minutes late. I had a school group that had been waiting out on the steps. Dr. Domenech, I understand that you have some time problems; and we will move to you.STATEMENT OF DANIEL DOMENECH, SUPERINTENDENT, FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORSMr. Domenech. Thank you.Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee. My name is Daniel Domenech, and I present my views today as Superintendent of Schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, and as President of the American Association of School Administrators, which is the professional association of more than 15,000 local superintendents and school executives.From my vantage point and from that of my colleagues, Mr. Chairman, this bill, despite its sympathetic title, is unnecessary and unhelpful. It is a solution in search of a problem.Public education is a responsibility of State and local governments, and the U.S. government should not involve itself in this routine aspect of running a local school division.As a matter of fact, when I first came into the meeting and I was listening to some of the conversations, it kind of reminded me of one of our local board of education meetings; and I was wondering why the U.S. Congress would be involved in such a discussion.Access by parents to instructional materials and to information about assessment of their children is well understood to be not only a right of parents but a benefit to school personnel. We want parent involvement in the schools. We do include our parents in the selection of materials. We provide opportunities for viewing the materials. We teach them about the purposes and methods of assessment, and we help them analyze their own children's test performance.Let's use my school system as an example. Fairfax County public schools has policies and procedures which any citizen, parent or not, may access and challenge any instructional materials used by students, whether basal, supplemental library, print or non-print. A number of materials are routinely made available by the school system, even when there has been no specific request for them.For example, copies of textbooks under consideration for adoption are located in several places, public libraries, district offices for perusal by the public. The school division has run instructional videos over our educational television channel to facilitate parental review and get input from our parents and the community prior to adoption by our board of education.PTA and parent meetings are held for the purpose of explaining system-wide and standardized tests. Most test papers are graded, returned and sent home sometimes for parent signature, particularly if the grade is not that good.Individual parent-teacher conferences are held for review of any individual child's performance on a test. Fairfax County public schools provide numerous opportunities for appeals of instructional materials, culminating in the final decision of the school board. At that point, the Code of Virginia takes over, providing that any parent of a pupil attending the public schools in a school division who is aggrieved by an action of the school board and not satisfied with that school board's decision may petition the circuit court having jurisdiction.My point is that school divisions and States are providing the access envisioned by this proposal. Parents don't need relief from the Federal Government. Moreover, I am troubled by the quick resort to court served up by this bill. We already live in a highly litigious society. We do not need to force the threat of litigation into the parent-school relationship yet again.Under this bill, if a parent thinks the school has violated his right by not doing everything he has asked within 30 days, you are in court with equitable or declaratory relief, reasonably incurred litigation costs and attorney's fees in sight.States and school divisions have met the spirit of this bill through State statutes and regulations and local board of education policies. The Federal hammer is not needed.Passage of this legislation could increase tension between parents and teachers, instead of fostering the collaborative relationships essential for student learning. Using it as another method of enforcement could add considerably to a school division's administrative costs. Wouldn't we all prefer to spend our education dollars in the classroom rather than the courtroom?Thank you very much for your invitation to testify.Chairman Riggs. [Presiding.] I must apologize to you and the other witnesses. I was called over to the floor where we were debating the bill that we just voted on. It was a motion to go to conference with the Senate on a comprehensive or omnibus education reform bill, and so I had to be there.I apologize to you and the other witnesses, but I do hope that we have an opportunity for discussion after our other witnesses have testified, and I want to wish you well in your new position.I guess I should say for the record that my wife and I are the parents of one child in Fairfax County public schools. So we will be watching you closely, and we will insist on our right to know. We appreciate very much your testimony.SEE APPENDIX H -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF DANIEL DOMENECH, SUPERINTENDENT, FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORSChairman Riggs. I recognize, Mr. Means. Thank you for being with us this morning.STATEMENT OF JIM MEANS, PRINCIPAL, WEST HIGH SCHOOL, WICHITA, KANSASMr. Means. Thank you for having me here, and let me say what a privilege it has been to come from Wichita and share some information about my district. What an eye-opening and learning experience the last 18 hours have been, seeing our government in action.The Wichita public schools is the largest public school district in the State of Kansas and, as was mentioned in the introduction, in the four-State region of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, with a full-time and part-time staff of over 5,400 employees, a faculty of more than 3,300 teachers, more than 200 administrators and over 1,800 support staff.Wichita public schools serves more than 47,800 students in grades K-12, which consists of 58 elementary schools, 16 middle schools and 12 high schools. I have been an employee of the Wichita public schools for 16 years and the school administrator for 10.The Wichita public schools has, as a part of its board policy, a policy which specifically addresses the opportunity for parents or lawful custodians to inspect instructional materials, including the teachers' manuals, films, tapes or other supplementary material which is used in connection with the pupil's education program. That is 1849, Pupil Rights and Parental Involvement.Need for this policy became apparent as the district programs approached sensitive material such as sex education and AIDS education and an advisement program which included goal setting and decision making. Also, some parents had voiced concern about surveys given in the school setting which inquired about issues which those parents felt were private family matters or were not relevant to the education programs of the school.The administrative implementation of this policy directed that the responsible party obtain written consent from the lawful custodian prior to student participation which requests personal information relative to political affiliations, sexual attitudes, confidential relationships, income or self-incriminating behavior. Also, each school was given responsibility for giving notice of this policy to the parent or lawful custodian.Much time and effort is dedicated to including these processes within the enrollment process, written notification to the parent or lawful custodian of district policies which pertain to possessions of weapons, controlled substances, access to the Internet, and expectations for attendance and student behavior. In this way, the schools can address concerns before problems arise which would require more administrative time than the planning that was required to go into this program.Opportunities are scheduled and provided for parents to preview materials used in sex and AIDS education curriculum prior to that instruction taking place, and opportunities are also provided for parents or lawful custodians to request that students opt out of these programs.We eventually went from an opt-in approach. Some students lose field trip forms and written consents, and we felt if we went to an opt in, where the student would be considered part of the program until the school had received written confirmation that the parents supported that program, might be a better way in making sure that contact with those parents were successfully completed.It is my opinion that, though these efforts are time intensive, they do provide the school, students or lawful custodians a certain sense of the security that these issues are understood by all parties involved. Concerns for parents or lawful custodians do still occur from time to time, but this school district policy puts in place an avenue for parents to seek and obtain the information they desire, and the school to document that parent notification is taking place.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Mr. Means. Maybe I should say Principal Means.SEE APPENDIX I -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF JIM MEANS, PRINCIPAL, WEST HIGH SCHOOL, WICHITA, KANSASChairman Riggs. Now we go to Jeff Taylor, who is here from the Christian Coalition.STATEMENT OF JEFFREY K. TAYLOR, ACTING DIRECTOR FOR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, CHRISTIAN COALITIONMr. Taylor. Chairman Riggs and Members of the Subcommittee, it is a pleasure to appear before you today regarding H.R. 3189, the Parental Freedom of Information Act. As Acting Director of Government Relations for the Christian Coalition, I am pleased to offer our support for this important legislation.The Christian Coalition has consistently argued for legislation that supports the autonomy and primacy of the family, and specifically the rights of parents to provide for the material, social, educational and spiritual needs of their own children.This commitment is demonstrated in our support for a broad range of legislation, whether it is State laws that support the right of a parent to be notified and give consent to a minor child seeking an abortion or the elimination of the marriage tax penalty that has existed for far too long in the Federal Tax Code.The Parental Freedom of Information Act will serve to clarify the rights of the parents under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. While FERPA provides for some parental access rights, there has been some confusion regarding the meaning of the term "educational records." Even though the original floor debate on FERPA made clear that this term was to include items such as curriculum and testing materials, the application of this intent has been far from consistent. The Parental FOIA Act will provide the needed clarification by requiring educational institutions to provide parents reasonable access to instructional or testing materials.Another weakness of FERPA was its failure to provide a private right of action for those parents seeking access. Instead, FERPA leaves enforcement in the hands of the omnipotent Secretary of Education to determine if an institution is ineligible for educational funding due to FERPA violations. This is corrected under the Parental FOIA bill by allowing the parent to bring an action in court to enforce compliance.Members of the committee, this is common-sense legislation. Parents should not be forced to go into court, as they have in some instances, in order to exercise their right for information on the education affecting their children. Parents have a right to examine the content of the curriculum their child is expected to master and also, with certain exceptions, the contents of testing materials used with their child.Another key aspect of this legislation is its support for the principle that any medical, psychological or other related evaluations of children at school should not be conducted without the express consent of the parents.I would like to describe just one example of the need for this legislation. In the spring of 1994, Maureen O'Connell, a mother and member of the local school committee in Falmouth, Massachusetts, asked to see the standardized test on her son's fourth grade class that he had just taken. She assumed that Falmouth officials would be glad to make the test available. She was wrong.Mrs. O'Connell was informed that these State assessment tests were confidential. As she delved more deeply into this mystery, she discovered that, while the U.S. Department of Education claimed that the Massachusetts scores would not be calculated individually, every answer sheet was bar-coded. It also struck her as odd that there were more than a dozen versions of the tests for each grade.Mrs. O'Connell also made the disturbing discovery that personal questions were included in these State assessments, questions such as how frequently these fourth graders talked about school at home and how well their parents spoke the English language. She became suspicious about what other personal questions were asked and why the State did not want her to find out about them.In 1996, when the assessment period began, she was again refused permission to see the 1994 series but was granted the limited viewing of the multiple choice section only for fourth, eighth and tenth grade tests. However, she was not shown the essay questions; and she was forbidden from taking notes.She sought complete copies of the 1994 tests under the Massachusetts Freedom of the Information statute. This was a broad statute defining public records as all materials or data, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency of the State. Test questions were exempted only if they were part of a licensing examination, such as for medical boards or the bar exam.Mrs. O'Connell had requested a ruling from the Secretary of State who oversaw the State's records as to whether the 1994 State assessments were public documents subject to the Freedom of Information statute. Given the broad definition of the public records, a ruling in her favor could have been made over the secretary's coffee break. Instead, it took 3 months.Meanwhile, to keep Mrs. O'Connell from gaining access to the tests, the State Education Commissioner quietly arranged to have the Freedom of Information law altered by burying a new loophole in a major budget bill. The loophole barred the public from access to any State test, examination or assessment instrument. And, in a demonstration of out-of-control bureaucrats, the department then argued that Mrs. O'Connell's request to see the tests should be retroactively disqualified.The only bright light in this whole story is that the Secretary of State did the right thing by ruling that the 1994 assessments were indeed public documents and ordered the Education Department to turn them over to Mrs. O'Connell within 10 days or face enforcement by the attorney general.That was in August of 1996, but when this story was reported in the Boston Globe in December, Mrs. O'Connell still had not received the documents. This story begs the question, what was in the 2-year-old tests that Massachusetts was so desperately committed to hiding from Mrs. O'Connell and parents like her?We are not sure if this test was Federally funded. If this particular test had a funding component through Federal funds, I think there is at least a question that is raised whether this example would be corrected by the Parental FOIA bill.It is this example along with the other personal examples that you have heard from the parents and teachers here today that demonstrate the real need for this clarifying legislation. If school administrators and teachers are sincere about their desire that parents become more involved in the education of their children and I do believe that most administrators and teachers are then they will support the right of access for parents that this bill guarantees.And if Congress is sincere about its commitment to the families of this Nation and their belief that parents have the best interests of their children in mind, then you will send this to the full committee and then onto the House floor for a vote.Thank you for your attention and interest in this legislation.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Mr. Taylor, and all of the witnesses on this panel. Again my apologies for having to step out.SEE APPENDIX J -- WRITTEN STATEMENT OF JEFFREY K. TAYLOR, ACTING DIRECTOR FOR GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, CHRISTIAN COALITIONChairman Riggs. Let me ask, for any member of this panel who would like to respond, your opinion on how this legislation might affect the movement to adopt some form of standardized testing as part of a larger system of competency-based advancement.Let me state that I am very much opposed to the Federal Government trying to construct any kind of national test for all of the reasons that we have debated in this particular Congress; and, furthermore, I do support the ban on national testing, strongly support it. And the legislation that I just referred to a moment ago, the legislation that the Senate is sending over to the House contains a ban proposed by Senator Ashcroft of Missouri on national testing in reading and math; and that is very similar to the bill authored by the Chairman of the full committee, Chairman Goodling, House Resolution 2846.That all said, I do recognize that many States, in fact some of your home States, are adopting standardized testing. I am well aware, obviously, of the effort to adopt standardized testing or a system of standards in tests in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For anybody who would like to respond, do you have an opinion as a matter of fact, maybe I will start with Dr. Domenech how this legislation could affect that movement under way in most of the States and in many local school districts around the country?Mr. Domenech. Well, Mr. Chairman, I believe the impact certainly would be problematic, to say the least.There is, of course, a policy involving most States and I recently arrived from the State of New York where these kinds of State testing have been commonplace for many years, and, as a matter of fact, the tests that have been administered in the past that are no longer under the security provisions are made available to parents and students and anyone who wants them. But the development of norm-reference, standardized tests is a very rigorous and difficult process; and the security of those tests needs to be preserved as long as the tests are being administered. So to allow this information to be made public at the request of a parent obviously would be a serious issue.Now, my understanding, though, based on the language of H.R. 3189 now, is that your definition of test materials would exclude standardized tests; is that correct?Chairman Riggs. That is correct.Mr. Domenech. So I think the language and the definition as it currently exists certainly would not come into play in the example that Mr. Taylor was mentioning before, the tests administered by Massachusetts or any other State, for that matter.But the basis is not to deny parents access to these materials but rather the rigor that is involved in maintaining the security and the validity of those tests if they are to be re-administered.Chairman Riggs. Mr. Davis, you have a unique perspective on this particular legislation because you are both a classroom teacher and the parent of two children?Mr. Davis. Yes. For standardized tests, Texas has an academic skills test, and the way we are allowing the parents to see the tests is we have six tests that we rotate.We also have pilot problems on each test that the parents do not get to see so that we are putting pilot test problems in at the same time, and we have six or eight, so that gives us some database for new tests.I do have a problem if we go back to prior tests because that way we would be allowing the student to see two tests. That would be creating a problem for us since we only have six tests to rotate.Chairman Riggs. Mrs. DeLullo and Mr. Reinhard, thank you for being here.Do you think that Congressman Tiahrt's legislation gets at the concerns of so many parents who have decided to home school their children? Because we hear those concerns and sometimes vehement objections to the kind of, if you will, values and instruction being imparted in many of our public schools. And if you think that the legislation gets at the concerns of home schoolers, what effect do you think it ultimately would have on the home school movement?Mrs. Delullo. Besides FERPA, parents take their children out for other reasons. I don't think it is just because they cannot review the content of the curriculum.I do believe that FERPA needs to be reinforced; but, once again, it is a policy. And unless it is practiced, a policy is moot unless there is effective action with it to make sure that it can and will be implemented.I think in our district alone or in the State of West Virginia we are sort of behind at the State level for policies and legitimate enforcement. We don't have a thorough enforcement mechanism in place adequately at the State level or the county level to go back and seek some assistance.I will give you one example. I met with the physician who last week wanted to do research without parental permission, and she was told not to contact me. And she called me. She said, they are not giving me any information, but I need to talk to someone. We did meet and she was kind of shocked that she was able to do it, too, but nobody said anything.I think in research, medical, immunizations and things of that nature, there needs to be a trust mechanism. I am not saying that educators are bad, and I don't mean to imply that. A lot of times it is because no one follows through on it, and I think we need enforcement at the State levels and have the States enforce at the county level.But we don't have that enforcement mechanism even within the FERPA department at the U.S. Department of Education. They are too busy to take a look at each parent complaint.Chairman Riggs. Mr. Reinhard, do you have an opinion how this legislation would affect the home schooling movement and would it address the concerns of parents who home school?Mr. Reinhard. If I could just comment briefly, I know many people who home school and these are among the most committed parent volunteers. It is an enormous burden that they undertake, and they undertake it because they feel that they have been betrayed by the public schools that no longer seek to teach literary and numeracy. And by opening to public scrutiny that which is their curriculum and testing mechanisms, I think if they are genuine it will bring the home schoolers back. But if they insist on further deviating from what we consider to be education, it will, of course, drive them further and further away from the public system.Chairman Riggs. Mr. Taylor?Mr. Taylor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Home schoolers are some of the most dedicated activists in this country, and they can light up the phones as quickly as anyone can. Anything that would tend to balance out the scales in terms of information provided to parents as opposed to information that is readily available to educators or to administrators would assist them in their efforts to weigh the balance, whether they remain in home schooling, which we fully support, or if they decide to come back and give public schools another chance.Chairman Riggs. One other question and that is the question of how the bill would work and whether it should be construed as an opt in or opt out.I may have misunderstood, Mr. Means, but I thought I understood you to say that your school and your district had gone to an opt out, and the way I interpret Congressman Tiahrt's legislation is it is an opt in.Mr. Means. We started with an opt-out program, and because of the flow of paper with students taking it home and maybe not returning it, because the opt out said no, everyone is included until I get a note from the parents saying no, I don't want my child to participate.If they don't come back, obviously discussion probably didn't even occur at home. If you have the opt in, where the only way the student can participate is the school receiving written consent, then you are erring on the side of caution possibly.Chairman Riggs. That is the current policy at your school in your district?Mr. Means. As it pertains to sex and AIDS education programs. That was really one of the most passionate areas that has been an emphasis behind this movement.Chairman Riggs. Mr. Davis, what is the current policy and law in the State of Texas? And, Dr. Domenech, what is the current policy and practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia and Fairfax public schools with regard to these very sensitive materials? Is it opt out or opt in?Mr. Domenech. In terms of our curriculum in terms of family education as we refer to it, it is an opt out. Students will be included unless the parents send a note to the school saying that they do not want their child to participate in class or reviewing of films. With access to materials, that is open to everyone. It is not opt out. Everyone is entitled to it.Chairman Riggs. And that material would be available at the site level?Mr. Domenech. At the building level, at the district office, and we even make it available in our local libraries.Chairman Riggs. Mr. Davis, how about Texas?Mr. Davis. The same way. Basically the same concept. Each district has the option to go either direction.Chairman Riggs. Very good.Mr. Payne. Thank you very much.I just continually have a question about the usurping of Federal guidelines on local school districts, and the right of legal action which this legislation bestows on parents is, I think, already unprecedented in the General Education Provisions Act.I just have some concern that this provision could be abused and could literally halt the ability of a school district to function. I just wonder how do you see the local school districts none of you feel this usurps Federal jurisdiction over local school districts? You just don't think it is another layer of Federal Government on the local districts?I just wonder how you interpret when we, as asked the other panel, when we interpret the fact that most of the philosophy is that local is best, we should not have the Federal Government intrude. Then, once again, I get confused with the support of a bill that does have the Federal Government supercede the local school board.I just wonder, since you are not the Congress people who testified before, maybe we can hear from the local people, how do you see this as intrusive or not intrusive, or the difference of this as opposed to other Goals 2000, other things that you say are imposed on you as local school people?Mr. Taylor. If I can just respond, I will say that we have got Federal intrusion already, Mr. Payne, with a number of Federal education programs. So this is only provides a very small tool to each and every parent that wants to be able to have access, reasonable access. As to that Federal intrusion, frankly, no matter what kind of a program it would be, but Federal funds that are being used, you know, in the local school district. I see this as this balances it out, so I don't see that this is inconsistent with local control.Mr. Domenech. Well, Mr. Payne, that is exactly the basis of our testimony, to agree with the statement that you just made, that in essence we do see this as Federal intrusion, unnecessary, that this is primarily the province of the local board of education and certainly the State level but it should not require Federal intervention.Mr. Davis. Evidently the reason this legislation is being considered, there are some States out there that are not doing what they should be doing in relation to parental involvement. So Texas is already doing this, but we see that we rather see this as a guideline versus a mandate. But we would still like to see this coming about, because we need some equalization in the United States in relation to parental rights and parental involvement.Mr. Means. I will just maybe echo a little a little of this sentiment, this policy. In some ways the policies of my district are more stringent even than this, and so it would not effect any intrusion. But I am aware that other districts are not at that point yet, and perhaps this legislation could get them to that point more quickly without some of the mistakes and stress that some of these people shared today.Ms. Delullo. I think the issue that needs to be clarified here, and it was clarified with the drug-free schools issue of money going to textbooks when the Federal Government supplies money for curriculum. I think the issue here is not intrusion. I think the issue is constitutional. I don't think you need any FERPA law to go and receive your constitutional rights in Federal court.I think what would be intrusive is if the Federal Government would control the content of the curriculum. They are not controlling this bill is not controlling the content. So it is just controlling access to we the people which is I feel is important and as a constitutional issue it would stand. Thank you.Mr. Reinhard. Yes, I further echo that the ultimate decentralization is not to school boards but to parents. This is parental empowerment. Further, the family, the FERPA law that has just been discussed, if we truly believe that that is Federal intrusion, then maybe we should abandon that law as well. But if we believe in FERPA, maybe we should believe in enforcing it and closing the loopholes that have allowed some of these egregious mistakes to slip through.Mr. Payne. Now, I agree that there are certain mistakes. I still can't fathom how a Federal Government can do a better job than the local school boards. I certainly think parents need to be more involved. I think that the example of some of these tests that have been shown are outrageous, almost shocking, and I certainly agree with the previous panel that that sort of thing, I don't understand how it could slip through a school district.But I guess I just have and it is not the people on this panel, it is more with the political leadership of the new majority, and maybe Mr. Taylor could respond, since he is probably the only person that is really involved in public policy and you all are just regular citizens.The right to sue, for example, we have got legislation out that wants to restrict people's right to sue. You have got legislation that would say, you know, the loser pays; if you sue, you have to pay if you lose, so be careful about suing. And the right that you represent said we should reduce suing, we should the lawyers are just making money here.This legislation, one of the main components is, in Federal court at that, that the parents should be encouraged to sue. So once again, suing on one hand is wrong or abused. It seems that when policies fit what you want to do, it is less philosophical, I think, than public policy, even.For example, I cannot understand why everyone shouldn't be outraged you know, these tests are bad and they may harm people psychologically, but what is happening in our country the last several months with 11-year-olds and 13-year-olds taking automatic weapons to the school and killing their schoolmates, shooting their teachers, yet? And still, and that is what I am talking to you about as a policymaker, I have not heard any outcry about banning of assault weapons from your Christian Coalition supporters.As a matter of fact, you support the right for these children or people to bear arms. So I get kind of confused on issues of life and death, such as gun control, where it is going to eventually. What is wrong with banning weapons, trying to get them out of the hands of people? There are 200 million guns in this country.Since you are a policymaker, that is the only reason I am asking you the question. The other people, as I mentioned before, they are citizens and not involved in making policy, but you are. I just wonder how you could respond to that. I know it is a little bit it is a problem in schools, and that is the reason that I am raising it.Mr. Taylor. Mr. Payne, obviously, every member of the Christian Coalition is very upset with the tragedy in Arkansas, Jonesboro, Arkansas and other we have had some copycats, at least one copycat that I am aware of since that incident. I think it does point to partly the breakdown of families, and there is a whole host of reasons that could be explored with that.We have never taken as far as I know, I am relatively new at the Christian Coalition, as far as I know we haven't really taken a position on guns control. We certainly would not be for children carrying weapons in schools. I think that is I don't think I have to check with Randy Tate to find out whether we would oppose that or not. I think I can step out there and say that with relative confidence.But just to get back, you know, a little bit to the point of this bill, and also just to clarify a little bit of my testimony, in terms of my example, in terms of the assessment that was used in Massachusetts, I think what I was the reason I was using this particular example is because of the personal questions that were attached to that were a part of this assessment.I fully am aware that this bill does except standardized tests from its requirement, but at least maybe and maybe this would require a clarification under the Tiahrt bill that questions of a personal nature maybe should be there should still be direct parental consent on a standardized test, so that if students are getting questions about parental behaviors at home or family lifestyles or those kinds of questions, I think that is going beyond the bounds of what an assessment a standardized assessment should be asking without parental consent.So that was the point that I was trying to make with that particular example in Massachusetts. I don't know if I responded to your question or not, Mr. Payne.Mr. Payne. You did. That is good. And I don't want you to think that people who oppose this bill are opposed to parental involvement either, you know. So it is on the other side.Chairman Riggs. Thank you, Congressman Payne. Congressman Scott?Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Taylor, you have kind of brought up a subject that I am interested in. Would you have to check with Randy Tate to get a position on safety locks for firearms?Mr. Taylor. It is just we don't take a position on every issue before this Congress, Mr. Scott. Frankly, you gentlemen get paid the big money to have to do that, and frankly we don't do that. We do feel like we have a pretty full plate, and we do weigh in on a lot of issues but we don't weigh in on every issue. That particular issue has not come up in any of the discussions that I have had with Mr. Tate.Mr. Scott. Okay. How is the proposed Federal bill different from the Massachusetts law which did not grant Mrs. O'Connell access to the information?Mr. Taylor. Well, as I was trying to explain to Chairman Riggs, frankly, I think before the loophole was created in the Massachusetts law it was a broader a broader FOIA.Mr. Scott. Wait a minute. And under that broader law, she didn't get the information?Mr. Taylor. Well, only because the Department of Education was dragging its feet, not because the Secretary of State ruled against her. They ruled in fact in favor for her.Mr. Scott. How is the language in the bill better than the language already in the GEPA?Mr. Taylor. I am not sure I understand your question.Mr. Scott. The language the present law under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act's provisions already has the provision that no funds should be available to school districts that don't make information available. How is this bill significantly different than what is already in the law?Mr. Taylor. I am not sure it is significantly different, but I think it does provide some clarifying language because it has been uniformly applied throughout the States. And especially with regards to educational materials, that is mentioned specifically in FERPA, and this would make it clear that curriculum and testing with certain exceptions would be made available, givenMr. Scott. Is that not in the present law? We will check.Mr. Means, you indicated that the law that you have in Kansas is actually stronger than the law that is proposed in this bill?Mr. Means. Well, we have I wasn't referring to a law. We have a district policy.Mr. Scott. How is the district policy enforced? And if you have an aggrieved parent, what can they do if they don't agree with a decision being made?Mr. Means. Our district policies, I don't know if you have a copy of this but, one, it defines the policies, and then it gives a list of administrative implementation procedures so that the policy can be consistently applied in each of the 100 buildings in the district.Mr. Scott. Does the parent have the right to go to Federal court to enforce your policy?Mr. Means. I don't believe this policy indicates --Mr. Scott. And does the parent have the right to attorneys' fees paid by the school board if there is a disagreement where they prevail?Mr. Means. None of these policies directly indicate what the parents' rights are in response to dissatisfaction with the school. We would use kind of a process the other schools or other people that have responded to, you know, visiting with the principal and the superintendent, the Board of Education. But our policy is the way our policy is set up. None of them exactly indicate or specifically dictate what the parents' recourse is and the implementation of that policy.Mr. Scott. As a principal, would you be would it be a better law or a worse law if all of the parents you disagreed with had the right to go into Federal court to argue about which tests or which piece of information ought to be released? Would it be better or worse for them to have a Federal right of action to sue you on their disagreement?Mr. Means. Well, I would think I guess my only response to that would be that a process that allows a parent some recourse is going to be a better process than one that does not.Mr. Scott. You would prefer that the parents have the right the Federal right of action to haul you into Federal court every time they disagreed, and if they win, you pay their attorneys' fees?Mr. Means. No, I don't think I am saying that. I don't believe that every --Mr. Scott. Let me ask it another way. Do you support the bill or oppose the bill?Mr. Means. As a practicing educator in our public school system, I believe this legislation sets out some good ideas that will provide some consistency across the country for districts that don't have these policies or similar policies already in place.Mr. Scott. Well, I think it has been pointed out that we have a hard job, we actually have to legislate. Do you support the bill or oppose the bill?Mr. Means. I support what the bill the intent of what the bill is doing, yes.Mr. Scott. Well, would you suggest we vote for it or defeat it?Mr. Means. I guess I would not presume to come here and tell you what to do. I am just trying to share with you some information from a district that has had some experience with a similar policy.Mr. Scott. Okay. Let me ask it one more time. Would it be a better practice or worse practice for the parents that come before you with disagreements to have a Federal right of action to haul you into Federal court every time they disagree? That is what the bill does.Mr. Means. I understand. I don't know if I am really am have the background maybe to have an opinion on that. If every time a parent disagrees with me no. But I think thatMr. Scott. That is what the bill does.Mr. Means. Well, I think that there are you are asking me about my policy and my experience. That is what I am here speaking about.Mr. Scott. I think we all agree, in general, that this information ought to be released. It is already in the present law. There is some maybe fine-tuning to make it a little clearer, but the bill doesn't do fine-tuning. It gives the Federal right of action for parents who disagree with the decision of the principal to go right into Federal court and sue for information that they didn't get and get attorneys' fees. And I guess you would get hauled into court as a witness in the middle of the school day.Is that a better or a worse system than the articulated policy that tries to explain it the best so that anybody can understand it, but doesn't have a court action at the end of the process? And which is better, which is more which will create a better relationship between parents and the school administration?Mr. Means. If part of the legislation requires that I share this information and I choose, for whatever reason, not to, and the legislation then also gives the parent a recourse to hold me accountable for why I am choosing to disregard the directive, then it is better for the parent to have that recourse, I believe.Mr. Scott. So you would prefer the if you disagree, to argue it in Federal court rather than in the school board and have the school board decision be the final? I mean, you can have it one way or the other.Mr. Means. My preference would be to resolve obviously, my preference would be to resolve the issue at the building level. But if there is legislation or direction, whether it is a board policy that says I will do this and I choose not to, or one of my children was in school where a staff member was told to do something and they chose not to, then I would expect to have some kind of recourse.I can't really testify on whether the Federal court is going to be the most effective way of doing it. I don't have that background. I just fail to have that information. But I believe it is important for parents to have some recourse in a situation.Mr. Scott. Let me ask one other question, with the indulgence of the Chairman. And that is that the bill requires parental permission prior to any medical treatment being given. There are some states, like Virginia, that have specific exceptions to those general laws. And I guess my question is, should we override those State laws with this, which may be in conflict with State laws?I don't know, maybe the superintendent from Fairfax could say, what would you do if we passed this that said you can't get any Federal money unless you violate the State law? You have to comply with the State law. What would you do in that situation? The exceptions are things like treatment for venereal disease. That is specifically exempted. You don't need parental permission for that in Virginia. How would you deal with that conflict?Mr. Domenech. Well, it is a conflict. Right now we basically do require at our level parental permission and we have very strict policies in this area, other than in emergency situations. But here again, I think the point that you are making is the point that we are supporting, that this legislation I think would create the opportunities for more litigation.Frankly, one of the concerns that we have as school administrators and as superintendents is that too much of our time is spent nowadays on issues that have little to do with what happens in the classroom and much more to do with the administration of rules, regulations and laws. I think this is what we are trying to revert to, but having yet another layer on top of local policy, State policy, and now Federal regulations, that would create yet more opportunities for conflict and more opportunities for litigation.Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.Chairman Riggs. Congressman Scott, thank you.And before I adjourn the hearing, I think it is important to clarify a couple of points that really ensue from some of the comments and questions posed by my colleagues to our witnesses.It is my understanding that current law applies to surveys administrated or funded by the United States Department of Education. Current law requires parental consent before a student participates in a federally-funded educational survey, analysis or evaluation, and then it goes on to require any instructional material which will be used in conjunction or in connection with any survey, analysis or evaluation be available for inspection by parents or guardians of the children. The fine print defines "instructional material" as teachers' manuals, films, tapes or other supplementary material.Now, the Tiahrt legislation goes beyond that by guaranteeing parents access to the curriculum their children are exposed to. That would, in guaranteeing access to curriculum, again include textbooks, audiovisual materials, manuals, journals, films or any supplementary materials. It provides parents access to testing materials administered to the children, hence my question about testing, but it excludes standardized achievement tests or any copyrighted material. But that is, I stipulate, a bit of a gray area as you have States beginning to develop their own tests and not necessarily relying on test publishers or off-the-shelf tests.Lastly, as we have heard today, it requires parental consent, if you will, an opt-in parental consent prior to any student being required to undergo medical, psychological or psychiatric examination, testing or treatment at school, except for emergency care.The operative word there, for Congressman Scott, is "access." He is a very capable lawyer and a very capable Member of Congress, and he was very persistently questioning Mr. Means, suggesting if there was a disagreement, that a local school district could be sued. Congressman Tiahrt's legislation is clear, it is only in the event of a school district denying a parent access to these materials as broadened or expanded by the Tiahrt Parental Freedom of Information Act.With that all said, I have to say one thing, just so you don't leave here under erroneous impression from me as Chairman of the Subcommittee. That is, I tend to Congressman Scott's concerns about creating this new tort, this new cause of action where a parent, if they felt they were denied access, could proceed directly to United States District Court.We did not confer with the Federal Judicial Council prior to today's hearing; but I suspect if we did, we would probably hear from them loud and clear that they do not want more litigation of this nature clogging United States District Courts around the country. I think they probably would consider the first claim and that the priority of those courts is to adjudicate criminal matters involving violations of the United States Code, and then civil matters. This, I have a feeling, would be so far down the list that, again, the Federal judiciary would not want to see these cases brought at the Federal district court level without, of course, ample increased appropriations from Congress or more judges and more courts.With that all said, I do recognize that all too often parents are treated as inferior, somehow second class citizens. I encountered I have encountered that in my own experience, both as a parent, consumer, public educator, as well as a former school board member and school board president for three years in my home community. I think there are too many school districts around the country that take the approach that the school district, the education establishment I don't mean that in a derogatory sense but knows best or knows better than parents.This legislation I think would seek to sort of change that equation, and I think Mr. Reinhard put it well. It would empower parents, and lots of what we have done under the heading of educational reform in this Congress and the last Congress, ever since the Republican party became the majority party in the Congress, has been focused on empowering individuals and especially empowering parents.Congressman Scott, I invoked your name so I don't want to adjourn the hearing without giving you a chance, but IMr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You did well.Mr. Payne. We agree with you.Chairman Riggs. Let me say to both of my colleagues and, that is, that perhaps the middle ground, as we go forward on this legislation, might be to look at some formal legal mechanism for arbitration or mediation, short of actual, you know, adjudication of these types of claims, which are torts, civil action, because I don't think the United States District Court would welcome this sort of litigation.With that all said, I want to thank my colleagues. I want to thank our panelists. I want to thank our audience. I have to ask, I see a group of young men in the back and there isMr. Scott. They are from Richmond, Virginia. And they are members of a very prestigious organization, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which is, you may not be aware of this, but it is the greatest of all of the Greek fraternities and has many very distinguished members, including the ones that are sitting before you today.Chairman Riggs. Well, gentlemen, welcome. Well, you are getting to see Congressman Scott and Congressman Payne and our witnesses as well.Thank you for joining us. Thank you again to our witnesses. The Subcommittee stands adjourned.[Whereupon, at 12:52 P.M., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Robstown's Own Gene Upshaw Addresses The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
NFL Union Asks Congress to Help Improve Its Retirement Benefits
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing Tuesday to hear testimony from players association director Gene Upshaw, other NFL officials and former players on what many retired players see as the shortcomings of the league's disability benefits. (CQ Photo by Scott Ferrell)Click here, or on photo, for slideshow
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Sunday, August 05, 2007
Corpus Christi Caller Times: After we finish with (this issue), Mr Mike Hummel will always remember to read the local internet and to give credit wher
Corpus Christi Caller Times: After we finish with (this issue), Mr Mike Hummel will always remember to read the local internet and to give credit where credit is due.
This morning I got a call that took me out on the streets. I needed a little punch so I put it on a Classic Rock Station expecting maybe some Hair of the Dog or War Pigs or maybe even Lovin You Sunday Morning or Proud Mary but it wasn't to be. I hear the end of a discussion with our Corpus Christi City Council Member stuck smack dab in the middle of that damn river.WATT River?...........Some begin to ponder, while there are others who know exactly where I am going with this River issue; after we finish with (this issue), Mr Mike Hummel will always remember to read the local internet and to give credit where credit is due.You know with the Memorial Coliseum I have not the sentimentality or passion like many of you guys possess and concurrently I dont believe it needs to be torn down. I was against anything that TRT wanted to bring to this town in light of what they left us upon departure.Some events and it might even be many events; cannot afford to use ABC Center; so it is not really a public arena like the Memorial Coliseum operated. Heck, many of us cannot afford to attend an event that is held in the ABC Center. So, tell us Mr. Hummel, Mr Burns and Mr Solis, will you make it affordable at least for our Local Goodwill Organizations like the Shriners to hold an event?Currently, the ABC Center is out of our Local Goodwill Organizations reach because of price?Now the Point at hand,The discussion was about the Memorial Coliseum and specifically about the hiring of a consultant and if the City of Corpus Christi is going to follow WATT ever the Consultant recommended.Corpus Christi City Councilman Hummel answered that the people have been included in the rounds of community input and public meetings.The host asked if the Corpus Christi City Council was going to ask the consultant to include the input or if it will factor in.Corpus Christi City Councilman Hummel quickly affirmed that the community's input has already been included.The host then connected like Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and the Great Bambino Himself; he asked Hummel if the Corpus Christi City Council is considering the input from all of the people at the Caller Times on the Coliseum issue?Mike Hummel answers "I don't know anything about whats going on at the Caller Times".The host says you dont know, you haven't read the article at the Caller Times about the Memorial Coliseum and the internet input and suggestions from the public, you arent going to consider that input?Hummel studdered 3 or 4 times and then a couple more times and then he said we got, we got people, we got other people on that, I think, I'm not a computer guy , but I think they are calling them something like blogs, Im not a computer guy, or something like that. Then continued the D NILE of the POWER OF THE INTERNET and the reality that the People are beginning to Engage themselves in the Formulation of Public Policy. Since you cant hear us Mr Hummel, let me yell a little louder and maybe everyone else will as well.Mr Hummel, that River's name; we call it D Nile, get out of it. In fact a big part of your electability came from the web community. Power of the Pen Mr Hummel. When coupled with facts only an idiot would be so ignorant to be unaware of what some people are calling blogs. The credibility (or not) is right there in black and white for everyone to read. Do you still want to claim that you havent tread the input at the Caller Times Community Input Forum? Although censored slightly it can give there are many souls participating. They are already pissed off and to think that our City Council is trying to act like they are unaware of our presence. That is unbelievable Mr Hummel.Nothing Personal MR Hummel, but I do believe you have a little bit of homework to do."Engaging the average citizen in the formulation of Public Policy" is our mission @ Kenedeno & Associates. "The Net is a powerful force for change -- and a dynamic tool for citizen education and action. Read the latest research on citizen participation (ENGAGEMENT) online, the stories and experiences of coalitions, corporate clients, and others working in the cyber trenches, and discover the potential to become an active participant in online democracy.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 10:52 PM 0 comments Links to this post
"IN THE KNOW": Anybody need 5 Brand New Faulty Firestone Tires for their Family Vehicle? Hurry while vacation season is still here!
"IN THE KNOW": Anybody need 5 Brand New Faulty Firestone Tires for their Family Vehicle? Hurry while vacation season is still here!Google Yourself Corpus Christi: setexasrec: If you disagree, I got 4 brand spankin new ones to put on your family vehicle; oh yeah & one spare just in case you survive the blow out.So WATT does this mean for Texas?Who is the author?After reading this article i got to believe the author is not familiar with the adversarial process or the article is pure prevarication. Who wants to buy a vehicle without laminated windows. I don't, but in Mikal's argument it was just mental re-enforcement for the jury and he is representing his client with zeal. .In layman terms Laminated glass, which is two layers of plate glass with plastic laminate in between, is used on automotive windshields. It has been used for decades to keep objects from easily getting through the windshield and entering the vehicle. The negative is it prevent easy exit should one need to break the glass in order to escape in a submerged situation or something of that nature.%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%KENEDENO: "I say hot damn we got ourselves a fighter, and advocate. Now there's an attribute money cant buy, a game mentality moving unencumbered through legal birds nests and over hurdles to accomplish results."Like a Pitbull in the Middle of a Bunch of Poodles upon Capitol Hill.The bottom line is the tire is faulty but it is cheaper to pay the injured and dead than it is to replace all of the tires on all of the brand new vehicles. Well, at least that was the word according bean counters (Actuarial Analysts). I bet they dont work there anymore, eh? When an automaker knows there is a faulty product that will "cause a death or two" and they acquiesce, or continue to produce the vehicle with the defective product and they dont recall the defective product for WATT ever reason they need to pay.Watt if you or your family member purchased a brand new Explorer or Expedition or Excursion. You plan a vacation and plot out your trip planning to stop for the young ones at the rest areas and to stretch the legs and maybe even swap drivers. Everybody has their pillow and their reading material or headphones and music, for the kids you had the video screen and dvd systenm installed and you even went the extra mile and installed a Playstation III for the kids and the kids at heart.So we are cruising and everyone is commenting on the comfort, the neat features, the enhanced entertainment, and the overall "On The Road" experience the new vehicle provides.The last thing on their mind is breaking down, needing to check the fluids every few miles, or rolling down the window because the air conditioning dont work. The passengers and the driver feel secure and safe; maybe they dont even buckle up.The next thing we know the vehicle has become impaired and unstable. The resulting tumbling, sliding, shattering of glass, screaming, and bending of metal that happens in less than a minute (but feels like a lifetime) comes to a rest and there is a eerie silence for a moment. Then the lucky ones can moan in their pain and the silent ones Vaya Con DIOS. How long before the Halo FLight? How long before rescue?And you come to find out you have lost 1 or 2 or 5 of your loved ones because of something that makes no sense at all.I am not talking about the Blowout people, I am talking about the decision made by the automaker that your loved ones were just another number, a casualty in the name of profits.Would you want an advocate fighting for your interests like Mikal Watts fights the giant automakers?If you disagree, I got 4 brand spankin new ones to put on your family vehicle; oh yeah and one spare just in case you survive the blow out.@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Mikal Watts' argumentshttp://www.setexasrecord.com/arguments/198814-mikal-watts-arguments8/4/2007 10:58 AMThree college girls are driving cross-country pulling a U-Haul trailer while simultaneously sharing a bag of marijuana. About 20 hours into the voyage, the driver brakes hard on a hill and loses control, sending the car off the side of the road.They weren't wearing seat belts.Was she high? Fatigued? Did she forget that breaking hard on a downslope while pulling a fully-stuffed U-Haul is a big no-no?Whatever. Represented by Corpus Christi plaintiff's lawyer Mikal Watts in a suburban Houston courtroom, she demanded millions in damages over the accident-- from a tire maker.No matter that Texas state investigators blamed the wreck on driver error and speeding, concluding the tires remained intact after the crash and worked just fine. Still, Watts argued they were wrong, that it wasn't her fault. He even demanded the judge declare a mistrial when the defense had the nerve to raise the girl's driving-while-pot smoking in court.Is this the kind of guy-- one who would make such a specious, if self-serving, argument with a straight face-- that we want representing Texas in the U.S. Senate?Mr. Watts, a 39-year-old mega-millionaire and judge's son who flies private, is traveling the state this summer, raising money and straining to re-define himself as a populist "everyman" in preparation for the Spring 2008 Democrat primary election.He made his bones making arguments like the aforementioned, suing automakers and other businesses. But suffice to say, he won't be bragging on the campaign trail about the "marijuana mistrial" or his lawsuit blaming Ford for an accident in which the driver was speeding, had been drinking and wasn't wearing a seat belt.The automaker was at fault because, according to Watts, it didn't laminate its side windows.Watts will also remain mum about the embarrassing hiccup in that Ford case-- when it was revealed mid-trial that one of his associate lawyers was dating one of the jurors. She had even helped him "recruit" two of the plaintiffs for Watts, evidence showed.Apparently under no ethical obligation to tell the court about this, Watts remained quiet and steadfast. It paid off-- he won a $31 million verdict."Mikal Watts has spent his entire career fighting on behalf of average, working Texans," promised his spokesman in a recent interview.Don't believe it just because he says so.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 1:34 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, August 03, 2007
Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi Daily Digital: Linda was the first person in a Corpus Christi Public Housing Dev. to successfully run 4 pu
Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi Daily Digital: Linda was the first person in a Corpus Christi Public Housing Dev. to successfully run 4 pub office: a person who pickedCorpus Christi Daily Digital: Linda was the first person in a Corpus Christi Public Housing Dev. to successfully run 4 pub office: a person who picked herself up by her bootstraps by hkarsh
August 2, 2007
I was a candidate for the Del Mar Board of Regents. I picked up the package to run for office. I am College Educated. I have several degrees. I'm pretty good at reading and writing contracts and such. I'm not a lawyer and believe me I could have used a lawyer to explain all the stuff I was responsible for and had to do. Del Mar wasn't going to explain it to me and the local party bosses wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Del Mar certainly wasn't going to help Linda whose brother they had railroaded out of a job. Now Linda was the first person in a Corpus Christi Public Housing development to successfully run for a public office and her neighbors were very proud of her. So here we have a person who picked herself up by her bootstraps with out the aid of the local democratic or republican bosses and won her election. So what do the local politicos do and that includes our slimy DAthere's more at the link above
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 12:05 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Is Rice on him like WIA on Corpus Christi?
Councilman: Rank was let go for performanceBy Jaime Powell (Contact)Originally published 12:00 a.m., July 31, 2007Updated 03:36 a.m., July 31, 2007Rank had served on the municipal bench for nearly four years.Rank had served on the municipal bench for nearly four years.related linksSHARE THIS STORYNewsvine Del.icio.us Digg Fark Yahoo! RedditLast week's ouster of Municipal Court Judge John Rank by the City Council was performance based, according to Councilman John Marez, the chairman of the city's municipal court committee.Rank, 67, had been on the city's municipal bench for nearly four years when the court committee voted 5-3 to not reappoint him.Council members Mike McCutchon, Bill Kelly and Melody Cooper voted to keep Rank. Councilwoman Nelda Martinez abstained.Marez said Rank's termination was not tied to one major issue and was based on his performance during the past two years and on interviews with people Rank dealt with in his job."It would be for me, his style, his courtroom demeanor," Marez said. "And then his ability to be part of a larger team of judges. I don't feel he fit the mold of what we were looking for anymore."Rank said Monday he was not aware of any complaints against him and had hoped for a third two-year term on the bench."I thought there were people who disagreed with my approach to enforcing the law and to not giving unlimited continuances or unlimited opportunities to meet their responsibilities," Rank said. "As a judge almost all of the time, somebody leaves the court unhappy. Either the prosecutor because you didn't convict them or the defendant because you did."Rank cannot appeal the council's decision because he is hired at will. Rank said he is considering retirement.As the city's environmental judge, Rank was responsible for hearing city ordinance violations, including solid-waste infractions such as junked cars and dilapidated buildings. He also heard animal violations such as dogs running loose or vicious animals, and electric code, fire code and water violations, among other issues, Rank said.Rank also was responsible for some magistrate duties at the jail and filling in as needed in the main municipal court, said presiding Municipal Court Judge Rodolfo Tamez.Marez said the decision had nothing to do with an October 2005 incident in which Rank was overheard saying, "I don't know if the person was stupid, on drugs or Hispanic" to a marshal when discussing a woman over whose case he had presided.Because of the racially insensitive remark, Tamez on March 21, 2006, gave Rank an official reprimand, which was placed in Rank's permanent personnel file, according to city documents.Rank said Monday he was unsure whether the incident played a part in his loss of the judgeship.Tamez said part-time judges are available to cover Rank's duties until the municipal court committee finds a replacement.Marez said the committee may appoint one of the part-time judges to the spot or open it up to members of the local bar association. The appointment is for two years, and full-time judges make approximately $66,000, Marez said. Part-time judges get a prorated salary based on their schedules.Contact Powell at 886-3716 or powellj@caller.com
Posted by dannoynted1 at 2:42 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: defenzor.net, From the Heart and Soul of Aztlan, southsidedefender.com
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Serpent IN the Garden January 14, 1996 Houston: Inaction Allowed Abuser To Roam For 10 Years.
If this was leaked to the media did the Corpus Christi Caller Times tell us about this pedophile?Did the Caller publish any stories on this matter?And the CCISD Board did they inform the community?The Serpent IN the Garden January 14, 1996 Houston: CCISD board President Henry Nuss AQUIESCED. CCISD eagerly supplied pedophile with young patients - even after he had been publicly charged.CORPUS CHRISTI - James Plaisted was a respected child psychologist, a deacon in one of the city's largest Baptist congregations and the father of four.He also was a child molester so brazen he escorted little girls into church and fondled them under his coat while listening to the sermon.Parents knew. So did church pastors, school officials and state regulators. But few did anything to stop him, and those who tried were remarkably unsuccessful.It took 10 years to get Plaisted behind bars. Only he knows how many children he molested during that time.Last month, Plaisted - already serving a two-year federal prison term for luring a Texas patient to Boston to continue molesting her -was brought back to Corpus Christi in chains.He pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four girls and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.State regulators have yet to revoke his license to practice psychology.""I think the Plaisted case is the model of what happens when the system fights with itself," said Susan Snyder, a Kingsville attorney and former prosecutor who tried to lock up Plaisted in 1992.""Obviously, there have been safeguards in place to prevent this man all along, but either (state officials) were too lazy or too busy, or too scared of the politics of going and yanking this man's license," Snyder said. ""It's not the legal system failing. It's the people within the legal system that refuse to let the legal system work."It's not as if no one tried.Carmen Alvarado, the mother of the first child to accuse Plaisted more than 10 years ago, sought criminal charges against the therapist and filed an ethics complaint with the Texas Board of Examiners of Psychologists. She alleged that Plaisted had fondled her son's penis during a late-night counseling session.Alvarado called the Parkdale Baptist Church, where Plaisted, 46, was a deacon.""They said they were leaving it in God's hands," she recalled.""I don't think they were thinking straight at the time."She went to other parents. She got no help.In the end, it was just her son's word against Plaisted, who told a Corpus Christi jury in 1986 that the 6-year-old child was a habitual liar and a pyromaniac who derived sexual excitement from setting fires. It didn't help that a new prosecutor was assigned to the case just before trial.The jury acquitted Plaisted; his practice continued.""It made me mad because when I went for help, all I asked was for them to testify," Alvarado recalled. ""We lost because my son was the only witness we had."""It was a very tough call to make," said another victim's mother. ""And looking back, I really should have crucified him, but I didn't. I chose not to after talking to my attorney. He told me it would just really traumatize my daughter."The Corpus Christi woman, who asked not to be identified, said she did confront Plaisted and his wife, who were neighbors in 1984, when her daughter was allegedly molested while spending the night with one of Plaisted's daughters.""He did not deny it," she said. ""He said he could have done itin his sleep."Plaisted's wife laughingly added that she and her husband often made love at night, and he would not remember the next morning, the woman said.The woman, who was also a member of the Parkdale Baptist Church, recalled telling church officials later about Plaisted's molestations.""But it didn't seem to make any difference," she said. ""The church really backed him up, and a lot of people left the church after that."Plaisted's attorney, Doug Tinker, refused to allow the Chronicle to interview his client. The criminal defense lawyer, who earlier this year represented Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murdering Tejano star Selena, declined to discuss the Plaisted case.The victims' families have since sued the church for negligence, but Parkdale's lawyer argues the congregation should not be held responsible for Plaisted's actions.""It would be the church's wish to get this thing resolved without causing any additional hurt to anyone," said attorney Van Huseman. But he added, ""If a child gets molested in the middle of the service, how does that get to be the pastor's fault?"Plaisted - a Nebraska native who served in the Army in Vietnam -came to Corpus Christi in 1982 with impeccable credentials, having earned his doctorate in clinical and child psychology from Auburn University in Alabama in 1981.He quickly built a private practice, and over the years, developed a good reputation as an expert on brain dysfunction.The Corpus Christi school district, along with local pediatricians, eagerly supplied him with young patients - even after he had been publicly charged. Members of the church also sought his help, and he had hospital privileges at the prestigious Driscoll Children's Hospital, a South Texas institution known both for quality care and charity.Neighbors described Plaisted as pleasant, reserved, well-spoken. He was methodical, they said, and liked to work on projects around the house.Plaisted recruited some of his victims from broken homes, showering the children with gifts, inviting them and their parents to Thanksgiving dinners. One 9-year-old girl who spent the night with Plaisted's daughter told prosecutors the psychologist molested her on the sofa in his living room while he and the children watched the movie "Home Alone"on video.He curried favor with his victims' parents by lending them money and refusing repayment, or by buying them air conditioners and other gifts. One mother even acted as a character witness for the therapist during the Alvarado trial, unaware that her own child was being molested.""The bottom line is this guy had complaints filed against him at the psychology board - and they are serious - and the board doesn't notify the school about the complaints," said Jerry Boswell, director of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a group funded by the Church of Scientology (SEE CORRECTION) that documents cases such as Plaisted's. ""And the school is still referring children to this guy."Corpus Christi school administrators said they used Plaisted infrequently for psychological testing of students, although school records and correspondence indicate he was a consultant from 1983 until he was indicted for child sexual assault in late 1992.School administrators have identified records of five students referred to him for psychological testing between 1985 and 1992. There are no records prior to 1985.School board President Henry Nuss, who has served on the board for seven years, said he first heard of the Plaisted case when he was contacted by the Houston Chronicle last week.""We certainly should be more selective in who we're using," he said.After Plaisted was charged in the Alvarado case in April 1986, Robert J. Garcia, the school district's special education director, wrote to the state psychology board to ask about the psychologist's record. The agency's executive director replied that Plaisted's license had been suspended, but because the psychologist was in the process of suing to get it back, he remained licensed to practice. The letter gave no details about the nature of the complaints.""He was given a clean bill of health by the only agency that had anything to say about it," said Dr. Adrian Haston, a psychologist who coordinates the school district's psychological services, and who, years ago, shared an office with Plaisted.Haston emphasized that none of the schoolchildren referred to Plaisted were molested. ""And we never had anything untoward, any problems of that sort," he said.Asked why the district would risk using a psychologist once accused of being a child molester, Haston replied, ""This is something the district did, and you can ask the director of special education why."Garcia said in a recent telephone interview that he could not remember whether he knew about the child molestation charges at the time he wrote to the psychology board.""All I know is we asked for what his status was and they said he could still practice," he said. ""We knew he was under review, but we didn't know what for.""Look, the state board of psychologists, they're the ones that allowed him to continue to practice," Garcia added angrily.""If anyone should be asked as to why this guy was allowed to continue, it should be the state board of psychology."Pressed for further details, Garcia abruptly ended the interview and hung up the phone.Although Plaisted was acquitted in August 1986 in the Alvarado case, the psychology board continued its investigation and ruled in November of that year that Plaisted had violated professional standards.The board officially suspended his license for two years, but said he would be allowed to resume his practice in three months.Meanwhile, Plaisted challenged the suspension in state district court in Austin, arguing the psychology board had unfairly considered allegations that had not been introduced during his hearing, denying him the opportunity to defend himself against them. The judge agreed, and in January 1987 reversed Plaisted's suspension.While the board was investigating Plaisted's case, they were contacted by Corpus Christi psychologist George Kramer.Kramer, who had hired Plaisted in 1982 before Plaisted was licensed, told the board to subpoena records of the state Department of Human Resources. It did, and found other instances of alleged molestation by Plaisted.In April 1989, the board reached an agreement with the psychologist that allowed him to keep his license if he agreed to be supervised for 11/2years. Plaisted was to treat children only in the presence of an associate or in a location where he could be observed by a television monitor. He also was to pay to have Corpus Christi psychologist Joseph Horvat supervise his casework.Horvat met with Plaisted weekly, but after a year - convinced that Plaisted was doing nothing wrong - he recommended the supervision be terminated six months early. The board decided to continue the supervision.""I have found no evidence in any way, shape or form of any behavior on his part which could be in any way construed as unprofessional or unethical," Horvat wrote to the board.Included in one of his reports to the board was a review of Plaisted's treatment of an 8-year-old girl - a child Plaisted was later charged with molesting.The board's general counsel, Barbara Holthaus, acknowledged past actions taken by the agency were inadequate.""With hindsight, of course it wasn't appropriate, because look at what happened," Holthaus said. But she said the board has since added lay people to its ranks and has a new, tougher state law giving it better enforcement powers.""Now, if we get a report that a psychologist is molesting a client, we can go before a judge and say we want to temporarily suspend the license," she said.Holthaus said the board has filed a motion to revoke Plaisted's license, but Plaisted is fighting it.""It's all kind of moot, because he's incarcerated," she said.Soon after Plaisted completed his board-ordered supervision, Corpus Christi police received new information from state child welfare workers that Plaisted had been molesting girls at his office, in church and at home in his hot tub.Former detective Eric Michalak, who now works in Colorado, remembered taking the Plaisted case to a Nueces County assistant district attorney for prosecution.""He wanted to get a warrant for the doctor and arrest him, because we had very strong evidence against him," Michalak said. ""We had multiple victims and you had a guy in the position he was in, where he had access to all these victims.You would want to take quick action rather than let it go on for so long."The prosecutor was overruled by then-District Attorney Grant Jones, Michalak said. ""(Jones) just said, `We're not getting a warrant. We're taking our time.' He wanted the kids reinterviewed by one of the prosecutors.""Any time you go after someone like that, there's a lot of politics that come into play," Michalak added. ""Instead of stepping in right then, and bringing it out in the open and taking it to a grand jury (for indictment), they delayed."Jones contends that any delay in prosecution was an effort ""to tie the case down tight. We didn't want to lose him twice,"said Jones, on whose watch Plaisted was acquitted in the Alvarado case.Jones called it ""outrageous" the psychology board still hasn't revoked Plaisted's license.""They should have done it in 1986," he said. ""What they want to do is wait around until you go to trial and you convict him, and then they come in behind your conviction and revoke his license. Well, what's he doing in the meantime? He could be out in the community molesting kids for two years."Michalak said the case was finally taken to the grand jury several months later after he leaked the information about Plaisted's investigation to the local media.""It was taking too long, and it wasn't being handled like another case," he said. ""And it was because he was so prominent in the community."Plaisted was finally indicted in Corpus Christi in October 1992. He posted bond, closed his practice in Corpus Christi, and negotiated an agreement with the psychology board to place his license on inactive status until he could prove his innocence.He then moved to Boston, where he enrolled in Boston University Law School and successfully completed his first year of studies by May 1994.While in law school, Plaisted began calling a former patient - the girl whose treatment Horvat had reviewed in Corpus Christi. Plaisted convinced the girl's mother - who was also a patient of his - to bring the girl to Boston for additional therapy.Plaisted's plans were foiled when a policeman setting up a speed trap in his neighborhood accidentally intercepted on his police radio a sexually explicit telephone call between the girl and Plaisted, who was using a cordless phone.FBI agents were called in, six other calls were taped, and Plaisted was arrested on June 3, 1994, after he met the girl, then 13, and her mother at the train station and took them to a budget motel.""The mother wasn't aware" of the molestations, said Adolfo Aguilo, an assistant Nueces County district attorney. ""The mother had a borderline personality disorder - she developed dependency on people -and unfortunately for her the person she developed a dependency on was Dr. Plaisted."Sgt. Michael Harpster, a police detective from suburban Boston who helped arrest Plaisted, described him as ""very congenial, almost shy."""He'd answer questions very courteously, but he didn't show any outward signs of knowing the seriousness of the situation," Harpster said.Last January, Plaisted was sentenced by a federal judge in Boston to a two-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity.The Corpus Christi conviction and sentence came almost a year later.In the end, Plaisted admitted molesting four victims. But prosecutors say no one will ever know how many others failed to come forward.""I imagine there could be several other victims. Through his practice and the church he probably had access over the years to thousands of children," said Aguilo, the Corpus Christi prosecutor who eventually secured Plaisted's guilty plea.""To me, any kid that came in contact with this guy was a victim in some way or another," added Michalak.When Plaisted was sentenced last month, it was a bitter emotional meeting for many of his young victims and their parents, who had been called as witnesses in case Plaisted decided against the plea bargain.Parents said Plaisted stood up straight, held his head high and looked the judge in the eye. And when he saw the relatives of his former victims, he acted as if he were attending a reunion of old friends, they said. One parent said Plaisted looked as if he thought they were there as supporters or character witnesses.""He turned around and gave the families a big smile," Alvarado said. ""I couldn't believe it."Alvarado, who sued Plaisted in civil court, has received a settlement for an undisclosed amount. Her son, now a teen-ager, is still struggling with his past abuse, she said, and she continues to feel betrayed by those who would not join her in speaking out years ago.""I told them if they had helped me in the beginning, none of this would have happened," she said.Plaisted timelineKey dates in the career of Dr. James R. Plaisted:January 1983: Licensed to practice psychology in Texas.October 1984: Investigated by Texas Department of Human Resources for allegedly molesting a neighbor's child.April 1986: Charged in criminal case for allegedly fondling a boy during therapy.August 1986: Acquitted by jury in Corpus Christi.October 1992: Indicted for sexual abuse of three Corpus Christi girls.December 1992: Closed Corpus Christi office; moved to Boston to begin law school.June 1994: Arrested by FBI agents for luring a 13-year-old former Corpus Christi patient to Boston.January 1995: Indicted by Corpus Christi grand jury on three counts of aggravated sexual assault for incidents years earlier involving the same girl.January 1995: Sentenced to two years in federal prison in Boston case.Dec. 7, 1995: Sentenced to 40 years in state prison by a Corpus Christi judge after pleading guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 2:43 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Watt is the "common denominator?" pos Quayate......Shoewe ME D QUAN>>>>>
CORPUS CHRISTI — The Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office may lose certification and be forced to delay critical reports without more workspace and a larger staff in the next two years, officials said.The office is forced to ask the Commissioners Court for extra resources estimated at $640,000 for the next fiscal year to manage a rapidly increasing workload and national recertification in 2009 that mandates a maximum ratio of autopsies performed for each forensic pathologist, said Nueces County Medical Examiner Dr. Ray Fernandez. That estimate includes a one-time cost of $500,000 for a 2,000-square-foot addition to the office and hiring another pathologist with a $140,000 annual salary.As medical examiner, Fernandez is responsible for investigating the deaths of all people who die violently, suddenly or unexpectedly. Since 1996, the number of cases reported to the office increased by 54 percent to 1,528 deaths in 2006 from 990 cases in 1996, according to county medical examiner data. The escalating number of cases results from increasing population, more immigrant traffic in the area and a higher frequency of death reports from surrounding counties, Fernandez said."The volume of work has grown tremendously," Fernandez said. "Right now I'm the chief examiner, the associate and the one who locks up the place."While the office isn't backlogged, it is getting close and may start seeing delays in autopsy reports, death certificates and other documents if something isn't done, Fernandez said. These documents directly impact residents in the ability to execute an estate and file insurance claims, he said.A delay in autopsy reports -- or if the office isn't recertified during its next review scheduled for fall 2009 -- could jeopardize the prosecution of homicides and police investigations, said District Attorney Carlos Valdez. Prosecutors are unable to prove a homicide case without the testimony and findings of the medical examiner, Valdez said."We're talking about the criminal justice system -- ultimately protection of the public," he said. "If something breaks down in the criminal justice system, it affects everything and in the end it may cause guilty people to walk free."The Nueces County office is one of five statewide that are certified by the National Association of Medical Examiners out of 13 offices statewide, according to the association. According to Valdez, that certification adds a degree of credibility during criminal trials.certified officeMedical examiner's offices, along with all statewide crime labs, were required to be certified under a 2005 state law, Fernandez said. However, the state granted a temporary exemption to medical examiners before the law took effect.The Nueces County Office received certification by the National Association of Medical Examiners in November 2004 to gear up for what is expected to be a requirement in coming years. The exemption still is in effect but may be dropped during the 2009 legislative session, Fernandez said.One of the certification provisions bars having more than 325 autopsies for each forensic pathologist, and the recommended maximum is no more than 250 autopsies each.In 2006, the Nueces County office performed 328 autopsies stemming from Nueces County, which does not include autopsies of bodies from the 16 surrounding counties the office serves.Data for autopsies from surrounding counties in the past few years was not immediately available, but likely add 100 to 150 autopsies per year, Fernandez said."We are at a crossroads here -- we're either going to move resources, maintain accreditation and be in compliance or expect to see delays," Fernandez said. "If nothing's done (the delays) probably would come sooner rather than later. It would probably be in the coming year or the following year after that."considering requestFernandez presented to commissioners requests for a facility upgrade, an extra forensic pathologist and an assistant last month during the court's budget workshops. County Judge Loyd Neal said last week that the court understands the request and will come to a decision before the 2007-2008 budget is finalized in September."We don't want this office not to be certified," Neal said. "With that said, there's a price tag attached to that of several hundred thousand dollars. ... One of the issues we will look at is the importance of doing this in a timely basis, and how do we pay for it."The 2,000-square-foot expansion of the office would include an office for the extra forensic pathologist, additional workspace and a family grieving room, Fernandez said.The request also includes hiring a permanent autopsy assistant."We certainly are going to work with (Dr. Fernandez) in every way we can to make sure we've looked at all alternatives and make sure we are properly equipped and funded for when inspection comes," Neal said. "But there's no guarantees. We have several million dollars' worth of requests before us and this is one of them."Contact David Kassabian at 886-3778 or kassabiand@caller.comThe number of cases reported to the office increased by 54% to 1,528 deaths in 2006 from 990 cases in 1996.ResponsibilitiesInvestigate the deaths of people who die violently, suddenly or unexpectedly.POS CCPD ANTHE 11 surround sound sAY naig....
Posted by dannoynted1 at 4:11 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Friday, June 08, 2007
Google Yourself Corpus Christi: When Carlos Valdez Confesses Error Does Not The Same Rule Apply?
Google Yourself Corpus Christi: When Carlos Valdez Confesses Error Does Not The Same Rule Apply?
First, in seeking the death penalty, prosecutors sometimes overlook glaring illegalities."courts, especially state courts, are too often willing to overlook even obvious constitutional flaws when reviewing death penalty cases."And if they are "willing to overlook even obvious constitutional flaws and glaring illegalities when Prosecuting & reviewing death penalty cases."WATT about all of the other cases?How many "overlooks" of "constitutional flaws" or "glaring illegalities" have become tools of Cheating Prosecutors who have forgotten "Prosecutors, despite striking hard blows, must never lose sight of their ultimate obligation to do justice in every case.How many Prosecutors deliberately commit the error of failing to file a reply brief in an Appeal Process because it deprives the appellant of exculpatory testimony, evidence, and confessions of error or witness tampering by the State Prosecuting Attorney? ----CONFESSING ERRORBy EDWARD LAZARUS----
Friday, Jun. 16, 2000
Earlier this month, Vincent Saldano, one of the 468 inmates on Texas' death row, had his death sentence vacated. This development was duly reported in the press. But accounts of Saldano's good fortune uniformly failed to appreciate what makes his reprieve truly newsworthy and potentially a landmark.
Saving Saldano: Texas Confesses Error
Saldano was not freed from the prospect of execution by the actions of a court or even, as occasionally happens, by the clemency of a governor. His death sentence was erased because Texas, through its newly created office of the solicitor general, "confessed error" in his case -- that is, it admitted, despite defeating Saldano's initial appeals in court, that his death sentence was illegally obtained. Quite simply, this never happens, either in Texas or in the dozens of other states with active death penalty laws. It is thus worth pausing to consider the value and potential implications of Saldano's case as well as the notion of confessing error.Saldano had received a death sentence in part due to profoundly troubling testimony by a state expert witness at the sentencing phase of his trial. The expert, a clinical psychologist named Walter Quijano, suggested that Saldano should be executed because, as an Hispanic, he posed a special risk of future dangerousness to society. To support this astonishing conclusion, the expert pointed out that Hispanics make up a disproportionately large amount of Texas' prison population.
It does not take a tenured professor of constitutional law to realize that linking racial identity with a propensity for violence was not only bizarre but also a violation of the equal protection clause. Indeed, that it should take a confession of error by the state to correct this problem highlights at least two problems in the current administration of the death penalty. First, in seeking the death penalty, prosecutors sometimes overlook glaring illegalities. The same flaw identified in Saldano's case infects at least seven other Texas capital cases. Second (and perhaps even more distressing), courts, especially state courts, are too often willing to overlook even obvious constitutional flaws when reviewing death penalty cases. After all, before the state's confession of error, Saldano had lost all of his appeals.
Under these circumstances, one might think that confessions of error would be, if not commonplace, at least occasional. On average, the Solicitor General of the United States confesses error in two or three criminal cases every year -- even though it is a safe bet that federal prosecutions, conducted by better trained lawyers with greater supervision, are less likely to contain obvious legal errors than their state counterparts. As the Supreme Court recognized when endorsing the practice in 1942, "the public trust reposed in the law enforcement officers of the Government requires that they be quick to confess error, when, in their opinion, a miscarriage of justice may result from their remaining silent." But as a practical matter, states never confess error in death penalty cases (even though courts overturn roughly two-thirds of all death sentences as legally infirm) -- and some states candidly admit that their policy is never to confess error.
Mutual Distrust
Why? One crucial and usually overlooked factor is the deep antagonism that has grown up over time between state death penalty prosecutors and the death penalty abolitionist lawyers who seek to foil them in every case. The abolitionists, prosecutors know all too well, never concede that their clients deserve the death penalty or that the death penalty was legally imposed -- no matter how flimsy their arguments in a given case. Rather, they use every procedural and substantive trick in the book to delay executions.
There can be no denying that such abolitionist tactics have angered and frustrated state prosecutors. And one response to these understandable emotions has been for prosecutors to mirror the fight-to-the-bitter-end approach of their opponents.
The problem with this reciprocation, however, is simply that the ethical duties of prosecutors and defense attorneys are vastly different. Defense attorneys are duty-bound to scratch and claw to win for their clients. Prosecutors, by contrast, despite striking hard blows, must never lose sight of their ultimate obligation to do justice in every case.
That may sound trite and perhaps overly idealistic, but it has a practical side as well. Prosecutorial confessions of error -- knowing when to fold them, as it is known -- establish credibility. They create trust in the system, a sense that someone is being careful and exercising sound judgment, that extends far beyond any single case. And that can make a world of difference for someone like me, who is not morally opposed to the death penalty but skeptical of how it is imposed.
Death Penalty Politics
In addition, the reluctance of state prosecutors to confess error is a clear reflection of how politics affects the death penalty. Up until now, anyway, undoing a death sentence was akin to political suicide for an elected district attorney or state attorney general, or for any state official with ambitions for re-election or higher office. And yet the willingness of Texas' new solicitor general to confess error in the Saldano case suggests a possible turning point. With the current groundswell of death penalty opposition based on the possibility of executing an innocent person, elected officials may now find some advantage in approaching capital cases (even those where innocence is not an issue) with a greater degree of care and honesty.case will start a broad trend. But there is reason to believe that the tide is indeed turning. On June 9, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn announced the results of an investigation into other death penalty cases involving testimony by state expert Walter Quijano. Cornyn acknowledged that Dr. Quijano had provided testimony in six other death penalty cases similar to his improper testimony in the Saldano case. Cornyn's staff has advised defense lawyers for the six inmates now on death row that his office will not oppose efforts to overturn their sentences based on Quijano's testimony. In response, a pessimist might note that Texas is appealing a ruling in another capital case that the defendant received inadequate counsel -- when, indisputably, his lawyer slept through much of the trial. But doing the right thing has a contagious quality to it. Or at least so we can hope.
Edward Lazarus, a former federal prosecutor, is the legal correspondent for Talk Magazine and the author of Closed Chambers: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme Court.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 5:19 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, June 03, 2007
CCISD: Dear CCISD Trustees, Without Due Process & Community Input; No Choice Will Be Bona-Fide
"That Just the Way It Is. I Gotta Get Paid"
I must say the tactics being carried out right now are transferring from a division between majority & minority groups to a division of within the minority groups. This concept is how CCISD manipulates. Think about it? Investigations, Colloquial Intelligence, Manipulation of one’s JOB opportunities, personal & political missions and nanotechnology to forecast, design and carry out plans ranging from 0 to at least a good 20 years. WIA slush fund is all about the final data in each category. There are many exemptive solutions & creative methods that are encouraged. The WIA allows the creation of multiple programs and agencies to create JOBS or JOB training. WIA is the DARE program, COPS program, Communities in Schools, and anything they can draw up a quick blueprint of. Innovation and Malleability produce stellar new programs from dedicated grant writers given the concepts and goals of a brainstorm. This is a brilliant concept for our youth. The problem is the adults take candy from the babies. CCISD is way to big for their britches. A board much too elevated to consider input from the community. Such audacity to condescend to engagement of the community they fleece in the justification “they know WATT is best for us”. Furthermore, contrary to their schmoozing persona-ism they do not know it all “we wouldn’t understand the process so why do we need to know how they conduct the business of running our school district?”. We would never understand anyway? The concern is to make the numbers JIVE with each other and the terminology is dynamic so are the variables applicable for each method of calculation.
“I guess it just depends on WATT your definition of is………..
IS?”
"I see no changes all I see is racist facesmisplaced hate makes disgrace to racesWe under I wonder what it takes to make thisone better place, let's erase the hatersTake the evil out the people they'll be acting right'cause both black and white is talkin smack tonightand only time we heal is when we love each otherit takes skill to be real, time to heal each otherAnd although it seems heaven sentWe ain't ready, to see a black President, uhhIt ain't a secret don't conceal the factthe penitentiary's packed"tupac
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 9:23 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, June 02, 2007
baby been there....done that...
Anything for a buck huh!Posted on June 2, 2007 at 05:29:17 AM by Jaime KenedenoThese guys will never pay me for anything.They would rather kill me.But then they would have to wonder where all of that information was partitioned and to who.We could work with anyone should we accomplish great things that we hold true and that Homero & his wife hold true. Issues we define and redefine with the advice and consent of our networks.A buck is a buck and I have no problem busting my ass for a few, but it dont tell me WATT to do. I do WATT I do because that is WATT I feel like doing; because I believe, have faith or I am inspired by the spirit of God or Humanity.I'm not a pussy like most of these politicians and I can always tell you to your face WATT I write from a keyboard. Either way it comes from my CORAZON and nobody will ever buy that from this Haley. I might take your droppings, your trash and your throwaways but that is only because I am a very resourceful man.Dont ever mistake my kindness and my patience for weakness.And if you deserve it,then be assured there is a day of reckoning in your future.When I promise I deliver.And there is plenty of timeNo hurry.Thank you to all who support our efforts and thank you for the good deeds.
Posted by dannoynted1 at 4:09 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Texas Public Education Watchdog Authority: Dear Chuy Hinojosa, Florence Shapiro and distinguished Education Committee Members
Texas Public Education Watchdog Authority: Dear Chuy Hinojosa, Florence Shapiro and distinguished Education Committee MembersJust give us (Education) the Lottery Proceeds as per original bill of sale. The Lottery was sold to us (the voters of the great State of Texas) as 100% of the proceeds were for Educating our youth. What percentage of the Lottery proceeds (currently) are dedicated to the education of our youth?Why is it, the wealth always steals from our children after acting like they were creating, “doing it for th kids” huge reservoirs of Avarice to siphon off.
Like the Lottery originally was ratified by the people of the Great State of Texas with the belief ot was a moneymaker for our Children’s Education. And now how much of the Lottery revenue makes it to Public Education?Perry Craddick & Corporate Welfare in the name of WIA, ED Byrne Grant, and under the guise of helping the poor.
With the Education funding we should demand that the dedication of lottery money to the Education of our Children be adhered to as it was sold to Texas. The Lottery when legislated was for the Education of Texas Students. Finally, the Private Sector is funded under the WIA slush fund for Corporate Welfare Recipients under the Guise of a Welfare Reform or Welfare to Work / JOB generating program to help the poor. The rich are getting richer in the name of helping the poor. And one needs to always remember it is both parties dippin into the creative crony contractualism. Give it a title, write a grant and set up a front office with a computer and a sign; then get some brochures and a few token clients and funnel the Avarice in a shell game like manner and voila a new ranch or a new house maybe an agency hummer or King Ranch Pickup Truck with a magnetic sign. Give a few JOBS to your network affiliates and send the clients to perform community based work and get rich and richer doing it. Ask Mary Cano or Oscar Martinez to explain it in detail. Charmed I'm sure.TFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2007>(copyright 2007 Texas Federation of Teachers)>>Proposed State Budget Shortchanges Schools and Educators; Keep Up the Fight>For House TRS Plan; House at a Standstill as Speaker Clings to Power>>Proposed Budget Shortchanges Public Schools, Education Employees: TFT>President Linda Bridges put out a press statement today deploring the>results of the House-Senate conference committee on the 2008-2009 budget.>The state budget plan in House Bill 1 still must win the approval of>majorities in both the House and Senate. As President Bridges' statement>below explains, HB 1 in its current form does not deserve that approval:>>"Education and educators would be shortchanged badly in the budget proposed>by House-Senate conferees this afternoon. Based on the information>currently>available, school funding would remain static, not even getting back to the>level of state and local funding school districts had in 2002 in real>terms, after you take inflation into account. The $850-a-year>cost-of-living pay raise for teachers passed by the House last month would>shrivel to about $425, according to the legislative budget staff. If paid>out to all teachers across the board, this would amount to less than $25 a>month after taxes and deductions--not even enough to cover the cost of>rising average health-care premiums. And the conferees took pains today to>say the money would not even have to be paid out across the board to all>teachers.>>"Worst of all is what this budget proposal would do regarding TRS pension>benefits. The bill would withhold an eminently affordable and exceedingly>modest pension boost--a 13th check for TRS retirees--unless other>legislation passes>to impose new levies on all current school employees. The only way retirees>would get a 13th check, under this scheme devised by Sen. Robert Duncan,>would be if active school employees pay a higher contribution rate, taking>roughly $50 million a year out of their pockets. This plan totally>contradicts the House legislation passed unanimously on Wednesday that>would provide a 13th check for retirees fully funded by the state, without>imposing any new levies on active employees.>>"In short, school districts under this budget would regain none of the>ground they have lost financially, teachers would get at best a measly pay>raise of less than $25 a month that wouldn't even keep up with inflation,>and 300,000 school support personnel would suffer an actual pay cut, as a>result of the higher levies imposed on them for TRS with no compensating>increase in pay. You have to give the>conferees credit--it takes a certain ingenuity to come up with a plan this>bad at a time when the state is sitting on a record-high budget surplus.">>Keep Up the Fight for House TRS Plan! At this writing members of the Texas>House are standing firm in support of their unanimously approved plan for a>13th check for TRS retirees, funded by an increase in the state>contribution rate to 6.7 percent, with no new costs imposed on active>school employees. Several Senate offices reported to us today that they are>receiving a high volume of calls in support of this House version of SB>1846--as well they should be. The Senate alternative proposed by Sen.>Robert Duncan, Republican of Lubbock, is a thinly veiled attempt to shift>state costs for TRS pensions onto active employees and their school>districts.>>Duncan let slip the real agenda during floor debate on his plan,>noting that increasing the TRS levy on active employees and requiring a>contribution from school districts could "free up general revenue for other>purposes." In other words, this scheme would allow the state to save money>by shifting costs onto education employees and local taxpayers.>>Duncan's staff in response to callers today reportedly was claiming that>the freshly hatched budget deal (see above) means that there's no money and>no time left to provide this session for the 6.7-percent state contribution>rate that the House proposes. But that's not so. The legislature has>billions of dollars left to allocate right now, and it would take only a>tiny fraction of that treasure--less than 1 percent of it, in fact--for the>state to get to the 6.7-percent TRS contribution rate from the 6.58 percent>already built into the budget. Even if the budget bill passes in its>current form, the>House plan for a fully state-paid 13th check with no new costs imposed on>active employees could also still pass and become law with full force and>effect, delivering a 13th check in September.>>The upshot is that you have an opportunity right now to shape the outcome>of this TRS benefit fight in the critical remaining days before adjournment>of the legislative session on Monday. Just send the letter on this issue to>your state senator from the TFT Web site. If you don't know your state>senator, you can find out quickly when you go to that Web letter.>>Speaker's Grip on Gavel Threatened: The Texas House came to a standstill at>8 PM this evening, as Speaker of the House Tom Craddick shut off House>members' microphones and called a three-hour recess to head off a>rank-and-file revolt>threatening to oust him from the speaker's chair. The Midland Republican is>under heavy fire from both fellow Republicans and Democrats for what many>consider his tyrannical rule of the House. Tonight he gave them new grist>for their argument, by ruling that there is no appeal to the membership as>a whole if he blocks the parliamentary procedure needed to oust him. His>ruling, epitomizing the arbitrary, one-man rule of which Speaker Craddick>stands accused, apparently has led to the resignation of the House>parliamentarian in protest this evening. Like everyone else at the capitol,>we are now waiting to see if the House will actually reconvene tonight.>Keep an eye out for news of the latest developments in the daily TFT>hotlines that will be published each of the next three days as the>legislative session hurtles toward final adjournment.
Senate Committee on Education
Committee Information
Chair
.Florence ShapiroVice-Chair
.Kyle Janek
Members:
.Kip Averitt.Steve Ogden.Dan Patrick.Leticia Van de Putte
.Royce West.Tommy Williams.Judith Zaffirini
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 2:32 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Kenedeno's Texas Monthly: What did Randy tell his Insurance Agent? "If he turned up dead, his @(@*& did it."
Kenedeno's Texas Monthly: What did Randy tell his Insurance Agent? "If he turned up dead, his @(@*& did it."Was Ramsey a threat to Sissy?
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 2:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
South Texas Judicial Watch Dog Authority: Dear Officers of the Court, submitted for further investigation
South Texas Judicial Watch Dog Authority: Dear Officers of the Court, submitted for further investigation
In Re: State v VillaDo a little research on Del Mar College's in house counsel, Sean Meredeth, DMC Auditorium, Ballet Nacional, little girls, Joe Alaniz, and the relationship with our DAWhy is this evidence not included in the current prosecution of Villa?Why not drag the whole bunch down to the Courthouse?Friends of the Prosecution or not, enough of the selective prosecutions. Plaisted, Applebee, and the one's who covered it up at Parkdale Baptist & St Joseph's here in the Jurisdiction of the Nueces County / 105th District Attorney. ZealouslyPossible Brady Material?Does this material not merit a Grand Jury Investigation?Pervert in Auditorium
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 12:26 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, May 20, 2007
CCISD: Freedom of Information Request: The process the CCISD Board used is unethical and unfair.
CCISD: Freedom of Information Request: The process the CCISD Board used is unethical and unfair.CCISD: Freedom of Information Request: The process the CCISD Board used is unethical and unfair.Freedom of Information RequestThis Publication request any and all communications including email and written correspondence from one week before Trustee Harry Williams resigned.Must I formalize it on Monday?Think I am bluffing?You gotta ask yourselfDo you feel lucky?Well Do ya?Go ahead.........You guys get the idea?Now, don't go and seek the OAG's opinion as it will delay our children.Just fess up and conduct business with honor and integrity and at least give us an appearance of due process. Not one black appointment. You guys are definitely walking on thin ice or maybe already fallen through but just don't know it. Such inadequacy is unacceptable.
CORPUS CHRISTI - CCISD school board members interviewed five candidates Friday to fill the board position vacated by Reverend Harry Williams.
The school board said it will set another meeting to discuss the finalists, and will possibly make a decision then, but still no word on when that would be.
Williams served the school board for more than seven years before resigning last month.
Nick Adame
"Do not be a disservice to our community and choose because this guy is my friend or this guy is my business associate," Dr. Nick Adame said. "I don't want to hear that. I want to hear that we're going to choose somebody because they're going to do right for the community."
Last week, the board narrowed the list of 20 candidates to fiveKenedeno:Where is the criteria the process for "narrowing the list"?
The process the CCISD Board used is unethical and unfair. Every single applicant took the time to fill out an application, and the thought process for the letter of interest and update of their resume and references. For all intensive purposes this CCISD Board just threw that work product into the trash can while opting for business partners, friends cronies and industry allies.
It is not about the 5 selected it is about how the 5 were selected. It is not about Barrera or Prezas or Bill Clark or Lucy Rubio.
It is about a change of policy where policy is defined by processes of the past. Lucy is the only one with the guts to make the motion, "for the board to scrap the current process and start over. There was no second to the motion." Are there others in that room who agree with her, but politically, they are bound & gagged. The current process is in conflict with current policy. The current process is now a civil rights issue. Is that what CCISD wanted, another Cisneros v CCISD?
We have 19 Candidates who deserve Equal Opportunity and fair consideration. It is called due process.1. Herbert Cromwell Arbuckle, III Retired Teacher2. Rolando G. Barrera Insurance Agent3. Tony C. Diaz, Ed.D. Retired CCISD Administrator4. Victor Frazier, Ed.D. Minister and University Instructor5. Cezar Galindo Business Owner and College Instructor6. Marsha Lynn Grace Professor of Education7. Coretta Graham Lawyer8. Helen Gurley, Ph.D. Educator, Director of Academics9. Patricia Harris Educator10. Robert Elliott Jones Pastor and Business Manager11. Deborah W. Johnson Retired Firefighter12. Bradford Lee Kisner Director of Music and Fine Arts13. Verna Faye Portis Retired CCISD Administrator14. Raul R. Prezas, Ed.D. College Professor15. Norman Haden Ransleben Certified Public Accountant16. Woodrow Mac Sanders Medical Social Worker17. Ronald G. Sepulveda Athletic Aquatic Superintendent18. George Wetzel Retired Public School Administrator/Consultant19. Goldie Lamarr Wooten Retired Educator
Rubio has said she disagrees with the selection process and would have preferred to use a scoring system instead.
Trustees selected the five candidates to be interviewed by each nominating one from a pool of 20 applicants.
We elect you guys to represent the district with honor & integrity
But before trustees interviewed the first candidate, trustee Lucy Rubio motioned for the board to scrap the current process and start over. There was no second to the motion.
Rubio has said she disagrees with the selection process and would have preferred to use a scoring system instead.
CCCT Editorial
The trustees' refusal to lay out the cards is beyond irritating; it borders on the outrageous.Particularly disturbing is the fact that three new trustees elected last year - Carol Scott, John Longoria and Dwayne Hargis, all of whom emphasized their intent to bring new openness to the board - appear to have bought into the mum's-the-word ethos that has dominated this exercise.To be sure, they (and their colleagues) could, and should, reverse their field.
CCISD Trustees: Pick and choose Policy Making with malice. Shame on YOU.
CORPUS CHRISTI - CCISD school board members have decided not to change their policy which forbids seniors who fail the TAKS from graduating.
One parent we spoke with Thursday said the policy didn't make sense, because while students who fail the TAKS test during the school year aren't allowed to take part in graduation ceremonies. The same doesn't hold true for summer school grads. They're allowed to participate in summer graduation ceremonies without knowing whether they passed the test.
The decision didn't sit well with some parents and students.
School board member Lucy Rubio had hoped to amend the policy, and allow seniors who failed the TAKS to at least walk in with their class during may commencement. But other school board members didn't agree.
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 4:38 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Parkdale Bank: According to Gambi Gamboa, "John Longoria, Carol Scott and Dwayne Hargis already have chosen and will officially choose Roland Barrera
Parkdale Bank: According to Gambi Gamboa, "John Longoria, Carol Scott and Dwayne Hargis already have chosen and will officially choose Roland Barrera as soon as FriAfter analyzing the recent events surrounding the resignation of CCISD Board Trustee Harry Williams (1 of 3 at large district positions); one thing IS clear. That one thing is Due Process (or lack of it). Immediately one's memory of search firm fiascos and the CCISD Board tool of choice, the Interim Superintendent buffer / scapegoat. The process was elaborate and ethical reasons or rule were claimed as the reason for the process. Well, why such a rush fellas? Why is the CCISD board in such a hurry to fill this position? A Superintendent position and a Trustee position; one we wine, dine and lodge and the other we announce for applications for a month or so and "narrow the list down" from 20 to 5 in most expedient fashion. Now, making a long story short we have 20 candidates who invested their creative, intellectual and professional abilities into a work product they hope will be scrutinized by the Board and be successfully competitive. A good letter of interest comes only from the heart. The application is at times tedious but at least it is more objective than the TAKS. Updating one's resume and with a list of references most meaningful to the position and all of this for 15 to get thrown in the trash can and the 5 resumes remaining are to place on public displayfull story here"I'll be as hardy of mind as I am of body. I'll be a straight-shooter and a square-dealer. My family name will be sacred My word will be as good as any contract. I'll remember the Alamo. I'll stick by my friends. And I'll eat more chicken-fried steak."
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 1:26 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, May 07, 2007
"IN THE KNOW": Carlos Truan Hugo Berlanga & The Primrose Path & Rangel Law School @ Texas A&I University.
"IN THE KNOW": Carlos Truan Hugo Berlanga & The Primrose Path & Rangel Law School @ Texas A&I University.Subject: ["IN THE KNOW"] Carlos Truan Hugo Berlanga & The Primrose Path & Rangel Law...To: kenedenonews@gmail.com[ http://storkclub-winchell.blogspot.com/2007/05/irma-rangel-legacy-relating-to.html] http://www.ibcmemorial.org/irma.htmlMonday, May 7, 2007Carlos Truan Hugo Berlanga Henry Cuellar Edwards, Al Todd Hunter Luci0 : The Primrose Path & Rangel Law School @ Texas A&I University. Or posture for another agenda?Who at that time wanted a Pharmacy College?Celanese, King Ranch, URI?Now we have this unorthodox legislation for an Engineering School @ TAMUCC? This is a Developing Medical Community with the ability to become the finest in the world. Medical Nanotechnology is already here, $ are already here.The Political Faction at TAMUCC will find their equilibrium eventually. An engineering school @ CCSU / TAMUCC is obtuse to the medical assets we have accumulated and the Philanthropy already well rooted in South Texas. Irma Rangel Legislation was for the establishment of a law school at Texas A & I The Age of Winchell: Irma Rangel Legacy : Relating to the establishment of a law school at Texas A&I University.Hugo Berlanga Henry Cuellar Edwards, Al Todd Hunter Eddie Lucio
Bill:
SB 646
Legislative Session: 71(R)
Council Document: 71R 1835 MHT-D
Add to Bill ListEFEN
Last Action:
02/28/1989 S Reported favorably w/o amendments
Caption Version:
Introduced
Caption Text:
Relating to the establishment of a law school at Texas A&I University.
Author:
Truan
Subjects:
Education--Higher-- General (I0231)TEXAS A&I UNIVERSITY (U2467)
Companion:
HB 1630 by Rangel, Identical
Senate Committee:
Education
Status:
Out of committee
Vote:
Ayes=9 Nays=1 Present Not Voting=0 Absent=1--Posted By The Advocate to Google Yourself Corpus Christi at 5/07/2007 02:46:00 AM
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 3:56 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, April 20, 2007
"IN THE KNOW": Remember The Crime Stoppers "Vandalism" of the Corpus Christi Country Club Golf Coursehigh powered members who control our nation’s eco
"IN THE KNOW": Remember The Crime Stoppers "Vandalism" of the Corpus Christi Country Club Golf Course? Were there not high powered CCCC members who control our nation’s economy & industry. This work of fiction written by Hal Bray set here in Corpus Christi; I just thought you guys might like it. BTW, cant find that particular Crime Stoppers announcement. They tore up the CCCC Golf Course. Who is they?
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 6:25 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
District 4 is typically held by whites....majority of our City Council has been and still is.
Author Original MessageHardcoreHarryPosts: 2358Click here to email HardcoreHarryWhat qualities do you look for in an elected official? Your are currently viewing this message1/1/2007 1:22:47 PM We had a certain candidate for City Council going door to door yesterday. He handed out cards with his list of qualifications. I read down the list and find this:"300lb Bench Press Club (10 sets of 10 and 225)."Now for the life of me, I am trying to figure just how this qualifies this person for City Council. Surely, the amount of paperwork generated in running the city would NEVER necessitate the need to be able to pick up 300 lbs. Maybe we can look forward to City Council free-for-alls. If we elect the stronger candidate we can look forward to him emerging victorious in a WWA Smack Down pay-per-view event!THAT, is something I would pay to see! If the people we elect aren't going to do the job we elect them for they at least ought to be entertaining!!!=cackle=Hardcore HarryCollapse all posts in this threadAuthor ReplyscurmudgeonPosts: 3842Click here to email curmudgeonMakes about as much sense as . . . 1/1/2007 5:56:19 PM . . . vote for me I am Mexican.Wild ApePosts: 4020Click here to email Wild ApeRe: What qualities do you look for in an elected official? 1/1/2007 8:41:22 PM That is a good question Harry. In the past eight years I have wondered why I have bothered to vote at all. I''m beginning to think a good qualification is if they are not incumbant.I wish I had a good formula.I like your idea of NONE OF THE ABOVE. Lack of confidence should mean a new election with different candidates.curmudgeonPosts: 3842Click here to email curmudgeonIf voting could make a difference . . . 1/1/2007 8:58:07 PM . . . it would be illegal.Wild ApePosts: 4020Click here to email Wild ApeRe: If voting could make a difference . . . 1/2/2007 6:32:46 AM Voting CAN make a difference. What I want to know is how extensive is the voting fraud. Even with perfect voting you have to have a candidate who is a stateman and who won''t come under the sway of special interest. That is the problem.curmudgeonPosts: 3842Click here to email curmudgeonElections are . . . 1/2/2007 8:29:49 AM . . . bought either up front or behind the scenes.Wild ApePosts: 4020Click here to email Wild ApeRe: Elections are . . . 1/2/2007 10:13:29 AM I don''t buy that. A conspiracy that big, that massive would have squealers. How is it done? How do they get away with it?Now I grant you that the dead vote each election. What kills me is that NOTHING is investigated. No law is made. No preventatives done.Why hasn''t any reporter checked in on that story? That is a story of the century. Democracy is being undercut by corruption. It boggles my mind.curmudgeonPosts: 3842Click here to email curmudgeonThere is no mystery . . . 1/2/2007 10:16:44 AM . . . anybody can be elected that has 1-50 million dollars to spend depending on the office sought.curtis rockPosts: 1466Click here to email curtis rock Talk to curtis rock on AOL Instant Messenger Talk to curtis rock on Yahoo! MessengerDist. 4 Candidates 1/2/2007 2:40:01 PM Not sure if you guys living in District 4 know, but James Duerr is a candidate that I''m supporting. He''s also a regular on the EVW show to promote events in the Coastal Bend through is website: Corpus Christi Daily.He''s an engineer by education, has been involved in construction for a while, and has always been involved in the business community especially now with his website.Good guy, try to meet him!Wild ApePosts: 4020Click here to email Wild ApeRe: Dist. 4 Candidates 1/2/2007 2:52:27 PM Soooo, what has he done curtis? Do you like his attitude, credentials or his practicality? Fill me in.I promise, unless you say that he is a member of MAMBLA I will not say a thing.curtis rockPosts: 1466Click here to email curtis rock Talk to curtis rock on AOL Instant Messenger Talk to curtis rock on Yahoo! MessengerRe: Re: Dist. 4 Candidates 1/2/2007 4:53:24 PM Well, as I''ve made it abundantly clear, my interest in politicians is usually based on fiscal conservatives who are pro-business, and stand for fair awarding of government contracts. I don''t mean to be selfish when I say that, but I mean that I''m supportive of candidates who stand for the same thing I do, just like any other voter goes to bat for those who serve their interests best.If they are pro-business, fair business, and pro-growth then I am typically supportive. It just so happens all candidates are pro-growth in my district. What sets Duerr apart is his experience with government contracts, since he worked for a local contracting company as their Business Developer. His company has lost government contracts before, and whether it was fair or not the perception of corruption was in the air. He is for fair treatment of all contractors and professional services which I can admire since I''m in that boat. I believe in fair awarding of contracts, not that ""Padron"" system.He has been very involved in the community various organizations, and I actually met him through our involvement with the Associated Builders and Contractors. He is also a Leadership Corpus Christi graduate (Class XXXIV) along with Von Wade, the class after mine. I know he''s a Rotarian.To my knowledge he is happily married, and not a member of any strange groups.Wild ApePosts: 4020Click here to email Wild ApeThanks curtis 1/2/2007 5:42:51 PM I''m with you on the contracting concerns. I did that for years until I came here and met up with the ""Padron"" system. Originally that was what I was going to do when I got out of the service. Power to him then for cleaning house. He will be busy.curmudgeonPosts: 3842Click here to email curmudgeonIf he . . . 1/2/2007 4:11:24 PM . . . changed his last name to Garcia he might stand a chance.curtis rockPosts: 1466Click here to email curtis rock Talk to curtis rock on AOL Instant Messenger Talk to curtis rock on Yahoo! MessengerDistrict 4 is 1/2/2007 4:43:11 PM District 4 is typically held by whites for as long as I''ve known, just like the majority of our City Council has been and still is.curmudgeonPosts: 3842Click here to email curmudgeonThat won''t last much . . . 1/2/2007 5:08:37 PM . . . longer. The Mexican majority will soon hold all elective offices except those which are elected by districts that are majority White enclaves. Corpus has probably seen its last White mayor and Nueces its last White county judge.curtis rockPosts: 1466Click here to email curtis rock Talk to curtis rock on AOL Instant Messenger Talk to curtis rock on Yahoo! MessengerRe: That won''t last much . . . 1/2/2007 6:24:52 PM I don''t know about White Mayor or White County Judge in the future, but I am about 99% sure we''ve seen the last Islamic County Judge.Thank God for Loyd.
Posted by dannoynted1 at 10:15 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, December 23, 2006
South Texas Verdad: Hey dude, you talk shit and when you feel the byte you go back crying for somebody to do something because I bit you. Go away, or
South Texas Verdad: Hey dude, you talk shit and when you feel the byte you go back crying for somebody to do something because I bit you. Go away, or stay but dont cry wh
Posted by Jaime Kenedeño at 4:41 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, November 25, 2006
decide what's best for you and yours and quit worrying about who somebody else supports or doesn't.I promise you..you'll be much more comfortable.....
Re(1): And what?"Juana B" M Garcia is an "excellent example of agendism, spin and half-truthery"Posted on October 15, 2006 at 01:43:25 AM by 4 Major CThe Ads against Gene Seaman......are excellent examples of agendism, spin and half-truthery.Purely progoganda...I''m sickened by them more for their blatant ""politicalization"" than the message they wish to give.The one I have seen...that mentions Delay, neither tells you who to vote for nor who paid for the message (at least plainly visible.) The play on words he gives and allegation he is a ""woman hater"" are taken out of context. They are things a person...any threadster here, might say as a pun.Gene''s ads seem to build on his accomplishments.Gene is in a tight spot...to respond negatively is to drop down below his established ""standards."" But not to respond at all is equally damaging.http://www.ericvonwade.com/community/display.asp?post_id=68198&mode=expand&thread=68198&board=1&board_name=General~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~And what?Posted on October 15, 2006 at 02:54:40 AM by Major CarralesWhile I do not know the intent behind this thread...Yes, the adds are examples of "excellent examples of agendism, spin and half-truthery."I take neither side in this debate and hold a great deal of respect for both Juan Garcia and Gene Seaman and, thus, I am an objective observer of the tactics, methods and strats of this campaign.I have always hated agendism and the foul stench of what "politics" has/is become.There is also. now, a commercial from the other side connecting Juan Garcia to attorneys and calling him a "Liberal," in a pejorative manner.Agendism is bad no matter who does it. Let truths come out on the news...and people inform themselves based on presented facts. There is no need to resort to such bias and inuendo where and when it is of a questionable nature.Juan Garcia is a gifted aviator and proven leader in the Armed Forces poised for a bright future. Gene Seaman is a proven legislator and has had a meteoric rise from humble origins.Yet, one would never know any of that from the AGENDISTIC ADS.What to do...eh? It would seem that such tactics are the nature of the beast (politics). I will say again... "to respond negatively is to drop down below established standards. But not to respond at all is equally damaging."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Posted on November 4, 2006 at 10:50:13 PM by dannoynted1well the last thing we need is another disingenuous politician who lies before he even is elected.imagine how it will be IF he gets some power!?!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Litmus Test for JUANA B Garcia......Posted on October 17, 2006 at 01:48:29 AM by Jaime KenedeñoIs he pro life or pro choice?He has yet to personally answer that question.Is he related to Richard Borchard?How is he affiliated with Richard Borchard?BTW, his campaign manager (Joe Hall) is a registered Republican.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Re(1): A Litmus Test for JUANA B Garcia......Posted on October 21, 2006 at 12:57:36 PM by Elwood BluesThat's it?..that's your "litmus test" for candidates for State Rep.? Whether they're "pro-life" or "pro-choice"?..and whether they're related to Richard Borchard?Do you really want a politician's views on abortion to determine what everyone else's should be? That's an issue that should be left up to the individual to decide,not politicians.It has no place in the political arena,although both sides keep trying valiantly to put it there.It's been used as a political football for FAR too long..as a wedge to divide us,and it's time we took it out of the hands of politicians.Do you contemplate having an abortion in the near future?..if not why would you base your vote on the issue?The "Richard Borchard" test is just plain stupid.Who freakin' cares who Borchard supports or doesn't?..that's "chisme" politics,and as such,completely irrelevant.Only an idiot would base his/her vote on who Borchard or anyone else supports.Try looking at the candidates through your own eyes,not someone else's.Sit down and think about what's important to YOU..what YOU think the issues are and should be,not what someone else TELLS you they are,then ask the candidates where they stand on what's important to YOU,your family,your livlihood,your community..I guarantee you Borchard did.Think for yourself,Jaime..decide what's best for you and yours and quit worrying about who somebody else supports or doesn't.I promise you..you'll be much more comfortable with your decisions,win or lose.Replies:There have been no replies.
Posted by dannoynted1 at 1:43 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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