BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT RESPONDS TO LETTER
Brenham School Board President Natalie Lange responded during last night’s meeting to a letter that was mailed to voters over the weekend. The form letter was mailed by the group Empower Texans and insinuated that Lange had acted illegally by encouraging voting in the district. Lange said the same form letter was mailed out in multiple school districts in the state in an attempt to silence school boards. Lange read her response to the letter during the meeting. The trustees also passed a resolution naming March 6th as Education Day and encouraged voters in the district to become informed on the candidates and to exercise their right to vote.
Response to Empower Texans general
BISD Resolution
In other action, Assistant Superintendent Paul Aschenbeck told the trustees that the transportation contract with Durham School Services will expire at the end of July and the District is going out for proposals now to see what is available. He said it was clear that the transportation needs of the school district are going to increase in the coming years. Aschenbeck said he expected to review the proposals with the trustees in April.
Trustees also got an update on teacher support in preparation for the STAAR and EOC testing. Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Jamey Johnson presented 9 Instructional and Content specialists who work on the various campuses. They explained how they work with both teachers and students in ensuring that they have learned the required material for the state standardized testing. Two teachers also explained how beneficial it was to them when they have a specialist in the classroom with them. They said it was more than just having a second teacher, that the specialists help the students apply what they have learned, and that is what the state testing is looking for.
Trustees also accepted a monetary donation. The Brenham Band Parents organization donated $14,700 to purchase a trailer that will be used to transport band instruments.
It is the duty of educators at every level to teach, period. Voting is a civic responsibility and should always be encouraged and promoted. That is not “ liberal”, it is fulfilling their responsibilities as educators. Civics and world history should be taught every year grades 6 thru 12. Learning about governments in relation to living is imperative. Like the balance of powers, importance of our constitution, the second amendment as well as the separation of church and state, and the value of a multiparty system. Lives have been given and lost for these concepts.
Public school systems are all top heavy and overpaid. Colleges and Universities included. Positions are created for special people, like Legislative Liason For a junior college. Every year it gets worse and the teachers are increasingly short changed. These decisions and appointments are made by boards and the political party in power, no one else. We can only make the changes at the voting booth with TRULY knowledgeable information and without the influences of bigotry and fear.
“The district urges all Washington County citizens to support the theme “The Clear Choice for Education” by taking the time to share with others why they choose public education.”
School Choice Vouchers have been a measure for years in Texas. It appears that Brenham ISD is advocating a political stance against school choice vouchers with this event and advertisement; it’s not the first time either in recent months. But after talking legalese with a gov and private attorney, the language appears to keep the
ISD veiled from any prosecution. Good work by a tax payer funded legal team.
If interested in the legal possibilities, you should read Texas Election Code Chapt 255. You should read the Texas Education Code Section 11.169 and the state Election Code, subsection 255.003(a) which clarifies unlawful use of public funds for political advertising.
In one day last week I read about a principal in Massachusetts that will change sexes, I wonder if causes any confusion with the elementary school children; children he thinks he’s in charge of. Then I read about a teacher in Colorado that was arrested for making a child stand up for the pledge of allegiance. We used to sing “God Bless America” in public schools, now we put teachers in jail for requiring kids to stand for a Pledge of Allegiance that may or may not have the words “under God”. Finally, I read about a Caldwell teacher charged with pedophilia. This was just in one morning and a few of the headlines. What about the unreported problems with public school teachers and administrators happening every day. Public school, the clear choice for a leftist education. And if nothing is done about it, the required choice.
Another thing, GOOD teachers could make over 100K a year with school voucher programs. The ones that lose are the administrators and the leftist school board members that think they know what’s best for your children.
The only way to get best teaching practices in the classroom, maintain an unbiased and safe classroom, provide best teacher pay, and require parents to be parents in Brenham is to run and get elected to the school board where the money is allocated (at least the local part of the money). Texas, conservative as it is, has a long hard fight to give parents control over the dollars they pay in property taxes (taxes taken by the ISD for education) for their own child’s education (along with the 25 other voucher programs in the US). It’s nice to know that we are forced to help fund our ISD to inform the voter that school vouchers are a bad choice.
I already know you aren’t open to any discussion on your opinions, but I will challenge you to name a “leftist” on the BISD school board. I mean it — that’s quite an accusation to throw out there, and I think you’re accountable for it. Name ’em, or lose any credibility you might have had. Oh, and don’t forget to back up your assertion with some evidence.
As well, you know who loses when unlicensed ‘teachers’ make $100k at private schools? Those hardworking, LICENSED teachers at the public schools.
Why exactly are you always so confident that you have all the answers where education is concerned? Are you a lifelong teacher? Administrator? Researcher? School board member? State or Federal education budget officer?
Did you know that about half of every tax dollar given to public schools doesn’t make it to the classroom, rather it’s spent on admin or some other extracurricular pursuit outside of a teacher or anyone actually having direct contact with students in a public school.
If you ask a school administrator or their school board (which are all essentially the same mindset)… they will tell you they’re forced to blow so much funding outside the classroom due to pesky state and federal mandates. When they tell you this falsehood… simply remind them they can remove nearly every mandate from the state by becoming classified as a district of innovation by the Tx Education Agency. Look it up. The only innovative thing most schools have done is adjust their school start date for football coaches.
When they claim that the state and feds need to pump more funds into their school on top of massive haul of local property taxes, ask them by how many students their enrollment has grown versus the increase already provided to them (hint: they’ve usually gotten way more new money from the state and feds than there are new kids)….but hey it’s all for the children right?
Several public schools in Texas have recent football stadiums constructed at a cost of 60, 70, even 80 million dollars…the education cartel then include these crazy local debt loads when they claim that the state government has proportionately paid less of the share to local schools lately. It’s like a kid running up a credit card then complaining the allowance from their parents aren’t proportionately helpful. Ask them what the state share of funding is, MINUS local bond debts!
School districts now are attempting to mobilize their employees to vote: community organizers Obama would be proud of.
Oh and when they’re not asking for more funding, public schools are demanding no more accountability tests. Just give them the money and stop asking questions …. sounds kind of like a robbery to me.
Imagine that….public schools are for public education….people can vote how they see fit…there’s nothing here except people who want the public to pay for their private education CHOICES…
You are correct in that it is no surprise that people in public education are for public schools. What is shocking is that that they are using their taxpayer funded time, facilities, and authority to attempt to tell others how they should vote. In all fairness, it is somewhat subtle, but the message is still very clear. They are not simply encouraging people to be civic minded people who vote, there is actually an agenda there and it revolves completely around money. The more kids they can get out of private schools and home schools and into public education, the more they have to spend. We have now seen how it gets spent. We have seen all the “created” positions in central office and around the campus locations. We have seen the herd of specialists who do little to nothing to help students or teachers, but who are happy to take over teacher planning times multiple times a week (which for those who don’t know it is illegal, check it out) when the teacher desperately needs this time to plan. Our district is full of wasted money that is increasingly not being spent in the classroom where it needs to be spent. We have a superintendent who makes $182,000.00 per year and he is choosing to spend his time telling us how to vote instead of making our schools better. Sorry, it does not ring right or true to me.
This is really interesting. This board and Dr. Jackson have been very vocal in supporting public education, and they mean public education ONLY! In their world, there is no place for private, religious, or home school education. Dr. Jackson has been all over the district encouraging district employees to vote in support of public education. They have had guest speakers at district wide convocations that loudly proclaim this very political “public education only” agenda. There is no room for school choice in their view. They want all the students in public school (which means more money for the district) at the expense of what is best for the student.
In the mean time they continue to burn through money like it is growing on trees. The district office is overflowing with a huge bloated staff, the campus locations are infested with “specialists” who do little to no work to help students and place additional burdens on the teachers. The teachers I know who are fed up, tired, and many on anti-depressants because of the stress of their jobs and the lack of support from their administration is unbelievable. It is time they learn to support the teachers and students and quit adding to the inefficient & expensive administrative bloat. If they have all this time to be out encouraging people to vote, maybe they should consider using this time to better support the teachers and listen to what they are trying to say.
Absolutely true. It is obvious that top administration is overpaid or live in another town and commute in. It is obvious since they do not have to worry about our tax burden or they get paid so much they don’t even need personal budget. And then the burden of the so called specialist that critique teachers who have twice as much or more experience than they have. Total hypocrisy. The so called specialist write up a bunch of bull on dedicated teachers just to make the specialist position look prudent. And now, teacher’s health insurance plans have $2,000+ copays. It would be easier if the teachers would have saved their college tuition dollars and just chose poverty instead. Then we all could live in new government housing in Brenham.
I wonder which two teachers were “persuaded” to come to the meeting to support these “specialists”? Seems coincidental that they were not named in the article. Every teacher I know calls these positions wasteful and cannot stand their so-called instruction.