Lang. Arts/Spelling Cuts! Tx Bd of Ed Fri 9/18, III

Proclamation 2011 is for Language Arts, Spelling and Handwriting. In this case, the bids have not YET been submitted, so the Board has some more leeway. Once more, the 15% cut needs to be met, and all other approaches (checking ordering patterns and reforecasting; ordering 103%; etc.) is not enough.

The Agency proposes two options: either a 6.60% across-the-board decrease in the previously planned "state maximum cost," OR a request for publishers to combine Spelling and Handwriting workbooks in grades 1 and 2 into a single workbook, the budget can be met with a 4.40% cut in "state maximum cost."

Geraldine "Tincy" Miller (R-North Dallas) is worried that this is unfair to the publishers, because they may not be able to combine Spelling and Handwriting. But the agency points out that no publishers have indicated yet whether they are bidding because it's still so early in the process. (Intent-to-bid documents are to be filed in December.)

Barbara Cargill (R-The Faction, The Woodlands) says a publisher has spoken privately to her to say that Spelling and Handwriting cannot be combined because they have different authorship, and royalty issues will be a problem.

Mavis Knight (D-Dallas) and David Bradley (R-Beaumont) suggest waiting until next meeting to decide, so that the Board can hear from more publishers. Mavis says for all they know, the publisher who passed a note to Cargill is trying to steal a march on their competitors.

Don McLeroy (R-Bryan) wants to have a recess to talk to the publishers in the audience to see what they have to say. (Board policy does not allow for publishers to be called as witnesses for testimony during the formal Friday Board meeting.) There is no objection, and the lobbying and discussions begin in earnest.

12:03 pm After adjournment, McLeroy moves for Option A, a 6.60% cut, without trying to combine handwriting and spelling into one item. Mavis Knight (D-Dallas) asks to pull pre-kindergarten systems from these cuts, because it covers multiple subject areas at a higher costs. (These are classroom set materials for ~$3700 maximum costs.) This would require a bigger cut than 6.60% to everything else.

Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) points out that the pre-K materials were not good quality during previous adoption, so teachers are eager to get these materials in the new adoption. A lot of small companies are trying to meet the needs of the teachers. David Bradley (R-The Faction, Beaumont) is opposed--he is sure that the profitability could not survive a bigger cut. Mavis retorts that other times, those board members were not interested in whether or not publishers were profitable.

New calculation: 7.33% cut to everything EXCEPT pre-K is required to meet budget. But Mavis intended to preserve handwriting and spelling as well from price reductions. This option is voted down on a record vote, 4-8. Only Allen, Hardy, Knight, and Nunez voted yes.

Plan to cut max costs by 6.60% passes unanimously. Terri Leo then submits amendments to add suggestions for publishers to be required to provide ancillaries and teacher materials in electronic form, and to provide platform-neutral (PC vs. Mac) materials. They pass unanimously on a voice vote.