Tx Board of Education Notes 11-18-09

The State Board of Education is in session for the last time this year. (And in just a few weeks is the filing deadline for the 2010 elections, in which about half the members will be up for re-election.) As before, I'm blogging live today, and hope to do so for the rest of the week...

9:15 The Commissioner announced that the Education Agency is piloting a web portal for content delivery. (This will make it possible for the state to buy statewide licenses for online content and distribute it. He didn't connect these dots, but that's what's going on.)

9:25 On a query from Ken Mercer (R-The Faction, San Antonio), End of Course Exams will be rolled out in 2011-2012 to replace the TAKS test.

9:30 Ethics Rules have been re-worked because of a nasty spat within the Board in which some members (and some Education Agency staffers) claimed the Rick Agosto (D-San Antonio) has a conflict of interest. He contends it's all a misunderstanding because the investment companies contacted him to do business with him because he IS in the investment business, NOT because he happens to be on the chair of the committee that supervises the management the multi-billion dollar investments of the Permanent School Fund. (NOTE--all this is deep background. Nobody is talking about this being the trigger for the rules getting re-worked.)

9:45 Old rules didn't allow Board Members to vote on an issue if they've made a recommendation for action. New rules would allow Board Members to vote on issue if it comes up, as long as they disclose that they have already made a recommendation. (Minor point--major use of time in discussion.) They'd still have to recuse themselves if they had self-interest at stake in the decision.

9:52 Board members discuss whether or not they need to file a report if they've had NO contact or nothing to report. David Bradley (R-The Faction, Beaumont) says he'd like to save trees, so he'd rather not require that. In a non-binding discussion, the majority seems to favor keeping it in as a rule and filing electronically (to save trees).

10:00 Typical response time for an inquiry to the Texas Ethics Commission about a potential conflict of interest is 60 days (includes a Board Meeting). If members suspect that a colleague has a conflict of interest, they can initiate an inquiry to the Agency's ethics staff and the Texas Ethics Commission. (Given how well the Board Members get along with each other, this could be interesting...)

10:05 Rick Agosto goes straight to the issue--that he's the one. Makes it clear that he's always consulted with TEA staff in the past "despite what newspapers have said." He wants a mechanism to notify Board Members and allow them to respond to go along with new rules. In his case, five staff members wrote down their concerns, but he got no dialog, e-mail, or call about the accusations or suspicions. He wants a process because he feels he's been treated unfairly.

10:10 am Mercer points out that registered lobbyists who dealt with school entities, they would be excluded from the State Board Membership under these new rules. (This is a disguised jab at Republican Tom Ratliff, a lobbyist who is running against Don McLeroy in the Republican primary.)

11:25 Board discusses rules for investment contractors who may apply for RFP or RFQ. After a potential contractor is on the RFQ list as a possible vendor, there will be a 4-year period in which they may NOT talk to Board members but only communicate in writing to EVERY Board member. If a contractor is awarded work, there is a "blackout" period in which they may not contact Board members except in public meetings as official communication.

12:10 Long, mostly inscrutable wrangling over Board members travelling to visit fund management contractors for "due diligence."

12:30 Pat Hardy (R-Weatherford) notes that the stringency of State Board of Education ethics rules are higher than any other similar body in the United States. Chairwoman Gail Lowe (R-The Faction, Lampasas) says their work should be a model for other agencies in Texas and the U.S.