Big news from the Texas Capitol: the Texas House of Representatives has just passed a constitutional amendment (HJR 77) and enabling legislation (HB 2037) that would transfer authority over the Permanent School Fund from the State Board of Education to an appointed Permanent School Fund Management Council. The author of both is state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin. This is another indication of lawmakers’ growing dissatisfaction with the state board. TFN President Kathy Miller has released the following statement:
This was an overwhelming, bipartisan vote for competence and common sense. Taxpayers have a right to expect that people who manage billions of their dollars for our kids’ education actually know what they’re doing. We hope the Senate will join the House in approving these critical measures for transparency and responsibility.
Both measures now go to the Senate. If HJR 77 passes the Senate, voters must approve the constitutional amendment.
This is good news!! I hope we get better news when they remove Mcleroy as chair.!!!
Any news on when they will vote on Mcleroy?
The chairman of the Senate Nominations Committee has said he won’t bring up McLeroy’s confirmation for a vote in the committee unless he knows there are enough votes to confirm him in the full Senate. That would mean an automatic rejection of McLeroy’s confirmation at the end of the session (June 1). Religious-right groups have been bombarding Senate offices with calls and e-mails calling for McLeroy’s confirmation, but we’re not seeing signs of softening from confirmation opponents.
Does this have any direct impact on the SBOE’s textbook and curriculum activities, or does it just start stripping away other powers?
The bill has no direct impact on the SBOE’s textbook and curriculum authority. Even so, the Permanent School Fund is critically important because it pays for textbook purchases.
TFN says,
–Big news from the Texas Capitol: the Texas House of Representatives has just passed a constitutional amendment (HJR 77) and enabling legislation (HB 2037)–
Your links say that these bills passed only the Public Education Committee, not the full House. However, they both passed 9-0 with 2 absences, so prospects for passage by the full House look good.
Are these bills considered controversial? This is the first time I have heard about them. The lopsidedness of the committee votes implies that they are not controversial.
Has the SBOE been charged with financial mismanagement? Not that I have heard.
jdg Says:
–I hope we get better news when they remove Mcleroy as chair.!!!–
Why is that? He would probably just be replaced by another fundy.
TFN Says (April 27, 2009 at 10:09 pm) —
–The chairman of the Senate Nominations Committee has said he won’t bring up McLeroy’s confirmation for a vote in the committee unless he knows there are enough votes to confirm him in the full Senate. —
IMO the chairman has the wrong idea — there are probably some senators who would reluctantly vote for McLeroy but are trying to discourage a full-Senate vote by saying in private that they won’t vote for him. I say that if there are some senators who want to make a martyr out of McLeroy, let them.
Darwinists who supported former Texas Education Agency science director Chris Comer but oppose Don McLeroy are being very hypocritical. McLeroy is being opposed mainly because of his views about evolution whereas Chris Comer violated the TEA’s neutrality policy regarding issues of upcoming SBOE hearings (both McLeroy and Comer did bad or questionable things unrelated to evolution, but in both cases the public perceives evolution as the issue). I felt that ousting Comer was a bad idea because it made a heroine and martyr out of her, but the Darwinists don’t feel the same way about McLeroy.
TFN Says:
–The bill has no direct impact on the SBOE’s textbook and curriculum authority. Even so, the Permanent School Fund is critically important because it pays for textbook purchases.–
How could this constitutional amendment affect textbook adoptions?
Larry writes: “Your links say that these bills passed only the Public Education Committee, not the full House.”
As we noted in the post, it was “breaking news” — which means you wouldn’t quickly find the votes on the Legislature’s Web pages for the two measures. We don’t call this site “TFN Insider” for nothing. The constitutional amendment, HJR 77, passed the House late yesterday afternoon on a vote of 104-40. The bill, HB 2037, then passed on a voice vote.
Then, my best guess is that the legislature will just do nothing and let McLeroy die on the vine, as it were, on June 2. If the state senators and representatives do that, they will never have to answer to voters for voting one way or the other.
We don’t call this site “TFN Insider” for nothing.
Heh, heh. Nice.
TFN said,
–The constitutional amendment, HJR 77, passed the House late yesterday afternoon on a vote of 104-40. The bill, HB 2037, then passed on a voice vote.–
Why didn’t you say that it in your original post, instead of just saying, “This was an overwhelming, bipartisan vote”? The opposition to HJR 77, 40 votes out of 144, though not huge, is especially significant because a “yes” vote does not necessarily show support for the amendment, since the bill’s purpose is just to give the voters an opportunity to vote on the amendment (i.e., an opponent of the amendment could nonetheless be in favor of giving the voters a chance to vote on it).
TFN said,
–This is another indication of lawmakers’ growing dissatisfaction with the state board.–
You have provided no evidence that the reason for these bills is legislators’ dissatisfaction with SBOE’s management of public school funds. Also, there is no guarantee that appointed officials would do a better job, and appointed officials are less directly accountable to the voters. Maybe the purpose of the amendment is to reduce the SBOE’s workload — I don’t know.
Charles Says:
–Then, my best guess is that the legislature will just do nothing and let McLeroy die on the vine, as it were, on June 2. If the state senators and representatives do that, they will never have to answer to voters for voting one way or the other.–
— which is exactly why some legislators might not be honest about how they intend to vote on him — they figure that they can discourage a full-Senate vote by threatening to vote no.
Also, House confirmation might not be required — I don’t know. In Congress, the president’s nominees are confirmed only by the Senate.
Good going TFN.
Your simple expression of legislative fact has Larry rattled. The Texas legislature has McLeroy and the SBOE on the run. Senator Arlen Specter and Al Franken have the extreme radical right on the run for dear life. The RIGHTFUL OWNERS of the Republican Party are taking back their party from the fruitcake and nuts fringe that has run the whole American enterprise into the ground. The American people are abandoning the right wing extremist neocon ideology and the Religious Right in obvious knowledge that their ship is on fire and sinking.
The Southern Baptist Convention is reporting lower numbers of baptisms and apparent flight from their churches for the first time in recent history. I hope all of those people are headed to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and New Baptist Covenant churches—where love and sanity reign supreme—where Jesus HIMSELF is No. 1 instead of the Bible. I will never forget that Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher of mine 20 years ago who read from the Bible:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” She then held her nice black Bible high up in the air before us and announced, “See this book. THIS BOOK IS GOD.” This person could perhaps be quickly excused for this kind of heresy if she were a backwoods ignoramus. I am sorry to say that this person had an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree from a major public university, but was totally brainwashed by the scribes and pharisees who ran her church. It is my firm hope, my ferevnt faith, and my full expectation that the good Lord is even now in the process of hacking down these weeds that have poisoned the Christian faith for the past 30 years.
Charles Says:
–Good going TFN.
Your simple expression of legislative fact has Larry rattled. —
How have I been “rattled”?
–The American people are abandoning the right wing extremist neocon ideology and the Religious Right in obvious knowledge that their ship is on fire and sinking. —
The big mistake that you Darwinists are making is assuming that all Darwin-doubting is motivated by religion.
You are breaking our deal. You said you wouldn’t mention the word “Darwinists” again. Oh wait, you never shook my hand. And you never did define Darwinist. It’s like calling you a “Sleezedoodle” and then not defining it. Care to comment? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands.
Curly Says:
–You are breaking our deal. You said you wouldn’t mention the word “Darwinists” again.–
I never said that. The deal was that I would stop saying “Darwinism” and “Darwinist” when you Darwinists stop saying “intelligent design creationism.”
Curly Says:
— Care to comment? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands.–
And you don’t?
Yes, my responding to trolls shows that I have a lot of time on my hands.
“soitenly” I said I would agree to call it that La FaFa. Look at what I wrote in the other article where we struck the agreement. I haven’t said anything about “intelligent design creationism”. You still haven’t defined “Darwinist” and keep using the word. Keep avoiding it Larry. I read your posts for humor everyday. I said I would call you “cdesign proponensists” instead. I have plenty of time to fight willful ignorance.
Hey Curly,
Have you heard about the new medicine for bi-polar and dementia? They mix lithium with aricept and call it Larrycept.
We’re posting this in multiple threads and targeting no one in particular: please refrain from personal attacks/insults. We’re not going to censor honest and even sharp debate. But we do want to avoid the forum becoming a place for crude insults. Thanks.