Americans For Prosperity
(Peggy Venable was the first White House Liaison for the U.S. Department of Education under President Reagan.)
Today I learned of an audit report done on Brownsville ISD which alleges “systemic corruption at practically every level.”
It appears not only were taxpayers abused, but kids in that district were cheated. The District is rated “Recognized”…but if auditors found corruption, can we trust that the rating
was earned legitimately?It seems the forensic audit firm shared the report with the District Attorney and others, so I anticipate this won’t be the last we hear of it.
Brownsville ISD has around 49,000 students and expenditures of around $593 million. Their ISD debt is $326 million.
The audit covered three school years.
It blew me away.
And that is saying a lot. For the past three years, AFP-Texas has had The Red Apple Project (http://www.redappleproject.com/) and have worked to educate the public on how our education dollars are spent, or misspent as the case may be. Our goal was to encourage efficiency in education spending.
After all, our state constitution calls for an efficient system of free public schools. We know they aren’t free, so the taxpayers deserve for those dollars to be spent efficiently.
We have held the Rotten Apple Award and highlighted the most egregious education spending. Our intent has been to ultimately encourage more of our education dollars to be spent in the classroom and on good teachers.
Currently only half the education dollars are spent on instruction, and ISD’s across the state average one non-teacher for every teacher.
It is clear that education dollars are not spent efficiently, but to learn of an audit report which alleges widespread corruption in a public school system is shocking.
I was on a McAllen radio station this evening discussing the matter.
One of the school board members had been on the show before me and I heard him say the former superintendent Brett Springston (was) fully responsible. (The superintendent who served during the audit period is no longer there, having left recently to go to tiny Bartlett ISD, moving from an ISD with almost 50,000 students, 54 campuses and expenditures of over a half billion dollars to one with under 400 students, two schools, and spending just under $4 million.)
Education is big business in Texas.
We have just under 5 million students in public schools and ISDs spend $54 billion. Are those dollars being spent efficiently and are kids getting our billions worth?
It appears that for the years in question that has not been the case in Brownsville ISD.
We will follow what happens and post what we learn.
Posted 2-23-12
Read more: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022412-brownsville-isd-earns-rotten-apple-award-february#ixzz1nhuEoUIx
16 comments:
I don't think Ms Venable has all the facts and the history leading up to the now famous audit conducted at the command of CPG and orchestrated to carry out her personal vendettas. Ms Venable needs an education on the history behind this questionable, slanderous piece of trash and the misdeeds of certain BOD members and administrators.
How much are you selling yourself these days Montoya...unless you are doing pro bono work for CATA. What did she promise you? That is the quarter million dollar question. Regardless of who she and you want to blame. She was the ignorant moron who sat through each and every meeting asked idiotic questions, rolling her eyes and showing her disdain at everone and everything. The infuriating thing is she is still there...thanks to you and your bullshit blog.
BISD deserves the "Rotten Apple Award" and the BISD Trustees are the worms in the apple. The taxpayers of this community have been violated by this corrpution. The taxpayers,the students and the teachers are losers due to corrpution which misdirects funds away from education into the pockets of corrupt officials. It has been going on for years and the question is...."Can we really expect change?"....I think not.
The children of BISD and the entire community has been RAPED by this moronic board majority.
Juan if you have any love/respect left for your own children, you would stop doing this type of writing!!!
So many of the comments are full of anger and want to discredit the report. That really causes me to wonder why?
Brownsville politics, politicians, and public employes at every level are corrupt to the core. When folks object to that fact being exposed I am reminded of the words of Wm. Shakespear..."Methink he doth protest too much."
El Pinche Gringo
(The infuriating thing is she is still there...thanks to you and your bullshit blog.)
Juan, a woman enduring her monthly excretion of bloody hate is really no one to mess with. And just some vital statistics for all menstruating women: Midol pills contain 60Mgs. of caffeine. So you may want to stick to just one pill before you go and post your comments in a blog.
This Rotten Apple Award is contribution of the former Board Majority, this new majority is having to clean up their mess. Let's see who are the ones corrupt here. You had Zayas and Cortez that haven't paid their taxes, promote cortez' wife to principal out of 25 candidates, promote Zayas' law parnter's wife to Asst. Supt. without the qualifications, only been an elementary principal. Promoted Springston's buddies to higher positions, promotes Fuller an accountant to CFO. Aguilar has all his family members at Pace and Oliveira, Colunga has his wife substituting at Hanna on a daily basis. They give Pena's delinquent attorney the contract, when he himself doesn't pay his taxes and fails to collect from his friends as well. Zayas and company also paid attorney Navarro, not an investigator $400,000 to investigate employees. These rotten apples spent alot of money to fill their friends and their pockets pretty full. Then you have Minerva Pena protraying to be saint Minerva supporting and defending these people, a former DPS Officer? or was it a DPS desk clerk? If she was an officer, boy where is her integrity. Bottom line folks the Rotten Apple Award is a tribute to the former Board majority and company including M. Pena and Mike Saldana. Good Day.
Do recall that the audit spoke of systemic corruption, not individual or nuanced incidents. That means, for those of you who wish to simply blame the Board or past administrators (not that they don't share responsibility) that BISD is immersed in a culture of corruption (think of Mexico's present problems and you'll get the idea). Teachers and administrators at every level are participating in this culture by definition. Only sweeping reforms, at every level, can be expected to effect any kind of change. That is what we, as taxpayers, must demand and don't look to the present system to accomplish this; as the article ironically points out, our criminal enterprise (BISD) is so good at hiding its culpability that it is Recognized for its exemplary educational abilities!!!!
The lifespan of a BISD Superintendent is 3-5 years. BISD is a very rich district where a lot of money can be easily misappropriated by unscrupulus superintendents. It reminds me of the Mexican presidents who have a 6 year term to fill their pockets.
As Mr. Brady would say, "Two wrongs don't make a right"
WOW Catita you really dislike Minerva Pena. You are such a loser Catita, you have not changed a bit since being a student at Porter. We remember you well. Guess that explains why you have been married 3 different times. You are hard to live with my dear. Que Triste!
To the Feb 29, @ 12:31PM
This post has to be from Presas, Longoria, or flim flam, all one has to do, is look at the grammar
MINERVA PENA ES UNA PENA,
WHY CAN SHE PAY HER TAXES, BETTER YET SHE SHOULD RESING FOR NOT PAYING HER TAXES INSTEAD OF BEING ZAYCOR MOUTHPIECE?
Catita you are such a little loser mijita! You just keep attacking people because you have no brain. You think if you throw a stone over into somebody else's yard people will not look into yours. Well you are wrong mijita. Soooooo wrong! La que obra mal paga mal. You just wait and see mijita. Keep it up sonsita!
I have more respect for non-degreed people than those with degrees that are full of themselves, full of greed and full of shit.
Ivestagate chirinos and not the school board.
Post a Comment