Texas SBOE Invests Not Necessarily With Experience
The State Board of Education doesn't confine its dysfunction and discord to battles over what should be in history and social studies textbooks and how to teach science and grammar. The elected 15-member board also watches over the Permanent School Fund, an endowment of more than $23 billion that helps to pay for textbooks, salaries and the like.
When it comes to investing what is the state's second-largest fund (only the Teacher Retirement Fund is larger), the internal rivalries on the SBOE can cause trouble; members don't always trust their colleagues, their staffs, or their consultants when ...
Comments (6)
Ouija
This story is a great example of what I have feared will be the standard operating procedure for the Texas Tribune. As your outfit is so concerned on the surface with transparency in government, it would seem to me you'd drill into the donations of any elected person seeking to change the Permanent School Fund's financial oversight structure.
Does Rep. Howard have on any of her Ethics Commission reports any donations from any financial services company or any law firm specializing in or representing financial service providers? When you are dealing with a $23 billion public pot of money in one of the most fiscally fit states in the battered national economy, a truly unbiased approach would be to see who benefits from realigning the current oversight structure. There was an effort during the past session to also clip the wings of the SBOE itself, led by a Rep. Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs).
Perhaps a good follow-up story for someone would be why are lawmakers with a D behind their name taking major swings at the SBOE, its elected leaders, and its pot of public money?
I expect this just about as much as I expect a large splashy story about the Texas ties to the giant national story currently unfolding about John Edwards.
JJ Baskin
"If you sit on the mental health commission, do you have to be retarded?"
I believe the term is "intellectual disabilities."
JJ Baskin
It is not only Ds taking a swing at the SBOE. Senator Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) does not seem thrilled with the actions and reputation of the SBOE and has stated such publicly.
Perhaps the smoking gun is why haven't more Republicans done so? I suspect because they do not want to alienate the far right in their own party. But party leaders cannot be thrilled with the over-emphasis on social issues, the neglect of the investment portfolio, and the dysfunctional reputation of the board. Privately, they will tell you so, but dare not speak of such in public.
larrymax
"If you sit on the mental health commission, do you have to be retarded?"
No, just to sit on the SBOE.
Seth Winick
“If you sit on the mental health commission, do you have to be retarded?” Bradley asks. “If you sit on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, do you have to be a drunk?”
ATCIC
In light of Mr. David Bradley's use of the word "retarded" as reported in the Texas Tribune, Austin Travis County Integral Care (ATCIC) feels obliged to build awareness and educate the community about the very real impact and consequences of this term.
Words matter, and using the R-word is considered a cruel and offensive slur to millions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and friends. Our request is that Mr. Bradley cease using the R-word, and use “intellectual disability" to reference the medical condition it was intended to define. We have also sent a personal letter to Mr. Bradley and included a copy of our newsletter where we highlight the importance of this issue.
Please join us and the millions of others in this cause (go to http://www.r-word.org). Together we can make a difference.
David Evans, ATCIC Executive Director