Category Archives for Thomas Ratliff

Sen. Dan Patrick Admits He Hasn’t Read CSCOPE Lessons He Wants to Ban Teachers from Using

This very short clip from last weekend’s debate between State Board of Education Vice Chairman Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, highlights how the manufactured “controversy” over CSCOPE eventually oozed out of the right-wing fever swamps. Tea party and other political activists (including a for-profit political consulting company) have absurdly claimed that the […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Dan Patrick, TFNEF | 23 Comments

Full CSCOPE Debate Now Online

If you missed last Saturday’s CSCOPE debate between State Board of Education vice chair Thomas Ratliff, R-Mt. Pleasant, and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, here it is in its entirety. On one side, you had an SBOE member who showed up with facts. On the other, you had an ambitious politician running for higher office […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Dan Patrick | 10 Comments

CSCOPE Issue Takes Hypocrisy-Fueled Leap Back into the Spotlight

The absurd, manufactured controversy over CSCOPE in Texas is leaping back into the spotlight. And that spotlight is illuminating just how hypocritical some of the curriculum tool’s political critics really are. On Friday State Board of Education Vice Chair Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, and state Senate Education Committee Chair Dan Patrick, R-Houston, announced that they have agreed […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, TFNEF | 9 Comments

CSCOPE Witch Hunt Flares Up Again: Sen. Patrick and AG Abbott Target Educators

Just two months after gutting a curriculum tool that nearly 900 Texas school districts were using, state Sen. Dan Patrick and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott have decided they’re not done harassing educators and wasting taxpayer dollars. Last week Patrick called on the Texas State Auditor’s Office to review the operations of the Texas Education […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott, State Board of Education, TFN | 8 Comments

Texas SBOE Vice Chair Ratliff Rips Sen. Patrick Again Over CSCOPE Witch Hunt: Bullying and Burning Books

Texas State Board of Education Vice Chairman Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, has already made clear his disgust over the political witch hunt that forced the state’s Education Service Centers to stop writing lesson plans in their CSCOPE curriculum management system. In May, for example, he tore into Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Patrick, R-Houston, for […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Dan Patrick, TFNEF | 8 Comments

Texas SBOE Member Ratliff Tears into Sen. Patrick on CSCOPE Decision

Thomas Ratliff’s defeat of creationist Don McLeroy in the 2010 Republican Primary for the District 9 seat on the State Board of Education was an important step toward getting politics out of Texas public school classrooms. Now Ratliff, who currently serves as the state board’s vice chairman, has released a blistering critique of state Sen. […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Dan Patrick, TFN | 8 Comments

Does Ken Mercer Support the Smear Campaign Against a Fellow Texas Education Board Member?

Does Texas State Board of Education member Ken Mercer, a San Antonio Republican, think one of his fellow Republicans on the board “has no integrity”? Does he think his fellow Republican has “disdain for the law,” is ineligible to serve on the board, and is using his position to enrich his business clients? If he […]

Also posted in Donna Garner, Ken Mercer, State Board of Education, TFNEF | 3 Comments

Right-Wingers Target Two GOP Texas Ed Board Members, Accuse Them of Promoting ‘Socialist Ideology’

Right-wing activists are angry with a couple of Republican members of the State Board of Education who have refused to hop on their crazy train. The source of their anger (right now, anyway) is CSCOPE, the curriculum management tool that we reported about last month. CSCOPE is a product of a collaboration of regional Education […]

Also posted in CSCOPE, Pat Hardy, State Board of Education, TFNEF | 25 Comments

Handful of Contests See the Most Money in Texas State Board of Education Races

In the 1990s, San Antonio businessman James Leininger — the religious right’s sugar daddy in Texas — poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into State Board of Education (SBOE) races. That money helped hard-right social conservatives build a multi-year campaign to take control of the board — and turned subsequent board debates over textbooks and […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, Anette Carlisle, Barbara Cargill, creationism, David Bradley, David Williams, Don McLeroy, Donna Bahorich, Gail Spurlock, George Clayton, Linda Ellis, Marisa Perez, Marty Rowley, Michael Soto, Pam Little, Peter Morrison, Randy Stevenson, Rita Ashley, TFN, Tincy Miller | Leave a comment

SBOE Campaign Finance Reports

All Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) seats are up for election this year, but so far there’s not a lot of money flowing into those campaigns. Nearly all SBOE candidates have now filed their July 1, 2011-December 31, 2011, campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission. Some non-surprises: Geraldine “Tincy” Miller, R-Dallas, is […]

Also posted in 2012 Texas SBOE elections, Anette Carlisle, Barbara Cargill, Charlie Garza, David Scott, Don McLeroy, Donna Bahorich, Gail Lowe, Gail Spurlock, George Clayton, Ken Mercer, Linda Ellis, Marty Rowley, Neal Frey, Pam Little, Patty Quintana-Nilsson, Randy Stevenson, Steve Salyer, Steven Schafersman, TFN, Tincy Miller | Leave a comment