Ratliff will challenge McLeroy for SBOE post
Not former lieutenant governor Bill Ratliff. His son, Thomas. Ratliff says that the general release is timed for 8:30 a.m. but that it may be released any time this morning before that. It’s 12:50 a.m.
Here’s the text of the release:
AUSTIN – On the heels of a legislative session that saw 15 bills filed by Republican and Democrat legislators to curtail some or all of the responsibilities of the State Board of Education, Thomas Ratliff has filed the necessary paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission to run for the District 9 seat. The incumbent is Dr. Don McLeroy, whose nomination for chairman of the SBOE was recently rejected by the Texas Senate.
Mr. Ratliff said, “First, I want to thank Dr. McLeroy for his 10 years of service on the SBOE. I just simply have a different approach to working for the parents and schoolchildren of Texas. I am running because I want to work with educators and the other SBOE members to provide leadership for Texas’ neighborhood schools, help mend the fractured relationship with the Texas legislature and restore the public’s confidence in the State Board of Education.”
“The SBOE has become a distraction to our neighborhood schools and a liability to the Republican Party under the leadership of Dr. McLeroy. I strongly believe we need to take politics out of our kids’ education and the state board should refocus its efforts on the truly important issues facing parents, students and educators.”
Part of the paperwork filed with the Ethics Commission is the appointment of a campaign treasurer. Dr. Jenny Preston, the former superintendent of Allen ISD, Forney ISD and Graham ISD, will serve as the treasurer for Mr. Ratliff’s campaign.
“I believe Thomas is the right person to represent the parents, children and educators on the State Board of Education. He will bring a levelheaded approach to the challenges facing our neighborhood schools and I am proud to be involved in his campaign”, added Dr. Preston.
Mr. Ratliff concluded, “I am honored to have the support of people like Dr. Preston in this campaign. In the coming months I look forward to listening to parents, school board members and educators about the challenges facing our neighborhood schools and how the State Board of Education can help them accomplish their goal of making Texas’ schools the best they can be for our kids.”
SBOE District 9 includes the counties of Anderson, Brazos, Camp, Cherokee, Collin, Delta, Falls, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Grimes, Henderson, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Navarro, Rains, Red River, Robertson, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, Walker and Wood.
Collin County is the major population center in the district. McLeroy’s home county of Brazos would be the next biggest source of votes. Most of the rest of the district is rural East Texas and East Central Texas. The religious right is very skilled in organizing for State Board of Education races, which is why it has been able to take over the board and stage attacks on the teaching of evolution and other fringe issues. A 2008 challenge to David Bradley, another of the way-out-there members of the SBOE, didn’t come close to unseating him.
Tagged: don mcleroy, sboe, thomas ratliff.
Peggy Venable says:
Paul, you failed to include some vital information. I assume Ratliff would need to stop lobbying and that is quite a sacrifice. After all, he may be making over $600,000. Also, the public should know that he is a taxpayer-funded lobbyist representing 17 cities and most of those cities oppose basic taxpayer protections which allow voters an automatic rollback election. And you failed to mention that he lobbies for the “bailed-out” AIG. Is this a press release you ran as a blog?
Finally, if the SBOE has become a distraction to Ratliff’s dad’s “Raise your Taxes — er — Raise Your Hand” organization, that’s fine with most taxpayers!
Your references to the “religious right” staging “attacks” and “way-out-there” members of the SBOE is irresponsible and disrespectful to voters. Let’s remember that the SBOE is elected.
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slick Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:42 am
Peggy, you also fail to include some vital info — like your corporate backers who seek to undermine any and all regulatory authority of governments to protect citizens. You know, as well as Paul’s savvy readers do, that its cheap rhethoric to say someone opposes “basic taxpayer protections” when the purpose of what you seek is to undermine the ability of local governments to function. And it’s humorous that you would tag him with the stain of AIG, because you and your shell groups led the charge for the ‘free market’ excesses that got us in this mess in the first place. Please tell us, after the beating our markets have taken and the loss of wealth many now have to deal with, do you still think that markets should be fully unregulated, that caveat emptor should rule, that the government should have no regulatory role to promote even basic guildlines to build confidence for investors? And will you reveal today who your corporate funders are? Then you can lecture us on SBOE.
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Prince Royal Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
PV, you are the person who is disrespectful to voters. You practice in the art of selective facts and reactive fear. Your rhetoric is so loud, no one can hear what you are saying.
I have no problem with “loyal opposition” but your ongoing inflammatory rhetoric is like fingernails on Texas’ chalkboard: It serves little purpose and distracts us from the real work of solving problems.
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Anonymous Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Just curious Paul, why no comments from you on the way the session ended? Seems strange.
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irish83 says:
I’m so tired of hearing about the over-burdened Texas taxpayer! We rank 49th of the 50 states in taxes paid per capita and at or near the bottom in most public services… worse than Louisiana and Mississippi, the former standard bearers for the bottom of the barrel.
As they say, you get what you pay for, and Texas is going to pay dearly for not creating an equitable tax structure (only low- and middle-income Texas are overburdened) so that all Texas citizens invest in our children, human capital, and our infrastructure.
And don’t even get me started on the back-handed jibe at Bill Ratliff, one of the finest public servants this state has ever known.
Yes, Thomas is a lobbyist for a variety of clients… and he represents them well. I have no doubt that he will do whatever is necessary in his professional life to avoid even the perception of a conflict of interest with his desire to serve on the State Board of Education.
Go get ‘em, Thomas!
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Anonymous says:
Thank you, Peggy. Let’s hear more about the discord and division in the House and what kind of “oversight” can solve that. I wonder if the SBOE ever adjourned indefinitely without critical business being accomplished – largely because they couldn’t stop fighting.
The nerve of the legislature seeking to restore order over another elected body – especially this 81st legislature.
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Anonymous says:
While it is true that Ratliff’s decision has a curious tie to his dad and Mike Moses’ attempt to gut the entire school accountability system it doesn’t follow that McLeroy is any great shakes. He isn’t. SBOE has been an embarassment and has directly interfered with Legislative attempts to improve K-12 education (e.g., watering down the 4×4 standards).
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Austin says:
Ratliff is all about protecting the educrats and the parasite lobbyists and private attorneys — all funded by our education dollars. He and his daddy are raking in the big lobby bucks by “representing” the interests of the educrats. Thomas Ratliff doesn’t listen to parents unless their opinion agrees with his own. In fact, he doesn’t even bother to engage them in discussion. He is part of the big problem in Texas education.
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Prince Royal Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
So Austin, if Thomas doesn’t listen to people unless they agree with him, how does he know? I mean, how does he discern before a word was said that they disagree so he can turn off his “listening ears”?
I love how clever you are with the term “educrats” for anyone that advocates for public education. That is mature and goes a long way towards advancing a civil discussion about our children’s education.
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Anonymous Reply:
June 4th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Better to be an “educrat” than a hoarding, selfish “exploitocrat,” too cheap to contribute to a better society. You’re probably all for prison construction because it’s economic development (as long as it’s not in your backyard), eh Austin?
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Ted Anagnostopoulus says:
McElroy will win this race against Ratliff with around 63% of the vote and then people like irish83 will continue to bitch and moan about why California and Massachusetts are better than Texas because their tax rates are higher. Hey irish83, there is nothing keeping you from moving to one of those other states. In fact, so many people are moving from high taxed states like CA and MA to Texas that the U-Hual rates are far cheaper if you go to CA or MA from TX than vice versa.
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Tellnitlikeitis Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
That’s a pretty smug response, Ted, considering the ticking time bomb on which this state sits.
Did you know that:
The state’s population grows by more than 1,000 people each and every day?
The state is virtually running out of money for roads and highway construction.
The state’s last gasoline tax increase came 18 years ago? Guess what has happened to the cost of right of way acqusition since then? Or, the cost of construction?
56 percent of our 4.7 million school kids come from low income familes? And that we do a lousy job of gettting them caught up? That many drop out – roughly 1/3 of every entering 9th grade class? How many more prisons do you want to build?
Is that your future?
What about water? So many needs….so little willingless to pay for it.
No wonder that former state demographer Steve Murdock told us how the future would look like – given the trend line.
In about 30 years the average Texas household income will be $6,500 less than it was in 2000.
Actually, it’s much worse than that because the figure is not adjusted for inflation.
So…no need to be smug about where we are or where we are headed.
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Ted Anagnostopoulus Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Yeah, Texas is going to hell. It’s time for everyone to leave. Be a leader and lead us out of this wilderness and into the liberal utopian promised land, Telli! I guess there has never been a time before that Texas has had to overcome obstacles and issues, right? Yes, the sky is falling on Texas and we are all DOOMED and its all the Republicans fault, too!
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Tellnitlikeitis Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Obviously, the future is coming and will answer us.
It’s your kids and grandkids who will be here to deal with the refusal to invest in them.
You and your ilk would have fought Eisenhower’s Interstate highway system.
Our parents and grandparents invested in us.
We are less willing to do so for those following us.
Follow the money says:
This concern for lobbyist money seems like a red herring.
The current SBOE controls the Permanent School Fund that has assets exceeding 25 billion dollars (probably not now). That fund is directly controlled by managers hired by the SBOE. It has lost 5 billion dollars in the last year as of August 31, 2008 – prior to this recession!
I find it laughable to criticize the monetary policy of someone just willing to run as opposed to a seated board of an elected body controlling billions with no accountability and no financial experience handing control over to accounting firms and financial analysts with their own curious ties to SBOE members.
Follow the money!
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FrankS says:
There is no possible way that “Austin” and I know the same person. The person he describes is far from the real Thomas Ratliff. “Austin,” I believe is actually the person he describes as Thomas.
If calling people “educrats” and “parasites” is the level of educated debate that “Austin” desires, then I suspect we know all we need to know about “Austin.”
Let’s have a real discussion about whether student testing is the appropriate way measure accountability. If there is another way, I’d like to hear about it. But let’s have the debate without the derision. If you can make your point, and convince others on the merits, do so. If you can’t, and all you’ve got in your bag is names that are intended to arouse emotion, then you’re no better than Roland Gutierrez or Debbie Riddle.
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Rog says:
Dr. McLeroy can campaign on the facts. Like, the fact that the earth is 6,000 years old, and the fact that a snake walked up to Eve and struck up a conversation. Those kind of facts that all Texas school kids should know.
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Harry Doghiney (D-TX) says:
My favorite rhetorical device is to invite people who disagree with me to leave the state.
/snark
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Good fight says:
This will be a good and interesting fight. McLeroy will, if smart, continuously harp on Thomas being a lobbyist. Thomas has to make a more nuanced argument about why SBOE is bad and will rely upon folks who work in public schools (and who usually don’t vote in Republican primaries) to make their case.
Overall, great for the Republican party. My general assessment is this: if Charles Butt (the money behind papa’s group) dumps in more than 100k, then he has a shot. If not, Ratliff probably loses. I mean, do people even care that you actually live in your district?
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Brown Bess says:
Is there any political hit job on any subject Peggy Venable won’t perform for her corporate overlords?
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Huck Finn says:
Arguably the finest SBOE Board Member in the past thirry years, Will Davis, is a lobbyist. Served both as an appointed member and an elected member.
Knowing the process, the players and the policies should not be considered a negative.
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Thom Prentice says:
It is so interesting that a Republican challenger has already launched a campaign against the re-election of SBOE Chair Dr. McLeroy.
As the bills to reform the SBOE started withering in the Lege under fire from the right wing Flying Monkeys, I went to the SBOE meeting and made th following remarks, interrupted by McLeroy who tried to rule me out of order before wiser heads pevailed. First rule of the right is always to censor their critics.
Here is what I said:
Contested elections are the best way to select a diversity of mainstream and level-headed people to hold seats on this Board. I call for challenges in SBOE elections next year –- indeed, a call to a Higher Power — that being the Voting Sovereignty of the People of Texas. If given the chance, The People will put Excellence in Education first and paranoid right wing plotting last.
These claims in recent days that poor, poor Dr. McLeroy is being victimized because he is a Christian are both stupid and absurd. If anything, the Mainstream Majority is the one being discriminated against by the neurotic, paranoid, under-educated, Christianist Right Wing. I am a Lutheran, myself, and I find the theology of the radical religious right to be both repugnant and the anti-thesis of the message of Jesus and of the intellectual scaffolding of Dr. Martin Luther. Theology, anyway, should not be a part of the public forum, what with the Constitutional Separation of Church and State and stuff.
This Board is a statewide and national embarrassment. Texans are tired of going around America apologizing for the actions of this Board. This Board has no vision and no commitment to Educational Excellence. It has become a playground or petting zoo for every crackpot, right wing, neurotic, Christianist political operative and cause in Rush Limbaugh’s and Dick Cheney’s political universe. As for lacking vision, the Bible says in Proverbs 29:18 KJV that, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Well, there is no vision here in the majority and what vision here does exist, often and only exists in the minority. What excellence that exists in Texas education, exists at the local level IN SPITE OF this Board rather than BECAUSE of it.
According to the Secretary of State, eight positions on this State Board of Education will be up for election in 2010. They are in districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, and 15. Five are currently held by Republicans and three by Democrats. Only two of the SBOE districts had elections in 2006 contested by candidates from the major parties. Six of those other contests were one-party affairs except for the four contests which included Libertarian candidates. In two of them, the Libertarian candidates earned nearly 100,000 votes each – in Districts 5 and 10. The high vote for the Libertarian candidates in 5 and 10 suggests that a high level of public dissatisfaction and disgust existed over the right wing stranglehold on this Board – even then in 2006.
To run for this Board, one must be a citizen, a resident and a voter at least 26 years of age and must pay a $300 filing fee or present signatures. It is plenty easy for Mainstream Texans to run for the SBOE in 2010. The new Mainstream Candidates can focus on Excellence in Education to the exclusion of all else. God Help Us if they don’t.
thomprentice@sbcglobal.net
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Lee Nichols says:
I think that 2008 challenge to Bradley makes a poor comparison, Paul. That was a general election challenge, in a district where Democrats are already at a disadvantage. This will be a primary challenge, and a moderate voice might be welcomed by GOP voters these days.
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Ted Anagnostopoulus Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Nope.
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Good Guys says:
David Bradley did have a credible R primary challenge in 2002 from a Bill Ratliff/Mike Moses moderate candidate (high school principal) who campaigned aggressively. Bradley got 78% of that primary vote.
Is Thomas Ratliff running as D or R ? Apparently he gets the support of the Senate D’s ( much like his Daddy) who were the only ones to vote against Don.
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cyrus Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
They weren’t the only ones who WANTED to vote against McLeroy, that’s for sure.
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Anonymous says:
FrankS, I hope you’re not suggesting that Ratliff/Moses and the puppet hand of Butt are in favor of accountability–because they are not.
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irish83 Reply:
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Anonymous, you’re kidding, right? Surely you know that Bill Ratliff was the author of the first accountability system in 1993. He didn’t change his mind about the need for accountability… his thinking evolved about how the accountability system should be structured.
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Donna Garner says:
Sent today to my lengthy e-mail list:
“A ‘Money-Grubbing’ Lobbyist To Run for McLeroy’s SBOE Seat”
by Donna Garner
6.3.09
Bill Ratliff used to be the Lt. Gov. of Texas. His son Thomas has decided to run in 2010 against Dr. Don McLeroy for the Texas State Board of Education seat.
McLeroy has been the chair of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) up until a collusion of lies, misinformation, and religious discrimination came together last week in the form of the Texas Democrats who refused to confirm McLeroy as chair of the SBOE for another term.
Brief statements about Don McLeroy as posted by Mark Ramsey:
He is the MOST educated and qualified of all the members of the current Board, having both an Electrical Engineering degree and a Medical Doctorate from Texas universities–Texas A&M and the University of Texas, respectively.
He served our country in the US Army.
He volunteers to help children in a wide variety of ways such as the Boy Scouts (who awarded him their “District Award of Merit”), youth soccer, and his local school board before being elected in 1998 to the State Board.
He has served on the Texas State Board of Education since 1998–all voluntarily and honorably.
Now let’s compare Don McLeroy’s background to that of Thomas Ratliff’s: a money-grubbing lobbyist with deep ties to casino gambling interests and to the “education blob”
What voters would want to put the future of their little public school children into the hands of someone with Thomas Ratliff’s lobbyist ties?
I do not mean to state the obvious; but on a list of people the American people trust, lobbyists are bound to be at the bottom of the list, closely followed by politicians!
For easy access, Peyton Wolcott has posted Thomas Ratliff’s lobbying activities from 2005-2008 — second column from the right on Wolcott’s page:
http://www.peytonwolcott.com/HB2264.html
A great link that lists the Ratliff family and their lobbyist ties to the “ed blob” –http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/lobbyists.htm
Texas Ethics Commission — a complete listing of lobbyist ties from 2009 – 1998: http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2009d.htm
Thomas Ratliff’s father, Ex-Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, is the father of the failed Robin Hood school finance plan. To read more, please go to my 2.18.07 article, “Raise Your Hand for a Handout” posted on the left side of Peyton Wolcott’s site: http://peytonwolcott.com/RaiseYourHand.html
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anon says:
Except, you forgot to mention that when it comes to K-12 education, he’s an idiot.
Please correct your email post and resend it.
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Thomas Ratliff says:
Ms. Garner -
It is unfortunate that you feel the need to resort to name calling and the types of personal attacks that you reference on Peyton Wolcott’s website.
It is these types of attacks that keep a lot of good people from considering public office. I, however, will not be so deterred.
I have never met Dr. McLeroy, but I have nothing but respect for him as a husband, father, dentist, and his Christian faith. In addition, I thank him for his 10 years of service on the state board of education. Anyone who volunteers their time in service to our schools or our state deserve recognition for their efforts.
I just simply have a different idea of how a member of the SBOE should conduct themselves and that is the reason why I am running. I will continue to talk about those differences throughout this campaign.
Win or lose, I will not resort to name calling and mudslinging. We have had enough of that already.
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Anonymous says:
I know Ratliff was once pro-accountability. He hasn’t been since Mike Moses started working with him and pushed the district/teacher side of things rather than the student centered focus of accountability. He may be deluding himself into thinking Moses’ ideas won’t gut accountability–but they will.
Not sure why Ratliff changed, but there it is.
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Prince Royal says:
Accountability is a balancing act. If anything, the push back was not the district/teacher side but the parent side.
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ISDTrustee says:
I find it interesting that Peggy and the right wing is launching the name calling, discredit the opponent strategy with the first volley. Do you think that they are worried that their right-wing poster child may be vulnerable to an attack from Ratliff? It’s about time that we got a candidate with some sanity on the SBOE, who has kids in the public school system, who volunteers along side other parents, and who cares about the quality of the education that they receive. As an ISD Trustee, I am thrilled to see a logical, rational minded candidate declare for this position and take on the former chairman. If Ratliff has half of what his dad gave the State of Texas, all of our children will be blessed by his election.
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Anonymous says:
I agree that much of the pushback is from (suburban) parents, but I don’t think that is what is driving Moses.
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Anonymous says:
Anyone on here actually get to vote in this particular SBOE election? Or is it just a bunch of Burka sycophants?
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Collin County Parent says:
I haven’t really heard much from what appears to be true stakeholders on this issue. Just a lot of inflammatory partisan rhetoric thrown back and forth.
I will tell you that as a parent of a child with a disability whose school district sued them to escape their obligation to provide our child with an education, the stakes are very high.
I have followed the last two lege sessions very closely, and I have watched MANY organizations aligned with the Ratliffs (RYHT, etc.)fight options for disabled children while pushing those same options for non-taxpayers. I have watched lobbyists fight in the name of freedom (TFN) to ensure these children are pushed out of our public schools and leave their tax dollars behind to benefit those put nothing into the system. I have seen democrats sign onto positions to ensure children with disabiltiies are left in the cold, while co-authoring bills that defy those positions to provide all day day-care for those tagged “educationally disadvantaged” simply because they speak two languages instead of one.
When our tax dollars are highjacked to fund attorneys (more than $60 million per year at last report) their lobbyists and perhaps even campaigns to get elected officials to maintain this massive-scale bullying of our TRULY most vulnerable, one can put little stock in the cries of “underfunded public schools”, the need for more money/government control and the belief that ANYONE is fighting for liberty for ALL of our children.
While not a fan of the current state board, these issues seem to firmly follow party lines, and the “D” seems to stand for delusional when it comes to addressing students with disabilities and the deficiency of our current system. The “R”s can be equally as unsympathetic when it comes to these forgotten children. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know there are no state services for these kids, the waitlist is the longest in the country, and the condition of our 12 state “schools” (the most of any state in the country since we’d rather warehouse to fund an industry than provide community based services to include these residents in our lives) are the biggest embarassment and national scandal to hit Texas in ages.
Since Mr. Ratliff himself is apparently responding to comments on this list, I’d appreciate a response to this:
What is your plan to help children with disabilities who are being pushed out of our local schools by a public school system that only benefits from this practice with the outcome being more dollars left behind to educate fewer students, and a government body that has been taken over by attorneys who profit most from the maintenance and encouragement of this combative system against students with special needs who are entitled to a free appropriate public education under federal law that our educators and administrators are being trained to circumvent and rewarded for circumventing at the state level?
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Tommy Caffee, D - San Antonio says:
Mr Ratliff –
Can you clarify whether you agree more with the Democratic party more than 51% of the time?
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Coppell Dad says:
Collin Co. Parent -
You must be misinformed about the “Ratliff’s” and their advocacy for kids with disabilities. I have watched Bennett Ratliff (Lt. Gov. Ratliff’s other son) on our school board for years as a staunch advocate for our special education programs. His son has a disability and he started a baseball team for him and his friends, has promoted and defended the special education programs in the district, and even made a substantial donation to the district to buy some much needed supplies. Lt. Gov. Ratliff was given an award by The ARC of Texas during his time in Austin for his tireless advocacy for our kids as well, and he was a primary author of the bill that increased funding for our kids public education programs. I don’t know Thomas, except by reputation, but I find it difficult to believe that he will be any different. The apples don’t fall far from the tree.
You are probably confusing the elder Ratliff’s stance against vouchers with his advocacy for our kids. Check your facts, the “Ratliff’s” are who you want in your corner, not the contrary as you assert. The entire family has donated countless hours to promoting public education for all kids, including yours and mine – as for Thomas, he has my support for, if nothing else, his understanding our our kids and their issues.
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Follow the money says:
The Ratliff Company is just another private business profiting from our public education tax dollars. Thomas Ratliff is a lobbyist and he represents the special interests of the adults in the education bureaucracy. The idea that Ratliff seeks the kind of accountability in our school districts that benefits children is laughable. He isn’t working for the children (except his own); he is working for the school administrators and the host of private companies that profit from the millions of public education tax dollars up for grabs.
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Travis County parents says:
Coppell Dad, perhaps you are the one who is misinformed. To our knowledge, Thomas Ratliff did not attempt at any time to support or advocate or even understand the circumstances of the children with disabilities who are forced out of Eanes ISD and/or unable to access district facilities and programs. We are interested in Thomas Ratliff’s specific answer to the question posed by the Collin County parent:
What is your plan to help children with disabilities who are being pushed out of our local schools by a public school system that only benefits from this practice with the outcome being more dollars left behind to educate fewer students, and a government body that has been taken over by attorneys who profit most from the maintenance and encouragement of this combative system against students with special needs who are entitled to a free appropriate public education under federal law that our educators and administrators are being trained to circumvent and rewarded for circumventing at the state level?
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Coppell Dad says:
Travis County – I guess I didn’t realize that Thomas was on the school board in Eanes. When exactly was it that he would have been in a position to support or advocate for you as compared to any other parent? Do you have a record of the policies or issues to which you are referring?
His record as a school board trustee would certainly be interesting to learn more about. Again, I would find it surprising to hear that his attitude would be substantially different from his brother’s. After all, it’s his nephew that has benefitted from the programs in Coppell.
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Collin County Parent says:
Well now I’m really worried, Coppell Dad. If the “apples don’t fall far from the tree”, as you say, then this is one Collin County parent about to turn activist in the SBOE election.
A quick Google search brought up just how hard Bennett Rat. has worked to influence the school board to work collaboratively families with students with disabilities in his district: http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/sosa_responds.htm
That’s some scary shizzle.
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Collin County Parent says:
Oh, and perhaps Bennett’s VP position on the school board and familial ties just might have given his son a slight advantage and resulted in a different experience than other sp ed families have “enjoyed” in this district.
School board members of kids with disabilities are notorious for selling out parents in their district for being so “unreasonable” as to have to beg for a fraction of the consideration their children have handed to them without even realizing it or ever having to ask.
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Anonymous says:
In general, Republican Primary Voters do not like special interst lobbyists running for public office, so undoubtedly this will be an issue in this upcoming primary.
I for one find Thomas Raltiff’s candidacy very troubling. I personally find him to be ethically challenged.
I believe that it was completely inappropriate for him to be a Lobbyist when his father was a powerful State Senator and then as Acting Lt. Governor. In half the states in America this is against the law. The fact that he did not get this shows a disregard for the process and for ethics – a real ethical blindspot.
I don’t want anyone serving on the SBOE controlling state education investments whose ethics I have to worry about.
But I doubt that Ratliff and McElroy will be the only two Republicans running for this seat. This is a huge district and the largest population center is Collin County – it is unheard of to not have a candidate from there. This district that cuts across multiple media markets. To run the right kind of campaign would be very expensive.
And don’t forget that Jim Leininger could just as easily match Charles Butt dollar for dollar.
Ratliff also faces additional burdens being from a small county with not many votes. And many of the counties in this district have never heard of his father – they fall outside SD 1.
Ratliff may regret getting into this – this campaign will be dirty and will put his lobby business under the microscope. His father may get drug into this indirectly and that is very regrettable.
I fear that the Ratliff ‘brand’ may suffer just as the Sibley brand suffered when that former Senator’s son got into a campaign that was over his head and his lobbying became a key issue.
Get ready folks, this one is gonna be rough.
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Travis County parents says:
Thomas Ratliff wasn’t on the school board. He was (no surprise) up close and personal with the school administrators including the superintendent and principal. ADA noncompliance issues are very visible here in Eanes ISD and therefore, if Thomas Ratliff had been interested, there were plenty of opportunities to get involved and/or to contact parents who spoke out about issues that forced children with disabilities from the district and deprived them of their rights to an safe and appropriate education — if he cared to do so. Now he has an opportunity to answer a very important question posed by the Collin County parent.
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Collin County Parent says:
I am disappointed Thomas has not responded to the question I posed earlier. Doesn’t he wish to answer questions from the families and children in Collin County, or is he only interested in defending himself and his candidacy?
Coppell Dad brought up the issue of vouchers. Are we to assume all the Ratliffs have a single mind and are born with pre-formed political views, or that they are capable of operating as free-thinking individuals? And if Thomas does, indeed, oppose vouchers in the interest of defending underfunded public schools, then what is his view on all those tax dollars ($60 million plus) going to attorneys instead of following the children who are forced out of public schools through litigation to be used for their EDUCATION? And what is his plan to address this situation?
Thomas, can we please hear from you on this issue?
Thanks in advance.
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Just saying says:
I believe that Coppell Dad and ISD Trustee are one and the same – Bennett Ratliff!!!
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Anonymous says:
Having witnessed Mr. Ratliff’s activities as a lobbyist, he demonstrated, on occassion, to be pathetically unable to analyze legislation impacting his clients and to be more intent on impressing his clients about his golf outings with legislators. Mr. Ratliff owes his life to his father’s semen; similarily, Mr. Ratliff’s political existence is owed to his father’s semen, not on Mr. Thomas Ratliff’s acumen. I’m not a fan of the SBOE member Mr. Ratliff challenges, but I’m more aversed to an arrogant dunce whose career is based on “daddy” and whose interest in SBOE is not motivated by interests in EDUCATION.
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