AIM
TTUISD
TCPN
TACS COMMUNIQUE’
by Barry Haenisch, Executive Director
August 4, 2015
HELP TACS HELP YOU
As you know, Senate Bill 149 created individual graduation committees (IGA) for students who had not
passed two or fewer End of Course Exams so that they could graduate with their class. The bill has a
“sunset provision” and it will go away in 2017 unless the legislature has good data and good reasons to
continue the use of IGAs.
TACS will gather the data and present it to the legislators, but we must have your help! Please share this
information about the IGAs that were convened in your district last spring:
1. How many IGAs did your high school(s) hold?
2. How many of those IGAs resulted in the student graduating?
3. Where are those graduates now?
> University with scholarships?
> University with no scholarship help?
> Community College or certification program?
> Military?
> Working at a job?
We must be able to demonstrate to the legislature that the law is working! We will need your data to show
that undeserving students are not receiving a high school diploma, but rather it is being used to clear a
path to help deserving students move to the next productive stage in their lives. With good,
comprehensive data we can be successful in getting the sunset provision extended or possibly eliminated
completely. Please share your data by emailing me at bhaenisch@tacsnet.org or faxing us at (512) 4426705. You can send it anytime during the school year, but why not send it now while it is on your mind?
HOLD ON, HONEY. I’M PEDDLING AS FAST AS I CAN. SAN ANTONIO, HERE WE COME!!
If you are like Rip Van Winkle and have been sleeping for twenty years you might not know that TACS is
holding its state conference in San Antonio on September 13 – 15, 2015 at the Palacio del Rio Hilton on
the Riverwalk. You would not be aware that Sunday afternoon and evening is dedicated to fun – golfing,
shopping, and fellowship at the Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant on the Riverwalk. You would not have
heard that the Monday morning program is dedicated to school finance issues from the lawsuit before the
state Supreme Court to fractional funding, the ASATR “cliff”, and the small school funding allotment. If
you had slept for twenty years you would not know that Evan Smith is the Editor-in-Chief and CEO of the
TEXAS TRIBUNE and that he is going to give our conference attendees the “inside scoop” on Texas
politics Monday afternoon. You would not be aware that breakfast both mornings and Monday’s lunch
were included in the conference registration cost. Sleeping for two decades would “keep you out of the
loop”, so how could you know the powerful speaking line-up for Tuesday’s last conference programs –
Rep. Gary VanDeaver, Rev. Charles Johnson, and Superintendent John Kuhn? If you were napping, you
missed the report on 2/11/2011 in the Washington Post of John Kuhn’s letter to his state senator and
legislators. Here is that letter that gained nationwide exposure:
Gentlemen:
I am besieged by hundreds or more of the legislators under Rick Perry. I have sustained a continual
bombardment of increased high-stakes testing and accountability-related bureaucracy and a gross
cannonade of underfunding for 10 years at least and have lost several good men and women. The ruling
party has demanded another round of pay cuts furloughs, while the school house be put to the sword and
our children’s lunch money be taken in order for taxes to be kept low for big business. I am answering the
demand with a (figurative) cannon shot, and the Texas flag still waves proudly from our flag pole. I shall
never surrender the fight for the children of Perrin.
Then I call on my legislators in the name of liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American
character to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy of public schools is declaring that spending on
a shiny new high-stakes testing system is “non-negotiable”, that, in essence, we must save the test but
not the teachers. The enemy of public schools is saying that Texas lawmakers won’t raise 1 penny in
taxes to save our schools.
If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and fight for the kids in the
classroom like an educator who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his community. Make
education a priority!
With all due respect and urgency,
John Kuhn, Superintendent, Perrin-Whitt CISD
But, of course, you haven’t been a Rip Van Winkle, so you know all about our conference. You have been
introduced to all of our speakers but one. So today, let’s learn all about John Kuhn.
John has been the superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt CISD in Perrin, Texas since 2010. Before that he
began his career as a Spanish and English teacher and school bus driver at Mineral Wells ISD and
Graford ISD. He served as the Mineral Wells High School principal just prior to his selection as the
superintendent in the Perrin-Whitt ISD.
He has been a vocal advocate of public education for many years, and he has spoken at conferences
across the United States. Only this spring, he rallied the crowd at the SAVE TEXAS SCHOOLS RALLY
on the steps of the state Capitol. Because of his advocacy for public education he was named “the first
hero of public education” by former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravich. His bold
editorials have appeared at CNN.com, the WASHINGTON POST, EDUCATION WEEK, and SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATOR magazine. In addition to being interviewed for countless newspaper articles and radio
programs, he appeared in the acclaimed documentary The Texas Promise. He is the author of two
education related books, Fear and Learning in America and Test-and-Punish.
John is married, and he has three school aged children. You must hear John’s message to us. He will
leave you “fired up” and ready to go to battle!
“AIN’T NO SUNSHINE WHEN YOU’RE GONE”
In 1971, Bill Withers wrote and recorded, “Ain’t no sunshine when you’re gone. Only darkness every day.”
That is how we at TACS feel when your school is not a part of our group. Invoices for membership were
sent to every eligible school district in March, and then again just last week. We want you to be a part of
our TACS “family”!
With your district’s membership, you gain a strong voice before the state legislature and the State Board
of Education on issues that matter to you. During the 84th Legislative Session TACS was actively
involved before legislative committees and in working with individual legislators to ensure legislation that
benefitted our members. TACS opposes vouchers and any voucher-like schemes, and this session we
were again successful in defeating bills designed to divert your resources to private schools. Additionally,
we are a strong voice of support for your ESC before the legislature and in legislative committees. Finally,
your membership provides opportunities for your students to earn scholarship money through our
Academic Challenge program and, with the help of corporate partners, the TACS competitive scholarship
program, and it provides opportunities for you and you and your staff to gain quality professional
development and reduced rates for professional liability insurance.
If you haven’t already, why not join with us today? You make our voice louder and our Association
stronger!
Barry Haenisch
Executive Director