The Dallas Morning News has provided something really good -- a side-by-side presentation of the views of various candidates in the Texas primary elections.

Please go to this link:

http://www.thevoterguide.org/v/dallas/race-index.do

Scroll on down until you find the race(s) in which you are interested.  When you find the screen on which the candidates’ bios are found, scroll on down to see their side-by-side comments.  These are very revealing indeed.

In particular, please go to the contest between Thomas Ratliff and Don McLeroy, Texas State Board of Education, District 9. If you want to see the difference between a conservative traditionalist who has good old common sense vs. a mouthpiece for the “education blob” who has a lobbyist’s mentality, please read through their comments.

 http://www.thevoterguide.org/v/dallas/race-detail.do?id=192220602&party=R 

As you read through the DMN Voter Guide, please notice that when Ratliff is asked about the new English / Language Arts / Reading, Science, and Social Studies standards that the SBOE has worked so hard to adopt over the last two years, he got off on a tangent where he railed about the process rather than the content of the standards.   

To be honest, I doubt that Ratliff even knows what superb elements are now found in the new Texas standards; and these will form the basis of future textbooks, instructional materials, and tests.  If his children are still in the public schools, Ratliff should be very grateful that they will be the beneficiaries of much improved academic standards in the coming years.   

Ratliff lists his occupation as a “Legislative Consultant.”  That is a fancy name for a lobbyist. In other words, he feeds at the trough of public monies.  

Ratliff has been a lobbyist for Microsoft for at least ten years.  He has long-standing relationships with MS.  When issues come up before the SBOE that involve his lobbying cronies, how could Ratliff possibly be impartial?  He might recuse himself from voting directly; but as an SBOE member, he certainly could influence the votes of the other SBOE members not to mention the fact that he would have insider information to feed to his various lobbyist friends, thus giving them a decided advantage.  

How could Ratliff possibly sit on the SBOE and make fair decisions for our Texas students and classroom teachers when he has deep alliances with the “the good old boy network”?   This is the same network that has an insatiable appetite for raising school taxes and spending endless dollars on education fads.  Ratliff’s campaign manager is Dr. Jenny Preston, the former superintendent of Allen ISD, Forney ISD and Graham ISD.   

Ratliff’s Microsoft ties should be of particular concern to voters because it is Bill and Melinda Gates of Microsoft who are behind the Race to the Top, an effort by the federal government to take over the public schools with national standards, national tests, national curriculum, and a national database. The national database is where Microsoft could make a fortune. It will be interesting to see who will win that bid for the national database. (Please go to http://peytonwolcott.com/ to learn more.)   

Thankfully Gov. Perry and Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott have wisely said “No” to the Common Core Standards and the Race to the Top funds that have been dangled in states’ faces by the federal government.   

Thomas B. Ratliff is a registered lobbyist with the State of Texas (#00031723):  http://bbs.ethics.state.tx.us/public/lobby/327427.pdf 

Under Subject Matter Categories, Ratliff has marked such categories on his lobbyist registration as state agencies/boards/commissions and also education among others. 

 Here are the links to the Texas Ethics Commission site. I have listed some of Ratliff’s various education-related clients.

2010 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2010d.htm -- Microsoft

2009 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2009d.htm -- Microsoft  

2008 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2008d.htm -- Microsoft 

2007 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2007d.htm -- Microsoft 

2006 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2006d.htm  -- Microsoft and Texas Association of School Boards 

2005 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2005d.htm -- Microsoft 

2004 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2004d.htm -- Microsoft 

2003 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2003d.htm -- Microsoft -- JR3 Education Associates  

2002 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2002d.htm -- Microsoft -- JR3 Education Associates

2001 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2001d.htm -- Microsoft

2000 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon2000d.htm -- Microsoft

1999 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon9d.htm -- Microsoft

1998 -- http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/tedd/lobcon8d.htm -- Microsoft

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. 

Donna Garner
wgarner1@hot.rr.com

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