Grading Texas

Teachers and retirees, Gov. Perry may have a deal for you digging into your hardearned pensions to help build more roll roads for Texas.

In his Burkablog, linked below, Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka reminds us that Perry has entertained that idea in the past. The Teacher Retirement System board rejected it then, but as Burka also points out, Perry has been known to pressure reluctant appointees – or replace them – in order to get his way with other agencies. And, as a whistleblower pointed out in a memo made public by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White this week, the TRS board (all Perry appointees) is very susceptible to political pressure.

Toll roads are dicey propositions that could really harm the financial integrity of the TRS fund. What’s more, toll roads are very unpopular with many Texans. But, remember, Perry likes them, and they were key components of his widely hated and allegedly deceased Trans Texas Corridor.

Depending on who wins this election, maybe the Trans Texas Corridor will rise again – on the backs of educators and retirees.

In case you are still catching up on the TRS story, the whistleblower, a former TRS manager, said in his memo that Perry’s appointees on the TRS board had pressured TRS managers to make potentially risky investments with companies whose executives had given Perry large political contributions. TRS claimed an external “investigation” had cleared the agency of wrongdoing.

In his blog, Burka also notes that the alleged “investigation,” conducted by a lawyer with potential TRS conflicts of his own, was a sham.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=8171

To no one’s surprise, Gov. Rick Perry was quick to dismiss challenger Bill White’s allegations that Perry’s administration has been abusing the Teacher Retirement System fund to benefit some of the governor’s major political donors – against the advice of investment experts and at the potential risk to teacher pensions.

No, Rick Perry is not going to acknowledge that he has a payforplay attitude toward state government, even though White’s allegations are backed up by a TRS whistleblower’s memo and follow on the heels of an independent investigation by The Dallas Morning News of taxpayerfunded technology grants given to companies in which other Perry contributors have been involved.

Over the years, Perry also has been caught making major appointments of interest to big contributors either just before or just after receiving large political donations from the same contributors. Just coincidental, or that is always his story.

Now – and also to no one’s surprise – the TRS board has circled the wagons in Perry’s defense. They all are his appointees, after all, and an election is on top of us. Early voting already has started. TRS claimed the allegations raised by White and the whistleblower all were examined last year by an “independent” investigator, who found no problem.

That alleged “independent” investigator, however, was not so independent. He was a former Securities and Exchange commissioner whose law firm has represented clients who might benefit from TRS funding. The state auditor and the attorney general’s office reviewed his report, but it isn’t clear how thorough their reviews were.

Ultimately, the bottom line for educators and retired educators is whether they can trust Perry and his appointees to manage the TRS fund for their maximum benefit, not as a favor to the governor’s friends. Given Perry’s political favoritism and his dismal record on teacher pay and overall education funding, I don’t know why they would.

Teachers are underpaid (34th in the country in average pay), and school districts are struggling with budgetary problems that will worsen if Perry gets to impose the deep spending cuts he has in mind for next year.

Teachers and retirees know how important the TRS fund is. For many, it is their only or main source of retirement income because most Texas teachers don’t get Social Security, thanks to a federal law that needs changing.

Educators can fight that federal law another day. But they can get Perry’s hands off their TRS pensions now.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texaspolitics/teacherretirementsystemdeniesallegationsofpoliticalinfluence981449.html

Follow this link to a story about the latest allegations about the Perry administration giving state business to political contributors. This one involves handling of the Teacher Retirement System fund, a nest egg for many teachers and retired teachers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101904245.html

My “Top 10 reasons to vote against Rick Perry,” posted yesterday, prompted a response from an educator and former Houston resident, who questioned why voting for Democratic nominee Bill White for governor would be any better.

“That leaves us, as educators, between a rock and a hard place. Do we vote for Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum?” the reader asked.

Comparing Tweedle Dee to Tweedle Dum in the governor’s race, however, more accurately describes the choice between Perry and the Libertarian candidate, not Bill White. Perry and the Libertarian have a lot in common. They both are campaigning against government, even though Perry has been on the taxpayer payroll for 24 years, the last 10 as governor.

Perry enjoys the prestige and perks of his office – and the opportunities to reward political friends – but has a history of neglecting public services, including the public schools, just as the Libertarian would. And, Perry is planning, if reelected, to make more cuts in an already inadequate school funding system. His education commissioner already has proposed cutting $260 million for a range of important items – including updated textbooks and science labs from the next public education budget.

If Perry has his way, many educators will no longer be between a rock and a hard place. They will be under a rock – jobless.

Bill White appreciates the role of government and is running for governor because he actually wants to govern. He also recognizes and values the importance of public education and has vowed to make that a priority. He is the son of two public school teachers and the father of a teacher.

As mayor of Houston, he knocked on doors, encouraging dropouts to return to the classroom and, as governor, would continue to attack the statewide dropout problem, which Perry largely has ignored. White recognizes the importance of early childhood development in longterm dropout prevention. Perry vetoed a bipartisan prekindergarten bill.

White also believes the role of the State Board of Education should be to further the cause of education, not to spread political and religious ideology. His SBOE chairs won’t be extremists.

White will listen to educators, not go out of his way to undermine them with budget cuts and illadvised schemes to siphon tax dollars from the public schools to pay for private school vouchers.

There is a clearcut choice between White and Perry, and educators who fail to vote will be kicking themselves come January.