Quick, Turn on 60 minutes 2 on CBS.

[Robin Hood]

About Houston schools. Even the schools in Houston under Bush's leadership have been cooking their books to make Bush look good. It turns out that the educational programs in Texas that Bush touted as his success stories during the 2000 campaign, are nothing more than cooked books.

The schools in Houston have a 60% drop out rate, but they have been making it look like the drop out rate was only 1.5%. From Enron to the Public schools, bush Co. Has really screwed Texas. I can't wait to find out how badly he is and will continue to screw the rest of the country.

It makes you wonder how hard they must be working to cook the nations economy.

[fearnobush]

1. Most of our Nation Cooks it's Books for the Chimp.

It's part of the global liberalization of capital. Read: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - Greg Palest.BBC Newsnight. <http://www.gregpalast.com/contents.htm> You can down the chapters for no charge in PDF format.

[tom_paine]

16. Yes, it's becoming a real Potemkin Empire lately, eh?

Where's Leni Reifenstahl whe you need her?

Yes, there's quite a lot of book-cooking going on.

The transition from Free World to Third World systems of accountability has not been easy for Amerika and isn't likely to get any better.

And yes, I view with skepticism any pronouncement by the Busheviks as I would those of the Bolsheviks...for the exact same reason.

I don't trust Totalitarians, even if they have opposing justifications for their Tyrannies.

[ikojo]

27. Leni Reifenstahl's media descendents are busily

working for Faux News.

[creativelcro]

2. Is that a surprise ???

Cooking the books is the only way to make "reality" match with delusion.

[tom_paine]

17. Just like Orwell's "1984"

There must be an ever expanding group of Winston Smiths working for the Busheviks.

[aquart]

3. Am I the only one who thinks: Class Action Suit?

9th graders denied Algebra because of racial profiling? Excuse me? Why aren't these kids suing Houston for billions?

Are the lawyers asleep in Texas?

[Robin Hood]

7. Class action law suit is right.

It seems like the lawyers are a sleep at the wheel or just plain scared, ever since Bush has tried to go after trial lawyers. Why isn't there a class action lawsuit against the USDA for letting infected cow meat enter the food chain before the tests came back from the lab?

This Admin is outrageously incompetent, if not incompetent than down right criminal.

[lovedems]

4. This story was on PBS months ago. Did they mention in 60 mins

that the guy who headed the Houston schools is now our secretary of education? How's that for the nations report card!

[Robin Hood]

5. Holy moly, i didn't even catch that.

This is a fraud of a presidency. This sort of operation gives you a glimpse of things to come from this presidency.

[Wonk]

14. mp3 & quicktimes here from both the 60 Min & NOW segments on this

NOW
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript238_full.html
4 M mp3
58 M quicktime


60 Min II
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/06/60II/main591676.shtml
3 M mp3
http://news.globalfreepress.com/movs/wonk/CBS/60Min/60Min.TexasMiracle.mov">49 M quicktime


If you appreciate the archival services that I've been providing here on DU using bpilgrim's globalfreepress.com bandwidth, and would like them to continue, please click both these links. The links explain why.
http://new.globalfreepress.com/
http://www.globalfreepress.com/

[Robin Hood]

19. Excellent.

Thank you Wonk.

[rumguy]

22. Thanks man, you're awesome!

I missed the 60 mins. show.

[Robin Hood]

30. I dowloaded the NOW interview and this is how it starts off.

The German dictator Adoplh Hitler didn't like universal education, He called it a corroding and disintegrating poison.

Remember that when the republicans try to say that Hitler was a socialist. He was as much a socialist as Bush is a compassonate conservative.

[SpiralHawk]

23. You talkin 'bout the "Rodster" - Rod Paige

If you are in the mood for a great laugh (which will soon be followed by a sad wail), you can read all about him and the "Texas miracle" at this CBS link:
http://uttm.com/stories/2004/01/06/60II/main591676.shtml

What a pathetic excuse for educational reform.

Mr. Bush, would you and your "appointees' please stop lying to the people of America.

-----


(CBS) It was called the “Texas Miracle,” and you may remember it because President Bush wanted everyone to know about it during his presidential campaign.

It was about an approach to education that was showing amazing results, particularly in Houston, where dropout rates plunged and test scores soared.

Houston School Superintendent Rod Paige was given credit for the school success, by making principals and administrators accountable for how well their students did.

Once he was elected president, Mr. Bush named Paige as secretary of education. And Houston became the model for the president’s “No Child Left Behind” education reform act.

Now, as Correspondent Dan Rather reports, it turns out that some of those miraculous claims which Houston made were wrong. And it all came to light when one assistant principal took a close look at his school’s phenomenally low dropout rates – and found that they were just too good to be true.

[lovedems]

34. Thanks! I couldn't remember his name.

I guess he did such a good job cooking the books on the state level, * thought he deserved a job on the national level.

[MinnFats]

6. they URGED poorly-performing kids to drop out...

....NYTimes reported a few weeks ago....school system in a panic to meet standards wi/no money to do it...presto! get rid of the students who are doing poorly, avg. test scores skyrocket! a great success story.


Houston also cooked books on crime in schools, lowballing to make it look like high=crime schools were suddenly placid oasis of safety....it's the way it's done in Bush's America.

[Robin Hood]

9. Meet standards with no money to do it

Sounds like the no child left behind BS.

[lovedems]

11. Furthermore, they took honor roll students who didn't speak English

as their primary language and put them in special ed. classes to make them exempt from the standardized tests. They feared they wouldn't do well on them because Spanish was their primary language. To my knowledge, that is when the teachers got pissed off because they saw that as a bright future lost to make the program look good. That is when they finally started to speak out.

[TreasonousBastard]

8. This is old news.

I don't have a link handy, but I remember many discussions during the 2000 campaign about how Texas schools all cooked the books to make Shrub look like he improved them.

I believe Molly Ivins had a lot to say about it.

Seems nobody much cared back then.

Or remembered it when he took his Texas "success" and foisted it on the whole country.

Methinks a fair number of people are smelling blood on the wounded Shrub, hence the dredging up of his many failures.

Watch for more.

[kath]

15. Yeppers, 3 years ago, people who were paying attention

knew that the "texas Miracle" was a friggin' joke.

[efhmc]

37. Also was going to write that it is old news but nice to see it being

talked about. I heard Dean refer to it in one of his speeches.

[Ilsa]

10. Yeah, that's just the beginning.

He gave away our budget surplus in the form of tax refunds. Our property tax rate dropped $60 a year while the corporations made off like bandits and the treasury was looted.

He brought the Houston ship channel and refinery area into the numero uno position nationally for air pollution. He appointed buggers to regulatory groups that eased all the pollution regulations.

Bush granted every wish of the religious reich here regarding abortion law, etc.

He was a disaster for Texas.

[ComerPerro]

12. Oh My Fucking God

Jesus Christ. That is just stunning.

[DieboldMustDie]

13. One kid was held back 3 years in the 9th grade...

then skipped to the 11^th so she wouldn't have to take the standardized test given in the 10^th.

[DEM FAN]

18. YA Think A Democrat Could Get Away With This BS.

:-(

[Robin Hood]

20. lol..

Let's see if Fox reports this..

Bwahahahah!!! Yeah right!

[rumguy]

21. God, this is huge!

I'm psyched that the truth is coming out. This man, Bush, is such an aweful, pitiful fraud. His backers are blind, mean, and greedy. Fuck I hate Bush!

[SoCalDem]

24. I have seen this story covered elsewhere.. about a year ago

But, even though it will be said "that's old news..ut was covered", the news media will NOT pound this story home like they should..

The school/testing thing is BOGUS.. It's just a way to funnel education money into the pockets of the ones who develop the tests and the software to tally the results..

Teachers hate it, kids hate it.. It's nonsense, but since it's the "law", they have to do it.. Schools go through such contortions to "make their results appear good", and in the scheme of things, the kids lose out. Kids only get ONE CHANCE to go to school, and if they miss out on something valuable in 5th grade or 8th grade, they NEVER get it back..

It's very telling, how the republicans in charge now are moving at breakneck speed to "revise, reform, fix" everything that has traditionally been a recipient of federal funds..

These cretins don't care if kids are educated.. They want cheap.. They want fast.. they want black/white...good/evil..

The damage that they are doing to the infrastructure is just downright obnoxious..

Think about what they have "fixed"..

Medicare
Prescription insurance plans
education
aid to the poor
taxes

They are determined to "unravel" the very fabric of our society.:(

[durutti]

25. 60 Minutes has done a lot of good stuff lately.

I'm impressed.

[Bucky]

26. Hey, I teach in a Houston High School! These reports are...

Absolutely true. Rod Paige has a history of fathering policies that encourage administrators to cook books rather than fix problems. He's a nut.

[MissB]

31. I watched that nut (Paige) on Judy Woodruff's show yesterday

She is a miserable excuse for a cable news anchor. I might possibly be a bit more informed on the NCLB act, albeit barely.

She had no idea what to ask him. She basically asked him why so many schools were failing. He had the audacity to say that the states had plenty of money. She could not come up with a followup. She clearly knew so little about it that she just couldn't figure out what to ask next.

[Pikku]

36. I can't understand why charges haven't been filed yet

But I do predict that Rod Paige is not long for this administration. He's a liability.

[ikojo]

28. The sad thing is that the Democrats are not making this

a campaign issue. If Clinton had done such a thing in Arkansas and then appointed the guy responsible for the debacle in Houston to a cabinet position the Republicans would have called for an investigation.

Remember the pugs started in on Clinton when they were a MINORITY party so control of the House or Senate SHOULD have no bearing on whether investigations are called. If the Dems pounded the drums hard and consistently then these things might develop legs as they say in the news industry.

We need a REAL opposition party in this country, not one who says me too or else beats up on those who brings this stuff to light. Until then Bushco will continue to pillage this country until it is but a third world nation.

[pacifictiger]

35. Patience on using this as a campaign issue

In the iowa debate earlier this week, they were all mentioning it, although not in detail. I'm sure once the nomination is made later this year they will make use of all ammunition and come out with both barrels blasting. In the meantime, start gathering all the facts to pass on.

[Killarney]

29. Holy mother of God!

I am so proud of 60 Minutes right now.

NCLB is horrible and this is proof.

[Wonk]

32. kick

[UTUSN]

33. Too Bad Our Crack Media Didn't Check Things in 2000

Yeppers, they thought it was SO cowboy cute when Shrub glared and threatened, "Don't mess with Texas." Check out Shrub's record in Texas?----why would anybody bother with THAT???!!!