Budget Flexibility

When it comes to managing a budget, consider the lesson taught to me by three exceptional school leaders, Richard Hooker, Bob Brezina, and Shirley Neeley. Always have some wiggle room. 

In your budget, you need to disguise an emergency fund.  At some time during the year, something is going to happen where the only way to solve the problem is throw money at it.  It might be a repair, a consultant, a training or overtime, but without the funds, the campus is up a creek. Being a good budget steward is not about saving money, it is about being effective and efficient with money in a way that allows the mission of the school to be accomplished. 

  

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals Conference; The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Resume Reminders

Just a couple reminders about your resume.

First, you should update your resume at least once a year.  Add your new accomplishments and cull the experiences that are now ancient history.  You should do this just prior to your annual appraisal. It's a great way to be prepared to discuss the year in a way that showcases your areas of strengths.  If you don’t have to sit for an annual appraisal, updating your resume is still a good practice. Many grants, presentation proposals, requests for testimony, and contracts now require the inclusion of a resume.

Second, if you are looking for a new job or think that you may soon be looking for a new job, update your resume every six months.

Third, if you are searching for a Principal or Assistant Principal job, don’t forget the rule of 100 (first shared with me by one of my mentors, Dr. Richard Hooker).

It takes 100 applications...

To get 10 interviews...

To get 1 job.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: ESC 11 Summer Conference (Keynote Presentation); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote Presentation) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Readers Comment... Debt is a Detriment to Leadership - Part 1

In response to the 10/12/12 post, “Debt is a Detriment to Leadership,” a number of readers sent in comments.  The comments fell into three categories: A) Interesting; B) You are right; and C) I wish someone had shared this with me early in my career.

I was lucky, I had a number of mentors that got into my personal business and insisted that I keep my financial house in order. Who were these mentors? They were the heavy weights in school finance and school leadership in the 80’s and 90’s, Dr. Richard Hooker, Robert ‘Bob’ Brezina, and Dr. John Sawyer.  Here is the short version of their advice:

1.  If you are lucky, you will be able to move up in your current organization.  Don’t plan on it. The higher you go, the more likely it is that you will move.

2. As you move up in position, it is likely that initially you will move down in salary.

3. Live well below your means.

4. Don’t buy a house that you can’t lease or sell quickly.

5. Financial liquidity equals options and opportunity.

I hope this advice serves you as well as it has served me.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A Reader Writes... Consolidation - Part 3

In response to the 8/16/12 post, “Consolidation – Part 2,” a LYS Superintendent writes:

SC,

Great response and I love your answer. But how do we overcome this dilemma and expose the far right's agenda and their hijacking of a political party to the public?  

After witnessing the 15% rule fall this past spring it looks like "Mad Mommas" are the best way to grab the legislature's attention.  How do we get parents to understand how public schools are being dismantled? Like the original reader, I am frustrated. It feels like the continuous effort to fight for public education against this hostile agenda continues to take away from our mission of ensuring that our students learn and that they are prepared for their future. 

SC Response

As the pendulum continues to swing to the far right I think we have three choices.

1. Do nothing, say nothing.  Which is the polite thing to do.  And as a group, educators are polite, to the detriment of the profession.

2. Assist in the push to the right. You would be surprised at the number of educators who complain about the current situation yet continue to vote for those causing the situation. I find this maddening.

3. Purposefully educate and communicate.  Whether we realize it or not, people look to us to explain things.  When we do, “Mad Mommas” get fired up.  When we do, bonds elections are successful. When we do, good things happen for our schools.

Does this take away from the mission to educate students? Dr. Richard Hooker would argue that as Principals and Superintendents, not leading your public allows the mission of public schools to be determined by those who care nothing about the welfare of children. He could not be more correct. If only I listened to him when he first tried to teach me this back in 1992.

It boils down to this. We, as school leaders, must step up and educate the adults in our community if our teachers are going to have a fighting chance to educate the children in our schools.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Upcoming Presentations: Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A LYSer Shares... Our Anti-Public School Leaders

A LYS Assistant Superintendent share the following:

Clearly, our Governor does not want a school person to be appointed to the Commissioner’s position.  We now have a lifetime politician, with no training in how schools operate, function, meet teaching/learning requirements, or how to support our teachers.  However, he was the Railroad Commissioner and knew about the same in dealing with oil and gas as he does education!  We need someone with an education-based skill set like Mike Moses. Is this truly a fresh approach?  Or is it yet another political appointee that will further the agenda of Governor Perry and his friends? 

Perry has no instincts of what school is all about. I can see him asking, “Commissioner Williams, what do you think about education?”

And our new Commissioner will reply, “Well, I think everyone should have one.” 

I am fearful of our future.  Beware of Perry, Dewhurst, Patrick and the voucher people. 

SC Response

I have no problem admitting that I gave up on Perry a long time ago. It is quite clear by his actions that not only does he want to dismantle public education, he also has no respect or appreciation for educators who have dedicated their entire careers to improving the lot of all children, regardless of their background.  I know little about the new Commissioner, but to believe that he is the most qualified person for the position is difficult to swallow.  Without question this appointment is a purely political move and as educators our only recourse is to quit voting for Perry and his anti-public school allies.

What I find most disturbing about our current situation is that fifteen years ago, one of my mentors, Dr. Richard Hooker, predicted this with almost 100% accuracy. Now I have to admit, to both him and the world, that he was right and I was wron...

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Upcoming Presentations: Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals (Keynote), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A Reader Submits... Madoff School Finance

A LYS reader submits the following commentary on school funding decisions.

Madoff school finance goes like this:

Hey community, we need a $10 million dollar bond. We need a new addition here, a new weight room there, a renovation to that library, a new indoor athletic practice facility, and maybe technology upgrades if funds permit. This will only cost you $20 a month out of your paycheck.

Hey community, we need a Tax Rollback Election (TRE) to pay for educational expenses. Teachers will be fired if we don't pass this. Armageddon is on the way if we don’t pass this.

What?

No, you can't bring up that new weight room and indoor practice facility. That is different pile of money.

What?

It all comes out of your paycheck, bottom line, regardless of what pile we scam you into putting it? You don't support schools, you fiend! The legislature doesn’t support schools either. They should send us more of someone else's paycheck!

SC Response

Great, now I have to channel Dr. Richard Hooker (you might know him Robin Hood) for you.

Community, we need to build and/or upgrade our facilities. Children in our district will use these facilities for years to come. These facilities will make our community a more desirable location for people looking for a place to raise a family. The cost of these facilities could be $50 a year for the next 5 years or $20 a year for the next 15 years. Should we share the cost of this infrastructure upgrade across generations or shoulder it all ourselves.

Now community, we have to pay to operate our schools this year. So we can’t forget that we are responsible for that also. We have to meet numerous state and federal mandates and there are things that we want to do locally. Now the state has committed to fund schools at a certain level, but it doesn’t. And it hasn’t rolled back its mandates. So we have to tax above the amount required to fulfill just our local initiatives. But...

A) Luckily due to industry, mineral wealth or and/or our really big houses, we don’t have to tax ourselves at a very high rate to cover the difference. However, some of our locally collected funds will be sent to property poor districts. But, even though it hurts, all property tax revenue actually belongs to the state so redistribution is fair and logical.

OR

B) Unfortunately we have little industry or mineral wealth and we have small houses. We can tax ourselves at the maximum allowable rate and we will still come up short. But if we do our part, the state will send us relief from the property rich districts.

Now the Anti Public School Agenda finance plan goes like this:

Public schools are bad. If they keep educating all those poor, black and brown kids they will want to earn a living wage and one day they might elect a minority president. Why should I pay for that? I like things just the way they are. I can I camouflage my elitist ideals?

I know, we will hold schools accountable to educating those poor, black and brown kids at a high level. Since those kids don’t want to learn, the schools will fail and we will be justified in dismantling the whole system.

What?

They are meeting the standard? Then reform “Robin Hood.” That will slow them down.

What?

They met the standard again? Ok, time for some tax reform. Take away their local taxing authority. Call it property tax relief. Tell them the state will make up the difference by increasing business taxes and that this time we promise that we will fulfill the state’s commitment to education. No, of course we’re not going to tax businesses higher. Why would I do that to my friends and myself?

Great. Now we don’t have enough money. Let’s blame the schools for being wasteful. The public will buy that. And get my corporate buddies on the line. How much will they contribute to my re-election fund if I outsource the whole thing to them? If the public thinks Superintendents get paid a lot, they should pay attention to what CEOs get paid.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Coming Soon! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" www.TheFundamentalFive.com

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out); Book Release Event and Signing; Fundamental Five; Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

Teacher Appreciation - Fundamental 5 Dedications

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Dr. Mike Laird and I would like to share the dedications from our soon to be released (within the next three weeks) book, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction”.

Laird’s Dedication:

I dedicate this book to the most important people in education today, classroom teachers. When all is said and done, it is the teachers who do the heavy lifting in education. What and how well they teach our children is critical to our future success as a society, and they deserve the best leadership and support that we can provide them.

Cain’s Dedication:

I dedicate this book to the five educators who made the biggest impact on my education, career, and life: Ronald Maas (Aldine ISD), Betsy Shipper (Aldine ISD), Tommy Wallace (Aldine ISD), Roy Smith (Aldine ISD), and Richard Hooker (University of Houston). I stand on their shoulders.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Coming Soon! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" www.TheFundamentalFive.com

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out); Fundamental Five; Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

A Reader Writes... (Pursuing My First Principalship)

In response to the post, "Pursuing My First Principalship," a reader writes:

“As I recall from the Hooker rule of thumb, the 100 to 10 to 1 ratio was dependent upon your willingness to move. Some people refuse to look no more than a pre-determined number of miles from their current home. I understand this, and have even stipulated a distance before. The reality is if you are not willing to move, your odds of finding the position you want are greatly diminished. Besides, many districts require senior administrators (principals and higher) to live inside the district.”

SC Response
Just this morning I was talking to an LYS principal who applied for his first Assistant Superintendent position, sat for an interview and was a finalist, but lost out to another candidate. He was a little dejected and miffed and I reminded him that getting an interview on the first application was a gift and that to get over himself and remember the big picture.

Early on (again Hooker) it was pointed out to me that a leadership career is like a double elimination tournament. Relatively easy to get into; just get your certification while you are teaching. But each step above teacher is significantly harder to crack, with the competition gets stiffer and the number of slots rapidly decreasing. Mess up, and you might get a second chance but don’t count on a third one. Here is the basic math.

There are 20 to 30 teacher positions for 1 assistant principal position. Luckily, most teachers don’t want to be an assistant principal so the odds are probably around 10 to 1.

There are 2 to 4 assistant principal positions for 1 principal position. Unfortunately, most AP’s want to be a principal. So there are 2 to 3 leadership candidates vying for each principalship. Of which at least 50% have more experience and better connections than you have.

There are 5 to 25 principal positions for 1 assistant superintendent position. But now the career tournament gets serious. Of those 25 principals, 5 to 10 are actively looking for a promotion and they are aggressive, ambitious and can generally make a good case that they are better than you.

There are about 4 assistant superintendent positions for 1 superintendent position. But don’t forget, there are principals, athletic directors and non-traditional candidates who are also in the hunt. This means that there are at least 4 to 6 solid candidates for each position.

From the top looking down, for each superintendent there are about 1,000 to 1,500 educators at work. And each step above teacher is not only was harder to secure, due to scarcity and the quality of the competition, but the position also brings greater risk. No matter what anyone downstream thinks, the higher the position, the easier it is to get fired (which is one reason why the pay is greater).

These facts should make two things clear to the reader. 1) There is a reason Superintendents have egos bigger than battleships. Their egos are built step by step, through years of hard work, personal risk, success and victory. 2) If you want to be a leader, you need to work at it everyday. No one owes you a position and your competition wants what you want. Plus, with every upward move, your competition is better qualified and better prepared.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Submits... Pursuing My First Principalship

An active member of the LYS Nation submits:

“Again, I have to admit that SC is right. If you are looking for your first principalship outside of your home district, it will take 100 applications, for ten interviews, for one job. By my count, I have now applied for 43 open positions. I have had three interviews. I have been the runner-up twice and I am still waiting for "the big chair” job.

What I have gleaned through this process is I am able to learn a lot about the district by how they treat applicants, interview candidates and make their final selection. You really begin to understand an organization in your attempt to become part of it. Clear communication, friendliness, collegiality, and vision reveal themselves from the first phone conversation to the last.

If I do not get a particular job because I am passionate, on fire, enthusiastic and an LYS change agent, then so be it. I will not compromise who I am. I drink the "LYS Kool-aid" and believe in its tenets. The LYS philosophy that has changed my life and the life of my students!!!"

SC Response
First of all, though I wish I could take credit for it, Dr. Richard Hooker (an icon in Texas public education) shared the 100 application rule with me when I was a frustrated teacher trying to land my first AP job. When he told it to me I was skeptical, but like you, over time I have found that it is a good rule of thumb. And it helps to remind you during your search that the rejection is just part of the process.

Second, I glad you are starting to see that the interview process is a two-way street. After all, if a district can’t treat strangers (who they want to impress) with professionalism and dignity and communicate a sense of mission and purpose, how do you think they treat and support their actual staff?

Third, the search process does have a hidden positive benefit. It smoothes off the rough edges of our delivery and makes us focus on the critical components of our message. A skillful leader is able to make and support her case concisely, with conviction, without alienating the audience. A host of skeptical interview committees that holds the keys to your career provides you with multiple opportunities to practice and refine this particular skill.

Fourth, when you are applying for the next level job, there are two candidate piles, with experience and without experience. Those with experience have a significant advantage. So when you are in the second group, it takes a little more time, perseverance and sometimes a break. What it doesn’t take is luck. Luck is just the intersection of preparation and opportunity. This means you have to keep preparing and keep putting yourself out there.

Finally, thanks for the kind words and know that your success is what motivates us.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Submits... Hiring Decisions

An up and coming LYS Assistant Principal submits.

“Yet again, the LYS administrator was denied a job because the tempo, enthusiasm, and drive to make teachers step up their game and come out of their comfort zones threatened the status quo. I am beginning to see how lost 50% of superintendents are. They are afraid to rock the boat for improved performance. They only want peace, harmony and business as usual.

The sad thing is that this district’s community and student populations are changing rapidly and the district does not have an answer for their diminishing test scores. I gave them a solution to their problem in the form of a fired up, front-line leader. As a finalist for the job, they had a clear cut choice between a young go-getter or a safe, status quo loving, “yes” man. End of the story.

I will not compromise my values and my commitment to students and our LYS practices just to sit in the big chair. Students first and LYS till the day I die.”

SC Response
First of all, we have to remember that we don’t get every job we apply for (thank the Lord). Dr. Richard Hooker taught me that the formula for getting a principalship in a different district than where you currently work is 100 applications for 10 interviews for 1 job. And that is if you interview well. The other significant variable is experience in the position vs. no experience in the position. Right now you have none, so all ties go to the experienced candidate. It might not be fair, but it is less risky for the employer.

I think without realizing it, you hit on a valid point. Campuses look for different types of leaders, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly. Some campuses need maintainers, some need change agents, some need healers, some need firebrands, and some just don’t know what they need. That’s what the interview is for. On paper, most of us look more alike than different. If you aren’t what they are looking for (in your case, a firebrand change agent), be glad they didn’t hire you.

Also, look at the bright side. You now know of another job opening before anyone else does. Call that superintendent and tell her that it is her lucky day. She gets to trade up. Being the first with a solution to a problem is a sure fire way to advance your career, and a principal opening is a mighty big problem.

I’ll close with a personal story. Back in the mid 1990’s, I was a very young and raw AP in a large urban district. I was trying desparately to get an assistant principal job in a district with a great reputation and a great superintendent. At least three times, I was the runner-up candidate. As I was preparing for yet another AP interview in the district, I got a call back from the long shot principal interview that I sat for. Brezina hired me as a principal and the rest is history. If I had been offered any of those other AP positions, I wouldn’t have applied for the job in Brezina’s district and my career would have taken a much different trajectory at a guaranteed slower pace. Sometimes, rejection is the best thing that can happen to you.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Readers Write... (Quick Advice for AP's, Vol. 2 - Parts 2 and 3)

In response to the posts relating to “Quick Advice for AP’s – Vol. 2,” two readers write:

“I guess I missed the non-LYS’er AP dialogue and if the AP warning that B & B might visit their campuses was based on that information then I, for one, was certainly out in left field or right field and certainly not "centered" field. So, in the future, it would be helpful for an identifier "not for general consumption."

Can you just refresh my memory on that blogalogue? Also, are there official and unofficial LYS’ers?”

AND

“If that weak post killed your mood, check yourself. As a veteran LYS principal, I have questioned Brezina and Brown. Cain knows this. But I have never disagreed with them (especially publicly).

Why? Because every time I have doubted them I have found out later (battered and bruised as a result of my poor decision) that Brezina and Brown don't give advice lightly. You are free to accept or reject. Occasionally, I rejected. I paid. You don't have to.”

SC Response
The short version of my post was that disagreeing with Brezina and Brown is not the most prudent move for an inexperienced leader. Plus, there was a reminder to keep in mind that if they show up on your campus, someone way above our pay grade wanted them there.

Are there official and unofficial LYS’ers? That’s a good question. In my mind there are Old School LYS’ers, New LYS’ers, Anti-LYS’ers, and What are LYS’ers. Old School LYS’ers are just a loose band of school leaders that were never satisfied with yesterday’s performance. They found each other and competed against each other. They can usually trace their roots back to the likes of Brezina, Brown, Schaper, Richardson, Hooker, Neeley, Donaldson, Guthrie and Berry.

New LYS’ers either found the blog and joined in because it resonated with their beliefs or had Brezina, Brown, or one of the people they trained, work with them, their campus or their district. New LYS’ers can eventually become Old School LYS’ers.

Anti-LYS’ers are generally focused on process, feelings and complexity. In “Good to Great” terms, they are the foxes. Or in the worst case scenario, they are threatened by LYS’ers because they are comfortable or uncoachable.

What are LYS’ers don’t even know that we exist.

Finally, the second writer drives home the point I was trying to make. There is a reason why Brezina and Brown are legends. They have walked the walk. And unlike their peers, they continue to go to schools everyday to find the answers that that we are all searching for. I don’t expect anyone to blindly accept what they say as gospel. However, if all you bring to the table is limited experience and a “feeling,” listening and taking notes might be your best course of action.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Quit Voting for Idiots

Those of you who know me, most likely know that I am a proud Texan. So much so that I really do not understand why all of you who live in Not-Texas states don’t pledge allegiance to Texas every morning like we do. But I’m about to quit saying the pledge (at least for a day or two) if we don’t do something about the idiots on our State Board of Education.

Their latest foray into inspirational, selfless leadership is the revision of the State’s social studies curriculum. Now it seems that Thomas Jefferson’s role in shaping the political debate and landscape during our nation’s founding evidently wasn’t that significant. Religious freedom? Only if you are a member of the right religion. And Jefferson Davis, now it seems he is equally important as Abraham Lincoln.

One of my mentors, Dr. Richard Hooker (the “Robin Hood” of the “Robin Hood” plan), told a group of aspiring principal back in 1995 that if we keep voting for ideologues who hate public education that we will eventually get what we deserve. Evidently besides being brilliant, Dr. Hooker was also psychic.

LYS Nation, either start voting and/or don’t vote a straight ticket. It is the straight ticket that guarantees that you are voting for some of the biggest idiot on the ballot. And shame on you, BOE. The Eyes of Texas are embarrassed.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...