Dallas Examiner, 3/10/11 - "Budget cuts: Community looks for intelligent answers"

Sen. Royce West and Rep. Yvonne Davis were on hand at Concord Missionary Baptist Church last Sunday for a short yet tightly focused community meeting about the state budget and what it means for Dallas parents, schoolteachers, elected officials, and other interested stakeholders. Among those present were city councilman Tennell Atkins, and DISD trustees Lew Blackburn, Bernadette Nutall, and Carla Ranger.

“The reason for the meeting was that people want to come together to get intelligent answers on what we’re facing as far as school districts,” said community activist Claudia Fowler. Fowler stressed the educational nature of the meeting, and the intent of Sen. West and Yvonne Davis to dispel misinformation about both the state’s fiscal position and to persuade attendees of the importance of putting sustained pressure on the Capitol.  

Dallas Examiner, 3/3/11 - "Disparity Study examines Texas contracts, Black businesses"

The Comptroller of Public Accounts’ (CPA) Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program was originally conceived as a means to close the gap between minority- and women-owned businesses and the most lucrative contracting opportunities in the public and private sectors. For some, such as minority business enterprise (MBE) advocacy organizations like the Minority Business Enterprise Institute of Public Policy (MBEIPP), this remains an ongoing struggle despite the raft of resources and advice that the state makes available.

“What I believe is that if we’re going to have a sustained economic recovery, it has to be job-based. In order for it to be job-based, it must include small businesses, and the fastest-growing segment of small businesses are those owned by people of color,” said Cliff Miller, a founding director of MBEIPP, in a recent interview with the Dallas Examiner.

Liveblogging the Texas Legislative Black Caucus 2011 African American Legislative Summit

Monday, Feb. 28, 2011
9:00 AM - Opening Remarks on the Floor of the House Chamber

Words of greeting from numerous members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. The high point came in the form of an energetic address from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who exhorted those in attendance to channel their energies into advocacy on behalf of the disadvantaged.

11:00 AM - Legislative Initiatives Panel Discussion

Representatives Harold Dutton (D-Houston), Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) and Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas) conducted a wide-ranging discussion of a variety of issues of interest to African-Americans in Texas. Of particular concern was the state budget crisis. A note of emergency was sounded due to the fact that the steepest budget cuts that are being proposed by Republicans are in the areas of public education, higher education, and Medicaid. There were exhortations from all who took the microphone that the state Rainy Day Fund, of about $9 billion, be drawn down to help close the deficit. The point was repeatedly made that closing tax loopholes, reconsidering tax breaks and abatements for well-heeled companies--i.e. "spreading the pain around," in the words of Rep. Dutton--should be part of the budget discussion but hasn't been. Citizens were repeatedly urged to pressure their representatives, even if they were of the opposing party.

Dallas Examiner, 2/24/11 - "Schools may suffer most from budget cuts"

With the Senate version of the state budget already being picked apart in hearings, House members have only recently been given their committee assignments. But it was HB 1, the House preliminary budget released at the start of the session, that kicked off the earliest wave of denunciations from Democrats who feel that the proposed budget cuts are too draconian, and disproportionately target the most vulnerable Texans.

“We are here to champion the dreams and opportunities of Texas families, of our children, of our seniors, and we feel that these dreams and opportunities are now threatened by the budget that has been laid out today,” said Rep. Jessica Ferrar (D-Houston) at the Jan. 19 press conference that served as the Democrats’ opening salvo in a budget battle that for some boils down to a simple question: Who should bear the burden?

Dallas Examiner, 2/17/11 - "State of the State"

Gov. Rick Perry delivered his State of the State address last Monday, making it clear to lawmakers and the public that he envisions a balanced budget that preserves essential services without requiring raising taxes, and that the final result of the budget crucible will be a streamlined state government and a Texas that continues to be a national economic leader.

"As leaders, we must continue to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars and truly reform our approach to governance," Gov. Perry said. "Our discussions about streamlining state government must be followed by a willingness to act, including consolidating or suspending non-mission-critical entities until the economy improves."

Despite widespread fears among many, especially educators and HHS (health and human services) providers, that the state budget crisis will necessitate steep and painful cuts that aren’t likely to be reversed any time soon, Perry sounded an optimistic note about the state’s economic future.

"As this thing gets rolling, some folks are painting a pretty grim picture of our situation. So I think we need to balance their pessimism with some good news that continues to flow from our comparatively strong economy. Have the doomsayers forgotten that Texas added more jobs in 2010 than any other state? Last year the growth rate of Texas jobs was nearly double the growth rate of any other state."

Dallas Examiner, 1/27/11 - "DISD Task Force Faces Challenges"

Plagued by high drop-out rates and low test scores, Black male students have long been a particular object of concern for education reformers. Devising solutions which take into account the special challenges faced by Black males while also taking for granted their innate ability to achieve is another matter.

DISD’s newest attempt at a solution, the African American Male Task Force, hopes to chart new paths. The task force’s mission statement: To eliminate the achievement gap of African American male students by ensuring that their academic, social, cultural and emotional needs are being met as they engage in rigorous and relevant instruction, while striving to become college and workforce ready. As part of DISD’s larger African American Student Success Initiative, the task force’s overarching aim, according to Task  Force chair Robert Edison, is to deploy data-driven interventions at the academic, psychosocial, and institutional level in order to improve educational outcomes for Black males.

With the blessing of Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Edison and the rest of the task force are trying to formulate new approaches to the problem of Black male underachievement without restigmatizing a group already stereotyped as being perpetually in crisis. The group held its first meeting last September, and received input from students during a “Speak Out” event held on Dec. 3. Edison envisions a menagerie of pilot projects that will hopefully evolve into tomorrow’s conventional wisdom for dealing with the unique challenges faced by Black male students.

The Examiner caught up with Edison to ask him some questions about the task force.

Dallas Examiner, 1/20/11 - "Texas legislative session highlights budget, redistricting"

The 82^nd session of the Texas Legislature promises to be an eventful one for African-Americans. Upcoming battles over the budget and redistricting are expected to dominate the headlines. Black lawmakers are fully aware that the widespread alarm over the state’s fiscal position—a $25 billion deficit—will bear mightily on any new programs they wish to create.

“The biggest issue is going to be the budget,” said Sen. Royce West, “to make certain that we’re not playing defense but offense, to make certain there are no onerous cuts that will severely impact the constituents in the district.”

Still, that hasn’t stopped Sen. West from pledging to spur the legislature to action on issues such as homeowners’ association abuses, expunging the records of the wrongfully convicted and curbing abuses in the payday lending industry.