Stimulus May Help Houston Area Schools

Local school administrators are dreaming about smaller class sizes and more after-school programs thanks to the federal stimulus bill signed into law Tuesday.
Texas school districts can expect a jolt of more than $3 billion over two years under the $787 billion package ushered in by President Barack Obama’s administration.

Under the bill, schools must spend much of the money on programs targeting children from low-income families and students with disabilities. That means large districts with more disadvantaged students will reap the most money — the Houston Independent School District is expected to pocket $158.6 million — though even the smaller, more affluent Friendswood ISD is slated to receive $1 million.

Officials at the Texas Education Agency, which will distribute the funds to local districts, still are reviewing the federal spending rules. But they expect tens of millions to go toward technology and also hope the federal funds can cover textbooks (the state’s book fund is short) and hurricane-related school repairs.
“I don’t think there’s a shortage of wish lists. The needs are great,” said Debbie Ratcliffe, a TEA spokeswoman. “This could help put people to work and improve the schools. But we’ve all got to be careful how we spend it and make sure it’s on reasonable, needed projects.”

Ratcliffe said the federal funds could help districts avoid layoffs, but it’s unknown how many, if any, new school jobs will be created.
Hiring plans iffy
Local district officials said they are reluctant to hire a slew of new staff because the federal funds are scheduled to dry up in two years.

“We don’t want to hire a bunch of teachers and then have to do a reduction in force. That’s very demoralizing for your staff,” said Sarah Winkler, president of the Alief school board. “Whatever we do, it’s going to be something we think we can sustain or something we think is a temporary need.”

Alief ISD stands to receive $25.8 million, or about $570 per student. In comparison, Katy ISD, which has a smaller percentage of low-income children, will get less than $200 per student. In North Forest, where nearly all the students come from poor families, the $9.9 million payout works out to nearly $1,200 per student.
HISD’s chief financial officer, Melinda Garrett, said the district is considering using the stimulus money to lower class sizes — which would mean hiring more teachers — and to extend the school day for some — which would mean extra pay for teachers.
“That money will hit the economy through some sort of spending,” Garrett said.
The extra funding for special education also is expected to help school districts nationwide, which have long complained that the federal government greatly underfunds the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

HISD, for example, receives about $77 million a year in federal funding for special education but spends an additional $150 million on top of that. The stimulus bill would deliver an extra $55.7 million to HISD for special education.
HISD’s funding for low-income children, via the federal Title I program, would double under the stimulus bill.
In Spring Branch, Superintendent Duncan Klussmann said he is considering pouring money into after-school programs . Improving technology also is an option.

“What we have to be very careful of is, the federal dollars will be a one-time infusion of funds,” he said.
The U.S. House’s plan for $16 billion for school repairs and modernization didn’t make it into the final stimulus bill, but some school construction dollars still might be available through the state’s share of the stimulus package. A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry said no details were available Tuesday.
ericka.mellon@chron.com

A virus is playing havoc with the municipal court operations in Houston.

HOUSTON (AP) -- A virus is playing havoc with the municipal court operations in Houston.

The court system had to close down Friday afternoon after a computer virus affected staff members' access to data on court cases.

Courtroom operations aren't expected to be back in business before Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, people can pay fines and conduct other court business, but judges will not call dockets.

The city of Houston is paying $25,000 to a private firm to fix the virus isolated to 475 of the city's 16,000 computers.

City officials identified the problem as a new variant of the computer virus known as Virut.

A spokeswoman for the municipal courts system, Gwendolyn Goins, told the Houston Chronicle that the virus infects the part of Microsoft Windows that handles the login process.

City officials said the virus was preventing them from logging into the system and accessing information.

Goins said last night she didn't know how many cases were affected by the inability of judges to call the dockets.

She said there was no evidence the virus was released deliberately.

(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Unemployment in Harris County Getting worse

HOUSTON—Local employment agencies say they’re slammed with job seekers, and it seems to be getting tougher to find work.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, the number of unemployment benefit filings in Harris County was just above 44,000. In the fourth quarter of 2008, that number topped 91,000.

Vance Ratcliff is one of those area residents searching for work. He said he’s worked security for retail stores for several years.

But when he comes across a rare opening these days, Ratcliff said employers are choosing to hire younger and cheaper.

“You put out application after application and don’t get no response back on anything,” he said. “They really want to hire at a rate of $7 an hour, and they know you’ll ask for more, given your experience.”

Currently, unemployment sits at 5.5 percent in the Houston area, which is far better than the national average.

But labor analysts expect that to increase, especially because the job losses at DOW Chemical, Shriners and UTMB aren’t in the numbers yet.

Adultery Ad Pitch Finds Houston Market

By CLAUDIA FELDMAN HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 2, 2009, 9:43PM


A scene from the Ashley Madison commercial shown during Super Bowl XLIII in Texas.

Football fans are used to outrageous ads on Super Bowl Sunday, but a 30-second pitch for adultery had Monday-morning quarterbacks buzzing.
“Infidelity is a form of betrayal, and the idea of portraying betrayal as an answer to relationship problems is mind-boggling,” said family therapist Tim Louis in Houston.
He was referring to the $250,000 spot for AshleyMadison.com, an online dating service for married folk.
The ad, deemed inappropriate by NFL and NBC officials, ran only in Texas. It showed a couple celebrating their anniversary at a white tablecloth restaurant. The man blew his nose, answered his cell phone, then stood up to leave in the middle of dessert.
“Happy anniversary, honey,” he said on his way out.
Then came the voice-over, speaking to women: “Isn’t it time for AshleyMadison.com?”

Louis was emphatic that the answer is no.
“The reality is many people do have affairs, but they only create additional problems between husbands and wives,” he said. “There’s nothing like a big old secret — and guilt and fear — that further isolates you from your partner.”
AshleyMadison.com CEO Noel Biderman said he started the service in 2001, after reading that 30 percent of the people signing up for singles dating services were actually married.
“I thought, wouldn’t it be better to be honest about your status?” he said. “About 3.3 million members and tens of millions of dollars later, I think I was right.”
Today, the Toronto-based company is focusing on Texas because Houston, Dallas and San Antonio represent its fastest-growing markets.
“We’ve had close to a quarter-million members join in the past few months,” Biderman said.
Financial decision

Despite the ban on his Super Bowl ad by the NFL and NBC, he said local stations found it made financial sense to air the spot.
“The effects of the current recession are so profound that many local stations were willing to accept Ashley Madison advertising dollars even in this post-wardrobe-malfunction Super Bowl climate,” he said.
It was a bonanza for Ashley Madison, too. By Monday afternoon, the Web site had received 147,000 hits from the Houston market alone.
The Rev. Randy White, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Katy, described the ad as “despicable” and “a new low on the assault of marriage, the foundation of our society.”
He wanted to know who approved it at the local level.

One local user, Sondra Cole, defended the site.
The single, 41-year-old nurse says she signed up three years ago because she already was involved with married men .
“Right now, I just don’t want to compromise with anybody,” Cole said. “Men have to play by my rules, and when I say it’s time for them to go, they have to go. But I do enjoy the closeness and the communication. I had one come to me and tell me he had cancer. He hadn’t told anybody in his family or his boss. I’m glad he could confide in me.”
Another AshleyMadison.com customer, who identified himself as Mike, said his extramarital relationship made him feel attractive again.

It also made him realize he loves his wife and children and does not want to be separated or divorced. He’s quit trolling for dates online, he says.
That is good news for the Rev. Anthony Giampietro, chairman of the philosophy department at the University of St. Thomas. He acknowledges that while many couples find themselves in unhappy relationships, extramarital sex is hardly the answer.
Marriage takes work

Instead, he says, couples have to understand that the best things in life take work, that couples can maintain good relationships for 40 and 50 and 60 years and that they can do it.
Louis, the family therapist, offers a simple invitation to struggling couples. He works for Family Services of Greater Houston, a group that receives state and federal funds to offer free, marriage education workshops.

“We focus on skills of communication and conflict resolution with the aim of making relationships more satisfying,” Louis said. “Please come. The classes are offered in English, Spanish and Chinese.”

claudia.feldman@chron.com

Top Super Bowl Commercials of 2009

Super Bowl Highlights Video

Super Bowl Highlights Video