The Teat: Sandy (Alexander) Kress
I am beginning a new series on Cloaking Inequity called The Teat (the protuberance through which milk is drawn from an udder or breast) to trace financial support which various entities receive that are involved in the current educational policy debates.
First up: Sandy (Alexander) Kress
Okay, first fun.
My Bovine hero,
from high atop the mountain,
strong and wise and proud.
-Clover
Let’s begin.
Sandy Kress wrote a Sept. 29 column for the Austin American-Statesman entitled “Kress: The Facts on School Accountability.” Sandy Kress is known as a key architect of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education reform passed in 2002. He has written various other opinion pieces and lobbies vociferously for the current regime of high-stakes testing and accountability.
I was recently asked by a parent group to draw up a response to Sandy Kress because they posited that he is not an independent advocate for high-stakes tests and accountability. They relayed that they believe his suppositions about NCLB are just flat out wrong. In today’s The Teat, I will address the former. I have submitted an opinion piece the Austin American Statesman to address the latter. It is my hope that they publish my response to the inaccuracies in his arguments about NCLB and test scores. If they refuse, then I will post the response here on Cloaking Inequity soon. Edit 1/28/13: Statesman said that high-stakes testing is old news— huh!?. Anyways, here is the Kress piece to address the latter.
So let’s get to it. Below is the definition of independent from Mirriam-Websters Dictionary
1 : not dependent: asa : not subject to control by others : self-governing (2) :not affiliated with a larger controlling unit
b : not requiring or relying on something else : not contingent <an independent conclusion
c : not requiring or relying on others (as for care or livelihood)
Kress, B. Alexander (00032037)
(512) 499-6200
300 West 6th Street, Suite 1900 Austin, TX 78701
Abraham Trading Company
Moody Building / Second & Main Street P.O. Box 7 Canadian, TX 79014
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$25,000 – $49,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
300 West 6th Street, Suite 1900 Austin, TX 78701
Type of Compensation: Prospective
Less Than $10,000.00
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Citizen Schools Inc.
Museum Wharf 308 Congress Street Boston, MA 02210
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$10,000 – $24,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 11/10/2011
Edvance Research Inc.
9901 IH-10 West, Suite 1000 San Antonio, TX 78230
Type of Compensation: Prospective
Less Than $10,000.00
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Global Financial Aid Services Inc.
10467 Corporate Drive Gulfport, MS 39503
Type of Compensation: Prospective
Less Than $10,000.00
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Governor’s Business Council
515 Congress Avenue, Suite 1780 Austin, TX 78701
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$25,000 – $49,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/19/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Pearson Education
1 Lake Street Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$50,000 – $99,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Teach For America
315 West 36th Street, 7th Floor New York, NY 10018
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$10,000 – $24,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Texas Business Leadership Council
515 Congress Avenue, Suite 1780 Austin, TX 78701
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$50,000 – $99,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Texas Instruments Incorporated
12500 TI Boulevard Dallas, TX 75243
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$50,000 – $99,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Tutors With Computers LLC
701 Brazos Street, Suite 500 Austin, TX 78701
Type of Compensation: Prospective
Less Than $10,000.00
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 11/10/2011
Wireless Generation Inc.
55 Washington Street, 9th Floor Brooklyn, NY 11201
Type of Compensation: Prospective
$10,000 – $24,999.99
Client Start Date: 01/01/2011
Client Term Date: 12/31/2011
Kress has been busy— in 2011 he made somewhere south of $500,000 per year as a lobbyist just in Texas.
The public record shows that he is a handsomely paid (~$100,000) lobbyist for Pearson Education. Pearson is a testing company which gets nearly $100 million a year for creating Texas high-stakes exams and will have received $1 billion by 2015 according to recent media reports. Thus, Kress has a vested interest in seeing the current system remain.
Notably, he also receives ~$25,000 as one of FIVE lobbyist for Teach For America at the Texas capitol. I have discussed TFA as A Glorified Temp Agency in the New York Times and previously here at Cloaking Inequity.
CI does not bemoan a man of making a good living. But it is clear that Sandy Kress has an agenda, and he is well paid to convince policymakers and the public that it is valid. Thus, to believe that his various opinion pieces on high-stakes testing and accountability are independent would be fallacy.
Edit: Kress got a raise for the 2013 Texas legislative session. Now he makes from $100k to $150k. TFA? What no raise for Kress?! TFA, is your turn on The Teat tomorrow.
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