Politics, Business and maybe some Education

I may be losing the argument that public education is "Big business".

Maybe I could jump over to the wagon that carries the sign "Big government". The government "giveth", and the government "taketh" away.

Money talks, or maybe it is no money means shut up:


Crist vetoes cuts to teacher bonuses

No money, no bill

And the fact that a public school system is going to be required to keep the public informed is uh, uh, oh yeah, "suspension of reality" or something to that effect.

Florida bill would tackle teacher turnover:

"HB 355 would also require that Florida parents be informed of their school's turnover rate. And it would set up a new state program, the Florida Teacher Induction Initiative, to offer more support to new teachers."

The way numbers are obfuscated and massaged, we might as well play "For one million dollars, if you guess the number I have in my mind, you win."

Back in the day when I really cared and thought I could make a difference, one of the bits of information I provided to the HCPS Superintendent's Advisory Council on Special Education was all of the facts about the needs of support for new teachers and why a lot of them quit within three years. If you think it is bad for regular ed teachers, just think what it's like for SpEd teachers having to deal with those special kids and those special parents and that special paper work. No one seemed to care about the research already done, but "they" (the HCPS SACSE district people) did form a sub committee to do their own "research". They may even still have the "teacher recruitment/retention" subcommitte. Who knows.

I have been thinking. After my previous post about a Superintendent's contract, what I should have done, starting in 1990, was to have lobbied my school board to put an incentive clause in the contract about deaf/blind kids. Wished I had thought of that back then. I might not be such a malcontent now.

There Is Money In Them Thar' Contracts

Click here for EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY - JULY 2005 -JULY 2008

Does anyone have a copy of the current contract? I don't want to provide misinformation that may lead to anger and ugliness.


It is interesting to see how these numbers interact with each other. I bet it is more interesting to see how the professional educators interact with each other when they are in control of manipulating one side of these numbers, which of course effects the number on the other side of the equation.


Has there really been an increase in the number of minorities that are participating in TIP and Key Scholars programs? Was there a sharp increase?

Would the discussion of these numbers have any connection with the discussion found here?

Underground PR program

One way to keep the public out of the Public School System is to limit the public's understanding of the inter workings of the system.

Getting rid of bloggers is another way.



HILLSBOROUGH ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
MARCH 2004 NEWSLETTER

"An email tree of personal home email addresses is being constructed so that politically sensitive information can be transmitted to our members without fear of transgressing on any state or local rules or regulations prohibiting such transmissions."

The Trouble Of Exposing The System

For some reason, I decided to follow the links connected to the below cited blog. After I read the opening statement, I do what I usually do with blogs of interest to me, and that is to go back and read the very first post.

It is about Joel Chandler and what happened after he made a Public Records Request. Apparently, he was following the law, and expected the School Board of Polk County to do the same.

Here is the link, and I selected a few comments that some may find interesting:


I am...


How it started:
In the beginning...

"....The meeting was conducted with all four of us present. The purpose of the meeting was to address the violations of Florida Public Records laws in my PRR from a couple of weeks earlier. I was polite but direct. I presented to Dr. McKinzie what I perceived to be a simple choice: either her staff acted out of ignorance or there was a deliberate policy of violating Florida law. She rejected both suggestions and rather emphatically stated that my experience had been an aberration and that it was non-normative. She assured me that it would not happen again."""""

***********
Almost a year later, to test the above assertion that the above event was what might be commonly called "an isolated incident", Mr. Chandler writes on his second post the next events. Which lead us to his third post:


The lawsuit...:

"Obviously, Mr. Conner acknowledges on the record that the PCSB knew that there was no basis in law for denying my request. Further, he admitted, on the record, that the only reason the PCSB did not produce the records was that they did not want me to have them.


I believe this is the “smoking gun” regarding the criminality of the actions of the PCSB and Gail McKinzie. They knowingly refused to comply with a legal request for non-exempt public records. They knowingly frustrated my efforts to see these records even though they knew I was entitled to them. Their actions were conscious and deliberate. It seems clear that with the benefit of counsel and months of planning they orchestrated a series of hurtles and roadblocks to my obtaining these non-exempt records."

Interested persons should read this blog and follow the links found in different posts.

Upcoming Advocacy Training

index: "Upcoming Advocacy Trainings
Click Here for further information.


Level One

Friday, February 20, 2009

6:00-9:00pm

USF in Tampa



Level Two Advanced Advocacy Training

Saturday and Sunday, February 21 & 22, 2009

8:00 am - 5:00 pm

USF in Tampa



Sponsored by: Families of Kids with

Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Inc."

Will "The System" Circle The Wagons Again?

While we wait on the truth, will the truth wait on us?


Legislature Needs To Know Who's Its Boss

Sherman Dorn: Sansom watch, January 4 edition