How parents "exercise their rights" and how school districts "exercise their authority".

For those who would like to see another side of how ESE issues are dealt with, observing a due process case is eye opening.


The current Whitehead due process hearing is open to the public and covers issues such as appropriate post-secondary transition and discrimination.

June 30 - July 3

Dreyer and Associates
201 N. Franklin Street, Ste 1775
Tampa, Florida 33602

"Knowledge is Power" is Corrupted by those who provide "Knowledge"

When I was in the 1st grade at Wimauma Elementary, I got into a "fight" with a classmate.

I told him spaghetti grew on trees.

He told me I was an idiot, or some other 1st grade level term for same.

I staunchly protected my assertion, not because I knew the truth, but because "my Dad said" it did.

After my 70 minute ride home from Wimauma to Balm and then back to the West to East loop of Grange Hall Loop and then back west a mile on 674, I eagerly walked the 1/4 mile distance from my bus stop to my house to tell my Dad how I had stood my ground about where spaghetti comes from.

Imagine my emotional process when my Dad laughed out loud, and then told me that he was "just foolin'". My Dad's fun cost me humilation to the n'th degree. My male rival had bested me. My attempts at female conquest (my true love forever was Brenda(at that time)) was compromised because she was smart and obviously saw me as a hopeless dimwit to have so gallantly defended such an ignorant position.


On my last my post I wrote this statement: I will read other "resource links" in hopes of decreasing bias in the resource source.

I learned to verify my source of knowledge.

And here is a good example of what goes on today:

Falling exam passes blamed on Wikipedia 'littered with inaccuracies'

It's Those Lazy Hazy Crazy "Happy" Days of Summer

For those who have time to spend, the thread of comments concerning 'college bound vs. vocational education' on this GRADEPOST blog post are interesting.

I will while away the rest of my afternoon on Foucault. I will read other "resource links" in hopes of decreasing bias in the resource source.

I am always interested in "power" and "control",especially within the public school system. Also here, and here

I heard on the radio this morning that today is the "happiest day of the year". Who knew O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He equals "happy"? I was a little less happy when I found out the calculation was based in Wales.

Public Exposure is the Achilles Heal

I figured this title out many years ago about the HCPS. I still think I am right.

My vision is that the people who really care about kid's education have to band together.

Not the statistic-game-people (parents, teachers, administrators).

It must the ones that are honest about the kid (parents, teachers, administrators).

Another one of my many personal experiences was that a now-retired "Director" told me years ago that before she retired, I would believe that she was there for the kids.


She has retired. I still believe that she was there for the District. Not the kids.

I wrote about my opinion how a "council" was really a "sham".


Lee writes about a person who "lobbies the state".

If enough teachers can get together with enough parents, maybe the truth will become common knowledge.

With common knowledge should come reasoned voting.

All politics is local.

We have to get the word out.

Validation by others

I write more posts than I get comments.

I think I have a rational, realistic picture of the public school system.



Here is my post

Here is the Detention Slip Post

Judging by the comments after the Detention Slip post, I may have it "right".

Ghost Writers In the Sky

Here is one version:

Cause when there's writing in the sky
That's the day you'll die
Intersting commentary


Here is the one I always have heard:

As the riders walked on by him
He heard one call his name,
If you want to save your soul from hell
Ridin' on our range,
Then cowboy change your ways today,
Or with us you will ride
Trying to catch the devil's herd
Across these endless skies.


So, it was me: "Thomas - of the doubting kind" aka Richard L. Hancock

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Does anyone think that there is any scientific credibility in any statistics created by the public school system?

"Education Scores" are tied to money.

P.T. Barnum is laughing his FCAT/Merit Pay/Bonus Pay/graduation rate/ any-public school-statistic-you-name posterior off.

Posted by: Thomas - of the doubting kind | June 18, 2008 at 10:08 PM


I have one question to ask:

How many of you think there is any credibility to "the system measurements"?

With all of the "helicopter parents" and "out of control mothers" and the "incorrigible students" that lie, cheat and would rather have sex and text message than listen or learn - yet "we are the model for public education".

So on one side of the equation, we have all that is right about the system. And on the other side of the equation, we have all that is wrong about the system.

If the first part of the equation is good teachers and good students which equals good scores then the "balanced side" of the equation is bad teachers and bad students with bad parents-(a given variable) which equals bad scores.

Obviously in this equation, "bad parents" makes the equation imbalanced, but that is a "non-controlled variable".

It makes perfect sense in the world of equations to "compensate" for variables that are not "controlled" - ie; stupid kids and stupid parents.

The only thing I hear that is wrong with the system is stupid kids and stupid parents.

Therefore, this "scientific compensation" mindset lends itself to every level of "grades" from the classroom to the site to the district.

I keep singing in the rain - do I get extra credit for my mid-term exam if I bring in an umbrella?

If you want to save your soul from hell..... then change your ways.

Just singin'

The Egocentrics of Parables vs. The Science Of Behavior

Teachable moment of the day.

Concepts one needs to know in order to experience teachable moment:


par·a·ble 1. a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.
2. a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like.

Operant conditioning
is the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of behavior.


Classical Conditioning (also Pavlovian or Respondent Conditioning) is a form of associative learning.

And there is more: "Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning, or Pavlovian conditioning) in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of "voluntary behavior" or operant behavior. Operant behavior "operates" on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of respondent behaviors which are elicited by antecedent conditions. Behaviors conditioned via a classical conditioning procedure are not maintained by consequences.[1]"

Regarding sex and drunk driving:


If the public school system wants to teach responsible social behavior, I am all for it. However, I think it would be best for the public school system to deal with behavior in a scientific method.

If the public school system can't tell kids that drinking is a sin, then how the hell do "they" get away with a flat out lie to the kids that their friends were killed in an alcohol related accident.

Which of those two scenarios is a "parable".

"Both" is an acceptable answer.

Understanding and dealing with behavior should be as professionally administered as possible.

Trust - How Else Can I Say It

I would assume that those reading this have heard the story.

A school system wanted to educate their students.

"They" wanted to educate their students to not drink and drive. (addressing a negative)

Perhaps they wanted to educate their students to drive without drinking. (addressing a positive)

"They" chose to address the negative. "They", along with the assistance of the Highway Patrol, told 20 classrooms that several of their classmates had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.

Why didn't "they" just enlist some parents that had more than one kid and have the parent call the school and tell one kid that their sibling died in a car wreck?

"They" probably wouldn't enlist parents in that exercise because parents are not professional educators.

I can rest assured that those students will trust everything those adults tell them from now on.

Always looking for the silver lining, I guess those students who do drink and drive got what they deserved. At the expense of those who don't.

What Do Petula Clark and the HCPS Administration Have In Common?

Maybe They Are Sleeping in the Subway

Pet sings:
"You wander around on your own little cloud
When you don't see the why or the wherefore
You walk out on me when we both disagree
'Cause to reason is not what you care for

I've heard it all a million time before
Take off your coat, my love, and close the door

Don't sleep in the subway, darlin'
Don't stand in the pouring rain
Don't sleep in the subway, darlin'
The night is long
Forget your foolish pride
Nothing's wrong
Now you're beside me again

You try to be smart, then you take it to heart
'Cause it hurts when your ego is deflated
You don't realize that it's all compromise
And the problems are so overrated"


The PRO on HCPS wrote (6/4/08):

"When student grades can be manipulated at will either by any given teacher, any given site or any given system, this practice contaminates any sense of statistical integrity to base any legitimate decisions on. Did not this just happen recently in Hillsborough County?

A cavalier approach to the scientific model of "grades" or "true academic measurement" may well be one of the faulty building blocks of our public education. I have written about "image is more important than substance". Grading curves and manipulation of statistics to meet administrative benchmarks may not be conducive to what is good for a student or teacher. It is my opinion that parents catch on after a while that the only reason teachers want the kids to do well on the high-stakes tests is for the teachers or the school system, not for the student. How many teachers and principals and guidance counselors make sure that little Jerome and little Tamika get a good night's rest and a good breakfast for that all important day - so the school can get their money when the scores come out? "


The Tribune wrote today:

"School officials defend their system saying they want to encourage students to challenge themselves to higher-level work. And in the case of semester exams, they wanted to ensure uniform grading - albeit with a more generous scale for at least some exams.

Well enough, but in the process they've created a system that muddies the public's tried-and-true yardsticks of what constitutes academic success.

In an era when honors and AP courses become the norm - teachers now joke AP stands for "any person" - adding big grade bonuses is overkill.

Other school districts take a more moderate approach, grading AP courses on a five-point scale so that a "B" in a college-level course equates to an "A" in a regular course. But they don't allow students to boost their GPAs by the large measures that Hillsborough does."


I will agree with The Wall that there may be no smoke on the water. However, there are sure plenty of mirrors to go with the smoke that is being blown up the public's defecation orifice.

The Royal Rumble of Education - Classroom Vs. After School Program.

I am being flippant, but I just couldn't help sharing my warped sense of perception of an innocent phrase.

In today's Tribune, we have this article: After-School Centers May Seek Pay For Play


".....Jodi Grant, the alliance's executive director.

In Hillsborough, there were 2,694 children on the waiting list for the after-school program last year.

That means there are children who need the program who don't have access to it, Grant said. And that not only hurts the child, it hurts the community, she said.

"Most people think after-school care is about keeping kids out of trouble," Grant said. "


..... all well and good so far. I am sure Ms. Grant was not throwing the public school education system under the proverbial bus when she made the following statement, but it caught my attention.

"But there's so much more going on there. This is where learning comes alive."

Where is Gary Puckett When You Need Him

I don't know much about the gap between unions, school administration and teachers, but I sense there must be one.

For those who would like to read some perspectives from a previous "school boss", read here.

Teacher Or Substitute - Depends Which Defense Is Needed

While I take a break from reading Lee's public autopsy of what happen to Doug Erwin and also a break from exploring "The Old Whitehead Case" all the while finding the comparison of how the two cases were handled may be more than coincidental, I like to read the Gradebook.


Frequent readers of my blogs may have noticed how I make blanket accusations, otherwise known as "broad brush attacks", of how school systems "parse words" to manufacture creative obfuscations to defend what they do. For example, the use of the word "policy" is frequently used to imply "authority" until someone wants to see the authentic policy. The challenger is immediately castigated as a troublemaker, especially if there is no written policy to back up the "authority". This practice may be used against employees, parents or students.

Of interest to me is the article:

"SUBS ARE TEACHERS TOO: Pasco superintendent Heather Fiorentino (left) might take offense that the media have lumped substitute teachers in with certified teachers, but that just plays into the stereotype that subs are glorified babysitters, columnist C.T. Bowen writes."

Let's first examine these two sentences:
.... "The school superintendent's message on the voice mail said she was disappointed newspaper headline writers continued to describe a former substitute teacher, accused of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a high school student, as a "teacher.''"

..."To the average parent and taxpayer, the person in front of the class on any given day is the teacher, whether they are certified, or a substitute."

C.T. Bowen is on to something.

What happens to a parent who complains that their child has a substitute teacher? For months?

I may be a taxpayer, but I don't run the education system that decides who is going to "teach the class".

Maybe there is a convenience for a school administrator to pick and choose when they should defend how "qualified" the person is who was picked to "teach the class".

I can understand how professional teachers and responsible parents would want to work together to ensure that the person who "teaches the class" does a responsible job.

Can parents sign up for the Union?

Would the Union uphold the interests of parents as well as it upholds the interests of teachers?

Just askin'.

Maybe the prediction of the answer could be found in the analysis of the following:

"....If it is unfair to lump certified teachers together with substitutes, where was Fiorentino's outrage four years ago? It was then that a 23-year-old candidate for Pasco School Board — who had worked less than 60 days as a substitute — put out campaign literature touting himself as "A Teacher, A Father, A Leader.''

It peeved plenty of people, including the incumbent and eventual winner, Marge Whaley, the mother of two certified teachers.

Fiorentino, at the time a superintendent candidate, didn't take the candidate down a peg publicly for the resume padding or for being disrespectful to all the certified teachers in the district by falsely claiming he did the same job duties.

No, not at all.

Fiorentino, herself a teacher, voted for him.

When it comes to supporting the rank-and-file educators in Pasco County, the indignation shouldn't exclude political pals."

-------
How would one know who is a "political pal?"

On Impotence and an Early Death

One thing about blogging that I haven't figured out is how to juggle different threads and keep current with an old post.

Thomas Vaughn posted a comment here on why teachers don't speak up.

I submit that parents are dealt with in a similar well defined stratagem when it comes to parents challenging the quality of their child's education.

I am not talking about parents that challenge how low their kids can wear their blouse, how high the kids can wear their skirts, how much underwear the kids can display, how many cell phones the kids can use during test time, how same-sex-kissing should be permitted or whether or not their kid was unfairly cut from the cheer leading squad.

I am talking about a parent that legitimately challenges how their child is being provided an opportunity to an education.

For instance, students who have a teacher that is consistently absent, students whose teacher does not understand their subject matter and consistently provides wrong information to the students or students who want out of a class room because the teacher routinely demonstrates inappropriate supervisory skills and contributes to classroom management problems by selective recognition or non-recognition of students.

A site administrator knows that every student cannot be in the "best teacher's" class room. Therefore, a site administrator must be able to handle parental requests in a diplomatic way and still distribute the students to other teachers. But what happens when it is "common knowledge" that there is a "deadbeat" teacher? Something has to give.

Site administrators and higher level administrators have a well rehearsed regimen of rationalizations and courses of action to divert the issue away from the teacher onto the parent. This includes the need for the parent to "climb the ladder of command", and to do so in a required manner. If the "out of control" parent skips some rungs, they will be redirected back "down the ladder", sometimes back to a rung they have worn out already. As the parent becomes more involved in expending emotional energy and time "fighting the system" (known to some as delay, delay, delay), the chances increase that the initial issue becomes lost in the "red tape". If the parent does not have the required resources, knowledge and skill to focus on the original issue, they not only lose, they will have lost the will to fight.

Maybe it is the same with teachers.

What may be an unintended but real consequence for the system is that a beaten parent or a beaten teacher is not good for the system, no matter how clever the system is.

Please Due Read This Today

A letter for those who should be interested.

Those Who Live By The Sword Get Stabbed

I have so many dots that are not connected.

I have so many dots that are connected, I just don't know how yet.

Thomas Vaughn wanted to know "why don't teacher's speak up"?

I talk about the "culture of the system". I talk about the lack of integrity in grades, both for students, teachers and school systems. I talk about arrogance with ignorance. I talk about abuse of school person authority.

I wrote this post in September of 2007: "A Piece of the dysfunctional puzzle".


What does a teacher do when an area director tells the teacher to "change the report card grades"?


The irony of this story is that it was the same teacher, either on his/her own or with direction, that had changed a document previously. The fact that I had an undeniable copy of the original provided me credibility, despite the hell that broke out when I challenged the changed document, and then produced the original. My original copy saved me like that blue dress saved Monica. I had finally solved the shell game of paperwork and obfuscation and lies.

I forgot about Chester Barnard

Yesterday, the question was posed of "why don't more teachers speak up?"

I responded that I too have for years wondered about this. During the night, I remembered that I tried to research this phenonenon a long time ago and I did find that some sociologists had attempted to make sense of it. Chester Barnard is one of them, and I presented some of his theory in my post "How To Sleep At Night". This is not an easy read, but to get an understanding of how leaders gain and maintain influence over their subordintates, one should comprehend the entire writing of Barnard.



The answer to these local issues lies deep within the "culture of the system". The depth and strength of the "culture of the system" is dependent on several factors, including time that "the leaders" have been the influential factor and the degree that the leaders and their supporters gain "power". This is nothing unique to edcuational systems. It stands to reason that keeping the leadership within the group that "controls the culture" will enhance the longevity of same. Powerful political families such as the Kennedys and the Rockefellers have been around for a very long time, and they have tremendous influence over the "status-quo" of what they have power over.

I believe that all politics are local. Studying the history of Hillsborough County would provide the information about political, social and econonmic influences of individuals as well as the resulting "culture of the system" that these individuals have created.

When I Went To School, We Were To Interpret The Data, Not Manipulate It

I am glad that Jason gets my sarcasm.

I keep hearing about "the business model" and how this model does not fit public education. There is so much about the business influences on public education that I do not understand it all, but I keep trying to examine each piece of the puzzle when I see a new one.

This article I found linked from "The Gradebook" is an example of how I see "education" being influenced by "business decisions". The article provides e-mails between the Pinellas Superintendent and the company that he (Superintendent) eventually goes to work for after he quit Pinellas county.

How does one know if a teacher is "productive". I mock those who blame students and parents when students fail, yet claim to be responsible for students who succeed. At least merit pay for teachers based on student performance, in my humble opinion, makes a little more sense than someone completely out of the classroom claiming or refusing responsibility for student performance. Bonus pay for administrators that is based on student performance seems like as far a stretch from cause and effect as one can get in the scheme of things. Maybe school boards should develop a policy that limits bonus rewards to "one standard deviation of direct contact".

When student grades can be manipulated at will either by any given teacher, any given site or any given system, this practice contaminates any sense of statistical integrity to base any legitimate decisions on. Did not this just happen recently in Hillsborough County?

A cavalier approach to the scientific model of "grades" or "true academic measurement" may well be one of the faulty building blocks of our public education. I have written about "image is more important than substance". Grading curves and manipulation of statistics to meet administrative benchmarks may not be conducive to what is good for a student or teacher. It is my opininon that parents catch on after a while that the only reason teachers want the kids to do well on the high-stakes tests is for the teachers or the school system, not for the student. How many teachers and principals and guidance counselors make sure that little Jerome and little Tamika get a good night's rest and a good breakfast for that all important day - so the school can get their money when the scores come out?

I would assume we can all agree that what makes a good teacher depends on the student. Each of us as teachers have our strong points, and we connect well with a certain kind of student. Each of us as teachers have our weak points, and we don't connect well with a certain kind of student. Does anyone disagree with that premise?

I would assume that we can all agree that it would not be fair to the student or the teacher to place non English speaking students with an English speaking only teacher. How is that problem addressed? After that question is answered, then go through the list of different types of students, and answer the same question.

And then of course, we have the "experts" ( I see this as the "culture" of an educational system, not necessarily an individual, although it could be if that is what they claim) in education" who know how to teach each and every student, and if teaching doesn't happen, then it is because of something out of their control. Reread this article and pay attention to what leads up to this part (apply this same concept to regular education):

"Finally, I asked how many reports concluded that child factors were primarily responsible for the referred problem. The answer was 100%. These 5,000 positive findings uncovered the true weak link in the educational process in these districts: the children themselves.

If only these districts had better functioning children with a few more supportive parents, there would be no educational difficulties. (Page 149)"

Me and Dianna Got It Going On

Ok - I'm coming out. Cue the music. I must admit, I have never listened to this song, but I love music and the words fit the template.

PRO stands for Poor Richard's Observations.

I am Richard L. Hancock.

I am a product of the Hillsborough County Public School system as a student.

As a student of HCPS, I have nothing but fond memories of my teachers and administrators. When I think about it, I can almost name most of the teachers and none of the administrators. I honestly can not remember a negative thing about any of them. The only time I was ever "in the Principal's office" was in the 6th or 7th grade at Wimauma (back in the day, Wimauma was a 1-12 school) because I was part of a "group food fight" and I was throwing carrots. As a graduate of East Bay High School, I was privileged to have the many academic and athletic accomplishments that came my way, including NHS, being the drum major and school mascot and being a senior notable.


I am a product of the Hillsborough County Public School system as a parent.

Three of my children have completed their time in HCPS. My oldest is a graduate of UF. My middle child is a graduate of Helen Keller National Center for Deaf/Blind. He has what is known as CHARGE Syndrome. My youngest, after a year at U of Tampa, has been accepted to Hofstra, and I am thankful she received an Honors Scholarship to offset the costs.

I guess I and my wife are completely responsible for their academic success because I know if they were academic failures, it would be our fault.

I will repeat, as a parent, I am a product of the Hillsborough County Public School system. I used to have full respect for teachers and the school system until 1990, my age of 37. It took me from 1990 to December 16th, 1996 to become a fully processed parent of the HCPS system to the point that I did not trust any of "them" until they proved themselves. And frankly, I never did, and still don't except for a very close few that I will forever be indebted to.

HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR- THERE ARE MANY, MANY PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES OF THE HCPS THAT ARE PROFESSIONAL.

What must be understood for those who want to use my blog as a source of information is that it is of my long studied opinion that "the system" is corrupt. It is also of my opinion from experience that there are a few unprofessional HCPS employees that are "power oriented" as opposed to "educational oriented". I spent years with calculated strategies to avoid "power" issues to no avail.

It is of my opinion that retaliation will occur to those who try to "out the system" and retaliation is a very real phenomenon. I have been told so by a few employees over the years. And read the Whitehead verdict. Read the Erwin files.
Read Death By Education.

I have been in restaurants, malls, stores, and sandwich shops when I have met school employees who say things such as "Mr. Hancock, you can say the things that we can not say" or "Richard, teachers and parents need someone like you to do what you do". These same people were known to me to "tow the line" in formal educational meetings. It took me a few years to appreciate the dilemma they were in. There have been a few that I called out for not dealing with what I perceived as the truth. It is what it is. They have to maintain their income. A few have come to me and told me that at the time they thought I was an a******, but now they see I was right.

On the other hand, there are the ones who flat out lie. And they do it with intent and purpose. They get away with it because they abuse their authority. They also control the paperwork.

As a parent, I am a product of the HCPS.

One must read all of my posts and read through the sarcasm and mockery that I write with. It is my long studied opinion that status-quo challenging employees will meet the same fate as status-quo challenging parents, whether it be at the school board public speaking podium, the Principal's office or the teacher's room, or an IEP.

It is of my opinion that the more intense the challenge of the status-quo becomes, the more the lower level personnel become instruments of "the system" and are divested of their true professionalism.

Suffice it to say that I know that there are powers of influence that unsuspecting teachers and parents never become aware of. It is also of my opinion that the School Board is either kept ignorant of these situations, or they are complicit in allowing the practice to continue.

I don't need to "broad brush attack" - a term I was accused of after a speech I made at a school board meeting. I speak what I think is the truth. I have so many anecdotal stories to tell, I laugh out loud when I hear or see the phrase "isolated incident".

Prove me wrong.

Richard L. Hancock