I Am The Problem

Over the last 20 years, I have attended more than a few Board meetings.

I spoke at two or three. Funny I can't remember.

Watching a Board meeting on TV or on-line does not do the meeting justice. When one goes in person, one gets to watch eye contacts, meetings in the back of the room, notice who leaves the room within a short time and then returns after a while within a short time, usually from different doors, and who sits where.

I think I have previously written about my very fist Board meeting attendance. I went to see what the arena was, in preparation for speaking to the Board. On that first dry run, the Director of Special Education came up to my wife and me and asked us what we were doing there. I said I had come to watch. She said to me that she could think of a lot better things that I could do than go to a school board meeting. She knew I had issues. I spoke at the next Board meeting, and I spoke at other Board meetings later.

They really don't care except for their image. If they can destroy the speaker, that is as good or better than addressing the speaker's issue.

The below comment on The Gradebook speaks volumes.

Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook:

"What's amazing is, when you go to the board meetings there are NO TEACHERS, NO PARENTS, NO STUDENTS.
Until folks get their heads out of their doo-doo holes and start doing something about it expect the situation to continue to get worse."

What Happened To The Monkey And The Dart Board?

I keep being told that our public education system is being run by professionals.

Broad-brush-attack people like me just don't seem to understand how "they" take themselves seriously.

Maybe this is a joke:


AFT Online Survey: "2009-2010 Instructional Compensation Survey"

AFT Online Survey: "2009-2010 SRP Compensation Survey"


This is at the bottom of these two surveys:

American Federation of Teachers, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001, Phone: 202.879.4400
© American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. All rights reserved. AFT LeaderNet Terms of Use

Maybe this is a joke.

Except it is found here:

Welcome to the United School Employees of Pasco

We represent all the teachers and school related personnel in the Pasco County Public School System.

We currently serve over 4300 teacher and SRP members and look forward to serving you!

USEP is the professional organization whose only interest is its members.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The USEP bargaining teams are asking Teachers and SRP to take a BRIEF compensation survey.


Up until this week, the District and USEP teams have been reviewing financial data and insurance renewal rates. Therefore, the economic negotiations are just beginning. Nothing has been settled yet. That’s why your input is needed. The teams will review the survey results to assist them in determining their bargaining positions.



Click here to start the Teacher survey Click here to start the SRP survey

Can anyone help me with this? I know there are a few insiders who see the truth. Help me out.

In the mean time, this is no joke:

Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook

If you want to read some of the history to understand how the system works, do a search for Beverly Gallagher, or you can simply read this:

Broward/Palm Beach News - A Politician Weeps - page 2:

"To help calm her down, I told her it would be all right. I told her that Broward State Attorney Michael Satz doesn't prosecute corruption cases, that the worst that would happen was that his office would start an investigation and sit on it for two years before quietly deciding not to file any charges.
This is all true, and I've reported on this pattern numerous times. Satz is sitting on several such cases right now. In fact, his office famously investigated the construction department at the Broward County School Board during the mid-1990s. The grand jury probe cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and came up with reams of evidence of corruption — but Satz failed to prosecute any elected officials or high-ranking school board staffers."

Don't forget to follow the timeline of the reports, just to keep every thing in perspective.

Gotta' trust!

Numbers Are Way More Than Seeds And Stems

For almost 20 years, I have been trying to make sense of how the public school system functions. I would have never been drawn to this except for the countless numbers of isolated incidents that I experienced. It became clear to me that there was more to the problem than just the particular issue of the day, week, month, year, individual or site. In other words, I recognized that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, as seen here in this context:

Schools of Psychology "Unlike the behaviourists, the Gestaltists believed that behaviour should be studied as an organized pattern rather than as separate incidents of stimulus and response. The familiar saying "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" expresses an important principle of the Gestalt movement."

In today's news, we see this:

I-Team: State Admits "Anomalies" in Violence Numbers - cbs4.com: "In Miami-Dade County schools three years ago, police found 152 weapons and filed reports in each case.

But if you go on Florida's Department of Education's violence tracking website you would think that in Miami-Dade County there were ZERO weapons were found on schools campuses in 2006-2007.

'This certainly does look like an anomaly when you see zero reported weapons,' said Florida's Department of Education's Press Secretary Thomas Butler. 'So we did talk to the district about it. And they mentioned there was an administration change quite possibly clerical error that occurred.'"

Just look at how many times I have written about "numbers":PRO on HCPS: numbers

How long can we trust?

Misty Eyes Or Icy Heart

To get the real picture, you should read the complete story on the link below.

Let me know if you have misty eyes when you get into the second page.


Rivals cooperate on touchdown for player with Down syndrome - Kansas City Star

"“I’ve got a special situation,” McCamy remembers telling Maryville freshman defensive coach David McEnaney. “I know you guys want to get a shutout. Most teams would want a shutout, but in this situation I want to know if maybe you can let one of my guys run in for a touchdown.”

Several days have passed since Ziesel chugged more than 60 yards down a sideline for his first high school touchdown — but the buzz hasn’t.

The YouTube clip McCamy posted Tuesday morning had received more than 1,500 hits as of Thursday night. The e-mails and messages of support also have been rolling in all week — to McCamy as well as the Ziesel family.

“It’s just amazing how one play can mean so much to one kid and then to a team and then to a community,” McCamy said Thursday after practice. “And now it’s spread not just to the community of St. Joseph, but now it’s spread across the region. How something so simple can impact so many — to me, that’s the amazing part about it.”"

As I was reading the complete article, I was thinking of altruism. I was thinking of a needed epidemic of ramdom acts of kindness. I was thinking of how great it would be if more people could see the forest at the same time they evaluate the conditions of the individual trees. I was thinking about how there wasn't any punishment for anyone involved in doing something for the good of the kid.

And then, I read this public comment:

jsered wrote on 9/20/2009 12:25:20 PM:
Hate to be the lone cynic but these stories while inspiring are becoming common place. The first ones were so unexpected and original they received national media coverage and a couple million hits on you tube. In some cases the "special" athlete and the coach became national celebrities, albeit for 15 minutes. Because of this history its not out of line to ask if the coach(es) are doing this for the special needs kid, or to put themselves in the national spotlight. Its a fair question to ask and the more often this happens the more I have to question if the people behind the stunt are genuinely doing this for the kid.

Genuinely doing this for the kid???????

It reminded me of this story: (follow the links and read the complete story for a different kind of misty eyes).

For their own good | Special Report: Tampabay.com St. Petersburg Times: "Fifty years later they are, by their own account, screwed-up men -- afraid of the dark, unable to love or be loved, twisted by anger, scarred by the whippings they endured in a cinder block hell called the White House."

Kids were put in this hell hole "for their own good."

I know which one of these scenarios I want to see more often.

Learning How To Respectfully Deal With Problems

Over on The Gradebook blog, JohnM made the following comment:


Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook: "I don't remember, is it time to complain about the successes of these students in spite of the lousy teachers or is it time to complement the teachers on a super job working with these students. I KNOW it wasn't a cooperative effort on the part of both (actually all three if you include the parents) the hard work of the students as well as the diligent work on the part of the teachers involved. Kinda reminds me of the (you name the religion, atheists stop reading) guy who fell off a cliff and prayed for help. Just then, a tree reached out and grabbed his overalls, so, he said, never mind I got it. Some of these schools did not do very well on the state grading, some did OK, and others received an 'A.' It just goes to show you what can be done when everybody stops B#$ching and goes to work solving problems. The talent, work ethic and abilities are out there, just hidden by the enablers and rewritten rule books.
Job WELL DONE, students, teachers, parents and schools. Keep it up!
Posted by: JohnM | September 17, 2009 at 02:39 PM"


He started out mocking an often heard issue, and then ended up presenting some very good insight into how problems in our education system get in the way of progress.

I have found that a lot of people do not get it when they read or hear mockery. I write a lot of mockery, and I have seen how some people react to what I have written. A lot of people in our radio and TV media use mocking statements to try to make a point, and the very people that the point is aimed at misses the mockery, thinks the orator is going further loony, and the chasm enlarges.

The point that JohnM makes is that talent, work ethic and abilities of all partners (students, parents, teachers, administrators, etc) is undone by "enablers and rewritten rule books."

The metaphor fits. Wear it.

Teachers Think They Are Educators - Others See Teachers As The Means Of Production

A few dots I have seen lately.

Do they paint a picture?


Teachers unions have contributed over $1.3 million to ACORN | Washington Examiner: "Teachers unions have contributed over $1.3 million to ACORN
By: Kevin Mooney
Commentary Staff Writer
09/13/09 4:59 PM EDT
Teachers unions have contributed over $1.3 million to ACORN and its affiliates, since 2005, according to U.S. Labor Department financial disclosure forms.
But there is no guarantee that the $1,333,112 million in donations from the National Education Association (NEA) and Teachers AFL-CIO unions are actually being used for their stated purposes, according to present and former Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN)officials"


Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook: "Hillsborough teachers ratify contract agreement."



National Education Association (NEA) | Teachers Union Facts: "That the NEA would give money to ACORN -- and nearly $250,000 of its members’ money to a 2004 political campaign in Florida run by ACORN and beset by allegations of voter fraud....."

Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As a
Criminal Enterprise?
Staff Report
U.S. House of Representatives
111th Congress
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
July 23, 2009




Gotta trust!

It Is Never Too Late, Unless We Recruit (I Have Seen The Enemy, And It Is "Us")

Lee, I agree.

It is never too late.

Read my blog post and then read what Lee said:

PRO on HCPS: It Is Real - It is Powerful - It is Crippling For All Of Us:

"It is never too late to fight back. Never. lee
September 12, 2009 9:12 PM"

It is never too late unless we are complacent.

The foe we are up against is corruption.

The foe we are up against is the system that is about power, which brings money, which brings power, which brings money, which brings power, which brings money.

The foe we are up against is more than one individual.

The foe we are up against has already derived their power and strength because they are united.

The foe we are up against retains power because it understands the art of war.

The foe we are up against is blind trust by those who don't see truth, and through them, the foe gains strength.

The foe is camouflaged. It says one thing, and does another.

The foe is covert. It makes alliances in secret.

The foe is ignorant. They vote corrupt officials in, time after time, worshiping false idols.

My hundreds of blog posts are not without a framework. I mock the arrogance, the ignorance and the unbridled power of the system. I also mock myself, as far as I see myself in the process.

The foe withstands all attacks by isolating the attacker.

The foe understands that weakening education insures their power. The foe understands that knowledge is power, therefore limiting knowledge by their adversary insures the foe's power.

The foe understands how to put weak leaders in position to create diversions.

The foe understands that their enemy will not unite.

I have seen how many teachers and parents do not like what is.

The foe is us.

Maybe George Is Alive Within The HCPS

Doublethink - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"According to the novel, doublethink is:
“The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them....To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth.[1]"

"Tampering with reality" is an interesting concept.

One sheriff report, that is so far known to be real:

"The report was closed with some indicators of abuse."

Then

Two Professional Standards Office Reports - the original and the corrected copy.



The first PSO report states quite clearly:

"On 6/22/09, writer spoke with CPI Auza. He advised that he closed his case with Some Indicators for threatened harm.

Are we to assume that "some indicators of abuse" (HCSO) is the same as "some indicators for threatened harm?(PSO)" At least, the phrase "some indicators" is the same on the HCSO and the PSO reports.

The second PSO reports states quite clearly:

"On 6/22/09 writer spoke with CPI Auza. He advised that he closed his case with No Indicators for threatened harm; however Some Indicators for unusual behavior.

Are we to assume that the HCSO phrase "some indicators of abuse" now means "no indicators for threatened harm" and also means "Some indicators for unusual behavior?"

One HCSO report.

Two PSO reports.

Two PSO reports that interpret one HCSO. The interpretations happened on the same day of June 22, 2009.

No further information.

Doublethink?

Clearly there are some indicators for unusual behavior when one studies how two different outcomes can be generated from one single source.

Don't ya' think?

It Is Real - It is Powerful - It is Crippling For All Of Us

Over on Goader's blog, today we see this:

Soft Intimidation, Subtle Retaliation : Goader Incites#more-1267:

"The frightening part of all this is how softly and virtually unnoticeably some in the higher echelons of the district engage in intimidation and retaliation. One barely notices the gentle and shrewd manner in which the illegal activity of intimidation, harassment, and retaliation promulgated against an employee simply voicing genuine concern for injustices within an institution supported by taxpayer money"

On my PRO On HCPS blog, under "About Me", you can find this:

PRO on HCPS:

"Starting in 1990, I started to become aware of a different set of standards of communication than what I was accustom to in all other areas of my life. Where was Shakespeare when I needed him. Foul was fair and fair was foul. My words were twisted from the intent of what I was trying to communicate.When I tried to hold some people accountable for what they said, I was countlessly in the middle of a misunderstanding.
After years of trying to make sense of a process that should make sense, I have come to realize it was by design.,,,,"

Under "About Me", you can find this on this blog site:
Public Education - Politics, Business and Education:

"Through the course of his life, we had the inopportunity to be subjugated to a few people and a public system fraught with deceit, disingenuity and contempt. I am here because there are few who can or will stand up to them."

On my Motel Special Ed blog:
Motel Special Ed:

".....Through the course of his life, we had the benefit of numerous people and a public system that provided him his opportunity for success. For those I will be eternally indebted to. I am here because they were there for him, and he can not thank them. Through the course of his life, we had the inopportunity to be subjugated to a few people and a public system fraught with deceit, disingenuity and contempt. I am here because there are few who can or will stand up to them............"

What will have to happen before this abuse of power is dealt with?

Or, is it too late?

They Work Hard For Their Money

From The Tribune, we see:

Vouchers control special ed growth:

"The financial incentive to misdiagnose is particularly apparent when classifying students as having a specific learning disability (SLD). That's because SLD is the most common, the most ambiguous, and the least costly category of special education. In many cases, school officials might simply be trying to get extra resources to help struggling students. But the net effect is the misclassification of a huge number of students as having an SLD.
The McKay program reduces the financial incentive for Florida's schools to misdiagnose learning disabilities by placing revenue at risk whenever a student is placed into special education"

I keep hearing rumors that our public education system is filled with professional educators from top to bottom.

Check this out:

IDEA 2004 Close Up: Evaluation and Eligibility for Specific Learning Disabilities - Legal rights and advocacy | GreatSchools:

"Recognizing that the 'discrepancy' approach was resulting in both late identification and misidentification of SLD, Congress included a new provision in IDEA 2004 stating that school districts are not required to take into account a severe discrepancy between ability (IQ) and achievement when determining whether a student has a specific learning disability. In updating IDEA Congress clearly indicated a strong desire to see schools begin to use procedures to identify SLD that are more relevant to the instruction students receive in the classroom. To encourage such change, IDEA 2004 included an additional provision stating that school districts could use a process designed to determine if a student responds to scientific, research-based intervention as a part of the evaluation procedures."

So, just because a student has straight A's (achievement) does not mean that the student does not have a disability. Not that a school system would ever inflate a student's grades to keep the parent from having more evidence that the student has a disability that the school system refuses to accommodate.

Here is another concept that I just can't seem to fit into my rutabaga pie recipe. Is it possible for a "non-disabled student" to actually have a learning disability? Is it possible for a student that has a learning disability to be "misclassified" as a disabled student?

Vouchers control special ed growth:

"If a school determines that an academically struggling, non-disabled student has a learning disability, it might get the additional subsidy from the state, but it might also lose that subsidy, and all of the student's base-funding, if the student walks out the door with a voucher. McKay makes schools think twice before misclassifying a student"

This speaks to the arrogance of school systems. The student doesn't have a disability until the school system says it does. Or does it?

IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004:

"(b) Basis of knowledge. A public agency must be deemed to have knowledge that a child is a child with a disability if before the behavior that precipitated the disciplinary action occurred--
(1) The parent of the child expressed concern in writing to supervisory or administrative personnel of the appropriate educational agency, or a teacher of the child, that the child is in need of special education and related services;
(2) The parent of the child requested an evaluation of the child pursuant to Sec. Sec. 300.300 through 300.311; or
(3) The teacher of the child, or other personnel of the LEA, expressed specific concerns about a pattern of behavior demonstrated by the child directly to the director of special education of the agency or to other supervisory personnel of the agency."