More Of The Same Begets More Of The Same

Someone needs to get a clue to all of the administrators within the Hillsborough County Public Schools. When there is a problem brewing, relegating and isolating the problem to one person or one department is like gluing the lid on a pressure cooker. Eventually, the whole mess is going to explode like hell. They may get away with it for years, but the fallout from this practice is costly for human resources.

In the HASA April 09 minutes, there is a recommendation that if a person speaks to the Board with a complaint, the speaker should be "referred to the appropriate level supervisor".

Someone set me straight on this, but it has been my experience that, for the most part, when someone brings a complaint to the Board, it is after they have exhausted all other avenues to address their concerns to no avail. By the time they have worked up the emotional energy to go speak to the board, they are usually at their wit's end. Why send them back to the very people that they have been dealing with already?


Since the Erwin case has been well exposed as an example of this type of narrow-minded thinking, take another look at what happened at the latest Alafia Elementary debacle. According to the information I have, both Ken Otero and Sherrie Sikes had been involved with that issue for quite some time. Both of those people, by all accounts that I know of, are fairly well respected for their administrative abilities. Why send people back to them if they can't solve the problem?

Look at what happened when "town meetings" were held. If sending this problem back to the proper supervisors was such a good idea, why did the Superintendent show up to answer questions?

What may be the elephant, or the 600 pound gorilla, in the room that no one is willing to expose, is that there are hidden agendas and covert exertions that work against common sense solutions. As an example, suppose there is an ongoing legal battle that the District is engaged in, unknown to most people. Along comes another incident that is similar to the one under litigation. To expose this new incident would be jeopardizing the liability of the ongoing case, especially if the ongoing case is dealing with alleged systemically repeated problems. Under this type of situation, the District's reaction may seem drastic to what, to all involved, is perceived as a real "isolated incident".

I have seen this several times in my limited experience. I will repeat what I have said before: When decisions at the table do not make sense, the real decision makers are not sitting at the table.

Anyone else see it that way?

I Wished I Could Say It Like This

Long time readers know that I, and others, are a creation of the dysfunctional part of the Exceptional Student Education system of Hillsborough County Public Schools.


The conceptualized comment you find on the below link was exactly why the Whiteheads requested, within the remedies of their federal court case in which retaliation against the parents (not the student, their son) was proved, that a Superintendent's Advisory Board on Special Education be formed to address systemic issues. A good question to ask is "how many recommendations to the superintendent" have ever been submitted by that council.



Hopefully the right people will pay attention to this below issue before it costs the District a lot of money to say they didn't know anything about it.



Professional Standards is Broken : Goader Online

Entrenched In Keeping The Public Out Of The Public School System

Joel Chandler has taken on the school district of Pasco county. From my perspective, this all started because the Superintendent said the District's actions were an "aberration", another word for "isolated incident". This turned out to not be the case, and, as they say, the rest is history.

In the beginning....


Joel has updated his list of media articles.

The Press....<


This link is interesting for those who think that school systems abuse their power and are cavalier in their dealings with the public.

Florida's Public Records Law: An Unmistakable Message The Ledger | Lakeland, FL:

"So now it's the School Board lawyer's turn in the barrel, and deservedly so. Hill needed a two-by-four to get Bridges' attention - and the attention of Bridges' bosses."

"A better tactic would have been to comply with the law and then seek a change to exempt information Bridges was uncomfortable releasing, which is now under discussion by the Legislature. Instead, taxpayers' dollars were squandered on legal fees for a cause that was clearly a loser. That's no way to build public trust in institutions now struggling more than ever for tax dollars in a shrinking economy."

There is that word "trust". Joel also provides a link on his post "hanging by a thread" which provides the names of many other entities, both individuals and companies, that exercised their public records request without such a fuss. However, the process may have had a kink in it, for apparently the District's practice of asking entities to sign a third party non-disclosure agreement is not appropriate.

It sure smacks of power and control running wild and bulldozing over anyone in the way. They have an image to protect. Laws be damned.

It's Known As "Paper Compliance" vs. Real Compliance

I have written about this phenomenon on my PRO blog and my Motel Special Ed blog.

I learned about it years ago, when I was in the trenches as a parent of a special ed kid that was in the local public school system. Paperwork was the trump card against truth and reality. Over the years, I learned the importance of fabrication, alteration, obfuscation and simply "lost" paperwork.

Someone who purports to be a remedial teacher restates what I bitch and moan about. What really sucks is that there are plenty of naive parents who still deal with the system from a trusting position. And there are still plenty of school employees that don't blow the whistle or ring the bell.



Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook:

"If it looks good on paper, then all is well. Doesn't matter that children are never given direct services that actually meet their needs. Heck, just make it look good on paper so we don't get sanctioned and lose funding."

Even an elephant knows this.

Clothes Make The Student - Er, Uh, Government Control Makes The Student

Some Indian River County schools will require uniform next school year

Oslo Principal Deborah Long -

""But you don't come to school for self-expression," she added. "Let the students stand out with academics, not what they're wearing."

"Shawn O'Keefe, principal of the new middle school said the term "unified dress policy" if [sic] preferred to uniforms."

Outside of the government property of the public education system, there was this:

Saggy pants ban: Riviera Beach's ban on saggy pants ruled unconstitutional -- OrlandoSentinel.com


Here is an article that may explain what is happening to "education" within the public education system:

This is the new reality of public education for children in kindergarten through grade 12 in America. Schools are becoming the social safety net for students and their families.

US public schools routinely provide before-school programs, breakfasts, lunches, after-school care, and evening programs. They offer programs to teach children about sex and how to drive. In structured and formal ways, they try to keep children away from drugs, make sure they don’t carry weapons, instill ethical behavior, prevent sexually transmitted diseases, fight alcohol abuse, prevent student suicides, prevent gang violence, teach conflict mediation, shelter homeless children, ensure students are vaccinated, combat obesity, and provide assistance to teenage mothers and their children, among many other social services.

Student sex education and student meals have been around for more than a century. But the widespread provision of other social services by public schools is a much more recent phenomenon.

I know, I know. The parents are too lazy and uneducated enough to be parents. Not to worry. The educators can fix that. The educators will take over parenting responsibilities. Nutritional foods (check out any school lunch program), condoms, and birth control pills for 14 year olds. Money out the wasooh for social programs, but no money for pencils, papers, books, teachers and other educational items.

What I never see in these articles about school uniforms is how the site administration has adopted a uniform policy for all of the staff. Does that ever happen? Lead by example. A picture is worth a thousand words. Do as I Do.

I ain't smart, but I am a television watcher. These school administrators should share their insight and knowledge with prison administrators. The prisoners all wear uniforms, but the prison administrators just can't get a handle on those damn gangs, nor can they figure out how to make everyone equal. Gang violence in a uniformed environment? Never heard of it.

I was watching a uniformed group of kids the other day. It didn't take me very long to see that some were leaders, some were followers, some were polite, some were mouthy, and some altered their uniform just enough to be different.

This parent may also wonder how much is it going to cost in time and resources to enforce the code of the uniform; "I send my kids to school for an education," said Becky Polge. "I wonder how much instructional time (enforcement) is going to take up."

Understanding the true root of a problem goes a long way to solving it. I am not sure if uniform thinking is going to get to the root of the problem.

Laptop Blackmarket

Schools' laptops are hot items:

"In the past three years, 490 laptops at public schools and district offices went missing, either stolen or lost, according to figures the district compiled through March."

This is old news to me. Ten or more years ago, I heard this was going on, and had been going on. How have they been dealing with this problem all of this time? Do they know where any of their inventory is? Someone finally got caught stealing lawn tractors only after a whistle blower jumped up and down.

At least it sounds like they can provide "up to date" reports of theft. At least they can't say they don't know that it is happening.

Our Education System Rocks - Part Two

Somewhere on one of my many rants and raves, I wrote about my opinion that, when dealing with "the system", when things "don't make sense", the real decision maker is not "sitting at the table". I often wonder who is really "in charge" of the system and "information".

If one has watched the news on political scandals for the last twenty years, you should know that the "cover up is worse than the original offense". However, it takes a heck of a lot of work and perseverence to get to the truth. It appears we now have an issue that has been brewing within the state education system.

Joel Chandler has a lot of information on his blog, and it is imperative, for one to understand the significance of any of the "isolated incidents", to see how the issue is not limited to one county.

The short story is that Mr. Chandler made a public records request to a school system. The fact that he was rebuked and the manner in which he was rebuked has led to much more than anyone could have ever imagined.


There is something to be said about the arrogance, ignorance and abuse of power and authority within public education systems.



School Board Lawyer Faces Charges | theledger.com | The Ledger | Lakeland, FL:



"BARTOW | Prosecutors charged Wes Bridges, the Polk County School District's lawyer, Friday with violating the state's public records law."

"A State Attorney's Office investigation concluded Bridges failed to release records to the Lakeland man within a proper amount of time. Chandler, who sells copy machines, filed his request Feb. 5, 2008.

A complaint affidavit explains that a "pattern of delays" and taking months to comply with records requests "can constitute an unlawful refusal to provide access."

Bridges faces a first-degree misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. He received a summons to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. on May 13 in Bartow."

For a complete source:

I am....

This one is a must read:

Answer the question....