Creatures of the Night
The Colorado Springs Gazette ran an article today (11/10/06) in which this blog and 2 other web sites were discussed. One of those web sites was created by Eric Christen at www.ericchristen.com. The other site was created to spread misinformation about those of us on the Board who wish to improve the District. That web site can likely be located with a keyword search of "fiction." All of these sites claim to provide information on School District 11 and/or the board members or other significant "players" who are involved in the D11 arena.
For those who read the Gazette article, and for those who visit each of the web sites, there is a striking difference between this blog, Christen's web page, and the other site. That striking difference is the fact that the authors are clearly identified in 2 of the web sites, but not in the 3rd. I have not hidden the fact that I am the author of this blog. Christen named his web site after himself, and he even provides quite a bit of information on his personal life. No secrets there.
Now let's look at this other web site. The only name mentioned in the Gazette article is that of Lois Fornander. Anyone who knows Fornander can tell by the vitriolic tone of that web site that she had a hand in its creation. Fornander is the person who sent around an email titled "Sunrise Massacre" when the Board attempted to provide a mid-term evaluation of ex-superintendent Sharon Thomas. A copy of that email can be found on a previous blog entry on this site. Fornander, who seems shocked that Thomas was fired, actually lectured the D11 Board during the citizen comments portion of one of our meetings. During that lecture, Fornander turned to her friend Thomas and gave some sage advice: "Just ignore this Board." Thomas took Fornander's advice, and as a result, harmed the District. Fornander can't understand why someone who ignores the input of her employer would end up having her contract terminated.
Fornander's husband is Gerald Fornander. Gerald is also mentioned in an earlier post (That's not exactly right). He is the "concerned citizen" who filed an election complaint against the 3 reform candidates from the 2005 D11 election. Fornander's complaints were each dismissed. For the record, the Independent did issue a retraction/correction to their totally false article on that topic.
Fornander mentioned that there are a total of 6 contributors to her mostly fictional web site. Fornander never provides names. Fornander and her ilk despise accountability when it comes to the operation of a school district, so it is no surprise that she and her cronies do not want accountability for their web site. I provide documents and data to back up my claims on this web site. Fornander does no such thing on hers. Who can believe information from a web site where no author is identified and no evidence is presented to validate the outrageous claims? I created this blog to counter such fictional sites as the one run by Fornander. She and her kind have been spreading lies for the 3 years that I have served on this board. Nowhere on her web site or in her lectures will anyone be able to find anything constructive that will lead D11 to excellence. Fornander and her fellow authors are perfectly content to allow poor and minority students to continue to suffer with sub-par educations. In Fornander's world, these children are incapable of learning anyway, so why waste money trying to educate them?
An analysis of Fornander's circle of anti-parent friends can lead to an educated guess as to who is behind her fiction-based web site. Traci Cooper was hired by Thomas to be her personal PR representative. Cooper was paid thousands of dollars by Thomas (behind the Board's back, I might add) to try to make Thomas look good to the community. Cooper is a regular contributor to Fornander's site. Mary Ellen McNally, who is behind the D11 recall effort, is most likely involved as well. McNally sat by timidly as D11's performance slipped during her tenor on the D11 board. Delia Busby, who sued D11 for a six figure dollar amount, is also a likely contributor to the D11 fiction web site, as is Elizabeth Palmer, who wrote a threatening letter to a local business owner who supported improvements for D11. That letter is also posted in an earlier article on my blog (Could you imagine...?). Other apologists for mediocrity who may be involved in the web site include Lynn Peterson, Lyman Kaiser, Lisa Mieritz, and Ann Oatman-Gardner. Each of these people are vehemently opposed to parental involvement in their children's education and prefer to operate in the dark. This is the exact behavior of people who are void of ideas and who will only back Board members who share their view that accountability has no place in a public school district. Fornander's web site expresses support for recall candidates Jan Tanner and Charles Bobbitt. Taxpayers can be sure that these 2 candidates will be as secretive and antagonistic towards improvement as are the handlers who have invited them into this race.
For those who read the Gazette article, and for those who visit each of the web sites, there is a striking difference between this blog, Christen's web page, and the other site. That striking difference is the fact that the authors are clearly identified in 2 of the web sites, but not in the 3rd. I have not hidden the fact that I am the author of this blog. Christen named his web site after himself, and he even provides quite a bit of information on his personal life. No secrets there.
Now let's look at this other web site. The only name mentioned in the Gazette article is that of Lois Fornander. Anyone who knows Fornander can tell by the vitriolic tone of that web site that she had a hand in its creation. Fornander is the person who sent around an email titled "Sunrise Massacre" when the Board attempted to provide a mid-term evaluation of ex-superintendent Sharon Thomas. A copy of that email can be found on a previous blog entry on this site. Fornander, who seems shocked that Thomas was fired, actually lectured the D11 Board during the citizen comments portion of one of our meetings. During that lecture, Fornander turned to her friend Thomas and gave some sage advice: "Just ignore this Board." Thomas took Fornander's advice, and as a result, harmed the District. Fornander can't understand why someone who ignores the input of her employer would end up having her contract terminated.
Fornander's husband is Gerald Fornander. Gerald is also mentioned in an earlier post (That's not exactly right). He is the "concerned citizen" who filed an election complaint against the 3 reform candidates from the 2005 D11 election. Fornander's complaints were each dismissed. For the record, the Independent did issue a retraction/correction to their totally false article on that topic.
Fornander mentioned that there are a total of 6 contributors to her mostly fictional web site. Fornander never provides names. Fornander and her ilk despise accountability when it comes to the operation of a school district, so it is no surprise that she and her cronies do not want accountability for their web site. I provide documents and data to back up my claims on this web site. Fornander does no such thing on hers. Who can believe information from a web site where no author is identified and no evidence is presented to validate the outrageous claims? I created this blog to counter such fictional sites as the one run by Fornander. She and her kind have been spreading lies for the 3 years that I have served on this board. Nowhere on her web site or in her lectures will anyone be able to find anything constructive that will lead D11 to excellence. Fornander and her fellow authors are perfectly content to allow poor and minority students to continue to suffer with sub-par educations. In Fornander's world, these children are incapable of learning anyway, so why waste money trying to educate them?
An analysis of Fornander's circle of anti-parent friends can lead to an educated guess as to who is behind her fiction-based web site. Traci Cooper was hired by Thomas to be her personal PR representative. Cooper was paid thousands of dollars by Thomas (behind the Board's back, I might add) to try to make Thomas look good to the community. Cooper is a regular contributor to Fornander's site. Mary Ellen McNally, who is behind the D11 recall effort, is most likely involved as well. McNally sat by timidly as D11's performance slipped during her tenor on the D11 board. Delia Busby, who sued D11 for a six figure dollar amount, is also a likely contributor to the D11 fiction web site, as is Elizabeth Palmer, who wrote a threatening letter to a local business owner who supported improvements for D11. That letter is also posted in an earlier article on my blog (Could you imagine...?). Other apologists for mediocrity who may be involved in the web site include Lynn Peterson, Lyman Kaiser, Lisa Mieritz, and Ann Oatman-Gardner. Each of these people are vehemently opposed to parental involvement in their children's education and prefer to operate in the dark. This is the exact behavior of people who are void of ideas and who will only back Board members who share their view that accountability has no place in a public school district. Fornander's web site expresses support for recall candidates Jan Tanner and Charles Bobbitt. Taxpayers can be sure that these 2 candidates will be as secretive and antagonistic towards improvement as are the handlers who have invited them into this race.
posted by Craig Cox | 2:57 PM
3 Comments:
Wow well written, just the facts and only the facts.
I am a regular voyeur of these blogs and had noticed just what you are saying: these people don't want us to know who they are, but they want us to believe what they are saying.
Doesn't wash with me. I think that the decline of D-11 started at least a decade ago, when a self-serving superintendent wanted to win the National title of the year, and did it, at our kid's expense.
The technology spending, the state of the art high end schools, etc, cost the kids in the working class neighborhoods dearly.
Just ask Gudvangen - he was around then, an active participant in taking from the poor to give more to the rich. He believes that poor kids parents are to bear the full burden of their plight - that the public school system has no obligation to even try to deliver a quality education to them, as it is a losing battle.
Much like Doyle before him, Gudvangen believes it is better to continue to provide high quality education to affluent (his?) kids and to continue to point to statistics that prove poor kids can't learn.
Which came first? Lower standards or lower performance? I believe it was the first - that low end schools have long been warehouses for those public servants who have been moved out of higher end neighborhood schools for whatever reasons. If this isn't true, then the reconstitution of two of our elementary schools some ten years ago should have shown some sort of improvement. Instead: static performace despite additional funding and "the cream of the crop" working in those schools.
Look into it, Mr. Cox. A five year plan with plans to evaluate the plan for only three years. Doomed for failure, but a great bullet for the Superintendent of the Year narrative. It served it's purpose (serving an adult) but didn't help a single child.
How is Burnley doing these days? Incredible how people can keep producing failure and still get hired. It points to the systemic weakness of public education where accountability is out and the latest fads are in.
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