Forget Waldo, where the heck is Norvelle?
Norvelle Simpson is an ex-D11 board member who served on the board more than a decade ago. He had moved away from Colorado Springs for several years, and when he returned just last year, he was asked by Mary Ellen McNally to join her in the recall effort. Although Norvelle did nothing notable as a board member, somehow his presence during the recall effort was supposed to give the effort credibility in the black community, as Norvelle is black. Ironically, during Norvelle's term on the board, minority performance in D11 lagged well behind the performance of white students. Norvelle was just happy to call himself an elected official, and he dutifully ignored the plight of minorities, because he was told to ignore it.
Although Norvelle has no idea what the issues are in D11, during the recall campaign he was told to repeat over and over that the reform board members were intent on closing school buildings and selling them to private developers. In a particularly bizarre incident, as Eric Christen and I were appearing on the Joseph Michelli radio show, Norvelle called in and once again repeated his claim that we were going to close school buildings and sell the properties to private developers. How that would have benefit us, Norvelle never said. He never thought things through quite that far, but that wasn't the point. Honesty is not a consideration for the anti-reform, anti-parent crowd. The bizarre part about Norvelle's call is that when we asked him, on air, where he came up with the theory that we were going to close schools and sell them to private developers, Norvelle blurted out that the reason he knew that we were going to sell off schools was because that is what he did when he was on the board. Norvelle pointed out that he closed South Junior High School and sold the property to a development company that was associated with Steve Schuck. He concluded that since he did that, then it was obvious that we were going to do that. OK, Norvelle, that sounded brilliant. It was reported that Norvelle's handlers instructed him to never confront us again so as not to sound quite so out of touch.
Now that the D11 board is firmly in the hands of the union purchased status quo crowd once again, there is talk on the board of closing East Middle School. In fact, the leading option that the board is being told to choose is to close East and sell the property to a private entity. What does Norvelle say about this? What does he think about the fact that the students who will be most displaced by the closure of East will be minority kids? Well, we don't know. Norvelle has not shown his face or said a word about the issue. Norvelle claimed that he was never driven by politics, but by an altruistic concern for the children of D11. Why, then, has Norvelle not weighed in on the East closure? If anyone can find him, maybe they can ask him.
The obvious reason that Norvelle has been silent is because he was nothing more than a political pawn who was used by the old liberal white women who ran the recall campaign. They used him and then discarded him until they need to use a minority face for one of their causes again. Sadly, Norvelle probably has no idea that a discussion is even occurring about East. He was never all that interested in D11 in the first place, even when he sat on the board.
When we were on the board, we called for East to be reutilized. We called for placing one of the best charter schools in the state (Cesar Chavez) into East to give those kids a chance at a real education. On top of that, these kids would have received a quality education without having to be bused across town to get to a school. This board will not consider a charter option because they do not like the parental choice that charters offer. The labor union opposes charters because the teachers are not unionized, so the union leaders have not given the board members permission to vote for a charter option. The administration, led by the anti-choice CFO Glenn Gustafson, does not want a charter in East because Gustafson claims that charters drain money from the general fund. Note to Glenn: when the district loses 500-1000 students per year to surrounding districts, THAT drains money from the general fund, too.
A bigger fear for D11 educrats is that a charter such as Cesar Chavez would thrive in a school like East. That would be bad for the administration, because it would show that these kids can actually learn, and it would highlight the incompetence of an administration whose 6-figure earners cannot figure out how to educate kids themselves. If a school came into D11 and actually educated kids who are poor or minority, that would remove a primary excuse from the administration, which is that teachers can have no impact on students from certain socio-economic backgrounds.
When you find Waldo, look around. Norvelle might be lurking in the shadows, afraid and confused. How is a poor man like this supposed to explain his silence when the board that he chose to support is doing the very thing that he once said was unthinkable?
How does it feel to be used, Norvelle?
Although Norvelle has no idea what the issues are in D11, during the recall campaign he was told to repeat over and over that the reform board members were intent on closing school buildings and selling them to private developers. In a particularly bizarre incident, as Eric Christen and I were appearing on the Joseph Michelli radio show, Norvelle called in and once again repeated his claim that we were going to close school buildings and sell the properties to private developers. How that would have benefit us, Norvelle never said. He never thought things through quite that far, but that wasn't the point. Honesty is not a consideration for the anti-reform, anti-parent crowd. The bizarre part about Norvelle's call is that when we asked him, on air, where he came up with the theory that we were going to close schools and sell them to private developers, Norvelle blurted out that the reason he knew that we were going to sell off schools was because that is what he did when he was on the board. Norvelle pointed out that he closed South Junior High School and sold the property to a development company that was associated with Steve Schuck. He concluded that since he did that, then it was obvious that we were going to do that. OK, Norvelle, that sounded brilliant. It was reported that Norvelle's handlers instructed him to never confront us again so as not to sound quite so out of touch.
Now that the D11 board is firmly in the hands of the union purchased status quo crowd once again, there is talk on the board of closing East Middle School. In fact, the leading option that the board is being told to choose is to close East and sell the property to a private entity. What does Norvelle say about this? What does he think about the fact that the students who will be most displaced by the closure of East will be minority kids? Well, we don't know. Norvelle has not shown his face or said a word about the issue. Norvelle claimed that he was never driven by politics, but by an altruistic concern for the children of D11. Why, then, has Norvelle not weighed in on the East closure? If anyone can find him, maybe they can ask him.
The obvious reason that Norvelle has been silent is because he was nothing more than a political pawn who was used by the old liberal white women who ran the recall campaign. They used him and then discarded him until they need to use a minority face for one of their causes again. Sadly, Norvelle probably has no idea that a discussion is even occurring about East. He was never all that interested in D11 in the first place, even when he sat on the board.
When we were on the board, we called for East to be reutilized. We called for placing one of the best charter schools in the state (Cesar Chavez) into East to give those kids a chance at a real education. On top of that, these kids would have received a quality education without having to be bused across town to get to a school. This board will not consider a charter option because they do not like the parental choice that charters offer. The labor union opposes charters because the teachers are not unionized, so the union leaders have not given the board members permission to vote for a charter option. The administration, led by the anti-choice CFO Glenn Gustafson, does not want a charter in East because Gustafson claims that charters drain money from the general fund. Note to Glenn: when the district loses 500-1000 students per year to surrounding districts, THAT drains money from the general fund, too.
A bigger fear for D11 educrats is that a charter such as Cesar Chavez would thrive in a school like East. That would be bad for the administration, because it would show that these kids can actually learn, and it would highlight the incompetence of an administration whose 6-figure earners cannot figure out how to educate kids themselves. If a school came into D11 and actually educated kids who are poor or minority, that would remove a primary excuse from the administration, which is that teachers can have no impact on students from certain socio-economic backgrounds.
When you find Waldo, look around. Norvelle might be lurking in the shadows, afraid and confused. How is a poor man like this supposed to explain his silence when the board that he chose to support is doing the very thing that he once said was unthinkable?
How does it feel to be used, Norvelle?
posted by Craig Cox | 7:58 PM
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