The Infighting is hurting our children!
Remember how the D11 community was informed by indignant unionites and other status quo supporters that school board debates were taking the focus off of education and hurting "the children?" Remember how we were told that there are never any disagreements in the district and that the only people who ever argued were reform board members? Remember how the recall election was going to allow stressed out teachers to focus on "the children?"
We have already seen on this blog that there is much discord within the labor union among people who are supposed to focus their energy on students. All of the following entries were posted on the online Gazette after the Sean Paige editorial in which he detailed the labor union strife. As you can see, there is no love between warring factions of the teachers' labor union.
What about the kids, guys? What about the kids?
Good job of presenting the issue about the union without your usual union bashing, Sean. I'm sure the teachers that are represented by the union will be more careful to watch over their leadership because of this.
impressed - May 24, 2007 11:42:49 AM
Gotta love the union people using the gazette like a political tool. These are the unforgivable travesties that should get our president impeached? Pathetic. Obviously their hatred of Irma trumps their love of kids. Sad, but very typical of those willing to engaged in open warfare over menial microscopic issues. Ironically, people who like to burn down forrests many times don't realize that they could be standing right in the middle of the blaze themselves. Is that membership numbers I smell burning?
Ammo to the enemy - May 24, 2007 09:26:15 PM
You have to love the educrats in their continuing defense of the those that have done so much damage to our education system, like the unions. If you call them out, like Sean often does, as the destructive force they are, you are bashing them. Nice. Remember folks these union bosses are the ones teaching your kids, in fact that is where Irma is now headed back to, the classroom! These people have made our district a laughing stock and run it into the ground. Get your kids out now!
Lisa - May 25, 2007 08:12:26 AM
Misappropriating a thousand dollars is not menial or trivial, Big Lie. Valerio abused the teachers trust by commanding a salary of six figures, which is simply obscene. And she still has to misappropriate funds to pad her pocketbook more. She had to overspend her own budget by over half. Although I doubt that a forest fire has been sparked, if it has, it's due to Valerio's greedy self centeredness. Talk about a narcissistic personality!
Sherlock - May 25, 2007 10:54:50 AM
I see that you're not above using the Gazette yourself, Ammo. See, that was the problem all along, the leadership was always in the right and honorable position when thay acted, and all others were dishonorable if they dared to oppose tham. In that sense, Eric and Craig were on target for attacking the union mentality. The membership numbers will burn if those that want to blindly follow the leader continue to do so. An association should not be about leadership, but the members. Although I am concerned for those that choose to leave, I know that in the end the association will recover and represent the members in a more personal and caring way than has been modeled in the past year. You might want to don a firesuit yourself while criticizing the fire that you are standing in.
T for Tat - May 25, 2007 11:18:33 AM
There is absolutely no perspective in this thing. Irma would have been out in a year anyway, but that wasn't good enough. The political operatives wanted a carcass, so they got one. Now that they've gotten what they wanted, they don't know what to do. Where do they go, what enemy do they attack now? I suspect they will begin wars with each other soon. These CSEA politicos have forgotten the lessons of Shakespeare's Richard the Third. I give them a year and then they'll be selling their little kingdoms for little horses to ride away with to fight little issues in little towns elsewhere.
micro viewpoints - May 25, 2007 02:23:15 PM
We have already seen on this blog that there is much discord within the labor union among people who are supposed to focus their energy on students. All of the following entries were posted on the online Gazette after the Sean Paige editorial in which he detailed the labor union strife. As you can see, there is no love between warring factions of the teachers' labor union.
What about the kids, guys? What about the kids?
Good job of presenting the issue about the union without your usual union bashing, Sean. I'm sure the teachers that are represented by the union will be more careful to watch over their leadership because of this.
impressed - May 24, 2007 11:42:49 AM
Gotta love the union people using the gazette like a political tool. These are the unforgivable travesties that should get our president impeached? Pathetic. Obviously their hatred of Irma trumps their love of kids. Sad, but very typical of those willing to engaged in open warfare over menial microscopic issues. Ironically, people who like to burn down forrests many times don't realize that they could be standing right in the middle of the blaze themselves. Is that membership numbers I smell burning?
Ammo to the enemy - May 24, 2007 09:26:15 PM
You have to love the educrats in their continuing defense of the those that have done so much damage to our education system, like the unions. If you call them out, like Sean often does, as the destructive force they are, you are bashing them. Nice. Remember folks these union bosses are the ones teaching your kids, in fact that is where Irma is now headed back to, the classroom! These people have made our district a laughing stock and run it into the ground. Get your kids out now!
Lisa - May 25, 2007 08:12:26 AM
Misappropriating a thousand dollars is not menial or trivial, Big Lie. Valerio abused the teachers trust by commanding a salary of six figures, which is simply obscene. And she still has to misappropriate funds to pad her pocketbook more. She had to overspend her own budget by over half. Although I doubt that a forest fire has been sparked, if it has, it's due to Valerio's greedy self centeredness. Talk about a narcissistic personality!
Sherlock - May 25, 2007 10:54:50 AM
I see that you're not above using the Gazette yourself, Ammo. See, that was the problem all along, the leadership was always in the right and honorable position when thay acted, and all others were dishonorable if they dared to oppose tham. In that sense, Eric and Craig were on target for attacking the union mentality. The membership numbers will burn if those that want to blindly follow the leader continue to do so. An association should not be about leadership, but the members. Although I am concerned for those that choose to leave, I know that in the end the association will recover and represent the members in a more personal and caring way than has been modeled in the past year. You might want to don a firesuit yourself while criticizing the fire that you are standing in.
T for Tat - May 25, 2007 11:18:33 AM
There is absolutely no perspective in this thing. Irma would have been out in a year anyway, but that wasn't good enough. The political operatives wanted a carcass, so they got one. Now that they've gotten what they wanted, they don't know what to do. Where do they go, what enemy do they attack now? I suspect they will begin wars with each other soon. These CSEA politicos have forgotten the lessons of Shakespeare's Richard the Third. I give them a year and then they'll be selling their little kingdoms for little horses to ride away with to fight little issues in little towns elsewhere.
micro viewpoints - May 25, 2007 02:23:15 PM
posted by Craig Cox | 7:22 PM
22 Comments:
1. School's out for summer.
2. Some people can multitask.
Duhhhh
Uh, nice try. The theft and forgery occurred in April 2006. The infighting began when Tim Cross was selected for the Uniserve position over Tom Watson. All of this fighting was happening throughout the past 2 school years.
If you are so proficient at multi-tasking, how is it that you were so unable to teach due to debates at school board meetings that occurred only twice a month on Wednesday nights? The board meetings took place far from the classrooms. Your squabble directly involves teachers in the classrooms. Sorry, no "duh" here.
1. The misappropriation of funds occured in June (not April) 2006 and it did notcometolight until March 2007. Maybe that fuzzy math you learned as a kid did you a disservice.
2. "So unable to teach due to debates at school board meetings"? What in the heck does that mean? Are you having delusions again? There is no debate at school board meetings; citizens got three minutes to say what they wanted at the begining of the meeting, and then you "reformers" took as much time as you wanted to say whatever you wanted, without anyone to refute your nonsense. And what does any of that have to do with classroom teaching?
Does anyone know if this woman will face any charges resulting from her helping herself to public monies? It seems like she would have to, that the district wouldn't be able to override law!?
Well.....that would then lead me to think that someone who fails to yield to an oncoming motorist and kills him would also be charged with .............well something..........as of yet, no charges filed in Sharon Thomas' vehicular homicide.
What is wrong with this town? Are there really two sets of rules?
And where is that guy who demanded that D-11 waste money investigating ancient bogus charges against Eric Christen? I would have thought that his legal eagle eyes would be clammoring for justice in these two cases.
Oops, I forgot, he's one of those that believe two sets of rules is a decent way to live.
The bald guy who was so concerned about the bogus charges against Eric is David Tiebault, or something like that. He is a good friend of Karen Teja. Remember that the D11 administration, at the time under the helm of Sharon Thomas, spent over $5,000 trying to make that accusation into a legitimate crime. After severl months of spending tax payer money, they found nothing. Contrast that with the current "investigation" being conducted by Glenn Gustafson, the CFO. He already admitted that the document that Valerio submitted was forged, but claims to have spoken to some "legal authority," (aka, HRO), and he was told that since restitution had been made, no need for charges. I'll bet there are plenty of other felons in town who wish that they could use that legal process...commit crimes until caught, pay some of it back and declare that all is good. The D11 administration is so deep in bed with the labor union that there is no way that Gustafson will push for charges.
Think about something for a second. This is totally hypothetical, but it makes the point. Pretend that the Schuck Corporation had a contract to build one of our new schools, and pretend that someone from that company had forged documents to receive an overpayment of district funds for construction work. If he got caught a year later, and after being caught, quickly repaid the funds, would the unionites be declaring that this is "nothing?" The CSEA and the corporation are both private entities, so would the Schuck Corporation be allowed to cover up the felonies simply because it is a private corporation? The reality is that there would be a media feeding frenzy, and people such as Valerio would be holding daily press conferences decrying the rotten private business.
By the way, isn't it funny to hear unionites use the "private business" defense to keep the media away from their little scandal? For the 3 years that I served on the board, labor union activists and their supporters used the term "privatizers" as a derogatory comment about the reformers. It turns out that the most corrupt private business that deals with D11 is the CSEA labor union itself.
As for Thomas killing the motorcyclist, that is a whole story unto itself.
The other reason that the administration won't pursue charges against Valerio is because a felony would keep her out of teaching. She was too valuable to the administration for them to push for charges. After all, she was union preisdent when the successful recall went through. She helped get the reformers off the back of the incompetent administration. They can't punish someone who did so much for them.
Can someone contact those recall organizers and get them to weigh in on this travesty?
Why does the Gazette not do that? Is it really that biased?
What a total embarrassment that the stories they run are so politically motivated. I guess I never noticed before the whole recall thing - how media could pursuade people's way of thinking - especially in a town where I used to think most people were pretty bright.
I would really like to know what Annie Oatman-Gardner, McNally, Simpson, Peterson, the Mieritz, Fornander, etc, think about these misdeeds. Something tells me they would have some limp wristed excuses, and wouldn't see the true depravity of Watson and Valerio.
Elections coming in November - maybe those candidates who were backed by the above mentioned will take the dings for these incidences.
What am I thinking? Of course they won't! Tanner and Bobbit will be reelected because they have clearly demonstrated their willingness to bless anything that comes out of the administration offices. For that matter: why is Gustafson doing the investigation? Don't we have ANY other employees in D-11????
What difference do the opinions of the End the Chaos recall organizers make? First, they dealt with school board members who were elected officials. Second, they only mounted the recall effort when Christen and Shakes refused to resign. At least the CSEA president, Valerio, saved her organization from the trouble of having her recalled.
I am curious to hear about Watson's "depravity" though. It was announced in the Gazette that he resigned, but that's all.
The difference is that while the organizers of the recall were doing their thing, the same type of chaos was going on within the CSEA. Teacher infighting can also cause problems in the classroom. Perhaps a call for the CSEA President to resign, anytime before her actual resignation, would have been more than appropriate, if the recallers were really interested in what is good for kids.
Beginning up at the top with Anonymous #1,
1. The Gazette stated that the felony occurred in April, not June. So what if it was really June. The infighting has been going on since Watson did not get his prized Uniserve position, which was 2 years ago. Math has nothing to do with it. By the way, back when I was in school, we were taught math, not the trash you force on our kids. Why did you wait until March 2007 to address the theft?
2. Your comment makes my point perfectly. You wanted a recall because the board was disrupting your ability to teach, or so you said back then. As I said, you lied to the public about the board disrupting the teachers by debating at meetings. Board meetings are for board business. They are not meant to be town hall meetings. The reformers changed board policy to allow more citizens to speak than any previous board had allowed. Tell me, does your current board allow the public to speak at will during board meetings? Oh, wait, no one attends board meetings anymore. What's the matter, lost your interest in education? What do you mean no one was there to refute us? You had 3 or 4 of your labor union purchased board members on the board throughout my tenor. The fact that they did not have facts to bring to the table is not my fault. You want these mindless people representing you. You should feel proud.
As for the last Anonymous statement, teachers are public servants. They are paid with public funds and they deal directly with our kids. Because of that, they deserve as much scrutiny as unpaid board members who do not teach in the classrooms. In fact, they should probably receive more scrutiny. The Chaos people claimed that they were concerned about the district. The fact that they do not express concern over this major disruption to the teaching environment shows that their motives had nothing to do with excellence and everything to do with politics. Shakes and Christen did not commit crimes. Valerio did.
I don't recall seeing anything about Watson in the Gazette.
It appears that some of our members read your blog and note who posts. Interesting. I didn't want any question about who I was and what I was posting, so I've used my own name.
This is not a major disruption to our teaching, school year, or our students. It's an issue of the members of CSEA and the use of their dues. You can listen to the outgoing president and assume that the division happened years ago because of Tom's application for Uni Serve, but the outgoing president appears to have taken money from our local and national association wrongfully and is at best "questionable" with the truth of late. The present Uni Serve director and Tom get along great, BTW. Wouldn't Tom have a problem with him as well, if he wanted Irma's job and had sour grapes? If he wanted to be president so bad, why did he resign from the board? It's just not rational, but people who hide the truth and from the truth rarely are rational.
I can't believe that we are still bemaoning the recall issue. The voters had a choice and made it. Can we stop the comparison? They are apples and oranges. Most of our members wouldn't find the internal policing of financial issues a "major disruption to the teaching environment." It is concerning and sad, but teaching will go on and we will make this right, eventually.
Again, I will correct you on the allegations that the "union" wants this covered up and "demands" that members do things to keep it quiet. It's ridiculous, seeing as how Tom , I and others (other obvious board members) post on this blog and the Gazette about our own opinions. No one(CSEA,CEA,NEA) has ever asked us to stop and infact the legal eagles have defended our right to speak out (this IS still America, right?). The association is not twisting members arms to treat non-members badly, infact I represented quite a few non-members in the recent job search for the teachers at East and I was glad to do so. I know that it makes a good story to pretend that the union is made up of thugs that have iron fists, but we are regular members who want what is best for our teachers and our students. It really doesn't matter to me if you believe that or attack me because of my beliefs. We disagree and I still manage to show you respect, despite my union ties.
Lori, are you saying that a labor union leader (your labor union leader) is dishonest? Wow, who would have thought?
You and your fellow labor unionites told the public over and over again that the board fighting was a disruption to the teachers of D11; now you say that it was not disrupting. I'm not bemoaning the recall, just pointing out the facts from an event that occurred in D11. I agree that this is an apples to oranges comparison, but only because Irma is accused of 2 felonies while Eric and Sandy were never accused of any crimes, which is the reason for most recalls. Your dishonest leadership did not like the threat of accountability in D11, nor did they like the loss of power to board members who were elected without labor union funding or blessing. Your labor union dues funded a very dishonest public campaign that was the meant solely to benefit the labor union, not the students of D11.
The theft issue is not simply one of an internal dispute. The theft and forgery involved public funds. Even if the theft was "only" from your private organization, it would still be theft. Burglarizing a private residence is a crime just as much as burglarizing a public facility. Again, I enjoy how you union leaders get to pick and choose when your labor union is private vs public. Your labor union sets public school district policy, it chooses the school board, it has unlimited access to the schools, and it has access to public funds, but then you pretend that your internal business is none of the public's business. How convenient.
If you are trying to portray a soft and gentle image for the CSEA, your alliance with the AFL-CIO is not going to help you much. I don't suppose that you joined with them to soften their image.
Yes, this is still America. Your labor union should understand that and stop using socialist strong-arm tactics to run its organization and the public's school district. Sorry, Lori, but everyone knows that it is a thugish organization. That is not just my opinion. Worst of all, labor union leaders still put labor union interests ahead of the interests of the public and the students. That is wrong.
Craig, is it true that Cheyenne Mtn doesn't have a teacher's union?
Why wouldn't that model work for D11?
I've heard from some experienced teachers that they are fed up with the union and many are opting out. I was surprised to hear that teachers pay $60/month in dues! Apparently, the union uses the new teacher orientation to indoctrinate teachers and scare them into joining the union. One example I've heard is that the union tells new teachers that if they don't belong to the union then they are exposed to liability issues which D11 doesn't cover. That is a lie.
Also, good experienced teachers are fed up having to work with incompetent teachers. One school even held back a teacher req waiting for the East MS teachers to get hired somewhere else because they didn't want incompetent teachers at their school. With the dismal record at East, there were surely some poor teachers at that school ... so why are they being reassigned? What a joke!
I've also heard from good teachers that they would like to see an incentive/bonus program.
I would like to see the teachers that are disillusioned by the union and the D11 board fight back by opting out of the union and speak up at board meetings and start making some demands of the BOE!
I suspect that there are many teachers that are disgusted with the way things are and they will speak privately but not publicly.
Craig, are you getting any feedback like this from teachers?
Yes, I have gotten feedback like that from teachers since I was elected in 2003. The labor union scares them and misinforms them to join, and then uses their money for left-wing, anti-parent political purposes without asking its membership. All labor unions work that way.
None of the surrounding school districts have labor unions other than D11. That puts to bed the theory that all teachers will be in jeopardy of losing their jobs if not for the labor union. Good teachers are in high demand. Bad teachers should lose their jobs. They are the ones who the labor union protects, and as I have pointed out before, they are the most active in running the union.
The teachers who are disgusted with the labor union generally will not speak publicly due to the threats and intimidation that they will have to endure in their schools. Despite the denials, it is a thuggish organization. After all, it is a labor union.
Lori, I find it amusing that you have to speak for your husband. It
seems that every time he is in the headlines, it is you who fights for
him.
Of course the NEA, CEA and CSEA will not ask you to stop participating
because you are grand supporters of the union. I wonder what they
would say if you were not a supporter? Look what happened when there was
disagreement within your organization.
Lori, how soon you forget. Remember when the Superintendent was fired.
Remember how aggrevated you and your hubby were? Did you just forget
it? No, you became ardent supporters of the recall, went to meetings,
and did everything you could to get the non-union board members fired.
That is your right as a citizen. Do you not support the rights of the
people on this and other blogs to speak and present their opinions?
Particularly when there is taxpayer money invoved! It seems to me that
you are fine with your right to participate, but try to stiffle those who
disagree with you, your husband, or the union.
By the way, did the non-union teachers from East land a job before all
others were even interviewed? Where will you be next year? Do the
non-union teachers get the same breaks that you do?"
Will you post my response or just rail at me again without showing my side? You're the mighty moderator....
I invite you to call any of the non-union members (infact, I have their numbers!) at East and investigate your claims. I was the building Rep. and I worked hard as a volunteer to get each and everyone equal and fair treatment on that aspect. I'll be going to Doherty, a job I could have had last year but was dedicated to trying to make East work. C'est le vie. Some of us know how to move on without whining.
I've never condoned or witnessed anyone strong arming non-members because they hadn't joined. Don't know where you get your information, but it isn't accurate.
I've never prevented anyone from stating thie point of view, as if anyone could stop you, even now.
And lastly, I don't have to defend my husband. He's done nothing wrong and he's way more capable of defending himself than I. But just like you defeded your wife's choice to be a surrogate, I will stand up for Tom's decision to step down in order for someone to do what they should have long before. It was a cause worth sacrificing for and I'm proud of him. There's more to the story, as you'll soon find out.
Lori,
I am not sure why you addressed your response to me. I am not “Just Stopping By.” I have no idea if he/she has a wife, a husband, or is even married, and I don’t know if he/she was involved in a surrogacy, so your reply might be off base. I use my name when I post.
Of course I am the moderator – this is my blog. I have given you every opportunity to post replies. As long as your replies are directed towards the particular topic, I will post them whether we agree with each other or not. I won’t waste time posting rants that have nothing to do with the topic. I have given much more leeway for people who oppose me to post on this blog than any of your left-wing blogs around town. Try to post an opposing viewpoint on D11watch once. Tell me what happens.
Since you addressed your reply to me, I will respond to you.
Lori: “Some of us know how to move on without whining.”
Craig: I will assume that is supposed to be a joke. You and Tom sat and whined for 3 years while I was on the board. You whined publicly about issues that you told me privately that you agreed with. It was all for the union cause, not for improving D11. There is a big difference between the two.
It is a fact that you all agreed to keep your mouths shut about the East closing since it was YOUR board that closed it. It is a fact that you would have been howling in the streets if we had closed East or any other school. YOUR board can do what it wants as long as they do not threaten you with anything that resembles accountability.
Lori: “I've never condoned or witnessed anyone strong arming non-members because they hadn't joined. Don't know where you get your information, but it isn't accurate.”
Craig: Come on. Now you are playing pretend. It happens all the time.
Lori: “I've never prevented anyone from stating thie point of view, as if anyone could stop you, even now.”
Craig: I’ve never accused you of preventing me from having a point of view. What you have done is intentionally misrepresented the points of view of those with whom you disagree. As you “talked to the community,” you intentionally fabricated stories about those of us on the board who you did not purchase. Go back and read Tom’s email to the Doherty teachers again.
As for defending Tom, good for you. It was not I who wrote that comment. I’m surprised that there is more to this story. I thought the labor union was all about openness and honesty. You aren’t holding things back from the public, are you?
As for getting your colleagues jobs, why is that a labor union responsibility? That should be an administration/board responsibility, and only those teachers who are good quality instructors should have received jobs in other schools. My guess is that “good” young teachers were probably bumped to make room for poor teachers whose biggest qualification is that they have been around for awhile. Not a great way to improve a school district.
It's the AR's job in a building to represent the teachers in matters of their jobs. I helped non-association members as well as association members because the process was messy at best. As far as I know no one was "bumped" since HR said that there were plenty of open positions available in the distict. There might have been some new hire INRs or probationary people moved... but I would think that was attributed to the school count as opposed to placing East teachers.
I'm not joking at all when I defend us as non-stron-arming. Been on and off the board and I've never heard of it. I guess we will agree to have opposing views on that one.
I spoke three times to the current board about the closing of the school. I wrote three emails and I also drove children to the board meetings. How is that keeping my mouth shut? I have video if you need it as proof.
I've never misrepresented you or your opinions to anyone that I know. They all watched you, as I did, on TV or in person. As far as the recall is concerned, I allowed the public to have their own say and they spoke loudly.
Sorry about the confusion with the "just Stopping by" post. I guess working summer school makes the brain fuzzy. Some of us do for the kids with our time and effort, despite accusations of not really caring about them.
Lori,
My point with the placement of teachers is that it should not be your decision. The administration should make that decision based on qualifications and competence. Competence should be the most important factor. The future of kids depends on the competence of the teachers.
It is not a “view” that your labor union uses strong arm tactics. After all, it is a labor union. Teachers who oppose your politics would not be afraid to speak publicly if not for your strong arm tactics. This isn’t even debatable.
I never had complaints about me from anyone who watched me on TV or watched me at board meetings. As far as your observations, remember that you and Tom either slept or read your newspapers during meetings, so it is not clear how much you actually observed. The fact that liberals opposed my views doesn’t bother me all that much. They are responsible for the poor condition of our public schools in the first place.
Fewer than 20% of the D11 voters voted in the recall election. Not a very “loud” voice at all. Although you would like to wish otherwise, I was not recalled. By the way, I haven’t heard you bragging about all of the great ideas emanating from your current school board lately. What, no plans to organize a recall against them for being a do-nothing board?
Telling people that we had an agenda to “destroy” the schools qualifies as misrepresenting. Your main issue has always been that you oppose accountability.
Sorry for the tough love, but East had a 13% proficiency rate in 8th grade math. I am not sure how much “help” you have been providing these kids. Go ahead and blame it on their race or income level, though. You guys are good at that.
Wow... I'm always amazed at the twisting that you do with the truth and then believe your creations. But it's not my job to set you straight.
When you actually spend time in the classroom doing the job that I do, then I guess your opinion will mean something to me. Until then, I think that I feel quite comfortable with the work that I've chosen. Accountability has never been a problem with me either. When the administrators fill out the paperwork and make teachers accountable, then there might be change. If you have a problem with that sit down with Sandy and have her explain it to you. She understood it.
I'm sorry that you think that the running of our association isn't debateable. The truth is always an effective defense and quite frankly, who believed that garbage that you've been making up for years? You've never sought the truth when you could make it up and have half a chance at being believed.
Let's try an experiment, Mr. Cox. Take the best of the best in this district and move them to Irving (the new East) and see the improvement that is made in the AYP and math scores. I would so love to have some data to work with when we are making accountability the issue.
Your greatest commentary came when the public, no matter what their percentage, voted you guys out. What was the percentage of voters that voted to keep your guys in, by the way? Did they loose their ballots?
That’s right, Lori, tell the parents of the East community that there was no hope for them from the start. Tell them that the only way to improve a school’s performance is to move the right kids into the building. After all, there is simply no possibility of educating “those” kids. Since there was no hope at the “old East,” maybe you can tell us what you did during your days in the building. Expensive babysitter?
By calling Irving the “new” East, of course, you mean that it has a high population of “those” kids. For the record, since Irving has the SAIL program at the school, so the best of the best already attend.
Let’s try another experiment. Let’s put “those” kids into Cesar Chavez like they do in Pueblo. Let’s see the statistics of that move. You claim to want to have statistics with you when you debate, yet you ignore the awful statistics in your own building. But you fight against schools like Cesar Chavez because they are successful. It is much easier for you to make excuses and blame the backgrounds of “those” kids than it is to acknowledge that with hard work, even “those” kids can learn.
Sorry, but it is irrelevant that I have not been a classroom teacher. That is the standby rejoinder that people like you always use to avoid any criticism of your performance, or lack thereof. You are a public employee. The public has every right to comment on your performance. That is the problem with most of you hard-core unionites. You have no idea that you are to answer to the public, not your bloated labor union bosses. Why did you comment on my performance as a public school board member? I don’t recall you ever being an elected official, so what gave you that right to hold an opinion about any board member’s performance? That is simply a stupid argument.
Sorry again, Lori, but people weren’t falling all over themselves to get you at Doherty. In fact, the comment from a UNION teacher was that you would “only be dealing with at-risk students,” so no threat to the other math students. It isn’t just my opinion that you weren’t top of the line.
As for the last election, the good guys did not have the benefit of the $1.2 million from the 3 gay Denver millionaires that your labor union brought into the picture. That money bought a lot of dishonest advertising, something your leadership was very proud of.
Lori ...
The union may not overtly strong-arm teachers, but it does influence in subtle ways. Here are just a few examples;
Teachers have to opt-out of the union dues and go to the admin office to do it. If you really cared more for the teachers than the union, then you'd work to change it to an opt-in policy.
New teachers are told that one reason they should join the union is because of liability issues as they aren't covered by D11 which is false.
So, the union is involved in the reassignment of East teachers. Is the union really proud of the fact that incompetent teachers are being reassigned to schools that don't want them?
There is no talk from the union about how the district failed the kids or how to prevent that from happening again. The union is not pressuring the board for changes that would help these kids.
And now you're calling Irving the "new" East? That's quite an insult to the Irving community.
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