Six months after recall, D-11 board back to ‘normal’
The School District 11 recall election is now six months in the past. Since that time, there have been no controversial headlines, no articles on individual board of education members, and apparently no disagreements in the board room. Since all current board members are madly in love with one another, teachers are free to teach and children free to learn.
Apologists for the status quo would like the community to believe that since the reformers are gone, the school district is now looking out for the best interests of the parents and students. The sad reality is that once again, no one is holding the administration or board accountable for anything. Just as in the past, the board room is empty during meetings, with the exception of a few slumbering staff members and disinterested board members, some of whom even know what is on the agenda.
During my three years on the board, every proposal or action that the reformers brought forth was met with an article or headline questioning our motives. The D-11 administration and labor union actively rallied employees against every move we made, and they both rewarded employees who took the time to protest against any reform idea that was presented. In short, D-11 employees took an active role in creating an appearance of controversy and chaos in the district. Those of us who wished to reform a district that is badly in need of reform were constantly accused of imposing secret agendas on the district.
Now that another school year has come to a close, can anyone honestly claim to have any idea what the current school board or administration have accomplished in the past six months? Probably not, but there are several items of interest to be noted. In 2003, just after we took office, the reform slate voted to televise the board meetings, giving complete and open access to every meeting. Board members were very public with our ideas and proposals. We understood that we would face scrutiny for ideas that were not approved by the education establishment, but the education debate is one that must be engaged. Where are the ideas from the current board?
Last year, we who were on the board voted to implement a pay for performance system for teachers. Without a board vote, the administration has quietly allowed this directive to die. Principals were given no performance benchmarks to achieve, so it will not be possible for incentive pay to be distributed. Also last year, we voted 6-1 to implement a site based management system wherein more money would be directed to the school buildings and principals would be granted more ownership over their schools. Again, without a vote of the board, D-11 dropped this student-centered approach to funding schools. Board president John Gudvangen and his anti-reform allies on the board all campaigned for site-based management because they knew the public liked that approach. Better to kill reform in secret than to let the public see their true agenda.
Gudvangen has since vowed at a public meeting that he would wipe clean any evidence that reformers had ever served on the D-11 board. He has further bragged to supporters that the D-11 community does not pay attention to the board anymore, so he can impose his will on the district without fear of angering the community. Where are the so-called community activists who expressed concern over secret agendas in the past? Where are the former board members who claimed to support reform but not board infighting? Reform is secretly being swept away and these watchdogs are strangely silent.
Equally troubling is the absence of The Gazette. Why are articles on the union theft and forgery scandal buried in the Metro section? Where was the article questioning the motives of the board as it voted to close a D-11 school? Where are the articles highlighting the accomplishments (or lack thereof) of the current board?
The D-11 community is exactly where status quo activists want it to be — in the dark. The fact that there are no more headlines about D-11 is not a good thing. While the district once again operates in secret with no leadership on the board, the taxpayers continue to be grossly underserved.
Apologists for the status quo would like the community to believe that since the reformers are gone, the school district is now looking out for the best interests of the parents and students. The sad reality is that once again, no one is holding the administration or board accountable for anything. Just as in the past, the board room is empty during meetings, with the exception of a few slumbering staff members and disinterested board members, some of whom even know what is on the agenda.
During my three years on the board, every proposal or action that the reformers brought forth was met with an article or headline questioning our motives. The D-11 administration and labor union actively rallied employees against every move we made, and they both rewarded employees who took the time to protest against any reform idea that was presented. In short, D-11 employees took an active role in creating an appearance of controversy and chaos in the district. Those of us who wished to reform a district that is badly in need of reform were constantly accused of imposing secret agendas on the district.
Now that another school year has come to a close, can anyone honestly claim to have any idea what the current school board or administration have accomplished in the past six months? Probably not, but there are several items of interest to be noted. In 2003, just after we took office, the reform slate voted to televise the board meetings, giving complete and open access to every meeting. Board members were very public with our ideas and proposals. We understood that we would face scrutiny for ideas that were not approved by the education establishment, but the education debate is one that must be engaged. Where are the ideas from the current board?
Last year, we who were on the board voted to implement a pay for performance system for teachers. Without a board vote, the administration has quietly allowed this directive to die. Principals were given no performance benchmarks to achieve, so it will not be possible for incentive pay to be distributed. Also last year, we voted 6-1 to implement a site based management system wherein more money would be directed to the school buildings and principals would be granted more ownership over their schools. Again, without a vote of the board, D-11 dropped this student-centered approach to funding schools. Board president John Gudvangen and his anti-reform allies on the board all campaigned for site-based management because they knew the public liked that approach. Better to kill reform in secret than to let the public see their true agenda.
Gudvangen has since vowed at a public meeting that he would wipe clean any evidence that reformers had ever served on the D-11 board. He has further bragged to supporters that the D-11 community does not pay attention to the board anymore, so he can impose his will on the district without fear of angering the community. Where are the so-called community activists who expressed concern over secret agendas in the past? Where are the former board members who claimed to support reform but not board infighting? Reform is secretly being swept away and these watchdogs are strangely silent.
Equally troubling is the absence of The Gazette. Why are articles on the union theft and forgery scandal buried in the Metro section? Where was the article questioning the motives of the board as it voted to close a D-11 school? Where are the articles highlighting the accomplishments (or lack thereof) of the current board?
The D-11 community is exactly where status quo activists want it to be — in the dark. The fact that there are no more headlines about D-11 is not a good thing. While the district once again operates in secret with no leadership on the board, the taxpayers continue to be grossly underserved.
posted by Craig Cox | 2:58 PM
5 Comments:
Your recent posts regarding the union and this one are right on. The big difference between you reformers and the current board is that the reformers were intensely interested in making sure kids were properly educated. My guess is that most, if not all, of the current members have no idea what elements a good reading program should have, nor do they have any idea what college level math professors say is essential for kids to learn K-12, the elements of which are missing from most widely used, D-11 sanctioned curriculum at the elementary school level. They have no idea that new teachers are given minimal support, have no curricula provided for some of the subjects they need to teach, and that teachers are hamstrung by some of the ridiculous mandates coming from central admin which do nothing to enhance their ability to teach kids, and rather, result in lots of wasted time. But who cares? Board meetings are nice and congenial, the union pawns who really created the chaos no longer have a job to do, and everyone can go back to excusing D-11's abysmal achievement levels. As always, the losers are the kids.
Gosh, didn't the school board just hear about a new writing program for elementary schools that has all sorts of statistics proving it's very effective? It's in the budget for next year, they said. Are they wrong? Do only people who lose elections to the school board and people who quit the school board know what's right for children? There are losers here, to be sure but, luckily, it's not the kids.
Slow down, Anonymous, let me write that one down….”The board heard something about some program that is supposed to be effective. To top it off, it is supposed to be in the budget, ‘they’ said.”
Wow, let me digest that one for a moment. Your board members must be very proud to have actually sat there and listened to something about some program. That is just the type of leadership that will pull this district out of its slump. I imagine that a lot of hard work and collaboration went into the planning for this endeavor.
The answer to your question is a resounding “Yes.” You haven’t managed to present any ideas that are beneficial to children or teachers. And yes, there are more losers than just the students. The tax payers are taking it square in the pocketbook.
Why all the bitterness, Anonymous, and why are you so afraid to shed your anonymity if you have so much of which you are proud?
Craig: The "anonymous" poster above is nothing if not consistent, as shown in prior posts - he/she hides in anonymity, refuses to (i.e. can't) provide any facts to rebut what you and others state openly under your own names, and he/she has to resort to snide personal attacks against those with the courage to speak out - all because he/she has nothing else to back up his/her defense of the current system's failure to educate thousands of kids.
I think anonymous postings are useful - when on point and constructive, and when rebutting, with facts and logic, arguments presented on your blog. Other anonymous postings, as demonstrated by the one above, contain nothing more than ad hominem attacks. Those that post the latter risk creating the impression that they are intellectually shallow and cowardly.
Carla,
They are intellectually shallow and cowardly. Remember that they used to say that they could not openly speak out becasue those meany reformers on the board would fire them. Now that we are off the board, they are still afraid of their own opinions. I would say that they are afraid of their own facts, but they never present any.
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