California Teachers

Virtual Education Advocates Respond to Wave of Criticism

2011-11-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

I think online learning could be wonderful--but it looks like some people who don't care about kids are cashing in.

Virtual Ed. Advocates Respond to Wave of Criticism
By Ian Quillen
Premium article access courtesy of Edweek.org
November 23, 2011

It’s been a rough year for the public image of K-12 virtual education.

Studies in Colorado and Minnesota have suggested that full-time online students in those states were struggling to match the achievement levels of their peers in brick-and-mortar schools. Articles in The New York Times have questioned not only the academic results for students in virtual schools, but also the propriety of business practices surrounding the use of public dollars for such programs.

Meanwhile, two left-leaning magazines, The Nation and Mother Jones, contended this month that education policy reforms pushed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the name of digital opportunities for students have the ulterior motive of funneling money to big technology companies. And the move into education by the right-leaning media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, with his News Corp. conglomerate’s purchase of the educational technology company Wireless Generation, has drawn protests from some teacher advocates at public appearances by Mr. Murdoch...

Teachers Earn Too Much, Study Argues

2011-11-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Teachers Earn Too Much, Study Argues
November 2, 2011
By John O'Connor

Teachers are paid 52 percent more than their market value, according to a new study.

Teachers, did you know you are overpaid by 52%?

That’s the conclusion of a new study by conservative-leaning think tanks The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

Taxpayers, they conclude, are “overcharged” $120 billion each year from the difference in teacher salaries and compensation compared to similarly credentialed private sector workers. Teacher benefits are often far more generous than the private sector, the study notes.

Other conclusions from the study:

The wage gap between teachers and non-teachers disappears when both groups are matched on an objective measure of cognitive ability rather than on years of education.
Public-school teachers earn higher wages than private-school teachers, even when the comparison is limited to secular schools with standard curriculums.
Workers who switch from non-teaching jobs to teaching jobs receive a wage increase of roughly 9 percent. Teachers who change to non-teaching jobs, on the other hand, see their wages decrease by roughly 3 percent. This is the opposite of what one would expect if teachers were underpaid.

The study reveals a divide among those pushing for changes in public schools.

Raising teacher salaries is a foundation of school reformers, which includes Republicans, such as former Gov. Jeb Bush, and Democratic President Barack Obama. Better pay is more likely to attract better teaching candidates, they argue, and better teachers mean students will learn more.

Former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee disagreed with the study, in a statement printed by Politico:

We can accomplish the goal of attracting and retaining the best teachers and be fiscally responsible at the same time by moving money out of bloated bureaucracies that doesn’t improve student learning and into the classroom where it can.

Only 34% of Americans correctly identify Obama as Christian. How many identify Glenn Beck as the messiah?

2010-08-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

Obama not worried about Muslim rumors
The fact that only 34% of people correctly identify him as Christian doesn't bother the president, he tells NBC. 'There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation… in a new-media era.'
Los Angeles Times
Michael Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau
August 30, 2010

President Obama said in an interview Sunday that he can't worry about dispelling every rumor about him — even though a recent poll showed nearly 20% of Americans erroneously believe he is Muslim.

"The facts are the facts, right?" Obama told NBC's Brian Williams in New Orleans, where he was marking the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. "There is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new-media era can get churned out there constantly.

"We dealt with this when I was first running for the U.S. Senate. We dealt with it when we were first running for the presidency. ... I will always put my money on the American people. And I'm not gonna be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating on out there."

A poll released by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center earlier this month showed that 18% of people believe Obama is Muslim — up from 11% in March 2009. Only 34% said, accurately, that he is Christian, down from 48% last year...

Will The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles replace Patrick Judd with Lowell Billings?

2010-05-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

My source for this story has an avid interest in the behind-the-scenes machinations of the board of The Accelerated School. Unfortunately, she doesn't have access to the discussions of board members. She just has access to their track record.

"Look at the facts," she tells me. "When Patrick Judd mysteriously disappeared from his job as superintendent of Mountain Empire School district, then shortly afterward got booted from his long-held position on the Chula Vista Elementary school board, he applied to a lot of school districts. No one would take him in. If it weren't for his pal Lowell Billings, he might never have gotten another job as school administrator. Now Lowell Billings seems to have been forced to retire as superintendent of Chula Vista Elementary School District. Where will Lowell go now?"

I am flummoxed. "Belize?"

"No, silly. The Accelerated School! It's perfect. Pat Judd's contract expires this year. Lowell Billings had enough sway over TAS board members to get them to hire a guy that nobody else seemed to want. He can surely get them to hire himself."

"You think so?" I ask.

"I'll put good money on it. How much do you want to bet?"

"I always lose. I don't think I should take the bet."

"You're wise. Very wise."

Tea Party supporter opposes mine safety changes until government explains how it will pay for increased enforcement of laws

2010-04-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Kathleen in San Diego is alarmed at the steps toward socialism that the current health care law represents, and wants to make sure that the government doesn't use the tragedy at a Massey Energy mine to justify expanding government's role in protecting the health of citizens.

Coal Boss Don Blankenship Cast as Cavalier About Worker Safety in Lawsuits
Investors Also Critical of Massey CEO's 'Extravagant' Pay, Perks
By MATTHEW MOSK and ASA ESLOCKER
Apr. 8, 2010

As more details continue to surface about the checkered safety record of the Massey Energy coal mine where 25 workers perished Monday, the lavish lifestyle and allegedly cavalier attitude of the company's controversial chief executive, as described in lawsuits and corporate documents, are now coming under intensifying scrutiny.

Coal Boss Don Blankenship: If you take photos, "you're liable to get shot."

One miner who worked in Massey mines most of his 25-year career said working for CEO Don Blankenship was "like living under a hammer. It's all about the bottom line, we all know that." The miner, who would only agree to speak with an ABC News reporter if his name was not used, said Blankenship believes in "stretching the men to the limit … they want every ounce out of the men that they can get."

The public record describing Blankenship's bottom-line approach is long, much of it laid out in a series of investor lawsuits filed against Blankenship and his company, and in SEC documents submitted by a Wall Street investment house that made a failed bid to take control of Massey Energy four years ago. In these records, Blankenship was repeatedly criticized for both his approach to safety, and for what one investor called his "extravagant" package of pay and perks.

In just one year – 2005 -- Blankenship was paid $33.7 million in compensation, according to a 2008 lawsuit...

West Virginia disaster: Will Congress take on coal mining companies?
Mining companies have been slow to adopt new safety requirements. Critics say the West Virginia disaster shows that Congress needs to step in. The industry says it needs clearer guidance.
By Mark Guarino, Staff writer
Christian Science Monitor
April 7, 2010
Chicago

The deaths of 25 coal miners in West Virginia Monday in what is considered the worst mining accident in a quarter century is raising questions about whether a congressional overhaul of mine safety four years ago went far enough.

The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act, passed in 2006 in response to a disaster in Sago, W.V., that killed 13 miners, was intended to improve miner safety by mandating the installation of preventive and emergency technologies.

But Massey Energy Company, the company that owns the Upper Big Branch South Mine in Whitesville, W.V., where Monday’s accident happened, has been leveled numerous fines for environmental and safety violations in recent years.

Moreover, only 14 percent of mines have complied with MINER Act requirements to install improved communications systems.

This suggests that the MINER Act is not thorough enough in leveling consequences for mining companies or for establishing a timeline for coming to compliance, say several experts. The result is that the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) – the federal agency charged with monitoring coal companies and making them comply with safety standards – essentially has its hands tied.

“The record of [the Massey mine] is problematic, and it may be the [MINER Act] needs an additional amendment...

No signs of life heard in West Virginia mine
Jon Hurdle
Reuters
Wed Apr 7, 2010

MONTCOAL, West Virginia (Reuters) - Drills broke through into a stricken West Virginia mine early on Wednesday but rescuers detected no sign of the four miners missing since an explosion killed 25 people in a major U.S. mine disaster.

The rescue teams banged on pipes at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, but heard no response from the men, Governor Joe Manchin told reporters.

Hopes were dimming that the men would be found alive after Monday's blast, the largest U.S. mine accident since 1984.

...Questions have been raised by experts and observers about Massey's safety record and the laws governing the mining industry. Mining has always been dangerous, but 2009 was the safest ever for U.S. miners, with 34 deaths, according to federal data, 18 fewer than 2008.

Massey's accident rate fell to an all-time low in 2009, the sixth consecutive year its safety record was stronger than the industry average, the company said on its website.

But Upper Big Branch Mine has had three fatalities since 1998 and has a worse-than-average injury rate over the last 10 years, according to federal records. Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safety and Health News, said the mine has been repeatedly cited for safety violations.

Is there any school district that evaluates teachers effectively?

2009-02-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

What percentage of failing teachers can succeed with some help? According to Toledo schools, about 90%.

But how successful are those teachers, really? Did they simply manage to get on the good side of the teachers union, or are they truly effective teachers?

And are the teachers who "failed" and lost their jobs actually incompetent, or did teacher politics get rid of good teachers?

The evaluation board in Toledo contained a majority of teacher union representatives. See the
Status Report of Intern Teachers.

Here's an article about Peer Review from Education Week:
Peer Review: A Panacea?
by Stephen Sawchuk

The national teachers' unions weren't altogether thrilled by all the attention paid to teacher effectiveness in two reports released last week (see here and here for details). National Education Association Dennis Van Roekel, for instance, argued that the reports would have overemphasized standardized test scores.

"What a teacher does with her students, how she relates to them, and how she translates her subject knowledge into effective teaching practice are all the central measures of quality teaching," he argued.

AFT was equally unhappy with the reports, but the union's releases heavily promoted the "peer assistance and review" model of teacher evaluation as a promising option for dealing with ineffective teachers.

"We know that schools need to aggressively deal with ineffective teachers, and we are willing to take on the tough job of developing new systems to measure teacher effectiveness," one of AFT's statements reads.

Under a PAR system, teachers who are struggling in the classroom are referred to work with a "consulting teacher." Those who do not improve are typically referred for greater intervention and can ultimately face dismissal. Among the best known examples are in Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; Rochester, N.Y.; and Montgomery County, Md.

But here's some food for thought: In any kind of teacher-evaluation system, what percentage of teachers should expect to improve with assistance? And what percentage won't improve and need to be removed from the classroom? And how long should a teacher who's on the borderline remain in a classroom with kids?

Within the existing PAR models, these figures appear to have varied quite a bit. These data from the Toledo AFT Web site, for instance, show failure rates by teachers on the PAR system ranging from 2 percent to nearly 16 percent.)

Also, despite being around for almost 30 years, PAR just isn't that popular. Some local unions, such as the National Education Association-affiliated California Teachers Association remain skeptical of the concept (see this interview with leader A.J. Duffy.)

PAR may be becoming the standard AFT response to the thorny issue of teacher effectiveness, but is it the best answer?

Court says Poway Unified School District has to protect gay students

2008-10-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a post from San Diego Education Report:

Attorney Jeffery Morris of Stutz, Artiano Shinoff & Holtz doesn't like the 70-page decision issued by California's 4th District Court of Appeal upholding the $300,000 jury award won by Joseph "Joey" Ramelli and Megan Donovan three years ago.

The North County Times reports that the students "sued the school district for "deliberate indifference" to harassment, which for Ramelli included getting beaten up and having his car vandalized.

"'I am blown away," Ramelli, 22, said in a phone call from his Santa Cruz home Friday. "For the first time in seven years, I can breathe easy. All the pain, sleepless nights, the time in court ---- it was all worth it...This has nothing to do with money. This has to do with protections for kids...'

"Ramelli said the situation was so bad, he had little choice but to turn to home-schooling. Donovan, who also received threats of violence, also opted for home-schooling.

"...The three-judge panel unanimously found that the jury had enough evidence to conclude that Poway school officials showed "deliberate indifference" when the two students complained about the harassment."

SO IS POWAY FINALLY READY TO APOLOGIZE TO THE TWO STUDENTS?

Apparently not.

Attorney Jeffery Morris said he and the district are "disappointed" with the results.

Perhaps he's not satisfied with the billable hours that he's racked up for arguing that the school isn't responsible for what happens to kids.

It's hard to know how much he and his law firm collected from taxpayers. The San Diego County Office of Education--Joint Powers Authority is not forthcoming with public records showing how much the firm is paid. Director Diane Crosier thinks the California Public Records Act gives her arbitrary authority to hide Stutz law firm bills.

In addition, thanks to PUHSD'S decision to appeal, taxpayers must now pay more than $420,000 for the students' attorney fees. My guess that this amount is considerably less than what the district paid to its own lawyers, BUT THE DISTRICT SHOULD HAVE APOLOGIZED INSTEAD OF APPEALING, saving around a million taxpayer dollars.

Attorney Jeffery Morris defends the district, saying that the school has been "very aggressive" in training employees to address harassment."

Oh, yes? My guess is that Mr. Morris went to Poway and passed out the same "BULLY BOOKLET" that Dan Shinoff passed out in Vista Unified School District.

Are most school boards controlled by lawyers? Are government boards the same?

2008-07-19T10:39:00.001-07:00

San Diego County is being exposed as a center of government corruption, and that corruption clearly reaches into school boards. In fact, school board corruption reaches into city government. In Chula Vista, school and city officials use the same law firm (Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz), and are supported by the same developers (Corky McMillan).

Here is a Voice of San Diego story that could apply to many boards. This one is about the recently exposed secret bonuses at the SEDC:

"...Derryl Williams, a member of the Southeastern Economic Development Corp. board, just sent Mayor Jerry Sanders a letter criticizing the agency's culture and its president, Carolyn Y. Smith.

"The letter states: 'The culture of SEDC over the years has been to manipulate, cajole, ignore and intimidate the board into utter and complete silence. Materials for review are provided late and board members have customarily been thwarted in their opportunities to raise questions.'

"The letter adds fuel to claims made by two other board members earlier this week about the way the SEDC board meetings are conducted. The two board members said they had not been given enough time to review SEDC's budget before approving it, and that a budget committee has not met in the last 18 months.

"Williams writes in his letter that he and two other board members have tried to increase the flow of information to the board and have tried to perform adequate oversight of the agency.

"Those efforts have been blocked by Smith, Williams writes: 'Using corporate counsel and Special Agency Counsel, the President of SEDC controlled questions and the flow of information so that board members could not obtain sufficient answers to assist in making good judgments...'"

The author of the article is Will Carless, who has one of the the most earth-friendly names I've heard.

MiraCosta College apparently never cared about the palm trees; it spent $3 million on power struggles

2008-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

It was obvious to anyone who paid attention that the MiraCosta palm tree investigation that netted a lot of money for Stutz law firm and its investigators was never about protecting public assets.

It was about personal power struggles. Shame on the board majority for using public resources to fight for personal power.

By Bruce Lieberman
San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE
June 18, 2008

There is yet another accounting of what is now the ill-fated donation of more than 2,300 palm trees a decade ago to the Oceanside-based community college. Accountants say most of the trees have died, are ailing or are too ragged to sell.

A little more than two years ago, the college had 2,328 palm trees valued at $222,370. An audit in March counted 1,377 valued at $49,000...

And now the forest of free palms, once worth nearly a quarter-million dollars, looks bleak.

Of the 1,377 trees left, a college consultant has recommended throwing out 295, selling 791 wholesale and 196 retail, and keeping 95.

At yesterday's meeting, board President Carolyn Batiste said Carranza's outrage did not reflect the board's sentiments. “The board has not taken any position that there has been a dereliction of duty,” she said.

Batiste said the March 2006 audit, which counted 2,328 trees valued at $222,370, was not conducted by a horticulturist, who would have been most qualified to estimate the trees' value...

Why did San Francisco teachers choose CFT in 1989 instead of CTA?

2008-06-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

It turns out that CTA's executive director has had her finger on the pulse of California teachers for quite a while. This lady can see the truth beneath the surface. Here's how she explains CTA's loss: "When you're dissatisfied, you look at someone else."

Norman K. Holsinger of CFT said: "Teachers want a greater voice in what is going on."

Education Week said, "After an eight-year battle, the San Francisco-American Federation of Teachers union succeeded May 26 in wresting the right to represent the city's teachers from the San Francisco Classroom Teachers Association..."

In an earlier article, Education Week reported:

"Kate Dennis, a resource specialist for the district's elementary schools who has belonged to each of the unions at different times, says, "I'm unaffiliated, because I got so disgusted with them both. The organizations, rather than represent the teachers versus the district, have fought each other.""

The article spoke of "site-based decision making""

In a survey of 150 teachers, only 2 percent mentioned educational reform as being an important issue, he notes. In another, longer telephone survey of 300 teachers, the number who responded favorably to questions about site-based management and shared decisionmaking was "so small we didn't finish the analysis," according to Mr. Threatt.

"We found that teachers didn't know what that meant," Ms. Dellamonica says of the reform buzzwords...

The rival sf-aft has attempted to make teacher empowerment a central plank of its platform, calling for democratically elected faculty councils in each school to give teachers a voice in the development of curriculum, programs, and instructional policies...

The sf-aft's pre-election polling found that "the overwhelming majority of teachers in the district are in support of the kind of restructuring and teacher empowerment that gives them a voice at the school-site level," maintains Norman K. Holsinger, an aft national representative and campaign coordinator for the local...

Under the current contract, each school has an Association Liaison Committee with which the principal must meet. In some schools, Ms. Dellamonica says, the committees have been a vehicle for discussion of reform issues, while in others, they have not been active.

Under the contract, only sfcta members can serve on the committees, which serve primarily to enforce the contract. Ms. Shelley says the idea of the committees serving as vehicles for shared decisionmaking is ''preposterous," since the councils have "frozen out" faculty members who do not belong to the union...

Meanwhile, a small group of teachers calling itself citrus, for Committee for Teacher-Run Schools, has begun holding meetings and gathering ideas to push for restructuring schools, according to Jonathan Frank, a member of the group and science teacher at Mission High School.

The citrus members are backing the a.f.t. in the election, Mr. Frank says, since it is perceived as more progressive on school-reform issues.

"I was hopeful that restructuring would become the apple pie and motherhood issue, and that the two unions would try to outdo each other on teacher empowerment," he explains. "What I saw was lip service to the idea. You wonder what they're more interested in--power to the teachers or the unions."

Richard Werlin has surfaced again

2008-06-06T19:59:00.001-07:00

After causing big problems in Chula Vista and Richmond, the amazing Richard Werlin has gotten himself hired in Compton, by none other than his old pal at WCCCUSD, Kay Burnside.

And Kelly Angell, who helped get a lawsuit against Werlin regarding criminal actions thrown out of court on technical grounds, without any findings of fact, is now an employee of Fagen, Friedman and Fullfrost.

Is it a small world, or do certain people just come together naturally? Or both?

Here's the article I found:

School Board [Compton Unified School District] Considers Fourth Audit of District Operations
May 14, 2008
By Allison Jean Eaton

"...Last month, the school board supported three other similar audits at a total cost of $46,000 in the areas of human resources and personnel services, legal services and fiscal services, the latter of which will include an in-depth look at facilities funding and the affect it has on the district’s overall financial status.

"Consultant Richard Werlin is being paid $6,600 to audit the human resources and personnel services department. The Los Angeles-based law firm of Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost is studying the district’s legal services at a cost of $9,600...

"Superintended Kaye Burnside Ed.D., who officially took the helm of Compton Unified March 1, is exercising an “administrative best practice,” according to district Communications Director Christine Sanchez..."

Administrators went to Nevada to catch teachers on day off

2008-05-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Californian
By RANI GUPTA
May 2, 2008

Two school district administrators traveled almost 300 miles and crossed state lines to catch teachers they mistakenly believed were using sick days to take a three-day weekend in Nevada, according to teachers who call the incident "creepy" and "Orwellian."

Six teachers at Elsinore High School in Wildomar took April 11 off, to go to Laughlin, Nev., said Juan Caballero, one of the educators who made the trip. The time they took off was in exchange for extra work they had done over the year, he added.

While in their hotel, the Aquarius Casino and Resort, the teachers say they were approached by Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services Kip Meyer and Elsinore High School Principal Jon Hurst in the restaurant.

"We were having breakfast and I looked up, and they were walking toward us in the restaurant," said Ed Jones, a retired Elsinore High teacher who was with the group. "I said, 'Good Lord, there's Hurst.'"

Jones said that while Hurst looked "a little embarrassed," Meyer said something like, "I understand you guys are going to be playing golf at 10 a.m."

Caballero, who wasn't at the breakfast, said he didn't believe his colleagues' story until he received a call from teachers union President Karl Stuck, saying the administrators had traveled hundreds of miles to take pictures of the teachers golfing.

"We're still just flabbergasted at this kind of Orwellian, draconian approach," Caballero said.

Public money

Hurst referred questions to district spokesman Jose Carvajal, who declined to confirm or deny the incident.

Meyer said that, in general, he investigates concerns about fraud in reporting absences.

"I would say that almost every assistant superintendent who oversees personnel would have to investigate if there was a concern of mismanagement of attendance reporting," he said. "These are public funds."

Meyer declined to comment on whether he had ever crossed state lines to investigate a case and would not confirm the details of the Laughlin incident.

"Those are personnel issues," Meyer said. "The staff member has a right to confidentiality."

However, charges from Meyer's district credit card, which were released in response to a public records request, shows two charges in Laughlin for that day, including a charge for $21.53 at Windows on the River Buffet, a restaurant at the Aquarius.

Carvajal declined to specify the reason for the charges, but said Meyer was on official district business.

Past practice

Steve Clower, one of the six teachers who traveled to Nevada, said administrators indicated they knew of the trip in advance from reading teachers' e-mail. But if they believed the trip was improper, Clower questions why they didn't talk to the teachers before they left.

"Instead of coming and telling us about it and trying to stop it, they spent extra money by sending two district administrators to catch us," Clower said.

Teachers earn compensatory days for substitute-teaching during their planning periods, time designated for them to receive a break from teaching to plan instruction.

Clower said Elsinore High teachers typically report the day in advance as a sick day and a school employee later converts the days to "comp days." Clower said he was told to do that to avoid confusion between comp days and time taken off for workers' compensation, and so school staff members can ensure teachers have accumulated enough comp time to take a day off. Caballero also said the "past practice" for teachers at his school is to call in sick and have the day converted to a "comp day."

Carvajal said teachers can report comp days through the district's automated system, which employees use to report the reasons for their absences by phone or via computer. The system has separate codes for compensatory days and workers' comp days.

Meyer acknowledged that the way absences are logged varies from school to school, something he wants to change.

"What I am finding as I look into the procedures for reporting (absences) is that things are not consistently done throughout our district," he said.

Caballero said the teachers were called in after the Nevada trip and told they would be docked a day's pay. He said that when teachers explained they were using comp days, Meyer told them he would take the matter to Superintendent Frank Passarella.

Rising substitute costs

The episode comes as the district is looking into the use of sick days and personal days amid concerns over the rising costs of substitutes. From September to March, the district spent $3.3 million on substitutes for teaching and nonteaching employees, an increase of about $600,000 from the same period last year.

School board members said they were concerned about the rising costs because of anticipated state budget cuts and declining attendance rates, which has led the district to cut about $9 million from the budget for the current year and next year.

Meyer says one possible reason for the increase could be that the district recently upped pay for substitute teachers by $5 a day. Another reason, district officials say, could be that teachers are taking more time off for required training.

Meyer said he doesn't think "there's an overriding abuse" of the district's system, but believes his division has "to have better procedures in place."

Teachers receive 10 sick days a year, two of which can be used instead as "personal necessity" days. If teachers don't use up all their days, they carry over to the next year.

Records from the district's automated system show the district's 1,100 teachers and other certificated employees called in 4,972 sick days and 1,423 personal days from Aug. 16 to April 23. That is down from the same time last school year, when teachers called in 5,457 sick days and 1,493 personal days.

This school year, teachers reported missing 5,049 days for official business, such as attending conferences and meetings, through April 23. Last school year, teachers called in 4,463 missed days for official business.

Carvajal notes that those numbers are self-reported by employees and don't include changes by teachers who, for instance, initially pressed the wrong code and later changed the reason for their absences.

Abusing the system?

Trustee Tom Thomas said he believes some employees are abusing the system and that the issue has to be watched closely during tough budget times.

"I think in any large organization, whether it's a school district or a large private business, I think people can take advantage," Thomas said. "I don't think it's terribly widespread. I just think it's something we look at as we look at all expenditures."

Caballero said he doesn't understand why the district officials who are concerned about saving money would waste money trying catch teachers doing something wrong when he said it would have been simple to clear the matter up beforehand.

"Why didn't they just simply tell us and have a conversation?" he asked. "I'm still creeped out by the whole situation."

Contact staff writer Rani Gupta at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or rgupta@californian.com.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/05/03/news/californian/lake_elsinore/zba48dd8cae31e9028825743d005bd62.txt

Pam, Bertha and Cheryl listen to Dan Shinoff instead of their consciences

2008-04-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

from CVESD Report
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Daniel Shinoff to appeal Danielle Cozaihr court decision

The Chula Vista Elementary School District board has once again abdicated its responsibility for moral decisionmaking. It has rehired attorney Daniel Shinoff, after an effort for a few years to use less controversial lawyers.

And Daniel Shinoff has decided to appeal the jury verdict won by teacher Danielle Cozaihr against the district.

A jury said the district violated the law.

I believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger's education budget cuts create a smoke screen for bad behavior by districts. CVESD probably won't lay off teachers (we've been through all of this before, when Rick Werlin was in charge of human resources at CVESD in 2003). But when they threaten to do it, everybody feels sorry for the pink slip teachers, and violations of the law against individual teachers don't seem as important any more. The first teacher that CVESD should rehire is Danielle Cozaihr.

But what happened to Danielle Cozaihr is an indicator of what is wrong with education: politcs matters more than kids.

Superintendent Lowell Billings is remarkably lazy. He doesn't pay any attention to what happens at schools until things go wrong. Then he does whatever the principal wants, or he fires the principal and does whatever the ruling clique of teachers wants. He never actually improves anything, just decides who gets fired.

And since the problems arise from a dysfunctional system--not from just one person-- the problems remain.

Posted by Marie Killelea

Unidentified Air Force flying objects

2008-01-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

The Discovery Channel is a great channel now, but there was a time I referred to it as "the alien channel" for all the unlikely stories about alien autopsies in Roswell, New Mexico.

Now Stephenville, Texas is trying to beat out Roswell for the title of alien capital of the world.

I don't know what the people in this dairy country saw, but I do know that their reports are more reliable than those of the U.S. Air Force.

Locals said they saw Air Force jets chasing a moving object. At first, the military denied that any of its jets were in the area. Now they say they did have jets in the area.

Here's the only thing I know for sure: if the Air Force has chased, is chasing, or ever chases strange moving objects, it wouldn't admit it to the public.

President David Sanchez and Dean Vogel are trying to hide the truth about CTA and our failing schools

2007-12-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

The California Teachers Association is hurting our students, teachers and schools. Its failed one-size-fits-all approach to education ignores the huge differences between teachers. Parents and teachers know all teachers do not learn in the same way or at the same pace. Some of them are far, far behind in intelligence, education, and understanding of how kids learn. They should not have full responsibility for any classroom. Pay the good teachers double or triple what they're getting now, and put them in charge of several classrooms. Each master teacher should be deeply involved in several classrooms, guiding several beginning or slow-to-learn teachers.

Chula Vista Elementary teacher wins $1 million

2007-12-14T23:28:00.000-08:00

For news about the Danielle Coziahr v. CVESD lawsuit, click HERE.

Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz representing MiraCosta; Randall Winet representing Victoria Richart

2007-12-11T23:17:00.000-08:00

See recent updates.

It's all one big happy family of lawyers in the lawsuit against Victoria Richart regarding the way in which her $1.6 million settlement with MiraCosta College was reached.

San Diego County Offic of Education-Joint Powers Authority lawyers are coming out the woodwork. They're everywhere.

How exactly does SDCOE choose its lawyers? Does Diane Crosier simply tell school districts that they can choose any lawyer they want, as long as they are friends of the SDCOE-JPA director and Keenan and Associates insurance brokers?

After reading headlines, Pamela Smith, Bertha Lopez and Cheryl Cox to fight gender discrimination?

2007-12-11T22:37:00.001-08:00

What do Chula Vista Elementary School District board members have in common with a religious Canadian man who demanded modesty from his daughter?

Gender discrimination.

Both stories were in the news today. The odd thing here is that the abuse in Canada was committed by a man and his son who are now charged with crimes, while the wrongdoing in California was ordered by a group that consisted mostly of women.

The school board members who voted to discriminate against Danielle Coziahr were three women and two men. Last Friday, a San Diego jury ordered the school district to pay Coziahr $1 million. But the perpetrators will not be charged with wrongdoing. They are above the law.

Here's what I'm guessing:

Pamela Smith, Bertha Lopez and Cheryl Cox aren't completely corrupted by their positions, and have actually had a change of heart regarding their firing of Danielle Cozaihr for having a young child while working at a school where probationary teachers were not allowed to have young children. The principal, Alex Cortes, had been picked by administrators Tom Cruz and Lowell Billings to put an end to the collegial spirit at Silverwing Elementary School. During the trial, the superintendent testified that the first-year principal had his "marching orders."

Here is the Reuters report about the Canadian tragedy:

Dad Allegedly Kills Girl Over Head Scarf
By Jonathan Spicer
Reuters
2007-12-11

TORONTO - A Canadian teenager who was said to have clashed with her father about whether she should wear a traditional Muslim head scarf died of injuries late on Monday, and her father told police he had killed her.

A memorial for Aqsa Parvez is set up at her high school near Toronto. Some of her classmates were quoted as saying she wore traditional Muslim dress when leaving her house in the morning, but would change into other clothes in school washrooms.

Aqsa Parvez, 16, was found without a pulse in her home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga earlier on Monday. She was resuscitated by paramedics, treated at two hospitals, and later succumbed to her injuries, police said on Tuesday.

Her father, 57-year-old Muhammad Parvez, has been charged with murder and was remanded back into custody after his first court appearance early on Tuesday.

"There was a 911 call placed by a man who indicated that he had just killed his daughter," Jodi Dawson, a constable with Peel Regional Police, told Reuters. "Everything else is evidentiary in nature and the investigation is in its preliminary stages at this point."

The victim's brother, Waqas Parvez, 26, was arrested and charged with obstructing police.

The story was on the front pages of Canadian newspapers on Tuesday. The newspapers quoted friends and schoolmates of the victim as saying she argued with her father over wearing a hijab, the traditional head scarf worn by Muslim females.

Photos of the teen retrieved from a social networking Web site show her in Western dress with her long dark hair loose.

"She was always scared of her dad, she was always scared of her brother," the Toronto Star quoted a classmate as saying.

Others were quoted as saying the girl wore traditional Muslim dress when leaving the house in the morning, but would change into other clothes in school washrooms.

Dawson said investigators will likely speak to the victim's schoolmates. The father will return for a bail hearing on Wednesday.

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited.

The whole point of the big payoff was to keep Victoria Richart mum, right?

2007-12-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

Decision delayed on questioning of Richart

UNION-TRIBUNE
December 7, 2007
A judge delayed until Jan. 21 a decision on whether former MiraCosta College President Victoria Muñoz Richart must submit to questioning in a lawsuit over the $1.6 million settlement she received to leave the Oceanside community college campus.
Vista Superior Court Judge Thomas Nugent set the new date yesterday.
Carlsbad attorney Leon James Page has sued the college board of trustees and Richart, contending the settlement was an improper gift of public funds. Richart stepped down June 30.
Page's lawyer, Ron Cozad, is asking to question Richart under oath with a court reporter recording the proceedings. Richart's lawyer, Randy Winet, has objected.
Nugent also delayed until next week a hearing on a second issue in the case. Page contends the trustees acted illegally in holding an all-night closed session before announcing a unanimous vote in favor of the settlement.
Attorneys for the college have asked that the case be dismissed.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071207-9999-7m7richart.html

How much have taxpayers paid so far for the Richart/Shinoff palm tree investigation?

2007-12-08T19:35:00.001-08:00

Updates may be found HERE.

One of the big ironies of the MiraCosta palm tree scandal in Oceanside, California is that the palm trees were a gift to the college. Still, the college managed to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to investigate the theft of $305 during the sale of some of the palm trees.

This investigation was reprehensible. It was not intended to help the public in any way, only to benefit individuals and their lawyers in their battles for personal power and their quest for financial gain at the expense of taxpayers.

Here are the public expense estimates in chronological order:

May 2007

Victoria Munoz Richart
Former president of MiraCosta College
May 2007--Between $120,000 and $1 million

May 16, 2007
San Diego Union Tribune
by Lola Sherman

"MiraCosta College has been charged almost $200,000 by the investigator hired to probe the campus palm-tree scandal that began in February 2006...Last week, the former head of the Horticulture Department, Allene Texeira, pleaded guilty to a single grand-theft count.She admitted paying a former boyfriend, Jack Wackerman, $305 more than the college received in the sale of 30 to 40 palm trees. She paid back the money, plus a $2,500 fine, according to Richart's report...But trustee Gloria Carranza said the accounting presented by Richart doesn't answer her questions. Carranza said she wants to know all of the legal costs, which she previously had estimated at close to $1 million, including staff time and resources. Richart told Carranza yesterday that she will get those figures. But she said invoices from the college's lawyers include legal matters that have nothing to do with the Horticulture Department. The college has paid ESI $119,080 thus far, according to the company. And it notes that as much as $110,000 could be reimbursed by the college's insurance carriers. Jonathan Cole, president of the Academic Senate, told trustees that by his accounting, the college has spent $322,000 in total legal expenditures in the current fiscal year, five times the amount spent in 2003-04 before the palms investigation..."

June 2007

I found the following report dated June 2007 on the website of Bob Dutton, California State Senator:

"I have to tell you when it comes to law and order issues I am a strong believer it’s important to punish criminals for the crimes they commit.

"But sometimes even I believe agencies can get outrageous in their investigation of a crime, especially when it costs $200,000 to find out who stole a $300 tree. This, in my opinion is yet another example of wasteful spending and why I will never raise taxes.

"Recently MiraCosta College started a palm tree “probe”, which has cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’m convinced the money spent on this debacle could have been better used to provide more students a college education.

"According to the North County Times, “ MiraCosta College has spent nearly $200,000 investigating an on-campus palm tree growing operation during the last 15 months. That amount does not include a sharp increase in legal fees paid by the college during the investigation, and it excludes money the college might have to pay several employees allegedly involved in the scheme who have filed law suits against MiraCosta.”

This incident occurred after “ a private investigator was hired in by the college and its law firm… to investigate allegations by a whistleblower that employees had been growing and selling palm trees on campus for personal profit over an eight-year period.”

“Since then , [the investigator] has spent 1 ,289 hours interviewing witnesses , reviewing employee e-mails and other documents and briefing county prosecutors about his findings. [The investigator] was paid $151 per hour.”

“Despite [the investigator’s] apparently thorough investigation , county prosecutors announced last week that there was only enough evidence to charge one employee , and that she would only be charged with stealing $305.”

“The president’s decision to treat this affair as a significant criminal operation , and the board’s concurrence with that decision , has turned what was merely a problem into a full-blown crisis….It has resulted in multiple lawsuits against the college , hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses and total expense that may exceed $1 million.”

"It is mind boggling to think that MiraCosta College would spend $151 an hour and waste more than 1 ,000 hours to uncover a $305 theft (not to mention the lawyers’ fees and settlements with employees that are yet to come). It must be nice to have access to limitless resources with no accountability for how those resources are used. If private businesses behaved in this manner , they would go bankrupt in short order. There is no excuse for this reckless spending of precious taxpayer resources."

http://republican.sen.ca.gov/opeds/31/oped3935.asp

June 20, 2007
MiraCosta trustees agree to part ways with president
By: North County Times

OCEANSIDE ---- The seven-member MiraCosta College board of directors agreed early Wednesday morning after an all-night closed meeting to end the employment of embattled Mira Costa College President Victoria Munoz Richart effective June 30.

July 2007

Gloria Carranza,
MiraCosta College Trustee

Gloria was right!
July 23, 2007 Over $1.2 million

North County Times
July 23, 2007 11:56 PM PDT
By: PHILIP K. IRELAND

"OCEANSIDE -- A few months ago, when MiraCosta College Trustee Gloria Carranza predicted that the palm tree imbroglio could cost $1 million or more, the four-member majority scoffed at the figure and berated her for speculating.

Now, with the release in the last two weeks of a pair of documents that put the personnel, investigative and legal costs at more than $1.2 million as of May 30, Carranza's claim has been vindicated.

July 31, 2007 Over $1.2 million plus $1.5 million = Over $2.7 million

July 31, 2007
North County Times
MiraCosta adjusts estimate of Richart buyout to $1.5 million
by PHILIP K. IRELAND -

OCEANSIDE -- Former MiraCosta College President Victoria Munoz Richart will get roughly $1.5 million in salary, benefits and unspecified damages under a controversial buyout reached with trustees last month, according to updated numbers released by the college Tuesday...The deal with Richart has been challenged by Oceanside resident and attorney Leon Page, who says it must be set aside because, he alleges, the closed session violated the Ralph M. Brown Act -- legislation that defines how public agencies must conduct public business.

Page alleges that the college erred in announcing the closed session meeting and that the participation of a retired judge as mediator was improper.

In rejecting Page's claim, college attorney Jack Sleeth said the meeting did not violate the Brown Act.

Sleeth said retired Superior Court Judge David Moon was not in the closed session, but instead waited outside so that lawyers and trustees could shuttle in and out to him "to discuss the claims, demands and negotiations."

Because Moon was not physically in the room, no violation occurred, Sleeth said. However, he added, no legal opinion exists regarding the presence of a mediator in a closed session.

Sleeth said mediators must be a part of closed board meetings to help minimize chances of the issue going to court, which would escalate the cost to the taxpayer.

Page brushed aside the argument that Moon was outside the meeting, saying his location was irrelevant.

"The notion that Moon was not in the room -- I'm not sure that matters," Page said. "The fundamental problem is that at that moment in time, Judge Moon was speaking to board members and enjoying the opportunity to speak when no other member of the public was (allowed the same opportunity)."

If Moon was considered "a member of the public" -- and Page said he believes a judge would agree -- then at the moment he spoke with board members, the meeting should have become a public forum open to all.

If the closed meeting continued -- as it did on June 19 -- any decision made after that moment was illegal and must be set aside, Page said.

Diane Crosier, former associate of Daniel Shinoff and current director of SDCOE-JPA

North County Times
November 1, 2007
by Philip K. Ireland

"The visiting team from the regional Accreditation Commission called upon the parties at issue at MiraCosta College to cooperate mutually, for the good of the college, in finding a resolution to the rift opened by the precipitous and unwise actions of the Board Majority," the news release states..."

TRANSLATION:

EVERYONE HUSH NOW, SO THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU THIS MESS (DIANE CROSIER, SDCOE-JPA, KEENAN AND ASSOCIATES, JACK SLEETH AND DANIEL SHINOFF OF STUTZ, ARTIANO SHINOFF & HOLTZ) CAN GET BACK UNDER THE RADAR AND GO BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL, SIPHONING OFF LARGE AMOUNTS OF PUBLIC FUNDS AND ENCOURAGING CONFLICT IN LOCAL INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING.

THE PALM TREE SCANDAL WAS BUSINESS AS USUAL. IT WAS JUST THE SCALE THAT GOT OUT OF CONTROL.

November 20, 2007
MCC paid $46K to provide documents in county probe

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer
DA's office investigating buyout deal with former president
OCEANSIDE -- MiraCosta College has paid about $46,000 so far to a law firm with expertise in defending companies against allegations of white-collar crime.

The firm, McKenna, Long & Aldridge, was hired in August to review and select documents requested by San Diego District Attorney's office, said Jim Austin, the college's assistant superintendent of business services.
County investigators are probing the circumstances surrounding former President Victoria Munoz Richart's $1.5 million buyout deal with trustees, inked in a controversial all-night board meeting on June 20.

In July, trustees refused a request by deputy district attorney Mike Still to provide closed session details and documents about the Richart settlement. However, the board instructed college administrators to cooperate with investigation. The decision was made in closed session.

"We feel strongly that our board has done nothing wrong," Austin said.

[Blogger's note: Well, then, why didn't you just turn over documents, instead of keeping them secret, and paying a lawyer to look for reasons not to turn them over?]

In discussions among trustees Tuesday regarding the McKenna contract, trustee Simon said she wanted to know why the board had not been notified sooner about the contract and the spending.

Carranza questioned why the college should pay attorneys $380 an hour to $500 per hour to review documents. She also wanted assurances that the contract would be available to the public.

Austin said all contracts are public documents.

In the end, all but one trustee voted to ratify the contract, with Strattan opposed, saying the fees were exorbitant. The college has already spent more than half of the allotted $75,000, she noted, adding that had the board agreed to give county investigators the documents in July, the college would not have incurred the costs in the first place.

Stuntz, Alterano, Schadenfreude & Hoax, APC

2007-11-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

Mobilehoma School District has hired the law firm of Stuntz, Alterano, Schadenfreude & Hoax, APC to help get rid of troublemaker teachers. The district has had problems with teachers demanding that government funds be spent for the purposes intended. Even worse, some teachers have allowed parents to meet in their classrooms to discuss their children's education. In addition, some teachers have caused disturbances by reporting bullying by other teachers. One teacher caused turmoil by reporting to administrators that another teacher had caused a student to take a substance that caused kidney failure. All the teachers guilty of these actions have been placed on leave while the law firm prepares charges against the teachers.

The union representing some of the teachers in the district (and collecting money from all the teachers in the district) has stepped forward to support the efforts of the school district. Union leaders are demanding that teachers be allowed to bully students and other teachers and even administrators when necessary to maintain their authority.

"It's the only way to teach respect," said teacher leaders Terry Myers and Jim O'Neill.

School board members Alex "Ted" Carberry, Bertha Smith, Diane James and Pamela Carter agreed.

Equal amounts for teacher pay in all schools

2007-10-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Clarity Freedman of Mil Calaveras School District last night made an impassioned plea for reform, asking the board to spend an equal amount of money for classroom teacher salaries for all schools in the district.

Currently, she claimed, the "easy" schools in the rolling hills on the edge of town have a majority of senior teachers collecting large salaries, while the city center schools have newly-credentialed or uncredentialed teachers. "The senior teachers should be working at the more challenging schools. The new teachers need some experience before they're ready to handle the problems of inner-city kids."

The two moderates on the board immediately agreed with Ms. Freedman, and motioned that a change in policy be prepared for the next board meeting. Angus Rimrod and Pamela Rector voted against considering any change in any policy. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Mr. Rimrod. Ms. Rector smiled sweetly, tilting her blond head fetchingly.

"It is broke," said Mr. Jonathan Kozol during public comments. "That's why you send your kids to a private religious school, the same one attended by the kids of the school's lawyer."

The school's lawyer said he would prepare a legal opinion stating that any change opposed by Mr. Rimrod and Ms. Rector would probably be illegal, since he runs a conservative law firm, and the Joint Powers Authority insurance broker doesn't want him to do anything that would reduce school problems, and thus the need for legal liability insurance.

CTA CHIEF COUNSEL BEVERLY TUCKER SPENT UNION DUES IN AN EFFORT TO KEEP CHILD MOLESTERS IN THE CLASSROOM

2007-07-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Those pesky school districts! Once again they are trying to get child molesters out of the classroom.

But California Teachers Association, true to form, has stepped in to protect overly-friendly teachers. In the Albert G. Truitt, Jr. case, the California Teachers Association proved once again that its executive director Carolyn Doggett, its chief counsel Beverly Tucker, and their stable of lawyers have deep-seated feelings of outrage for any violation of human rights--other than children's rights, that is.

Usually, teachers cannot be dismissed or have their credentials taken away for any act occurring more than 4 years before charges are brought against them. But for CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, exceptions have been made to this 4-year statute of limitations in every venue in California EXCEPT WHEN A DISTRICT TRIES TO DISMISS A TEACHER.

Atwater School District wanted to dismiss Mr. Truitt in 2002 for molestations that occurred from 1992 to 1998.

CTA said no way!

QUESTION:

Why do Beverly Tucker and Carolyn Doggett want to keep the following anomaly in California law?

"A teacher could be prosecuted criminally, the CTC could institute credential revocation proceedings, and a school district could be sued for negligent hiring, retention, and supervision all based on the same set of facts that exist here. Yet, the Court of Appeal’s literal interpretation of section 44944(a) would deprive a school district of the ability to dismiss an employee on the same set of facts."

ANSWER:

Beverly Tucker and Carolyn Doggett care about political power and loyalty to friends who commit crimes more than they care about the abuse of children.

Sadly, our friends at CTA lost the Albert Truitt case. In June 2007, the California Supreme Court ruled that equity requires that school districts get the same extension on the statute of limitations that the Teacher Credentialling Commission gets.

CTA must have thought it had a good chance to win, since in 1993 it apparently was able to kill a California bill that would have specifically extended the child sexual abuse statute of limitations for school districts. Can you believe that legislators would fail to vote for a bill that would get child molesters out of classrooms? This goes to show the enormous power that CTA has in California. No Democrat can get elected without CTA's support. CTA holds the purse strings to a huge amount of campaign funds, and every local affiliate in California is rigidly controlled by Beverly Tucker and Carolyn Doggett.

Isn't it sad to see Beverly Tucker and her pal Michael Hersh lose a case? Let's hope they don't get depressed. They would be so much more successful if they didn't defend criminals. I for one am crossing my fingers and hoping that in the next case they fight, Bev and Mike won't be using teacher union dues to protect criminals. Maybe they got over confident when they got my case thrown out of court. They succeeded in protecting union leaders who had started with
misdemeanors,but went on to commit felonies to cover up their misdemeanors.

Today's corruption quiz

2007-07-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

"His apparent lack of guilt about his actions speaks, I think, to his extraordinary capacity for self-delusion."

Who is being discussed in the above statement?
(Statement was made by SETH HETTENA, July 16, 2007 in Voice of San Diego)

A. Donald Rumsfeld
B. Richard Cheney
C. Randall Cunningham
D. George Bush
E. Jim Groth

Answer: Hettena wrote a book about Randy "Duke" Cunningham, but he wanted readers to understand how the Cunningham case was a result of politics today, where defense contractors and others can buy access to, and a large amount of control over, those who make decisions about America's defense capabilities and way of life. How did these "deciders" gain power? By constantly repeating a set of messages about "values" and "terror," without ever bothering to pay attention to more immediate dangers to our country.

Why do the brawny bullly the brainy?

2007-07-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

"As long as there have been smart people, there have been bullies who prey on them," reports a schoolgirl on the TV cartoon show "The Simpsons."

"Is it jealousy?" she asks. "No! It's airborne pheromones!"

According to the cartoon, smart people produce a chemical that drives bullies wild.

Maybe we could test the skin of students, teachers and administrators, and give the smart ones an antidote for their pheromones, and thus put an end to bullying by adults and kids in our schools!

Or maybe the situation is more complicated than "The Simpsons" makes it out to be. Oh, well. It was a nice thought.

Was Lowell Billings Quoted Correctly?

2007-07-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

Superintendent Lowell Billings of Chula Vista Elementary School District in San Diego County seems to think that there is a basic conflict between being a union leader and raising the bar of teaching performance.

It is true, of course, that unions work to protect incompetent teachers.

But so do administrators.

I'm afraid that MOST of the adults in schools care more about how they are perceived than how they actually perform.

But that's true in most professions, isn't it? Isn't it also true in most professions that currying favor with the powerful will get you farther than striving for excellence? Look who we have for president of our country. This is not a man who strives. He's not really concerned about learning as much as he can, or asking how he could do better. And his recent pardon of Scooter Libby proves beyond a doubt that loyalty matters more to him than honesty and obedience to the law. Yet he has risen as high as a human being can rise.

Can we expect more from our teachers than we expect from our president?

Here's the quote from the recent CVESD board meeting minutes:
Dr. Billings bid farewell to outgoing CVE Vice President Robyn Higginson. He mentioned that she is a formidable advocate for all teachers and strong union leader, yet someone who raised the bar with our articulation/collaboration curriculum and instruction.

Judge says it's okay for students to wear Tigger socks

2007-07-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Teachers at Napa Valley's Redwood Middle School will have to get a life now. They can no longer suspend students for wearing Winnie the Pooh-themed socks to school, according to a ruling on July 2, 2007 by Judge Raymond Guadagni of Napa County Superior Court.

When Tigger socks are outlawed, only outlaws will wear cheerful Disney branded cloth on their feet

2007-07-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Last year Toni Kay Scott, a student at Napa Valley’s Redwood Middle School, was sent to an in-school suspension program (with the wonderfully Orwellian-name of Students With Attitude Problems). Her crime? Violating a dress code by wearing socks with Tigger on them, along with a denim skirt and a brown shirt with a pink border.

Said code requires clothes with solid colors in blue, white, green, yellow, khaki, gray, brown and black. Permitted fabrics are cotton twill, corduroy and chino, but not denim.

The post above appeared March 21st, 2007 on
http://collateraldamage.wordpress.com/2007/03/21/when-tigger-socks-are-outlawed-only-outlaws-will-wear-cheerful-disney-branded-cloth-on-their-feet/

Patrick Judd gets it right

2007-06-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Pat Judd, superintendent of Mountain Empire School District, has made it clear that hazing of students will not be tolerated. On October 30, 2006, twenty freshman football players were led into a locker room, and had their heads dunked into a toilet while it was flushing.

Eight perpetrators were suspended for three days, and placed on social probation for 30 days. This cost the school some athletic trophies and concession income from football games.

Judd was right. Schools do NOT have to win trophies, but they DO have to teach respect for other human beings. And they DO have to keep students safe.

So why does Judd cover up hazing of teachers by teachers? This type of abuse does tremendous harm to the education system. Abusive teachers rule the roost, and excellent teachers are forced out of schools. Kids see it, and learn from it. Judd was a leader in the cover-up of Castle Park Elementary School criminal hazing in 2001. He used hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to hire lawyers to cover up wrongdoing.

What's the difference between the two cases? Judd couldn't cover up the toilet dunking. He thought he could cover up the teacher hazing.

I am so embarrassed on behalf of the ACLU; They elected Beverly Tucker, CTA Head Counsel, to their board

2007-05-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

I figured that California Teachers Association and its head counsel Beverly Tucker were just a run-of-the-mill union and run-of-the-mill lawyer: dishonest and abusive to members for two simple reasons: (1) it was in their personal interest; and (2) they knew they could get away with it.

Today I noticed something interesting on the Internet. Beverly Tucker was chosen multiple times to sit on the Board of Directors of the Northern California ACLU.

After some digging, I found that this is the same Beverly Tucker who refused to defend a teacher who was dismissed for filing grievances and a lawsuit!

I am in shock. Was it all an act, Beverly, pretending to be interested in constitutional rights? Was the ACLU a stepping stone for you? Was it all a publicity stunt for CTA?

“Castle Park Five” teacher Robin Donlan needs our help again!

2007-05-05T14:57:00.001-07:00

The following appeared today on the "CVESD Report" Blog:

Robin Donlan has needed our help many times before:

1. Chula Vista Educators President Gina Boyd was a true friend to Robin Donlan, committing perjury and destroying documents to cover up misdemeanors Donlan committed in 2000 and 2001. Current CVE President Jim Groth helped out with a terrific grievance hoax.

2. Yet again, Gina and Jim proved to be reliable in 2004 when Chula Vista Elementary School District Superintendent Lowell Billings tried to return Castle Park Elementary to normal functioning after the crime wave initiated by Robin. Gina and Jim got the transfer ruled illegal! What a way to help children!

3. Now Robin needs help with a little securities fraud. It seems her husband transferred 700,000 shares of fraudulent stock options to her. Then Robin and Vence Donlan bought the stock and resold it at $7.7 million profit. She’s being investigated by the FBI, SEC, IRS and the Department of Justice. Who will pay Robin’s attorney bills now that her assets are frozen?

4. Cheryl Cox, Pamela Smith, Patrick Judd, Bertha Lopez and Larry Cunningham spent several $100,000’s of the public’s money to defend Robin Donlan regarding crimes she committed at CVESD. They are our best hope to save Robin from the claws of justice once again.

5. Also, we hope that Chula Vista Educators will step into the lurch as they have so often before. Monica Sorenson, Joyce Abrams and all the rest of the board of directors have always gone along with instructions from CTA attorney Michael Hersh—and they keep quiet about it, too. There shouldn’t be any problem at all!

6. The Castle Park Family is planning a big rally to raise money for Robin. We hope Bob Filner and Jill Galvez will be there, just like they were for Robin’s 2004 rally.

7. I’m sure former Castle Park PTA presidents Felicia Starr and Kim Simmons won’t miss it. They have nothing to fear now that Bonnie Dumanis has declined to press charges regarding the 2004-2005 embezzlement of $20,000 from the PTA.

Irony is not dead!

2007-05-01T18:06:00.003-07:00

Someone named Connie M. Meskimen wrote the following letter to the Arkansas Gazette:

Monday April 16, 2007

You may have noticed that March of this year was particularly hot. As a matter of fact, I understand that it was the hottest March since the beginning of the last century. All of the trees were fully leafed out and legions of bugs and snakes were crawling around during a time in Arkansas when, on a normal year, we might see a snowflake or two.

This should come as no surprise to any reasonable person. As you know, Daylight Saving Time started almost a month early this year. You would think that members of Congress would have considered the warming effect that an extra hour of daylight would have on our climate. Or did they?

Perhaps this is another plot by a liberal Congress to make us believe that global warming is a real threat. Perhaps next time there should be serious studies performed before Congress passes laws with such far-reaching effects.

Connie M. Meskimen
Hot Springs

Some people think Meskimen is a comic genius, others think Meskimen is a right-wing dullard.

When I looked closely at Meskimen's writing style, I decided that this writer was too good to have intended the letter to be taken seriously. The letter seems to me to be a very clever joke.

CTA loses a favorite son on the Mountain Empire School Board

2007-04-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's a sad thing when teachers go to the polls and elect one of their own as a school board member, but the parents of the district just won't have it. The CTA local in Mountain Empire School District east of San Diego is mourning the loss of its favorite son, Fred Kamper. He has resigned from the school board because he didn't want to face parents angered by several incidents of inappropriate behavior by Kamper with female students.

CTA can't understand why these parents take things like this so seriously. Neither can Patrick Judd, the superintendent who authorized tax money to be paid to defend Fred Kamper in a lawsuit regarding child-abuse allegations. After all, what's a little child abuse in the grand scheme of school politics? When the accused is a popular teachers union president, you can't really expect the teachers union to turn against one of its own, can you? Let's try to focus on what's important in education.

Lawyer Daniel Shinoff, who represented Fred Kamper and Patrick Judd in the recent lawsuit, would be a lot poorer if he weren't paid public money to attack child abuse victims. Don't worry, Dan. Your client might not get to serve on the school board, but there will be plenty of abused children for you to demean in the future. What was that you said about the special education student who was sexually assaulted in Sweetwater School District? That she wanted it? Nice work, Mr. Shinoff. Thanks, Superintendent Randy Ward of San Diego County Office of Education JPA (SDCOE-JPA) for maintaining your secret "gentlemen's agreement" with Mr. Shinoff to represent local school districts in lawsuits.

Bruce Harter and Richard Werlin part ways

2007-03-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

We are sad to report that Bruce Harter and Richard Werlin have parted. Richard Werlin was supposed to silence teachers, not get them national attention. When he had second-grade teacher Jenny Mo arrested, he brought unwanted attention to the very issue he was supposed to cover up: bullying by kids in WCCCUSD. He also brought attention to bullying by adults--himself in particular.

California Teachers Association is in mourning. Richard Werlin got along well with United Teachers of Richmond president Gail Mendes, just as he got along well with former CVE president Gina Boyd. (He was happy to abuse the teachers they wanted him to abuse.) We can't help noticing that Gail Mendes looks like she was separated at birth from Chula Vista Educators former president Gina Boyd. They could be twins. Perhaps Werlin has a thing for slim, short-haired blondes? More likely, he has a gift for cultivating union presidents.

Perhaps CTA could give Werlin a job, since he seems to be having employment problems.

Will Stealth Candidate Destroy California Teachers Association?

2007-02-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

The duties of the top officers of California Teachers Association are basically ceremonial, like those of the Queen of England, except that CTA officers attend carefully-scripted educational meetings instead of carefully-scripted hospital openings. Until now, CTA presidents have been chosen for their ability to follow orders and stick to the script.

But that may change.

There is a new stealth candidate for CTA secretary-treasurer. If she wins this position, our candidate will, according to CTA custom, rise automatically to vice-president in four years, and then to president four years after that. (The thinking seems to be that eight years is needed to learn the script and prove loyalty to Carolyn Doggett and Beverly Tucker.)

I can't tell who the stealth candidate is, or her rise to power would be immediately ended by Caro and Bev. She is planning to follow the script until she becomes president, then strike out on her own. Will this be a good thing for education in California? Not immediately, because this woman's goal is to destroy CTA from within, like George W. Bush's appointees to heath and welfare commissions. There will be a period of disruption in which teachers may start to think for themselves, and break out of their current cliques in order to focus on students. But in the end, human nature will prevail, and teachers will settle back into a new power structure. The truth is, humans don't like too much freedom, because it gives them too much responsibility. They have no one to think for them, no one to hide their mistakes from the press and from law enforcement. It's a scary world when a teacher has no one but her students to focus on.

Bruce Harter and Richard Werlin find a happy home

2007-02-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

After traveling back and forth across the country, from Florida to Texas and back to Florida again, from southern California to Seattle, Richard Werlin survived lawsuits, employment interviews, and rejections, to finally discover a resting place. His journey was harsh, because nobody seemed to like him, no matter how many wonderful things he wrote on his resume.

But Werlin's journey had at last come to an end, it seemed. The good people of Richmond, California took him into their hearts, and put him in charge of West Contra Costa County School District's human resources department.

Werlin has found people he can work with in the police department of his new home. Our schools are safe again for people who want to get rid of their fellow employees. But Werlin is not getting the public recognition he deserves.

After struggling for so long with the Downer 10, teachers at Downer school who wrote a letter demanding professionalism, WCCCUSD has finally found a teacher it can handle. She is 57-year-old teacher Jennie Mo, who was taken into custody at her elementary school when police stormed the school during library time. She was handcuffed in front of her second-graders and jailed on 18 felony counts of holding second-graders hostage. It seems that at 10:00 a.m., the police would arrest any student who skipped Ms. Mo's class, but at 11:00 a.m., the situation turned around completely, when Mo was placed on administrative leave for demanding that something be done about school bullies. She was told to go home, and she didn't.

The school claims that there is no problem with bullies. Parents think otherwise. And parents now think that not only children, but at least one teacher is being bullied.

How much is the bail for a woman who never hurt anybody, or wanted to? $900,000!

Way to go, Harter! The ACLU thought they weren't going to get to see you anymore, but this just might bring about a happy reunion. When do bible classes start in Richmond?

Nice work, Werlin. The folks in Chula Vista Elementary School District (San Diego County) knew you could do it.

By the way, Rick, don't let people like Gayle McLaughlin bother you and Mark Miller. What do they know? Always talking about transparency, honesty, legality. Secrecy has always been your strong suit, hasn't it? The no-paper-trail, intimidate-and-deceive policy has worked well in the past, and earned you the loyal support of California Teacher Association's Pixie Hayward-Schnickele and Barbara Kerr. When you've got these players on your side, why worry about students and parents?

Our dear Pixie behaves reprehensibly, but we still love her

2007-02-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

I can't argue with Susan Ohanian regarding Richmond Schools: "Of course the behavior of the school personnel is reprehensible.

"But the union's refusal to respond to the attack on teacher professionalism is also reprehensible.

"When teachers are punished for standing up for pedagogy, their punishment should not be treated as a technicality. Teachers who remain silent in the face of pedagogical assault lose their professionalism."

But that doesn't mean I'll betray my old friend, Pixie Hayward-Schnickele. All I've got to say, Pixie, is that you may be reprehensible and unprofessional, but what do they expect you to do? Turn against your old friend Richard Werlin, the new Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources? Perish the thought. You two go way back. You authorized payment of CTA teacher dues to CTA lawyers to help Werlin get away with crimes against teachers, and and obstruction of justice!

And don't worry. I'll bet your hanging your fellow teachers out to dry at West Contra Costa County School District won't keep you from rising in CTA! I agree with California Teachers Association--I can't stand those loudmouth teachers who try to change things. The status quo in education is good enough for Pixie, so it's good enough for me. What's wrong with being a coward and a kiss-up? Don't rock the boat. Go, Pixie! No, that doesn't make sense. Stay behind, Pixie! No, that doesn't sound good, either. Oh, you know what I mean. Hooray, status quo!

Pixie v. Arnold

2007-01-24T09:52:00.001-08:00

CTA Director Pixie Hayward-Schickele once said, "When I became a teacher, I didn't realize I would have a big target on me, but that's how I feel now with this governor..." *

For some years now, we have noticed that bull's eyes have been turning up of the backs of teachers across the country. It turns out that the practice began long before Arnold began attacking teacher unions.

In fact, after interviewing some teachers with the bull's eyes pinned to their backs, we discovered that Pixie herself had attached several of the distinctive yellow targets to several teachers.

"That was different," Pixie explains. "Those were teachers who had gone off-message. Sometimes good teachers get in the way of CTA, and we must protect the group. The many are more important than the few. If you don't believe me, just ask Beverly Tucker and Carolyn Doggett."

This is the Pixie we love. Don't ever talk like a victim again, Pixie! Arnold is a fly-by-night politicitian. Ignore him. CTA kicks butt all over California. CTA rules! Own it!

* Reported by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, by Lindsey Gill, November 3, 2005

Pixie v. Arnold

2006-12-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

Hazing in Mountain Empire School District

2006-12-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Fred Kamper!

2006-12-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

California Teachers Association members are proud of local affiliate president Fred Kamper, who won a seat last month on the school board of Mountain Empire Unified School District in San Diego County, California.

We do not take kindly to false allegations against our presidents. We will spend all the teacher dues necessary to protect union leaders from the consequences of their actions. In Mr. Kamper's case, he was persecuted because his lips accidentally touched the arm of a student whose perfume he was smelling. He was demoted from principal to teacher.

Then, the district was sued for allowing Kamper to repeatedly sit a student on his lap and rub her thighs. The district apparently thought it had done enough for Kamper when it vehemently denied his guilt, and paid off the family of the girl for dropping the lawsuit.

We don't think that was enough.

They forced him to resign, and that made us mad.

We wanted Kamper back, and we got him. He is now on the school board. He is still being persecuted by parents, but the huge majority of teachers support him. The leaders in Burlingame can be counted on to back us up. Barbara Kerr, David Sanchez and Dean Vogel care about union leaders. They know we have to stick together and support our leaders when parents start moaning about their children. Can you believe that some parents in Mountain Empire Unified School District actually had tears of rage in their eyes when Kamper was seated at his first board meeting?

Parents seem to think that school politics and students are closely connected, but they are not. School government is on a completely separate level from the students. It actually has very little to do with the children and their classrooms. This separation makes it much easier for board members to make decisions that might impact negatively on the classroom.