So CCSD board member Arthur Ravenel, Jr., using a memo drafted by Greg Meyers, pulled political strings to gut the district's constituent school boards, a major component of the Act of Consolidation. What a surprise. And at the last minute prior to adjournment the state legislature surreptitiously agreed to a provision subtracting those boards' power to approve principals and teachers. Another surprise. Gee, this couldn't have anything to do with Fraser, could it? And, to the pleasure of his Sullivan's Island neighbors, Gov. Sanford signed it. Really.
AND the CCSD School Board has awarded resources to Memminger Elementary instead of Charleston Progressive--does anyone notice a pattern here?
Yes, they're playing hardball at CCSD. Slam those who dare to disagree with their policies and actions.
It's not going to work.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
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With all the talk of inequities at Chas. Progressive, why a mention in this morning's paper of only the additional funds provided for Memminger to match those of Buist. There's no mention of how Chas. Progressive will be funded in spite of all the coverage a few weeks ago about discrimination between two clearly "separate and unequal" magnet schools. Isn't that situation (Buist vs. Chas. Progressive) still the subject of an OCR investigation? I'm glad that Memminger has been identified, but this is just a bandaid. What about all the other CCSD generated inequities that continue to fester within District 20?
I can understand how Arthur Ravenel wants to do the right thing for downtown schools. He is able to use his experience to ask some good questions and tap his contacts in Columbia to tinker with state laws and policies. But he depends upon those have his ear, his belief that what is being asked is fair and is being presented by those he assumes to be closer to the issues downtown. He is afterall one of the resident representatives of East Cooper and a former resident and user of West Ashley public schools. His direct knowledge of downtown issues is limited, and that is being filtered and colored by the system. Still, downtown school supporters appreciate his earnest desire to help.
What I can't understand is Toya Green who is the resident representative for District 20. She is all but invisible and appears to be trying to keep it that way. She is not only silent on these subjects, she continues to avoid communicating with District 20, its board members or even with the the school communities involved. She is AWOL on all District 20 issues.
Rumor is that she's been bought. Goes to prove that slavery is alive and well among those who run the CCSD's downtown schools plantation. In this case the person in question appears to have willingly sold themselves into bondage. Ms. Green has some explaining to do about why so much is been decided concerning downtown without her bothering to communicate with those she is allegedly representing.
Toya Green's resume posted on the CCSD website says she and her husband operate a "boutique" law firm. Just what we need representing our critical public school needs on the county school board, a "boutique" member with a "boutique" understanding of urban education and macro economics. She needs to fill her neighbors in on exactly what is her plan for Memminger, or does she have one?
Her neighbors at the former Shoreline?
Ms. Green's immediate neighborhood is Longborough f/k/a Shoreview.
What is this Shoreline/Shoreview business about?
Shoreview is the former public housing that was located where Ms. Green lives (now called Longborough) in her $750,000 plus house.
Please don't hesitate to correct me, if I'm wrong. I haven't lived here long and just vaguely remember this Beach Co. controversy in the paper a few years ago.
I'm confused...does a Level One Civil Rights Complaint investigation mean nothing to these people?
What planet am I on?
Shoreview was the low income subsidized apartment complex that the Beach Company built (c.1950) owned and operated overlooking the Ashley River in the Wagner Terrace neighborhood. As the neighborhood gentrified in the 1990's, the land was worth more than the buildings. The Beach Co. announced that it would close the complex, terminate the tenant leases and demolish the buildings in a deal with the city to cut up the old steet layout to reconfigure a new "urban" neighborhood with single family homes and townhouses. There was a promise to provide "some" first time home buyer opportunities and rentals for "some" of those displaced but it's been more than 5 years since the low rent apts. were bulldozed. Toya's family was offered a chance to become part of the new neighborhood of Longborough...named for J.C.Long the original developer of Shoreview, Sgt. Jasper Apts, Bayside Manor and a lot of other cheap privately owned government financed housing projects. Now that those sites (orig. low level, backfilled, cast off water front properties) have become extremely valuable to developers. It is not a coincidence that these include J.C. Long's grandchildren who are closely aliened with the city administration. To those they favor such as Ms. Green, there are low interest loans, downpayment subsidies and preferred options for development within these upwardly bound former housing project sites. It's one thing to remove blighted housing, but it's quite another to replace it with housing for people who now think everything except their house is blighted.
According to CCSD information, Memminger was a so-called "open" enrollment school...whatever that is. As a result nearly 30% of its student body is bussed in from off the peninsula. Another contingency is bussed in from Bayside Manor which is really assigned to Sanders-Clyde. Very few of the children at Memminger actually live within that school's largely south of Calhoun attendance zone. Would someone please explain exactly what matching this school's funding to that of Buist is designed to accomplish? Have they discussed the Latin and Spanish programs with the parents? Are these additional programs going to be added to the primary grades? According to the Dist. 20 reconfiguration plan approved in 2004, Memminger was to become one of the K-5 schools, so why are they discussing matching Memminger to the K-8 program at Buist? What becomes of the "out-of-district" kids currently attending Memminger? Goodloe-Johnson must be laughing at us all now as we are just discovering some of the many mini disasters she appears to have deliberately left behind. She should have been put on leave last April when she accepted the Seattle job and all the locks should have been changed. Instead we are trying to untangle a great knot. I seriously doubt there is a real plan for Memminger.
Let's see if the P&C presses the questions on this major issue. Memminger (an "open" enrollment regular K-6 elementary school) or Charleston Progressive (a K-8 magnet), which one is to become the annointed "sister school" to Buist Academy (an academic K-8 magnet)? This could be a PR success story or it could be a fiasco that shows just how little CCSD's board understands downtown schools and constituents.
Is there any way you can get the infromation about Toya Hampton "out there"? It's odd that two unknowns (Hampton and Green) beat Mrs. Fishburne and Sandi Engleman. Sandi and Mrs. Fishburne really did there homework and seemed to care about how our money is spent. This Jordan woman won't even answer e-mails or her phone and Hampton is little more than a rubber stamp for the district. I don't see how they won.
Goodloe-Johnson did a number on the people but the board majority never questioned any of her tactics. Maybe, they're on the take. Cook's got a non-profit that duplicates what Crisis Ministries does. She's gotten grants from Mayor Summey and the legislature to keep her failing non-profit afloat. Myers sues schools for a living. Moody's brother works for BOA who handles bond financing for the district. Douglas' sister is or was a principal at a failing charter start-up and his best friend is Barbara Dilligard who is still feeding at the trough on grant money. And former board member Susan Simon's husband worked for the law firm that handled the district's Alternative Finacing. Even Mayor Riley's sister is a part of Communities in Schools that helps administer Clark Corporate Academy which has been a failing school since 1989.
I'm confused again. The article states CCSD will "provide the same staff as Buist Academy" to N. Charleston and Memminger Elementary.
I thought Buist had FOUR foreign language teachers? 1, 2, 3, 4. Yep, I can count, but evidently someone at CCSD can't. Don't children get SAIL starting in Kindergarten at Buist as well? Let's not forget IB program. OOPS -I forgot... that's funded by the cheaters - oops - I mean Buist Foundation...
NANU...NANU... Maybe it's time to leave your planet...
Ruth Jordan and Toya Hampton-Green (don't ya jus luv those hyphenated names) were selected to run on the race card, opps, I mean diversity ticket. Remember when Leroy Seabrook offered to run for the same seat, pressure was put on him to back off as the strategy was to run one black candidate per district so as not to split the votes. Toya is so uncomfortable being black to begin with she must be about ready to scream with all those black parents now realizing what a sell out she's been. She won't discuss school issues with anyone except those board members who tell her what to do. As for Ruth Jordan, she's in over her head too. She can recite 43,000 as the number of kids in CCSD schools. But the number is shrinking, Ruth...parents are leaving and so are the state dollars that go with the head count. G-J kept saying "it's about the children" but not really, Ruth, it's all about the money. Always has been. Gregg Meyers is a defense lawyer...the Porter-Gaud case was a fluk. He got lucky and his proverbial ship came in. And he wasn't really the lead attorney on those cases anyway...just the local one. He defends insurance companies and corportations against policy claims and damages. He would really be more at home defending CCSD against charges of abuse and neglect. And he's really not all that good at that either. Brian Moody is the Chamber of Commerce's representative on the County School Board. He doesn't want to be there it's just good for business with the exposure and a brownie point with the Chamber's inner circle which include a lot of his firm's clients. He often misses votes...like the one on the current budget...and almost never reads the data until he sits down at the table for a meeting (the ones he attends). Nancy Cook and Hillery Douglas would require a separate heading and a lot more time.
It was described as a policy making board and the superintendent as the CEO. Part of their duty as a policy making organization is to also see to it that the policies are carried out. This board is deliberately negligent at doing that. Ray Toler at least is concerned about employment policies for the non-professional line workers. David Engelman has banged his head against the wall to get fiscal policy followed and Arthur Ravenel is resorting to legislative antics that only a lone wolf could pull off (and which are quite legal) to counter the smoke and mirror operations that Gregg Meyers has ruled without objection for years. Sure Gregg wrote the legal memo, but without Arthur it never would have passed muster in the legislature. What's more, as Marvin Stewart said, nothing's really changed...just the finger now clearly points to the Super and the county board if local school staff's fail. Who do you think was responsible for the revolving door of principals at Burke and Rivers anyway...certainly not the Dist. 20 Board.
I'm just soo relieved that after his decade plus tenure on our County Board, Gregg Meyers has realized the point system is "Byzantine."
I'm clapping for you, Gregg. You're one smart cookie. How many children have received separate and UNEQUAL education on your clock?
And if I remember correctly (please forgive me because I WAS educated in SC public schools) the Byzantine Emperor Justinian a/k/a the Just Emperor was an incredible leader. You're such an idiot, Gregg. You don't even know what Byzantine means, yet you use it in a quote to a reporter.
Our children would be educated more fairly under the Code of Justinian than under the Code of Gregg Meyers. What a hypocrite! How many of YOUR kids went to Buist? 4? 5? Oh, ALL of them?
Well as the Church lady would say (because I'm desperate for some humor here), isn't that SPECIAL?
On Jordon'e web site for CCSD, she said she personally registered 50K new voters. That my dear Ms. Jordon is impossible figuring at the minimal it takes 3 minutes per person. You don't have that much time because you are running around carrying Cook's torch.
I found that claim rather odd, too. Who provides the reality check for these people? And we try to teach our kids to be honest?
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