"Sweetness and light": the state of CCSD's Board of Trustees one year after its acrimonious election, as reported by Diette Courrege in Sunday's Post and Courier. Board members interviewed use the occasion to bash Sandi Engelman once again, suggesting all is "sweetness and light" now that she is gone from the Board. According to members such as Douglas and Meyers, even Arthur Ravenel, Jr's dissentions scarcely sour the mix because he always behaves as a Southern gentleman should. In fact, his politicking for taking powers away from the constituent boards proves how well the Board gets along. Of course, there's the little matter of the Charter School for Math and Science, but Meyers thinks he's quashed that through other means.
Why, if only those nasty critics Sandi Engelman and, perhaps, Lurleen Fishburne, had left the Board earlier, CCSD's schools would be right on track to excellence! The Board was being held back by its critics, of course! Now that Green and Jordan are in there supporting every thought and facial expression of Meyers and Douglas, the Board can make progress. In fact, critics of CCSD can be blamed for ALL of its problems, even those in District 20. If they would just stop being so negative, or at least keep their opinions to themselves, CCSD could make real progress.
Yeah, right.
What the Board needs now is not "love, sweet love," as the song goes, but elements much more challenging (or, at least, specific)--those well-formulated by Matthew Arnold: that is, "sweetness and light." "'Sweetness' is moral righteousness, and 'light' is intellectual power and truth."[The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Ed. © 2002 Houghton Mifflin]. Arnold believed that civilization could progress if individuals and nations base their actions on that dichotomy.
"Moral righteousness" and "intellectual power and truth"? What percentage of the Board's actions or, for that matter, those of CCSD's bureaucracy, falls into even one of those categories?
Instead we have self-interest, fiefdoms, and ignorance. Or, as Arnold said, we're here "on a darkling plain."
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CCSD remains "on a darkling plain" indeed. It's all about appearances with no substance at all.
Mr. Douglas says, "I think it has quieted down. We've got a few people who have agendas that are not in line with the entire board, but I think we're working as a team. And maybe we will get those agendas behind us and work on the real problems we have."
So when anyone on the 9-member board disagrees with the majority, according to Mr. Douglas, becomes an opponent of "the entire board". Very Orwellian, don’t you think. That's the kind of double speak Mr. Douglas is using and Mr. Meyers promotes for confusing the issues. Accordingly, there’s no room for moral right or informed intellect in this educational system.
At least Mr. Ravenel is more likely to be adept at parliamentary maneuvering instead of verbal bluster in this case. Until the mindset on the county board changes, Mr. Ravenel must continue to chip away at the massive pile of garbage built up by Meyers, Douglas & Cook. Previous challenges haven’t made any progress so a different tact is being used. As for Ms. Jordan and Ms. Green, they remain clueless & right-on-script...as planned.
There is no "sweetness & light" in CCSD.
Very interesting...Now how many years has Mr. Douglas been on the board? And what are these "real problems" we're finally going to address?
Am I crazy to believe Dr. McGinley has moral righteousness?
Why do I want to keep believing she's trying to do the right thing and it's the political big wigs on the board who are really pulling the strings?
Standing up to the political games at Buist would be a step in the right direction.
But don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.
Admittedly, I'm not objective about Sandi Engelman. I think she was exactly what voters needed on what I consider to be the most corrupt school board in the country.
Do we really want unanimous decisions on a school board? If we do, why have one in the first place?
The superintendent's salary has increased by 25 percent and the number of administrative and high-level jobs, as well as their salaries, is out-of-control. And what have we got to show for it?
We've gone from 5 to 24 failing schools. We've outspent the money from the bond referendum and added on another $500M in Alternative Financing. Yet we have the lowest graduation rate in the country.
Sandi said Maria Goodloe's Charleston Plan for Excellence was a farce. She was right. She thinks McGinley is cut from the same cloth. She thinks the Broad Institute (from which Goodloe and McGinley are graduates) is a crock. The Broad simply places their graduates wherever they can and when things don't work out, The Broad finds them another job.
As far as I know, Sandi wasn't wrong about a single issue, just open and honest about what she saw. And she tried to keep us in the loop.
That's the kind of leadership we used to want in an elected official. She watched our tax dollars like a hawk. She told it like it is. And, frankly, I miss her straight-forward, in-your-face responses to an overwhelming majority.
Remember this: Sandi and Lurline Fisburne were always in the minority, so Goodloe got everything she wanted. And after the election, when Goodloe had a super-majority on the school board (a six to three board in favor of all that she wanted), what did Goodloe do?
For my money, Sandi Engelman was the best board member I've ever seen.
I have to agree with most of what the poster above states. The Charleston Plan for Excellence primary focus is "coherent curriculum". This means that no matter what school you visit in Charleston County, you should see basically the same instruction taking place. 2nd graders in Mt. Pleasant should be learning the same thing 2nd graders in N. Charleston are learning. There is NO such thing.
The Broad Institute reminds me of a cult...a bunch of education administrators that don't have a clue as to what we need in the classroom. Brenda Nelson will soon be added to the list of Broad scholars. Yippee...
I have a question...if we have coherent curriculum in CCSD, why are teachers spending their Sunday afternoons submitting computerized lesson plans to their principals? Shouldn't CCSD just be telling them what their lesson plans are?
Get ready for another spending spree. As we speak, CCSD and Bill Lewis are preparing another "It's for the Children" campaign to get voters to support a huge Bond Referendum next year for more than $400,000,000. Bill Lewis has presided over nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS in building projects since he was given total control over school property. Sandi Engelman at least asked questions even if the majority said she wasn't going to get any answers. Too many Charleston County taxpayers and parents are just taking this on faith. CCSD is an out of control tax spending machine that has nothing to do with accountability for educating our kids.
Did anyone catch that tonight's CCSD board agenda includes under executive session (closed to the public) a proposal for a new legal services contract? Is this for real or is it just a lot of fancy footwork before extending Alice Paylor's position for another 5 years plus some? There's been no moral right or enlightened wisdom in the legal department for a long time. Certainly not when CCSD's lawyers make more money for themselves by litigating everything instead of using common sense or seeking mediation.
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