I hate profanity. If anyone called me a bitch to my face, I'd probably slap him. My father, who as a former Marine probably knew plenty, never used profanity at any time around me when I was growing up. Arthur Ravenel, Jr., revealed to me by his choice of words to a woman that he is no Southern gentleman, but then I never thought he was. I am still offended by any profanity that I hear used by my peers and can't even imagine the duress I would need to be under to use it in the classroom. There.
That said, can we get real here?
Monday night's CCSD School Board meeting was a classic of its kind. [See New Behavior Standards for Members Proposed]. It's politics, folks. This is appeasement of our lovely, ineffective NAACP, as represented by Dot Scott. Why, if the new policy were made retroactive, Hillery Douglas himself would be in the dock! I'll support the policy when every student who calls a teacher a bitch will be sent to Murray Hill Academy or expelled. That will be a cold day in hell.
The Meyers faction is proposing to use its 5-4 majority to expell ELECTED members of the Board who oppose it, pure and simple. Ravenel not only opposes them; he has the contacts to do it effectively. [BTW, there was a time when I wouldn't have believed that I would ever defend Ravenel!] You don't really believe this is about bad language, do you? If so, please see me later about my bridge in Brooklyn.
We have yet to hear from CCSD's new attorney on the legality of the Board's ousting an elected member. Frankly, until I hear otherwise from state sources, I refuse to believe it. Even Meyers admitted that taking such action would be a "'zoo.'" Zoo? It would be a witch hunt! Can you imagine the trumped up charges that would routinely appear in attempts to get those who don't "go along to get along" with Meyers?
This is about intimidation of members who choose to disagree. The P & C is happy to go along with it. If you read the article carefully, you will see that Ravenel's original outburst concerned failure to put an item on the Board's agenda. It states, "He also told McGinley he'd have her job if she didn't put a certain item on the school board's agenda, according to McGinley's account." Our wonderful newspaper neglects to mention what that item was. Can you guess what?
It was approval of arrangements for CSMS to use the Rivers campus. If the item had not been added to that agenda, CSMS would have lost out on using the campus. See, the plot thickens.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
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3 comments:
Why do the voters of Charleston County tolerate this kind of behavior from its school board and school administrators? (I mean bad theater, not so much the bad language.) The voting majority on the board are among the most powerful politicians in the state. I'm sure this has been a shock to Arthur Ravenel. The district staff are among the highest paid public officials in the region, yet the rank and file working out of 75 Calhoun have always viewed the public with suspicion. CCSD employees have always been trained from the top to see everything as a threat...a threat to their job security. The organized and selective reaction to Mr. Ravenel is typical of CCSD, it's just tailored to counter whatever political weight he still has.
No one should be surprised with the script the school board is following. It's a preplanned production. A comedy it isn't. It's not even good entertainment. It should be a tragedy considering how poorly run most schools are in Charleston.
I don't believe any other county in South Carolina would have put up with school leadership this bad for this long, in spite of the poor reputation public education generally has in this state. Short of radical redirection at the top there's no change in sight. Not even single member districts can fix CCSD. What I do know is the people who are runnig this school district can't seem to fix anything, not for love or money.
Bee-arch.
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