How about several acres of prime real estate for sale in downtown Charleston? The REAL 5 have a deal for you.
The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors has its eye on a couple of prime spots. Of course, at the moment these contain neighborhood elementary schools, but who needs those?
Now that CCSD mismanagement has driven half the students on the peninsula out of its schools, it's time to elect the REAL ESTATE TEAM--Collins, Fraser, Green, Lecque, and Oplinger--to the CCSD School Board. These candidates, the endorsers candidly admit, "best represent the interests of the real estate community." What better qualification could they share?
The team also happens to have the endorsement of the Metro Chamber of Commerce PAC, with the permission of Mayor Joe Riley. What a coincidence. [See Business Panel Backs 5 School Candidates.]
Imagine what could be built where Memminger and Fraser sit! Once the REAL 5 are elected, the Superintendent can get down to business recommending school closings (i.e., "school redesign") without fear of hard questions. David Engelman's request to put district expenditures on line for more transparency will be relegated to the dustbin of history. These will "set a positive tone," the one desired by Brett Jonas, Metro Chamber PAC chairman.
With the REAL 5 on board, so to speak, CCSD need no longer fear that unused school buildings will be occupied by those pesky charter schools. And, with the downturn in the real estate market, these properties are serious bargains.
Sounds like a plan. No, not conspiracy. Stupidity.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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2 comments:
Joe Riley's legacy is in serious doubt. How will he be remembered? Joe Riley Park will eventually begin to resemble Stoney Field. Those are monuments, not legacies. A legacy gives something to the future. The best legacies are self sustaining, much like an educational endowment. Now our mayor and public school leaders advise us to liquidate the legacies provided by others. What Mayor Courtenay gave us more than a century ago, Mayor Riley is taking away.
If Joe Riley continues to sell out the city's public schools, as he has for most of his 33 years in office, he risks eroding the value of all his other accomplishments. A city that can't provide access to quality education to a majority of its citizens has nothing positive in its economic future. Civic leaders who see the city's historic schools as merely surplus property don't understand real estate markets or values. Business leaders who would bet the city's economic future on tourism and a labor force primarily trained for tourism are stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.
Charleston's poor public schools and the city's insensitivity to this critical need have harmed this city in ways we will know for years to come. Unlike wars and natural disasters which are driven by external forces, we have allowed those among us to destroy one of this city's greatest resources. A less than excellent education means that Charleston’s youth are not prepared to compete. Joe Riley's legacy will be that he not only let this happen on his watch, but that he encouraged it. How livable can a city be with poor public schools…or worse, no city schools at all?
Shame on you, Joe Riley, and shame on us for letting you do it with almost no objection until now.
what happened to the posting all expenses due to the teacher furloughs
Note
COLA cost of living increase went to everyone BUT teachers!!
now they tell us we lose 4 more furlough days!
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