Tomfoolery Behind CCSD's Scenes

At its last meeting the Charleston County School Board voted to place on November's ballot a sales tax for the next eight years. It changed the number of years from five to eight, at the suggestion of member Arthur Ravenel, Jr., so that the replacement or super-outfitting of every structure in the district could be completed during Bill Lewis's tenure.

Now it appears that the Board is backtracking because the Chamber of Commerce and its ilk have objected to the lengthening of the five-year tax they agreed to prior to the official vote. [See Little Enthusiasm for 8-year Tax in Tuesday's edition.]

"The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and Charleston Trident Association of Realtors had given the district their endorsement for putting a five-year, one-penny sales tax increase on the November ballot, but neither group has decided what it thinks about the longer-term sales- tax increase.

"'I don't know what the chamber leadership will decide on this issue,' said Mary Graham, the chamber's senior vice president of public policy. 'We had sound reasons for supporting the five-year over the eight.'"

Really? What were they? They're probably planning at the end of the period to support some other tax to replace it--and now that tax must wait an additional three years.

Who's running CCSD--the School Board or the Chamber of Commerce, the Realtors' Association, and the Trident CEO Council? All of these organizations hope to sock you with at least a five-year sales tax.

But if we vote it down, doesn't the Board have to vote to raise property taxes every year? And run for re-election?

Hmmm.

Forensic Audit Needed for CCSD Accounts

And the award for Most Misleading Lead for a News Article goes to. . . School Board Avoids 1 Tax Hike in Tuesday's P & C.

Here's the lead: "The fiscally conservative Charleston County School Board succeeded in passing a $318.3 million operating budget that doesn't have a tax increase." The Board was trying to avoid a tax increase? Really? "Fiscally conservative?" Superintendent McGinley must have written that one herself!

A more accurate lead would have been "Board member Ruth Jordan, who normally follows the liberal spending ideas of Gregg Meyers, messed up his and the Superintendent's plans by voting with the fiscally conservative MINORITY of Ravenel-Kandrac-Toler and brought along Chris Collins for the victory." All McGinley could do was to whine "[that] the board's decision begs the question of what kind of school system the community wants. 'I'm sick about what happened,' she said."

It's easy to tell you what the community wants, Superintendent McGinley: transparency in operating expenses and income and in building expenses and contracts. Every year we go through the same shenigans, with people of good will towards the district attempting to understand the items in the budget asking for clearer budget figures. Every year the district reacts as though it has its hand in the cookie jar.

Until McGinley and her cohorts and supporters on the CCSD School Board practice more transparency, the community will continue to believe that its tax dollars are being wasted.

How about a forensic audit of CCSD's books, including the capital accounts. That just might satisfy Charleston County voters that the money has been well spent. Or it might show something else.

CCSD's Lewis's Doomsday Approach Wins $7.5 Million Down Payment

Cousin Arthur's thrown in the towel. Arthur Ravenel, Jr.'s now supporting making Charleston County schools earthquake proof. I suspect he's decided that some battles just aren't worth fighting. Let's face it: he has little encouragement from the results of the last election. Still, he's been resident in Charleston County longer than most of us--and how many earthquakes have damaged the city during his lifetime? None, of course.

What has the sky-is-falling crowd won? [See Safety First with Schools in Wednesday's paper] The major changes proposed by ex-Californian Bill (can you pronounce "San Andreas Fault") Lewis come with a major price tag "to be named later." So far the CCSD School Board has "seeded" only $7.5 million into the process to get it started. Those were "leftover" dollars. We should all hope for such leftovers.

Wait till Lewis goes for the big bucks.

Experts differ on how far to go in retrofitting (or the necessity of replacing) school buildings in this not-earthquake-prone, not-on-a-fault-line area. A totally earthquake proof environment does not exist and never will, here or elsewhere. Lewis has encouraged the doomsday approach; the CCSD School Board has knuckled under. Is there any hope that they might get a second opinion regarding how much work is really necessary? The necessity for millions to be spent on the Rivers building was revealed much too closely to the request for its use by the Charter School for Math and Science for anyone with common sense to believe that politics is not involved in the process.

Also, it would be fitting if a second opinion came from a firm that did not have a vested interest in recommending major big-bucks work. Well, since Arthur has caved, all we can do is hope.

As for the "comparatively undistinguished" Memminger Elementary building, it's probably far better built than the recently-constructed (under the aegis of Bill Lewis) West Ashley High School, which is already falling apart. Whatever happens to its 1950s building, let's not forget that Memminger's property is prime real estate that Joe Riley's friends would love to get their hands on. The property also has a long history in education that predates the present building.

If you think that greedy developers are not in the equation, you may have just fallen off the turnip truck.

Kandrac Is No Toya Green, Gregg

Dissension on the Charleston County School Board? Who would'a thunk it? After all, didn't they get rid of those spoilsports like David Engelman in the last election? You know, the ones who want transparency in CCSD's spending, wanted to put it on-line, for heaven's sake?

Dissatisfied with a whopping 6-2 majority, long-time Board member Gregg Meyers, whose influence put puppet Toya Hampton-Green into place as chairman, feels the need to insult those who disagree with him and his carefully written agenda. [See Dissension a Challenge for Board.] He's found out that he can't cow Arthur Ravenel, Jr., with the usual Greggisms (think of a gnat trying to annoy an elephant), so he's decided to try them out on Elizabeth Kandrac.

Mistake. Maybe you'd like a do-over on that one, Gregg. We all sense your exasperation that a Board member actually knows what's really wrong on the front lines and that all your posturing about excellence as the goal of school redesign isn't going to fix it.

Anyone who's taught for, say, ten minutes tops, knows that the most learning takes place in a classroom where behavioral expectations are clear, enforced, and supported by the principal. Why, even academic studies have proved it! Imagine that.

Kandrac's remarks should be taken very seriously:

Kandrac said the school district has way too many schools that aren't improving, and she cited the increasing number of at-risk ratings on district schools' report cards, from 22 to 24 this year.

"I think they want to fool the public," she said. "I think it's intentional. I think they want people to think we're getting better" because they're spending nearly a half-billion dollars. She said some board members refuse to admit the real problem in schools, which is discipline. Staff members are afraid of children, and that's the reason students are not excelling, she said.

So Meyers thinks this is a personal agenda? More fool he.

Half-truths and Whining Op-Ed from the Rev. Darby

Probably it's a good thing that these days I don't always read the P & C thoroughly before heading to work. Saves me some indigestion. So it was suppertime before I read the Reverend Joseph Darby's op-ed piece in response to a NEWS story about the opening of the Charter School for Math and Science (CSMS). [See New Charter School Must Prove Its Worth.]

Despite the facts Darby, unfortunately, continues to believe in the conspiracy theory of human behavior. All those well-meaning organizers of this new charter school, as the rant goes, are taking advantage of CCSD in order to create another all-white school downtown. Believe it or not, Darby cites Buist Academy and the Academic Magnet as proof of this conspiracy to make schools whiter. If only Darby could see beyond his nose to the conspiracy of silence that has made all other District 20 schools segregated, or, should we say, black? I guess that's not going to happen. No, apparently the Charleston NAACP will continue to make itself part of the problem in CCSD.

Meanwhile, Darby spouts inflammatory rhetoric concerning the approval of CSMS:

"It's worth noting, as my mother used to say, that you can't go the right way if you take the wrong road. Reservations about the charter school led to lengthy consideration by the school district, which ended only because of rude and profane coercion by school board member Arthur Ravenel, who took pride in the fact that his unprofessional and ill-tempered remarks and actions pushed the charter school along the road to approval."

Let's get this straight, Rev. Darby. You mean that Ravenel's somewhat idiotic remarks caused the charter school to be approved? That's called rewriting history.

Much to its discredit, the P & C continues to solicit and publish this nonsense.

Reading CCSD Between the Lines

Want an item on the CCSD School Board's agenda? Find four members to support it. Want an item taken off the agenda? One will do. Well, that's only fair, isn't it?

That's the gist of Friday's P & C story on disagreements expressed by board members on its "gag" rule. [SeeAgenda Policy Under Review.] Apparently this cockeyed system was introduced solely to silence John Graham Altman, presumably some time between 1984, when he served as chairman, and 1996, when he left the board.

Let's take a hypothetical example. Suppose you, as a board member, managed to get three other members to support putting the leasing agreement for the Charter School for Math and Science on the agenda. Unbenownst to you a fifth board member comes along and takes it off the agenda.

Maddening, isn't it? After all that work getting four members to agree?

Of course, you understand this example is only hypothetical, right?

Forget the Economy: CCSD Board Sinks to New Low

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.

More Nonsense from the NAACP and CCSD

Monday's CCSD Board meeting was a classic--a classic satire on school board meetings.

• Nelson Rivers III, field director and Burke High School graduate, showed up to prove that he doesn't know what's happening in District 20 these days.
  
• Academic Magnet parents showed up to protest the potential deflation of the Magnet's effectiveness when combined with the School of the Arts.
  
• Toya Green's absence (is there some reason she couldn't have voted by phone also?) guaranteed that the proposed budget for next year would not be passed.
  
• The Board refused to renew the charter for James Island High School.
  
• Hillery Douglas pretended he didn't know that, as chairman, he needed to sign the Board's approval (from its April meeting) for CSMS to use the Rivers campus.

Meanwhile, the ground is being prepared for the construction of the combined Academic Magnet and School of the Arts off Enterprise Avenue in North Charleston, now that the Special Day School has been completed. Has the public ever seen the final plans on that building? Has anyone? Has any traffic study been done? Where will the entrance to this "gi-normous" school be, off Enterprise or Montague? What is this, a state secret?

Last Gasp of a "Failing Mindset": NAACP & Ravenel

Dot Scott has lied to Nelson Rivers III, whose speech can be seen on the P & C's website. At least, I assume that Rivers wasn't being ironic when he said that the organizers of CSMS "want a segregated, or almost segregated, school" at Rivers. Maybe that was a joke? Or maybe a school that is all-black, such as virtually every school in District 20 except Buist Academy, isn't considered segregated by Scott and Rivers? Frankly, given the circumstances, Rivers's comments are bizarre.

Dot Scott is worried. Oh, not about the de facto segregated schools on the peninsula--about getting an integrated one. This is the most logical explanation for the illogical line that Scott, as Chairman of the Charleston NAACP, draws between Arthur Ravenel, Jr.,'s now famous blow up at 75 Calhoun Street and the Charter School for Math and Science's use of the Rivers campus. Scott hopes to use those remarks to drive an old man from office and prevent the election of another one who just might oppose the 5 - 4 majority of the present Board. See Friday's P & C for Meeting AddressesInequities in Schools.

Given that headline, didn't you assume that finally the NAACP and the phantom Interdenominational Alliance (that exists only for public meetings like this one) were going to demand that Charleston Progressive Academy, an almost all-black magnet school only two blocks from Buist Academy, get the resources it needs to be truly a magnet? Or that Fraser Elementary get its very own principal? Nary a mention. Instead we get more of the same from Scott and her cronies.

Let's all keep in mind that Ravenel, who certainly has his flaws, has been one vocal and mostly effective opponent of the majority of CCSD Board members led by erstwhile civil-rights attorney Gregg Meyers and Board Chairman Hillery Douglas, who can't even get control of the Board's agenda (if McGinley has been writing it, as the circumstances of the brouhaha suggest).

This meeting kicks off the election campaign to make sure that November's replacements for Board members follow the racist agenda set up by the NAACP. Despite who shows up at Monday's CCSD Board meeting, it is a "failing mindset." Thank God.

Let's Hear NAACP's Scott on Sea Islands Failure

Would you believe that Charleston's chapter of the NAACP is now calling for Governor Sanford to remove Arthur Ravenel, Jr., from the CCSD Board of Trustees over Ravenel's use of language? As reported by local TV stations, Dot Scott is at it again.

Some things that don't bother Scott and the other officers of the NAACP:

• de facto segregated schools in District 20 (on the peninsula);
  
• under-the-radar busing of white students out of District 20 and black students in to make segregation possible;
  
• the CCSD Superintendent's foray into charter schools as part of changing Murray Hill Academy represented by the monumental and expensive failure of Sea Islands YouthBuild;
  
• the failure of CCSD to provide programs at Burke High School desired by its parents;
• overloading of resources on Buist Academy as a magnet school while withholding same from Charleston Progressive Academy, an almost all-black magnet school only two blocks away; etc.

How could Ravenel's remarks possibly be as damaging to CCSD as these failures? It's all politics, folks. As long as the majority on the CCSD board aligns itself with Dot Scott, we can expect more of the same.

To Draw Attention from CCSD Board's Failures

The P & C is at it again. And why not? No news source in the Lowcountry will counter its propaganda. Well, The Chronicle might, but unfortunately it doesn't have much clout.

So it is that once again the local rag finds Arthur Ravenel's comments of a month ago to be front page news, complete with Board Chairman Douglas's sanctimonious posturing, while important new information gets buried in the back pages. Instead of headlining Ravenel's Comments Denounced, the news should have read " CCSD Finally Votes to Revoke SeaIslands Charter." But then the focus would have been on the Board's AND the Superintendent's failures instead of Ravenel's.

Let's not forget who bear the responsibility for encouraging this charter school in the first place.

One way that McGinley and her cronies could build a bit of "street cred" is to admit their mistakes. Why, if they like, they can even say "Mistakes were made," not naming themselves.

Not going to happen.

P & C Takes Sides in CCSD Dispute

Splashed all over the front of the P & C Friday morning was one of the most important stories to come out of CCSD this year! At least it must have been to receive the place of honor above the fold. So, was this startling information about the school district banner news about its achievements or even its failures?

Of course not. It was about a spat among CCSD school board members facilitated by employees of 75 Calhoun. [See Threats to McGinley's Job Alleged ].

Lost in the explosion about "he said--she said" was the reason for the anger. Found in the detritus was a stick to beat members of the school board (mainly Arthur Ravenel, Jr.) who don't take directives from Gregg Meyers et al. Seizing the chance to overreact in an election year, Douglas and his toadies made noises about changing the policies of the Board so that language might be a cause for public censure: "A board member who violates the code could face public discipline."

Spare us the sanctimonious simpers. No one excuses foul language, not even Arthur Ravenel, Jr., as it seems from his later TV interview today, and his explosion of temper was truly uncalled for, for the person who took the agreement with the Charter School for Math and Science to use the Rivers building off the Board's agenda was not present. In fact, no one has said who took it off, so we must read the tea leaves. Judging from remarks regarding the Superintendent, it must have been McGinley.

Needless to say, the P &C ignored the issue, hoping not to pick at the scab that has formed over the ongoing dispute between organizers of CSMS and the school board, which is seething quietly over its inability to stop CSMS's fulfillment. That continues to be the real story.

Oh, and one other observation. Courrege apparently parrots whatever Meyers et al say to her. How else to explain the statement that, "Cook and Toler frequently vote with Ravenel on controversial issues"? That statement was, of course, made to cast doubt on their neutrality in the dispute. Instead, it reveals the reporter's ignorance about the relationship between Cook and Ravenel.

May we get on to the topic at hand--when IS the CCSD board going to grapple with the CSMS agreement? When hell freezes over?

CCSD's Legal Costs Fiasco

$625,000 spent in an eight-month period on legal bills.

Let's see. At this rate CCSD will dole out something approaching a million dollars for attorney fees during this school year. Is anyone crying, "Stop! Hold! Enough"? Yes, but it's not 75 Calhoun. It's Arthur Ravenel, Jr., who has questioned the ballooning costs of the district's arrangement with Alice Paylor's law firm. In one of her most it-goes-without-saying statements so far, Superintendent McGinley has pointed out that "every call the district makes to its legal counsel is billed." Duh.

What could be costing so many hours' worth of Alice Paylor's time? Why, that would be

• personnel issues (hmm),
• construction contracts (mm-hmm),
• special education (huh?), and
• charter schools (oh! yes, of course).

That's Nancy McGinley's story and she's sticking to it.
([See Charleston Schools Looking to Hire Attorney.]

So, why did CCSD cut out the position of staff attorney "years ago"? Whose boondoggle is this? Is CCSD getting its money's worth? Or are its actions so ill-advised that it will always cost this much to defend them in court?

CCSD School Board: Sweetness and Light?

"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."

Downtown Apartheid, Intimidation, and the NAACP

"No matter how complex the reasons that have brought us to the point at which we stand, we have, it seems, been traveling a long way to a place of ultimate surrender that does not look very different from the place where some of us began."


These days when I see or hear from Dot Scott and the Rev. Darby of Charleston's NAACP, parts of Jonathan Kozol's latest book, Shame of a Nation, about the new apartheid in America's schools, begin to circulate in my head. Kozol cogently points out that, in many cities besides small ones like Charleston, local leadership has made its "deal with the devil" and settled for segregated but equal schools--shades of Plessy versus Ferguson! How else to explain Scott's defense of a system that over the last 30 years has left all downtown schools de facto segregated?


Now, once again Scott, Darby, and every other African-American leader they can cozen or coerce onto their team are in full cry against the new downtown charter school, in the process threatening local black leaders to get on board and claiming it's all a plot by Arthur Ravenel, Jr. They will accept all-black schools on the penninsula but not integrated ones.



When confronted with the charter school's racially-diverse leadership and state laws regarding the make-up of charter schools, the NAACP response is "don't confuse us with the facts." In fact, certain leaders, including Hillery Douglas and Ruth Jordan, CCSD board members who claimed support of the charter school at the CCSD meeting when it was approved, have now been caught twisting the arms of black leaders who SUPPORT the charter school. Presumably the intent is to cull charter school support of its black members so that the NAACP can then cry, "Aha! See, it's a plot to bring segregation back to downtown Charleston!"


Bring it back? Is that a joke? Please step into a classroom at Fraser, Charleston Progressive, or Burke--actually, you can name the school; just leave Buist out.



How far have they drifted from the desires of Martin Luther King, Jr., when CCSD board members "ambush" legitimate neighborhood leaders announcing support of the charter school?



According to at least one person present at the following event taking place downtown, sometime prior to Tuesday, October 9:

For the purpose of forcing a downtown African-American community leader to recant his support for the Charter School for Math and Science, CCSD board member Hillery Douglas set up a meeting with Pete Lawrence. The private meeting amounted to an ambush and attempted mugging. It failed to sway the intended victim and may have in fact caused him and other downtown black residents to become more ardent supporters of charter school alternatives as a way to get existing schools back on track.

Arthur Peter Lawrence is a Burke High School graduate, a co-founder of the Friends of Burke organization, President of the Westside Neighborhood Association and a recipient of the City of Charleston's Koon Award for his record of community service. He is actively supporting another African-American, Dudley Gregorie, in his campaign for Mayor of Charleston. After much soul- searching and seeking answers to many questions, Pete recently came out in support of the proposed Charleston Charter School for Math & Science. He said he did this because the existing CCSD schools located downtown are either not available to most downtown students (Buist) or failing so badly that there is little hope for change in the near future. CCSD claims it is unable to adequately improve downtown schools or make them racially diverse, saying that the causes of poor schools downtown are beyond its control.

Pete has also said that, only after the charter school group became active, did CCSD finally begin to take an interest in advancing plans for the improvement of Burke's academic programs. All previous proposals for Burke were for goals assoicated with minimum standards [Note: precisely the phenomenon described by Kozol in other cities]. It was as if CCSD had no interest in Burke's success until it was challenged with the possibility of losing control to another charter school. This one would become an alternative for the relief of long-suffering downtown parents. Pete said he could support that.

What made this meeting with Pete Lawrence unusual is that Pete was given the impression he was being invited to meet one-on-one with Nelson Rivers to discuss his support for the downtown charter school. Nelson Rivers, a Charleston native, is a highly-respected national NAACP official who helped start the NAACP's North Charleston branch.

It was not to be that kind of meeting. When Pete Lawrence arrived, he found a full house. In addition to Nelson Rivers, it included Dot Scott, Joe Darby, and CCSD board members Hillery Douglas and Ruth Jordan. What was set up as a discussion between two individuals had morphed into a onfrontation with a crowd Lawrence had opposed before. Unknown to Pete until it was too late, the meeting had been arranged and specifically designed to pressure him into publicly recanting his support for new charter school. Nelson Rivers was simply there to "mediate." Pete had been ambushed.

Hillery Douglas reportedly got ugly, saying Pete had to change his position or else and accusing him of betraying the black community by not standing with those who opposed this charter school. What Pete Lawrence discovered was the desperation of these individuals, who all had been in some way responsible for the poor condition of downtown schools, for a downtown spokesman to carry their message of opposition to the community [Note: none of these individuals live downtown except Lawrence]. They were opposed to the racially diverse charter school group. They needed someone with a platform within the downtown black community to be their downtown mouthpiece. They decided that Pete was the one because he had dared speak in favor of the new school. They didn't care if forcing him to change his position meant continuing to cut the throats of downtown schools like Burke. In spite of the pressure, Pete did not back down.

Pete wouldn't cross over, leaving those present without a person with downtown credentials to carry their message. Hillery Douglas reportedly became very angry and began threatening Pete. Nelson Rivers had to physically come between them, according to the witness, or it might have gotten worse. Nelson Rivers, as it turns out, may not have been fully aware of the power play going on until after the meeting had begun.

The strong-arm tactics of Hillery Douglas are deplorable, but it is also highly questionable as to why he and Ruth Jordan, both members of the current Charleston County School Board, would choose to participate in a backroom, closed-door attempt to intimidate a downtown school advocate and private citizen, knowing that witnesses could go public. Without question they were trying to force Mr. Lawrence to change his public position. They wanted him to actively oppose a racially-diverse, community-based charter school group which was organized to create public school choices for downtown parents.



Both Douglas and Jordan have gone on record as supporting this charter school, but behind the scenes we find they are doing something else. By this account, they have misled the public about their support for the charter school as well as knowingly participated in what amounts to a politically motivated mugging.

Pete Lawrence, and other determined parents and residents of downtown Charleston like him, are continuously being pressured and in some cases threatened financially to not support the charter school. Others have been verbally abused and threatened by Hillery Douglas for speaking out for public schools downtown. Pete Lawrence has the courage and the good fortune to not be beholden to corrupt power brokers who have been willing to sell out downtown school children. Because he’s a man of integrity and has no financial ties to these bosses, he continues to speak his mind. Others downtown are not so fortunate. Most downtown parents and public school supporters are just glad that there are people like Pete Lawrence who have the ability to speak of ideas that most people downtown can only think or speak of privately.

Downtown schools, especially Burke High School, are fortunate that they are being defended by courageous and unbending supporters like Pete Lawrence against the assaults and neglect of Hillery Douglas and the rest, including Dot Scott, Joe Darby, and Ruth Jordan.

Gilbreth's P & C Column Worth Reading

Just in case you didn't get this far into your P & C today, Dr. Gilbreth's column articulately sums up the battle now raging sub rosa between advocates of a new charter high school in District 20 and its adversaries in CCSD. The meeting referenced below (when representatives heard about the rent issue prior to the school board's vote) actually took place in Joe Riley's office. Park Dougherty's op-ed piece was published earlier this week. At last Monday night's CCSD Board meeting, Gregg Meyers proposed sending an email around so that the required four members could vote to bring the rent issue back for discussion--that at the request of Arthur Ravenel, Jr.

"Charter school should get fair chance of survival" by Edward M. Gilbreth (Thursday, September 13, 2007)

As I said in a column sometime last year, the idea spearheaded by Park Dougherty regarding the creation of a charter school for math and science on the peninsula is timely and appropriate. The quality of available public schooling in that part of the city is lousy, and everybody knows it is, including the African-Americans who speak out in favor of the charter.
Families have been abandoning public schools on the peninsula for years. Four of the five public schools serving downtown Charleston in 1970 have closed for want of suitable programs. One, in fact, was Rivers, the site of which would play a vital role for the proposed charter, as discussed below. The concept behind the charter is actually exciting parents (black and white) about sending their children to a public high school on the peninsula. This is based on a model developed by the charter executive committee, made up of 58 people, whose ideas may reverse a tide of discontent that has washed over the educational system for so many years.
The charter concept, as I understand it, would be under the aegis of the public school system, and fairly open its doors (room permitting) to all applicants in the absence of specific entrance requirements, yet enforce a certain GPA for students to remain enrolled.
Students might actually graduate with a bona-fide education, and not be among
the 1 in 5 who can't even identify the U.S. on a map of the world (if you believe the recent statistic presented to Miss South Carolina Teen USA and her infamous response).
Dougherty and his committee have labored mightily to get this show on the road and have encountered criticism, name-calling (including suggestions of racism) and the usual assortment of political roadblocks. On Aug. 13, however, the Charleston County School Board unanimously approved the charter and voted 8-1 to provide space at the old Rivers Middle School campus. It also voted 5-4 for terms that would place the charter utterly at the mercy of the school board, and therein the rubber meets the road because the majority of its members simply rubber-stamp the superintendent's recommendations — some of which are guaranteed to be deal breakers.
In other words, the school board giveth, and the school board taketh away.
Included in the superintendent's terms is a proposal that would permit annual rent of up to $327,000! How in the world can a fledgling venture like this possibly come up with that kind of cash? No other public school is charged more than $1 by the school district. And even if they were, how could 327 grand be remotely justified in this case when much of the Rivers campus simply lies fallow? Answer: It can't and it's not, and imposing such an outrageous fee would be tantamount to a death sentence — levied by county government, mind you — against thoughtful ideas that have met a lot more support (from what I can tell) than resistance.
OK. We've got a deal for you, says the school board. We will reduce the rent by 50 percent if 40 percent of the student population qualifies for free and reduced meals. Well, that sounds great, but $163,500 is still more than can be afforded, and, what's worse, the stipulation violates the spirit of the charter, which is being established so that any applicant has the same chance of being admitted as any other applicant.
Won't the above proposal create a conflict of interest and possibly generate discriminatory legal action?
A more sensitive issue involves sharing the Rivers campus with High Tech High (HTH). The executive committee representing the charter school agreed to share the campus with HTH last February in a deal that broke down as follows: 460 charter students and 280 HTH students. The charter school would have two-thirds of the building, and HTH would have the remaining one-third. Since last winter, the superintendent has authorized increasing HTH enrollment to 400 and relegating campus usage to one-half for each program.
So the rules keep changing, and so does the concept behind High Tech High. Originally billed as a career academy that might be installed in any high school, it now sounds like an NAACP-inspired vocational program. Which is fine, but the Friends of Burke have meanwhile begged for restoration of the vocational programs that were canceled by the school board years ago. So the question, therefore, is why wouldn't it make sense to restore Burke's programs and give the charter school control of Rivers? That was the most popular option among the 250 people who recently conferred, a choice that would give parents what they want and possibly reverse the exodus of children from downtown schools.
When the charter school executive committee found out about changes in the wind shortly before the school board vote, representatives approached the Superintendent and voiced displeasure. Yet the comments fell on deaf ears and
there was no negotiation. And that's the long and the short of where things stand now.
There's got to be a way around these issues and a way for the charter school to at least have a fair chance at survival. The peninsula deserves it and students who are willing to work deserve it. Perhaps with continued support, the impact of upcoming school board elections and ongoing negotiations, the charter school will finally get the terms it so desperately needs.
Edward M. Gilbreth is a Charleston physician. Reach him at edwardgilbreth@comcast.net. Copyright © 1997 - 2007 Evening Post Publishing Co.

CCSD: We've Got the Power

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.

Front Page News! CCSD's Conflict of Interest

Wow! What a pleasant surprise this morning to see on the P & C's front page coverage of CCSD that wasn't a puff piece extolling district administration. I almost wondered if the editors had been reading my blog.




Friday night was Goodloe-Johnson's going-away-party at the Charleston Yacht Club, but going away wasn't the focus of the article. No, it focused on "three recipients of multimillion- dollar contracts with the Charleston County School District [who] collectively contributed $7,000 for" the party. Goodloe-Johnson was not amused. She must have been shocked to get probing questions from Courrege: in fact, she called such questions "'tacky'." That's as in "lacking good taste"?

Most people would call these contributions kickbacks; they have nothing to do with good taste but are, in some corrupt circles, considered a cost of doing business. The biggest contributor to the party's costs provides custodial services to three-fourths of the constituent districts. It has a multi-million dollar contract that could be extended, especially if it's nice to the administration. Two other companies are "construction management firms for the district's building program." Their "program management" fees total about $17 million over the next few years. What's a minor payment when so much is at stake?

And Don Kennedy's defense: "most of the district's major contractors make donations to the district. School officials who work with the companies asked them to give money for the event."

Well, that's clear, then. Those donations CERTAINLY couldn't be considered kickbacks!

And to cement the soundness of the practice, Kennedy pointed out that the district did the same for Ron McWhirt.

Oh, well then. If they did it in the past, it MUST be okay.

"Kennedy said the district doesn't solicit money from companies that could soon be submitting contract proposals to the district, and he didn't see the donations as a conflict."

Well, he wouldn't, would he? After all, he doesn't see it as a conflict of interest that he sits on the audit committee that selects the auditing firm that audits himself.

They must still be searching for the tattler who told Ravenel where the funds came from. Unfortunately, Ravenel, who chose not to attend as a result, was the only board member who did see the conflict, or as he said, "'It doesn't pass the smell test.' It's difficult for companies that do business with political entities to turn down requests for money for events."

Well, duh. I wonder what the other board members thought.

CCSD: A MEGO and the Tip of the Iceberg

The appropriateness of William Safire's term--MEGO--struck me as I watched the tape of last Tuesday's meeting of the CCSD Board of Trustees. On the new school budget, MEGO--that's short for "my eyes glaze over"--truly applied as the millions of dollars flew in the air and on the Power Point and the millage fluctuated in Don Kennedy's presentation. Kennedy will not soon be named a reality-TV-show host.

It's hard to take any of it seriously (although I know the participants functioned as required by law) when on the Tuesday prior to the legislature's recess, no "hold harmless" legislation had been passed for a more-than-$10-million shortfall from the state. Yet the district mode was full- steam-ahead, counting on promises alone.

Then there's the not-so-small question raised by Ravenel regarding the accuracy of Kennedy's millage estimate. The estimate seemed to account for all the difference in other potential shortfalls and cuts. See, I did manage to stay focused for most of the presentation.

Yet the drone was punctuated, however briefly, by interesting questions and responses.

The previously-requested comparison of CCSD administrative costs in regard to other school districts was one such topic. Whether deliberately or not, the CCSD's accounting set-up for "leadership" contains ingredients not comparable to most other districts. Workers' compensation and insurance costs are included, whereas most other districts distribute those costs to individual schools. Moody made some silly remarks about allocating those costs to the schools so that the Board could claim that it had provided another $7 million to schools. I say, someone on the Board needs to request COMPARABLE percentages. Yes, that would require some research, but wasn't that the point of the Board's request in the first place? Obfuscation.

Second, did I hear correctly that the cost of Workers' Compensation had been reduced 83% in the last year???? What the heck was going on in previous years?

Also, the district's being forced to use an incorrect figure posted last Feb. 1st by the State Department of Education is yet another example of incompetence at the state level and belated response by CCSD. Since the correct number is known, and that correction adds money to CCSD, why has the Board not already pursued a legal opinion?

Last, but not least, Ravenel pointedly brought up the auditing process for the district. Frankly, I was at first relieved to hear that there WAS an audit. His point, however, was dead on: Kennedy sits on the committee that selects the auditing firm that audits. . . Kennedy.

Why do the Board members insist on creating conflicts of interest? For example, Nancy Cook makes a big deal of abstaining from voting on CCSD funds distributed to the shelter she directs, but she's still board chairman, isn't she? Surely we have progressed from the "we're-all-ladies-and-gentlemen-here-and-can-trust-our-pure-motives" mindset?

In fact, why have written contracts? Let's do everything on a handshake, like in the good old days.

Would that we could!

Am I Now Imagining Things?

Just having caught a few minutes more of the last televised school board meeting (the one that voted a year's extension for both Goodloe-Johnson and McGinley), I am struck by the tension that appeared to surface between Ruth Jordan and Gregg Meyers.

Don't you wonder sometimes what goes on in executive sessions? I do.

Jordan seemed unhappy about transfers granted to students from Laing Middle School to Moultrie Middle School, both of which are in Mt. Pleasant. Her take was that these "transfers of convenience" could actually be attempts to avoid students who had transferred into Laing from failing North Charleston schools.

Nahh! Couldn't happen, right District 20? No intra-district transfers are allowed in CCSD based on race, are they?

A clearly uncomfortable and rattled Meyers referenced the board's long-standing policies, allowing reluctantly that maybe they need to be revisited. Ravenel woke up long enough to second the idea of revisiting policy.

Nancy Cook quickly changed the subject. Jordan didn't look all that pleased.

Hmm. Maybe there's some hope here that Jordan will not follow blindly.