Bill Lewis Reveals He's the Jonathan Gruber of CCSD

Those stupid Charleston County voters! We shouldn't allow them to elect school board members! That is the basic underpinning of retired CCSD operating officer Bill Lewis's proposal in Sunday's op-ed.

Of all horrors, democratically-elected board members don't always toe the line thrown out by the Chamber of Commerce. They're too stupid. Imagine having "community activists" or "disgruntled former teachers" on the board! It's a nightmare! Only such "highly-qualified" candidates as Chris Fraser, Brian Moody, and Gregg Meyers will fulfill that mission.

Lewis apparently believes that the school district should be run as a private-sector organization. Those private-sector boards he praises for not micromanaging their CEOs really did a good job preventing the excesses that caused the last recession, right?

We wonder why Lewis could not name any of the cities where mayors have made the difference in improving schools, since he seems to believe that mayoral control is the solution to CCSD's problems. His solution would give Charleston three seats, Mt. Pleasant three seats, and North Charleston five seats, since Mayor Summey will control the County Council's choices through Teddie Pryor, a North Charleston employee, and his son Elliott.

Politicians selecting school board members instead of voters? Gee, that sounds great.

There are two major ways in which the school board elections can be improved, neither of which is on Lewis's radar screen, or, should I say, the radar screen of the Chamber of Commerce member who vetted Lewis's op-ed.

It's an open secret that these supposedly non-partisan seats are as partisan as they can be, just flying under the radar. Our local paper chooses to ignore that slates are regularly supported by the county's Democrat and Republican organizations. These seats are non-partisan for the same reason that the mayoralty of Charleston is nonpartisan: so that white Democrats can fool Republicans into voting for them. Mayor Riley not a Democrat? Please.

If races were designated partisan, political parties would vet the candidates and voters would have a better idea for whom to vote in the primary. Voters would rapidly discover that the school board generally has been the hiding place for Democrats to be elected to office in the county. Check for yourself: how many of the present school board members are registered Democrats?

Some will try to make the case that Democrats and Republicans share the same ideas about education. Really? When was that last the case? Probably in the 1950s.

The second aspect that would strongly improve the election is single-member districts. These single members would be voted upon by their own district, not by the county at large. That would make members responsible to their districts. Who can forget Toya Green's (yes, vetted as "highly-qualfied" by Bill Lewis) response to her District 20 constituency: "I don't represent you!"

It's time to stop pretending that the population of the county is so small that voters in Mt. Pleasant know who is the best person to represent North Charleston. The system as it is allows the Chamber of Commerce and its lackeys to control outcomes in many areas. What just happened in North Charleston, where Mt. Pleasant supporters (and the Chamber) put Cindy Bohn Coats over the top North Charleston vote-getter Shante Ellis, is a case in point.

Part of the solution is better communication within the county about what the candidates stand for. Evidently, we can't depend upon our local newspaper or television outlets for full information. Perhaps its lack of interest (or collusion) in local races is part of the reason that the Post and Courier has become a dinosaur.

Hicks on McGinley: Laugh of the Day

The paper has gone whole hog to protect Superintendent McGinley's position in the Charleston County School District. Mayor Riley is beating down the doors of individual school board members in an attempt to save his protege. The editorial page laments the potential loss of a great superintendent, and the news articles point out how costly her buyout would be.

Nevertheless, Brian Hicks takes the prize for the most outrageous sentence in his impassioned defensive column.

To wit, "McGinley has never been a politician."

CCSD School Board Cowed into Raiding "Rainy Day" Fund

What is a "rainy day"? Well, really, it's an emergency fund, so why not call it that?

Because the emergency in the case of the Charleston County School District came about through a consultant's study of administrative salaries that the CCSD Board of Trustees approved on Superintendent Nancy McGinley's recommendation.

The emergency? the bloated bureaucracy at the Taj Mahal needs to be paid more.

McGinley and Chief Financial Officer Michael Bobby have cloaked this raid on the emergency fund by allowing the ordinary step increase in teacher pay! Imagine that! What an innovation!

Still, 75 percent of the pay increases will accrue to administrative staff in the Taj.

You can't make this stuff up. In fact, the $7.4 million taken from the emergency fund (It's an emergency! These bureacrats might leave!) doesn't fully cover the $8.5 million for denizens of the Taj. And these are ongoing salary increases that only partially meet the recommendations of the consultant's study for salary increases.

Instead, dollars for low-income middle schools get the ax.

To complete the farce that purports to be a responsible school budget, the Board, again at McGinley's recommendation, voted to forgo taxes from two TIF districts, no doubt in order to please Mayor Riley. Certainly it is not in the best interest of CCSD to forgo tax dollars when it must raid emergency funds for ongoing salaries.

You can see where this is headed. Time for an outside audit.

Communities in Schools: Buying Good Press or Money to Burn?

In the past week or so, Communities in Schools (CIS), the much-touted nonprofit headed by Mayor Riley's sister, has purchased not one, but two, full-color two-page ads in the Post and Courier. If you've ever purchased even one full-page ad, you know these ads don't come cheap.

The purpose appears to be raising community awareness or raising funds or both. The website advertised takes you to a very professional website extolling the work of CIS and asking you to get involved.

Is this really an effective way to raise money assist students? Wouldn't one page be enough?

Mysteries.

Deerin's Group Shills for CCSD's McGinley

You think that seats on the Board of Trustees are non-partisan? When did you fall off the turnip truck?

In a thinly-veiled attempt to stack the Charleston County School District's Board of Trustees with supporters of the status quo, especially CCSD's Superintendent McGinley, Ginny Deerin, long-time Democratic Party operative, has cobbled together Citizens Working Together for Great Schools, or CWTGS.

CWTGS' main plank is pro non-charter schools, or to put it another way: anti-charter schools. Anti parental choice.

Deerin recently attended the Democratic Convention in Charlotte as a delegate along with her close friend, Mayor Riley. Let's not kid ourselves. This slate is an overt try to elect Riley supporters, and thus McGinley supporters, to the School Board, no matter what Deerin claims.

Two of the slate, John Barter and Jim Ramich, will be delighted to vote, if elected, on the Kiawah TIF desired by Riley: both of them own homes, if not reside year-round, on Kiawah itself.  Chris Fraser, present Board Chair and another TIF supporter, already is congratulating them for running.

Mattese Lecque was defeated for the Board in the last election but hopes the "second time is a charm" by joining the Democrats' team, so difficult for her, since she is a former officer of the Charleston County Democratic Committee. Also, as a Charleston County employee she knows on which side her bread is buttered.

Todd Garrett, the fourth member of the team, already has the political edge given to him by the Charleston County legislative delegation: they appointed him to fill Toya Hampton-Green's empty chair for a month. No politics there. We wonder if Garrett knows he's being used.

Too bad the Post & Courier is on the mayor's payroll. The taxpayers at large will never know what's going on, if the local rag can prevent it.

Hampton-Green's "Service" Easily Forgone

In the beginning, Mayor Riley recruited Toya Hampton-Green, a District 20 resident, to run for a downtown seat on the Charleston County School Board of Trustees. She appeared such a promising candidate--a young mother with an interest in her local community and a law degree. However, as Green leaves the Board six years later, only the most ardent supporters of Superintendent McGinley mourn her going.

The most that Green ever accomplished on the CCSD Board was to get her children into Buist, a perk for Board members that mysteriously appears by lottery . Green made it crystal clear to her constituents downtown that she didn't represent them! District 20 was left without its voice on the Board. Seemingly, Green represented Green.

That the S.C. School Boards Association should hire Green as "director of policy and legal services" says more about the deficiencies of that organization than it does about Green's qualifications.

The P & C noted that she "often ended up in the same corner as [McGinley]."  That statement is false. Green never voted against any proposal from administration. Her mantra appeared to be "how high should I jump?"

Such slavish bootlicking will not be missed.

P & C Editorial Skirts "Poor" Issue at Meeting Street Academy

Mysteriously to some, State Superintendent Mick Zais unintentionally insulted parents at Meeting Street Academy by suggesting that the school shows that the children of the poor can succeed academically in the right school climate. Apparently, the parents are not poor.

In Wednesday's editorial, the writer suggests, "MSA parents can’t afford private school tuition, but that doesn’t mean they’re poor. They are, rather, very proud of their children’s achievements."

Classic non sequitur.

Remaining  unclear is that Meeting Street Academy has any means or residency tests. If not, why does this private school have a special deal from the city, renting the land for $10 per year?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Joe Riley's Giving Up on CCSD

An appropriate reminder from February 2009. Questions remain unanswered.

According to Tuesday's P & C (which provides precious little information on the principals in the deal), Charleston Mayor Joe Riley plans to go into the school business. [See Deal for School to Benefit City.]

How else to explain the City of Charleston's spending almost $5 million to put a private school on the upper peninsula? The "deal" for local taxpayers goes something like this: we pay almost $5 million for a property now owned by SCE&G; then we rent the land to a private school for $10 per year for 50 years.

"Riley said the ultimate cash cost could be much lower because the city hopes to arrange land deals with the utility and to find sites in Charleston for needed sub-stations."

"Could be"? "Hopes to"?

Why, this efficient use of taxpayer dollars is breathtaking in its simplicity! Maybe Riley can find more million-dollar properties to purchase with our money and rent out to other private schools under similar contracts! By 2060 the taxpayers will have reaped the rewards. Yes?

Wouldn't you love to see the business model for Meeting Street Academy? It must be a real winner. After all, so far the school's been in session with "about forty preschoolers" for a total of six months. Further, do we dare ask where the $9 million estimated to build the school will come from? One hopes that also won't involve "a unanimous recommendation by [City] council's Real Estate Committee."

You know, it's strange, but I could have sworn that the City of Charleston already had a school system. Perhaps Mayor Riley plans a District 20 overlay?

The kicker? "Sherman Financial Group, the school's backer, is a company that buys distressed debt." That's right--debt collectors, big time and not always on the up and up. On second thought, I guess we know where the $9 million will originate.

Try Googling.

CCSD Charter Enemy Support from Riley & McGinley

As I write, Mayor Riley (he who has no legal power in the Charleston County School District) and Superintendent McGinley (she who hates Mary Ann Taylor's ideas and probably her guts) are lobbying the Charleston County legislative delegation to appoint former CCSD Board Member Brian Moody to the seat vacated by Mary Ann Taylor.

Moody has a record of serving the district all right--to its detriment. First of all, why should the Chamber of Commerce be given even more power on the school board?  Chris Fraser already gives a blank check to the superintendent. Is that what the voters wanted when they elected Taylor? No.

Second, Moody opposes public charter schools. Yes, opposes. Our legislators should pay attention to what their constituents want: more charter schools, not fewer. Take a poll of voters if you don't believe me. The present charter schools in CCSD are practically beating off students with a stick. While on the Board, Moody voted for the moratorium on new charter schools in the district.

Disgruntled voters in the sending district for Drayton Hall Elementary have just learned that their efforts for a more creative charter school in its place have been squashed by litigation from CCSD. Moody voted in favor of funding that litigation.

Supporters of Moody can point to his experience as a CPA all they want; the record shows that Moody was asleep at the switch in the 2005 train wreck that raised property taxes. Moody admitted a year later that he just took the word of administration. He didn't do the job that he was elected to do. The district raised property taxes that year by nearly 30 percent while telling the voters it was doing just the opposite.

Administration has lulled the toady majority of the Board into the same shell game in 2011. Legislators, do you really believe Moody would have held his ground against the administration this time around? As legislators you should care about rising taxes--unless you wish to be pegged as in favor of them!

The reality of Moody's prior service to the district is that he was a place marker. If the legislative delegation chooses to appoint him over someone like Henry Copeland, who will take his position seriously, it deserves defeat in the next elections.

Call or email your representatives now to give them some backbone to repel Riley's and McGinley's attempts to put a travesty back on the Board of Trustees.

Senate: Larry Grooms 803-212-6400; Michael Rose 803-212-6056; Glenn McConnell 803-212-6610; Robert Ford 803-212-6124; Chip Campsen 212-6016; Paul Campbell 803-212-6016; Clementa Pinckney 803-212-6148

House: David Mack 803-734-3192; Chip Limehouse 803-734-2977; Wendell Gilliard 803-212-6793; Mike Sottile 803-212-6880; Seth Whipper 803-734-3191; Bobby Harrell 803-734-3125; Peter McCoy 803-212-6872; Robert Brown 803-734-3170

Anyone with email addresses for this delegation can append them in a comment. Time is of the essense!

Mayor Riley Butts in on CCSD Board's Business

• Not to put too fine a point on it, does the mayor of Charleston have any legal power within the Charleston County School District? Answer: no.


• But that doesn't mean he can't throw his weight around, especially when the long-time support of the Charleston Area NAACP is at risk. Can you say "primary"?


• Board chairman Chris Fraser has received a letter from the mayor, no doubt solicited personally by Charter School for Math & Science haters. Basically it says "Damn the torpedos! Full speed ahead" with plans to place the fabled Lowcountry Tech at the Rivers campus along with CSMS.


• His letter does not address (1) what should happen to its auditorium; (2) the desire of Burke supporters to place the program at Burke; (3) the success of CSMS leading to potential permanent use of trailers; or (4) the likelihood of our seeing the fruition of the phantom program during the next decade.


• What Riley has signaled is that he personally resents the success of CSMS. Considering how long Riley has been mayor, if he has influenced past CCSD Boards (which seems likely), the mess we have now in the district belongs at his doorstep. He can't have it both ways.

Is Forbes Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?

Is it possible to make Forbes' list of smartest cities while having among the weakest school systems in a weak state? Apparently the answer is "yes." [See Riley's Outlook: Mayor Says City, Area Poised to Be a Leader in Future Economy.] Maybe it's all those newcomers who were educated in Ohio.

What the rating reveals is the enormous divide between the haves and have-nots in Charleston County. Smartest to have the Academic Magnet to educate the top echelon of CCSD students and Wando High School to satisfy the wealthy and influential. Why waste breath on CCSD's failing schools? After all, they were fashioned for the have-nots and their poorly educated, noninfluential parents. Why, if you can't read on a fourth-grade level, you probably won't get a job with Boeing anyway. You won't be able to read the application.

Companies used to look at the overall educational achievement of a community when considering its workforce. Apparently no more.

McGinley Misses the Point on Harlem Zone

If you watched "60 Minutes" last night, you may have been entranced by the vision and results reported concerning the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City. Today's P&C followed with its own story on how local community leaders hope to create a Children's Zone in Charleston County. See Harlem Program Inspires Concept for Local Proposal.

How dense are Charleston County Schools Superintendent and Mayor Riley anyway? The Harlem Children's Zone school is successful because it is a charter school, because it is not overseen by the bureaucratic New York City Schools System! And McGinley has already made it clear that charter schools not controlled by her will not be allowed. McGinley's idea is doomed to failure, root and stem, because it sprouts from the bureacracy known as CCSD, the same bureacracy that has given us failed schools in every poor area of the county.

We should trust these same people to re-create the Harlem Children's Zone results? Please!

Let's see a robust, true grass-roots movement instead of more self-aggrandizing posturing from the Superintendent in order to get the district's hands on a half-million dollar nest egg.

Paranoia at McGinley's CCSD Headquarters

With a cast of thousands. . .

No, wait a minute. The cast actually consists of the mayors of Charleston and North Charleston, the infamous Dot Scott of the Charleston Branch NAACP, and a big shot from the local Chamber of Commerce. (I wonder what happened to Mt. Pleasant.) These supporters of Superintendent Nancy McGinley believe that losing control of the election for chair of the CCSD School Board portends that McGinley is doomed, doomed, and we must do whatever we can to save her, save her, before it is too late!

That means arriving en masse at Monday night's regular Board meeting. [See Community Leaders to Show Support for Superintendent in Saturday's P&C]

Question: Do any of them have children enrolled in CCSD schools?

Another question: Where are the masses of grateful parents coming to sing the praises of the best superintendent Charleston has ever had? I mean those who do not owe their livelihoods to the Charleston County School District.

Silent.

And Keith Summey proves once again that he can be manipulated into not acting in the best interests of North Charleston. What did they do, promise him no opponent in the next election?

Bottom Feeder Does Good in CCSD Territory

Who would want to be associated with a debt collector, especially one that bends the law and makes headlines with consumer complaints? Apparently, Mayor Joe Riley. Check out this description of Sherman Financial Group, big buddy of Mayor Riley, who encouraged the City Council to spend $5 million purchasing land for Meeting Street Academy's new campus sponsored by this bottom feeder [see Dreaming High in Thursday's paper]:

"Charleston, S.C.-based Sherman generated revenues of $1.05 billion in 2006, according to MGIC’s 2006 annual report filing with the SEC. Sherman contributed nearly $122 million to MGIC’s pretax income last year, Michael Zimmerman, MGIC’s vice president of investor relations, told insideARM.com earlier this month.

"1.05 Billion? How many consumers did they rip off to get that? The scale of this is unbelievable. How many times have they violated the FDCPA, the FCRA & the FACTA to get this amount ?

"Let’s see, mortgages, insurance, credit, debt collection, New York offices, three paper corporations in Delaware, banks in Las Vegas, Brazil and Mexico. The CT Corporation system that they use as Registered Agents has offices in Reno, Nevada and is headquartered in Chicago. They report forgiven debts on 1009-C forms to the IRS, when they have only paid pennies on the dollars; how do they report the profits? Structured to shield the higher ups form law enforcement. Harrasment, illegal debt collection practices, extortion. If this was the 1950’s, I’d say it was the Mob." [Mortage Servicing Fraud Forum]

See also Ripoff Report on Sherman Financial

Let's hope Riley hasn't made a Faustian bargain.

Cheerleader Butzon Butts-in to CCSD Again

Thanks to Saturday's op-ed in the P & C [see Help McGinley with Hard Work of Improving Education], we are now informed that those opposing Superintendent McGinley's plans were people who think the poor and black can't learn.

Gee, I wonder what the parents at Brentwood, Schroder, McClellanville Middle, Fraser, and Charlestowne Academy would say about that! Not. Not to mention the other "stakeholders" who worked so hard to put together counter-proposals that McGinley and the CCSD School Board ignored.

Jon Butzon--the executive director of the Charleston Education Network--sounds impressive, doesn't it? I'm impressed with how much he takes home (must be up to $80,000 per year by now) for attending CCSD School Board meetings and writing two or three op-ed pieces per year. And his qualifications for that are what? And what is the Charleston Education Network (apart from being part of the edublob)? [See entries for CEN and Butzon on this blog.] Who pays his salary? Who calls the shots?

Here's what a commenter wrote back in July of 2007 (just a sample of a heated conversation):

"The waste and inequities that CCSD has forced on Dist. 20 are common issues that unite both white & black downtown public school advocates. Butzon & CEN have been noticeably absent on all fronts. A united downtown is a scary prospect to some. It would seem that all the special interest groups that live off the crumbs that CCSD throws them, from Dot Scott to Jon Butzon, the NAACP to the Chamber of Commerce (what a strange mix), none can afford to have a bunch of loose cannons downtown calling for public school reforms."

My nominee for controller is Joe Riley.

Tell It Like It Is, Ray: CCSD's "Ruse"

Gasp! Shock! Get the smelling salts! After deciding to close five CCSD schools, the Charleston County School Board doesn't want to sell the "Taj Mahal" after all. [See Board Cool to Sale of 75 Calhoun]

"Board member Ray Toler said he thought it was a ruse that anyone suggested selling 75 Calhoun because no one had any intention of doing that.

"'It doesn't make sense to sell it, but I'd still rather see the school district (headquarters) in another location," he said. "I think there would be less politics.'"

Hmm. Less access by Mayor Riley, that's for sure.

Idea for CCSD's"Taj Mahal": Buy High, Sell Low

The inmates are running amuck again. At least that's what anyone with a finger on the pulse of the present real estate market in Charleston must be thinking after reading Friday's paper.

The idea that the present CCSD inmates of 75 Calhoun, the "Taj Mahal" of school district buildings, would vacate the premises (let them enjoy the ambiance of their own portable classrooms) truly appeals to the sense of justice and the sensible [see Sell 'Taj Mahal'? It's Possible in the P & C]. Watchers of the Charleston County School District and Mayor Joe Riley know, however, that Superintendent McGinley just threw out a red herring, Riley caught it, and friends at the P & C reported the catch.

McGinley is as serious about this possibility to stem CCSD's economic problems as she would be about foregoing her entire salary for the next three years. In tandem, Riley is making the proper noises to calm the natives, who are indeed restless over proposed School Redesign Plans. Why not look conciliatory? It doesn't cost anything.

Lease the entire building to the city or downsize district staff and office space and lease one of the floors CCSD now occupies to a new tenant. There's some income.

How would the bargain-basement sale of the building benefit the taxpayers who paid for it? And how would the district evade the law that prevents using capital gained from land or buildings for ongoing operating expenses?

ACLU & Planned Parenthood No Coincidence?

Brace yourself. Friday's P & C divulged that both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are opening offices in downtown Charleston. For the ACLU it's the only office in the state--where else but Charleston, of course. For Planned Parenthood the impetus is being "flush with cash" and seeing Charleston as under-served. Probably it saw South Carolina's "sixth-lowest abortion rate in the nation" as a disgrace, you know, rather like the way we view CCSD's graduation rates.

According to PP, "'Initially, the center will not offer abortion services.'" For how many hours?

Don't hold your breath, either, waiting to see if the ACLU will support the rights of protesters against Planned Parenthood.

Maybe these two like-minded organizations thought there would be safety in numbers. Maybe they're both being funded from the same source. Does anyone see the irony in Joe Riley's being present for the ACLU's ribbon-cutting?

Food for thought.

Delay, Linger, and Wait: Again with the Fire Report

Why do politicians make important announcements late on Friday afternoons? No, this is not a trick question.

It's to get bad news out when their audience is paying the least attention. Some won't even get the word until the following Monday, and by then the worst of the storm will have blown over (at least that's what politicians hope).

So it should come as no surprise that it was late on Friday afternoon, only a few hours ago, that Mayor Riley, who no one doubts has political skill, announced that the long-awaited requested panel investigative report on the fatal fire at the Sofa Super Store will now be delayed until the middle of June.

The middle of June. For a report that originally was supposed to come out in December. Actually, what Riley said was, "the panel's report could be released over the summer, but he refused to commit to a definite timetable." Now the excuse is a wait for the results of two federal probes.

You know, Joe, at this point people are beginning to murmur, what has he got to hide?

CEN's Butzon Butts in on Charter School Rent

Don't you just love the edu-blob? It pretends to have the best interests of students at heart, when in fact it has its OWN interests at heart. Take Jon Butzon, of the Charleston Education Network, a Riley and Chamber-of-Commerce front--please take him!

Monday's P & C's op-ed page has a message from Butzon: The sky is falling in CCSD. Run for your life.

Butzon tries to link CCSD's financial woes to its failure to charge rent to the new Charter School for Math and Science. For example,

"Locally sponsored charter schools are already a financial albatross for school districts. When charter school proponents complain about the slow growth of charter schools in South Carolina, they typically attribute that slow growth to anti-charter sentiments among educators and school boards. But as the law is currently written, having charter schools is a financial disincentive for school boards."

What you really mean, Jon, is that school boards lose control of the money that goes to those students. I agree it's a financial disincentive but only because many on the school board have other agendas than the best interests of the students involved. You and I both know that the amount of money alloted per student in the district does not change--only who handles it.

More to the point, why should the Charleston Education Network get a chair at the table? Who elected it to decide what policies the district should have about anything? Why do so many friends of Riley and Democratic activists sit on the committee? What qualifies Jon Butzon to sound off on the finances of the district and its funding? Let's see his credentials.

As I inquired in a posting last July 27th,

Who calls the shots in this unwieldy committee of 26?
Who decides what policies to push?
Where does more than $92,000 in "public support"[as of 3 years ago] come from?
What are Butzon's qualifications for sitting in on CCSD meetings?
Why does CCSD list CEN under "parent" organizations?

Well, Jon? Why did CEN leave its offices at the Citadel? Why is it that on CEN's website not a single member of the committee is listed under "Who We Are"?

Don't you just love it?