29 March 2010

Stock tip of the day:

Since the Delaware Department of Education has not yet had their IPO, MassInciter recommends:
Downgrade/SELL: Technology for the classroom, classroom & office supplies, Sallie-Mae, all Colleges and Universities offering teaching degrees, and all textbook suppliers. School-age student futures.

Upgrade/BUY: Mass Insight, Cambridge Education, the Broad Institute, Vision 2015, Northwest, Renaissance Schools, Innovative Schools, JP Morgan Chase, RODEL, AIRS, DSTP, and DCAS.

Word on the street is that there has been a $600 M infusion of guaranteed business for educational consultants, with $3.5 B+ in future business to follow. Sell your soul for whatever you can get and buy now…you can bet your 403(B) on it!

Think I’m yanking your chain? I’m not alone in my investment advice. (Although, I’m not quite sure why they’re downgrading brewers –- we’re all going to need to get a few drinks under our belts in order to stomach the changes in store for us).

Market Report: Stock Ticker
March 29, 2010 -- 4:15 PM ET

Moving the Market

Dollar dips against competing currencies

Personal income and spending figures for February provide little surprise

Overall news flow is light, leading to little participation

Sector Watch

Strong
real estate services; education services; oil and gas drillers, equipment, and explorers; coal and consumable fuel; diversified metals; agricultural products; distillers and vintners

Weak
auto makers; brewers; computer storage and peripherals; homebuilding; industrial REITs


It’s a damn shame that they did away with cursive writing. It makes We are so totally fucked! look so much classier.

27 March 2010

DOE Rumor

Race to the Top winners are expected to be announced Monday morning at 10 am

23 March 2010

Mass Inciter’s Strategic Plan For The CSD:

Lesson # 1: Turning A Liability Into An Asset

The Christina School District owns the old Astro Power Building in Pencader Business Park, right off of Rt 896. As it stands, this ginormous abandoned facility is a black-eye to the district, a slap in the face to the tax-payers who funded it, and a hell of a liability. From what I understand, the building would need major improvements to function as either a school or a sale-able property.

Although it’s designed to generate energy (more than enough to off-set maintenance costs), the building’s vacancy actually costs the district for utility bills and loan payments for the money borrowed from the State for its purchase. Since the commercial real estate market in Delaware is in the dumper right now, what can be done with this property?

My strategic solution provides a source of positive cash-flow, an actual use for the over-paid contractors that the district is so fond of, will generate some well-needed positive press for the district and, most importantly, raise at-risk student testing scores. I propose that the old Astro Power building be turned into temporary Section-8 housing for the district’s many homeless students and their families.

Think about it…the building is its own energy source. It’s huge and can be sectioned off quite economically. At their insistance, the district could even use some of those overpaid contractors that they are so fond of.  Since the district is so hell-bent on improving test scores, then a plan to provide students with a real roof over their heads should be a no-brainer. A well-rested child – one who doesn’t have to wake up in the back seat of a car, worry about where dinner or breakfast will come from, or secretly “shower” in the sink at school - will probably stress less and test better.

My taxes helped fund this Wise purchase; so did yours. What an egregious waste of money! The way I see it, the building belongs to us, since it’s NEVER going to be used as a school. If this district is going to have the gall to try to pass a referendum and raise my taxes after blatantly wasting my hard earned money, then I want to actually see a return on my investment.

It's a sin to let a perfectly good district owned building go to waste when it can be used for the benefit of our students (and their families). Moreover, it would actually save the district a lot in transportation expenses. Believe it or not, district buses drive around looking for the homeless students each morning and picking them up at random locations.

Lesson # 1 Summary: Waste not, want not.

17 March 2010

Thanks a Lot St. Patrick

For driving the snakes out of Ireland and straight into Educational Consulting!

16 March 2010

Riddle Me This:

If I never check my email and continue to show up at work, will I still be employed in the fall?

Hey CEA, lay off the district Kool Aid!  OH YEAH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TppRjknOryk&feature=related

14 March 2010

BIG BUSINESS vs. the little defenseless children

If you haven’t noticed by now, the showdown has started. It’s high time that parents, taxpayers, educators and all dedicated union employees united to protect the sanctity of our public school system.

Our public schools should be a place of classrooms and childrens’ playgrounds, not class/race and corporate battle-grounds! It is unconscionable to allow the corporate interests of Mass Insight, Cambridge Education, the Broad Institute, Vision 2015, Northwest, Renaissance Schools, Innovative Schools, JP Morgan Chase, RODEL, AIRS, DSTP, DCAS (the list goes on and on) and ANY other self-serving corporate entity to rape our districts and fleece our coffers. No, our children deserve to be protected, our district employees also deserve to be protected and we, the adults/taxpayers/parents who stand to lose the most by this criminal activity, must take responsibility for our actions or lack thereof.

For every dollar that some corporate weasel ferrets out of our district, cuts must be made elsewhere. Since teachers and hourly employees have the greatest numbers and are lowest on the food chain, they are the first to go. Budgets for textbooks, classroom supplies, and office supplies are also on the chopping block.

I don’t know about you, but when I went to school, we had textbooks; lots of them. My backpack would wear out every year or two. It wasn’t a piece of crap sold by Walmart that’s designed to fall apart each year. No, it was the weight of all of those textbooks that I was entrusted with. Textbooks meant assigned reading and homework. All I get home for my child is off-kilter photocopies, often without instructions. My teachers were career educators. They taught from both an approved curriculum as well as their hearts. Although Nixon, Ford & Reagan offered few frills, my public education resembled that of my parents. Will our children receive the same free and appropriate education that I received, or is this just some watered down, cut-rate, pathetic facsimile?

It’s a FACT that the facts are not, in fact, facts! Review an accounting of the hundreds of millions that filter through a Delaware school district over the course of a year and the spreadsheet will suggest that the bulk is spent on administrative costs and teachers. Review a random sampling of teachers’ W2s and you’ll be able to quickly surmise that they are not the drain on our budget. Tens of millions of dollars are wasted each year on contracted educational “support”. What do we get for our investment? We get constantly changing strategies that are proven NOT to work. After all, if they really worked, we wouldn’t need to hire contractors to fix the problem the following year.

Bottom line is that a handful of greedy bastards may hold the power over the district, but we still have the advantage and should rise to the challenge. We have the numbers, and each of us has a vote. Democracy can be such a beautiful thing. We can grant power…and we can, and should, govern those who govern us. If elected officials (Federal, Local, & School District) abuse their power GET RID OF THEM! Expose their shortcomings. Expose their fraudulent activities. Expose their weaknesses. Then, VOTE THEM OUT! If (over)paid EMPLOYEES, such as our School District Administrators, act out or sell us out, expose them for what they are and FIRE THEM! Let teachers teach and let business people seek their profits elsewhere.

We are living in historically challenging times. Like the current working poor, the generations to come will probably not have government retirement benefits, corporate pensions, inheritances, and any real sense of security. What will we leave to them? What will be our legacy?

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE!!!

Send Ms Bock a powerful message: sell-outs aren’t welcome here! We trusted you and you betrayed us. RIF her a new one! TEACHERS – Recall her. Impeach her. Vote for anyone else for CEA President.

Send Mr. Esquire, the Christina School Board President a powerful message: you’ve somehow been given almost 30 years to destroy the Christina School District…not another day on our watch! RIF him a new one! CHRISTINA CONSTITUENTS – Vote for anyone else for his school board seat. (by the way, you do not have to live within the city to vote in the MAY election!!!)

Contact your local legislators about your concerns. If they aren’t responsive or don’t represent your views, vote them out, too!

The easiest problem to fix in Christina is Schneider. She is an employee. Delaware is an “at-will” state. Ax her. Pay out her contract, if need be. Write HER off as a loss rather than the future of our current teachers and our childrens’ education. Send the bitch packing!!!

Please feel free to share this with message with EVERYONE you know at work. Get out the vote.

12 March 2010

Bombs Away... Stupidintendent #1 blows up city schools...

Okay, perhaps, the headline's a little harsh. But, it is the beginning of the end, as Masstradamus predicted (2012, my friends, 2012. Okay, maybe I was off by a couple years. 2010, the end of public education as we know it.)

Was this the backroom deal Mr. Esquire hammered out at his private, little "workshop" on March 6th?

The following bomb was dropped on three city schools today as they were busy administering DSTPs. Can you guess which three? Anyone want to hire a used teacher? (Cause I bet a whole lot of 'em are feeling pretty used right about now.) You can imagine the panic that ensued.

From: LYLES MARCIA V.
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 9:45 AM
To: Bancroft Users
Cc: Claudia Bock
Subject: School Improvement

Dear Educators:

I know that there has been a great deal of talk about state lists, school closures, turnarounds, etc. And, in the absence of actual information, rumors have abounded. I am happy to report that Claudia Bock, Bob Brown and I recently met to share our information, talk about the implications, and develop a preliminary strategy on next steps.

Yes, unfortunately this year Bancroft has been identified by the Delaware Department of Education as a Tier I, persistently low achieving school. That is the bad but, I am sure, not surprising news. Yet now, through an expanded Federal Title I 1003(g) School Improvement Grants program, we have an unprecedented opportunity to work together to secure the much needed resources to transform Bancroft into a school of choice and opportunity; where excellence and equity for every child is indeed achieved.

We will be actively engaged in applying for these School Improvement Grants over the next couple of months. Each application will demand innovative and thorough planning focused on quickly improving student achievement for every child in Bancroft. Are we planning to turn everything topsy-turvy, displace students and staff, or throw out the baby with the bathwater? NO, but we do know that we must take bold actions to truly transform. The need is urgent, the timeline is short for improvement, and we must not just tinker.

I know how hard many people are working already. You know the saying, “smarter not harder”? We are all going to have to work smarter and harder. There is much to be done. We will be working collaboratively with the CEA on drafting plans or models as we consider our options. Ms. Bock and I have also discussed that once we begin planning in earnest, I will be happy to attend meetings with teachers in your building to keep the lines of communication open.

It is my sincere hope that we will work collaboratively on behalf of our children and their families. Please send questions and comments to Claudia Bock and she will communicate issues to me as they come up.

For every child,

Marcia V. Lyles, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Christina School District
600 N. Lombard Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
302-552-2630

Expect Excellence
Everyday, for Every Child, in Every Class



Warner, watch out, they're coming for you... You can't run and you can't hide.

11 March 2010

Bad Boards, Bad Boards, Whatcha gonna do?

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Big guns, held by reckless hands, already drawn to rob you blind.  Christina is leading the charge.  Pay up, or suffer our wrath -- fewer teachers, bigger class sizes, no textbooks or school supplies!  Extortion is such an ugly word...referendum sounds so much more reasonable.  After all, it's only money;  lots and lots of money.   

All right, I can hear some of you whining right now - you think I'm picking on Christina.  Like I'm oblivious to the antics going on in Colonial.  No sir, I saw it all go down and with certainty, Meney is getting his due.  His board has been searching high and low for a way to dump him for years.  Talk about a mistake.  That $100/hr consulting fee was blood money.  If he wasn't caught red-handed with his hand in the pot, and ratted out to the News Journal, he'd have remained a leach for as long as he could hold on to the cold lifeless student body.

Like the stiff teflon suits over at Colonial, it seems that Christina is also having its own internal battle with Open Meeting Law compliance.  Like shooting fish in a barrel...easy pickins for commentaries.  Blogger, please!  They leave themselves open for criticism with nearly every decision they make.

For starters, they treat their Schneider, their over-paid rookie Stupid-intendent, as an equal and allow her to direct the meetings.  Good god, someone's rolled over and...well, you get the picture.  Talk about Oscar worthy -- Schneider's over-the-top performance during the signing of the MOU "debate" was theatrical gold.  There was posturing, yelling, and even the suggestion of emotional vestment, attempting to over-shadow the life-long financial investment of this monumental death-blow to the district.  Did the board President rebuke her?  Oh, no.  Not only did he sanction her ridiculous and unprofessional behavior, he was at the brink of little-girl tears of joy.  Evidently, she's the wind beneath his wings. 

If she were MY employee, baby would have been kept in the corner and reprimanded accordingly.  She is NOT the voice of the school district.  The schools belong to every tax-payer in Delaware.  We are responsible for electing a board to represent us, not lord over us.  They, in turn, are responsible for hiring a Stupid to mis-manage our hard-earned money, abuse the district's loyal employees, and deprive our school-aged children of a comprehensive education.  Doesn't sound quite right when you think about it, does it?  GOOD!  That's called reading comprehension.  For your edification, it has now been replaced by rote memorization in our schools.        

But I digress...

The only redeeming thing about Christina board meetings now is that they are great place to take fussy "youngsters".  Ten minutes into the pompous proceedings and they're out like a light.   If your kid doesn't fall asleep, the board will expel him.  There are alternative schools that are paid to put up with that crap.  "We are adjudicators here...I mean educators."  Speaking of the elderly Mr. Esquire - quit your day job (and your evening job, while you're at it!).  I can't imagine that you're much of an attorney, based on your blow-hard, preachy exhortations --  "Well, I concur, sir, and I'd like to hear more about our recyclin' project, if the board so deems it appropriate ..."  ZZZZZZZZ (better, and MUCH less addictive, than ambien!)

Last night, there was actually a spark of life on that stage.  Too bad half the audience had walked out and asked for a refund by the time it happened.  Schneider sang the praises of the fifty people (rounded up) who participated in the strategic plan.  A district of 17,000 students and several thousand employees and fifty f-ing people, half of them flying monkeys for the Stupid, actually knew about it.  Obviously strategic, but not much of a plan.  More like stage-one of the great RTTT failing schools give-a-way, tying up loose ends by returning all inner-city high school students to their respective hoods before cutting the schools loose.  A inter-board squabble over whether or not there were actually any focus groups (I guess the honeymoon is over) and then it was finally spoken aloud - the R-word...Referendum.  Then the board covered their heads, anticipating the reaction from the die-hards left in the peanut gallery. 

The blow was tempered with promises of additional public meetings to grease the pig.  Mr. Esquire, in what was either a senior moment or ADHD, starts mumbling about another unrelated meeting, a dispute over blah, blah blah, Title this and Title that, it was a board workshop, there were no posting compliance issues.  WTF?!?  It was pretty hard to follow, but he said they'd be sure they get it right.  For a minute, I forgot he was a sleazy legal weasel who has methodically helped destroyed the district over the last 20 years and felt sorry for the old guy for having a stroke in front of everybody.  I had 9 and 1 already dialed when it started to occur to me that he was just probably just covering his butt for something they screwed up.  The dead give-away of the buried issue was the sudden incongruent continuance of the referendum crap.  Awkward and weird at best. 

What the hell was the old man talking about?  If anyone knows anything about the screw up, I'm game for posting it.  I watched little miss Children and Educators shuffling lots of papers, listened to the Professor start and stop a thought out loud, and C&E comes out swinging, correcting the preacher man, with documentation about an earlier March meeting that was not posted in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.  Scandalous! (possibly)  Regardless, more life than I've seen out of this board in a LONG time.   

Well, I'm tired, I'm old, and I'm hanging up my reporter hat for the night.  This entry was a bit of a departure for me but I thought I'd just share my view of the theater of the bizarre from the cheap seats, so I can get to sleep (on the off chance that I still have a job tomorrow).

08 March 2010

No More Pencils, No More Books...

No more pencils, no more books,

The District’s run by dirty crooks!!!



Get your checkbooks out, folks. A referendum’s in the air (either that or it’s the smell from the mushroom farms in Hockessin).

Ante up, bitches! What’s that…you say you’re unemployed, under-employed, struggling to pay your medical bills, and/or at risk of losing your home? Quit ‘cher whining! We’re raising your school taxes to be commensurate with those in PA and NJ.

That’s right, I’ll say it again. Our taxes will be commensurate with those in PA and NJ. But that’s about as far as it goes. Computers in classrooms? Why would we want to do that? A public education that rivals a private education? I don’t think so! No, we have better plans for your money…like paying an outside company to improve our image within our community.

The world is a cold, cruel place and the sooner your kids learn their role the better. Look on the bright side – PTAs are technically non-profits and have already trained your kids to beg (I mean fundraise). Spare me your Orwellian inspired tears, from now on, office supplies are for District Administration only. If your kids want crayons, pencils, paper and tape then they’ll just have to find a way to earn some. When I was their age, I had a paper route and schools had so many supplies we just threw them out at the end of the year to make room for the truckloads of fresh ones in the fall. Ahhh…those were the days!

But those days are long gone. So, pick a corner, take a lesson in entrepreneurial desperation from Downes Elementary, and let the begging begin!


03 March 2010

You, too, Can Own a Piece of Delaware History!

You Too Can Own A Piece of Delaware History!
Purchase a genuine Red Clay brick and sponsor a Child.

For a limited time only, purchase a genuine red clay brick, direct from the walls of the Maurice J. Moyer Academy, and authenticated by a local unemployed Mason. Your modest donation of $500* will subsidize the education of a public school student in the Red Clay School District.

Child sponsorship allows you to personally connect with a child in need while making a lasting investment in his/her short-term educational future (lets face it, $500 just doesn’t go as far as it used to). Your donation also strengthens your child’s local community, ensuring an extended network of consultative educational support and a relatively safe environment in which your child can thrive while his/her single parent is at one of his/her many jobs.

You will receive a photo and personal profile of the child you are sponsoring, updates on his/her wellbeing, and notes, drawings or correspondence from your child, at least twice a year* (*during standardized testing breaks).

Your one-time sponsorship provides a local child with things like educational-ish photo-copies from a textbook, nourishing Federally subsidized cafeteria food, and essential classroom supplies (may include, but not limited to: chalk, hand sanitizer, reams of copy paper, and new goldfish to replace the floaters).

For only $500, YOU can change the life of a child. But, don’t take my word for it. If you’re not totally satisfied with your child’s educational progress and testing prowess, the commemorative brick can also be used as a communication device, sending a powerful message to local decision-makers that you’ve lost any remaining faith you may have had in our public school system.

*Your $500 donation will be used to offset Delaware's $50 Million education spending deficit.

02 March 2010

Was Christina's Board Taken for a $300,000 Cambridge/Mass Insight Ride?

Kilroy, man, this one's for you:
Did Christina know that they were letting the fox into the hen house?  Is Cambridge evaluating Christina for Turnaround?  Well, let's see, Christina's got three schools on DOE's turnaround list.  hmmmm.  Looks like some board had the wool pulled over their eyes.  Tsk, tsk, tsk...

http://www.massinsight.org/members/membercontent/I_Partnership_Zones_June_2009.pdf
p 71 of 71

For More Information on School Turnaround Strategies


Turnaround is a dramatic and comprehensive intervention in a low-performing school that a) produces significant gains in achievement within two years; and b) readies the school for the longer process of transformation into a high-performing organization. Successful turnaround requires strong partnerships and flexible operating conditions, and is best conducted across small clusters of schools in ways that can lead to whole-district redesign.

Mass InsightEducation & Research Institute •18 Tremont Street, Suite 930 • Boston, MA 02108 • 617-778-1500

This report was created through analysis of higher-performing high-poverty schools and best practices from turnaround initiatives to date.

The report and related documents are the result of a Research & Development process led by Mass Insight and various partners including: Apollo Philanthropy Partners, Cambridge Education, Education Counsel, Holland + Knight, and The Parthenon Group.

The report should be used in conjunction with the Main Report, The Turnaround Challenge: Why America’s best opportunity to dramatically improve student achievement lies in our worst performing schools,and a variety of other resources distributed throughout the spring of 2009.

The report and related Research & Development were generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For more information on The Turnaround Challenge, please visit our website at http://www.massinsight.org/ or contact us at turnaround@massinsight.org.