Thursday, May 13, 2010

What a difference two days makes.....

In a bit of cutting-edge social commentary, I was asked in an anonymous comment about my last entry, purportedly by a Board member relative, whether or not I talk to my family.

Clearly a descendant of Edward R. Murrow.

Of course I talk to my family- sometimes more than once a day.

I do not, however, talk to them about confidential City Council matters.  They don't hear from me about those matters and they don't get to see any e-mails about them.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.

You see, I was elected to the City Council, and my family was not.  They were not put on the City Council to govern and set policy, to occasionally deal with confidential issues involving personnel, potential or actual litigation, or real estate matters.  I was.

There is no legal exception that allows family to know about such things.  It's on a need-to-know basis, and they don't need to know.

This is not a goddamn game, and the School Board is NOT supposed to be a frickin' Circus.

On last Tuesday's City Council Consent Calendar were a couple of items.  One example: Item B "Police Lieutenant Job Classification and Salary Range (pp 6-12)".

Simple, right?  Easy to understand, to know what it covers, and even what questions one might want to ask.

On the Consent Calendar for last Thursday night's School Board meeting:  6. Approve Personnel as Listed.

Sounds like teaching or job assignments, huh?

It was.  A change of Principals at two of the schools.

Wow.  Doesn't that seem like something that should have more explanation on an Agenda or Consent Calendar?  Yes.

Why does it matter?  It matters because people want to know what's going on.  Most Boards and Councils do not duplicate the complete Agenda Packets when they are sending them out ahead of time.  It's reasonable to do it that way, as it saves copying costs.  But it also begs for complete descriptions of the Items listed, because there are no in-depth materials attached.

How would somebody know whether they want to go speak on Principal assignments with that description and no back-up materials?  They would not.

Both bodies need to modify their requirements on people speaking.  Giving one's name and address as a speaker in front of either group is voluntary, by law, and speakers 1) should not be asked to identify themselves, or 2) if asked to do so, must be advised that compliance is voluntary.

Also at Thursday's meeting, Jiley got up to ask questions about an agenda item, and was told by the President that they were not there to answer questions from the public, but just for School Board discussion.

Wow II.  Censorship.  What's next, burning books?  I think Rodney is a teacher, but it can't be in Civics.

Socrates.  Euripides.  Luther.  Goosebumps.  To Kill a Mockingbird.  Huckleberry Finn.

Unbelievable.  It's 2010, but the WJUSD is stuck in an ethical Ice Age.

PS- A very nice FFA dinner the other night, my last daughter going out into the world.  Those of you who did not applaud for George Griffin when he was honored a couple of times should hand the teaching of class to your children off to somebody better equipped to handle the the lessons.      
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 13, 2010 at 5:57 PM

    Lowly is the only word that comes to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mrs. Gina JohnsonMay 14, 2010 at 7:54 PM

    True, "an ethical ice age." Reinhold Niebuhr said, "The self-righteous are guilty of history's greatest cruelties. Most evil is done by good people who do not know they are not good."

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