Well, tonight was interesting. It seems that the superintendent was concerned that there might be a video mob of some sort at the board meeting tonight. I wonder why he would be concerned about that?

There were no less that six district security personnel at the board meeting tonight. And even more disconcerting than that, there were at least five marked Huntsville Police Department cars and one unmarked police car present at the meeting tonight.

During the citizen comments, which I think were nearly cancelled tonight as they were left off the agenda, there were approximately 10 security personnel in the board room.

And that was after all the general public entered the building through a metal detector again.

The only time this level of security was present was during the removal of the Lee High name from the new high school. Then I think there may have been three district personnel and perhaps two or three armed police officers.

Oh, and there was no metal detector that night.

I have heard through the grapevine that security was concerned that there might be a video flash mob of sorts tonight

And of course that would have been just terrible. It’s absolutely terrible when the public pays attention to what elected and appointed officials say and do.

There was at least one person there tonight who did record at least part of the meeting in an open way. This person, and no it wasn’t me, was recording the meeting in the full view of district security and Huntsville Police, and yet she/he was not asked to leave or stop recording.

I chose not to attempt to record the meeting tonight as it was fully broadcast on ETV, and frankly, because I wasn’t interested in spending the night in jail.

However, every time I turned around, there was yet another security personnel walking up toward me.

This despite my standing in the hallway the entire night watching the meeting on the TV monitors in the hallway. (I gave up my chair a few times to various people, and so ended up in the hallway.) It was kinda crowded tonight.

I wonder why the board and superintendent would be so worried about people paying attention to them that they would feel the need to have HPD present for additional security?

I wonder why there were so many of them actually in the board room while I was speaking?

It seems that perhaps I was being singled out tonight despite Mrs. McCaulley’s claims on Sunday night via email that I wasn’t being singled out.

I wonder how she feels now?

I was allowed to speak tonight. I believe that the superintendent and the board were genuinely surprised when I didn’t make the entire three minutes about me. If you’re interested, here’s what I had to say:

In honor of the Rave Cinemas support of the autism community at the beginning of the month with their “Avenge Autism” walk, I considered wearing my Hulk Smash gloves tonight, but then I was concerned that Mr. Blair might be the only person here to get the joke.

So I left them at home.

After all, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was intimidating, disruptive or threatening as I have been called.

For the record, it has never been my intention to intimidate or threaten any one, and I’ve gone to great lengths to avoid disrupting the board meetings in any way. I haven’t even allowed my comments to run over the three-minute limit.

I’m not here to threaten anyone. I’m not here to intimidate anyone, and I appreciate having heard from Mrs. Morrison, Mr. Birney, Mrs. McCaulley, and Mr. Blair that they as individuals have not felt threatened by me. It would be nice if the board could publicly state that, but I’ll take what I can get.

I do not, however, apologize for asking questions and expecting answers.

Education without the free ability to question isn’t education. It’s indoctrination. And I’m sure that we can all agree that is not our goal here.

In that light, here are a few questions:

How is it helpful to students to tell their teachers that they’re being moved to another school while the students wait in the hallway? Teaching while holding back tears doesn’t seem helpful to me.

Why are we still discussing Dr. Wardynski’s bonus while teachers’ step raises are still frozen and starting salaries are still set to the state minimum?

Why are we on a pace to spend 7 million dollars less than the published budget on Special Education, which is exactly the same projected surplus that Mr. Spinelli is predicting for the end of the year? In other words, why are you balancing the budget on the backs of special education students?

Questions aren’t intimidating to people who believe they are doing the right thing.

Thank You.

Not one board member spoke to me tonight, and the superintendent chose not to respond to anything I had to say.

I did get a nod from Mr. Lankford at one point, but no direct communication.

There was a significant amount of intimidation, disruption to normal events, and fairly overt threats tonight (and this week). But it didn’t come from me. It was instead the superintendent through his security team who was attempting to intimidate the public into silence.

The post Intimidating the Public appeared first on Geek Palaver.

Some 2,500 years ago, Socrates stumbled upon a truth that hasn’t changed since: those in power don’t like to be questioned. They prefer a populace that is compliant, polite, and disinterested.

It makes life much easier for them.

This is a truism that remains even today.

Another might be that there are only two reasons why someone might resent and oppose questions about their actions. Those who refuse to take questions either believe that they are incapable of making a mistake, or they believe that they have made a mistake and they don’t want anyone to find out.

Neither approach is safe in a democracy.

First, those persons who believe that they are wiser than everyone else find questions irritating and a waste of time. Since they believe that they have always considered every possible angle of a situation, since they believe that their opinion is absolutely correct, questions only slow down the implementation of their perfect plan.

In the words of Colonel Nathan R. Jessup of A Few Good Men:

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way.

Like the fictional colonel suggests, these persons who don’t like questions would prefer that we simply say, “Thank You” and went on our way.

That’s one motivation for hating questions: Arrogance. Astonishing arrogance that leads to destruction.

Frankly, such people belong in a monarchy or oligarchy. They do not belong in a democracy.

Democracy works because we know that people are flawed and imperfect and that the only pathway to the truth is through dialog because no one of us can hold onto truth on our own.

As Socrates said, a wise man knows that he doesn’t know everything.

It is the fool who believes he does.

But there is another possibility here, another motivating factor for those who dislike being questioned. Those who refuse to answer questions put to them either believe that questions are a waste of time or they believe that the questions will uncover a flaw, an error, a mistake or, frankly, a crime that they hope will remain covered.

People who are convinced that they have done nothing intentionally wrong, invite questions from others to help them understand any unintentional mistakes.

Which leaves us with those who know that they are doing something wrong and are intentionally seeking to cover up their wrong doing.

I really don’t know of any other reason why someone would go out of their way to avoid answering questions about their actions. Do you?

I’ve been asking a lot of unanswered questions of the superintendent and the school board over the past year. The vast majority of those questions have gone unanswered. Of late, I’ve been asking how the district could write checks totaling $28,790.00 with “no documents responsive to request.” He and the board refused to answer any questions about where the $28,790.00 in funds came from.

I’ve asked for a copy of a presentation that Dr. Wardynski made to the Mt. Gap PTA on March 6th concerning the merger of Mt. Gap Elementary and Middle School into one P-8 school. While the superintendent has posted part of the presentation (this portion was posted under the incorrect date of March 13th), he refused to include any data from the First or Second STAR Enterprise testing results with this presentation. This might be understandable if that data were considered too preliminary to be considered reliable, but he has publicly used this data to support the closure of the Seldon Center and he used this data to justify the merger of the two schools.

In short, if the data were reliable enough to justify the closure and merger of schools, then it is reliable enough to share with the public.

And yet he refuses to do so despite numerous requests.

Concerning his hiring of a principal via questionable means intended to circumvent the rules and regulations established in the state for state employees, he refused to “respond to a request for comment.” Instead he writes an editorial claiming that he, and he alone, cares about meeting student needs. In this, he continues to refuse to answer questions about his actions.

He expects us just to say thank you and go on our way.

So, is Dr. Wardynski arrogant? Or is he covering up things that he is embarrassed by?

I’m not sure that his persistent refusal to answer direct questions offers any other option.

However, I know that I don’t know everything. If you, dear reader, can think of another option, please write and let me know.

The post Saying Thank You and Going On Our Way appeared first on Geek Palaver.

Standing silently, making eye contact, and making people feel uncomfortable are now considered threats at Huntsville City Schools Board of Education meetings.

Honestly, I really don’t know why any of you believe what I post here about the school board. Most of the time, if I didn’t see it for myself, I wouldn’t believe it either.

You’d think by that point, I’d be over my ability to be shocked by the board and the superintendent, but the six of them just kept pushing the limits of credulity. They claimed that they knew they were meeting IEPs because they weren’t being sued. They thought paying $1.9 million dollars to recruit unqualified “teachers” to teach when they could instead hire qualified teachers for $1.9 million less was a great idea. They suggested filing a grievance would be the best way to get a response, and then moments later decided that the grievance policy didn’t apply to them.

If I were writing a novel, no one would ever publish it. It’s too ridiculous.

And Thursday night, the ridiculousness continued.

This all started on December 15th. That night, I read my statement, and with about 90 seconds remaining, I stood, silently waiting for an answer from the board for approximately 80 of those seconds. I did not move my hands nor my feet. I stood still, making eye contact with each of the board members as well as the superintendent. When my time clock approached 15 seconds remaining, I said, “Thank you,” and I took my seat.

It seems that standing and waiting about 80 seconds for an answer to a question that I’ve been asking for three months is considered threatening, or so I was informed by Mr. Alfred Lankford, the head of Board Security, in a private discussion Thursday night before the board meeting. Mr. Lankford tapped me on the shoulder as I was sitting waiting for the board meeting to begin, and asked me if he could speak with me in private. As he and I have spoken to each other often at meetings before, I quickly agreed. While looking for a private room to have our conversation, he asked for Mr. Jeff Broadway the other board security officer to join us. Mr. Broadway did not speak during our discussion.

I want to make one thing clear. I like Mr. Lankford and Mr. Broadway. They are both nice guys, and I am fully aware that they have a difficult job. It is not my intention to make their job harder.

Thursday night I was informed by Mr. Lankford that if I wish to speak during the Citizen’s Comments section of the board meeting, I would not be allowed to stand silently waiting for an answer. I would have to speak and then sit down. The consequences of pulling this “stunt” again would mean that I would be banned from all future board meetings.

Mr. Lankford went on to inform me that I had made “everyone” feel uncomfortable and that he considered my actions as a threat. He certainly hoped that I didn’t intend to threaten others.

I asked him if this new rule was being applied to everyone or just to me, and he said everyone. He followed this up by saying, “This was my call as security, so don’t blame Dr. Wardynski.”

I had a difficult time not laughing when he said this to me.

He then told me that if I had questions for the board, I should ask them via email or in a private meeting. I suppose that Mr. Lankford was too busy watching for threats to actually listen to the content of my comments. Sometimes silence speaks much louder than words.

We concluded our meeting with him asking me if I understood the consequences of what would happen if I tried my “stunt” again. I assured him that I did, offered him my hand and left to take my seat to wait for Mr. Blair to read his Citizen’s Comments preamble at the end of the meeting.

Before allowing citizens to speak at the board meetings, Mr. Blair reads the following text:

The Citizen Comments section of the board agenda provides an opportunity for public comment on any item concerning public education and provides for any resident up to three minutes to fully present his or her position on a particular issue. Speakers are required to include their name and address before speaking. A speaker cannot delegate his or her time to another person. Speakers will not be limited unless they become repetitive and no new information is provided. The time clock is displayed in the front board station. We request that no one make any disparaging remarks, comments or statements pertaining to the good name and character of any individual. Finally, please do not expect any board action or response on a request or a comment made under this section. This will allow the board the opportunity to responsibly study, research all expressed concerns, issues or requests.

There were no changes to the preamble from the previous meetings I have attended.

After the meeting, I approached Mr. Lankford for some clarification.

Seeing me, he smiled and jokingly asked why I didn’t speak tonight. I informed him that it had never been my intention to speak tonight, but that I did have something that I needed him to clarify for me.

RW: So, let me make sure that I understand your position.

AL: Okay.

RW: You, and others, believe that a person standing silently is making a threat?

AL: Well, there was a lot of staring as well.

RW: You’re right. The board members were staring at me. I was making eye-contact. But again, you believe that is making a threat?

AL: You made a lot of people in the audience uncomfortable. You can’t do that. I’m not sure that the board even noticed. It’s my job to make sure that people aren’t uncomfortable in the board meetings.

RW: Listen, I want you to know that it was not my intention to threaten anyone. Nor did I intend to make your job more difficult. If I did, I’m sorry.

To those people sitting in the audience on Thursday, December 15th, I would like to offer you my apology as well. It was not my intention to make any of you feel threatened nor to make you uncomfortable. If I have caused your Christmas holidays to be less than a joyous occasion, please let me know so that I may apologize to you personally. My questions, on the other hand, were specifically intended to make the board uncomfortable. It seems that it worked.

Waiting quietly for answers, making eye contact, and generally making people feel uncomfortable are all off limits now. At least for me. I would therefore suggest to Mr. Blair the following changes to his “Preamble” to Citizen’s Comments.

The Citizen Comments section of the board agenda provides an opportunity for public comment on any item concerning public education and provides for any resident up to three minutes to fully present his or her position on a particular issue. It also provides us an opportunity to appear to care about the little people as we pack up to go home. Speakers are required to include their name and address before speaking. A speaker must show the expected reverence due to the board of education when approaching the board. A speaker cannot delegate his or her time to another person. A speaker should approach the board slowly and quietly as the board members are easily threatened. We suggest that speakers keep their heads down at all times as eye contact with your superiors is inappropriate. Speakers will not be limited unless they become repetitive and no new information is provided or unless we’re just sick of hearing from you. The time clock is displayed in the front board station. God help you if you make any disparaging remarks, comments or statements pertaining to the good name and character of any individual. Finally, please do not expect any board action or response on a request or a comment made under this section unless you have sued us. This will allow the board the opportunity to pretend to responsibly study, research all expressed concerns, issues or requests and quietly dismiss them without embarrassment to us or harming our reelection campaigns.

The post You Made People Uncomfortable appeared first on Geek Palaver.

I like to tell my students that my primary job as a philosophy, religion and English teacher is to irritate them. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.

I get to irritate them by making think about things that they would rather not think about. I get to ask questions, and questions are irritating, aren’t they? They force us to stay awake at night thinking of answers that could work. They force us to think. And, as anyone who has vegged out in front of the TV at the end of a long day can attest, thinking is hard, and we would rather avoid it whenever possible.

That’s why asking questions is important: because we’re mostly lazy and prefer to veg.

It’s easier when we know (or think we know) the answers; it allows us to forget about things and relax. But when we’re relaxed, we don’t learn anything. When we’re relaxed, our elected officials do things like give themselves raises while they ignore their jobs.

And so after a week of relaxing at the beach, I’m irritated again. There are just too many unanswered questions with this board and our new superintendent. (Can he still be considered new with all that he’s managed to get the board to unanimously support? I mean in three months, he’s closed one school, proposed combining four schools into two, and hired his friends from Aurora at exorbitant salaries. In short, no one can criticize him for failing to be active.)

Here’s a short list of a few unanswered questions, in no particular order:

• Why is the superintendent, with 11 months experience, making $55,000 above the minimum posted salary?
• Why is the deputy superintendent making $7,000 above the maximum posted salary?
• Why is the new CSFO making $130,000 a year (or $16,000 more than the previous CSFO)?
• Why have all three of the senior members of the central office all come from Aurora, Colorado?
• Why has the board unanimously approved 142 of 147 recommendations, most without discussion? (Only 5 have received any dissenting votes. All 147 recommendations from January through August have been approved.)
• Why is the board discussing bonuses for the Superintendent and senior staff when they have frozen everyone else’s salaries?
• Why are there different policies for hiring administrative staff and teachers where administrators get to name their own salaries, while teachers cannot be hired for more than the state-minimum?
• Why is the special education budget being cut from FY2011 to FY2012 by $7 million making up 61% of the total savings projected in the budget from FY2011 to FY2012?
• Why have 25 special education coordinators/therapists been moved out of the central office?
• Why is the only standard for success used by the board that, “we’re not being sued?”
• Why was the FY2012 budget approved before responding to public questions?
• Why does the superintendent need so many aides?

So there you go. Twelve questions that the superintendent and the board have still not even attempted to answer in the last three months. Note, I have not asked Dr. Wardynski nor the board any questions about decisions that were made before Dr. Wardynski began in July. (People are often suggesting to me that I should just give him time. After all, he’s only been here a few month.) These are the decisions that Dr. Wardynski is responsible for. I am not holding him accountable for decisions that were made before he began. All of these occurred on his watch.

Dr. Wardynski and the board are responsible for these decisions, but they’re not answering these questions.

So, why do I keep asking them? I keep asking these questions because I care about the future of our school system, and if these decisions are any indication, it would seem that the leadership of our school system does not.

If they cared, they would spend money on students rather than the central office. If they cared, they would share the cuts needed to balance the budget rather than increase their own salaries before they even start. If they cared, they would make students a priority rather than an after thought. If they cared, they would set their standards higher than, “we’re not being sued.”

But they don’t.

And so it’s the responsibility of ever member of this community who cares about education and the quality of our schools to continue to ask these questions (and thousands of others like them) every day.

So I’m asking you to take a stand.

If you believe that these are valid and important questions that should be answered, contact your board member and Dr. Wardynski and ask them. If you think that students should be a higher priority, make your school board and central office respond to your questions. If you know of other important questions that I don’t know about, share them. (I’m not the brightest bulb in this town.) Ask your own questions, and share the answers you receive so the rest of us can learn from your experience.

Never, ever stop asking questions.

There maybe will be a board meeting scheduled for tomorrow night (Tuesday, October 11, 2011) at 5:30pm at the Merts Center, 200 White Street, North. This meeting should have has an item on the agenda for public comments at the end of the meeting. (The meeting was announced several weeks ago, but there is currently nothing on the website about the meeting, so it may or may not be happening. The agenda has not yet been published on the web.  The agenda was just published tonight. They are supposed to publish this information 24 hours before the meeting, but they’ve missed that deadline. Once it has been, I’ll share the relevant details here later.)

So what can we do about these unanswered questions?

Come to the meeting and ask questions. Ask them during the meeting. Ask them after the meetings. Ask them via email. Ask them via phone calls. Follow the board and the superintendent around the city, and ask them these questions when they make public appearances. Ask for meetings with your board member and the Superintendent to ask them these questions.

This is the only way that the system will become responsive to and concerned about our students and our community.

I cannot do this alone. They’re used to me, and they’re happy to ignore me and my questions. You and I can hold them accountable if we’re willing to take the time to ask the question every good teacher teaches their kindergartners to ask:

Why?

Join me tomorrow night to irritate our school system’s leadership.

The post Irritating Unanswered Questions appeared first on Geek Palaver.