Here's a blog entry from Kate Fratti. Do you think the Emperor is simply chock full of waste products? Is Farrell a complete coward or just unwilling to be linked with a premature plan? Why is the Emperor backpedaling like a frightened deer? Is it time to replace the Emperor with someone else? Why is the Emperor excluding Reithmeyer and Kemp? (Do I smell fear in the water?) Why does the Emperor fear Reithmeyer and Kemp so much? (More fear! Are they strong with The Force?) What lapdog toadie is the Emperor's handpicked successor to the community minded Ed Frankenfield? These and other questions to be answered on the next episode of "As The Bulldog Turns"
As for a formal proposal? Let's make one and let it sit exposed to public scrutiny. The Emperor is unwilling to let anything he does be exposed to public scrutiny.
This Emperor? He is not clothed at all. He is a feeble mockery of a man.
Not so fast, Fratti
Last week, I met with Morrisville School Board President Bill Hellmann and members Al Radosti and Bill Farrell to understand better what changes they propose for the school district. The status quo, won’t cut it, they say. Morrisville is drowning in the cost of it all.
As I was leaving, the arrival of a representative for Delaware Valley High School was announced. I asked Bill Hellmann why he was meeting with DVH. He declined to comment.
You’ll recall that earlier this year DVH president Dave Shulick a Philadelphia attorney proposed privatizing MV High. Said he could do it for a fraction of the cost and could educate kids right in town. The school is best known for educating at-risk kids, but I was assured the school is accredited and experienced in regular education. Parent reaction to the offer was swift and negative. Prematurely negative, I think. I’d have like to have heard a formal proposal by DVH, but it wasn’t to be.
Intrigued by the meeting at Hellmann’s office now, I blogged about it to you. Looked like the presentation would be made not-so-formally first.
My blog turned up on Savethemorrisvilleschoolblogspot.com and comments from parents were fast and furious. They were ticked off.
That may have led to an email from Bill this morning, copied to all the majority board members, but not to Robin Reitmeyer and Joe Kemp, that he’d only met with DVH to learn more about how alternative schools work indicating that I’d jumped the gun and signaled to parents a worry where there shouldn’t be one. No talk of privatizing, says he.
No one knows if that’s true but Bill and Al Radosti. Farrell didn’t stay for the meeting. We’ll have to take the first two at their word.
More about my meeting with the fellas in my column on Monday.
Posted by Kate Fratti at 1:47 pm | |
Friday, June 13, 2008
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5 comments:
Well, the new regime has been in control for over 6 months now. Long enough, I think, to see what they're all about. Take all the arrogance, rudeness, condescension, failure to listen, insensitivity, lying, secrecy, impropriety, cronyism, and other bad things the previous board, especially ex-President Sandy Gibson, was accused of over 4 years, and multiply it by 100, and it still doesn't begin to approach the levels this board has achieved in a fraction of the time. So, I guess some back-handed congratulations are in order there. Kudos to Robin Reithmeyer for coming to the realization that her running mates are small-minded, toxic incompetents, devoid of reasonable, practical ideas and incapable of balanced thought. I'd be thrilled if some or all of them proved me wrong - or quit.
Oh, I forgot hypocrisy.
Shame on you, jon. That's one of the big sins.
Perhaps the Emperor is deluded into thinking that the ends justify the means. Perhaps he is simply blinded by his own power and the admiration of his followers. However, Mr. Hellmann is not the only one responsible here-
Board members and the public should take a close look at the emperors new clothes, and trust what they see. Where is the integrity of the board members (majority) who are being kept in the loop and still are allowing this process? Absent, it appears. Therefore, each one is as culpable as the Board President.
Perhaps President Hellmann is hoping to act swiftly before he has to face public opposition to his plan. We might speculate that Mr. Hellmann is leaving out Joe Kemp and Robin Reithmeyer as he feels there may be some legal issues. (Robin and Joe have a right to an explanation and should complain to PSBA.)He should know that any legal problems will only be worsened if the board refuses to abide by Sunshine Laws and proper process, and so should those who silently comply! Again, much is taking place outside the public forum. There has still been NO PUBLIC COMMENT - all of our information is coming through reporters.
The public has a right to hear and participate in open debate and dialogue. Parents have a right to know what the future holds for our children, and to be heard. We have the right to be told the truth by our board members. If Mr. President won't do it, any board member who does not want to be caught in the tangle of ethics violations or worse should come clean now.
Listen to those nagging voices telling you something is wrong. You may not like what you see, but face it. The Emperor's New Clothes do not exist.
"Perhaps the Emperor is deluded into thinking that the ends justify the means.
I think this is exactly the issue. I think he TRULY believes he is doing the right thing for this town. Problem is, he is forgetting that the town includes the students. And the parents of the students.
Now I realize the same could be said about the prior board (and perhaps one or two before that), including myself, that we were not listening to the public and were blindly doing what WE thought was right, in our case forgetting about the seniors (which, of course, I disagree). And that is partially true. We were doing what we thought was right for the town, even though there were a few people who were very vocally opposed to the new building project. But the real differences were that [1] there was a real, thought-out, and deliberate plan in place and [2] the board, especially president Sandy Gibson, ALWAYS responded to public comment and gave reasons for and explained their actions.
So now it is our turn to be the vocally opposed. And it's long overdue that we are heard.
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