I had a nice call Friday night from a friend asking me if I’d seen this week’s Enterprise? He said: “John Paradise has finally acknowledged that the Community School finances are a mess and that the pool is a drain on school resources.” “You and Bob [Simmons] must be pleased and feel a bit vindicated.”
It was a pleasant conversation, and I enjoy my friends wit and observations, but the editorial doesn’t please me at all - the schools’ budget problems remain unsolved, there are hard choices not being discussed, there’s no long-term strategy, no vision and the School Committee Chair and Vice Chair refuse to engage in real discourse about the District and its future.
Most recently both ladies told the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen, at a tri-board meeting, that they simply chose not to prepare remarks, inputs or comments for that critical finance and planning session. It’s odd and disappointing.
Parents, taxpayers, School Committee members, Finance Committee members and the Board of Selectmen have all, for months, asked the School Committee Chair and Vice Chair the same question: “what’s the plan?” and received nothing but stony silence. It would be nice if Mr. Paradise and his staff lent their voice and pen(s) to this questioning chorus too.
Bob Simmons and I have been called lots of things: arrogant, egotistical, and bullies to name but a few. And, the Enterprise and its staff have participated in the name calling.
While its nice to have Mr. Paradise add “Correct” to that long list of labels his paper attached to Bob and I, it would be more gratifying and rewarding personally if the Enterprise (and John) continued to ask the questions and champion the change that Bob and I worked so hard to try to bring to a school system and governance process in need of dramatic improvement.
16 comments:
I actually am holding out for John to add "handsome and charming" to my list of adjectives!! (Given his apparently warped perspective -- maybe I should also hold out for "svelte" !)
Seriously, the only good I can see coming out of this fiasco is the possibility that some taxpayer with a professional and/or financial background agrees to step up and take a turn on the school committee.
The vision of a $30 million budget (and my kids' education) being managed by drop-outs from the Barnum and Bailey Clown College is disturbing.
It's interesting that after several months, the Emptyprize finally decides to cover the story -- but doesn't talk to any of the people who smelled a rat three years ago and began pushing for the audit --- despite the fact that those same people later had to fight to prevent the results from being buried !!
Good post!
I watched the BOS this week --Shari looked like she had been kidnapped from Stop & Shop and dropped off at the meeting -- she seemed to have no idea where she was--- or what she was doing.
Jess delivered a pointless and pathetic little speech -- I even replayed twice and have no idea what the hell she was talking about. She might as well have stayed home and watched Entertainment Tonight. The Union must be really proud !!
Laura Carlisle SEA Teachers Union President, must have the biggest cheshire smile on her devious face. Union loves all this incompetance they have been directing these s.c. members like putty, they have regained total control of the school system. Sherry's believes she has her power and control back but she has no clue the union is back to running the schools which equals gettin "nuttin" done for our children. Nice job apathetic voters!
At what point do we have to get before Sherry and Jess step down or are forced out?
What in the name of God was linehan babbling about? Nobody knew how to react to her stupidity .... they seemed to just pretend she was just clearing her throat. Hubby needs to feed her better material.... I never knew how out of she really is.
Too bad kangas knew enough to shut up ....she's like watching a second grade science experiment!
I guess the town employees should send thank you notes to carlisle. She manage to get town budget increased and school budget decreased. Yay team!! So much for "for the children ..." !!
The problems in our schools and town financies started a long time ago. Rapid growth, over-suburban developement when the town infrastructure wasn't ready for it, change of government to volunteer Selectmen with a Town Manager rather than working Selectman involved in the day to day operations, education funding reform, State budgeting principals or lack there of that does not consistently hold harmless local aide, etc, etc, etc, has lead to what I often consider still governing by the seat of our pants. We need to change a lot to create the government the good people of Sandwich deserve and we involved should aspire to.
Unions are part of it, business as usual is part of it, traditions versus good practice is part of it. Egos are part of it. Fighting the good fight means staying in it and trying to effect positive change. That's hard to do when people with the skills are people with limitied time. It is frustrating.
Just a reminder, it was only 8 years ago when the true picture about the schools started to come out because of talented folks on the school committee doing their homework. To a degree we have not stepped back from that, there is still more work to be done. Hope the SC raises to the occassion but sometimes it only takes one to pave the way. Both the School and the Municipal government need to make hard choices in order to use our resources apporpriately and effectively.
Linell is a participant, leader and fighter and I appreciate her willingness to engage and push forward. However, her own words highlight just how broken our government and our expectations of government and our schools have become. She writes: “remember, it was just 8 years ago when….”
Her words seem to suggest that parents and taxpayers should be [somewhat] pleased with the current state and patient with the pace of change. That sentiment is, for me, like nails on a chalk board and represents exactly what’s wrong with our town boards and committees.
But, its always been done this way seems to be our town governments’ motto.
And, resisting change is our town governments’ passion.
So now, taxpayers who expect and demand results and change and improvement see none. Their only recourse is to turn off the spending; and so we see overrides and debt exclusions fail. And they’ll continue to fail.
Its true I guess, that you cant fight city hall but that doesn’t mean that you have to continue to pay for the nonsense. Without real reform taxpayers have little choice but to continue to oppose every spending plan and project, deny every debt exclusion and fight any and all local tax increase schemes.
The new silent majorities whispered battle cry: NO TAX REVENUE WITHOUT REAL REFORM.
The Truth Maker would add that given the long term illegal process conducted by the Sandwich Community School for much more then the audit showed, did not help as well in defining our educational needs for our children here in Sandwich. Long time incremental money, diverted from the educational side of the school budget to keep the Community School from showing the actual loss it was occurring, especially in the past 10 years, is troubling to fathom.
One only needs to ask, how did we as taxpayers get stuck in this illegal process? Where are those that placed us in that process today? The present Led union School committee members should give the taxpayers the answers, as at least one was involved in this coverup for a
long time.
The educational tools like uptodated books,lab equipement,professonal developement were all comprimised because of this illegal process and all we get see is a snap shot of the real total number it cost the school district.
Einsteins theory: You keep repeating things exactly the way you always have done and expecting a different outcome, IS INSANITY!
Sherry Marshall most famous line is "But this is the way we have always done it"
18 years as a resident in Sandwich, absolutely nothing has changed! BOS's and Town Manager have failed in creating any commerical base, EDC, Golden Triangle, long range plans, blah blah blah Buying properties, but then not generating a profit from those properties. Stop blah blah blahin and get something concrete accomplished!
I question Mrs. grundman's comment about anything coming to light 8 years ago --- The only changes I have seen from the school committee happened in the last 2-3 years.
mrs grundman's husband made an effor to implement changes -- but he saw the light and quit early before makeing any lasting impression. As a result, shari has stayed and been pretty much unopposed.
Part of the fun of owning the "Delete" button is being able to apply the brakes to conversations which go in circles -- or make "over the edge" comments -- which are common with anonymous posts.
I deleted a group of posts today from several people which fall into that category.
I don't think there was "fraud" or "grand larceny" at the Community School -- I think there was unprofessional, inexperienced, amateur management for many, many years.
I also think similarly about many of the past School Committees who didn't want to stick their neck out and risk "offending" people.
I don't care what year the SC started sucking more, or what year they started sucking less, -- or for how long they sucked less before they started sucking more!
Call my cynical, but I also have never seen an upswell of parental support for anything other than their own self-interests. The vast majority of parents are far too absorbed in their own lives to take the time to meddle in local government. The last override passed only because everybody fought for their own self-interests --- not the "overall good" of anything!
My solution? I honestly haven't got one! Our only hope is to be able to attract enough qualified, honest people willing to put up with incredible amounts of bullshit from way too many folks who don't do their homework!
OK Bob I hear your anger. 8 years was a point of reference. I disagree about parents. I think they can be motivated to get involved. But I don't disagree with you that we need talented people. You may want to consider taking down the blog though. I doubt it will help with that quest.
Eventually the answer is going to be a lot more 'For Sale' signs in the town of Sandwich as people start finding better communities and school districts for ourselves. I hear Harwich and Chatham are looking good...
Simmons may be abrasive, but he's right -- the override passed because the library people wanted their library, the football people wanted to keep sports funded (the hell with math!), and the music parents wanted to keep their program.
At the last election, crossman got in because the pool people wanted to continue to force other people for their swimming, kangas got in because she appeared to have a rabid hatred for the Supt who had worked with Guerin & Barton to implement reform in the Community School and on teacher contracts.
At the prior election, linehan got in because the union needed a mouthpiece and wasn't getting any help from the other members -- Palin (cant remember her real name) got elected because she wasn't guerin.
Nobody votes for the "big picture".
And let's be honest, out of the whopping 16% of the town that voted, I would wager that at least 60@ represented the teacher's union. The union made a huge push for both Crossman and Kangas.
Well at least we can breath easy knowing that they search committee for the new super. is going to have SEA membership! That's fabulous -- how do you get to hire and fire your own boss. Aren't unions great?
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