For those of you that would like to view the complaint filed for statutory damages and injuntive relief here it is - http://tpsinfo.com/documents/ComplaintFinal.pdf
posted by sflagg at 01:09 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Thanks for posting this sflagg. It looks pretty bad when you read it out like that :-(
I hope the national media doesn't pick up on this - I think we look about as bad as we can get as it is right now.
posted by katie82640 at 01:19 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Don't normally see lawyers giving out unsigned copies of a complaint to the media - usually it's a signed and file stamped copy from the court - sensing a little bias here against the 3
p.s. don't have a clue as the case - just my first impression
posted by Toledolaw05 at 03:44 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Toledolaw05 - the copy was an unofficial copy sent to me by email at my request and I shared it as I initiated the complaint. The stamped official copy is being mailed to me and will be scanned in and replace the unofficial copy I posted for informational purposes!
A little bias you say - this crap has been going on a long time - go to TPSINFO.COM and you will se that I documented violations last year and told them if it happened again we would file a compliant. Sykes and Barnett have been warned. Most of us have had it with their conduct!
Read the threads for TPS on this site and you can see why many of us are upset with the behavior of these three.
Try this one - http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/6/2532 and this one http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/19/2556 for a good start.
posted by sflagg at 04:00 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
The reason that I began taking the time to tape the board meetings is because of an extreme example of unacceptable behavior out of the '3' that is harming our cities children.
Following the immediate collateral damage - we are losing families as they opt to move out of Toledo in favor of academic choices that will be good for their children.
Our tax base shrinks, as do city services and incoming business has all but stopped while many of Toledo's major businesses are also choosing to locate in places where their employees will have decent education for their employees.
What's to feel biased about? (sarcasm off)
posted by katie82640 at 04:04 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
OK - in the old days this is what would be referred to as one of those "awwwwwwwwwww CHIT"
situations. BUT - it's also a situation that is way past due in coming to the attention of the citizens.
Steve, Katie, Chris and others - You have my utmost thanks for your involvement, initiative and willingness to make time to keep your collective fingers on the pulse of education in the TPS. My hat is off to you all!
I certainly hope that this suit will make a positive statement as to the importance of involvement in the schools.
posted by DoknowDocare at 06:02 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
isn't it odd that some of the posters here turned so venomous once I started this activity? Makes you wonder if they are on the TPS payroll. Anyway - thank you for the kind words doknow.
It's been a tough week. First a flood. And another odd thing - once it hit DC it was a major event :-) Ah well, so it goes.
Then Monday night the confrontation with Mr. Sykes. Anyone who has any advice how to handle a situation like that - please send it to me. I kept my face calm but my knees started to shake and didn't stop until late, late that night. And I haven't felt well all week.
I don't do physical confrontation well and I'm deeply concerned that he has arranged for the arrest of someone who also challenged the status quo. Maybe I will wind up in jail also?
So be it. I'm all in.
posted by katie82640 at 07:31 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Ok - somebody WILL come to bail me out. ?
Yes?
posted by katie82640 at 07:42 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Katie?
Take a deeeeeep breath and close your eyes.
Warm tropical waters lap at you as you bury your feet in the warm sand. Gulls calling in the distance and the boats offshore accentuate the tranquil moment I hope you'll enjoy.
Next time, look him right in the eye and take a step back.
Firmly let him know you will not be as tolerant should he decide to enter your circle again. Remember, he's a putz, there's no reason to fear him.
After these posts of Larry's childish antics, I'm pretty sure more people are going to be watching his behaviour a tad closer.
posted by BrianInFlorida at 08:44 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Katie - I think that after the next meeting we should all go down to the Distillery and have a beer and a smoke! ;)
On a serious note - do not be intimidated by Larry Sykes. He is obviously powerless, else all his calls while pacing around the meeting room would have rendered him some ammo to use. He hasn't. He's relying on giving you the evil eye and having you crumble. You are stronger than that - I've seen it. ;)
And yes - I will do my best to bail you out. I'm sure that I could take up a collection in a matter of seconds. Not to mention that that would make for some SERIOUSLY bad press for TPS that would have Larry Sykes right in the middle. Headline: "Sykes, TPS Board Member, has concerned parent arrested for demanding transparency" Now that would make me buy a copy of the Blade.
We need to chat. I just had an evil thought cross my mind...
posted by DoknowDocare at 09:12 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Oh goodie!! :-)
I also have consulted the legal eagles. I found out some very surprising information. About the availability of financial reporting etc.
I am thinking someone has a tremendously huge and life altering issue. Let us settle at the Distillery :-) and discuss.
A rather large organization has made a very bad error in judgment :-)
It's been said, "Never get inot bed with a political office. It leaves a paper trail".
Funny, I always thought that meant meandering drunk from someboyd else's hotel room with your skirt tucked up in the back of you panties and toilet paper stuck to your shoe.
Who knew??!!
posted by katie82640 at 09:20 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
katie -- I'm a little lost as to the particulars of the conflict on the board. Can you give an overview of sorts?
As I recall, there were 3 candidates who campaigned this year as "3 for change." Two of those, Robert Torres and Darlene Fisher, won. Darlene Fisher then was elected as the board president. "3 for Change" was unhappy with Sanders and the current board's leadership. As I understand it, Larry Sykes kind of said ... "Fisher, if you think you can do a better job -- you can have the presidency." (But, he has played interference the whole time probably because he is upset that Sanders left to go to Cleveland.)
Steve Steel (who is a part-time UT Education prof and maybe a retired teacher) ran with another education prof, but only Steel was elected. It seemed to me that he was also unhappy with the leadership of the board.
But then, of all things -- Steel, Barnett, Sykes decided to form an alliance (ala CBS Survivor) called "3 for Children."
Can you give me in a nutshell what Darlene Fisher and Robert Torres objections were? And now what are Steel, Sykes, and Barnett's objections to them?
This is all pretty confusing. If I have any of it wrong -- please correct me.
posted by corky at 10:25 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Katie--
If I may borrow a few words from Cher...
"I got you, babe!"
:)
posted by fequalsma73 at 11:27 P.M. EST on Fri Jun 30, 2006 #
Katie, I'm a tough girl, I've got your back sistah. That man doesn't scare me, not even a bit. I've seen him for what he is for a long time now, never mind on TPS, in the business world.
And this can't hurt, my hubby says I have a good mad face
LOL
posted by gotoledogo at 12:11 A.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
I think you guys are GREAT!!!
Corky - it's a short story for me. Moved to Toledo in '01. Had some serious issues when I put my two children in the schools. I could not for the life of me get it worked out. Skip ahead, skip ahead they're in a private school.
The election - yes the three for change. Darlene Fisher, Robert Torres and the third Chris Meyers. Only two were elected and the third new member was Steel.
Obviously Dr. Sanders didn't want to stick around with new board members but he had been looking for a job anyway so he announced his resignation after the election.
Mr. Sykes has been the board president and Mrs. Barnett has been on the board for some time. During the time that Sanders, Sykes and Barnett were making decisions TPS lost something like 7,000 students (out of 34,000? somebody correct that if it is wrong) in just over 6 years. The district had a budget deficit of over 19 MILLION dollars and there was talk of closing schools.
I attended a board meeting to try to figure out what was happening with our district. Mrs. Fisher had been elected the president and left with the job of announcing the budget deficit, school closings and some very serious staff cuts. I think these are serious matters and I went to the meeting to see what the plan to address these matters was to be.
The three (Sykes, Barnett and Steel) had no intention of discussing anything about improving the situation. They move big contracts for large expendatures and exit packages apparently. I have recently heard one of them discuss curriculum. But other than that - in my opinion, the students and the quality of their education is not even so much as an afterthought for those three. Which is disgusting to me.
At the meeting I attended Mrs. Fisher was trying to read the summary of a resolution when Mr. Sykes interrupted her and hijacked the meeting. His language and body attitude were nasty, intimidating and exceedingly unprofessional. Mrs. Barnett and Mr. Steel joined in and it looked like a witch hunt to me.
I was shocked to say the least. I haven't seen 'professionals' act that way. Ever, anywhere. Mrs. Fisher sat there and took it. She didn't fight back and tried to bring the meeting back to order and tried, unsuccessfully many times to get to the agenda. They wouldn't allow it.
It was obvious from their conduct they were furious about a press conference she had held the prior week. It made no sense to me that they were angry about this - unless they think it's unacceptable to keep your campaign promises. Mrs. Fisher stated during the campaign that it was important for the board to communicate with the public. And that's what she did and very professionally.
Anyway - the meeting was hijacked and then Dr. Sanders exit package came up for a vote. Which I feel was unconscionable. You do not give a bonus of any sort to an employee who had a contract not to seek other employment and had done so and then quit. You do not give a bonus of any kind to an employee who has failed abysmally to perform to any acceptable standard and then quit. The whole thing boggled my mind.
But after that meeting went so badly, I started thinking. What would be the one thing that could bring the three (Steel had publicly aligned himself against the two new board members by this time) to a more professional level of conduct and address school system issues rather than payola?
Exposure. If the public could see the meetings, which are held at times that most of the tax payers cannot possibly attend, then it might bring a level of transparency that would, if nothing else - shame them into behaving.
It seems to have worked to some level. And we've had an awful lot of downloads of the meetings. And people are watching them. Watching enough that yesterday someone called me to ask if what they thought they saw in one of last weeks meetings was true. Did Mr. Sykes flip me off, on camera? It appears the answer is yes.
Monday night he approached me with what I feel was a threat. He told me that the district has a no camera policy and if I tried to tape the meetings he would have me 'physically' removed. And his manner was very menacing I can tell you.
But anyway - that's the history from my perspective.
The biggest thing I cannot figure out right now, is WHY in the world, if we have such a dwindling enrollment and a budget deficit that we are closing schools are they going ahead with the enormous expendature of building new schools. Schools they are projecting won't have enough students to be used? Just doesn't make sense. But part of me is very suspicious since two of them work for large banks.
Additionally in attending the meetings and then reading about them in the paper (the Blade) I find that until recently the two things were largely unrelated. I read the write up of the first meeting I attended and contacted the reporter to see if he'd BEEN at the same meeting. He was and it made no sense at all.
Now today - in the Blade again, Dr. Sanders blames Mrs. Fisher for the employees leaving the district to GO WITH Dr. Sanders.
They think we're pretty stupid folks. No - that's wrong - they think we are COMPLETELY stupid and will accept anything that they do.
Dr. Sanders enticed employees that he has been working with to go to Cleveland. Let's see, these would be the administration guys and gals that provided the support while our school districts budget went into the red, almost one fourth of our students left and hundreds of teachers lost their jobs.
So, why would this be a bad thing? Take the whole failed adminstration with you.
But do you accept that this is Mrs. Fisher's fault? I think we ought to buy her an ice cream cone personally.
posted by katie82640 at 10:19 A.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Wow!
I remember feeling suspicious when I read last year that the board prohibited certain members of the community from speaking at the board meetings. I know someone explained that it wasn't, but it sure did seem like a violation of their right to freedom of speech.
I'm scratching my head still over why Steel allied himself with Sykes and Barnett? He's an educator; he's an educator of educators?
His wife is an educator too.
A couple of other questions: What does Larry Sykes do for a living? And Robert Torres? And Darlene Fisher? I think that Deborah Barnett is somehow connected to banking isn't she?
If it were me, I'd freeze frame the shot in which Larry Sykes flipped you off and publicize it (you have a website don't you?)as much as possible.
Maybe with the headline .... "What Larry Sykes really thinks of community involvement in Toledo Public Schools."
Re: the no camera policy -- BS. That would really preclude all the news stations from televising their reports about the schools.
Stay strong Katie.
posted by corky at 10:41 A.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Thanks corky - I think I will look for that shot. Who would imagine that you'd find that kind of school yard behavior in this situation? Can't you just hear it? "I was scratching my ear" or some such thing. I inquired with my law firm when I was still thinking about recording. You're right - I have every legal right to attend and to record. Whether Mr. Sykes has a legal right to intimidate and harass people attending is a question that's still out. I am thinking no but want my legal counsel to answer on that. I have a call in.
I don't think Mr. Sykes should be permitted to approach people attending the open meetings and threaten and intimidate them. One woman at their TALC press conference pushed Mr. Sykes finger out of his face during a witnessed tirade and she had every right to do so - wouldn't you think? And yet there is a warrant out for her arrest. I felt lousy all week - and it was completely unnecessary. And I think he should be held accountable for it. And if it is possible to hold him accountable for his horrid behavior - I promise that I will.
Intersting note you bring up about the employment situation. I don't have a good grasp on this but Mrs. Fisher works because the board used to meet at 7:00 and now they've made a resolution to push the meetings up to 5:30. And Mrs. Fisher said that it presented a problem on her job. It'll also make it difficult for employed spectators to attend. I know that Mr. Sykes works for 5/3 bank and Mrs. Barnett works for the Huntington Bank. She was so uninterested in the goings on Tues night that on the last vote she said yes and Mr. Fortlage leaned over and said don't you mean abstain? Abstain? It took a few seconds for her to even realize what he was saying. As to Steel, the only reason to align himself with the others is that he has to be more interested in the school systems budget potential instead of education issues. That's there painfully obvious dividing line between the groups. One keeps trying to problem solve and the three acting like children only want to attend to financial decisions. And these building contracts? Oh my - we're talking millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars. Mr. Burns spoke last Tuesday of having to stop buying textbooks last year. And that this was 'shameful'.
But they sure did assign a bunch of construction contracts. That gone done. Yessiree - they didn't buy books but they bought plenty of other things. They didn't balance the budget but they made HUGE contracts for the new buildings they think we'll need to house less students after they close the buildings we already can't fill. Crazy talk, isn't it?
So - as to motivation - if these two (Barnett and Sykes) show no apparent interest in the kids education and move a great deal of contract decisions etc - what WOULD their motivation for being on the school board be?
That's my next project. :-)
Any help, advice or input would be greatly appreciated. Something ain't right there.
posted by katie82640 at 12:10 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Hate to ask this question, but do you think that they have a financial incentive to push these construction contracts through?
Meaning --"alleged" pay to play in school system politics like Senator Marc Dann alleged in his lawsuit a while back.
Elected officials push the contracts through and those firms donate to their campaigns which ensures their re-election? Financial incest -- yuck.
posted by corky at 12:41 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
..and which financial institutions are "funding" these "contracts".
posted by BrianInFlorida at 01:01 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Yikes Brian! I hadn't even considered that possibly Huntington and 5/3 could be funding the very contracts that Sykes and Barnett are voting on . . .
Katie, what do you know about the financial institutions that are funding these? AND have either of these institutions contributed to any of the re-election campaigns.
posted by corky at 01:05 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Check out the plain dealer at www.clevland.com ceo presents his team with hefty pay increases how can these people live with them selfs?
posted by BigMoe at 01:46 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Any takers on running for school board?
posted by purnhrt at 02:00 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
It is difficult to compete as a working person with a bank VP who comes and goes as he pleases, to attend organization meetings. Fisher must be running into this intrinsic unfairness.
If I counted the number of times I have seen Larry Sykes' office, compared to the number of times I SEE him IN that office (or even on the same floor), I'd have a very large number indeed. {cough}token{cough}
P.S. Good luck, Mr Flagg. I'm pleased to see that an actual public action has been taken against the fops who have operated in every assurance that the public was alseep and unwakeable.
P.P.S. Kate, dress quite a bit more provocatively, the next time you do your taping. You WANT people looking at you. 'Nuff said.
posted by GuestZero at 02:16 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
-katie-I am PROUD of you!!! Stand your ground and YES -DoKnowDoCare- BEER sounds really good, but NO cigarette for me...I am STILL off the cigarettes...September will be ONE YEAR!!! Back to TOPIC, I have been drifting lately... With that said...I did NOT use TPS for my daughter nor does my grandson attend TPS...
I used for my daughter and my daughter uses now for my grandson the Catholic School System...
posted by MARIELORA at 03:27 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Hate to ask this question, but do you think that they have a financial incentive to push these construction contracts through? Corky
That was my question too. I have never been a believer in coincidence. And this would have to a huge one. At first I thought no way - but then given their lack of interest in academic matters and the kids - why else would they be there?
bigmoe - I got redirected when I clicked that link can you repost?
GZ. I like your cough. Will rethink the wardrobe deal :-)
Marie thanks. I actually went and picked up a copy of an arrest and complaint that Mr. Sykes filed against another woman. Because she had the nerve to put her purse between his pointed finger and her face. I think things have gone far enough. Enough is enough.
I just think today that I feel so very sorry for this man's wife. And his employer. Does anyone think that 5/3 could have any idea that this community liason is behaving like this? WTH.
posted by katie82640 at 04:02 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
bigmoe left out an "e", it's www.cleveland.com
posted by gotoledogo at 04:17 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
how in the world can there be an arrest warrant for that particular reaction to a clearly aggressive action made by Sykes? For all that woman knew, he could have been getting ready to whack her upside the head. I'm thinking that if someone put their finger in my face, my IMMEDIATE reaction would be to defend myself- to grab that finger and twist.
I'm thinking how the other weekend they wouldn't arrest the psycho lady for her public menacing (and scratching my husband), yet they would put an arrest warrant out for putting a purse up to deflect an aggressive action?
You're right Katie. WTH.
posted by gotoledogo at 04:21 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
And then there's today's article about Darlene Fisher being the reason all of these people jumped ship & went with Sanders?? Really? Anyone want to bet the farm that they are getting FAT pay raises for going with Sanders??
Are we going to start blaming Darlene for everything? If our fireworks are rained out tonight I expect a front page article about how Darlene Fisher affected the jet stream.
THAT is how ridiculous that article was today. Anyone see the sneer on his face in the picture in the article?
posted by gotoledogo at 04:23 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
AWK!! Thanks for the link! Goto I'm taking you to buy a lotto ticket.
From the Cleveland story:
1. Hefty pay increases are coming for the recruits from Toledo
2. Chief Academic Officer Craig Cotner, Chief of Operations Daniel Burns and Chief Financial Officer James Fortlage all will have salaries of $174,000.
3. This past year, Cotner earned $115,733, Burns $106,902 and Fortlage $129,332.
4. Much of Toledo's academic success, Sanders said, was a direct result of Cotner's creative vision
Academic success? We have 6 of 24 markers and then dropped to 4 of 24. I believe we will be in academic emergency again soon - here - look for yourself at Toledo's 'Academic Success'.
'06 preliminary results are IN.
Ohio Graduation test here (once again about 40% of the kids tested are 'proficient'- is this an academic success?):
http://webapp1.ode.state.oh.us/proficiency_reports/ogt/csvtoasp.asp?filename=March_2006_OGT_Public.csv&county=lucas
posted by katie82640 at 04:56 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
who scratched your hubbie goto? And yes, that'd be my first response too - grab, twist - maybe kick?
posted by katie82640 at 05:01 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
So now we have the REAL story. Thank you Plain Dealer for reporting the TRUTH about why mgmt. is leaving TPS.
Tomorrow I expect a story on the front page of the Blade detailing how outlandish it was for Sykes to say that Fisher was the reason that people left TPS for Cleveland. YOU HEAR ME BLOCK?????
How RIDICULOUS that story was today.
In a related matter, I have heard that Harvard Elementary has received an EXCELLENT rating for yet another year!!!!!!!!! I hope it's true, and I can't wait for the official results!
p.s. the lunatic across the street scratched my DH, Katie. He was creating static between her & her neighbor and she's just a whackjob. Now we just hustle by and try not to make eye contact. Hopefully they get thrown out sooner than later.
posted by gotoledogo at 05:08 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
To be fair you can't compare TPS to the smaller schools in the suburbs. According to the ODE - Toledo is similar in comparison to Akron, Dayton and Cinci.
Toledo scores All Five 1822 students tested 40.6% at Prof or Above
Akron scores for All Five 1769 students tested 51% at Prof or Above
Dayton scores All Five 1061 students tested 29.9% at Prof or Above
Cinci scores All Five 2115 students tested 52% at Prof or Above
So, Toledo is better than Dayton but not Cinci or Akron as far as a more equal comparison. Akron is the closest to Toledo in comparison for most of the Stats the ODE uses.
As an additional comparison:
Cleveland scores All Five 3350 students tested 23.9% at Prof or Above
Columbus scores All Five 3359 students tested 35.1% at Prof or Above
posted by psyche777 at 06:23 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
But residents/parents living in northwest Ohio are not comparing TPS with the other large cities. They are comparing TPS with area private schools, charter schools, and the districts in the surrounding communities. So it is indeed fair to compare TPS with other local districts because that's reality, and that's what parents around here are doing.
The biggest load of shit from TPS is when they proclaim how TPS is the best of all the big city school districts when TPS only met 4 out of 23 standards on the last report card. 4/23 and that's suppose to be cheered. That doesn't show how good TPS is. That shows how wretched the public shools sytems are in the big cities, and why those districts need overhauled in some massive way.
And an overhaul is exactly what is happening now with TPS. From today's Blade story:
"Former Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Eugene Sanders yesterday blamed the exodus of key district administrators on Darlene Fisher, president of the Toledo Board of Education."
That's great news. I'm glad I voted for Fisher. This is what the kids in TPS need. 4/23? The people in charge with that failing grade need to be gone.
This mass exodus of allegedly key administrators is some of the best news TPS has had in a long time. This makes me want to support a levy.
As we know from that recent story, Toledo was one of the biggest losers in the country in 2005 population-wise. Toledo's high taxes and so-so economy get some of the blame, but so do poor public shools.
Every year more parents are pulling their kids out of TPS and enrolling them into charters. That's also an exodus. These "key" adminstrators are the blame for all of this, including Sanders and the Three Acting Like Children board members.
TPS should be meeting at least 60% of the standards. Anything less than 60% is unacceptbale, no matter how incompetent people like Sanders and Sykes and their apologists explain it.
For the 2004-2005 school year, meeting at least 60% would be scoring 14 out of 23. That's decent. That would slow the tide of kids being put into charters. That would slow parents from moving to the burbs for better schools. Granted, 14 out of 23 is not as good at Maumee, Sylvania, and many others, but it certainly would give parents a feeling that TPS would be good enough.
14 out of 23 would also go a long way in encouraging parents in the burbs to move from their housing divisions in the corn and soybean fields and take up residence in one of Toledo's fine old neighborhoods with trees.
And 14 out of 23 would not just put TPS in the spotlight in Ohio, but problably would give TPS national recognition. And that kind of recognition could attract business.
Bragging about how 4/23 is the best of all the big city districts in Ohio is a huge embarrassment to Ohio and the taxpayers. The taxpayers should demand and get much better.
And comparing TPS to the other big cities only lowers the bar for Toledo. It gaurantees TPS failure.
Info from last August's report card:
Ranking of all area schools based upon the standards met
Archbold-Area - 23
Anthony Wayne - 22
Maumee - 22
Ottawa Hills - 22
Perrysburg Exempted Village - 22
Sylvania - 21
Pettisville - 20
Genoa Area - 19
Northwood - 19
Oregon - 19
Benton Carroll Salem - 18
Bowling Green - 17
Danbury - 17
Springfield - 17
Wauseon - 17
Evergreen - 16
Lake - 16
Pike-Delta-York - 16
Eastwood - 15
Otsego - 15
[14 - where TPS should be, at the least]
Gorham Fayette - 13
Rossford - 13
Washington Local Schools - 13
North Baltimore - 12
Port Clinton - 12
Swanton - 12
Elmwood - 10
Toledo - 4
Put-In-Bay - 3
posted by jr at 08:59 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
Oh jr, that's awful. I didn't really get a grasp from the stats I visited. Am now disheartened. Can we not do better for the kids? And do the powers that be realize these are kids and their futures we are measuring?
psyche - Columbus/Cleveland - THAT IS HORRIBLE! Can anybody find out how neighboring states are doing? Is this happening all over the country? I thought we were doing very badly, but c'mon!!!!
What's going to happen to Ohio's children? Can they go on to college with a failure rate like this? I sent my daughter to a private school and she said she had a terrible time playing 'catch up' with the other kids.
Let's find out if this is a national issue - or is this a problem specific to Ohio?
posted by katie82640 at 10:40 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
and goto? You should not have to avoid a nut job on your street. Do you have a legal policy? I do not work for them, but I am a big advocate of Prepaid Legal policies. I have had one for years. I've accumlated hundreds and hundreds of courtroom hours with the BIGGEST law firm in Ohio.
It's 24.00 a month. No contract, I think it's prepaidlegal.com? Google for it. I have used this thing like you can't believe. It's worth alot more than my health insurance so far. A LOT more. I'd advocate everybody get one. Then you have the biggest law firm in the state on retainer :-) Means if somebody messes with you? They have a big, BIG problem.
posted by katie82640 at 10:48 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 01, 2006 #
does anyone know how we can find out who were the contributors to these election campaigns?
Is there a website?
posted by corky at 01:46 P.M. EST on Sun Jul 02, 2006 #
Corky - contributions to local candidates are available at the Board of Elections Office. When not campaigning, you must file a report in July and January (for the previous periods ending June and December, respectively). The June filing was new last year.
In an election year, the filing dates are based upon the primary and election date...so many days before/after the election.
The BOE will be able to let you view the filings if you just ask for all the campaign finance reports for x person for the last x number of years.
posted by MaggieThurber at 02:39 P.M. EST on Sun Jul 02, 2006 #
corky you're onto something aintcha'?
Thanks Maggie!
posted by katie82640 at 03:33 P.M. EST on Sun Jul 02, 2006 #
mmm very interesting!
posted by gotoledogo at 05:19 P.M. EST on Sun Jul 02, 2006 #
Hey, I've looked at the campaign finance reports for all the candidates and for the Committee for Schools (TPS levy PAC) and there are some interesting connections. I've done a comparison of who does business and how much with TPS and their contributions to the levy campaigns. Again, some interesting revelations. I need to get data for the last levy and then I can post the results.
If anyone is interested, we did an analysis of last year's report card for TPS dated 8/22/2005 - you can find it here - http://tpsinfo.com/documents/TPS_analysis_2004-05_Report_Card.pdf
We will of course do one when the report cards come out in mid August. We have done an analysis of the report card results now for the last 5 years. The only thing that got TPS out of academic emergency was when they added the AYP goal about 3 years ago. It was done to meet NO Child Left Behind guidelines and to reward Urban districts that could show reasonable growth over previous scores - but it was limited to just a handfull of indicators. Read the report to find out more about AYP, PI and Continuous Improvement.
posted by sflagg at 02:18 P.M. EST on Tue Jul 04, 2006 #
You know, when Steel was running for the board, he came to our house, and pitched us this great vision he had for change on that board that needed an overhaul, it was "time for a change" I believe he told us.
I am still trying to figure out why in the world he would have gone back on everything he was pitching and create an alliance with these people that have clearly spent too much time being comfortable doing nothing.
And, I have to mention, do you have any idea how long it took me to figure out what TALC stood for?? Finally clicked! (GTG is a little slow on the uptake)
posted by gotoledogo at 06:07 P.M. EST on Tue Jul 04, 2006 #
:-) Sorry - (I thought it was jr) it was coined right after that press conference.
I can't imagine what motivated Steel's change of focus either. But 1: it would be hard for him to run on a platform OTHER than change - so maybe it was just political positioning?
2: He really came out of the chute when Sanders exit package was on the table. Was a feeding frenzy. Course that's the meeting that went so badly and I decided a little exposure wouldn't hurt :-)
posted by katie82640 at 07:12 P.M. EST on Tue Jul 04, 2006 #
GTG, maybe TALC is not the right name for them. Maybe they should be called 3 with Conflicts. Three of the current TPS board members have household income directly affected by the district; two of the members do not. Maybe when you look at who is actually pushing for reform, look at who has a personal financial stake in the district and who does not. That may explain why someone would say they wanted change but then stick with the status quo.
posted by chrismyers at 10:08 P.M. EST on Tue Jul 04, 2006 #
uh - what the heck? Chris tell me more?
I've been looking for a reason that makes sense....
posted by katie82640 at 10:49 P.M. EST on Tue Jul 04, 2006 #
Sykes' primary income is derived from 5/3 Bank, which does business with the district. Barnett works for Huntington, which does business with the district. Both of their positions are community positions, which the goal is to bring business to the bank. Steve Steel's wife is a teacher in the district. So each of them have their primary household income derived from the district or business with it. Robert Torres and Darlene Fisher get their income from other sources, which at times can be liberating. But when you have people who do profit from the district, they are more interested maintaining the status quo than tackling the changes because it may hurt them financially.
So, maybe they should be called 3 with Conflicts of Interest than anything else, because this may explain a lot more about what is going on with their decisions.
posted by chrismyers at 06:46 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 08, 2006 #
I have been looking very hard for an explanation why the behavior and - well all of it.
How can you justify in your mind seeing board members who are facing school closings at the very same time that they are putting their signature on millions and millions and MILLIONS of dollars in new school construction contracts?
Does anybody else hear this just scream 'WTH? Something is so very awfully wrong?'
If that is the case, then it would at least explain some of what I am seeing. Mr. Burns talked about not being able to buy textbooks in the 04-05 year. NO BOOKS!!!!! Yet - even with the dwindling enrollment,,,the big building stuff goes forward.
It makes no sense to me. And I am not going to go away until there is an answer.
You can take that bad boy to the bank.
posted by katie82640 at 07:33 P.M. EST on Sat Jul 08, 2006 #
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