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plato
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I just heard a rumor from the spouse of a school teacher in Flint that Milton has resigned.
4:30
09/27/06
Terry Bankert |
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Wed Sep 27, 2006 3:31 pm |
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Biggie9
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
plato schreef:
I just heard a rumor from the spouse of a school teacher in Flint that Milton has resigned.
4:30
09/27/06
Terry Bankert
Anything more on this? COnfirmed? Proven false?
Guess he didn't know his buddy as well as he might of thought, but who really knows the private lives of their workmates.
Still it should serve the school board an important lesson. THEY are responsible for protecting the integrity of the school district and the safety of the children. They have shown a fawning kow-towing propensity to give the Super. whatever he asks for, without proper oversight. They need to execute their responsibility they were elected for; trust but verify before acting. If they continue to attach their wagon to Milton's star, without any credible review, they run the risk of this man singly damaging the district and taking them down with him.
Milton got his way in forcing the Board to act before the process was executed fully. Only Vera Perry has shown the strength and courage to try and follow the rules. I think there is a lot of turmoil below the surface between the teachers and the administration. And between the administration and Milton [we start to see people bailing out]. That may be natural, with a new leader and it may be a signal that things are in trouble. I don't know which, but I'm keeping an eye open. |
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Biggie |
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Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:02 am |
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TRB
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Flint schools fiasco[, top guy cannot lead!TRB]
Milton owes answers pronto after revelations about aide
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION- Editorial
Friday, September 29, 2006
http://www.mlive.com/columns/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1159539640283370.xml&coll=5#continue
[Comments by Terry Bankert cites as [TRB http://attorneybankert.com/ ]
Flint School District Superintendent Walter Milton Jr. should not underestimate the appalling lack of judgment he has displayed with the disastrous hiring of Julius B. Anthony.
[How can Milton now publicly lead this school district? Do the parents trust him? Will we believe him when he says the snafu will be corrected? Milton needs to address this directly. He should set a press conference and answer all the hard questions now or resign.TRB]
Milton's determined support for employing this key administrator who, it turns out, had pleaded guilty to a sex crime several years ago was an atrocious decision that could have been avoided by following normal hiring procedures.
[Milton must explain publicly his relation to Milton during this time and did he know?TRB]
In the wake of these revelations about Anthony, Milton owes an explanation as to how he could have been so ignorant about his former business partner and longtime friend - who was hired first in December as the district's top consultant, and then in July in a permanent capacity as executive director of curriculum and instructional services.
But Milton does not shoulder all the blame; there's plenty left to pile on the Flint Board of Education. At a time of implementing a new state law that mandates criminal background checks on all employees, Anthony's criminal history should have been brought to the surface much sooner.
[This is but another example of the reckless train ride the Flint Board of Education has taken our children and our city on. Why do our elected officials allow us to look incompetent? Will this latest escapade cause additional children to leave the district, families to decide to not move here and business from locating in Flint? TRB]
It has taken far too many months to ferret out that he had been charged with felony child molestation in 1996 in Fulton County, Ga., and eventually pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of sexual battery, for which he was sentenced to 12 months probation with an agreement it would be suspended upon completion of sexual counseling.
[I hope the media is reviewing the criminal file at all levels to see if there are letters of reference or probation interviews with and from Milton.TRB]
Milton and at least some board members are countering that the revelation only proves the system works, even if slowly - that Anthony's record did come to light and he was terminated as a result.
[The system has failed, Milton has failed, and the Flint Board of Education has failed.TRB ]
But that argument bypasses an inescapable impression that due diligence was lacking, and had there not been aggressive demands from the United Teachers of Flint for details of Anthony's background, the revelations might not have come to the forefront even this soon.
Had the UTF not gotten feisty, would there even have been a background check? That is one of a multitude of inflammatory questions swirling in this fiasco, and neither Milton nor the school board has any leeway for equivocating on the answers.
Before this incident, Milton already was on shaky ground with many teachers and parents. First, there was the problem with his resume; it stated he had a doctorate when that degree was pending when he was hired. Then, the sweeping district changes he rushed through became even more controversial when they produced overcrowded classrooms and other problematic conditions.
Now the Anthony matter raises further questions about Milton's judgment and management that he must waste no time in trying to answer.
[The honorable thing would be for Milton and the Flint Board of Education to resign.TRB]
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Fri Sep 29, 2006 10:33 am |
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Biggie9
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Terry,
While I agree that certain members of the school board [I think not all of them were involved in hiring Milton and Anthony nor voted to support Milton's initiatives] ought to consider their role in this fiasco and resign; along with Milton. By the way, has anyone constructed a time line of Milton & Anthony's dealings versus Anthony's encounter with the justice system? Were they working togther at the time? Or was this before they worked together [They could have known each other, had prior relationships, but not necessarily at the time of Anthony's crime?]
What would the fall-out of those actions be? how much more confusion & lack of leadership? for how long? what is the procedure to fill the board especially if all or most go? It takes some time to find new candidates and run an election.
Do you really think someone like Herbert Cleaves can connect the dots between Anthony and HIS [Cleaves] culpability? I doubt it.
They are already spinning this like the process worked, when it fact it didn't and the Board is responsible for being stampeded into premature actions by their adoring, fawning support of the "Music Man" Milton.
I think the first action ought to be Vera Perry being appointed president of the school board, since she came out of all of this un-besmirched, and proven right.
Guys like Doherty ought to look around for their back-bone. He is a professional and should know better. He needs to counter-balance the energetic members without the skill-sets to actually lead a fairly large sized business that the school district represents.
We'll see who shows up Friday on 1570 for the Flint School Hour at 6 p.m.. |
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Biggie |
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Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:01 pm |
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ellwoodflint
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this is not true,
also he is starting the planning to start a citizens committee. |
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Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:27 pm |
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Biggie9
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
ellwoodflint schreef:
this is not true,
also he is starting the planning to start a citizens committee.
What's not true?
wasn't there a citizen's based committee that Milton disbanded? IIRC, there were complaints elsewhere that he basically "blew up" the former group's work. Wasn't that what I read here a while back? |
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Biggie |
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Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:29 pm |
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rapunzel
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the prior citizen's committee was disbanded prior to Milton. In fact it was charged as the superintendent's school committee under Dr. Chow. When the super was changed to an interim super, Dr. Rutherford nothing was moved forward and all went into a holding pattern.
Then came the Great Schools committee. under Dick Ramsdell and the Central alumni who sought to move beyond the intent of saving Central.
Still the communtity cares and will help administration. The teachers union does not always have the best needs of students at heart. We need to find a happy medium.
Tired of tacking in the wind. Got to have a long term plan for facilities and the children.
Parents are tired of politics in schools. Business as usual is done!
Rap |
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Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:37 pm |
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TRB
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quote:
rapunzel schreef:
the prior citizen's committee was disbanded prior to Milton. In fact it was charged as the superintendent's school committee under Dr. Chow. When the super was changed to an interim super, Dr. Rutherford nothing was moved forward and all went into a holding pattern.
Then came the Great Schools committee. under Dick Ramsdell and the Central alumni who sought to move beyond the intent of saving Central.
Still the communtity cares and will help administration. The teachers union does not always have the best needs of students at heart. We need to find a happy medium.
Tired of tacking in the wind. Got to have a long term plan for facilities and the children.
Parents are tired of politics in schools. Business as usual is done!
Rap
FLINT SCHOOLS-Train wreck or opportunity for change?
" In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards. [Mark Twain, Following the equator, 1897]
Flint schools will the reform work?
"We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.[Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia 1732.]
Is an Flint Educational well dry?
To Milton the current paid leader of the Flint Board of Education I argue that " An effective organization has a purpose that is shared by all its members and to which they will willingly commit their efforts. People working together can do almost anything.[James L Hayes]
Dr. Milton you do not have an effective organization.
"Leadership is the ability to put the right people in the right jobs and then sit on the sidelines and be a rousing good cheerleader"[?] Dr. Milton you exhibit deficient leadership ability. I NO LONGER BELIEVE A WORD YOU SAY.
To Great School ad hoc group aside from the recent elementary moralizing that we should not play politics I say what we have here is a public resource allocation " Education" and by this description this allocation process is inherently political.
It does not show a lack of responsibility to inject a demand for accountability.
Demands change the outcome.
To characterize it as "playing politics is simply an attempt to diminish this administrations critics. Just getting along has allowed this travesty.
" You may scold a carpenter who has made you a bad table, though you cannot make a table." [Samuel Johnson in Boswells life 6/15/1973]
What we have here is an opportunity to help. NOW!
This summer opportunities were missed. " Great Minds must be ready to take the opportunities, but to make them."[C.C. Colton]
Many with the right views hid their heads in the sand! Shame on you!
I agree we must be responsible, it cuts both ways.
"Unto whomever much is given of him much will be required."[Like 12:48]
I suggest:
1. Demand full incremental public reporting so the community can become engaged, weekly.
2.Transparency in the whats left of reform efforts.
3.The elected leadership must walk into the spotlight with Milton. I do not trust Milton,I am not alone.
4.I suggest a series of Saturday public hearing on all Flint Board of Education issues to build consensus, but more importantly tyo give parents hope or expect a tidal wave of transfers out of the district.
What do you think!
Terry Bankert
1-810-235-1970
attorneybankert@yahoo.com |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:12 am |
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Adam
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To be fair I think most people agreed that Flint schools needed serious reforms. This is only the early months of the first year of a major overhaul. I'm not an expert and it seems like a lot of people are ready to get rid of Milton but it seems like the glitches in the plans execution are being adressed.
It seems to me like the city should be taking at least a minor role in helping out Flint schools such as sending in speakers to educate kids about government or encouraging them to stay in school. I wonder if Don has even met with Milton? |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:14 pm |
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ellwoodflint
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i personally spoke to the mayor last year about schools. when he realized by law that he couldnt control them, he has done nothing to say or show that it matters to him.
id also like to add that most people who are judging our district right now are doing so on a personal agenda. as adults they are not getting exactly what they as individuals want and as unions, the teachers are not doing things "their" way.
when desicions are made for all students in the district, some are not going to get what they want. we need this change and to drop and restart over and over as it has happened in the past will bury us for sure. i want consistency and a citizens committee to the superintendant will keep the honesty peice ( that will stay not please everyone, regardless ) in place.
Walk through the schools . talk to students, than give an opinion.
if the people complaining truely care about whats best for the kids, they will start letting a plan flow to the end so our kids can have a stable educational enviroment.
educate yourselves on the plan, not the people because thats what is important. |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:09 pm |
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ellwoodflint
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quote:
Biggie9 schreef:
quote:
ellwoodflint schreef:
this is not true,
also he is starting the planning to start a citizens committee.
What's not true?
wasn't there a citizen's based committee that Milton disbanded? IIRC, there were complaints elsewhere that he basically "blew up" the former group's work. Wasn't that what I read here a while back?
its not true that he resignes.
i walked into the admin building and asked.......
thats how people should get there info as opposed to
starting wars over rumors and misfed info |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:22 pm |
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Biggie9
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
ellwoodflint schreef:
id also like to add that most people who are judging our district right now are doing so on a personal agenda.
Who would they be and what are their agendas? |
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Biggie |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 3:56 pm |
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ellwood
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i will tell you i have many friends in this district that are teachers. i respect what they do and know i wouldnt want the job, but the facts are still unfortunately that from the very beginning, the utf wanted uegene rutledge as super, they didnt get it... the plan gives a uniform classroom routine, no more teaching the way you want when you want, that angered teachers, theres huge change in this district with the new plan, we have ticked off many, many parents. now due to the negligence of the board they have ammo.
everyone is screaming about everything but what is the most important. is this plan good for the kids. i do not care if milton or any board member stays or goes. i know that in 5 years we have had 3 supers and how many changes? this damages our kids harder than anything. Anthony did not write this plan. This is a program that is highly ranked by the education system, they just brought it to town and implemented it badly. So will all this he said/ she said, before the very first report card help us focus to see if this is good for the kids or should we just stop now and start all over again...until the next group doesnt like it, then again
we have to stop and realize the damage is being done the most to our kids when we decide to jump in half cocked and with a narrow view.
i visit many schools every week, i talk to the kids...most are fine, the others are repeating what they are getting from the media or overhearing from the staff...yeah, kids are first here |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:30 pm |
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TRB
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quote:
ellwood schreef:
i will tell you i have many friends in this district that are teachers. i respect what they do and know i wouldnt want the job, but the facts are still unfortunately that from the very beginning, the utf wanted uegene rutledge as super, they didnt get it... the plan gives a uniform classroom routine, no more teaching the way you want when you want, that angered teachers, theres huge change in this district with the new plan, we have ticked off many, many parents. now due to the negligence of the board they have ammo.
everyone is screaming about everything but what is the most important. is this plan good for the kids. i do not care if milton or any board member stays or goes. i know that in 5 years we have had 3 supers and how many changes? this damages our kids harder than anything. Anthony did not write this plan. This is a program that is highly ranked by the education system, they just brought it to town and implemented it badly. So will all this he said/ she said, before the very first report card help us focus to see if this is good for the kids or should we just stop now and start all over again...until the next group doesnt like it, then again
we have to stop and realize the damage is being done the most to our kids when we decide to jump in half cocked and with a narrow view.
i visit many schools every week, i talk to the kids...most are fine, the others are repeating what they are getting from the media or overhearing from the staff...yeah, kids are first here
To: ellwood
I too:
1.Have many friends in this district that are teachers.
2.Respect what they do and know wouldn’t want the job...
3. I agree that there has been change that has angered some, parents and teachers,
4.It is my outsider , no kids in school, view the plan gives a uniform classroom routine...
5. I do not know about your comment” no more teaching the way you want when you want, that angered teachers, there’s huge change in this district with the new plan...”
6. I agree now due to the negligence of the board they have ammo...
A.you then agree the board was negligent
B.is not responsible for us to now hold the board accountable...
7. I don’t know about “everyone is screaming about everything..”
8. I do agree the real question is “ what is the most important. is this plan good for the kids..”
9. I do not know how to measure success. Do you? The Board should know, don’t they?
A. There was reported chaos the first day of school.
B.The Flint Journal Editors called it a possible fiasco..
C.The Great Schools people whom I respect seemed to have great concerns...
D. I do know that we lost 18000 students at $7,000+ per student and reportedly again in the journal we face a financial; crisis...
E. I know Milton hired a pedophile
F.I know Milton hired a guy to change the school system with out a masters degree in the proper field or one at all and he has little class room experience,
G. I know you feel warm and fuzzy because of your walk thought..thats good but how do we measure success.
10. I know to follow my instincts on trusting people and bureaucratic and political behavior. I do not trust Milton and I do not trust the board because they trusted him.
11. Where do we go from here? I suggest the board Implement the plan in a manner with maximum community accountability.
12. How to measure success.
A. Every kid has a desk a teach and a building.
B. Maintain our enrollment level
C. Minimize transfers out of the district.
D.. Wait for the Grade point at the end of the first marking period.
E.Then make public comparisons over time.
F. Comparison of parental involvement by over time to include this year.
G. I agree they Milton and Anthony just brought it, reform, to town and implemented it badly
A. I think we should hold Milton accountable for implementing it badly and
B.the Board for allowing him.
13. We do not have time to start all over again. This has to work.
14,. I agree that we have to stop and realize the damage is being done the most to our kids when we decide to jump in half cocked and with a narrow view.
15. I have heard you say “i visit many schools every week, i talk to the kids...most are fine, the others are repeating what they are getting from the media or overhearing from the staff...yeah, kids are first here” How do you suggest we measure success and correct poor implementation “
I guess we are in agreement on most points.
Terry Bankert
10/1/06
attorneybankert@yahoo.com
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:28 pm |
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TRB
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Summary of email response 10/01/06 to my post. As they are not to a public posting I have removed their identity
1.This is well written, and well thought out. You are on track! I support these suggestions.
2.
I am shocked, shocked to learn the Flint's former curriculum czar is a fraud and a child molestor. Well, about the latter, not really. Mr. Anthony's voice and mannerisms and unoffical nickname of "Mini-Me" were some of the few chuckles of his tenure. The real crime here, however was perpetrated by the Flint School Board upon some of the most highly qualified teachers in Michigan. I don't really blame the Board for not knowing of Mr. Anthony's inordinate fondess for defenseless toddlers. After all, if a job applicant is going to lie about something like that, there will be a time lapse before the truth is known. What the Flint Board did not do in Mr. Anthony's case was verify his credentials before hiring him. A couple of phone calls finally made by the Flint Journal during the week following his "outing" unearthed the fact that Mr. Anthony had no master's degree, and no full-time regular teaching experience.
When I was hired by the Flint Community Schools six years ago, they did not think my master's degree transcript was official enough, so I had to present them with the embossed degree itself. It sits in my personnel file to this day, irretrievable, in its plastic protector. That's OK--I didn't have a frame for it anyway. You see, Flint's Human Resources Department is a stickler for authenticity--at least when it comes to teachers, its greatest resource. Due to the scarcity of middle-class jobs in Michigan, Flint teachers reguarly update their credentials and cherish their jobs. The result is when layoffs occur, they have to go ten years deep into the seniority list. That's how experienced Flint teachers are. That is why it is a crime, a crime to set above us an individual who, judged on his own credentials and getting away with a lie, would be lucky to be included on Flint's substitute teachers list. During his short time with us, this sorry excuse for an educator told teachers what to teach, how to teach it, and when, and backed up his directives with veiled and open threats.
Our superintendent, Dr. Milton, says he didn't know his friend Julius didn't have a Master's Degree. Well, let's believe him. Why not. But he must have known his friend Julius was never a full-time regular teacher anywhere. And Dr. Milton thought so little of the teachers of Flint, that he set this person up as an authority over us. And the gullible members of our School Board went right along with it, thereby perpetrating the biggest administrative disaster since President Bush saddled hurricane victims with his unqualified buddy, Michael Brown.
3.
I agree with your statements of fault. But, forgive me while I try to understand the real issues of the teachers anger. Is this because this new program has changed our classroom routines from individual personal ways to uniformed ways of teaching or is it due to actual fault of the program. If this is the case, can you please explain?
I spend everyday in our schools. I cannot see the negative for our students, especially since there hasn't been enough time to iron out normal start of the year issues we have every year.
It seems scheduling and teamwork is a big issue for the staff, but when it was offered to them to open a school to help with it, they turned out down. Was that because they were angry, or because it wasn't necessary for the betterment of the students?
4.
Terry,
I think you are right. The latest debacle with "Dr." Milton's good
friend and close ally, cum FCS employee, leads me to doubt every aspectof the so called -Reform- effort. The obvious gross miscalculation with
regard to the student census for Southwestern and the subsequent botched
efforts to place students elsewhere are indicative of the lack of solid
leadership. The systematic piecemeal destruction of the longest
standing High School in the district, Flint Central, is another case of
poor judgement and blatant disregard for the wishes of the Citizens of
Flint. It makes it very hard for us as parents of children in the
district to have confidence that our children will not be let down once
again by the Administration and the Board.
On another note: If the "Flint Promise" is to work for the benefit of
Flint as it is for Kalamazoo then it has to be available to all students
and not based on Financial need as the reported items have indicated.
This could work as a great tool in the Revitalization Effort for Flint.
It has implications far beyond the children who will benefit directly
from it. This is just exactly the kind of incentive that could start
bringing people back into Flint as well as acting as an incentive to
keep those here with children currently enrolled in the District. |
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Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:58 pm |
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