I have just emerged from a busy run of days.
One week ago today (on Wednesday, 6 January) a call came in on my cell phone that informed me that a close friend of my 94 year-old mother had died. I called Mom and signaled that I was most likely going to make the trip to be at the funeral--- then aggressively started organizing for activities in the meantime, and for the trip.
I stayed in scholarly mode through Thursday, doing further research on the history of painting across the world, then conducted two academic sessions on Friday, one group focusing on the Economics chapter of my new book (10 of 14 chapters completed), Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education, the other having moved through that one and almost to completion of the chapter on Psychology.
Then at 5:00 PM on Saturday (9 January) I hauled off southward on I-35 and arrived 500 miles later in Emporia, Kansas, at 2:00 AM. I went on to Dallas the next day, in time to spend the evening of Sunday, 10 January, with Mom, a time for some terrific conversation and reminiscences.
The next morning we attended the enormously respectful 11:00 AM
service that was inspirational, streamlined, and thoughtfully conducted. The pastor gave a tremendous personal homily, and grandchildren reviewed this great family friend's quips and aphorisms, including my personal favorite:
"A person can never be bored with a book in hand."
Once back at Mom's residence, I fixed a salad for myself and the small lunch ordered by Mom (Swiss cheese, crackers, Bread 'n Butter pickles, and buttermilk), we had some more good conversation, and I departed Dallas at 3:00 PM, determined to be back in time for Tuesday's (12 January 2016) school board meeting.
I once again arrived in Emporia, this time at 10:30 PM, stopping to make sure that I had time to craft an opinion piece written after examining a ton of evidence for posting on the blog, making the case for respecting the contract negotiation promised for Sergio Paez. I did not get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning but arose to leave at late morning on Tuesday, 12 January, for the drive on northward via my well-traveled route on I-35.
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The school board meeting was a sordid affair in which members of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education discontinued the contract extension process with Sergio Paez and had begun to discuss whether or not to conduct such discussions with Interim Superintendent Michael Goar when members of the NAACP arose to demonstrate volubly against any such eventuality.
I agreed (remembering that my candidate of the three finalists was Charles Foust out of Houston) that the contract should not be extended to Goar but rose to speak amidst the hubbub with articulation of a position that occupied considerable distance from that of the group led by Minneapolis NAACP president Nekima Levy-Pounds.
When my lack of lock-step with the NAACP sloganeering became apparent, Levy-Pounds and group tried unsuccessfully to drown out my review of a process whereby I had
>>>>>
argued against a national search from the outset (ten months ago);
>>>>>
but found Charles Foust the most compelling of the three finalists when compared to Interim Superintendent Michael Goar and former Holyoke, Massachusetts, Superintendent Sergio Paez;
>>>>>
on detailed examination of allegations against Sergio Paez came to the conviction that the accusations were not compelling and that contract negotiations should proceed in fairness to this man who had gained 6-3 school board approval on 7 December 2015;
>>>>>
but then reminded everyone of the lamentable energy expended on such matters when the "focus, focus, focus, cutting the hocus pocus," should be on delivering knowledge-intensive curriculum to all of our precious children with teachers trained to the necessary level of excellence by the central school district itself.
The school board caved to Levy-Pounds and group, the latter of which did not interfere with the remainder of the meeting once the board agreed to defer any decision on matters pertinent to the search for a superintendent until the February school board meeting.
Minneapolis Public Schools central office personnel Eric Moore and Terry Henry then gave the most informative presentation of the evening on progress pertinent to credit recovery and graduation---
but by then NAACP members had recorded the victory for which they came and had demonstrated their minimal interest in programmatic details actually having an impact on the lives of students by making their exit as that latter presentation was beginning.
That presentation was given to the school board, a few central office members, and a very few people remaining in the audience---
as I stayed in my perch right up front and had productive discussion with Henry and--- especially--- Moore, in the aftermath of their presentation and the meeting.
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Members of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education should feel deeply ashamed of their cowardly nixing of negotiations with Paez and for their lack of assertiveness in the midst of the NAACP demonstrations.
Nekima Levy-Pounds and the NAACP should lament their lack of presence in the meetings and interviews relevant to the semifinalist and finalist candidates; for their disinterest in my more nuanced views; and for their disregard of presentations materially relevant to the academic lives of students.
>>>>> The school board should apologize to Sergio Paez.
>>>>> Levy-Pounds and group should vow to be present for matters that actually pertain to the academic lives of students.
And both groups should "focus, focus, focus, cutting the hocus pocus"---
while understanding that, in adaptation of James Carville's succinct line pertinent to the politico-economic arena to that of the educational sphere:
>>>>> "It's curriculum, stupid."
>>>>>
"It's teachers, stupid."
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