Let's play Lebo Whack a Mole

Remember this game? We would always play it when we went to Chuck E. Cheese's. A mole pops up.  You whack it and then another one pops up somewhere else. Whack a Mole.

With all this talk about artificial turf, getting the "facts" from Jan Klein about YSA's contributions, and sign ordinance amendments, the school board directors have been getting a break.  Monday, the school board agenda includes these items popping up:


More discussion about the final budget with the final vote being May 21. The school board is about to go down in flames on its latest budget. It'll be nasty and I think there may be a surprise or two waiting for us (things that haven't been discussed yet.) It may be the first budget in a few years that gets a few "Nays" which will be refreshing.  I hope the community doesn't sit back on this issue.

The school board will be approving John Ferguson as tax collector and delinquent tax collector, at the rate of $10,000 a year.  This one confuses me. Is he still needed???

Some new appointments are in the works.  They will appoint Jan Klein as Treasurer and Cissy Bowman as Board Secretary.  OMG.  Can she spell OMG?

A potential change order for the high school project will be presented and reviewed by the Board. Nello Change Order HS2012-1  This is for the general contractor who was 20% lower than the next responsible bidder.  The $8 million difference saved the project from referendum. 

And finally, the Board will be approving "Shame of the Nation" as a textbook for next year.

So while we have been discussing lawsuits, signs, turf, and all the other stuff, the School Board has been quietly gearing up for big changes. I wonder what they are going to pop up with next.  Remember, everyone has the power to make a difference. 

Unbelievable

Tonight the board will discuss books for classes. One for an AP course is The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. New York: Crown Publishers.

Here's a brief review:

"In the book, Kozol attacks the disparity in expenditures on education between central cities and well-to-do suburbs, and the system of property taxes which most school systems and states rely on for funding.[3] He expresses outrage at inequities in expenditure, pointing out that New York City in 2002-3 spent $11,627 on the education of each child, while in Nassau County, the town of Manhasset spent $22,311, and Great Neck $19,705. He found that there are comparable disparities in other metropolitan areas, since most funding is locally based.[1] Kozol describes schools that are separated by a 15-minute drive but that offer vastly different educational opportunities. In one example, a primarily white school offers drama club and AP classes, and the nearby primarily black school requires classes like hairdressing.[4]"

MTL students, whose parents are hiring an expensive national PR firm to raise $30 million in donations, are going to get an unbiased education in the disparities in affluent and poor districts. 

Unbelievable.