Wednesday, February 3, 2010

60 Minutes

Dr. White got pimp-slapped today by the Department of Education. They told him IPS would have to make up a full day if he delayed school by two hours. Now he's just doing a one-hour delay. Good luck with that one-hour of pay taken away.

40 comments:

  1. It will be interesting to see if we actually get that 8 inches of snow this weekend that is being forecast.

    I wonder how some of the bus drivers who have partied all night will feel Monday about navigating snow-covered and slick streets to run their routes?

    Monday sounds like it is going to be a absolute mess - for kids, parents, teachers, bus drivers, etc.

    Just call it off now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, it's about time he got pimp slapped for something! What a clueless and ego-driven decision -- delaying school without first consulting the IDOE. Even I knew that much, and I'm no superintendent.

    After this blatant faux pas with the DOE, White would have been better off just closing school all day on Monday and then making up the day on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Monday will be a total cluster #*@$.

    By the way, White IS going to the Super Bowl.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You forgot to mention that school will open one hour later but students will remain 1/2 hour later in the afternoon....................

    ReplyDelete
  4. So he'll be out of town and the entire system will be left to deal with his decision. Nice handling of the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Monday will be a mess but I will be there doing my best. Who else is with me? Let's provide a great day to the kids because it is all about them. Let us all stay positive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Of course I'll be there doing my best. LOL. It's my job, and I'm an adult! I mean won't be the first time I went to bed at midnight and got up early for work the next day. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is absolutely freakin' amazing! What a total lack of competence from our Superintendent and the IPS School Board.

    Why wouldn't the IPS School Board know that school is never delayed (legally) unless it's an emergency (i.e., weather)? Why wouldn't Superintendent White not be aware of this IDOE regulation?

    Why wouldn't our School Board and our Superintendent do their homework before making a public announcement that impacts 30,000+ people? Clearly, the School Board and White are not focused on their responsibilities. How humiliating to be 'called out' by your boss for not following the guidelines!

    As an aside, I was amazed at the number of IPS employees at my location who blamed Tony Bennett and called him a 'kill joy'.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What about our contract? Can he really require us to stay late? I guess I don't care, but why even bother messing with it. New Orleans schools are closed Monday. I think that we should also be looking at the concept of character development and building community pride!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The school board had no say in this matter.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "The school board had no say in this matter."

    They hire the man. They have to hear from voters. They have a say.

    I know most believe they work for him but it is really the other way around. They have a say if they want one. They are choosing look like fools and followers.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Isn't Dr. White going to be at the Super Bowl? Isn't he expected to be out of town on Monday? Another "perk" of the position? Do as I say, not as I do.

    ReplyDelete
  12. In re: "As an aside, I was amazed at the number of IPS employees at my location who blamed Tony Bennett and called him a 'kill joy'."

    Doesn't surprise me at all. It is sad that some (not many but enough to hurt) of our staff are there just to socialize, have some coffee and donuts in the Parent Center, high-five the kids, fist bump students, and generally hang out for the day. These behaviors are reflected in our ISTEP scores and are reflective of the ingrained IPS culture of dysfunction. When these few folks are called to accountability, they usually find someone to blame such as blaming the Dept. of Education for spoiling their fun.

    It is also sad that IPS leadership appears to operate and thrive on drama, such as this Super Bowl situation.

    In answer to an above question, yes, Dr. White will be attending the Super Bowl. He's on the Super Bowl Committee for the upcoming Indianapolis hosting of the Super Bowl.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gene White has embarrassed the students, teachers, parents, and community leaders of Indianapolis too long. Dr. White, do the kids a favor and retire. You are making a fool of yourself and the people around you. You and Dr. Johnson should walk hand in hand down to Jane Ajabu's office and complete the retirement paperwork.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Did he check with the Department of Education to make sure it was ok to extend school hours at the end of the day?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I heard two teachers at my school say this afternoon that Mitch Daniels was behind this - that Mitch told IPS they could not delay opening on Monday. This just takes the cake. IPS is overpopulated with people who think that everything unpleasant is Mitch's fault. These are the same union people who never say squat about Eugene's raise or Jackie's raise or any administrator's salary increase. Some of these people, union reps at my school, worship at the throne of Eugene White and the Concerned Clergy.

    Eugene White never checked with the Department of Education before he delayed school for 2 hours which got him publicly hand slapped or before he "tweaked" his plan today and extended the day by 1 hour. His decisions are unilateral.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Let's see if the "kill joy" gets re-elected. He definitely is not very popular in the state. Schools are suppose to be run by local governments not state governments.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Our local government, the IPS School Board, does not have a stellar history in managing a school corporation, now does it? If the locals can't run a school system in a functional fashion, then it may be time for the State to take control.

    I am not a proponent of big government, but when our local governing body, the IPS Board, is inept and incompetent as per their track record, then we can no longer allow the students to suffer.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Has anyone heard anything from Ann Wilkins or the IEA about Monday? About extending the day for one hour later in the afternoon? Surely this extension of the day for one hour later constitutes a change in working conditions.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Like she'd care. :(

    ReplyDelete
  20. Extended by one half hour. And so the confusion begins. This will be a mess, and White won't be here, so it won't be his fault. or say he'll say.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The whole thing's a crock of shit. Maybe we'll get lucky & be snowed in.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm praying for a "HUGE" snow fall!!!! That way school will be closed for sure. I like Tony Bennett and the fact that he took charge by letting White know that he can't just make hasting decisions without consulting with the proper authorities. Way to Go Tony!!!! Also, Ann Wilkins is probably enroute with White and Johnson to Miami................partaking of the Superbowl festivities and all the perks that come along with it. Three Peas in a Pod!LOL

    ReplyDelete
  23. So does anyone think the bus drivers will say "forget it" and call in sick like last time?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Come on, stop blaming the bus drivers. Many schools had closed that day to the the weather. There were weather related issues. Bus drivers were a scape goat for another mistake mad by the administration.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I can't believe that Eugene didn't know this would happen. His popularity and credibility have been called into question lately, and it's possible that he did this, so after he was told no, he could say, "See? I tried! I'm still a good guy, people of IPS! The ol' DOE was mean to me!" He may be a lot of things, but stupid he ain't; he's a sly, sneaky old fox, and he thinks he can manipulate every situation.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Come Monday, White will be in Miami partying hardy down on South Beach with the celebrities. He'll not give another thought to what time schools begin or don't begin on Monday. He flew south and left us holding the bag. Get used to it!

    His cronies and toadies will continue to blame the DOE for being "mean" to IPS and picking on IPS. These cronies and toadies have their heads up his bottom because he's giving them jobs and salaries they could never receive in another school district anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  27. New School Board, please!

    ReplyDelete
  28. "IPS REVISES FEBRUARY 8 SCHEDULE AFTER IDOE BUCKS PLAN" (Bewley's email subject line)

    Ms. Bewley was busy spinning earlier this evening.

    The IDOE did not buck the plan, but rather, IPS bucked the IDOE guidelines. My how she can spin when Eugene directs her.

    We really do have a sick school system operated like a "carnival house of smoke and mirrors". Those are not my words; those were the words spoken to me a couple of years ago by a CELL consultant from IU Bloomington.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Got a connect ed tonight? Thought it would be informing parents of the "new" schedule for Monday. Nope. Trying to make everyone happy by saying they can wear jeans and jerseys to school on Friday to show support of the Colts. Really? Is that really more important than the fact that the times had been changed, yet again. Please don't treat us like we're idiots. Don't give us a sucker and think we're happy.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Lets face it. White made a choice that is going to make us look like idiots and he is not even going to be in the state to face it. He is going to be warm in the sunshine while we are going to be knee deep in snow trying to make sense of what is happening. Does anyone else think that there is a problem with this? How does he think that Monday is going to work? And why does he always make the worst choices? One hour late to start and half an hour late to leave? What about people with a second job, or medical appointments, or the contract?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Funny. Ya'll were all OK with a two-hour (still getting paid) delay.

    Now, it's all bullshit?!?!?

    This is what's wrong with and in IPS.

    ReplyDelete
  32. This whole thing reminds me of Rome burning while Nero played his fiddle - was that in Miami, too?

    ReplyDelete
  33. While I don't always like the way things happen in IPS, I do think White is taking the hit for tryng to make sure things go better this time around for the superbowl results. I mean how many times do we go to the superbowl? There is valuable lesson to be learned...hard work, team work, and doing the right thing =maybe a trip to the superbowl. Bennett needs to come down off his high horse and also realize there are times when book work isn't everything.

    ReplyDelete
  34. The valuable lesson being learned is that if you don't do what you are supposed to do, expectations will be lowered to accommodate you. It's a horrible lesson, and I'm ashamed to be a part of a school district that promotes it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Tony Bennett and other law makers are so myopic and stuck in that dumb mindset that learning is measured in days and hours. This Colts' achievement is such an opportunity to stretch students' minds beyond the district's stress on dress code and other extraneous minutiae. Poor uneducated public get the idea that we have these students under control and they're learning so much by being in class! Another giant failure of American education.

    ReplyDelete
  36. The guy on 1430am radio Thursday morning said to IPS parents that, "At least the students will be free for two hours less of the crappy education they usually receieve from the teachers." Each day he sounds like someone who the district fired or they canned one of his friends. He starts to sound pretty bitter with no real arguments, just opinions. I don't feel I deliver a crappy education and I don't think my parents feel that way either. Our school enrollment is high. Then again this guy supports charters and I get kids from charters all during the school year and the parents have some hilarious stories. I tell the parents to go the the news or other media outlets with their stories and they tell me nothing ever comes of it. Do we deliver a crappy education??

    ReplyDelete
  37. I have to say I did enjoy watching the TV reporter drill White on why he made the decision to have a 2 hour delay without consulting IDOE first. Then she said "did you really think this was an emergency"?

    ReplyDelete
  38. What do you think? Will the bus drivers call in sick anyway on Monday? The sense I am getting (from those I have spoken to) is that they will to spite Dr. White and Dr. Bennett. Too bad if they do because we are supposed to have snow on Monday night into Tuesday morning. What does anyone think?

    ReplyDelete
  39. I think IPS staff is much more likely to call in than if IPS had simply issued a firm warning against acquiring "blue flu" and went on with business as usual. (Or, declared it a holiday and issued a make-up day like the Catholic schools did). By catering to this nonsense, they have legitimized it. And by creating a confusing mess with regard to the delays, they have guaranteed mass chaos for Monday.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I hope the bus drivers who work for First Student ALL call in sick tomorrow. They have nothing to lose, since IPS is dumping the contract after this year. FYI..I think calling off school tomorrow because of a game is stupid, but after the confusion caused by White & Bennett, we should stay home so those two can having another pissing contest. We could call it the "Ego Bowl." LOL

    ReplyDelete

Followers