Did anyone hear Amos Brown today? Even he was ripping on IPS for kicking those Education Action group people out of the meeting. You know the administration must really be doing something wrong when Amos has turned on them.
Amos Brown knows what is ethical and what isn't. He never fails to speak up when anyone including Eugene White and/or his administrative flunkies violate the public trust.
This is off topic, but I can't believe more people haven't posted comments about Dr. White's assessment of IPS' high school teachers in yesterday's Indy Star. The man basically said that 60% of IPS high school teachers are worthless. I am not currently an IPS teacher, but I used to be and this offends the heck out of me. Yes, IPS has some weak teachers (certainly NOT 60% of them), but what has White done to help those teachers get better or to support the ones who are busting their tails every day for the kids who just happen to live in a DISTRICT that is failing? Make them more miserable, that's what. Teachers do not make up an entire district. IPS' problems are top down. His comments were unprofessional and unwarranted.
Wait a second.....you mean to tell me that Eugene White is unprofessional? Well there's a newsflash!
All joking aside, I'm sure that people haven't said more about yesterdays article simply because those of us who work for IPS are used to his unprofessionalism and it isn't shocking to us anymore.
I read in The Star paper edition Sunday the article by Tully about the IPS meeting.
I was shocked to read the quote from Dr. White in which he seemed to be saying that all IPS teachers with more than 25 years of experience should be "pushed out."
I am a senior citizen and my first thought on reading that statement was:
Age Discrimination!
Yes, there are federal statutes protecting older people who are discriminated against due to their age.
I wonder if the teachers' union is thinking about this? I wonder if individual teachers may be pondering lawsuits?
I'm no lawyer and not an educator, but just sharing what came to my mind when I read that article.
When I was in public school, most of the best teachers I had were age 40 or older. My best teacher was age 66.
To the poster above: What exactly did he say that made you think all teachers with 25 years experience should be pushed out? Would you please post the exact quote? I don't receive the print version of the Indy Star.
@I don't receive the print version of the Indy Star.
Here's the answer to your question from above. Copied verbatim from Tully's story in the Sunday Indy Star, page A14...
"We have a bunch of people who are pedestrian or below that," White said. "They have 25 or 30 years of service, and they aren't going anywhere unless we push them out. That's a reality for us."
I am not the poster above but here is the part of the article that deals with age. On page A14 near the bottom of the page third column from the right under the picture(ad).
From the article: Dr White: "We have a bunch of people who are pedistrian or below that," White said, "They have 25 to 30 years of service, and they aren't going anywhere unless we push them out. That is a reality for us."
This goes right to those with 25 years experience.
Okay, reading comprehension quiz boys and girls. Read the above quote. Now which sentence best summarizes this piece.
a) All of IPS teachers have more than 25 years experience. b) All of IPS teachers with more than 25 years experience should be pushed out. c) IPS has many teachers with more than 25 years experience who are mediocre at best. d) IPS pushes pedestrians.
Main Entry: pe·des·tri·an Pronunciation: \pə-ˈdes-trē-ən\ Function: adjective Etymology: Latin pedestr-, pedester, literally, going on foot, from ped-, pes foot — more at foot Date: 1716 1 : commonplace, unimaginative 2 a : going or performed on foot b : of, relating to, or designed for walking _______________________________________________
I suppose Dr. White intended to describe those teachers with 25-30 years of service (i.e., experience) as being Commonplace or Unimaginitive. How quaint of Eugene to use an adjective that describes himself.
I believe I've earned the right to call Eugene's hand because we're exactly the same age and both from the rural South. Eugene's about as 'common as pig's feet' from where we both grew up. He's become 'uppity' and arrogant. I learned a long time ago that it's not a good thing to forget your roots.
Amos obviously recognizes a civil rights issue when he hears about it.
It does not matter if the two people who were taping the public meeting were from National Public Radio (NPR - liberal) or from Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN -conservative).
When the civil rights of one group are denied, then the civil rights of all groups can be denied.
Kyle Olson is the former lobbyist for the Michigan Association of Realtors, served as district director and campaign manager for Republican Gerald VanWoerkom's campaign for state Senate in 2002 and lost his run as a Republican for Muskegon County Board of Commissioners in 2006. He now works as the government affairs/public policy director for the West Michigan Lakeshore Association of Realtors and is 2nd district Republican State Committeeman.
Education Action Group was incorporated by Eric Doster, who has been General Counsel for the state Republican Party for the last 15 years. He's also an attorney at the Lansing law firm Foster, Swift, Collins and Smith, PC, whose website lists healthcare as one of Doster’s practice areas. His work with AEG clearly serves the interests of those clients.
Doster represented U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg in his recall fight. He was appointed to the Judges' Retirement Board by Gov. John Engler in 1996. In 2004, he represented Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, and was widely quoted as promising that the ballot measure would not impact domestic partner benefits. He is a member of the ultra right wing Federalist Society, sits on the board of the Great Lakes Education Project political action committee (GLEP PAC).
In this video here, Olsen lied to a 77-year-old political scientist, telling her he was college student from Michigan writing a paper. He has since apologized for "fibbing.'
Olson manipulated his way into Piven's home hoping to entrap her into saying something outrageous that he could use to further his own career.... however, Olson's Piven tapes have thus far produced no mainstream controversy. That's because, watching Piven answer his questions, most viewers would be hard-pressed to disagree with her basic analysis of America's current condition. Big corporations have too much power. The concentration of wealth has gotten out of hand. Only an outraged and organized movement for change among the poor and the middle class is likely to bring about the reforms we need.
Contacted by phone at his Michigan office, Olson hung up as soon as he was asked about his interview with Piven. When called again for comment, his colleague, Steve Gunn, answered for him. "He doesn't have any interest in talking with you. He doesn't care anything about you," Gunn said. "If you call again, I'll call 911. You have a miserable day."
That's all well and good, but these people could be Hitler and Rasputin, and Bewley still had no right to kick them out of a public meeting. It doesn't matter whether we like them or agree with them. They had a right to be there, and Bewley deprived them of that right.
I am continually amazed by the number of ways that Dr. White insults, demeans and generalizes the performance of those who have the second greatest impact upon the success of the students of IPS. The absolute lack of leadership perspective for the environment that the organization exits is profound. He will not be able to eliminate 60% of his staff, but he will belittle them; he will not be able to eliminate all those with more than 20 years of experience but he will minimize their experience and their intelligence with a gross generalizations. I'm not an educator but then, that dude isn't going to be IPS's Moses either.
Have you ever heard the story of the guy who doesn't care if he loses his job in Indiana?
He will take his retirement here and he will go to South Carolina where in 5 years he can retire fully pensioned. The net sum is two states will pay a generous retirement.
The moral is he really really doesn't care about the students. He has defined his game plan, (several times).
The focus currently is not on 'Kyle whatever his name is' or who he is or isn't. Frankly, he could be Rush Limbaugh's maternal second cousin removed or Al Sharpton's college roomie's brother-in-law, it does not make a difference in the eyes of the law.
This is the part, the piece that IPS does not wish to recognize. The public IS the public. We can't pick and choose the attributes of the public that are pleasing to us. We're all in this together.
When the civil rights of one person are violated, then the civil rights of ALL persons can be violated. Personally, I'm not willing to take that chance and have my rights limited or censored just because one person in IPS unilaterally decides my thoughts do not align with her thoughts.
If we followed the thought processes of "@Olson manipulated his way into Piven's home", then we'd eventually wish to censor Jane Hart-Ajabu simply because of her ex-husband's prior actions. We can't go that route with Ajabu, Olson, or anyone else however tempting it might appear.
The public is the public. Civil rights are civil rights for all, not just for those we agree with.
It's pretty obvious that Mary Louise Bewley never had to fight for her civil rights as a person. If she had, she'd understand how precious those rights are!!!
What Eugene White is too thick headed to understand....all White's belittling and demeaning talk and behavior is encouraging the younger teachers to leave. They have options and many have not become so deeply rooted in IPS and are interviewing and making plans to leave. This is not the best year to leave with all of the layoffs but they realize that as long as Eugene White is superintendent that they need to get the hell out of IPS. How do I know this? Many have told me that.
You become deeply rooted in IPS when you have worked for 15 or 20 years [maybe earlier] and other systems will not hire you because they do not want to pay the money for an experienced teacher but would rather hire a new less expensive teacher. You also become deeply rooted when you are tied to your medical insurance especially if you have an preexisting conditions.
1) Kyle Olson is the former lobbyist 2) Olson manipulated his way into Piven's home 3) His work with AEG clearly serves the interests of those clients.
Hey Brainiac, these points that you listed have nothing to do with Mr. Olson's right to attend a public meeting. As long as he or his group were not interfering with the meeting, which they clearly were not, they had the right to be there regardless of Mary Louise's ignorance.
Olson sounds like the new wave of conservative journalists...much like the convicts who lied their way into an ACORN office with the phony prostitute story. That whiz kid is going to do some serious jail time for breaking into a politician's office in order to get a slam story. Fair and balanced!
Well, I'm a little bit confused about something having to do with this blog. Perhaps someone can clear it up for me.
On another blog post about the meeting video, I posted an opinion that Gammill should no longer be reporting on IPS for The Star and that he should be ashamed to call himself a professional journalist.
I wrote these things because he appeared to be involved in some kind of a "conspiracy" to throw these other journalists out of a public meeting.
Like other people have written, I don't care if these videojournalists were from the Committee to Fry and Eat Fat Dachshund Puppies - it was a public meeting and they had every right to freedom of the press.
Anyhow, those comments I wrote about Gammill were on this blog for a short time and then they disappeared. Why? I thought this blog was an open forum? Or, was it some kind of technical problem with the blog?
I've looked all over the blog and can't find those comments I previously wrote.
@I've looked all over the blog and can't find those comments I previously wrote.
Someone?....Anyone?....Mr. Bueller?
I've noticed in the past couple of days there's a definite lag time between the actual posting of a comment and the actual appearance of the comment on the blog. I thought it was my IPS's problem. Maybe not...
Mr.Glenn needs to go as a teacher. He does not show up for his special education students in their general education classes. I am tired of covering his sorry butt.
Do not demean my 20 years of sucessful experiece White. You are old but your service is aging and failing. You are the one to go. Leave IPS because you are doing a bad job. We want to push you out of service.
"Look again. The anti-Gammill posts are on the $120,000 thread." -------------------------- I looked again and the post I mentioned previously wasn't there. I made it under the first blog post about the Bewley episode.
I saw it published there and then it kind of "disappeared" the next day.
Oh, well....not a big deal I guess. It ain't my blog anyway.
Amos Brown knows what is ethical and what isn't. He never fails to speak up when anyone including Eugene White and/or his administrative flunkies violate the public trust.
ReplyDeleteThis is off topic, but I can't believe more people haven't posted comments about Dr. White's assessment of IPS' high school teachers in yesterday's Indy Star. The man basically said that 60% of IPS high school teachers are worthless. I am not currently an IPS teacher, but I used to be and this offends the heck out of me. Yes, IPS has some weak teachers (certainly NOT 60% of them), but what has White done to help those teachers get better or to support the ones who are busting their tails every day for the kids who just happen to live in a DISTRICT that is failing? Make them more miserable, that's what. Teachers do not make up an entire district. IPS' problems are top down. His comments were unprofessional and unwarranted.
ReplyDeleteWait a second.....you mean to tell me that Eugene White is unprofessional? Well there's a newsflash!
ReplyDeleteAll joking aside, I'm sure that people haven't said more about yesterdays article simply because those of us who work for IPS are used to his unprofessionalism and it isn't shocking to us anymore.
This is also off-topic.
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer: I am not an IPS employee.
I read in The Star paper edition Sunday the article by Tully about the IPS meeting.
I was shocked to read the quote from Dr. White in which he seemed to be saying that all IPS teachers with more than 25 years of experience should be "pushed out."
I am a senior citizen and my first thought on reading that statement was:
Age Discrimination!
Yes, there are federal statutes protecting older people who are discriminated against due to their age.
I wonder if the teachers' union is thinking about this? I wonder if individual teachers may be pondering lawsuits?
I'm no lawyer and not an educator, but just sharing what came to my mind when I read that article.
When I was in public school, most of the best teachers I had were age 40 or older. My best teacher was age 66.
To the poster above: What exactly did he say that made you think all teachers with 25 years experience should be pushed out? Would you please post the exact quote? I don't receive the print version of the Indy Star.
ReplyDelete@I don't receive the print version of the Indy Star.
ReplyDeleteHere's the answer to your question from above. Copied verbatim from Tully's story in the Sunday Indy Star, page A14...
"We have a bunch of people who are pedestrian or below that," White said. "They have 25 or 30 years of service, and they aren't going anywhere unless we push them out. That's a reality for us."
I am not the poster above but here is the part of the article that deals with age. On page A14 near the bottom of the page third column from the right under the picture(ad).
ReplyDeleteFrom the article:
Dr White: "We have a bunch of people who are pedistrian or below that," White said, "They have 25 to 30 years of service, and they aren't going anywhere unless we push them out. That is a reality for us."
This goes right to those with 25 years experience.
Okay, reading comprehension quiz boys and girls. Read the above quote. Now which sentence best summarizes this piece.
ReplyDeletea) All of IPS teachers have more than 25 years experience.
b) All of IPS teachers with more than 25 years experience should be pushed out.
c) IPS has many teachers with more than 25 years experience who are mediocre at best.
d) IPS pushes pedestrians.
b
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. It looks like you'll have to be retained in 3rd grade. :(
ReplyDeleteFrom Miriam-Webster Online Dictionary...
ReplyDeleteMain Entry: pe·des·tri·an
Pronunciation: \pə-ˈdes-trē-ən\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin pedestr-, pedester, literally, going on foot, from ped-, pes foot — more at foot
Date: 1716
1 : commonplace, unimaginative
2 a : going or performed on foot b : of, relating to, or designed for walking _______________________________________________
I suppose Dr. White intended to describe those teachers with 25-30 years of service (i.e., experience) as being Commonplace or Unimaginitive. How quaint of Eugene to use an adjective that describes himself.
I believe I've earned the right to call Eugene's hand because we're exactly the same age and both from the rural South. Eugene's about as 'common as pig's feet' from where we both grew up. He's become 'uppity' and arrogant. I learned a long time ago that it's not a good thing to forget your roots.
e) All of the above.
ReplyDeleteAmos obviously recognizes a civil rights issue when he hears about it.
ReplyDeleteIt does not matter if the two people who were taping the public meeting were from National Public Radio (NPR - liberal) or from Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN -conservative).
When the civil rights of one group are denied, then the civil rights of all groups can be denied.
Good for Amos!!!
Kyle Olson is the former lobbyist for the Michigan Association of Realtors, served as district director and campaign manager for Republican Gerald VanWoerkom's campaign for state Senate in 2002 and lost his run as a Republican for Muskegon County Board of Commissioners in 2006. He now works as the government affairs/public policy director for the West Michigan Lakeshore Association of Realtors and is 2nd district Republican State Committeeman.
ReplyDeleteEducation Action Group was incorporated by Eric Doster, who has been General Counsel for the state Republican Party for the last 15 years. He's also an attorney at the Lansing law firm Foster, Swift, Collins and Smith, PC, whose website lists healthcare as one of Doster’s practice areas. His work with AEG clearly serves the interests of those clients.
Doster represented U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg in his recall fight. He was appointed to the Judges' Retirement Board by Gov. John Engler in 1996. In 2004, he represented Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, and was widely quoted as promising that the ballot measure would not impact domestic partner benefits. He is a member of the ultra right wing Federalist Society, sits on the board of the Great Lakes Education Project political action committee (GLEP PAC).
Is Kyle who he says he is? Read on.
ReplyDeletehttp://politicstheoryphotography.blogspot.com/2010/03/liars-on-right-kyle-olson.html
In this video here, Olsen lied to a 77-year-old political scientist, telling her he was college student from Michigan writing a paper. He has since apologized for "fibbing.'
ReplyDeletehttp://biggovernment.com/tag/frances-fox-piven/
Olson manipulated his way into Piven's home hoping to entrap her into saying something outrageous that he could use to further his own career.... however, Olson's Piven tapes have thus far produced no mainstream controversy. That's because, watching Piven answer his questions, most viewers would be hard-pressed to disagree with her basic analysis of America's current condition. Big corporations have too much power. The concentration of wealth has gotten out of hand. Only an outraged and organized movement for change among the poor and the middle class is likely to bring about the reforms we need.
ReplyDeleteContacted by phone at his Michigan office, Olson hung up as soon as he was asked about his interview with Piven. When called again for comment, his colleague, Steve Gunn, answered for him. "He doesn't have any interest in talking with you. He doesn't care anything about you," Gunn said. "If you call again, I'll call 911. You have a miserable day."
That's all well and good, but these people could be Hitler and Rasputin, and Bewley still had no right to kick them out of a public meeting. It doesn't matter whether we like them or agree with them. They had a right to be there, and Bewley deprived them of that right.
ReplyDeleteHow can we get Bewley fired?
ReplyDeleteI am continually amazed by the number of ways that Dr. White insults, demeans and generalizes the performance of those who have the second greatest impact upon the success of the students of IPS. The absolute lack of leadership perspective for the environment that the organization exits is profound. He will not be able to eliminate 60% of his staff, but he will belittle them; he will not be able to eliminate all those with more than 20 years of experience but he will minimize their experience and their intelligence with a gross generalizations. I'm not an educator but then, that dude isn't going to be IPS's Moses either.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard the story of the guy who doesn't care if he loses his job in Indiana?
ReplyDeleteHe will take his retirement here and he will go to South Carolina where in 5 years he can retire fully pensioned. The net sum is two states will pay a generous retirement.
The moral is he really really doesn't care about the students. He has defined his game plan, (several times).
@Is Kyle who he says he is? Read on.
ReplyDeleteThe focus currently is not on 'Kyle whatever his name is' or who he is or isn't. Frankly, he could be Rush Limbaugh's maternal second cousin removed or Al Sharpton's college roomie's brother-in-law, it does not make a difference in the eyes of the law.
This is the part, the piece that IPS does not wish to recognize. The public IS the public. We can't pick and choose the attributes of the public that are pleasing to us. We're all in this together.
When the civil rights of one person are violated, then the civil rights of ALL persons can be violated. Personally, I'm not willing to take that chance and have my rights limited or censored just because one person in IPS unilaterally decides my thoughts do not align with her thoughts.
If we followed the thought processes of "@Olson manipulated his way into Piven's home", then we'd eventually wish to censor Jane Hart-Ajabu simply because of her ex-husband's prior actions. We can't go that route with Ajabu, Olson, or anyone else however tempting it might appear.
The public is the public. Civil rights are civil rights for all, not just for those we agree with.
It's pretty obvious that Mary Louise Bewley never had to fight for her civil rights as a person. If she had, she'd understand how precious those rights are!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat Eugene White is too thick headed to understand....all White's belittling and demeaning talk and behavior is encouraging the younger teachers to leave. They have options and many have not become so deeply rooted in IPS and are interviewing and making plans to leave. This is not the best year to leave with all of the layoffs but they realize that as long as Eugene White is superintendent that they need to get the hell out of IPS. How do I know this? Many have told me that.
ReplyDeleteTell me, how does one become "so deeply rooted in IPS?"
ReplyDeleteRe: Have you ever heard the story of the guy who doesn't care if he loses his job in Indiana?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like the beginning of a riddle...
You become deeply rooted in IPS when you have worked for 15 or 20 years [maybe earlier] and other systems will not hire you because they do not want to pay the money for an experienced teacher but would rather hire a new less expensive teacher. You also become deeply rooted when you are tied to your medical insurance especially if you have an preexisting conditions.
ReplyDelete1) Kyle Olson is the former lobbyist
ReplyDelete2) Olson manipulated his way into Piven's home
3) His work with AEG clearly serves the interests of those clients.
Hey Brainiac, these points that you listed have nothing to do with Mr. Olson's right to attend a public meeting. As long as he or his group were not interfering with the meeting, which they clearly were not, they had the right to be there regardless of Mary Louise's ignorance.
Tully's frontpage story from Sunday now posted Online ----
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indystar.com/article/20100328/NEWS08/3280381/1101/NEWS08/Will-state-take-over-Manual
Olson sounds like the new wave of conservative journalists...much like the convicts who lied their way into an ACORN office with the phony prostitute story. That whiz kid is going to do some serious jail time for breaking into a politician's office in order to get a slam story. Fair and balanced!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm a little bit confused about something having to do with this blog. Perhaps someone can clear it up for me.
ReplyDeleteOn another blog post about the meeting video, I posted an opinion that Gammill should no longer be reporting on IPS for The Star and that he should be ashamed to call himself a professional journalist.
I wrote these things because he appeared to be involved in some kind of a "conspiracy" to throw these other journalists out of a public meeting.
Like other people have written, I don't care if these videojournalists were from the Committee to Fry and Eat Fat Dachshund Puppies - it was a public meeting and they had every right to freedom of the press.
Anyhow, those comments I wrote about Gammill were on this blog for a short time and then they disappeared. Why? I thought this blog was an open forum? Or, was it some kind of technical problem with the blog?
I've looked all over the blog and can't find those comments I previously wrote.
Someone?....Anyone?....Mr. Bueller?
This blog is a fan of Gammill. Haven't you noticed the frequent exchange of info and comments. This blog is protecting Gammill.
ReplyDeleteLook again. The anti-Gammill posts are on the $120,000 thread.
ReplyDelete@I've looked all over the blog and can't find those comments I previously wrote.
ReplyDeleteSomeone?....Anyone?....Mr. Bueller?
I've noticed in the past couple of days there's a definite lag time between the actual posting of a comment and the actual appearance of the comment on the blog. I thought it was my IPS's problem. Maybe not...
Mr.Glenn needs to go as a teacher. He does not show up for his special education students in their general education classes. I am tired of covering his sorry butt.
ReplyDeleteDo not demean my 20 years of sucessful experiece White. You are old but your service is aging and failing. You are the one to go. Leave IPS because you are doing a bad job. We want to push you out of service.
ReplyDelete"Look again. The anti-Gammill posts are on the $120,000 thread."
ReplyDelete--------------------------
I looked again and the post I mentioned previously wasn't there. I made it under the first blog post about the Bewley episode.
I saw it published there and then it kind of "disappeared" the next day.
Oh, well....not a big deal I guess. It ain't my blog anyway.
Censorship is censorship!!
ReplyDeleteMs Turner, 1st grade teacher, from School 48 needs to be let go she is not teaching my son anything and she is down right mean and evil.
ReplyDelete