Artur Davis is a republican today, a republican tomorrow, and will be a republican forever!

You knew it was coming.....yes I'm gloating.

This is a we tried to tell some of y'all Artur Davis was a republican, but did you listen to us?

This is a we  tried to tell some of y'all Artur Davis put a black face on what some of  y'all wanted really wanted to say.

This is a some of y'all were so busy hating on Dr. Joe Reed (a real democrat),  some of y'all bit off your nose to spite your face.

Am I vindicated?

You Betcha!

Will I get my front page/ posting privileges back at Left in Alabama?

I hope so.

That would be the  right thing to do.

Snark

Republicans can have Artur.

WARdynski's Pinnacle Plan "So Many, Many, Many, Things Wrong Here" Redux

The New Jim Crow

Let's recap;  The Huntsville City School Board voted to close the Fletcher E. Seldon Alternative School and send the district's most troubled students  (i.e. black/brown/poor) to a private, residential, drug treatment center under the guise it was more cost effective.
Not.
Not only do the facts not fit the ahem narrative, parent's/taxpayers aren't aware of the Pinnacle policy until it's too late to do anything about it.

Ain't that a dip?

The following questions and concerns were presented to, and ignored by the Huntsville City Schools Board of Education regarding the true cost for Pinnacle.

1.  The cost for the Pinnacle program is more than was represented in board meeting because it was not made known to the public that the amount per student in the contract was only for the remainder of this school year and NOT the entire school academic school year.

2. AND … if Seldon Center teachers will still be working in the system, how is Pinnacle saving money if they are still paying salaries for those teachers?  Especially when their salaries were included in the cost per student projection that was told to the public?

3.  The superintendent has the option to select students to go to the Pinnacle program.  This is a selective referral.

4.  Pinnacle has the option to determine eligibility for the program or DENY a student’s entrance into the program.  This leaves room for SELECTIVITY.

5.  The staff still does not represent a diverse population even though they said they would adjust that at a prior board meeting.

6.  The student population still represents a majority white privileged population.  Approx. 90% 

7.  Members of the Pinnacle staff call the Seldon Center seeking advice for how to handle particular student behavior.   They are having trouble controlling many of the children.  Example: how does Seldon Center staff make the students behave during lunch period?

8.  HCS provides lunches to Pinnacle.  HOW IS THIS SAVING HCS MONEY?

9.  Huntsville City Schools is expected to provide Pinnacle special education services.  They do not have a person on their staff to handle IEPs ( Individualized Educational Instruction) for each sped student. WHY ARE WE PROVIDING STAFF? HOW IS THIS SAVING MONEY? 

10. Pinnacle’s TRAINED therapists have a hard time adjusting student behavior to their pre-established profiles to identify and control behavior. 

11. The student who participated in the pilot program admitted that they were put in time out as a consequence for behavior and, himself considered this form of punishment as a joke.  Even they say that the staff cannot control the students.   Especially the black students.  ASK HOW MANY STUDENTS HAVE BEEN PUT OUT OF THE PROGRAM AND WHAT COLOR THEY WERE!

12. Students are expected to sit at a computer for eight hours and do online courses.  Kids fall asleep at the computers.

13. Huntsville City Schools is rumored to have purchased the building from Scott McClain Realty for Pinnacle.  Pinnacle was originally located on Governors Drive in a small building and claimed that they had the facility they needed to accommodate students.

So now that we know, what can/are we the tax payers going to do about it?  Our money and the future of our children is at stake.  

Today's Must Reads

The NAACP's Failing of Our Black Children

Institutional Racism in America; the 21st Century Jim Crow  

WARdynski on Public Education

The Problem Black Students Still Live With

Access to a quality public education for black/brown/poor students is under a well funded, well organized, and sustained attack in Huntsville, AL. under the capable command of Colonel Casey WARdynski.

Why is public education under attack?  Well, because it's PUBLIC education.  Meaning, every child has access, regardless of race, gender, income or address, which is the opposite of PRIVATE education.  The only reason some (not to be confused with all) black/brown/poor children have access to a quality public education is because the school district is under a federal court desegregation order.

Board President David Blair says the court order is holding back progress, preventing city schools from experimenting with a system in which students choose a school based on what they want to study instead of where they live.
"I would love to see us challenge the desegregation order," said board member Jennie Robinson, who represents south Huntsville.The Justice Department, which monitors compliance with the court order, recently refused approval for a second southeast high school. At Grissom, the only nearby high school, less than 4 percent of students are black.
The Justice Department's action limits growth near the Tennessee River, Robinson said. Plus, she said the court order ignores that there are more than two races here. Last year, Huntsville had almost 600 Hispanic students and almost 600 Asians. Most Asian students attended Grissom or its feeder schools.
She also said some studies show children learn better from teachers of the same race.
Board member Topper Birney said the city school board could better operate without federal approval for every new building.

The Justice Department told the School Board to not even think about being granted Unitary Status.  My Daddy says if you can't get in through the front door then go around to the back door.  Looks like the School Board has finally found the man with a plan to continue to ignore the United States Department of Justice.  Keeping them there black/brown/poor students in their place, I mean their zones.  Snark

In a three-page explanation to The Times, Wardynski said his sweeping overhaul of system leadership was designed "to promote strong leaders into larger schools and into schools for which their talents are particularly suited."
Two of those principal swaps, the transfer of Lynette Alexander to Westlawn Middle and Dawn Ashley to Dawson Elementary, are designed to help the district "restart" low-performing schools. A "restart" allows the district to replace about 50 percent of the teachers and bring in new school leaders.
Wardynski called Alexander and Ashley "two of our most accomplished leaders" and said he expected immediate improvements.
The move also allows a district to cancel student transfers to other schools and erase a school's test score history in an effort to give it a fresh start.

Looks like Colonel WARdynski is doing at least on of the jobs he was hired to do.

In case you missed it, tonight the board had yet another discussion about how to evaluate Dr. Wardynski. The board has proposed five goals by which Dr. Wardynski will be evaluated. These are:
Accelerate Learning at All Levels
Increase Flexibility in the General Fund Budget While Preserving Educational Programs
Build Bench Strength Though Strategic Staffing
Improve Capital Infrastructure
Meet Department of Justice Requirements to Deserve Unitary Status

Today's Must Read
Just how much of a bonus should Dr. Wardynski receive for his work this year? 

Which brings me to the Pinnacle fiasco.  Stay tuned.

Memorial Day Activism for Activist

Why hasn't this been all over the TeeVee?  Never mind.  We know.  It's not a bunch of Birthers demanding to see President Obama's birth certificate. Or, Reverend Jeremiah Wright saying God damn America that's in the bible  for killing innocent people.

 Snark.

Sign the petition at Change.Org in support of Dr. Head

Celebrating the deaths of countless humans for political gain

A Memorial Day Photo Blog with Links and Commentary

Say, have you seen my Democracy?  You know the Democracy with Liberty and Justice for ALL? Not the Democracy that sent our sons and daughters to W-ar based on DEAD WRONG INTELLIGENCE, and not look back, but will look back at a democratic Presidential Candidate who wanted to end poverty.  SMH

America is The Land of the Free because of the Brave.  The first Memorial Day was celebrated on May 1, in 1865 by freed slaves, missionaries and teachers,  in a ceremony honoring Union soldiers who died in a Confederate Prison Camp in Charleston, South Carolina.

None dare call it Treason.  Yet they want us to sing God Bless America?  No, No and,

NO.

God HELP America sing America again.

I, Too, Sing America By Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides, 

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

WARdynski's changes are helping to keep "the black schools" black

Through a rather ahem unpleasant exchange on Twitter with Brian LeCompte, the former proprietor of Flashpoint Blog, I learned the prevailing thought in Rightwingdom is  Huntsville City Schools Superintendent Casey WARdynski's spending $2 million on consultants and shuffling teacher/principals around is keeping "the black schools" from "sucking."

Brian LeCompte explains it like this…
Wardynski is making massive staff changes in an effort to stop north Huntsville schools from sucking. Three possible outcomes…
1) Relative (zero sum) changes, bad schools get better while good schools who were raided for talent get worse…
2) Absolute change, preferably with formerly sucky schools improving and the good schools, at a minimum, not getting worse
3) Little to no change
It is a grand experiment whose outcome will speak volumes.
This line surprised me…
The move also allows a district to cancel student transfers to other schools and erase a school’s test score history in an effort to give it a fresh start.

I wonder what part of black schools is illegal don't they understand?  This proves the changes aren't helping the "black schools" it's about keeping the "black schools" black and the "white schools" white.  The HCS board continues to ignore Brown v. Board in favor of Plessey v. Ferguson.

WARdynski doing what he was hired to do

Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

I'm Back to Blogging!

Please accept my sincere apology for the lack of postings last week, but once again my real life (yes I have one) interfered with my blogging life forcing me to take a break from the Internet. Although I managed to catch some progressive talk thanks to XM radio,  I've spent most of the morning emerged in the Blogosphere so I can find out what is really happening  in my city, state, country, and the world. 

It never ceases to amaze and humble me that a lot of you read this blog on a daily basis whether I post or not.   Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.   Anyone interested in becoming a contributor, please drop me a line at redeyeblog.alabama@yahoo.com.

I see the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads are still singing the same song  from the same playbook....misinforming the Suckers,  and they wonder why they vote against their self interest?  Snark  Maybe if voters didn't have to pay to hear the other side voters wouldn't be Suckers. 

I don't hate to say we tried tell to some of y'all Artur Davis was a DINO (Democrat in name only) but what did we get....booted and banned from the Informed.  Involved.  Progressive. state blog of record.  What part of Artur Davis doesn't care about getting right (pun intended) with the people who supported him don't you understand mooncat?  I dare say, your banishment of me from the discussion enabled republicans to take over the State House and the Governors mansion.  BTW, If you are serious about turning over Left in Alabama in a heartbeat to a progressive, I accept, with the proviso that you and countrycat could still post of course.  

Today's Must Reads with commentary

I don't know why white American's consider black dudes scary, they are the ones armed to the teeth.

There is a huge disconnect between the mainstream media and the rest of us.

Stay tuned!

Officer Stomped Pregnant Woman; No Discipline

I first read this about this on boingboing. It only took a second of seeing this young officer when I began to wonder about him; it was that skinhead haircut that started it all for me. This police officer kicked a pregnant woman? Isn't that assault?

But it was when I followed the link from boingboing that I really began to wonder what was going on. That link contains the picture above, of a very pregnant black woman with a very black and blue belly where she had been stomped. O, now, it seems the picture is getting clearer: white skinhead officer assaults pregnant black woman.

What caused the assault? It seems that Raven Dozier had the audacity to ask De Kalb, Georgia Police Officer Jerad Wheeler why he was tasering her brother. Officer Wheeler, unable to recognize that Raven was 9 months pregnant, responded with "a front push-kick to the abdomen, as he was taught to do at the academy." Just following orders, you could say. That was a common explanation after the Holocaust, too.

Understandably, Raven was at a loss as to what provoked Officer Wheeler. "I think he really just didn't want me asking him any questions, questioning him, and when I did question him is when he kicked me," she tells Atlanta's Channel 2 Action News. "I was upset because I couldn't believe an officer would kick me, with my child in my stomach."

Officer Wheeler's misconduct is egregious and outrageous. How could he have thought that kicking a pregnant woman was within the course of his duties? Perhaps it was because of what happened next. Raven Dozier filed a complaint with the De Kalb, Georgia Police Internal Affairs Unit. They never investigated. Then, four supervisors and an internal affairs detective signed off that Officer Wheeler's use of force met departmental policy.

Apparently, De Kalb has a lot of problems, not the least of which is $90 Million dollars missing from the Recorders Court without any investigation, and police officers who "hang their heads in shame."

So then is no wonder when one considers how a pregnant woman was physically assaulted by one of their own, despite the pledge made on their official website: "As role models, we value respect, honoring the rights and dignity of each person we are called upon to serve. Our Motto: Treat others as you would want to be treated."

The Department of Public Safety and Me

I consider myself a law abiding citizen who has never intentionally broken any laws, so you can imagine my surprise when I attempted to renew my Alabama drivers license to learn they were suspended.

What?!  
When?!
Why?!

The nice clerk at the Court House asked me if I had any unpaid traffic tickets?  I said not to my knowledge.  She  informed me I would have to go the local Department of Public Safety office for answers/reinstatement before they could renew my license. I said OK, do you know what time they close?   She replied they closed at 5:00 PM.  The clock on the wall in the court house read 4:15 PM.  The DVM is about 5-8 minutes away, so off I go.

I arrive in the parking lot at the Department of Public Safety at exactly 4:25 PM.  There are three cars in lot including mine.  The sign on the outside of door says the hours are  Monday-Friday 7:30 AM until 5:00 PM, except holidays.  Inside there are two young women waiting,  a boy and his father being served,  and 5 female employees.  I explain to the woman sitting behind the desk I need to reinstate my drivers license and she handed me a piece of paper told me to fill it out and bring it back tomorrow morning because they "stop working at 4:30 PM because they had to get ready to leave at 5:00 PM".


Excuse Me?
The sign on the door says you don't close until 5:00 PM?
They told me at the court house you closed at 5:00 PM?
How can you stop processing request 30 minutes prior to closing?
Why do I have to come back when I'm here now?
What if I can't come back tomorrow at 7:30?

Answer, and I quote- You don't think we can close at 5 and leave at 5 do you?  We have to set the alarm and lock up the building.  There is a sign on the inside of the building that says we stop processing Drivers License at 4:30.

So know we know.  Although they are being paid to work until to 5 PM they stop working 30 minutes early at the local DPS office. I could see if there were a line to be processed stopping people from getting in line at 4:30, but the office had more employees than customers. Our tax dollars at work.  On us.

I proceeded to use my cell phone to take a picture of the clock on the wall to document the time but was informed I didn't have permission to take their picture and I could be sued.

Oh really?  
Please sue me for taking pictures!


 I explained I wasn't taking their picture, I was taking a picture of the clock but since they had on official State Trooper Uniforms I acquiesced.


RedEye Roll

At approximately 4:29 PM I placed a call to the State Department of Motor Vehicles in Montgomery.  I explained to the nice lady who answered the phone my drivers license had been suspended and I wanted to know why and to reinstate them if necessary.

Did she tell me to call back tomorrow because they stopped processing request at 4:30 PM because they had to get ready to close the office at 5:00 PM?  Nope.  She asked for my DL number and the last four of my SS#.  I gave them to her and learned my license were suspended because I didn't respond to a random request for proof of insurance I never received, because it went to my old address, and they do not forward.  I was told when I presented proof of insurance my DL would be reinstated immediately.   Thankfully I don't have to return to the local Department of Public Safety.  I'm pretty sure I'm on their sh#t list.

Let's play What If and What About?

What if I had been stopped by police, or involved in an accident and discovered my license were suspended?

What if I needed a valid Drivers License to board an air plane for work or an emergency?

What if I needed a valid Drivers License to register to VOTE?

What if I couldn't come back to my local DPS the following day?

What about the time and resources already spent?

What about the people who work from 7:30 AM until 5:00 PM M-F?

Why is it so hard for tax payers to get basic services?

I wonder if I had been a white male/female tax payer would I have been told by the female African American Alabama State Employee to come back tomorrow because they stopped processing 30 minutes prior to closing?

The reason I'm asking is because the two young women waiting to be served, and the boy and his father being served  where white,  3 of the 5 State employees were African Americans, with the two African Americans doing the fussing, I mean talking.

Wondering why we are required to have proof of liability insurance to have a Drivers License but not required to have proof of health insurance if we get sick and have to go to the Doctor/Hospital.  Oh wait....


If it's this hard to get my drivers license renewed I wonder how hard it's going to be for tax payers to obtain a state issued Voter ID card?  


RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go have my license renewed. 

RedEye's Talking Points~Update

H/T jobsanger who reminds us of an ugly truth via Yellowdog Granny

About that black folks are going to vote for Willard "Mitt" Romney because the black pastors are against same-sex marriage meme.... the majority (not to be confused with the one or two they put on TeeVee) of black pastors aren't stupid.  Informed, intelligent, tolerant, black pastors recognize and respect the separation of church and state. This is the bottom line regarding marriage equality...you have every right (pun intended) to be opposed to same-sex marriage....you don't have the right (pun intended) to force those who don't share your opposition to do so.  If you are against gay marriage, don't be gay and get married.  End of story.

H/T Black Agenda Report Managing Editor Bruce Dixon who says it's time to "let pharaoh go" 

There is a huge disconnect between the mainstream media and the 99%.  This is the same media that enabled Bush and Company to take us to war based on dead wrong intelligence, raid the surplus to give the rich a huge tax break, spy on Americans without a warrant, out an undercover CIA agent, impeach President Clinton for trying to conceal getting a BJ, and all the votes not to be counted in Florida in 2000.  The same media who is enabling the lynching (yes lynching) of former Senator John Edwards for trying to conceal an affair and child.  Why do we know more about Bill Clinton and John Edwards male members than we know about the war or the economy or anything else that's important to real people? It's the media we have, instead of the media we wish we had.

Marissa Alexander H/T Abagond

Tale of two separate and unequal Stand Your Ground defenses in the sunshine state of Florida.  Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville FL was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot into the ceiling when her abusive husband threatened to kill her.  She claimed a Stand Your Ground defense, but it was rejected by the Judge.  Ironically the prosecutor, in this case, is Angela Cory, the same prosecutor who is prosecuting Trayvon Martin's killer, George Zimmerman. Why do they think black people are animals?

H/T Geek Pavaler  education is the hope of the republic

All Politics is Local Remix.  Alabama TeaPublican's attempt to re-segregate the public school system failed thanks to effective lobbying and several prominent republicans coming to their senses.  Meanwhile, in Huntsville, rich parents are in a tizzy because the state legislature chose tourism dollars over fall break.  Not a peep about the school district funneling tax dollars to a private, residential, drug treatment program.  Not one word about poor/black/brown parents being forced to buy uniforms for their students.  Not one word about poor/black/brown schools being staffed with non-certified teachers.   But why should they care?  After all, "their"students/schools are doing just fine.  The students/school pictured below....not so much.

The Huntsville Times

Today's Must Reads

CNN Racist Depiction of The Black Church and Gay Marriage

It's a Democracy, Not a Theocracy:  How the Black Church Gets it Wrong

The Black Church:  How Corporate Media and the Prosperity Gospel Make Legions of Ready Dupes

Charters have nothing to do with Community Control of Schools

Why the U.S. Can't Compete Educationally

All Politics is Local

What if the Security Officer forces parent to stop recording Huntsville board meeting issue is being used as a media enabled weapon of mass distraction from the fact HCS superintendent Casey Wardynski used a photo of a young man wearing a hoodie to justify  building a $600,000  fence around, and installing a guard shack, I mean welcome center, at the new prison, I mean  Lee High School?

The four students from Lee High School who filmed a fight in a school bathroom and posted the video to YouTube did so as a gang initiation, Huntsville's superintendent said.
Dr. Casey Wardynski said the fight, which came to light Jan. 20 after the video went viral, wasn't an ordinary skirmish between students.

"It was a gang initiation; these students went to lunch together afterward," Wardynski said.

Not so, says the certified gang expert

"We have gangs in our schools," McDuffie said Monday. "That's not a hidden fact. It's here, and we know it's here."
McDuffie declined to call the incident at Lee "gang-related," though.
"It has all the earmarks of a gang-related incident, but we can't say for sure," he said. "The reason we can't pinpoint it is that there's no concrete evidence."

What if the reason parents were met with metal detectors at the last school board meeting is because they got wind the Concerned Parents of North Huntsville (i.e. black) were being encouraged to to attend to the school board meeting to protest black students being forced to wear orange jump suites, I mean uniforms to schools?
 
Huntsville/Madison County NAACP Branch

May 3.There is an important school board meeting for the Huntsville City Schools on Thursday, May 3rd at 5:30 p.m. The main issues are the building of the fence and guard shack at the new Lee High School and other impending changes for next school year including changes that MAY result in a proposed stoppage of transfers to other schools in the district as well as why schools in the North side of town... will wear uniforms while the south will not. Your presence and voices are needed. Our children need strong, intelligent cheerleaders. . Your attendance will be greatly appreciated. The meeting will be held at 200 White Street Huntsville, AL 35801.  This information is via Concerned Citizens Of North Huntsville organization.

What if Al Langford is the fall guy?

When asked if he agreed with Lankford's decision to stop Winn from recording the meeting, Blair declined to discuss it.
"I'm not going to Monday morning quarterback the actions," Blair said. "We're there to do the business of the board, to move the school system forward. I'm not going to second-guess Al's decisions."

Does David Blair think tax payers are stupid enough to believe Al Langford has decision making authority and the power of the purse?  Does David Blair think the tax payers haven't noticed longtime, African American teachers/principals/administrators employed by the Huntsville City Schools are being fired/demoted and being replaced by friends with no training or experience?

In the army we call that whining.

In the civilian world we call that Intitimidation.

Today's Must Read

Principal  Signs Contract, Then Looks at Map

"Al Lankford needs to be put in his place ASAP"

Huntsville City Schools Chief of Security Al Lankford (L) with Huntsville City Schools Superintendent  Casey Wardynski  (R) at Lee High School student protest

Blame it on the black guy.  This is the prevailing sentiment from some of the comments on al.com in response to reporter Crystal Bonvillians'  headline,  Security officer forces parent to stop recording Huntsville board meeting, which gives the misleading (IMHO) impression the head of Huntsville City School Security Chief Al Lankford is letting power go to his head.  Big RedEye Roll

Let's go inside the story.  Anyone, including Crystal Bonvillian, who doesn't believe Al Lankford was just following orders, is not aware of the pattern of behavior of the Huntsville City School Board of Education towards parents who are vocal and involved.  They try and suppress dissent by any means necessary.  This is not the first time Mr. Winn was told there would not be a recording of a public meeting, nor is it the first time the School Board (not Al Langford)  has flagrantly violated the Alabama Open Meetings Law. 

I am beginning to suspect this whole issue is a set up to make Al Lankford the fall guy.  Why?  Because of the description posted at Geek Pavaler (Mr. Winn's blog) regarding the surprise interaction he had with school board Vice President David Blair before the meeting started.

Did Blair and his fellow board members know what was coming?  I say yes, because of their lockstep, see no evil, hear no evil, speak on evil , comments/reactions reported in the Huntsville Times following the incident.  Blair went on to say "I am not going to question Al's actions."  Un-huh.  Blame it all on "Al".

Psst Al, someone wants your J-O-B!

If you can read this, thank a Public School Teacher

  "The future of the world is in my classroom today, a future with the potential for good or bad... Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of the next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these same young people could be the thieves and murderers of the future. Only a teacher? Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be vigilant every day, lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow."
--Ivan Welton Fitzwater

Teaching is the most noble profession on earth, and the most undervalued in the United States of America.  During National Teacher Appreciation Week many public school teachers find themselves under attack and being treated like they are the enemy of the state.  Some might say the attack on public school teachers is sexist, since the majority of teachers are women.

Although the majority of public school teachers are white women, the majority of public school students are black/brown/poor.  The real problem in education aren't the teachers, unions, or a lack of testing and parental involvement, it's the poverty.

In my local system, trained, certified public school teachers are being replaced by untrained, non certified teachers, in predominately African American Schools.  Why?

 Using the logic of the Huntsville City Board of Education, University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban should only use his youngest, most inexperienced players when his team plays a Top Ten opponent.
 Anyone who pays attention to education knows that the most persistently poor-performing schools are those in impoverished neighborhoods.  For example, there are nine schools in the Huntsville system where more than 90 percent of students receive free-reduced lunches.  According to an analysis by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, none of these schools have reading and math scores where all grades (three through eight) are equal to or above state average.
By comparison, of the five schools where all grades are above state average, free-reduced lunches range from 4 to 25 percent.
But in spite of this, the Board of Education plans to hire 110 Teach for America teachers over the next three years and put them in schools in poor neighborhoods.  These are recent college graduates, most of whom got degrees in something other than education and will receive a five-week crash course in how to teach before being sent off to work in the city’s most challenging schools.
I don’t believe this is the way Coach Saban thinks. 

It's not the way Coach Saban thinks, Coach Saban want to WIN.  That's why we pay him the big bucks.  Maybe if we funded public schools like we fund our state college football programs our public school students could be winners too.  It pays to be a State University Football coach in Alabama.  Public School Teachers, not so much.

If you want to appreciate public school teachers, Occupy your local School Board meetings.  We elect Public School Boards who hire/fire the Superintendents, who hire/fire the Principals, who hire/fire the teachers, and grant tenure.

Educators are the Hope of the Republic.  The Only Hope.

Two of Today's Must Reads are from my tenure at Left in Alabama before I got the boot for being uppity, be sure and read the comments.

Please, Black Parents Get Involved

Teaching vs Educating

Occupy Education

Edit~Is Al Langford a Voice or an Echo?

Huntsville City School Security  Chief Al Lankford (L) Huntsville City School Superintendent Casey Wardynski (R)

Here

We

Go 

Again

The Huntsville School board claims to be intimidated by the people they are supposed to serve, the parents/tax payers.  The only time they want parental involvement is when certain parents agree with them. Parents who don't agree with them are met with metal detectors, or the television feed just happens to have a glitch just as public comments are about to start.

If anyone believes Al Langford is not following orders I have some nice ocean front property in Utah for sell.

Blair said he only learned of the incident when contacted by the media Monday.
"There are so many things going on at the board meetings," Blair said, "that I don't sit there and look for intimidation and threats."
Blair said he's always found Winn to be pleasant and cordial. He did say, however, that some people at the December meeting found Winn's minute and a half of silence uncomfortable.
"I didn't, but I think other people may have found it upsetting," Blair said. "It was kind of awkward."
When asked if he agreed with Lankford's decision to stop Winn from recording the meeting, Blair declined to discuss it.
"I'm not going to Monday morning quarterback the actions," Blair said. "We're there to do the business of the board, to move the school system forward. I'm not going to second-guess Al's decisions."

Un Huh. RedEye Roll  Blame it on the black guy.

I know from personal experience this is how the HCS systems deals with  taxpayers who don't go along to get along.  Mr. Winn should be glad he wasn't  arrested, charged, and convicted of harassment for trying to stand up for the rights of not only his student, but all students.

Today's Must Read
Trayvon Martin comes to the Huntsville City Schools
It seems to me that Dr. Wardynski also sees threats in things that just don’t seem threatening to me. For example, during his presentation to the board concerning his recommendation to put a fence and a “welcome center” (read: guard shack) around the new Lee High campus, he asked for several photos of the neighborhood surrounding Lee High to be displayed for the board and the public.

Blogging Interupted

I shall return from my unplanned hiatus tomorrow. Stay tuned!