Here is the nitty gritty on the "Texas Miracle".

if Paige mentored Rhee?

The terrorist comment is pure projection. Destroying public education with lies in order to create profit comes pretty close to the definition IMO. Hating on unions is weak tea.

Before all is said and done, the public will realize voting for superintendents is like a lot of voting; it's the lesser of two evils.

And creepier. Why does a Superintendent with a doctorate need a mentor and coach, anyway?

No matter how bad McIntyre is, voting for superintendent is worse.

What's going on in Texas (and here for that matter) is that folks are trying and succeeding to bust the pension system. There are several reasons but the big one is this, our savings and retirement funds are the last big, basically unprotected piles of cash left in this nation. It is easier and simpler for the wealthy to steal them than it is to work and take the risk of rebuilding our economy. It's not just in education, but education is certainly one of the more glaring examples.

I've heard Mike Brown is owned by Brad Anders now. And Anders is owned by Dr. McIntyre. I wasn't sure about that.

Now I am.

(link...)

(link...)

Commissioner Brown is a lot of talk.

From Betty's column:

KCEA president Tanya T. Coats was in the audience when McIntyre announced that Paige would be mentoring him. At the end of the meeting, she protested that the administration is misinterpreting the rules governing the selection of the teachers’ bargaining agent by attempting to reopen the process to give other organizations a second chance to apply, since KCEA was the only applicant that has complied with the terms set by the Legislature.

McIntyre smiled and said he’d be looking into that.

I'm not following why it is Tanya appears to think professional organizations other than KCEA get one chance only, namely at inception of the PECCA law, to ask for a seat at the Collaborative Conferencing table?

Don't get me wrong: My daughter is a KCEA member and I certainly want to see KCEA at the helm of "conferencing," preferably flying solo.

However, I just re-read the law and I truly don't see that the law allows KCEA any solo gig, if other professional organizations should also ask for representation?

I've posted this statute here a couple of times recently, but would you folks take a look at it again and see whether your perception matches Tanya's or mine? Here:

TCA 49-5-605. Representatives.

(a) Experience has shown that efforts to confer, consult, discuss, and to exchange information, opinions, and proposals on terms and conditions of professional service are most efficient and effective when conducted by participants who are selected and authorized to represent individual professional employees or groups of employees. It is the policy and purpose of this part to ensure the rights of professional employees to participate in collaborative conferencing with boards of education through representatives of their own choosing. No professional employee, group of professional employees, or professional employee organization shall be denied the opportunity to represent themselves or groups of professional employees in discussions authorized under this part.

(b) (1) Upon the submission by fifteen percent (15%) or more of the professional employees in an LEA of a written request to conduct collaborative conferencing with a board of education between October 1 and November 1 of any year, the board of education shall appoint an equal number of its professional employees and board members to serve on a special question committee for the purpose of conducting a confidential poll of all eligible professional employees as provided in subdivision (b)(2).

(2) (A) The confidential poll shall be by secret ballot and shall require the employee to respond to two (2) questions. The first question shall request the employee to respond "YES" or "NO" to the question:

Shall the professional employees of this LEA undertake collaborative conferencing with the board of education?

(B) If the employee responds "YES" to the first question, then the second question shall request that the employee indicate which organization the employee prefers to represent the employee in collaborative conferencing by checking the box related to one (1) of the professional employees' organizations having a presence in the LEA. The second question shall also include a box for the response of "unaffiliated", if an employee does not have a preference as to a professional employees' organization. If the employee responds "NO" to the first question, then the second question shall request the employee to express a preference for one (1) of the professional employees' organizations. The second question shall also provide for a response of "unaffiliated", if an employee does not have a preference of a professional employees' organization, or a response of "none of the above", if the employee does not want to be represented in collaborative conferencing, if such conferencing should occur.

(3) No board of education shall have a duty or obligation to engage in collaborative conferencing with its professional employees pursuant to this part unless a majority of those eligible to vote in the poll under subdivision (b)(2) respond "YES" to the first question.

(4) Upon receiving the results of the poll in which the majority of those eligible to vote respond "YES" to the first question, the board of education shall appoint at least seven (7), but no more than eleven (11) persons, to serve as management personnel. The professional employees shall be entitled to the same number of representatives as the number of management personnel selected by the board of education. The professional employee representatives shall be selected according to each organization's proportional share of the responses to the second question; provided, however, that only those professional employees' organizations receiving fifteen percent (15%) or more of the responses to the second question shall be entitled to representation. The category of "unaffiliated" as a response to the second question, but not the category of "none of the above", shall be considered a professional employees' organization for the purposes of this subdivision (b)(4).

(5) If fifteen percent (15%) or more of the professional employees polled indicate a preference for an unaffiliated representative, then the special question committee shall select and appoint a person or persons to serve as an unaffiliated representative or representatives according to the proportional share of responses to the second question in the category "unaffiliated".

(6) (A) The term of the members of the panel constituted as the result of a poll in which the majority of those eligible to vote respond "YES" to the first question shall be three (3) years. If a vacancy occurs on the panel, then the appointing body which appointed the member to the position that became vacant shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the term. Prior to expiration of the terms of the members of the panel, a new poll shall be conducted under this subsection (b) to determine whether the professional employees want to continue to engage in collaborative conferencing.

(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (b)(6)(A) to the contrary, a memorandum of understanding may provide for polls after a poll in which the majority of those eligible to vote responded "YES" to the first question to occur more frequently than once every three (3) years. The term of the members selected for the panel after such poll shall be the length of time specified by the memorandum of understanding between two (2) polls.

(c) Each professional employees' organization receiving fifteen percent (15%) or more of the responses shall select and appoint the appropriate number of persons to serve as representatives of the professional employees preferring that organization. The board of education shall select and appoint its representatives. Representatives shall be appointed no later than December 1.

(d) If a majority vote to conduct collaborative conferencing is not secured, then during any subsequent year, the professional employees may again seek to engage in collaborative conferencing pursuant to subsection (b).

(e) The results of the confidential poll and the names and positions of the appointed representatives shall be transmitted to the board, professional employees and professional employee organizations prior to January 1 next.

(f) Those persons or organizations initiating the poll shall be assessed the reasonable costs necessitated in conducting the poll by the chair of the special question committee.

Or Betty, I should have thought to ask you directly: Did Tanya explain anything more to you as to her understanding on how CC representation is supposed to work?

I'm afraid she's mistaken that competing professional associations would have one chance and one chance only, in 2011, to express interest in being at the table...

What if some new prof org should come along later--next year or a decade from now--seeking representation???

Is anyone really surprised that Eli Broad / Kevin Huffman's ed-reform puppet McIntyre has yet ANOTHER corporate hand up his backside helping to make his mouthparts move with the same old disproven talking points and edu-speak jargon?

Even as pushback from parents, teachers, students, and community members has reached critical mass, McIntyre and his diehard holdouts on the BOE continue to pile on more of the same old crap with the expectation of a new result. Bunker mentality, anyone?

Evidently the teachers were polled weeks ago and chose KCEA. McIntyre appears to share your view.

Mike Howard will interview Mike McMillan in the next hour on 94.3 FM about the credit card audit.

From SPEAK: (link...)

From YouTube: (link...)

Lynne Fugate, Karen Carson, and Doug Harris are furious that people question them.

THEY WORK FOR US.

(link...)

"KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- As parents stood up to address their concerns to the Knox County School Board, board member Lynne Fugate sounded off on those she said belittle the board.

Anyone can address the board during the public forum portion of the meeting, which typically draws parents or teachers addressing concerns or questions they may have for the board to look into. At Wednesday night's Knox County School Board meeting, a handful of parents stood up to address concerns they have with the special needs program within the school system.

Some said they feel their children aren't safe with their teacher, another parent said that the school system isn't following state and federal laws pertaining to inclusion in the classroom. But then a teacher stood up to address his concern over ending the SAT-10 testing.

That's when board member Lynne Fugate decided to address her issue with people constantly putting down the board.

"You can disagree with me, but please don't insult me and assume I am a b**ch," Fugate said after everyone had addressed the board."

Insubordination:

See Lynne Fugate

insub·ordi·nation n.
Synonyms: insubordinate, rebellious, mutinous, factious, seditious
These adjectives mean in opposition to and usually in defiance of established authority. Insubordinate implies failure or refusal to recognize or submit to the authority of a superior: was fired for being insubordinate.
Rebellious implies open defiance of authority or resistance to control: rebellious students demonstrating on campus.
Mutinous pertains to revolt against constituted authority, especially that of a naval or military command: mutinous sailors defying the captain.
Factious implies divisiveness, dissension, or disunity within a group or an organization: "The army has been embroiled in a standoff battle against a [hornets'] nest of factious groups" (Time).
Seditious applies mainly to the treasonous stirring up of resistance against a government: rebels distributing seditious pamphlets.