Let’s talk about Dana Kriznar

There is a good chance she will be DCPS’s interim super come June 2^nd, for at least six months, and because the superintendent job will be so unattractive, maybe longer, much longer.

Chairman Coker, who obviously wields immense power, gave her the nod in a recent Jax Today article. This could be a good thing, they must have worked together when Coker was an admin in the district, or it could be a bad thing as Coker worked with her when she was an admin in the district.

https://jaxtoday.org/2023/05/16/duval-schools-needs-a-short-term-superintendent-by-june-6/

This is what has become pretty apparent unless you know Kriznar, you don’t really know Kriznar.      

I have heard her name and think I even met her once about a decade ago after I wrote a piece about reading. Believe it or not, I used to be able to write about real issues instead of made-up culture war BS but that, to be honest, may or may not have happened.

So, the first thing I did was put her name into the search line of the blog. I have covered DCPS admin shenanigans, gaffs, and poor behavior many times, and nothing came up, and I thought that was probably a good thing.

Most of my stories come from people working in the district. When I write about an admin or principal, it has always been because multiple people have come to me, usually pleading with me to say something, and at least since 2007, no such group had come to me about Kriznar.

So next, I googled her, and two pieces of note came up.

First, this is not the first time she was up for the intern super role. She was also up for it after Vitti left.

https://www.jaxpef.org/news-articles/duval-county-school-board-votes-on-interim-candidates-for-superintendent

In another article, Vitti recommended a half dozen people, including Kriznar as possible replacements, one was Iranetta Wright, so I can’t say how serious of a list that was. Ultimately the board at the time went with Dr. Patricia Willis, who I thought was a great choice.

Then after the state got rid of A.P. African American History, I found this article in the Devil’s Advocate where Kriznar tepidly pushed back against the state.

“In the Department of Education, from the framework, they said that it was in violation of the new legislation that they had about indoctrination,” said Deputy Superintendent Dana Kriznar.

 

According to Kriznar, a member of the AAHTF, Florida may reconsider the AP class if the curriculum is amended.

 

“We were very excited when we heard they were starting a pilot and asked to be part of [it], and we at least know of one school that got into the pilot for the upcoming year,” said Kriznar. “We were very disappointed when we learned we would not be able to implement that curriculum.”

 

Additionally, Kriznar supervised Duval County’s African American History Summer Writing Initiative in 2022, where students in Duval County created lesson plans for teaching African American history. With the help of a publisher, the organization’s source books facilitated the program’s course while following standards provided by the state.

 

“The program was very insightful into local history and information that is often overlooked,” said senior class officer Priya Patel, who participated in the program last summer. “All of these events and people had significant contributions to Jacksonville, specifically through their support for activism towards the Civil Rights Movement.”

https://issuu.com/devils_advocate/docs/devil_s_advocate_volume_39_number_3_february_2023/s/20186890

It might not be much, but her saying, “we were very disappointed,” is a lot more than I ever heard Greene say about a lot of terrible things.

So after all that, I asked around, and where I only got a few responses, most, not all, but most were positive.

So what’s my takeaway, I honestly don’t know. She worked for two supers I didn’t think were very good, but for the most part, she has a good reputation with teachers and subordinates. She hasn’t been outspoken on much, and I guess that’s up to you if that’s a good thing or not.  

If anybody knows something I missed, I would love it if you would share.

Some random shots, she has been in education for 37 years, is on the board of Junior Achievement, does have a Twitter account, though it’s dusty, which is probably another good thing, and here is a video of her reading the Pidgeon Wants a Puppy. https://vimeo.com/403706476

DCPS has had a rough year. Probably a lot rougher than you remember

 It’s been quite the year for Duval County Public Schools culminating with Greene’s firing/force out/retirement, whatever you personally want to call it. Some people are on the fence about her leaving so I thought a retrospect of just the last year would put people’s minds at ease with her leaving.

So, since people’s memories are short, I put May 7^th, 2022, and May 7^th, 2023 in the Google search bar and this is what came up.

 

May 15^th, a teacher known for racist and homophobic comments gets their personal protest.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/activists-protest-school-teacher/77-62e50cf2-2500-46e0-8fe4-7ccab93bbdae

What does somebody have to do to get sent to Bull’s Bay, oh yeah, stand up for LGBTQ and students of color.

 

May 17^th anti-bullying videos go down and cuts to the LGBTQ support guide are discussed.

https://jaxtoday.org/2022/05/17/what-duval-schools-is-cutting-from-its-lgbtq-support-guide/

DCPS assault in the LGBTQ community picks up steam.

 

June 10^th, DCPS pulls down the LGBTQ support guide.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2022/06/10/new-duval-schools-guide-may-prompt-lgbtq-youth-erasure-critics-say/7460885001/

The march to eradicate LGBTQ from our schools is in full effect. This was a choice DCPS made, the state did not make them do so.

 

July 11^th, DCPS calls for outing LGBTQ students.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/07/12/duval-school-board-votes-in-favor-of-student-support-service-policy/

Sigh  

 

July 13^th, half of the city’s failing schools are charter schools.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/mark-woods/2022/07/13/duval-jacksonville-charter-schools-account-nearly-half-florida-failing-grades/10016462002/

Where not directly on Greene’s shoulders, every one of them had to be approved by the SB after being recommended by the super and she approved some bad ones.   

 

June 15^th, Greene gets a pretty hefty raise.

https://news.yahoo.com/duval-county-school-board-approves-221132986.html

A bigger percentage than any teacher ever got before that’s for sure.

 

June 30^th, states civics training draws concerns.

 https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/duval-county-public-schools-teachers-speak-out-against-states-civics-training-courses/H4Q2DARFURH3ZJ2AB2KZ37OS7A/

From everyone but district leadership that.

 

July 27^th, 450 teacher openings, 3 weeks before school begins.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/education/teacher-vacancies-reported-in-duval-county/77-f1ad317a-d51e-470e-ba74-6cb39be15830

Who wants to bet it is worse now?

 

August 10^th, subs get a big raise.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/substitutes-being-offered-165-day-work-positions-critical-needs-schools-duval-county/GWNTU6CTMRBR7KG2Z6QQB7MTAE/

Apparently just hoping the problem would solve itself wasn’t working.

 

August 11^th a teacher accused of striking a student was exonerated.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/charges-dropped-against-darnell-cookman-english-teacher/77-1e2f097e-2e82-4c1a-b3b2-8fc32cdad7e9

It’s not for nothing but this former teacher of the year never returned to a DCPS classroom.

  

August 15^th a week school has begun we are down to just 400 teacher openings.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/08/15/teacher-shortage-nearly-400-teacher-vacancies-in-duval-county-as-school-begins-monday/

Again, any bets that it’s not worse now?

 

August 15th, Bus chaos grips the district and will for months,

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/students-home-late-see-delays-duval-county-school-buses/KUOKT2YQ4NBCDJHMAF4XA5TZVU/

and by months, I mean all year.

 

August 16^th, safe space stickers scraped off walls.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/education/equality-florida-lgbt-student-safety-duval-county-jacksonville/77-1261ed5a-c9ed-4d60-8691-d43c761b0692

You know, because who wants kids to feel safe.

 

August 24^th, the uber-important mileage increases passes

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/08/24/duval-county-property-tax-increase-to-fund-teacher-raises-passes-heres-whats-next/

It is soooo important DCPS announce they won’t do anything till next year.

 

August 25^th, DCPS spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on books and lets them rot,

https://bookriot.com/duval-county-public-schools-book-removal/

If only we knew then what we know now.

 

August 28^th, the scathing grand jury report comes back into the public consciousness, and it will promptly disappear until the Moms for Liberty crew sense an opening to get rid of Greene 8 months later.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/08/22/dcps-responds-to-scathing-report-on-districts-police-department/

This report technically covers what happened over a period of years, but I thought it was worth a mention.

 

September 7th, safety officer arrested for a sex crime.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/duval-county-school-safety-officer-arrested/77-02851d8d-50ce-4e49-8eaf-8ce785d62baf

This makes me so sad but now we have had a teacher, bus driver, custodian and a safety officer all arrested in one year.

 

November 11^th Greene receives a walk on water evaluation

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/11/11/duval-county-schools-superintendent-dr-diana-greene-receive-evaluation-from-school-board/

That sure didn’t age well

 

November 30^th, DCPS ends 20-year relationship with JASMYN

https://news.wjct.org/first-coast/2022-11-30/duval-schools-terminates-20-year-contract-with-lgbtq-support-organization

This was a choice that Greene and the district make.

 

November 15^th, A janitor accused of sexual battery on a child

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/duval-county-public-schools-employee-charged-with-sexual-battery-child/3WST7ZWEMNG5ZF2EFOMZ2QZEXY/

Sometimes the worse headlines get lost or forgotten.

 

December 6^th Sex ed returns to DCPS

 https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/education/lgbtq-advocacy-group-calls-for-support-ahead-of-dcps-vote/77-a3fbf4d1-c2df-4e1f-ab05-c677a89821ae

We had taken the first semester off because nobody in the district has a calendar apparently.

 

December 22^nd, book banning starts.

https://jaxtoday.org/2022/12/22/duval-schools-to-keep-73-diverse-inclusive-books-out-of-classrooms/

It will hit warp speed in a few weeks.

 

January 9^th, DCPS cancels the play Indecent.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/01/09/pulitzer-winning-playwright-criticizes-duval-county-school-for-canceling-student-production/

DCPS’s march to eradicate anything LGBTQ related.

 

February 1^st, Duval’s barren bookshelves go viral.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/education/duval-county-public-schools-parent-still-without-answers-days-after-taking-viral-video-of-empty-school-bookshelves/77-a680289c-a5d5-4a1b-b4ff-5747f5ec9100

The district will spend the next few weeks coming up with one explanation after another.

I purposely did not put-up many links to all the book scandals, problems and changes in narratives. I think it has been covered and I also wanted to have a semblance of a weekend.

 February 11^th, DCPS cancels youth risky behavior survey,

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2023/02/10/florida-education-commissioner-manny-diaz-blasts-duval-for-youth-survey/69894045007/

You know, because if the district knew what was happening it might have to do something.

 

February 14^th, an audit says the district was complying with reporting arrests.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/02/14/audit-finds-dcps-complying-with-states-school-based-crime-reporting-following-scathing-report/

Um this didn’t age well, and can the district get its money back (we are going to need it for all the lawsuits)

 

March 2^nd, DCPS sends out incorrect emails.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/03/02/details-released-for-dcps-committee-to-review-library-instructional-materials/

Says correct information is coming soon.

 

March 10^th, our directory of books is reassigned.

 https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/03/10/supervisor-of-duval-schools-library-media-review-process-resigns-from-role/

I don’t know if her views on slavery or the LGTBQ community played a role in that.

March 15^th, custodians awarded back pay.

https://www.afscme.org/blog/florida-school-custodians-awarded-back-pay-benefits-after-afscme-intervenes

You know because DCPS cares about its employees so much it hired a company who had unfair business practices.

 

March 31^st second teacher pulled form D.A.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/03/31/2nd-douglas-anderson-teacher-pulled-from-classroom-amid-investigation/

2^nd of which eventually be 4 more. I want to give these teachers the benefit of the doubt, but it is still pretty troubling.

 

April 5th, DCPS is in the middle of a lack of media specialist crisis,

 https://jaxtoday.org/2023/04/05/duval-schools-face-20-vacancy-in-media-specialists-the-only-staff-who-can-approve-books/

This wasn’t created by Greene, but she did nothing to improve the situation and initiated the book crisis knowing how many we had.

 

April 6^th, another premature email was sent out.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/04/07/dcps-districts-school-choice-lottery-results-prematurely-published/

Emails can be tough.

 

April 6^th, a bus driver was accused of sexual abuse.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/04/06/duval-county-school-bus-driver-brother-accused-of-sexual-abuse/

sigh

 

April 13^th, its time for DCPS to lawyer up over D.A.

https://news.wjct.org/first-coast/2023-04-13/duval-schools-douglas-anderson-lawsuits

They better get one over books too, JagsfanBryan, the one who put up the video of the empty bookshelves may soon own the SB building.  

 

April 19^th DCPS reverses trans bathroom policy.

https://news.wjct.org/first-coast/2023-04-19/duval-schools-trans-restroom-policy

Not because we had to but because DCPS is just fine with LGBTQ no longer having a safe space in our schools.

April 19th, the state accuses DCPS of not reporting crimes

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/04/19/state-alleges-dcps-failed-to-report-douglas-anderson-sexual-harassment-incident/ 

Probably because they didn't.

April 26th, the director of professional standards is reassighned,

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/04/26/duval-schools-reassigns-professional-standards-supervisor-amid-misconduct-reporting-probe/

You know because only teachers lose their hobs.

May 2^nd, emails revealed there was zero call to fire sub who took empty library videos.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2023/05/04/emails-reveal-principal-wanted-to-keep-middle-school-substitute-teacher-fired-over-videos-showing-empty-book-shelves/

Why was he fired again, oh to appease DeSantis and take the heat off Greene.

 

That brings us to the district and the suer parting ways last week. Hopefully how badly it was handled is fresh enough in people’s minds.

There were lots of things that I didn’t include. Lawsuits about this or that, technology breakdowns, code yellows at schools, relatively routine and minor things.

Then some of these are obviously bigger than others and some people might think I wasted my time even mentioning, but when taken in total, I find it amazing that Greene wasn’t escorted out carrying a banker’s box.  

Then there were some victories, we have a Lego land stem laboratory, and arguably the graduation rates/school grades and the passing of the mileage rate, though those last two come with some hefty caveats that I may explain in future posts.      

Then once again, all above is from just one rotation around the sun. 

DCPS's ever changing and shameful narrative about books. (draft)

 So this is what Greene said about books removed from mandarin Middle,

From First Coast News,

We did have a small number of principals interpret directions and guidance more intensely out of an abundance of caution. We have provided additional guidance to those leaders and they have appropriately adjusted their message to teachers.  In their defense, the state training also stressed the accountability of the school principal with respect to the books and materials made available to students.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/education/duval-county-schools-superintendent-responds-to-viral-video-of-empty-bookshelves-at-middle-school-misinformation/77-c3531f24-9bfa-41eb-994a-8af799d6cb9e

Hmm, a small number of principals, you know, those way too cautious principals.  That is from February 17th. 

That was a few days after the district told below to ABC News,

"As required by state law, we are in the process of having certified media specialists review all classroom library books," said Tracy Pierce, chief of marketing and public relations at Duval County Public Schools. "There are approximately 1.6 million titles in our classroom and media center libraries that need to be reviewed by a certified media specialist."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/thousands-books-including-black-hispanic-historical-titles-review/story?id=97082518

That's a heck of a lot different than a few overly cautious principals, 

This is what was reported on the 7th,

From Jax Today,

It’s been two weeks since the district directed teachers to temporarily cover or store classroom library books, as 52 certified media specialists review classroom and school library books across the district’s nearly 200 schools – a massive undertaking that’s left some classrooms nearly bookless in the interim.

https://jaxtoday.org/2023/02/07/most-florida-school-districts-arent-requiring-teachers-to-hide-schoolbooks-duval-is/

So which is it? Does the district have a small number of over-cautious principals, or did it direct teachers to remove classroom libraries?

I think we know what happened; the first article was nothing but district spin, and another word for soon is lying.  

You might be thinking, Chris, we know all this, but you may not know what follows, and that's an email from the principal of Mandarin Middle, telling ESS that the school did not want to let Jagsfanbrian, the substitute responsible for the video showing empty bookshelves that they did not want to let him go and just wanted him to know the district book removal policy. Oh, the email is from January 31st (he put the video up several days before), two and a half weeks before the overly cautious principal spin.

The principal admits right there they had removed books based on the district policy. There is no ambiguity.  Now DCPS might say they were just one of the overcautious principals, except the district went on to say the entire thing was made up.  

This is what Tracy Pierce, district director of communications, told me 2/20

Doesn't this directly contradict what the principal told the rep from ESS? She was like we are doing the best we can to comply, and he's like, it's all made up, while the district went from it was just complying with the law to nothing to see here but a few over-cautious principals.

Look, the state sucks, what they are doing is bad for education, but that shouldn't excuse the district from just following orders or their ever-changing narrative about what happened. I think the district was put in a hole, decided to keep digging, and then as things snowballed out of control, tried to lie their way out of it. I have presented the facts; you be the judge.  

The DCPS press conference was bonkers, revealing and nobody in the media asked THE question

It started with Hershey saying when Greene told me (about the retirement) a couple of weeks ago, I had tears in my eyes. Um, a couple of weeks ago, how come nobody to Willie because that cat was blindsided, and if this was in the works for a couple of weeks, why the emergency meeting? Why throw the city into a tizzy and not do things correctly?  

Carney went next and he said she did not think she would be in this position six months into her term. Oh sweetie, neither did we, neither did we.

Warren Jones was up next, and he put Greene into the superintendent Hall of Fame, though this guy has been asleep at the wheel since the school name chnages.

Willie, still stewing, he didn’t get an invite to the retirement party took the podium and didn’t hold anything back. She isn’t retiring; he started she is being forced out. I disagree; I think she saw the handwriting on the wall and got while the getting was good.

Pearson was next, and you could tell she wasn’t "smelling what the Willie was cooking." You should watch the video just for Pearson staring at the speakers; she said more when she wasn’t talking than when she was and she talked for a while. I also want to point out that she didn’t get up there an ad lib like the others; no she was prepared, so prepared I bet her speech was written days if not weeks ago.

Joyce didn’t speak.

When Coker, who started the meeting, returned to the podium, somebody asked her a question, which I couldn’t hear, but when Coker spoke, she didn’t talk about Greene retiring; she talked about how she felt the district was ready for a change, which is a lot different from how things had been sold, which was Greene was just ready to go, up to that point and it had all been about her decision to retire.

I think the next question was will Greene’s departure be a distraction to testing and schools. The answer is no; it won’t impact schools at all. Coker then talked about the Greene retirement process, which has been going on for several weeks. Why it was kept a secret is anybody’s guess.

There was another question, and then the press conference wrapped up without the most important question being asked: will Carney publicly confirm or deny she was at the insurrection? I think we all get that her non-answers to the question confirm she was but it is still important it's on the record so people can know what kind of person they have representing children, and that’s an insurrectionist who fought against our nation.

The media continues to abdicate their responsibility every time they have the chance to ask that question and they don’t, and it doesn’t matter that she was elected.

It is an affront to all that is decent and an embarrassment that April Carney is allowed to be there, and I don’t want people to forget that for a second.

If you would like to watch the press conference, click the link.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/news/local/shes-not-retiring-early-shes-being-forced-out-duval-county-superintendent-to-retire-amid-controversy/77-3db72fa6-f712-4d25-9035-51727142a42d

Coker and Pearson have a DeSantis and Decency problem

This past Tuesday, Coker and Pearson voted for DCPS’s new bathroom policy. They did not have to, which makes me wonder why.

They are down with further attacking marginalized children and they support the stats anti-LGBTQ agenda.  

Or since they are DeSantis’s hit list, they are trying to curry favor with him and the rest of the extremists. I would almost rather it be the former because the latter means using the words selfish and coward to describe them would be appropriate.   

If it is the latter, what do they think is going to happen, DeSantis and Moms for Liberty are suddenly going to say, well, they have been as cruel and ignorant as we want; let’s support them instead.  Greene was on team DeSantis for years and they couldn’t wait to get rid of her.

If it’s the latter, Coker and Pearson don’t get the extremists don’t care how much fealty you give, how high you jump went told to do so, or how far you bend the knee. They don’t and they should know that, especially Pearson.

In 2020, the GOP told everyone to vote for Pearson and they spent thousands of dollars supporting her too and since Pearson was elected, she has done everything they asked except have a toothless and optional mask policy.  Ban books, check, attack LGBTQ children, check, throw veteran teachers under the bus, check. She did it all and still, she made their hit list.

Coker and Pearson if you read this, what part of they don’t care what you do, they are coming for you anyway, are you not understanding?

I have mentioned it before, and I will mention it again. I think these two ladies have a tremendous opportunity to pivot to supporting public ed, rath than blindly doing whatever the governor proposes. I think they can educate people about how destructive his policies are, and I think they will be rewarded for it. That or they can continue to do what they are doing now and that’s alienate public ed supporters and do nothing to endear themselves to the fascists.

They had a great opportunity Tuesday night and they passed; they once again told the LGBTQ community their place in DCPS was getting smaller and smaller. Who knows, maybe that’s the message they wanted to send. They should know, however, that public ed supporters heard them loud and clear, and where DeSantis supporters may have heard them too, at the end of the day, they won’t care.  

Let’s talk about the school board’s role in firing the superintendent. (draft)

 Let’s talk about the school board’s role in firing the superintendent.

Kelly Coker, what an unnecessary meeting. Greene should have announced she was retiring, which would have saved a lot of tears over the last week, and then Coker should have scheduled a normal meeting. Scheduling a last-minute meeting under a dubious pretense isn’t how things should be done. She needs to get used to doing things the right way, which would be a refreshing change from how things are usually done.  

I also hope this is a wake-up call for her. There have been no profiles of courage on the board, and the governor has already targeted her for removal. If I were her, I would side with public ed every time, and even if forced to carry out the state’s disastrous policies, I would educate the people on how disastrous they are. If you must go, it’s better to support teachers and students than fascists.

Cindi Pearson, like Coker, has been targeted for replacement which is wild because the GOP was behind her and spent money on her in the last go around. How this uber-Christian conservative mom is not good enough for them is a mystery, especially since, like the rest of the board here, she has had zero pushback to the state. She has an opportunity to step up, and I think she will be rewarded for it. Be silent, and she alienates public ed supporters while the Moms for Fascism could care less and will still fight against her.

Warren Jones, talk about being asleep at the wheel. He hasn’t done anything since changing the school names, and yesterday he said that Greene was being forced out because she wouldn’t follow the governor’s agenda. Um, Warren, that’s all she and you have been doing for the last two years; both of you have been on team DeSantis. Warren, you are the bad guy here, well, one of them anyways.

Darryl Willie, he was outraged the super was being forced out, except she wasn’t. She doesn’t have a job starting 6/2 because she hasn’t been good at her job for quite some time; I mean, unless her job is carrying is marginalizing LGBTQ children, throwing veteran teachers under the bus, and banning books, all things Willie shrugged his shoulders about. The truth is Greene and he weren’t as close as he thought, and she didn’t feel the need to loop him in, but that’s a personal, not education, issue.

Lori Hershey, I don’t know what happened to her. This is not the Hershey from 6 or even 4 years ago because then she was a reliable supporter of public ed.  She really changed when she entertained the idea of running for the state house, and probably because the Republicans in Mandarin are okay with cruelty and revel in ignorance. She is now a lot more Mom’s for Liberty than the education advocate that ran in 2012, was beaten by a hack, and stayed involved because, let’s face it, when most people lose a run for SB, they disappear and then came back an education advocate. Out of all the SB members, I am most disappointed in her because, at one point, she knew better.

April Carney, on the other hand, doesn’t, and she seems more than okay with that.  Can somebody answer me this, is she always yelling and is she always nasty, because every time I see her, that’s how she seems. That’s probably why she fit in so well at the insurrection. To be honest, folks, I would probably be more critical of her, but it is so $%# &^@# ridiculous seeing the insurrectionist on the SB; it's hard to take anything she says or does seriously. I am reminded of the Dean Wormer quote from animal house whenever I see her except replace fat, drunk, and stupid, with angry, ignorant, and fascist.

Charlotte Joyce, people may not realize it, but when she was first elected, it was with the support of teachers and unions. The GOP didn’t want to have anything to do with her. Then she turned heel, and the GOP loved her. Even the school board knows how incapable she is and just looks at who is chair and vice chair for evidence of that; Coker and Pearson are both in their second years on the board, while Joyce is in her fifth and is nowhere near the center seat.    

I would love to write Joyce, and Carney are the villains on the board, but the truth is it’s hard to tell them apart from any of the others. Sure, Pearson and Coker don’t rant and scream and seem competent, but they supported the same policies that Carney and Joyce do, and that’s what really matters.

So, at the end of the day, Jones and Willie were upset, though the real reasons are they weren’t in Greene’s loop and don’t seem to understand they are on team DeSantis, the person they claim forced Greene out, as well. That kind of tone deafness is frightening.

Joyce, Carney, and Hershey are probably happy, though since Greene bent over backward to appease the extremists probably can’t articulate why. Grad jury, something, something, reports, something, something.

Then there is the chair and vice chair, Coker and Pearson, apparently in the loop but still not quite willing to do things the right way. I hope these ladies wake up because DeSantis is coming for them, and if they have to go, I think it’s better to go supporting students and teachers than siding with fascists because even if they weren’t, Greene just found out that to them you are useful until you are not.  

About that grand jury report and those fifty late reports to the state.

Long before Greene showed up, the district had a problem with underreporting and misreporting crimes, and where that is definitely on the district, it is on the state too. You see. The state would factor in crimes and referrals into school grades, and when school grades determine bonuses, promotions, and even continued employment, sometimes people would do squirrely things, and that’s not me justifying it; that’s me explaining it.    

So Greene’s problem isn’t that this started under her; it's she did nothing to stop it until got caught, but let’s talk about the grand jury that caught her.

The DeSantis administration needs enemies and victims, and it isn’t above weaponizing the courts to punish its perceived enemies, but the really crazy thing is the grand jury report came out in December 2020, and nobody cared.

 https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2020/12/11/duval-schools-police-department-lambasted-grand-jury-florida-safety-report/3893537001/

Now I cared and covered it a few times, but these far-right ideologues who are pointing to it as a reason for Greene to go sure as heck didn't. Some people might say it was unsealed last August, but even that was then, it was 9 months before it was brought up again, and I am not sure what that means because there doesn’t appear to be any new information.  

 

I have no doubt Greene continued Duval’s long history of juking the numbers; I don’t, but let's not pretend for a second a weaponized three-plus-year-old grand jury report played any serious role in where she and the district now find themselves.  

Now about those fifty unreported cases. At the school board meetings yesterday, the right made it sound like DCPS had fifty pedophiles stalking the halls of DCPS schools, and that’s just dumb. An investigation will make things clearer, but it’s my bet most if not all, were all administrative (tardies, this or that) or minor victimless crimes.

I am not saying it’s good that they went unreported if they were supposed to be reported, they should have, but they most likely serious offenses like the Moms for Fascist members and Insurrection Barbie April Carey pretended they were; there is so little there-there, we might as well say there is none. The media monitors arrests, and if a teacher were arrested for something serious, it would have made the news.-

DCPS has fourteen thousand employees; fifty over three years is a tiny drop in a big bucket.

So yes, it’s kind of a thing, but in the scale of all the other things, it’s not really.

Then I just want to say I think Greene leaving is good for the district. It is impossible to tell where she begins, and DeSantis ends because she has been a loyal foot-soldier of his. I just can’t stand the hypocrisy of the people on the right who wanted to force her out, pretending they care about the safety of students three years after the report came out and conflating the mundane into something nefarious.   

There are lots of questions about why Greene is out of a job; let’s try and answer them.

I have thought Greene should go for a while. Her silence on important education issues became complicity and I believe, willing participation. I think we can do better. That, however, is not why she is gone and I find the competing narratives as to why she left incredibly disingenuous.

Her supporters claim she is being forced out because she wouldn’t follow the governor’s agenda. Warren Jones and others said as much Tuesday. UM WHAT!!!!! All she has done is follow the governor’s agenda. When the governor asked her to jump, Greene replied time and time again, how high would you like that sir.

Then her detractors said she needed to go because of a grand jury report, fifty unreported cases, and what’s happening a DA.  Um, the grand jury report came out three years ago; the fifty unreported cases aren’t going to amount to anything substantive, and then there is DA. That looks like it is going to be bad when the investigation is finished in oh, about a year.

Here supporters often pointed out that what is happening at DA started before she got there, which where true, ignores that Greene has been here for 5 years, and DA has been a trouble spot for nearly all of them.     

So did any of that play a role? Yes and no, this is what I believe happened.

Greene’s disastrous book policy embarrassed the governor. It was the first chink in his armor after last year's reelection victory and since then, he has been flailing; Disney, his disastrous trip abroad, and his plummeting poll numbers show that.

The governor was embarrassed, and as a petulant child who has never been told no, somebody had to pay but and even though she has carried his water, it was going to be her. The thing is, you can’t just replace a black woman superintendent, especially in a town where your support is already wobbly.   

Then DA broke, and the grand jury, three years after its release, was thrown out meaningfully for the first time, and DA snowballed where more teachers were removed from the classroom.

DA, however, was survivable; she ready weathered a couple DA storms in 20 and 21.

https://www.wokv.com/news/local/douglas-anderson-students-alumni-call-change-after-testimonies-racism-sexism-goes-viral/LR3FQWC2LVFZXECM75V52YHCLQ/

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2021/03/03/meetings-separated-race-segregated-canceled-duval-county-douglas-anderson-school/6902116002/

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2020/06/19/students-alumni-call-out-racism-at-douglas-anderson-school-of-the-arts/

I have no doubt she believed she could survive this until the revelation that 50 cases hadn’t been reported to the state over a three-year period. Even though I don’t believe these cases are going to amount to anything, that was the sound bite her detractors, outraged by the district embarrassing the governor, needed.

Even though she had been on team DeSantis, even though she had done everything and more Mom’s for Fascism, sorry Liberty had asked, it didn’t matter because to them you are useful until you are not, and she lost her utility when the district embarrassed DeSantis over books, the handwriting was on the wall, and she knew it was just a matter of time.    

So, what to do? Retire, that’s what; take your six-figure payout, your drop money, and your 38-year retirement and hit the road.

In the end, I don’t think it was DA, or the grand jury, or even books, though that was the impetus for her being judged out the door, no, it was some run-of-the-mill Greene administration incompetence, not sending the reports to the state that ended up closing the books on Greene.

Others will spin it as she was forced out unjustly or celebrate her departure even if the reasons they give are dubious, but I believe at the end of the day, it was Greene and Greene alone that cost her the job.    

Now you might ask, if she had stayed, would she have been fined or replaced by DeSantis? Maybe, but only because she had given them the opening so soon after embarrassing the governor.

Greene gives the LGBTQ community one more stab in the back

So DCPS had a trans bathroom bill that allowed students to use the bathrooms they identified with. I want to say they have had this policy for about a decade, and if there have been any problems whatsoever, they haven’t made the news.

Fast forward to yesterday as transphobia has gripped the republican party, and the district was voting on changing the bill making it so students had to use the bathroom of the sex that a doctor put on their birth certificate.    

Remember, up till now, there had been no problems or even complaints as far as I can tell. It has also undoubtedly been a benefit to those few trans students in the district, allowing them to feel comfortable in their own skin. Greene's words could probably go a long way in determining the outcome.

Earlier in the day, Greene announced her retirement. She is out the door. So by standing up for LGBTQ children, she didn't have much to lose.

She now had a chance to make up for the last two years, where she and the state had attacked and marginalized the LGBTQ community.  Last night was her golden opportunity to stand up and make up for what she and the state had put the LGBTQ community through. Now was her moment to show the LGBTQ community and are most vulnerable children she really does care, and what did she say in defense of them?

Nothing, not a %$# %^#$ word. She again showed that she didn’t care, which in my mind further cements what I have known for over a year, and that Greene is not a hostage in the DeSantis anti-LGBTIQ agenda; no, she is a willing participant.

She could have stepped up, but she didn’t.

Once again, Greene has shown us who she is. I just don’t get why more people don’t believe her.

 

On her way out the door, Greene shows us who she really cares about, and thats nobody but herself

 Last week when people rallied behind Greene, I was confused and a little frustrated. You see, the people mobilizing for her defense were those people who knew that Greene had been bad for public education. For the last two years, they know that Greene has faithfully carried DeSantis's water. Not once did she push back and support teachers and students, and they knew that too but still, they were there.

All their pleading, crying, and begging were moot because Greene had told the school board she was going to retire weeks before. 

From JaxToday

Coker said the district’s handling of the Douglas Anderson situation was a factor in Greene’s retirement, three years ahead of her contracted schedule. Coker and Hershey said Green notified them in separate meetings last month that she planned to retire.

https://jaxtoday.org/2023/05/02/duval-schools-superintendent-diana-greene-will-retire-july-24/

By letting the public know, Greene could have saved much pain and division over the last few weeks, but she didn't, and for what? So they could stroke her ego? So she could get a few more nickles in her retirement settlement.

Somebody said to me why should Greeene risk her job by standing up to DeSantis. Apparently, they were okay with Greene looking out for number one and number one only, and that's something she did all the way to the end. 

I know people are nervous about what comes next, and so am I, but that being said, I believe we can do better.

To learn more, click the link above. 

Greene isn't responsible for anything, just ask her supporters (draft)

 Being a super has to be incredibly difficult, and being a super in Florida has to be nearly impossible; I get it. That being said, it's a job Greene signed up for, and there should be nothing wrong with wanting her to do her job well; we should all not just want it but expect it too. Unless you are one of her supporters in the recent dust-up with the state, then she gets a pass because she's not responsible for anything.  

I have talked with several people I respect and like who is solidly on Team Greene, wondering what I was missing. I did not see this level of support for somebody who has been over backward to appease the extremists, something one of them said. 

I expected most people to shrug their shoulders and prepare to move on.  

After hemming and hawing, the reasons for their loyalty were universally light on substance or incorrect.

They said she has had a target on her back since COVID. Um, no, Greene did everything she could to support the DeSantis agenda. She fought against masks, and it was only a rare showing of backbone that saw DCPS initiate a mask policy that Greene quickly kneecapped.  

They have said she has been forced to follow the DeSantis agenda, and yes and no.

First, this makes it sound like she is just following orders, which has never been a winner in history.

Then she is not forced to do anything; she can make choices and say no. Now there may be consequences, and one can argue those are what she has sought to avoid, but in doing so, she just passes on consequences to teachers who had their classroom libraries stripped and LGBTQ children who have been attacked and hounded. She made her being safe and comfortable her priority, and fair enough, but let's not pretend there is anything noble about it.  

I also want to point out that I have never called for her breaking or resisting laws. We have an angry child in the governor's office. Instead, I have called for her to follow the laws and educate people as she does. She made the choice over and over to stay silent. She could have said, as super, I am obligated to follow these laws, but these laws hurt children and teachers, these laws are bad for public ed, and I would urge you to find candidates who support public ed, who want to help it succeed instead of tearing it down. Instead, she remained silent time and time and time and time again.  

Let's talk about D.A. I have heard over and over there were other supers in charge while things were going on, and where true; Greene has been in charge since 2018. Isn't she, at the very least, partly responsible? The same goes for the Grand Jury, which reported the district covering up crimes from 2016-2020.  Nothing? She gets a pass? Well, some of her supporters think she should.  

Emptying classroom libraries, she was forced to, they say, which doesn't explain why 65 of the 67 school districts didn't do it.

Attacks on the LGBTQ community, she didn't have a choice? This is true except for the scraping off of safe space stickers, the gutting of the handbook, the taking down of anti-bullying videos, ending the relationship with JASMYN, and getting rid of every book with a gay character.  

Nothing is her fault, and everything can be explained away.

What am I missing? Is she not in charge of or responsible for anything?

This is my bottom line, I think there are definitely politics going on; DCPS embarrassed the governor, and even though she has been in lockstep with him, somebody has to pay, and I also believe there is a racial component; if she was not a black woman, the support for firing/keeping, form both sides would be different but after all that, I don't care. If she ends up leaving partly for some bad reasons, I am more than okay with it because she has given us plenty of good ones.  

Lets talk about Greene's two year attack on the LGBTQ community

 Florida has become increasingly hostile to the LGBTQ community, but there is Florida and Dr. Greene who has gone above and beyond. 

Remember when the district gutted its LGBTQ support guide.

https://jaxtoday.org/2022/05/17/what-duval-schools-is-cutting-from-its-lgbtq-support-guide/ 

They got rid of 29 out of 37 pages of the support guide and stripped out all the written protections for transgender students. The gist is now they will take cases on a case-by-case basis, which means 160 schools will do things in 160 different ways, which seems like a terrible way of doing things, but more insidious, teachers and staff will be required to out children who identify as LGBTQ children who for whatever reasons haven't informed their parents, to those parents. Now there can be lots of reasons a child has made that decision, but as far as I can tell, none of them are good.

The thing is, they weren't required to do so. The district chose to do so. 

We have all heard the old saying, with friends like these, we don't need enemies. Superintendent Greene has repeatedly said she supports our LGBTQ students, but her actions speak a lot louder. With a  friend like her, the LGBTQ community definitely doesn't need any enemies.  

Over the summer, she had her district apparatchik scratch off rainbow stickers from classroom walls and doors, followed by district changing policies which now say teachers could no longer post items like safe place stickers and rainbow flags in their classrooms. Shortly thereafter, the district LGBTQ  support guide was gutted, and anti-bullying videos were taken down.

How about JASMYN? 

 Attacks are coming fast, and furious against Florida's LGBTQ community, and nowhere is that more evident than in Duval County Public schools, where teachers had rainbow stickers scraped off walls and all the protection that LGBTQ children had have been gutted.

Superintendent Greene has been pushing her anti-LGBTQ agenda for months now and if the past is prologue Greene's excuse blaming recent "media" for severing the district's relationship with JASMYN is nothing but an excuse, and it would have happened sooner or later, with emphasis on the sooner with April Carney now on the board. 

Even if you think JASMYN messed up, doesn't a 20-year relationship and the important work they do deserve a second chance? Nope, not to Greene, who reassigns loyal admins as easily as I breathe; she again sided with the moms for liberty bigots. 

 What about canceling the play Indecent?

When I went to high school, we had an annual event called Mr. Ugly, a beauty pageant of sorts where high school boys dressed up as women. I wonder if this decades-old event is going to be allowed to continue or not.  

I ask because, inexplicably, DCPS made Douglass Anderson School for the performing arts cancel their spring play Indecent. The reason they gave was it had adult themes.  

From the Jax Today newsletter. 

A high school production of “Indecent,” a play about censorship featuring a prostitute and gay Jewish characters, has been canceled due to what Duval County Public Schools describes as “inappropriate” content. 

https://news.wjct.org/first-coast/2023-01-06/high-school-play-indecent-sexual-content 

Hmm, a story about a Jew and prostitute. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Maybe from a little book called the bible? 

While we are at it, how about those times the district-approved charter schools run by blatant homophobes. This tweet was from the former operator of Jacksonvilles 2 classical charter schools 

That's right, my LGBTQ friends, you don't have to burn in hell; it's a choice.

When people stand up for Greene, they are giving the LGBTQ community the middle finger. Please don't tell me she has been forced to do it, like just following orders will ever be a valid excuse, because much of what happened in DCPS was a choice, but regardless, the bottom line is when you partner with bigots and homophobes, its impossible to tell you apart.