The racial overtones of the attacks on Superintendent Greene

Let me make this clear, I am not saying these men are racist, I am how asking why when a white man was the super, one who arguably didn't do as well as her, there were no such attacks.

Richard Corcoran,
In May at an incredible state board of education meeting state commissioner Richard Corcoran chided superintendent Green to give our schools to the IDEA academy, saying the district had failed it's children.  He even said he wants the authority to take over schools.

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/2019/05/22/florida-education-commissioner-suggests-takeover-authority-for-long-struggling-schools/

Jason Fischer 
Jason Fischer, amends his J-1 bill from having an appointed school board to having an elected superintendent.

http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2019/09/jason-fischer-turns-his-attacks-towards.html

Lenny Curry
The chutzpah of this guy as he has led the charge of the referendum, so DCPS can't take care of its maintenance needs.

Mayor Lenny Curry says he'll ensure problems facing Duval County ... If your management (Greene) can't fix basic needs like air conditioning, we will.".
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/jacksonville-mayor-lenny-curry-accepting-email-requests-to-fix-classrooms-schools/77-5ab856ab-8f27-406f-92fd-034b11240d19

Jordan Elsbury, assistant to the mayor.
 

So Greene is a bureaucrat with little results, despite leading Manatee County and DCPS to its best graduation rates and to less than one percentage point away from an A district grade.

Then throw in Gary Chartrand the Ponta Vedra millionaire and puppeteer, who didn't want Greene chosen to be super, for good measure

What do all of these people have in common? I think you can figure it out.

Let me make this clear, I am not saying these men are racist, I am how asking why when a white man was the super, one who arguably didn't do as well as her, there were no such attacks.

Lenny Curry claims he knew nothing about the district's AC needs.

Hoo boy, wow, okay, deep breath.

Yesterday in an obvious political stunt, Mayor Curry claimed he didn't know anything about the district's air conditioner woes when he offered to help. Now you should ask yourself, is he lying, which brings up a whole host of issues, or is he that uninformed which would be even worse.

You won't have to wait very long, about a minute in, the reporter says he said, he had no idea,

https://www.news4jax.com/education/mayor-curry-offers-city-dollars-to-fix-duval-county-schools

There was a better video where you can hear him actually saying it but I couldn't find it today. If I find it later I will switch it in

I googled, Duval County Schools, air conditioning, and there were literally dozens of entries from the beginning of the summer till today.

Here are just five.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/investigations/a_c-issues-impacted-41-duval-county-schools-on-1st-day-of-classes-work-orders-show

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190622/maintenance-woes-plague-duval-schools

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/jacksonville/texts-reveal-numerous-ac-issues-during-last-2-weeks-of-school

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/education/duval-county-public-school-teachers-speak-out-on-how-schools-repair-needs-are-impacting-students/77-1151a092-f29f-403f-95db-92f4789d366c

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190624/its-easier-here-get-ready-for-fight-over-duval-schools

Is it possible that Curry could have somehow missed all this coverage? I would think no, but 4 months ago, I would have said there was no way a mayor and city council would fight against, jobs, schools, a city, stimulus, children, revitalizing neighborhoods, attracting businesses and slowing or stopping flight to the suburbs, too and boy was I wrong.

What Curry did was a stunt, pure and simple.

We have real problems and we deserve serious people trying to solve them.

   

Who wants to have an elected super more, Fischer and Curry or the man who gave them six figures? (draft)

Three white men looking to replace an African american woman by the way.

In this past cycle alone, Gary Chartrand gave Curry over fifty grand and Fischer over thirty, couple that with the tens of thousands he has given them in the past and the amount adds up.

Chartrand had a plan for a long time and that was through donations garner influence over the school board. Even though he doesn't even live in Jacksonville he has donated to a candidate in every race since at least 2012. That's all 7 districts and double digit candidates, and he has had some success too.

The KIPP school despite mediocre numbers was allowed to expand, charter growth expanded greatly and TFA came to town, but I imagine for him progress was slow and he wasn't getting the return on investment he hoped for. Becki Couch, Warren Jones and Ashley Smith-Juarez all took money from him at one time but resisted his agenda. Then all too often the citizens of Jacksonville have rejected his candidates. This last round only one of three that he supported won, and just barely at that.

His goal of an all charter city maned by temps, sorry Teach for America wasn't likely to happen at the pace he was going.

So why buy a school board, who has had a lot of their authority eroded when you can buy a mayor and a state representative and that's where Curry and Fischer come in.

It's here his return on investment has been tremendous. For his hundred grand, he has received almost 1.4 million from the city, through the kids hope alliance and about five million from the state, money Jason Fischer has inserted into the budget, both figures to help his pet charter school the KIPP school.

Now I don't want to be disingenuous, a lot of republicans in politics have an irrational dislike of public education and an equaly irrational love for charters, I don't think it took a lot of convincing for Curry and Fischer to betray the city's children, but the money Chartrand gave and the access to more from Chartrand's friends certainly didn't hurt.

I guess the bottom line is, if there was no Chartrand, I doubt there would even be a Curry or Fischer in office, but if they were, I imagine they couldn't carve less about electing a superintendent. 

Greed, sexism and racism drive Jacksonville's decisions.

Jason Fischer's change to his J-1 bill from having an appointed school board to have an elected superintendent, quite the stunning reversal if you think about it is about racism and sexism as much as it has been about greed.

The referendum would undoubtedly help those minority communities in Jacksonville that have one promise after another broken, but instead of taking care of them, councilmen like Micheal Boyloan and Scott Wilson, who represent more affluent parts of town say what about us. Charlotte Joyce the one school board member who has opposed the referendum told the families at a majority white school, they shouldn't support the referendum because their upgrades won't come for quite some time. They aren't screaming the N word but the implication is clear, black kids who need the resources the most need to wait their turn.

Then I want to point out that when we had a white man who often bent the knee to the city's white elites replacing him wasn't an option but now that we have a black woman who is interested in helping those schools, which happen to be minority that need it the most, the city's elites are falling over themselves to replace her.

From the Times Union,

A month after state Rep. Jason Fischer filed a bill that would have turned the elected Duval County School Board into a mayoral-appointed board, Fischer changed course Friday and said he will instead seek the state Legislature’s approval for a voter referendum on whether the school superintendent should be an elective office.

Fischer, R-Jacksonville, said giving voters the ability to elect the superintendent — currently hired by the School Board — would give them more influence over what happens in the school district.

“I don’t think the status quo is working in our school system,” Fischer said. “I don’t think that all kids are being served, and change starts at the top.”

He said most Florida counties elect their superintendent, and Duval County voters “should have the opportunity to decide” if they want to do the same.

“It’s clear to me that voters want more say about what happens in their school system, so it’s just a natural evolution of the conversation,” he said.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190906/new-push-to-make-superintendent-elective-office?fbclid=IwAR1FbPVblnqckw7AqZkbyqDnVaRin49OT2hAoY1xGoFloRRYflj76hoF_vQ

Oy vey, his tone deafness is deafening, he said people want to say more about what is happening, while his team is denying people the right to vote. Serious what the %$#^!?!

Then the leadership at the top that needs to be replaced is Scott Wilson on the council and Lenny Curry our mayor. They have denied people the right to vote and have done so to benefit their donors interests.

This is about freed, who controls the districts budget, real estate and any referendum money, and Fischer's donors want to get paid, as much as it is about sexism and racism, and we shouldn't fail to recognize that.

Fischer could care less about what the people of Jacksonville think, he only cares about himself and that's a shame. 

Jason Fischer turns his attacks towards superintendent Greene

Jason Fischer, Lenny Curry and Gary Chartrand routinely compete for who is the worst. Fischer today pulled into the lead and he did it on behalf of the other two.

Fischer amended his universally reviled J-1 bill which would have the school board appointed, to making the superintendent elected. Um, think about that, originally he thought elections were the problem and we needed appointments, now he thinks appointments are the problem and we need elections. He is a bad joke that unfortunately the people of Jacksonville have to endure.

From Florida Politics, 

On Friday afternoon, the Jacksonville City Council Rules Committee planned to consider a motion to oppose proposed changes to the local school board.

But before they could do that, the bill was changed.

Ordinance 2019-595 would express opposition to a proposed “local bill” in the state Legislature that would allow the Jacksonville Mayor to appoint the Duval County School Board.

Hours before the meeting, the local bill proposed was changed. The new version scraps that and seeks an elected superintendent, a move that would align Duval with 41 other counties in the state.

Local Bill J-1 was drafted in August by state Rep. Jason Fischer, a former School Board member.

Fischer is an ally of Mayor Lenny Curry, and Curry wants an elected Superintendent — currently an appointed position.

Fischer explained the changes Friday, saying there was “no better way to strengthen voters’ voices and control over their local school system than to elect the Superintendent.”

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/305036-school-board-change-duval

Hahahaha, Jason said he cared about voters, oh boy I am just glad I wasn't drinking milk when I read that,

Jason doesn't care about anybody but himself, though he will do the bidding of Curry, Chartrand and others if he thinks it will get him somewhere. They think if the position is elected they can get some big dollar player in here to take the job, instead of somebody with expertise and experience, someone who will aid them with their agenda to privatize our schools. They are comic book villains  

Fischer is the worse and more and more people are coming to realize that.

One last thing, when we had a white guy super, one who cow towed to the city's elite, this wasn't a discussion and that should really tell you all you need to know.

Just who does Lenny Curry and City Hall think they are fooling?

After the school board so no thank you to be extorted out of hundreds of millions of dollars by the city council. Lenny Curry released a statement.


Um what? Collaborating? The right program? Oh yeah by those things he means do whatever he says and give him whatever he wants. I have to be honest I don't even think that would work because he wants our schools to fail.

Anyhoo, I rewrote Curry's press release to make it accurate. 

An honest statement would have said, instead of taking care of children, fixing schools, revitalizing neighborhoods, creating jobs, attracting businesses, and stopping flight to the suburbs the mayor

has decided to fight against those things so his donors can get paid.
The Landing, Lot J, the JEA, the referendum, him ignoring the needs and will of the people is not a one off. He doesn't care about us or what's best for us. This is dreadful living under his thumb, I can only take solace in that more and more people are waking up and they don't like it either.

Tommy Hazouri, says 211 million is nothing, sets price for extortion (draft)

Last night's city council meeting where not unexpected was still disappointing.

From Scott Wilson clearing the gallery to various members swearing fealty to the civic council, people had a lot to choose from on the disappointment menu.

Perhaps most disappointing however was Tommy Hazouri. Him knowing more than most about our schools needs and that the school board does not work for city council did not stop him from saying some outrageous things.

Hazouri said since 11 percent of Duval kids were in charter schools they should get 11 percent of the referendum and that was only 211 million dollars, he said it like it was nothing. He said he was disappointed that the board didn't feel the need to give charters that money and with contempt in his voice let them know.

Think about that, the former mayor first dismissed 211 million dollars like it was nothing, and then scolded the school board for not giving into the city council's extortion. This is what politics has become. We are Transactionville and Hazouri has embraced it, except what he wants only benefits him.

Hazouri endorsed Lenny Curry and then betrayed the city's schools and children and he was rewarded for it by becoming the vice president of the council and I am sure this time next year he expects to be president.

Here is the thing though, we have a mayor and a bunch of council members who have shown that they are willing to shirk their duties on behalf of  handful of donors and throw kids under the bus, does anyone think they are going to keep their backroom deal with Hazouri?

My bet is they won't and Hazouri will have thrown away his reputation and legacy for nothing and that will actually be a good day because anyone willing to sell out children for personal gain deserves neither.

Tommy ya done messed up.



Tommy it's not how you start, its how you finished and you have finished poorly.


  

Lenny Curry doesn't care how bad the corruption in his administration looks

Sam Mousa must know where the bodies are buried. Not since Scott Shine has the establishment tried to protect someone so much. On the heels of Mousa being rewarded for trying to extort the school district out of neatly a half million dollars with a no bid sic figure contract City Hall changed its rules to benefit Mousa.

From the Times Union,

Sam Mousa, Jacksonville City Hall’s recently retired top administrator, received clearance earlier this summer to work for the Jacksonville Jaguars on their proposed Lot J development, a relationship that could otherwise have been prohibited by the city’s ethics code because of his direct involvement in the project as a city employee.

Brian Hughes, who replaced Mousa as Mayor Lenny Curry’s chief administrative officer after he retired on June 28, wrote a letter on July 1 stating that it would be in the “best interests of the public” for Mousa to consult the Jaguars on the project, citing his “unique and valuable perspective and experience” related to the city’s sports complex area. He wrote that Mousa’s service would not include any lobbying.

The city’s ethics code contains a revolving-door provision that restricts former employees from working on behalf of outside groups on matters they were involved in while working for the city. However, it also allows former employees with “professional, scientific and technological backgrounds” from engaging in work that could otherwise be prohibited if the city declares doing so would be in the public’s best interest.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190820/mayor-lenny-currys-office-gives-unprecedented-waiver-to-revolving-door-ban-for-retired-administrator-to-work-for-jacksonville-jaguars

The public's interests or Curry's interests? 

If you can ignore what Mousa did with the school board how can you ignore what he did with Kids Hope Alliance where he tried to pressure its director to give up 10 thousand dollar grants to voters Curry was wooing. Well apparently city hall can.


I wish Curry and City Hall cared a tenth as much about the city's children as they do about Mousa.

Friends, we aren't being led, we are being ruled.

Boylan and Priestly-Jackson come to Jesus, Hazouri continues to disappoint

Boylan and Preistly-Jackson came to Jesus all be it though kicking and screaming, and supported passing the school tax referendum to the city council for a full vote while Tommy Hazouri continued to disappoint by voting to withdraw the referendum.

I say they came kicking and screaming because after they supported it, they both gave soliloquies explaining their reservations.It's unclear if they were sending their thoughts to the school board or if they were telling King Curry they felt like they didn't have any choice and pleading for forgiveness.  

Similarly Freemen and Pitman during the fiance committee which more resembled a roast of the school board, vote not to withdraw, though its unclear if they will ultimately support the referendum.

From the Times Union,

“I have genuine concerns with how this process rolled out,” Rules Committee member Brenda Priestly Jackson said. “I’m in support, but I want the school board to understand this is going to be largely on them to push and advocate for. I’m not sure the level of engagement is where it needs to be in order to pass.”

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190820/finance-committee-votes-to-reject-school-construction-bill-on-5-2-vote-rules-approves-it-4-3

Boylan wasn't much better but I guess at the end of the day them supporting it is what counts.

Hazouri on the hand double down on his legacy destroying stand.

Make sure you real all three of Times Union reporter, Emily Bloch's tweets



He parrots Scott Wilson's lie.

He criticizes the school board for not giving into their demands for charter schools.

Then complains they aren't getting any answers which is a lie he tells all on his own. They have gotten answers, he just doesn't like them.

Next year when King Curry cuts him loose and he goes from vice president of the council to vice chairman on the crossing guard committee I am going to laugh my ass off.

We all know what you did Tommy and its pretty deplorable.

New poll supports the tax referendum repudiates Lenny Curry's agenda

When you have a city hall that consistently goes against the will of  the people at some point you have to ask yourself why, and a recent poll by Florida Politics shows that Lenny Curry is upside down on the city's priorities.

From Florida Politics,

The poll also covered issues of importance to Jacksonville voters.

Also a non-starter with voters: the JEA Board’s current exploration of privatizing the utility.

The proposal has 15 percent approval and 70 percent disapproval. Its greatest popularity is at 19 percent, with Republicans.

The survey of likely voters showed strong support for a referendum for a school sales tax, with 56 percent offering conceptual support.

Meanwhile, the survey shows there is no appetite for the Mayor to appoint School Board members.

State Rep. Jason Fischer filed a bill with just that proposal, but the concept is at 80 percent disapproval with likely voters. Its most significant “popularity” is with Republicans, at 18 percent.

Curry, for his part, floated a proposal for an elected school Superintendent. We didn’t poll that, but it would be a heavy lift with some members of the Jacksonville City Council.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/303649-poll-shows-overwhelming-opposition-to-lenny-curry-priorities

I bet if they would have asked about Lot J and the Landing, the mayor wouldn't have liked that news either.

We don't live in a city where the leadership cares about the citizenry, we live in a city where they only care about themselves and in Curry's case, a seat on the team jet. 

Jacksonville asks the city not to believe their eyes and ears when it comes to corruption

Corrupt city says, don't look at the corruption.

You know when they attack the messenger it's because they are afraid that people are listening to the message and that's what the city did when it put out a statement about councilman Dennis's request the FBI investigate city hall.

  

Sigh, well friends lets take a look at what has been revealed in just the last couple of weeks.

Two of Lenny Curry's top lieutenants attempted to extort the school board out of nearly a half million dollars.

When the story was revealed city hall gave one of them a no bid, seemingly no responsibility, six figure, four year contract.

The director of the Kids Hope Alliance felt pressured to give micro grants to buy votes, sorry prevent violence.

Another of Lenny's top lieutenants has a text message found by public records that seems to validate this.

Curry has prodded the city attorney on Twitter telling him how to find on the tax referendum.

Curry has fought against the city's schools and children, as well as jobs, attracting business, stopping or slowing flight to the suburbs, you know things that are usually a no brianer for a mayor, on behalf of his mega donors.

Ignore one of these things, shrug your shoulders at another but taken in total it paints a pretty clear picture of a lawless city hall.

I think we have just scratched the surface too.

This is us, this is Jacksonville and friends we aren't being led, we are being ruled and done so on behalf of a handful of rich donors.

Another city official is thrown under Curry's bus. Sam Mousa you have to know it's coming (draft)

Here is the readers digest.

Joe Peppers head of the kids hope alliance felt pressured by two of Curry's top lieutenants, to buy votes, err give micro grants of 10k without going through the normal procurement process.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190814/city-official-mayor-lenny-currys-office-pressured-him-to-steer-grant-money-to-preferred-groups

Now that the story has broke, Peppers is under investigation and has been placed on leave. Welcome to Jacksonville.

From News4Jax,

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is now looking at the cellphone of the man who has led the city’s primary agency to help children for the past 16 months.

Joe Peppers, the CEO of Jacksonville’s Kids Hope Alliance, was placed on paid leave Wednesday while the city's inspector general investigates. The nature of that investigation has not been made public.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/jacksonville/investigation-into-ceo-of-citys-kids-hope-alliance-expands

Um, so the guy that was intimidated to do something he knew was wrong, on behalf of the family, to avoid biting the hand that feeds him, is being investigated????

What the beep?!? Come on man!

Where is the investigation into Sam Mousa who now has two squirley strikes against him, this and when he and Tim Baker while Mousa was a city employee attempted to extort nearly a half million from the district?

Where is the investigation into what Curry knew and when about that? 

Where is the investigation into Curry putting undue influence on his lackey in the OGC Jason Gabriel?

Is the IG beholden to Curry as well?

We look more like Chicago in the sixties and seventies than the bold new city of the south.

Senator Audrey Gibson and Nate Monroe win the internet

Jason Gabriel has made one bad ruling after another about the sales tax referendum and the reason, to quote another attorney in his office, is because he doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him. Gabriel is beholden to the mayor, not to the law, not to the citizens and not to decency, let that sink in.

On Twitter, Nate Monroe mentioned how a ruling about the Orange Park school referendum directly disputed all that Gabriel has said and done. It was like a perfect set up in volleyball, that Senator Gibson promptly spiked.



Everything that City Attorney Jason Gabriel does should be looked at by how it personally benefits Curry or as his top lieutenant Sam Mousa referred to the mayors office when he tried to intimidate the head of the Kids Hope Alliance, the family. Why because it is the mayor's hand that feeds him.

The battle for the tax referendum isn't about helping children it's about helping charter owners get paid

First take a look at the chart below composed by the Times Union,

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190813/live-blog-duval-county-sales-tax-referendum-discussion

So what are you looking at there?

Notice how only three of the city's charter schools are owned by the charter school? 29 are leased and many of those are leased to a sister entity, a company run by the same people who run the charter school. If the tax referendum was given proportionally to charter schools, those charter school management companies stand to rake in the public money.

This entire fight is to get more money into the pocket's of charter operators.

Friends Lenny Curry and the city council, could not possibly care less about children.

Jason Fischer learned in Lenny Curry's world you are useful until you aren't. (draft)

I don't think there is anybody that Lenny Curry wouldn't throw under the bus if he thought it would benefit him. First it was the city's schools and children, and now Jason Fischer has tread marks. If I was Sam Mousa I would be getting worried.

Jason Fischer introduced the universally panned J-1 bill that wanted to strip voters of the right to vote for the school board and instead make them appointed by the mayor. It is inconceivable that he did so without input from the Mayor, inconceivable.

Curry, I believe looking for cover from one of the scandals currently rocking city hall and seeing how unpopular the proposal was, promptly threw Fischer under the nearest bus.

From Florida Politics,

  In football terms, it would be a quarterback option.

With Jacksonville currently debating a proposed local bill for a mayoral-appointed School Board, Mayor Lenny Curry on Tuesday called for something else.

Keep the School Board elected, Curry said.

Curry ally and state Rep. Jason Fischer proposed a measure last week to bring the School Board under the purview of the Mayor’s Office.

However, Curry denied any input on the bill, and he let Fischer know on Tuesday that he saw it differently.

While Curry recognizes that Fischer “started a conversation about accountability in the Executive Branch,” the Mayor believes voters should ultimately decide.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/303157-elect-supe-says-curry

Now in the same article Curry did call for electing the superintendent, something he didn't when a white man was super and school bard chair, hmm could we elect the city council president too perhaps from an at large member?  Two also terrible ideas but there can be know doubt the loud ka-dump, ka-dump, ka-dump you just heard was Fisher getting rolled over by a buses three sets of wheels.

Mousa, Sam, get in front of this once one domino falls, more inevitably do. You might be thinking he would never do that to you, well buddy, that's what the city's children thought as well.

Lenny Curry frees us of the notion that we live in a city that cares its citizens and the rule of law (draft)

I would like to thank Lenny Curry and the City Council. They have done the city a great service. They have freed us the citizens of the notion that they work for the people and care about the people of Jacksonville. They have let us know that it's only their political donors that they care about.

Lenny Curry  and the City Council took a no-brainer, a tax referendum to help our schools and they turned it into a bare knuckle brawl on behalf of a handful of super donors.

When they say they are fighting to get charters more money, they aren't. They are fighting for two charters the KIPP school and the Tiger Academy, charter schools with close ties to the civic council to get more money, despite the fact these two charters already get a lot more money than every other school in the city. 

The Tiger Academy got a million extra and the KIPP 2.6 million plus last year alone. This is above their per pupil allotment. This is extra tax payer money. Yet their owners still want more and maybe it is because the KIPP school owes two members on the Civic Council, Tom Baker, and Gary Chartrand over ten million dollars.

Not only are the mayor and city council fighting against the city's children and schools, but they are also fighting against revitalizing neighborhoods, creating jobs, attracting businesses and slowing or reversing the flight to the suburbs, or you know things Mayors and City Councils usually want to do.

Not our mayor, not our city council anyways, no they are only interested in serving their donors, a handful of mostly white and mostly super rich men on the civic council. The group that really runs, sorry, rules our city.

So thank you Lenny Curry and Council President Wilson, thank you majority of the city council, you have let us know where we stand, and we will remember.

Education Matters EXCLUSIVE, transcript of Curry and Gabriel's conversation about the sales tax referendum

I was sent this by an insider at City Hall and no it wasn't Sam Mousa because who can afford that guy.

It is a transcript of Lenny Curry and Jason Gabriel's conversation about the tax referendum.

Gabriel- What's the matter boss you look down?

Curry- Just trying to figure out how to stop the school board from placing a half cent sales tax on the ballot this November to help with their schools.

Gabriel- Don't they have some of the oldest schools in the state?

Curry- Yes

Gabriel- And don't they have hundreds of millions in maintenance needs?

Curry- Indeed they do.

Gabriel- Then won't a lot of money go to parts of the city that have been historically neglected?

Curry- Again yes but you aren't seeing the big picture.

Gabriel- What is that boss?

Curry- Big Daddy's donors have to get paid.

Gabriel- ohh.

Curry- It's like this, you know how you are beholden to me for your job, and how I could cut you loose at any time for any reason.

Gabriel- gulp, yes.

Curry- well its like that with me and my donors. If I don't make sure they get paid, this may be it for me. Why would Kahn let me on the Jags plane if this is it for me. Unless I can give him hundreds of millions for lot J, anyhoo I digress.

Gabriel, wow boss, you are in a bind, if wish there was something I could do to help but the statutes are pretty clear, the city council "shall" put the referendum on the ballot.

Curry- Maybe you can just say, shall doesn't mean shall.

Gabriel- um what would it mean then?

Curry, how about, maybe, if you want, could? You are the lawyer legalese it up.

Gabriel- Boss there is no amount of legalese I could use to do that.

Curry- you sure about that?

Gabriel- pretty sure?

Curry- do you like your job and its salary?

Gabriel- yes, gulp

Curry- then how sure are you?

Gabriel- not very now that I think about it.

Curry- then you shall do it!

Gabriel- I shall.   

How Jason Gabriel took a ridiculously bad ruling and made it even worse.

Um we are paying for this. We are paying a lot of money for this, I hope people realize that.

So the original ruling ignored statute and changed the meaning of the word "shall" but it didn't try and bludgeon us over the head with word games either. 

The original ruling was ridiculously bad, so what does Gabriel do? He says hold my beer.


Um that's not a review of the law, that's a word game and not a good one at that.

Um is Gabriel the city attorney or does he make crossword puzzle clues.

Um what the %$#^!!!!

Did I mention we paid a lot of money for this?

Even if I hated public education. Even if I wanted all the money the referendum would generate to go to charters and even if I as a general rule didn't care what people thought, I would be embarrassed by Gabriel's ruling and the reason behind it.

I wonder if when Lenny Curry came to him with above Gabriel was like um, or just said I shall take care if it.

Wow

Lenny Curry is a liar and/or ignorant and either are bad for the city.

In a way I can see how he was elected with just 14 percent of the city voting for him. He seems to bop through life with a confidence brought on by ignorance and a willingness to bully. Hmm does that sound familiar to anyone?

Well despite problems in our schools brought on by a lack or resources for over a decade and some of the oldest schools in the state, Curry had some interesting things to say in Florida Politics.

“Why all of a sudden is the sky falling on buildings? They woke up one day and said there was a crisis,” Curry contended.

“Where was the crisis a year ago,” Curry asked. “Where was the crisis two years ago?”

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/303157-elect-supe-says-curry

Curry lies as effortless as I breathe and I just want to get that out there.

Word on the street is Vitti wanted to do a referendum back in 2016 but Curry asked him to hold off so he could pass his pension plan, which, will turn out to be a disaster for the people of Jacksonville.

Also is he implying there isn't a crisis? That there isn't any needs? That the school board just made it all up? If that's the case why is he willing to support the referendum in 2020?  How does that make sense?

The thing is, this problem has been going on and getting worse for a decade now as Tallahassee has systematically underfunded education.

Then Curry might not know how time works but our schools here some of the oldest in the state and we were the only big district without a secondary income source for its schools last year and two years ago and three years ago...

Curry is a liar, ignorant or both.

We deserve better. It's time to start the recall.

Jason Fischer is the status quo he rails against

Jason Fischer says the status quo id Duval's school system isn't working and that is why he proposed bill J-1, a bill that would give the mayor the ability to appoint the school board.

He did this despite the district having it's highest graduation ever and last year being less than one percentage point away from an A. Now personally I don't think those are very good metrics, but they are the metrics that Fischer's side set up that indicate success.

So despite the district heading in the right direction and being more successful in the state metrics than ever before Fischer wants to blow the system up.

He also hasn't explained why he thinks the mayor would be better. Last I saw the only things the mayor did well was post pictures of his son working out on twitter (creepy) and giving public money away.

Fischer talks about how the status quo is failing which is ironic because he is entrenched in the status quo. If you have problems with education in Florida and I hope you do, you should point your finger at Fischer's team, the republicans in Tallahassee who have completely controlled public education in Florida for over 20 years. They own the privatization, they own the starvation of resources, they own the over testing and the blame the teacher evaluations and the teacher shortage. 
 
He represents the status quo but he is so intellectually dishonest he can't admit it.



The status quo owns all of that.

The reality is what Fischer is trying to do has nothing to do with the status quo and has everything to do with real estate and money. The school board controls a lot and Fischer wants his donors to control it. People say all the time, just follow the money and that applies here.

Jason Fischer will say and do anything if he thinks it will advance his career and that includes selling out the city'c children and stripping people of the right to vote for their school board members and don't think for a second that isn't true.