You get a gun, I get a gun, all teachers get a gun, coming soon to DCPS

 Guns in classrooms, sigh, why is the solution to gun violence often more guns? Is the solution to cancer more cancer? What bad thing can be solved with more of that bad thing? Despite this, guns in the classroom may be coming to DCPS, especially after superintendent Greene’s hard right turn and embracing the indefensible. 

In the Florida Voice, school board member Lori Hershey was asked about any upcoming community meetings and this is what she said. 

 Q: Do you have any community meetings planned?
A: Yes. We will have a community meeting on Jan. 17 from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Loretto Elementary School specifically to discuss an upcoming safety topic. With the apparent desire of the Florida Commissioner of Education to expand the Guardian Program to include the ability for teachers and coaches to carry a gun in schools, I’d like to get the community’s input. Presently, Duval County Public Schools is operating under a resolution we passed about five years ago that limits gun carry to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and our security guards. This possible expansion is something I’d like the community to learn about and give their input. I hope to learn what District 7 thinks of this proposal at this meeting. 

https://www.floridanewsline.com/mandarin/q-a-with-duval-county-school-board-member-lori-hershey-district-7-22/ 

I have always liked Mrs. Hershey, now don’t get me wrong, I was befuddled and disappointed when after thinking about a run for the state house, she played to a far-right base and voted against changing the names of schools named after confederate generals, but overall she has been a solid though not very vocal supporter of public education. However, with that part, she has plenty of company. 

So should I be glad she is having a community meeting to discuss it? Probably not, as we have seen how the right-wing base turns out recently to fight against LGBTQ protections, sex ed, and books, yes, books. I can imagine a mob of gun-nuts showing up demanding their teachers have guns even though this will undoubtedly lead to a tragedy and don’t take my word for it, take facts and evidence instead. 

From the University of Connecticut 

There is extremely limited evidence on the effectiveness of SROs in deterring violence. There is no empirical support for the suggestion that SROs prevent school shootings.^[lvii] Research on averted school shootings – incidents planned by students and then prevented – suggests that the key is having trusted adults whom other students can inform.^[lviii] 

In the triad model concept advanced by NASRO, in addition to their law enforcement role, SROs will act as another mentor, educator, or counselor. However, this assumption ignores the fact that Black youth, Latine youth, immigrant youth, indigenous youth, and youth living in poverty often come to school with harmful experiences with police that may perpetuate racial inequalities in educational, health, and social outcomes.^[lxii] By putting police in schools, we are exacerbating these issues 

 https://education.uconn.edu/2020/10/27/the-prevalence-and-the-price-of-police-in-schools/ 

Guns in classrooms is a manifestly stupid idea. Having overworked, underpaid, and stressed-out teachers with minimal training make the idea exponentially more stupid.   

The acted-upon solutions to gun violence, turning schools into prisons and arming more people, are destructive and will do more harm than good, and evidence proves that just doesn’t work. Which is truly maddening because there are solutions out there. 

Smaller classes so teachers can know their students better, and teachers aren’t overworked, allowing them to catch the signs of potential trouble. 

School psychologists and social workers to intervene with children in trouble and full-service schools where we can make sure children get what they need would all prove more beneficial. 

So, kudos to Mrs. Hershey for having a meeting but a raspberry too for not saying, no, not on my watch, under no circumstance will I entertain the idea of arming teachers.  

We should use facts and evidence to make decisions, especially lifesaving or life-endangering ones, not the angry voices of willfully ignorant mobs.  

If Diana Greene won't stand up for her veteran teachers, what makes you think she will stand up for anybody? (draft)

 As somebody who has written thousands of blogs and been published hundreds of times, I have a smidge of a voice, just a smidge; nothing I have said or written could possibly have the impact of a sitting school board member or current superintendent, nothing. I get it. What I don’t get, however, is why they don’t use their voices. I don’t understand why they are content with DeSantis and his fascist administration dismantle public education and the teaching profession; I don’t get it, not one bit. As example number one, let’s look at teacher salaries, especially veteran teacher salaries. 

Before I start, let me say I am glad that new teachers have seen their salaries go up quite dramatically over the last few years. Heck, I am elated. That being said, everybody should understand that, at least initially, those salaries went up only because mostly veteran teachers saw their salaries slashed.       

When DeSantis made his initial proposal to raise starting salaries, he took the money from two admittedly flawed programs, Best and Brightest, and school recognition funds and dumped it all into starting salaries. As flawed as these programs were, they put real money into many veteran teachers' pockets, real money they would no longer see. 

DeSantis could have said, we are going to give every teacher from year 1 to year 30 and beyond a 2,300 dollar raise, but instead of doing that, and just so he could get a sound bite on the evening news, he said, let's raise starting salaries to 47,500 and veterans, well %@$# em. I blogged about this. I wrote letters about this, and I told everyone I could about this monumental disservice; this would do, as well. But you know who didn’t say a GD word? Superintendent Greene. Not one word. 

She shrugged her shoulders as veteran teachers, people who proved they could do the job, people who made a career out of helping other people’s children, teachers with double-digit years of experience were now making just a few more dollars than the new teacher in the building, a teacher I might add who would most likely have to depend on those disrespected veterans for their success.          

Aren’t leaders supposed to lead? Aren’t they supposed to stand up for their people? Aren’t they supposed to fight to make sure they are respected and fairly treated? Or, you know, the exact opposite of what Greene routinely does.  

Greene could have used her position to educate people bout how unfair the proposal was. She could have used her pulpit to let people know, and I have always believed once people know what is happening, they would want, no, they would demand better.   

The super has a tough job made tougher by a state that seems bound and determined to destroy public education, but it’s a tough job she chose, and it’s a tough job that includes taking care of her teachers because the better things are for teachers, the better they will be for students, and Greene doesn’t seem to know that. 

She could have spoken up. She could have informed people what DeSantis's proposals actually met. SHE decided not to and whether that makes her a coward wallowing in silence or she doesn’t care about her staff it doesn’t really matter because in the end the results are the same. 

Leanna Cumber fails to mention her anti-public education bonifides in her run for mayor

 Leanna Cumber is running for mayor, and she would be a disaster. Never one for following city politics beyond whom to vote for mayor, all that changed in 2018 as the mayor and city council rallied against public education, read that again, rallied against public education, all so some of their mega-donors who had invested in charter schools could get paid. Their depravity sunk so low that the office of the general council changed the meaning of the word shall to, do whatever the 4%@# you want, and it was around then I first heard of Leanna Cumber.

Many city council members fought against the referendum that would benefit the severely underfunded public school system, including members Tommy Hazouri (who sold his soul) and Brenda Priestly-Jackson, who should have known better. There was something about Cumber, however that made her stand apart. She not only fought against the referendum but was often, and seemingly gleefully so, against public schools in general, talking about school grades and reading rates and anything she could to put public education in a bad light. It didn’t matter to her that public ed, especially public ed in Jacksonville, which has never benefitted from impact fees, as every other city provides, was grievously underfunded.  

There was even a city council meeting where she started her comments, accusing the school district of being disrespectful to the city council, and I remind you that the council’s role was supposed to be purely ceremonial, which led to a ruckus and the eventual clearing of the meeting which was packed.

Okay, that’s bad enough, but it doesn’t stop there. Her fighting against our schools which will ultimately cost the city’s taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and shrugging her shoulders at the OGC changing the meaning of the word shall to defend their indefensible position, both should be disqualifying, but she said hold my beer and has sought the endorsement of Mom’s for Liberty, a small fascist group seeking to redefine public education.  

Mom’s for Liberty has spent the last year calling teachers pedophiles and groomers, claimed teachers are actively trying to get small children to switch genders, attacked the LGBTQ community, supported the whitewashing of history, and banned books. They are led locally by school board member April Carney who won’t say if she was at the insurrection one way or another. This is Cumber’s base; these are the people she is depending on to get her elected. This basket of deplorables is her go-to.  

There is a commercial painting Cumber as a liberal, she’s not, but neither is she a conservative; what she is, is a parasite pretending to be whatever she thinks will help her advance, and I have to say, I believe that dream is about to come to a crushing end.

The city can do a lot better than Cumber, and after looking at her record, we can’t afford not to.

Superintendent Greene deserves coal in her stocking

We have all heard the old saying, with friends like these, we don't need enemies. Well, 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.

Recently the district ended an over twenty-year relationship with JASMYN, a local nonprofit that serves LGBTQ youth. She did so based on so-called media reports from far-right blogs known for spreading misinformation. She also did so without consulting the school board, and the less-than-compelling defense of her actions could be summed up by saying she said she did so because she could. 

Where all of that is indefensible, the worst thing she did was remain silent. As the superintendent, she has a pulpit she could use to inform and educate people, but time and time again, she has refused to do so. So when the "don't say gay" law was passed, she remained silent rather than speaking about its unnecessary and harmful consequences. 

Time and time again, the LGBTQ community was attacked, including by school members Carney and Joyce, and rather than stand up for and educate the public, Greene piled on, making things worse.

She can say she supports the LGBT community, but her actions speak otherwise.   

Joyce and Carney supporter Raymond Johnson call people pediohiles and groomers at the SB meeting and gets away with it.

Wouldn't it be nice if an SB member stood up to people who called teachers pedophiles and groomers and told them they were wrong and to go pound sand? Maybe the reason they don't is that it is their close supporters doing it. At the 2:06 mark of the SB meeting, noted bigot and homophobe Raymond Johnson spoke and said some horrible things. The SB just shrugged.

Some low lights are, he said, the new sex-ed curriculum promoted sodomy with minors, and JASMYN was a pedophile group that sexually grooms children. How his mic wasn't cut is beyond me.

Here is a little bit about the pro confederate flag and anti-HRO Raymond Johnson

https://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/search?q=Raymond+Johnson

Then earlier this year, Carney and Joyce proudly appeared with him

It seems to me that too many members of the SB would rather stand with him rather than with outstanding civic organizations like JASMYN. Though if their silence is any indication, maybe more than a few do believe our schools are filled with pedophiles and groomers.  

Greene's lackluster defence of her own actions

Greene took a sledgehammer to the district's 20-year relationship with JASMYN, the local group that provides services to the LGBTQ community. She did so without consulting the board or the community and instead citeing media reports. The media turned out to be a far-right blog known for publishing false and misleading pieces. Other than an email to principals, there has been a lot about her decision until the last school board meeting, when the defense of her indefensible actions could have been better, to say the least. 

Her presentation started at the 47-minute part, and she jumped right into it, pointing out that board policy gives her the power to approve or dismiss any contract under 75k, which the JASMYN contract was. In her speech, she doesn't mention the media reports. She just said she heard about it a few days after Thanksgiving, meaning her process took less than 48 hours.  

Sadly she seems to think that despite all her attacks on the LGBTQ community, refusing to speak out against the DSG bill, taking down anti-bullying videos and gutting the LGBTQ community, her words of support mean something.

She went on to speak about how as a constitutional officer, she is obligated to protect children. However, that obligation doesn't stretch to reporting unsafe behavior to the authorities.  

Following, she said children will be able to receive the same services they had been all along though that seems highly doubtful. She wants to speak to other organizations to see if they can pick up what the district is losing, something that maybe she should have done before listening to a far-right blog and then summarily ending a 20-year relationship.  

Basically, she said she saw something she didn't like and terminated the relationship because she could. 

I encourage you to listen to her remarks; just be prepared to be underwhelmed. 

Board meeting

The so called media Greene used to end a decades old partnership with JASMYN

 Greene reported to reports in the "media" as a reason she summarily ended the decades-long relationship with JASMYN, the local support agency for LGBTQ youth.  

On November 18th, two rags published stories about JASMYN, the Post Millennial, which seems more of a copy-and-publish piece, and the Florida Standard, both of which are known for publishing false and misleading pieces. I will concentrate on the Florida Standard and the author of their piece, Zac Howard.

Here are a couple of tweets from his Twitter page.

If you look at his Twitter page, Zac really seems preoccupied with the sexualization of children, which is probably more projection than reporting. Either way above is a lie.

They announced nothing close to this, but what do facts matter when you are part of the Media. 

Hillsborough county would disagree with the assertion; they want to keep grooming children, and on a side note, I missed Zac's election to the overlord of everything decent and right. Also, if Zac has any experience with what is developmentally appropriate for children, his resume is very light on it.

My only comment is gulp.

He is also okay with spreading covid misinformation.

Counselors, I wasn't at the training. Were any of you trained to tell kids to lie to their parents? 

Zac apparently thinks Candice Owens is "media," too. 

Tell me you don't understand what teachers do without telling me you know what teachers do?

Over the last few months, I would say about a third of his pieces had something to do with sex a third. The preoccupation is troubling. I then went back to 2020 (he is missing about two years' worth of tweets which makes me think, for some reason, he deleted a whole bunch, probably COVID misinformation but that's just a guess), and it seems he was a regular, if slightly boring guy, and it wasn't until he got to the Florida Standard that he went all take a loose string and turn it into a tapestry of lies, i.e., what most far-right media does. Fortunately, his pieces don't make much of a dent, except inexplicably with superintendent Greene and he seems to have the same amount of readers I do when I post what I had for lunch. 

I guess the bottom line is for anyone in a position of responsibility and authority to make a decision based on what he wrote is a manifest miscarriage of sanity and decency, and if Greene and the SB don't get that, then they are a big part of the problem.  

Greene replies to my concerns about DCPS ending its relationship with JASMYN, she doesn't give a #@!%

 Hey, am I media? I mean, if the Florida Standard and Post Milineal count as media, so must Education Matters, right?

So I sent the five levels of sane members my concerns about the district ending its relationship with JASMYN.

Many people were dismayed at the sudden announcement that the district had ended its decades-long relationship with JASMYN based on some "media" reports. First, if you google JASMYN no such media reports come up, but more outrageous is Dr. Greene's dereliction of duty.

She is a mandatory reporter. If she feels JASMYN has been showing pornography to children, she is required to report it, and the fact that she hasn't made me and many others believe this is part of her anti-LGBTQ agenda. 

The school board sets policy; you can overrule her, which is what you should do as soon as possible. Please prove me and large swaths of the community wrong that you not only don't care about LGBTQ children and staff, but you are against them.

And I guess one of them forwarded it to the super, and she replied

I imagine the only difference between my response and every other response that will be sent out is the Mr. Guerrieri at the top.

No effort to address the source of her so-called concerns or why she hasn't reported JASMYN, nothing,  but yada, yada, yada, I don't care.

The district has taken a far-right turn that should alarm us all, and for what? Not to improve education or protect students; that's obvious; the only reason is to appease and side with bigots and public eduction haters. We should and could be doing better.   

Insurretion Barbie, April Carney claims her first victim, DCPS's 20 plus year relationship with 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. 

Greene sent the email below to district staff. 

The so-called "media" is most likely a piece in the Post Milineal, a far-right faux outrage outfit well-known for taking a string of truth and turning it into a tapestry of lies. To refer to it as media is a stretch to say the truth, but it is without a doubt the type of literature that people like Carney, who still won't confirm or deny if she was at insurrection, come on, real media, don't let her off the hook, consumes, like a fat kid at a buffet.

When you google Post Milineal, this is what comes up.

 

Hmmm, known for false and misleading stories, why I have the vapors .

So we have an anti-LGBTQ superintendent and don't take my word for it; take her actions, working with a school board member who in all likely hood participated in the insurrection and again don't take my word, take her lack of ones, ending a relationship with an organization that has undoubtedly saved lives and for what?

Shame on both of them and if the reasonable members of the school board let that stand, then shame on them as well. 

It is Mike Pompeo and the republican party who spread filth, not teachers

 First, I understand there are many decent republicans who understand how hard it is to be a teacher and the important job that they do, but if they are being silent, if they are allowing all the attacks on teachers and public education to go unchecked, then they are just as bad as the ones spreading the filth. Their silence has gone from complicity to support. 

Asked who the most dangerous person in the world was, former secretary of state and undoubtedly future presidential aspirant Mike Pompeo said Randi Weingarten, president of the teachers union. 

Republicans have been running on demonizing and lying about public education for a couple of years now. When CRT began to lose steam, they pivoted to teachers grooming children to switch their gender identities both under a backdrop of teachers teaching kids to hate their country. 

Irresponsible, egregious, and nothing but lies, and why? To gin up a willfully ignorant fact-free electorate, and they do it so they can assume power, not caring about the damage they do, the lives they kneecap, and sometimes destroy along the way. 

Are there problems in public education? Absafreakinglutely but many of these problems are created by the same people who want to profit off of public education either monetarily or through the acquisition of power and both groups aren't above spreading lies to do so. 

Pompey has the audacity to say, the "filth they are teaching our kids" when the reality, it is he and his party that is spreading filth, that are spreading lies, and that is spreading hate and shame on the so-called good republicans that know this and remain silent. Shame on them all. 

So who really is is the most dangerous person in the world? It is a tie with all the people who would spread lies and demonize others just so they can benefit.