Sunday, May 03, 2015

C. J. Huff: Randy Turner is texting Fort, Martucci during board meetings

When C. J. Huff publicly criticized Debbie Fort at last Tuesday's Joplin R-8 Board of Education meeting, it received a scant one paragraph mention on the page seven jump in the Joplin Globe's coverage the next day. It was not even featured on televised reports.

Those who watched the spectacle, whether it was on Jet 14, YouTube, Jet 14 Live at the district website, or at the Turner Report, were shocked by Huff's display and that, combined with Huff's Facebook attacks on Jennifer Martucci, have directly led to a growing movement to rid our school district of the man who has been superintendent for the past seven years.

During his attack on Fort, Huff said she was the worst principal in the district when she was at Irving Elementary and rattled off statistics which supposedly proved this.

We all have heard Mark Twain's quote referring to people who try to bolster weak arguments by using "lies, damned lies, and statistics." As you might expect, C. J. Huff cherry picked some statistics, ignored others that would contradict the point he was making, including ones in which some scores at Irving improved during Fort's last three years as principal there.

I noted in an earlier post that blogger and frequent Joplin Globe columnist Anson Burlingame had written an April 2, 2014, post designed to derail Debbie Fort's school board candidacy, using the same information that Huff used Tuesday night.  I stated without equivocation that Huff supplied Burlingame with the information, trying unsuccessfully to defeat Fort, a result he repeated this year in his efforts to stop Jennifer Martucci. Burlingame has denied this and claims, unconvincingly, that he does his own thinking. If that is the case, why did he cherry pick the same information that Huff used Tuesday night?

Judging from years of Burlingame's blogging, there is absolutely no evidence that he has ever dug into public records to find out about anything. Yet on this one occasion he provides the same information that C. J. Huff used in an unsuccessful effort to discredit Fort.

I had planned to run a statistical answer to Huff and Burlingame today, but that is no longer necessary. In a letter to the editor in today's Joplin Globe, Julie Hartwell thoroughly tore apart Huff's attack on Fort. She has been kind enough to give me permission to run that letter, which will I do in my next post.

In the last few days, Burlingame has gone around the bend, with a series of statements that might explain why even the Joplin Globe is not running many of the things he was written about education. I have learned from administration sources that C. J. Huff's attack on Fort and Martucci for texting was based on his belief that I am the one who is sending the text messages and that I am the behind-the-scenes mastermind who is calling the shots for everyone who is opposing him.

Part of this, as I have noted before is that C. J. Huff does not like women questioning him. It makes it easier for him to believe that some man is actually the one who is causing his problems.

For the record, I am not texting anyone during the board of education meetings. And I am not leading the organized effort to fire Huff.

As I have also noted before, portions of Anson Burlingame's columns give a clear idea of how C. J. Huff is thinking.

Here are a few samples from recent days (You can check out his blog at this link.)

Dr. C J Huff knows more about the fundamental and underlying problems in our system of public education than anyone I have ever met, period.
***
Have I ever suggested to him how to deal with “that ….. Randy Turner”. Yes I have but not often. And as you can guess my advice falls into the category of politically incorrect (but not illegal either) as well.
***
The people that follow and support Turner seem to be very much of a mob mentality. And some BOE members now pay a lot of attention to that mob, even getting guidance from the “mob” via text messages, maybe, during meetings.

***
There is something common between the mobs in Baltimore and the disagreements in Joplin right now. Both disagreements, one over justice (or is it racism, or civil rights, or equality, or black lives matter, or…….) and the other is over a dysfunctional public education system? We see mobs trying to scream their way to solutions and their way is destructive to the two systems they are screaming about fixing, justice and education systems.

***
I also wonder how far behind some inner city ghetto school system Joplin might be today. Pretty far behind as long as we keep good and hard-working leaders in R-8. But why not just let Randy Turner take over R-8 and run it as he sees fit, letting all teachers teach as they so choose. Hell let’s make Fields (Ben Field, a frequent commenter on Burlingame's blog until he was banned yesterday for trying to hold Burlingame accountable) the Principal of JHS and Dr. Fort go back to Irving to see if she can improve things there this time around.

And for sure we need to put new yes men and women on the BOE so the Turner crowd has no mobs in their face to change things, again!! At least for a couple of years at least with no mobs, until the current mob finds our new schools burned to the ground or all the kids just watching porn on their Iphones all the time. Let’s see, what is a sexual act that is like eating a Popsicle? The “new superintendent” sure knows. Hell he wrote about it in a book.

***
Huff is NOT the problem in R-8. Even the poor little old BOE is not the problem, a bunch of citizens that want to help but have not much of a clue how, specifically to help. No Superintendent of any School is going to really fix any school in America. We have to fix some deep and systemic issues first and doing that is HARD, seemingly impossible, to do, anywhere.

Burlingame seems to have no problem with Huff's recent attacks on Fort and Martucci. He has not said a word on the subject.

You almost have to feel sorry for Burlingame. He has watched people he has praised lavishly on his blog, David Wallace and Mark Rohr, leave and now C. J. Huff is doing more to discredit himself than I could ever do with everything I have written.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know there have always been intimations, but I don't think I realized until recently how paranoid CJ Huff actually is. I see more clearly that he believes his own lies over the years, because he is actually out-of-touch with reality on some level. The smears are not smears to him, because he believes them. That's kind of scary. You don't know what a person like that is capable of. I mean, apart from the whole "ruining a town's school district for years to come" thing. You also have to seriously question people who would align with him

Anonymous said...

"And for sure we need to put new yes men and women on the BOE so the Turner crowd has no mobs in their face to change things, again!!"

Did you notice that Burlingame said NEW? Is this a slip or is this him admitting that Huff had yes men and woman in place on the board? I think it's both. Good job Anson. You just dug your hole a little deeper all by yourself.

Yvonne McDonough said...

It must really stick in his craw that it is a woman who started the petition to call for his removal. Randy Turner had nothing whatsoever to do with that or the movement to remove Huff! He has supplied us with facts that for some strange reason the local media refuses to report. Sadly, a large part of the local population has decided to be content with the "It's all good" BS that is being fed to them by the Administration and local media. Are we a mob set out to destroy our school system? No! We have watched our kids education spiral out of control these last four years at the hands of Huff and the complacent BOE, good teachers humiliated publicly for speaking out, other good teachers agreed to quietly disappear, and what is left is so afraid to voice an opinion because they know they will lose their jobs! How many of you have been struggling with your children's declining grades? Have you actually sat down and talked to them about their feelings on the subject? Have you asked them why they don't like going to school anymore? Really? Have you listened to what they have to say? The students have been threatened as well to keep their mouths shut or else. Are we a mob? No, not yet. We love our schools, we love our kids, we love our teachers, and we are determined to bring our schools back to accreditation where it belongs. Huff has been given ample opportunities to behave professionally but he is truly out of control and the last board meeting should be proof enough. Randy Turner may be a disgruntled ex-employee (with good reason I might add) but he was an excellent teacher. He also happens to be an excellent journalist, much to the dismay of the R-8 Administration, and if it wasn't for him most of us would still be in the dark about what has really been going on behind the scenes! Our kids deserve better! Our teachers deserve better! Our community deserves better! Wake up and take a good hard look at what has been going on and stop drinking the kool-aid!

Anonymous said...

Can someone tell me where the organized mob meets? I think my name got left off the mailing list. Did you say the next meeting is at Anson's? Perhaps he can put us all on the straight and narrow path to redemption with his inspirational words of wisdom.

What a buffoon.

Anonymous said...

Last week Anson and Cj implied that we all were mentally deranged. This week they have labeled us as mob members, akin to those in Baltimore. Did someone go around Joplin assaulting police officers, bashing in cars and burning buildings last night? I'll have to check the police reports for verification. I think I may have missed that story. I thought I was witnessing people practicing their Constitutional rights of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to protest, and freedom to assemble (I guess it was a mob at the BoE meeting since Cj had his favorite cop there to protect him. He can relax. No one wants to go to jail for his sorry ass.)

I guess in next week's installment we will be mass murderers. I think they need to take another route. This one doesn't seem to be working. Perhaps Anson could use his well-developed research skills to prove us wrong with facts. Good luck, Anson!!!

Anonymous said...

Clearly, Burlingame has lost his marbles. And who told him that he could write?

Anonymous said...

And once again, Carol Stark's favorite newsmonger has baffled his reading audience with such nonsense that it staggers the imagination. What I wonder is how she ever dares look at those high school students from all over SW Missouri she seems to want to mentor and discuss this thing called "journalistic integrity." She has none, or we would never have read this idiot's ramblings in her paper, nor would she have neglected to pursue and publish the whole truth of the story surrounding the downfall of the Joplin R-8 School District, the illegal activities of Wallace-Bajjalli, and the inept, unethical, abusive behaviors of Mark Rohr and Bruce Speck. Way to set an example, Carol Stark!!

Anonymous said...

Huff that puggy bast**d only texts pizza Hut during meetings when he should be calling weight watchers. He is starting to look like the bloated school district budget.

Anonymous said...

So, I am in a quandary after reading this story, which is usually the case when I read anything that Anson writes. If the situation in the schools is not the fault of the Board, and not the fault of CJ Huff, then whose fault is it? We need to know who the guilty party is so we, in our mob mentality, can grab our pitchforks and lanterns and run the guilty party out of town. Let's look at the possibilities:
Teachers--can't be them. Two-thirds of them have left since Huff arrived, and the scores and academic abilities have continued to fall faster than ever.
Principals--can't be them. There are only a few of the originals left. And as said, the resulting academic decline would be evidence that those losses were not for the better.
Students? Nah, Can't blame the kids. You're stuck with what you get...and they used to do much better.
Parents? Same case with students.
Excess staff and lack of materials and the constant influx of change, change, change? That might be an issue. But it's hard to find someone from that mishmash to punish, specifically.
Turner? The problem with that theory is that the decline started BEFORE Turner was fired.
Tornado? Same issue as with Turner. The decline started before the tornado. In fact, the decline started the year Huff arrived. Coincidence? I think not. Huff would do better to take the Truman approach rather than the Burlingame approach and say, "The buck stops here."

And please, Cj, we respectfully request that you please, please, please never refer to us again as "your people." Yikes. We are your victims. We don't wish to go down through guilt by association. The buck stops on your desk, Cj. Own it.

For our kids,,
A Member of the Dreaded Joplin School District Mob

Anonymous said...

At what point does Huff stop playing this paranoid PR game and get to work?

Anonymous said...

@10:19

I keep waiting for Dr. Huff to have one of his infamous tantrums where he alternately screams, sobs, prays, and screams some more. He's famous for them at the AD Building. Complete loss of control of his emotions. It's alarming, for sure, to witness this display.

Anonymous said...

At this point let's stop the name calling and insults. There is more than enough ammo with facts against Mr. Huff without stooping to that level.

Anonymous said...

I followed the link to Anson's blog, just so I could see for myself what he had written. How can anyone read what he "writes"? There was no logical sequence to what he was trying to say. Grammatically, it was a nightmare. Thanks for the summary, Randy, so I didn't have to torture myself anymore. I also appreciate that you link your sources so I can look for myself. Your blog helped me greatly in deciding how to vote in the last election.

kitty chiwawa said...

Yes, I keep waiting for my punishment for creating the petition... ;) I'm a woman, single and don't have very many men in my contacts list that are from Joplin, other than my sons.

Dusty Roads said...

CJ ran the last school district he was at in the ground with over spending and delusions of grandeur.

Anonymous said...

11:51. Well said. And YES, HUFF, i AM NOT YOUR PEOPLE EITHER. Refrain from saying "My people". You are not signing the checks, are you?

Anonymous said...

I think Anson attacks Randy Turner in an attempt to make himself appear relevant. He might want to rethink that approach since all he seems to be doing is directing more people to The Turner Report.

Anonymous said...

@12:37

It might seem like it is time to stop with the insults, but I am thinking of all the friends and coworkers who are no longer with me. Many quit out of frustration, some were fired under unconvincing charges, some left because they hadn't had a raise in years. I'm thinking of how difficult it is to accomplish anything at all in the classroom with insufficient materials, constantly changing district objectives, students who have become incredibly apathetic and entitlement minded, and I'm thinking of all that I cannot have that I need because so much money was wasted on frivolous expenses, like Easter egg hunts for employees at Central Office and employee positions such as an event coordinator.

There was sufficient evidence to get rid of Huff a long time ago, but yet he is still here, and apparently still has half the Board wrapped around his little finger. Until he is gone and it appears that the district is improving, I'm afraid you will just have to get used to a few epithets being hurled at DR. Huff. Frustration wears people down who ordinarily might not be so abrasive. Deal with it.

Anonymous said...

With respect to Anson calling attention to The Turner Report...Please Proceed!

Anonymous said...

No...let him keep directing!

Anonymous said...

Someone REALLY needs to get that on video!! To protect yourself, send it to Randy, I guarantee he will protect your identity!!

Anonymous said...

It's MR. Huff. I refuse to call him Dr. until he...no scratch that....I will NEVER call him Dr.. I'm still wondering how this buffoon ever received a degree to begin with.

Anonymous said...

I've always wondered Randy, why didn't the Joplin NEA, Missouri NEA or NEA come to your defense when you were fired? I would think they would have supported you...or at least the ACLU for 1 amendment rights violation.

Randy said...

Joplin NEA and Missouri NEA represented me at my hearing.

Anonymous said...

I am not from Joplin and have never been a fan of Joplin but I have to say that I am embarrassed for you. If I lived in Joplin I would have raised a mob a long time ago and done my best to run the shysters and crooks out. What a circus.

Anonymous said...

Who is this Burlingame SPOOK? I haven't read such drivel for a long time, let's see, oh yes, I remember, I dropped the Glob about 14 years ago. Why is this Burlingame fellow trying so hard to defend himself? There is no defense for stupidity. Yes a Stuperintendant can ruin a school district, especially with a dumb board of directors in his pocket. The only way to rebuild the academic greatness of the Joplin students is a drastic change in leadership. Which Burlingame apparently missed is the will of the people, proven by the last school board election. Why does Burlingame and the
glob refuse to acknowledge that the majority of the voters have taken the first step to achieve success for their children's education? Now it is time for ALL local Media to embrace the change that the voters want!!!