While I do not understand why anyone thinks the position is necessary, especially at a time when the C. J. Huff Administration has seen fit to eliminate reading teachers, secretaries, bus drivers, cooks, and one of the two resource police officers for Joplin High School, I did receive the following comment that makes the case for the position:
This is not a new position. It was created in January. The employee who held position was worth way more than $32k. Thankfully she is moving on to bigger and better things. However a district the size of Joplin does need someone who can help execute projects district wide.
Whatever wrong decisions CJ Huff has made, you Mr Turner are doing just as many. Divided towns are hard to repair. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Why not look for ways to help instead of fueling the fire?
Perhaps I am mistaken and the writer of those two paragraphs is not connected to the C. J. Huff Administration, but I am deeply offended when someone drags out the old "You are either part of the solution or part of the problem" chestnut and attempts to sell it as the voice of reason.
That can almost always be translated to "you either agree with us or you are wrong."
I am also tired of this attempt to make it seem like I have created a divided community because I have written about so many of the things that the C. J. Huff Administration has done that have damaged this community.
When the Joplin City Council fired Mark Rohr, we had a divided community. The community is not divided about C. J. Huff. I have detected no groundswell of support for him, even though he, like Rohr, was one of those who were labeled heroes of the Joplin Tornado.
On the contrary, I get the sense of a community that has far more people who think it is time the Huff era in Joplin ended than who wish to continue a commitment to his brand of 21st Century Learning.
If there is a division in the community, I would have a tendency to blame it on a small group of privileged people, many of them unqualified to have the positions they hold, who have taken a perverse delight in making others suffer.
When it comes time to assess blame, I would look at those who have turned an institution of learning into a massive public relations operation that revolves around 'special events" instead of education.
The Huff Administration would like for people to believe that the community is divided and that I have created that division. That would mean that this is all the work of one disgruntled former employee.
Every time that someone has stepped forward to challenge C. J. Huff during this past year, he has quickly labeled that person as a puppet of Randy Turner. I have no puppets. Many people have come to despise C. J. Huff who have never even read the Turner Report. But it helps to have a scapegoat.
I have no sense of Joplin being a divided community when it comes to C. J. Huff and the PR team he has assembled at his bunker at 32nd and Duquesne.
We are just waiting until the Board of Education sees it the way the community does and puts an end to a dark chapter in this community's history.
7 comments:
Pointing out problems that need solving can always, always be considered "splitting a community."
It's irresponsible nonsense, of course but it's not new or unusual. Not only common, it seems pretty weak on the complainer's side. How else do you progress-read: solve problems--without discussing them? I don't think you can.
Thank you for setting the record straight, Mr. Turner. In my opinion, the fact that she gave this job up so quickly is also a reflection of the people for whom we work. I have to wonder why we have so many events that we need an event coordinator, and I would like to know what events she coordinated while she was here. I may be wrong, it's a possibility, but it seems to me that when a district is flat broke that it might cut back on the events and focus more on learning, which doesn't seem to be going so well.
We are not a divided community, dear reader. We are a very united community in believing that it is time to put the focus back on academics and not on sensationalistic media events. The money allocated for this one position would pay for a secretary with some left over for a bus driver or resource officer. It is enough money to supply many, many materials for student learning. All of those things seem more important than coordinating events. It's a matter of priorities.
Mr. Turner is not the one who has divided the community. The failure of our students academically was not caused by Mr. Turner. The loss of 100+ teachers a year was not caused by Mr. Turner. The waste of funds to the point that an audit had to be called for was not the fault of Mr. Turner. I believe the blame for that falls squarely on the shoulders of the man in charge at 32nd and Duquesne, and the people who allowed him to destroy what was an improving and growing district prior to his arrival. We are united in seeing this travesty come to an end. Hopefully, that time will come soon.
I think the community owes Turner a very big thank-you for providing an outlet for what is really going on in the district. He has also, in case the reader overlooked it, provided DOCUMENTATION for the majority of issues discussed here. The truth may be unpleasant, but it must be told, and Turner has been the only source of news. The fact that this wasn't a new position doesn't take away from the fact that it is one of many unnecessary and costly positions inside of the JSAB palace.
I'm going to guess that the reader prefers the fairy tale version of the CJ Huff administration. I prefer the truth and would like to live in a district that functions well as it is educating students. Keep up the good work, Turner!
I think we have to give this commenter some credit, Randy. She's for sure right about one thing. If the young lady in question is leaving JSAB behind, she's definitely going on to something bigger and better.
Yup, if it weren't for this blog there would be no opportunity for employees to vent, as in "going Turner." They'd just have to suffer silently while being subservient to the wishes of the Great Leader.
The division is there but it's not just a two piece division. There are (1)Huff's supporters/puppets/spies, (2)those who have believed all their lies, (3)those who just plain don't know and (4)those who have to live with the truth or have heard what happens from those living in R8 hell.
And, Randy, you are right. Huff's trolls truly enjoy making and watching others suffer. They love to destroy.
"Why not look for ways to help instead of fueling the fire?"
What would you suggest? Explain to me how someone on the outside, or teachers on the inside for that matter, can help. Let's hear your plan on how you are going to make the teachers in the district feel valued again? Why do you think over 100 teachers a year are leaving? How are you going to get spending under control if you refuse to shed the unnecessary positions in admin or the unnecessary learning coach positions throughout the district? Explain why eliminating reading teachers is a better alternative than reducing administrative salaries. How do you justify the way in which the contract situation with Breanna Clark was handled? Do you feel that Huff is justified in hiring individuals for administrative positions that do not have qualifications in those specific areas?
Again I ask you, how does someone help? The only way I can see is to do exactly what Randy is doing. Point out the problems so that the public is aware of them. Sweeping everything under the rug only helps the few administrators benefiting from from their large salaries. The stories on this blog are never reported by other local news outlets. Do you believe that the public should be kept in the dark on issues negatively affecting their schools? I strongly believe that the obsession with data, the loss of teacher creativity and independence in their classrooms, and the nonstop assessments and testing has lead to student apathy and teacher disillusionment. What steps would you suggest I take to convince this administration to follow a different path? You cannot solve a problem if you are unaware that one exists.
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