Joplin Globe columnist/blogger: Randy Turner's supporters need to have their heads examined

I sometimes wonder if blogger and frequent Joplin Globe columnist Anson Burlingame has only four sources for information on education- his time as a substitute teacher, whispered conversations with C. J. Huff, the Turner Report, and his favorite book The Bell Curve.

Burlingame appears to believe that the only people who agree with him are those who post anonymously on this blog. If he would broaden his reading material and look at what people have written about Huff in other places since the Jennifer Martucci Facebook posts and last night's blowup at the Joplin R-8 Board of Education meeting, he would know that others are putting their names to thoughts about Huff's boorish behavior that are similar to what I have written.

A few moments ago, Burlingame lashed out at me, Turner Report readers, and Ben Field, a frequent commenter on Burlingame's blog in a post..

But then I turned to this morning’s Turner Report to find a scathing article accusing Dr. Huff of abusing women and numerous anonymous supporters agreeing with him. Sickening to say the least and if any member of the BOE believes Turner and his gang have any real contributions to make to our public schools then you are as nuts as this jerk Ben Fields that continues to hang around this blog.

As far as I am concerned, any Turner supporter, be they teachers, students, BOE members or people in the administration simply need to have their heads examined and if his voice is used to promote change in our public schools then I will resist such changes as best I can, all the time.

So the BOE in its entirety, to move forward you must earn my trust at least that you have no relationship with Randy Turner or his anonymous supporters be you teacher, student, parent, administrator or for sure a member of the BOE or a wanna-be member as well, Jim Kimbrough. Turner has accused Dr. Huff of cheating on his taxes, now being an abuser of women, a liar, a cheat of all sorts, and the list goes on. If people that support such positions have any significant voice in how our BOE conducts business then this BOE will NEVER unite this community, period.

I will correct Burlingame on one thing. I have never accused C. J. Huff of cheating on his taxes. Some comments on my blog have speculated about that, considering the secrecy and evasions which have surrounded his paid speaking engagements, but I have never written that.

As far as the other things Burlingame has mentioned, I have not only written about those things, but I have provided substantial evidence to prove them and C. J. Huff has provided the evidence for what I wrote this morning with his behavior both in and out of board meetings when dealing with Debbie Fort and Jennifer Martucci.

Burlingame concludes his long tirade with this:

One other point. The BOE should NOT have to endure another 3-3 split to fill the vacant seat. That is the first challenge for the team of Koch and Banwart, two people I really want to learn to trust, to make sure that does not happen. Jim Kimbrough is very much an AHA (Anti-Huff Administration) and he garners support from the Turner gang as well. Add him to the BOE and you will have a 4-3 split and all manner of harm may well come the way of public education in Joplin if either an AHA or a SR8 (Support R-8) majority is set in place. We need another Banwart as the 7th member of our BOE but I don’t know anyone able right now to fill that role.

Burlingame appears to be one of C. J. Huff's last lines of defense and appears to have stuck to Huff's talking points in the excerpts above.

He also appears to have no clue whatsoever about what is going on in education, locally or nationally.