Monday, April 13, 2015

Missouri Education Watchdog: Joplin should fire C. J. Huff for gross misconduct

A statewide education blog, Missouri Education Watchdog, has an excellent post describing how the people of Joplin overcame C. J. Huff, the Joplin Globe, the Joplin Progress Committee, and others to elect Jeff Koch, Jennifer Martucci, and Lane Roberts April 7:

I encourage you to read the entire post, but here is an example:

In many ways Joplin is no different than the other 576 districts around the state. They have local politics and local personalities. There is a grassroots group, the Joplin Progress Committee, which has had a strong hand in influencing the local school board. There is a Superintendent who runs things as if the district is his own personal fiefdom. There is a local paper which uses poor journalistic practices to try to influence local government. But even with all this working against it, the people were still able to make a significant course change. It is done by countering base unethical practices with extreme professionalism. It is done by committed bloggers who try to get out the other side of the story. It is done by a lot of work on the part of regular folks who support candidates, who promise to change what is clearly wrong with the status quo, both financially and through social media.

Sharp has been dealt with through the election process. The Board should take a serious look at dismissal of the Superintendent for gross misconduct.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why wait? Make firing this public menace the first order of business for the new Board. Behind him Tina, and behind her Sarah, Jennifer, and Jason. Sweep them all out and start fresh. Save several million dollars with reduced staff and less wasted spending from the get go. But be kind to our good clerical people who have struggled since the onset of this nightmare administration.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad the rest of the state is seeing what some of us have been pointing out for years. Prior to the tornado we didn't have enough cash to run electric pencil sharpeners. The first thing Huff and Sharp did was cut the life insurance benefits of staff in half in order to make ends meet (but not of upper admin, mind you). Since the tornado it's been nonstop spending on everything but staff salaries and practical materials. Time to start over.

Anonymous said...

The next hurdle will be to keep Steele and Landis from maintaining the status quo with a replacement for Roberts. Will Banwart develop a backbone and listen to the will of the people? We would like to see Jim Kimbrough do an encore performance for a year. We also do not want Board leadership from the old Board. We need a fresh perspective from someone who has not been a part of the downfall of Joplin's schools. Fort, anyone?

Anonymous said...

I wonder what Sharp has planned for her grand finale meeting. Maybe she'll give CJ a big raise before she goes. Or buy a whole bunch of technology. Maybe contract some more worthless gurus for Sarah to peddle. It's a crap shoot. Probably all of the above.

Anonymous said...

Just read the whole post for the Missouri Education Watchdog. You're right. It's pretty compelling stuff. Everything we've been saying here for some time. Glad to see the word is finally out. Maybe Huff will be out of education forever.

Anonymous said...

Just curious, but do we know who writes the Missouri Education Watchdog? Anyone local?

Anonymous said...

Why don't you just go to the blog and look for yourself?

Sarah Myers said...

Dear "Anonymous", it's sad that you are able to give your ridiculous opinion without a name. If you are too pathetic to show who you are to make such claims you should really keep your mouth shut. This man has done a lot for this school district in a positive manner. Everyone is seeming to forget it all when this 'sex scandal' is uncovered. No one can blame him for this. All these kids taking naked selfies and putting the photos out the are the ones accountable, second comes in the ones responsible for keeping track of the freedom and lack of integrity these kids possess. Stop being cowards.

Anonymous said...

Dear Sarah,

You are hilarious.

Sincerely,
Sarah Meyers

Anonymous said...

If there was more accountability, real teaching, books and discipline in the schools, instead of computers and "visual learning", the kids might not have had enough time to hack into the servers and spread such filth. How kids act at home and how they are encouraged to act at school are two complete different behavior patterns.
No, Huff is not responsible for spreading the photos, nor do I believe he would ever condone that behavior! However, that being said, I do believe that the learning structure he has implemented has indirectly influenced this situation. (Cause and effect)
BTW, Sarah Meyers, I don't find you funny whatsoever.
Calie Daniell