Friday, April 6, 2012

Shocked! Shocked and Appalled!

Nearly 13 years ago, I asked the Corbett Board and anyone else who was paying attention to provide a single advantage to maintaining Corbett School District's accreditation. I researched for weeks and couldn't find anything. Others who were interested in the question found nothing. The discussions happened in open session, and the Board room (as it was for the better part of 10 years) was usually empty except for the faithful Freund family. (The Freunds were wonderful patrons who appointed themselves to watchdog the new administration when nobody else cared enough to show up.)

When nobody involved was able to come up with a single advantage to paying an outside agency to impose requirements upon Corbett's operation (requirements that hadn't produced results for Corbett at any time in the past), Corbett let accreditation lapse. It wasn't an accident, it was purposeful. And it wasn't done by the individual fiat of the superintendent, it was the result of an extended conversation during which input was solicited.

For the following 10 years, Corbett School District experienced well-documented, unprecedented improvement in virtually every measure of school effectiveness. (The Accusers' version of the story is that Corbett somehow tricked really smart kids into coming to a really weak school and thereby caused test results to improve. My version is that Corbett has had really smart kids all along and that better schooling brought about better results, which then attracted students from outside. The only difference between the two versions is that one makes sense.)

Today, nearly thirteen years after the fact (and I mean after the fact, not after the made-up version), a small local group that seems only to have discovered Corbett School District during the last 15 months is scrounging about to find anything, however flimsy, with which to discredit the administration (current and past). They claim to be 'shocked' that 'then superintendent Bob Dunton' 'destroyed' Corbett's accreditation. If they are being honest (and some of the major players simply aren't in that habit) then they are admitting to having paid no attention at all to the business of the District for over a decade.

If they are being honest, they are breaking a long streak that has included a significant string of false claims and accusations. My favorite? "Corbett's Special Education department had a $2,000,000.00 budget and that money wasn't spent on Special Education. I saw it in the budget!" That whopper probably wasn't so much a lie as it was an inability to read a budget. But it didn't slow down the perpetrator of that particular fantasy. She communicated her accusation to anyone who would listen. When it was finally pointed out to her, in a meeting, that she had misread the budget (Special Programs is not the same as Special Education, as it turns out) she was quoted as saying, "Oh." Did she go back and tell everyone that she had no idea what she was talking about? Fat chance.

Corbett School District is under attack. At least two of the attackers are sitting on the School Board, generating an impressive string of 5-2 votes and spreading discontent in hopes of eventually forging a majority as the result of next May's board elections. Since they have no chance of winning based on the truth, they are left having to play to other 'strengths'. These 'neo-Machiavellians' do not care about the truth. They don't care about ethics. They take advantage of the fact that the Corbett administration has to follow the rules while they are free to behave with reckless abandon. They play on people's fears, their anxieties, whatever might influence them to jump on board. They use proxies to say things that even they believe to be beyond the pale for board members.

Watching the work of the last 13 years of my life come under attack has been difficult. It will be even more painful to watch if these ham-fisted politicos are successful at undoing it. But my personal sense of loss will be nothing compared to the real loss of opportunity experienced by every single student who is left with the aftermath of their 'vision'.

The Corbett administration is comprised of good people with remarkable expertise and experience. They keep the interests of their students at the forefront of every decision, and they behave responsibly and kindly even when they are under attack. They are polite and long-suffering, even when facing abuse. They keep confidentiality even when district patrons lie about what happens in school.

Corbett administrators are in danger of losing a war of words to Accusers with little knowledge, no experience, and no scruples. (All they have on their side is a web mistress who is apparently unaware of the damage that she is faciilitating). The Accusers could never compete in an open debate, but they don't need to. They just keep throwing mud (using the internet as a catapult) and hoping that the 99% of Corbett residents who are bright, caring human beings won't notice what the 1% is up to. Today the 1% operates with impunity. The other 99% need to be prodded to notice, to stand up and be counted. I believe that it will happen.

I have been hesitant to say anything that reflects badly on the parents of students that I have taught and care about. But there is a tipping point beyond which I will decide that the best interests of the hundreds of students whose educational opportunities are put at risk by this nonsense outweighs my concern for feelings.

Education is serious business. The stakes are immeasurably high. It can't be an arena for the chronically frustrated-and-resentful to work out their issues. These people need to find a sand castle to kick and get over whatever is bothering them.

Up next? The top 10 lies.