If political scandals have taught us anything, it is that there are a few simple rules:
- Get out in front of the story.
- Admit your mistakes.
- Don’t Lie; You WILL Get Caught.
- Don’t Hide; You WILL Be Found.
- It’s better to take your punishment now than later.
Following two days of flip-flopping by Superintendent John Fredericksen, Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) President Mark Thompson seems intent on attempting to fight the lessons of history. In Thursday’s Daily Times, Thompson decided to jump into the current brouhaha over inappropriate reading material in elementary school libraries:
Mark Thompson, president of the county school board, said it appears grant funding -- not county dollars -- bought the books in question. He said county schools did not select the books individually because they came as part of a "bulk purchase."
Sounds good. The only problem is that it doesn’t appear to be quite true. To compound matters, Thompson then decided to hide behind WCBOE mouthpiece Tracy Sahler when asked to clarify his statements in light of evidence that taxpayer money was used (at least in part) to purchase the book in question and that obviously someone at the WCBOE approved the purchase.
16 comments:
it looks to me like someone made a mistake, get over it, I seem to remember GA making the mistake of not securing his 1st blog forum, remember what happened there. Fix the mistake and move on, be part of the soulution, not the problem.
Anon 0920 -
You would be right IF the WCBOE had simply admitted to a mistake and outlined how they were going to correct it. That's not what has occurred here.
You've got John Fredericksen unable to say what will be done from one day to the next. Now you have Mark Thompson making statements that do not appear to be true. In addition, you have Fredericksen putting the entire WCBOE staff in lock down and refusing to answer any questions without going through the filter of Tracy Sahler.
There's a big difference between deliberately misleading the public and vandalism.
The BOE thinks they are above the law. It's for the children excuse didn't work this time. I think Thompson got his education at ECI.
hummmmm, speaking of the WCBOE, I wonder how Rick Pollit and his "task force" made out negotiationg some sort of "level of participation" by the BOE to help aliviate the county's budget woes.
As you all know, the board is NOT required to participate in budget cuts due to state negotiated contracts. Rick has gone on record saying its not fair that 650 county employees have to share the brunt of the $7 million dollar short fall while the 3,000 BOE employees(2,300 full time and 700 part time) do NOTHING.
This task force was going to try to get some sort of voluntary concession from the board to help out with the remaining $6.3 million shortfall now that the furlough plan has been implemented and will save only $700,000+ dollars.
I bet you a lot of money the WCBOE will do NOTHING - NADA - ZILCH towards helping the county out. Watch and mark my words. Their idea of cutting will be to make the students increase their fees or cheapen up their extracurricular activities by raising fees, etc. They are their own creature, and don't believe anything coming out of the PR office.
Someone is hiding something , you may want to check the Maryland sex offenders list. The bulk package could have contained some hustler magazines or porno books also.
No librarian can read every book bought for a school library. Most books are delivered during the summer when the librarian is not even working. At the end of August the books have to be unpacked, entered into the computer system and shelved as soon as possible so the kids can check them out when school opens. It's a miracle more of these errors don't take place.
Tracy S. holds ONE of the TWO public liason positions at the Bd. It is ridiculous that her job is full time, but to have a second person paid to do the little PAC 14 segment once a month is sheer lunacy. When jobs are created because people can't do the job they were hired for, the result is wasted tax money.
Anon 1025 -
Sorry to rock your world, but school librarians all across the country manage to review every volume they receive before they put it on the shelves. If a volume was selected at the board level, obviously a librarian wouldn't be expected to read it. However, if this book wasn't approved "up the ladder" it should be read, watched, listened to, or whatever. They do it elsewhere. They CAN do it here.
Excuse me 10:09 AM, but isn't that short fall actually $9 million because the WCBOE owes the county $2 million which it refuses to pay?? This is the law that the WCBOE is violating.
You can bet the next budget transfer will be to hire more media employees.This isn't nothing that more money can't fix.
G.A you are correct all they had to do was admit their mistake and this would have gone away. However egos are at play here.
I understand G.A.'s frustration. He is asking two questions about actions that have already taken place. THESE ACTIONS ARE IN THE PAST. How can the Board not know where the reading fund money comes from and who ordered the books? He is not asking about what will happen next or how the process will change regarding selection of books. Welcome to the Bd. of Ed. You might ask why the Bd. needs two public liasons when neither one answers anything. It's hilarious that all responses are to come from Mrs. Sahler and she won't respond. Can't a secretary do the same thing?
Another argument for private schools...
G.A.
You want to dig your teeth into a story, go figure out why 24 year olds are getting shot in broad day light, Sir. This story isn't even deservant of your brilliant mental energy.
I know some parents are upset over the book. However, where is the outrage over the real problems in the schools?
Wicomico County schools are out of control in more ways than one. No accountability for spending or maintaining discipline - always blaming "the county" or parents.
Where is the standard of excellence that we should expect from our school system?
I realize that being a teacher is tough in this day and age - but if the Board and Administration weren't so arrogant, maybe more organizations would want to work with them to help provide programs, guidance and inspiration to the latch key kids, screw ups and future gang members.
Throwing money on the problem won't fix it - it takes strong leadership and backbone to get it done.
maybe obama will hire thompson as his new b.s. czar!!!!!!!! seems he can spin ppl as good as he does.
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