C&F virtual lovefest
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Lorenzo
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Quite right, Denny. It's especially effective in situations where officials have distanced themselves from the voters, become unaccountable, or are ramming things through in spite of public outcry. A facilitator's job isn't to determine who's right or wrong, or to take political sides, but to open eyes and ears on both sides by leveling the playing field a little, getting all parties involved in a fair discussion, and helping a divided community listen to each other instead of talking down to each other.
It's quite an experience to see an elected official, in a public meeting, talking down to some quiet lowly constituent, and then losing to that poor lowly constituent in the next election. Seen it happen a lot.
It's quite an experience to see an elected official, in a public meeting, talking down to some quiet lowly constituent, and then losing to that poor lowly constituent in the next election. Seen it happen a lot.
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Nanohedron
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
So, if I got it right, the school district higher-ups brought the so-called "facilitator" in to further their agenda in selling off that property? I wonder if the "facilitator" wasn't the developer's brother-in-law or something. Good thing everyone rebelled; that wasn't anything but a divide-and-conquer tactic, as you pointed out. If I were in the same situation in the same conditions (that is, I'm-OK-You're-OK, let's-make-cozy-little-discussion-pods-and-take-notes, open-discussion-is-so-passé smoke and mirrors under the name of "facilitation"), I don't know what I'd do offhand, but my position would be pretty adversarial to begin with. And this from a liberal.The Weekenders wrote:To those of us in the Neighborhood Council and other activist types, we felt that the facilitator was just a huge diversion; that audience members would desert by attrition and unfocused activity etc etc. Everything was couched in terms that any good liberal-minded idealist would find friendly, but the motives beneath were anything but idealistic.
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The Weekenders
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That's the way we read it, Nano, especially with the District track record of railroading things through on numerous other issues. They had no intention of allowing us to save the school. We had to move mountains to fight 'em, including pressure from several municipalities, the local neighborhood council, the city-wide co-ordinating neighborhood council, education interest groups, NAACP, environmental groups, you-name-it.
Somebody actually wrote a thesis about the district, although it was published prior to this particular event. Their pathology was well-known. To those of us fighting on this issue, we just felt this dark cynicism coming from them.
IMO, in some urban districts especially with sizable minority or immigrant populations, the battle to actually educate is given up for lost except among "delusional" parents, activists and teachers.
One of the proofs is that, in our case, none of the elected members actually had their children in the public schools but opted for private or transfers. Some were beyond the age its true, but during that particular period, the acting executive was on the board of the local parochial school! He was the one who hired the facilitator in fact.
Anyway, the admin. prerogative seems to be to manage the public "sewer" and work with the spoils system of consultancies, favors, jobs and influence in building political careers. The children are so marginalized that you want to spit blood. I, as well as many others, busted our keesters trying to reverse that. It usually works up through elementary grades, but when you get to middle and high school, its pretty hard to effect day-to-day change for the kids. Heartbreaking.
And like Gilder, we WERE asking "Where's the outrage?" when we covered this ground. I was editor of both the PTA newsletter and Neighborhood COuncil newsletter at the time and spilled plenty of ink.
Somebody actually wrote a thesis about the district, although it was published prior to this particular event. Their pathology was well-known. To those of us fighting on this issue, we just felt this dark cynicism coming from them.
IMO, in some urban districts especially with sizable minority or immigrant populations, the battle to actually educate is given up for lost except among "delusional" parents, activists and teachers.
One of the proofs is that, in our case, none of the elected members actually had their children in the public schools but opted for private or transfers. Some were beyond the age its true, but during that particular period, the acting executive was on the board of the local parochial school! He was the one who hired the facilitator in fact.
Anyway, the admin. prerogative seems to be to manage the public "sewer" and work with the spoils system of consultancies, favors, jobs and influence in building political careers. The children are so marginalized that you want to spit blood. I, as well as many others, busted our keesters trying to reverse that. It usually works up through elementary grades, but when you get to middle and high school, its pretty hard to effect day-to-day change for the kids. Heartbreaking.
And like Gilder, we WERE asking "Where's the outrage?" when we covered this ground. I was editor of both the PTA newsletter and Neighborhood COuncil newsletter at the time and spilled plenty of ink.
Last edited by The Weekenders on Tue May 17, 2005 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
How do you prepare for the end of the world?
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Nanohedron
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
And meawhile such andministrations make public soundbites about the need for better education for all. :roll:The Weekenders wrote:IMO, in some urban districts especially with sizable minority or immigrant populations, the battle to actually educate is given up for lost except among "delusional" parents, activists and teachers. Instead, the admin. prerogative seems to be to manage the public "sewer" and work with the spoils system of consultancies, favors, jobs and influence in building political careers. The children are so marginalized that you want to spit blood. I, as well as many others, busted our keesters trying to reverse that. It usually works up through elementary grades, but when you get to middle and high school, its pretty hard to effect day-to-day change for the kids. Heartbreaking.
Oh, I missed the important point: it's a business.
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The Weekenders
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And don't forget, they put a bond issue or a parcel tax at every election. They have won four out of the last five of such issues. My property tax statement includes about $500 worth of such taxes just for their various funds. Not a big deal to NewYorkers, who I think pay a lot more, but actually get decent schools for their trouble, as far as I know (the other Weekender used to teach in NY state).Nanohedron wrote: And meawhile such andministrations make public soundbites about the need for better education for all. :roll:
Oh, I missed the important point: it's a business.
PS. They ended up getting so much money that they are actually now rebuilding many of the schools. So somehow, it's a bit more active and hopeful than during that period.
How do you prepare for the end of the world?
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Nanohedron
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
My mother sat on a school board for years; a hardline Republican, her educational aims were seemingly at odds with that (of course, that all depends on the community you live in); but she was profoundly influenced by Eleanor Roosevelt. She took a beating, but loved the fight. Some of the stories I heard...
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The Weekenders
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In some ways, Missy, the disconnect between neighborhood and school STARTED with desegration forced busing in the 70s. We had riots , etc.
One of the ways that the district ran down the school was by allowing transfers, filling up certain schools with the hardest cases, etc. This generally caused the neighbors to not care about the school and was a component in trying to sell it for real estate development. Fortunately, our neighbors, even some WITH transfers, knew how foolish it was to sell off an asset like a neighborhood school, eliminating any chance for it to be turned around.
But yeah, I have heard of your problems there, even way out here.
One of the ways that the district ran down the school was by allowing transfers, filling up certain schools with the hardest cases, etc. This generally caused the neighbors to not care about the school and was a component in trying to sell it for real estate development. Fortunately, our neighbors, even some WITH transfers, knew how foolish it was to sell off an asset like a neighborhood school, eliminating any chance for it to be turned around.
But yeah, I have heard of your problems there, even way out here.
How do you prepare for the end of the world?
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The Weekenders
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