What I don't like about Jim Gibson

The blogger who write comments in the North County Times known as JustTheFacts seems to be the one blogger on the pro Jim Gibson side that can have rational reasoned thoughts and posts. He is a rarity. In fact I would say he is so rare as to be a singularity.

I encourage all who do not read the comments in the North County Times online to go back and look up any article that mentions our good Vista Unified School District and read the comments that follow. Other than the blogger known as JustTheFacts, the rest of the supporters of Gibson and Guffanti seem to only post wild, mean, accusatory, and fact free posts that border on full out paranoid fantasy.

It would be a revelatory experience for most folks in VUSD who are just going about their ordinary business trying to make our district run as well as possible to read and understand the level of nastiness that is floating around is our district.

We have some very wild and very accusatory folks who are very angry about things that do not happen or have not happened. If these perceived thefts of VUSD taxpayer money by our good teacher' s union happened, I would be on their side. Or if our good union had the power to control the distrtict and used that power to turn our district into the worse one around for test scores and drop outs statistics as Gibson supporters accuse, I would be on their side. But the facts do not support ant of their wild charges.

I urge any non biased rational person to read any post by blogger named Roxy to get an idea of the problem. Here is a good place to start, be sure to scroll back a couple of pages to the beginning posts as the posts run backwards in time:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_2747ca42-c442-59bb-bd3a-2ebf5485020a.html?mode=comments

No other school district in the North County has detractors on line so wild, so many and so ready to be angry. An article about San Marcos Unified might generate two comments. An article about Oceanside Unified might generate ten. But one about Vusd generates dozens and dozens every single time. Why only in VUSD? I have found it does no good to wonder why but to only except that they are here. It is a fact that has to be accepted and cannot be denied. We play the hand we are dealt here in VUSD.

Below is my last post to JustTheFacts. I think you can infer the topics from the post.
At the end of my post below I tell why I do not like Jim Gibson:

The one million for fifty acres was a good but fair price due to the zoning and the fact that it was in 2002: before land prices escalated until 2008 or so. Now they have dropped again.

Now for some hearsay. I talked to someone who claimed that Jay Kawano was now sorry, he had not voluntarily sold the land in 2002 as today it is worth less than one million. Again that is purely hearsay. I am not a realtor so know nothing of its possible appraised worth or how to find out nor have I talked to Mr.Kawano personally.

I am glad you pointed out the "highest price" for the land language meaning that the one million dollars was not a "low ball" offer.

I do not know about compensation for farming but the owner is welcome to go to court if he feels that some part of the appraisal is unfair. I am guessing based on what I know of the fairness and impartiality of the legal system that the average gross crop receipts over the previous X number of years that Kawano received would have been added in and is included in the one million dollars.

The one million dollar figure came from this newspaper in an article written in 2002 or 2003. I have the article but am not feeling well enough to search my files at the moment. Perhaps later I can give you the URL of the article.

I understand that you are in Jim Gibson's camp. I have heard him speak. He seems like a nice person. But to me he seems to be, too much of an ideologue, and a bit too self promoting opportunist lacking the needed ability of self reflection. Those are the qualities I see him which puts me off. Not to mention he has no direct connections or ties to VUSD. As far as I know he knew no one personally who has suffered as a result of some of his poorer decision on the VUSD school board.

In my opinion these qualities led him to make an error in judgement regarding the purchase of land for the new high school that have cost VUSD tens of millions of dollars and years more of students in our two well over crowded high schools.

It is his record as a board member he must run on in 2010 if he chooses to run again. That record is also something I do not like.

I do appreciate the tone and tenor of your comments. You seem calm and rational and do not throw "bombs" into the conversation. Not all of the folks supporting Jim Gibson are as controlled. I wish you well. Perhaps if we met in person we would find a surprising amount of things in common.

Sign off and good bye

A health issue could make this my last post. I hope the information in this site is useful in the upcoming school board elections. May we always have people in our district who will fight for fact based public education. We can never again have folks control our schools who are there for an agenda other than the education of our children.

ANTIs say: Kawano property value of one million was a low ball offer.

The following is part of a back and forth set of comments following an article in North County Times saying that the school board decided not to combine Olive and Washington at this time. The 69 comments following the article are a microcosm of the the battles here in VUSD from both sides. They say little about the proposed school merge but a lot about the kind of politics we have here. You can read all the comments here: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_2747ca42-c442-59bb-bd3a-2ebf5485020a.html?mode=comments

The cheap level Kawano property at Strawberry Hill was appraised at 1 million dollars by a professional real estate appraiser. There is a legal process for this. Sometimes the land owner disputes the appraisal and takes it to court. There also are no bids whatsoever. It is not a negotiation. It is not like buying a house where you negotiate with the seller. The price is fixed in a fair legal manner with independent appraisers.

But Kawano was AGRICULTURAL land whereas the Melrose property was zoned for housing making it much more expensive. Land zoned agricultural is far cheaper than land zoned for single family homes.

The cheap level fully graded one million dollar Kawano property as agricultural land would never have been valued at the 18 million the taxpayers were forced to pay for the secondary site at Melrose when the primary site was denied them by Jim Gibson and Dr. Stephen Guffanti.

ANTIs say they are proud that Gibson and Guffanti did not use eminent domain
You say you are proud that Gibson and Guffanti did not give the needed support for eminent domain at Kawano but you say nothing about eminent domain at Melrose that took four votes--Jim Gibson being the fourth.

In 2002 the taxpayers had a chance at cheap land and immediate construction of a dual magnet high school projected to cost between 49 and 52 million dollars. Gibson and Guffanti said no. Now seven years later the dual magnet high school costs 100 million and is still not done.

Jim Gibson made the decision to run the anti cheap level Kawano high school campaign "stop the 10,000 car mega high school" Now he has to run on his record in 2010 which includes that terrible costly decision.

VUSD--Flu sweeping district, widespread absences

Flu is rampant in our VUSD elementary classrooms this week.

In some school classrooms as many as one third of students are absent with “the flu.” Symptoms are high fever, debilitating headache, cough, and sometimes nausea.

According to an article in the LATimes if you have the flu now, chances are its H1N1 (swine flu). The only good news in that in classrooms that were hardest hit a couple of weeks ago, now seem to have almost no one ill.

This “flu” that is sweeping our district hits fast and hard, sickening many students all at once, but then it is gone. Let’s hope we get through it with no hospitalizations or deaths.

Will VUSD chance its policy of leaving sick children in class simply to increase ADA money in the short term?
Read:
http://vistaschools.blogspot.com/2009/10/will-bales-push-to-maximize-ada-put-our.html

Here is the LATimes article:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/11/questions-with-answers-about-h1n1-aka-swine-flu.html

Booster Shots
ODDITIES, MUSINGS AND NEWS FROM
THE WORLD OF HEALTH

Questions, with answers, about H1N1 (swine flu)
November 3, 2009 11:19 am

Who should get the H1N1 vaccine?
Pretty much everyone, health officials say, assuming a person hasn't already had the H1N1 flu. But don’t go elbowing to the front of the line just yet. With limited vaccine supplies available, some groups get priority because the virus poses greater risk to them than it does to most healthy adults. So if you’re not pregnant, a healthcare worker, age 6 months to 24 years, live with or care for an infant under 6 months, or have a compromised immune system, hold off. As difficult as it may be, you need to wait until there’s enough vaccine available for all.

I’m at high risk – honest, I am. Where can I get the vaccine?
Go to your county health department’s website for a list of clinics and dates. In Los Angeles County, that’s lapublichealth.org.

Is the vaccine safe?
It would certainly seem to be. As one infectious disease specialist put it recently: "This H1N1 vaccine is made just like all the flu vaccines we have been making for 60 years, which have an extraordinary record for safety."

Why are young people more likely to be affected?
The short answer is, no one is sure. Some scientists blame a lack of exposure to similar strains of the flu; some suggest young people's immune responses go into overdrive. Regardless, a better understanding of this flu will be crucial to developing ways to fight it in the future. Here's a closer look at the mysteries of this flu strain.

Are pregnant women really more at risk?
Yes, yes, yes. Many of them are young, so they're more likely to be affected. And their immune systems are operating at lower capacity than usual so their bodies don't reject the fetus.

Should I get a seasonal flu vaccine?
Again, health experts recommend it for most people. They say that, just because the swine flu strain is the predominant -- by far -- strain in the community at the moment, that could change as we approach traditional flu season.

What's so special about the swine flu?
Many things, not the least of which is its refusal to follow the standard cold-weather transmission patterns. The virus made a splash in the late spring, at the end of the traditional flu season, lingered through the summer and resurged well before the start of flu season in the winter. It's also easily spread. Very easily spread, affects young people more than old, and is a previously unseen combination of viruses found in pigs, humans and wild birds. Interesting, no?

How do I know if I have the flu?
If you have a fever, chills, head and chest congestion, assume that you do. If you simply feel a little peaked or have the sniffles, assume that you don’t.

How do I know which flu I have?
If you have the flu, you can pretty much bet it's the novel H1N1 strain. Don’t be fooled by the limited number of “confirmed” flu cases in your school or office. Health officials aren’t even bothering to test in most suspected flu cases because, right now, that virus is pretty much the only game in town.

Have more questions?
Head to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You could spend days there, exploring and learning about the H1N1 strain. And the news is always changing, so stay tuned here too.
-- Tami Dennis

Retired Teachers top volunteers in state

Our fact free ANTI friends love to demonize teachers, even retired teachers. Roxy and other bloggers in the North County Times have said that our retirement pay is 100K a year that our pensions are bankrupting school districts, etc.* Of course our ANTI friends disparately need evil straw men to fight so that their sad little lives have meaning.

It seems contrary to the hate and bile our ANTI friends spew that actually California Teachers are champs when it comes to volunteering. I wonder if our ANTI friends ever voluntarily help anyone but themselves? At least we know teachers do. In fact this last weekend, I know a group of teachers at a public school here in VUSD that VOLUNTEERED between nine and ten hours of their free time Friday Oct 30 and Saturday October 31 for Halloween carnivals. Parents with children in those schools, repeatedly thanked those teachers. Of course our ANTI friends will never know about those self sacrificing teachers as their children do not attend our good VUSD schools.

Here is the article:

FALLBROOK: Retired teachers lead state in volunteer hours
By MORGAN COOK - mcook@nctimes.com Posted: Friday, October 30, 2009 9:35 pm
Even after retirement, Fallbrook-area teachers are working hard to improve their communities.

About 75 members of the Fallbrook Avocado Division 81 chapter of the California Retired Teachers Association volunteered a combined total of 58,284 hours in Fallbrook and Bonsall last year, division 81 spokesperson Lenora Sears this week.
The 149-member division is one of eight divisions in the county, which led the state in reported volunteer hours last year with a total 2.7 million, according to an association report on volunteer hours.

The report was released earlier this month in advance of California Retired Teachers Week, which begins Sunday, as a way to underscore the value teachers have in their communities in dollars and cents.

The nonpartisan, nonprofit association organizes volunteer work, awards scholarships and reaches out to lawmakers on legislation that could affect public education or retirement benefits for teachers, officials said.

The association has more than 52,000 members statewide.

Sears said retired teachers volunteer at schools, hospitals, libraries and anywhere else they're needed, giving them an opportunity to provide the kind of community service that drove many of them to become educators in the first place.

"Many of us have worked in the classroom for over 35, 40 years," Sears said. "We see the need to be of help. We all feel that what we can give is very much needed, so we give where it's needed."

The report said that each volunteer hour is worth $20.25, an estimate of what volunteers would earn if they were paid for their volunteer work, Sears said. By that measure, volunteer hours by Division 81 members last year would amount to more than $1.1 million.

Contact staff writer Morgan Cook at 760-740-3516.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/fallbrook/article_cbb8e3fd-a919-5009-b196-36d5f9a136ba.html


*I am a retired teacher who gets 25K a year after 25 years in the public school classrooms with four different kinds of teaching credentials. I learned to speak Spanish while a California public school teacher and in Spanish for several years to classrooms of non English speakers. I was also a superintendent/teacher for a tiny two classroom, single school district in southern Tulare County, California.

I have driven a school bus and been a custodian.

For all of that service, every bit of it in California for public schools, my retirement with NO medical benefits whatsoever, NONE, not even Medicare, I make 25K a year.

All of my retirement pay comes from the State Teacher's Retirement System, not one cent comes from our local district.

LAUSD considers reducing the school year, will VUSD also?

Los Angeles Unified School District like all other California school districts is facing huge cutback in funding for the 2010-2011 school year. In LAUSD case the cut backs will total 500 million dollars in VUSD the cuts will be 15 million which is in addition to the millions of dollars that were cut last year.

All the fat has been cut from our budget already, I can see no alternative for next year to make up the shortfall but cutting the school year, laying off staff including teachers, ending class size reduction or maybe all three.

Here is an article from the LATimes about possible LAUSD school year reduction to save money.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/la-schools-leader-considers-shortened-school-year-to-balance-budget.html


L.A. schools leader considers shortened school year to balance budget
October 29, 2009 11:39 am

Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has asked his chief financial officer to study the possibility of shortening the school year to offset part of an expected shortfall of at least $500 million, The Times has learned.

The strategy, if adopted for the 2010-11 school year, would run counter both to the direction of national reform efforts and to the wishes of Cortines, who agrees with research touting the benefits of an extended academic calendar.

"You know I fought fiercely for a longer school year and a longer school day," Cortines said.


At this week's school board meeting, Cortines said he had no alternative but to consider all options. He added that some strategies had to remain off the table. He’s unwilling, for example, to make class sizes larger in middle and high schools. Classes are too large already, he said. Nor would employee furlough days be sufficient to make up the dollar shortfall. Cortines also stipulated that he would not shorten the school year for overcrowded, year-round schools, which operate on overlapping schedules that reduce each student's school year by 17 days.

Furlough days and shortening the school year would have to be negotiated with employee unions, said district spokeswoman Lydia Ramos. Cortines will review the internal analysis from Chief Financial Officer Megan Reilly when he returns from a weeklong trip to China, which began today, Ramos said.

-- Howard Blume

Questions for Jim Gibson's re-election bid in 2010

The following are some questions Jim Gibson should be asked in next campaign at the various forums. Assuming of course that he will show up at the forums. His ANTI allies, Guffanti, Anderson and Fernandez were 'too terrified' of the danger they faced from PTA moms to go to the PTA forum. So there is no guarantee Jim Gibson will show up for a forum either. But I would like to think that he will. If he does I hope the audience will get answers to questions at the end of this post.

It would be nice if our local newspaper would ask Jim Gibson some hard questions, but we know from past experience that that will not happen. The North County Times, especially its editorial staff, has a long history of siding with the ANTI public education forces in our district. The NCTimes editors are virulently anti-union and anti middle class. They have pilloried the Escondido Police, the Oceanside Police, the Oceanside Firefighters, and the grocery clerks in their editorials when they are not insulting the Vista teachers. Since our ANTI folks are also anti union, the NCTimes editorial staff became their natural allies.

I only hope that someone has a chance to ask Jim Gibson these questions.

FIFTY MILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS WASTED BY JIM GIBSON
(1)Construction of our new third high school was projected to have cost 50 to 52 million dollars had construction started in 2002 at the Strawberry Hill/Kawano site. Today the cost of the new third high school is 100 million at the secondary site on Melrose, are you sorry that you prevented the taxpayers of VUSD from acquiring the cheap, level, Kawano site?

GIBSON'S SECRET MEETINGS WITH GUFFANTI AND BALES
(2) One of your supporters who blogs at the North County Times under the name Vista Watchdog 1 claims that two school board members had numerous meetings with Joyce Bales at Vista Watchdog’s residence. Have you ever had meetings with Joyce Bales and another board member at a private residence? If so, please estimate the number of times? Can you tell us why you had those meetings or the nature of the topics discussed?

CREATION SCIENCE
(3) If the courts would allow and you had the power to require the teaching of creation science, intelligent design, or any other form of creationism in the science classroom, would you?

EVOLUTION
(4) Do you think it is fair that evolution in taught in schools without any alternative theories being taught? If you do not think this is fair, what alternative theories would like to see be taught?

MIS-USING POLITICS TO GAIN ADVANTAGE IN A NON-PARTISAN OFFICE
(5) Is it appropriate for a candidate for a non-partisan political office to seek the endorsement of a political party as you have done repeatedly? Why when seeking a non-partisan office do you always include references to being endorsed by a local political party?

GIBSON NO KNOWLEDGE OF AND NO STAKE IN SUCCESS OF VUSD SCHOOLS
(6) How long did your now adult children attend VUSD schools? What schools did they attend? In the past you said you withdrew your children from VUSD schools because they were harassed by teachers. Please tell us, what that harassment was. Who did the harassment? Did you file a police report? If not, why not? Did you file a complaint with the school district? If not, why not? Did you attempt mediation? If not, why not? Was there really any harassment at all or was this a story you created as a political ploy? Weren’t the real reasons you took them out of VUSD schools, personal religious beliefs? Why should someone who has no stake in our schools, be running our school district?

GIBSON USES POSITION ON VUSD BOARD FOR PERSONAL POLITICAL ADVANCEMENT
(7) Can you name any other VUSD school board member who has run for any other political office besides, yourself? Why do you keep running for other political offices such as Oceanside City Council and California State Assembly? Do you not like being a VUSD trustee? or Is being a VUSD school board member just a first step in your hoped for political career?

JIM GIBSON'S FIASCO: CARRIE PREJEAN DAY
(8) What motivated your attempt to have a Carrie Prejean Day? Why is she the first VUSD graduate that you ever felt needed to have a day in her honor? What about Leon Hall who graduated from Vista High School and is now a professional football player with the NFL? What about Dr. Kira Jorgensen who is now a NASA scientist? What was it about the a beauty queen contestant that made her more worthy of having a day named in her honor than many other fine graduates of our school system?

Here is what Gibson told the North County Times:

He said the proclamation idea wasn't political, although he thought other people could take it that way.

Gibson's proposed proclamation calls Prejean an "exemplary student leader" who "showed integrity, leadership, dedication and high moral standards" in the Miss California and Miss USA pageants.

"Carrie Prejean has proven to be a positive example to Vista students of what great things can be accomplished with natural talent, hard work and dedication," the proclamation states.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_15f6a72e-62c2-5b70-b1eb-efbc8a321009.html

His motion for a Carrie Prejean Day died for lack of a second.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/15/ca-miss-california-051509/?california


Carrie Prejean Update: According to New Jersey Star-Ledger, Carrie Prejean was dropped from (dropped out of) a "values" conference after a sex tape came to light in her fruitless lawsuit against Donald Trump's beauty pageant organization for 'religious discrimination.' She lost the lawsuit and now is no longer a 'values' speaker. I wonder how embarrassed VUSD would be had Jim Gibson gotten two more votes for his "Carrie Prejean Day."
Read more here:

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2009/11/carrie_prejean_dropped_from_wh.html

More on Carrie Prejean, see her send love to Sarah Palin and then blow up on Larry King Live. Also at this site is written information from TMZ indicating that her boyfriend says she was twenty years old not seventeen when she made her "sex" tape.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b153404_carrie_prejean_hearts_sarah_palinlarry.html


JIM GIBSON HAS NO ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS VUSD TRUSTEE
(9) Name one thing you have accomplished as a VUSD trustee that has improved education in our district. Name one thing that you accomplished as VUSD School Board Chairman? Why did you feel it necessary to launch a "whine" campaign in the North County Times demanding that you be appointed VUSD chairman? After you were given that job by the other trustees, how long before you decided to run for Oceanside City Council?

A DECADE LATER, JIM GIBSON STILL HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF VUSD SITES
(10) You have a reputation as a trustee who is not seen often at school sites in your more than eleven years on our VUSD board. How many of our schools have you visited over the last four years? Why so few?

(11) Can you name six or more of our good VUSD elementary schools or their principals? Why not?

JIM GIBSON ADVOCATES FIRING 10% OF VUSD EMPLOYEES EVERY YEAR
(12) Do you still believe that Jack Welch's management style of firing 10% of all employees every year is a model we should emulate here in our VUSD?
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

JIM GIBSON THE STORY TELLER WITH AN ACTIVE IMAGINATION
(13) You wrote in a Forum in the North County Times, "A teacher once spent a whole year in math class talking about the environmental impact of a cheeseburger."
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

Could you tell us what teacher at what school in our district did that? Can you verify that this happened in any district anywhere in the country?

JIM GIBSON HAS NEVER COMPLEMENTED ANY VUSD SCHOOL OR VUSD TEACHER
(14)Is there any school in VUSD that you consider a good school? Are there any teachers in VUSD that you consider to be good teachers? Which and who?

WITH NO EVIDENCE, JIM GIBSON CONCOCTS TALES OF DIFFICULTY FIRING TEACHERS
(15) You said in a North County Times Forum that "(unions)make it difficult and sometimes impossible to let poor-performing (sic) teachers go"
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

Could you tell us exactly what they do to make it hard to let teachers go? Please elaborate. Do you feel that teachers having the right to hear and respond to charges against them is an example of "unions making it hard to let poor-performing (sic)go"? what rights should teachers have against arbitrary firings as have been alleged at Guajome Park Academy here in Vista?

JIM GIBSON HAS DONE NOTHING ABOUT PROBLEMS HE PERCEIVES IN PUBLIC EDUCATION
(16) You wrote in a North County Times Forum that, "public education is an organization that does not hold employees accountable for results."
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

Since you have been a VUSD School Board member for eleven years, what have you done to solve this "problem" If nothing, why not?

JIM GIBSON SAYS TEACHERS ARE LAZY WITH A STORY BACKED BY NO EVIDENCE
(17) You wrote in a North County Times Forum, "One (teacher) was so bold as to say "those children (referring to English learners and poor children) just can't learn; this is the best we can do." This is what is known as "soft prejudice of low expectations." What a sad state for our children if their teachers feel this way about them."
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

Which teacher said this to you? When did that teacher say that? Why should we believe this actually happened if you cannot give details? Others have accused you of making up convenient stories, is this one of them?

JIM GIBSON REPEATS SAME URBAN MYTH STORY WITH SLIGHT VARIATION. AGAIN NO DETAILS.
(18) You once wrote in a North County Times Forum, "I once heard a teacher claim she was an excellent teacher but her students were not capable of learning." Please document the facts surrounding this claim. Is this the same story you were referring to in (17) above? Why can't you give details? Are you story telling again?

JIM GIBSON TEACHERS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR CHILDREN LEARNING; PARENTS, BACKGROUND, CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT MATTER
(19) You once wrote, "Rather than concern himself(re: Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of education) with ethnic or economic differences, perhaps the state superintendent of public schools should begin by holding public education employees accountable!"
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

Do you still think that economic factors have no effect on performance of our children? Do you think that 'public education employees'(teachers) should be penalized if their student classroom is made up of students whose families are too poor to afford medical or dental care for their children? How can children learn as well with a sore tooth or who are sick? What about children whose parents have no residence of their own? who do not know what bills will not be paid? do not know if they will be in same place each night?

JIM GIBSON: PUBLIC SCHOOLS FAILING OUR CHILDREN
(20)You wrote,"Our public schools are failing our children"
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/20/perspective/15_87_545_19_07.txt

Do you still feel public schools are failing our children? What about our good VUSD schools, are they failing our students? In what way? Whose fault is it? Do you have any responsibility as a VUSD School Board Member?

JIM GIBSON FAVORS PRIVATIZING VUSD SERVICES
(21)In February 2007 you were quoted in the North County Times as being in favor of privatizing our VUSD transportation department. You were quoted as saying,
"I think it's a good thing," he said. "If outsourcing is going to give us the results we need at a lower price, then fantastic."
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02/25/news/coastal/20_40_012_24_07.txt

Did you consider the VUSD bus drivers who would lose their jobs or have greatly reduced wages and benefits under a private company? How many other parts of VUSD would you like to privatize? Does that include turning our schools over to private companies or charters to run? In LAUSD schools are being turned over to the Green Dot organization, do you envision doing the same thing here in VUSD?

PROP 8, JIM GIBSON SEEMS TO USE VUSD RESOLUTION PROCESS FOR PERSONAL POLITICAL GAIN
(22)In October 2008, three weeks before the election in which you were running for an Oceanside City Council seat, you asked the VUSD school board to endorse a resolution in favor of Prop 8 the proposition to take away gay marriage in California.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_6e38405a-a769-5803-8285-f7c88b4ed396.html

JIM GIBSON OUT OF STEP WITH OVER FIVE THOUSAND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS IN CALIFORNIA
(23) How does bringing up non educational societal issues into our school district help our VUSD students? Why do you think that other school districts in the North County did not try to take an official position on Prop 8 for or against? Do you think the school board members in those districts did not do their jobs? Did you think that your resolution in support of Prop 8 would help in your bid to become an Oceanside City Councilman? Out of 1,131 school districts in the State of California,in only three was a proposition to support Prop 8 brought up--VUSD and Paradise Unified and Grossmont High School district. Only Grossmont passed a resolution in support of Prop 8, why do you suppose the at least five thousand five hundred other school board members in those eleven hundred and twenty eight other school districts did not bring up a resolution to support Prop 8. What do you know that they do not? Only ONE city in California passed a resolution in favor of Prop 8 (Porterville) and only one school district passed a resolution in favor of Prop 8 (Grossmont High School), what do you think was wrong with the city councils and school boards in all other California towns, cities, and school districts?

SEX EDUCATION

(24) How would Jim Gibson change the sex education curriculum in VUSD if he had the power?
Would he bring back the withholding of facts from our students as in abstinence only sex education with no mention of contraceptives? Would he bring back Sex Respect? How are his positions on sex education different from those of the 1992-94 recalled school board?

IF JIM GIBSON'S ALLIES CONTROLLED THE BOARD
(25) How would he change the VUSD curriculum?
(26) The certified salary schedule? He once said he did not favor step and column raises, has he changed his mind?
(27) Would he refuse to accept federal grants as the 92-94 board did?
(28) Would he seek to privatize school bus services? Would he seek to turn the our schools into charters? Would he privatize cafeteria and custodial services?
(29) How much money would need to be taken from teacher's salaries to balance the budget and finish construction at various school sites?

ANTIs run from Vista Watchdog "bombshell reveal" of "many" secret ANTI school board member meetings

Our ANTI friends, who have been so good at "working the refs" at the North County Times, are now seeking to have all references to the statements of one of their own members, Vista Watchdog 1, removed from the comment section.

They want no mention of the "many" secret meetings between two ANTI VUSD school board members and Dr. Joyce Bales at the home of VWdog. VWdog himself bragged in the comment section yesterday about those meetings. That comment by Vista Watchdog 1 has been scrubbed from the North County Times comment section.

It is the first time that Vista Watchdog, the ANTIs most prolific blogger, has had any of his comments taken down. He has been commenting at the North County Times for at least five years. His comments are frequently slanderous. He calls the duly elected PRO public education school board members union puppets and union controlled. He never has a shred of evidence to support these allegations. VUSD teachers are thugs in most of his post. But neither thugs nor union puppets references are removed as abuse by North County Times comment censor. Tracy Greer, North County Times online editor told me that these specific comments are allowed by the ANTI education crowd even when they are made without facts in evidence.

Vista Watchdog can not give any examples of Vista school teachers acting as "thugs" or of the PRO public education school board members ever having acted or even appeared to act under the influence of the Vista Teachers Association. Yet his posts were NEVER, EVER taken down, UNTIL YESTERDAY!

And today any reference to his now infamous "reveal post" is being removed at the North County Times. That "Reveal Post" can only be read here at this blogspot and discussion of it can only occur at this blogspot. All such discussions are forbidden on the North County Times website.

Here is the rest of the story. After the article today about Vista School Board setting goals, our ANTI friends posted comments alleging numerous secret meetings by the good PRO public education school board candidates. The article is here:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_1912d4f6-80c6-5992-be06-54b626ced70b.html

So I decided if they wanted to talk about secret meetings, let's talk secret meetings. I brought up the secret meeting at Dan Piro's house with Dr. Stephen Guffanti and Dr. Joyce Bales in attendance that trashed Leo Fletes a championship baseball coach at RBVHS. Our ANTI friends got that post taken down.

I called Tracy Greer, the NCTimes online editor and asked her what part of the North County Tiimes abuse policy I had violated. She tried for the longest time to find some reason to give me for why it was taken down. Finally she said it was taken down because I used the word 'secret' in reference to the Piro, Bales, Guffanti meeting. I pointed out Fletes was not invited. He was not allowed to hear the charges against him. It was an UNannounced meeting. What other word could I use? She read through the original North County Times article about the Fletes incident. Finally she said, 'the reporter had not used the word secret therefore I could not us the word secret.' Sadly I did not save that post for you to read. If I had I would post it here. I will try not to make that mistake again.

My next post after the article concerned the ANTI secret meetings that VWdog had mentioned yesterday. According to Tracy Greer that post was taken down because the original Vista Watchdog 1 post I quoted from had been taken down. I was not allowed to use a few words from that removed post.

Below in blue is my post about the "many" secret meetings between our two ANTI school board members and Joyce Bales that Vista Watchdog 1 claimed to have convened at his home.

Vista Watchdog 1 is the chief ANTI blogger. He has posted more ANTI comments by far than any other ANTI blogger at the North County Times. Every article dealing with the Vista Unified School District especially about our new third high school going back at least two years has a comment from him. None of his comments no matter how inflammatory, libelous or slanderous have ever been taken down before yesterday when he slipped and revealed the "many" secret meetings of the ANTI board members and Joyce Bales at his house.

Today not only is his slip of the pen, "revelation post" been taken down, but also my post that quoted from his post of yesterday. Tracy Greer--editor of the NCTimes online says no other post containing a quote from his post of yesterday will be allowed to stay up either.

Our ANTI friends realize that Vista Watchdog 1 gave away one of their great secrets and now they are trying to suppress that revelation. But "the reveal" happened I have it and this revelation is permanently posted at: http://vistaschools.blogspot.com/2009/10/bomb-shell-vista-watchdog-1-confirms.html


Here is my post that was removed because I quoted VWdog's great "reveal post":

Does Jim Gibson complain about the "many" secret meetings of two school board trustees and Joyce Bales at one of those school board trustees homes? These meetings were confirmed in a post two days ago by Vista Watchdog 1, an ANTI who twice has claimed to be a former VUSD school board trustee and often posts here. Here is what VWdog said about 'secret' meetings at his home:

"I've had Dr. Bales over to my place many times and had a board member there as well. Of course, that only accounts for two out of the three required for a Brown Act violation.”*

*Note Vista Watchdog 1 in this quote demonstrates that he does not understand what constitutes a Brown Act violation.

For accurate information about the Ralph M. Brown Act see
http://www.ag.ca.gov/publications/2003_Intro_BrownAct.pdf

The Ralph M. Brown Act, What is a violation?

Our ANTI friends do not seem to understand the Ralph M. Brown Act. They scream about violations of the act, but do not know what a violation is and what is NOT a violation.

Here are three things which are NOT Brown Act violations:


(1)A board majority meeting together in the same place at the same time is NOT a Ralph M. Brown Act violation, see: 54952.2 Ch. III(c)(5)Brown Act exemption, "Attendance at social or ceremonial events"is exempt from the Brown Act

(2) Friends may meet together without violating the Brown Act
"Individual contacts between board members and
others which do not constitute serial meetings" are exempt from the Brown Act--54952.2(c)(1) Ch. III

(3)Meetings are defined by the act as, "Any gathering of a quorum of a legislative body to discuss or transact business under the body’s jurisdiction". In other words, dear VWdog, if school business is not discussed or transacted, it is NOT a meeting. Three board members meeting accidentally is clearly NOT a violation.

You can read more of the California Attorney General's Official explanation of the Ralph M. Brown Act here:

http://www.ag.ca.gov/publications/2003_Intro_BrownAct.pdf

BOMB SHELL! Vista Watchdog 1 confirms "MANY"secret meeting with Bales at his house

Vista Watchdog 1, an ANTI public education blogger on the North County Times website, has tonight not only identified himself, by elimination, as our former school board member, Dr. Stephen Guffanti, he has also confirmed our worst suspicions that he, Jim Gibson and Dr. Joyce Bales have had frequent secret meetings at his house.

Here is the BOMB SHELL REVELATION. In his post at 6:26 on October 27, 2009, Vista Watchdog wrote the following:

"I've had Dr. Bales over to my place many times and had a board member there as well. Of course, that only accounts for two out of the three required for a Brown Act violation.”

Who but Dr. Stephen Guffanti could have truthfully written that? *(see below)*

Vista Watchdog 1 in this post and in one other has claimed to be a former school board member.

Also notice that he has had another board member there as well. Who could that be but Jim Gibson? And Dr. Joyce Bales was there with the two of them at his place "many times".

Frequent secret meetings involving Guffanti, Gibson and Bales! What goes on at those meetings? What information is passed from Bales to Gibson and Guffanti to undermine the other PRO PUBLIC education school board members? Are these the meetings where Guffanti and Gibson secretly decided to delay the building of the third high school by five years at a cost of FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS? Was this decision made to deliberately cause financial hardship for our fact based public schools that they despise so much?

Below is his full post in which he slanders and libels current board members alleging numerous secret board meetings in violation of California State Law. Of course he provides NO DATES, NO NAMES, NO collaboration of any kind, nothing--just nebulous charges.

He like all our ANTI Public education folks have problems with facts. They do not like them. That is one of the reasons they are against fact based science, history and sex education curricula.

Here is his post of slander and innuendo without any factual support or basis:
Vista Watchdog1 said on: October 27, 2009, 6:26 pm
Hey con no more: That was NOT the only meeting of folks like that, I've had Dr. Bales over to my place many times and had a board member there as well. Of course, that only accounts for two out of the three required for a Brown Act violation. Since I also happen to know Carol rather well, I can very easily account for at least 6 meetings that took place at her house where she had two other current Board members present. Brown Act violation! This is, and has been a very regular happening at VUSD for more years than I care to mention. In fact, I recall quite a few meetings between the VTA Pres., the VUSD Super, and two or three board members that used to take place at the Shadow Ridge Country Club rather regularly. But, whose counting? The results have been pretty much the same for that last two decades: the quality of education at VUSD has suffered as the children continue to suffer, and the Hispanics are routinely blamed for all VUSD's woes! But, you wouldn't know anything about any of these as you are too young to remember when VUSD was the BEST district in the County and SD County was one of the TOP Counties in CA while CA ranked #1 in the Nation and the US was #1 in the world. Now... Well VUSD is near the bottom in SD County, with SD County near the bottom of the state, with CA ranked #47th nationally, and the US is now ranked #16 in the world (and that last two stats are from the CTA news letter I got last year!). So, go right on defending the undefendable, in the end it will be your country that suffers as I will be long dead and buried!


*Editor's note today October 28, 2009 the day after this post was first published, I have been asked to claify and expand on why I believe this sentence has to identify VWdog as Dr. Guffanti. OK, I can do that.

(1) Vista Watchdog 1 has been the most active ANTI blogger supporting Jim Gibson and Dr. Stephen Guffanti before and since the November election.

(2)VWdog's comments in the North County Times frequently demonstrate a virulent dislike of Elizabeth Jaka, Carol Herrera and to a lesser extent Angela Chunka.

(3)In a previous VWdog post on the North County Times website, which was posted before the November 2008 election when Dr. Guffanti was defeated, VWdog incorrectly surmised that my posts defending public education were written by Elizabeth Jaka. He even refered to me as a "meddling housewife." In a response to me where he was trying to insult the blogger, he thought was Jaka, he bragged about "getting far more votes than you did".

(4)In this post in red above, he says that if there is a meeting with himself and one other school board member than there were TWO school board members at the meeting refering to himself indirectly as the other school board member.

(5)When Guffanti was on still a member of our VUSD school board he refered to himself as a watchdog.

HOWEVER--It should be noted that VWdog could be lying to try to inflate himself and his posts. I have caught him in three blatant lies in the last couple of months.

Secret Meeting in VUSD? Hypocrisy thy name is ANTI.

Our ANTI friends as usual get it wrong about a 'secret meeting' of our good PRO public eduction leadership in VUSD.

One of our ANTI friends in particular, Vista Watchdog 1, not only repeats this lie but expands on it. He has been corrected over and over using information from articles printed in the North County Times. Yet again today he lies in the comment section following an article on VUSD:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_4e38fb1c-4313-5775-b481-3e364d052642.html?mode=comments

However he is correct that there has been an actual, planned, secret meeting by leaders in our district. He just got it wrong about which set of leaders plan and implement secret meetings. It is the ANTI leadership in our district that thinks secret meetings are appropriate not the PRO public education leadership.

The secret meeting in question was planned by the former ANTI school board member, Dr. Stephen Guffanti and attended by our then and current, VUSD superintendent, Dr. Joyce Bales at the home of long time ANTI activist, Dan Piro.

Forgive me for alluding to religion in the first paragraph of my response below, but VWdog has held himself out as a religious person. Because he considers himself so holy and superior, he has indicated he has a right to judge the unchurched. I could not help myself. I had to bring up his supposed 'Christian' values as compared to the lies in his post.

I have posted VW dog's post of lies (red) at the end of this blog entry. Here is my response (blue) to VWdog:

As usual VWdog as problems with telling the truth. As school teachers we might gently report that he has "problems differentiating fact from fantasy."

Say VWdog do you remember the commandment about not bearing false witness? You did pretend to hold to Christian moral teachings recently in your post here:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_028b5bb7-ffe7-59d3-8e06-6a9dc17b00d4.html?mode=comments

Did you give up on the "false witness thing" since that post?

As the "long-nosed" VWDog also knows, there has been only ONE secret planned meeting in this district. That secret planned meeting was convened in July of 2007 at the home of Dan Piro. The meeting was planned by, and attended by, VWdog favorite, former, VUSD school board member, Dr. Stephen Guffanti; his buddy, Dan Piro; and Dr. Joyce Bales--the then and current VUSD superintendent.

At that SECRET, PLANNED MEETING, a league champion coach was conspired against and given no chance to defend himself. A conspiracy against the coach was discussed, planned, and implemented at that ACTUAL SECRET MEETING.

http://www.nctimes.com/sports/high-school/nct/article_58023bee-dcdc-5ac9-a611-33de13f9ee3b.html

Later the district had to re-hire the coach who was improperly fired as a result of that PLANNED, SECRET meeting of colluding, co-conspirators--Guffanti, Piro and Bales.

VWdog also knows that there has not been any Brown Act violation in this district as this newspaper has agreed:

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/03/06/news/coastal/vista/zafeb0db720418fa8882575710068a8e6.txt


Nor was there a "planned" meeting. Nor any meeting at all in any formal sense of the word. Three friends, by chance, happened to all come together at the same time in the same place.

For an account of that inadvertent, ACCIDENTAL crossing of paths in the FIRST PERSON by a person who was there, read:

http://vistaschools.blogspot.com/2009/08/secret-illegal-meeting-not-jaka-answers.html

Now as promised here is VWdog's post of lies:

Vista Watchdog1 said on: October 27, 2009, 5:25 am
Roxy, at least they are inviting us to attend this one rather than holding it in private at Carol's house or on the phone or go to meeting dot com. We all know about the many Brown Act violations, so maybe this is a little "chat" on how to deal with that: "keep the public happy while they take our taxes and fail our children's future."


Notice his lies by allusion, (1) "...or on the phone or go to meeting dot com." He has no evidence that this has ever happened because it never has. The charge follows our ANTI friends pattern of say anything and see if someone will believe it. This charge is a completely fabricated and even a little bit paranoid. His next lie is (2)"We all know about the many Brown Act violations..." Facts not in evidence.

Not only was there no first Brown Act violation as reported in the North County Times, there is absolutely no hint ever of more than one random coming together of our PRO public eduction friends. They did not have any intent of being in the same time at the same time and have made double sure that they never again happen to meet at the same place at the same time. Our ANTI friends howl over and over about something that happened accidentally and was not a violation of the Brown Act. To compound their lies, they expand on them and hint that they know of other 'secret meetings'.

They do not seem to care at all about the SECRETLY PLANNED and SECRETLY IMPLEMENTED meeting at the home of ANTI activist, Dan Piro. Hypocrisy, thy name is ANTI.

The California Achievement Gap

Here is another excerpt from the site, Closing the Achievement Gap. It uses an imaginary classroom of children to represent the student population in California.
Blog editor note: I have reviewed the post for some reason it did not come out in paragraph form as it shows on my work page. Sorry.
Here is the site:

http://www.closingtheachievementgap.org/downloads/p16_ctag_report.pdf

Here is the excerpt. It is found on page 12 of the report:

The achievement gap is a pervasive issue in many, if not all, of California’s
schools. California’s achievement data clearly tell a story that is not easy to talk
about. Here is how State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell
described the gap in California’s schools:

Now, to paint a picture of the challenges we face, I’d like to take you on an
imaginary field trip to a fourth-grade classroom—a classroom that reflects
the student population of California. While the scenario is imagined, the
data it is derived from are real.

In this class are 32 youngsters representing the diversity of our state and also
the potential for our future. Sixteen of them are Hispanic, nine are white,
three are Asian, three are African American, and one is of Filipino descent.

Right off the bat when you enter this classroom, you need to know that 16 of
these youngsters (half of the children in front of us) come from families that
are considered low income by the federal government. Three have special
education needs, like developmental or physical disabilities. Thirteen—40
percent of these children—go home and speak a language other than English.

Now, let’s imagine the likely futures of those students, given the state of
education today. If the child is white or Asian, the chances of that child being
academically successful are better than two in three. But the statistical
chances of success for the 19 students sitting right next to them who are African
American or Hispanic? Only slightly better than one in three. If graduation
rates are not improved, odds are that of the 16 Hispanic students, six
will not graduate. And while statistics tell us that all of the Asian students
will graduate, two of the nine white students will not, and one in three African
Americans will not.

Yes, this class is imaginary, but the disparities are real. This is the achievement
gap.

Jack O’Connell
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
2007 State of Education Address

Education Week: California schools are significantly underfunded

I found something interesting on the California Department of Education website:
http://www.closingtheachievementgap.org/downloads/p16_ctag_report.pdf The following information is on page 2 of the report:

Although California maintains some of the highest standards in the nation for
what students are expected to know and be able to do, its schools are significantly
underfunded. For instance, Education Week’s “Quality Counts 2008” reports
the following statistics:

• Although California has the most challenging student population in the
nation, per pupil spending is a full $1,892 below the national average when
adjusted for regional cost of living.

• California spends $5,137 below New York and $5,171 below New Jersey.

A mere 3 percent of the state's students attend schools in districts where per pupil
expenditures are at or above the national average, compared with 37 percent in
Louisiana, 16 percent in Florida, and an extraordinary 95 percent in Maryland.


The state can no longer ignore the fact that major segments of the next generation
continue to fall short of their potential. Quite simply, the achievement gap
among student subgroups is a threat to their future and to the future economic
health and security of California and of this nation. This need not be.

California Department of Education new website "closing the achievement gap"

If you like educationese and blather, this web site is for you. As for me, maybe I am tired at the moment but as I read it the words swam and I seemed to be reading lots and lots of words saying very little. Perhaps later I will see the gold hiding in this website.

Here is the URL:
http://www.closingtheachievementgap.org/cs/ctag/print/htdocs/home.htm

Here are some excerpts from the website:

This Web site is part of the statewide initiative to close the achievement gap. Aimed at supporting the work of policymakers, educators, and interested community members, it is the electronic hub for helpful information, research, and success stories about efforts to close the gap in California. The California Department of Education, its P-16 Council, and WestEd are partnering on this initiative with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Here is another one:

A MESSAGE FROM THE
CALIFORNIA P-16 COUNCIL
Barry Munitz, Ph.D., Chair

A year ago, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell directed his P-16 Council to undertake a most complicated and crucial responsibility for the benefi t of all California public school students and their families. The assemblage of education, business, and community leaders was asked to examine strategies for closing the achievement gap in California, and instructed to pay particular attention to socioeconomic and ethnic gaps that are so damaging and painful for all concerned.

All agreed it was to be a task of extraordinary complexity, especially the daunting challenge of reaching consensus — indeed unanimity — on a series of core recommendations. Having the members of this council, who have worked with and for every possible constituency in the educational and socioeconomic system, reach complete agreement on the underlying assumptions related to this topic, as well as the key strategies for addressing its resolution, speaks emphatically to the insight, the experience, and the courage of its membership.

The Council acknowledged the ongoing work of those throughout the country who are also addressing this issue — from their underlying research to their practical innovations — and has leaned upon and learned from them wherever relevant for California. Members had considerable respect for the work undertaken by the Governor’s Committee on Educational Excellence and look forward to a continuing alliance with the Governor. While California appears to be entering another period of serious fi nancial stringency, the report notes carefully that not all of the council recommendations require new money, many of them could be realized with reallocation, and some are not based upon financial issues.

We have been privileged to serve Jack O’Connell in this capacity. Superintendent O’Connell has shown both courage and leadership in taking on the critical issue of closing California’s pernicious achievement gap, and we as a council stand ready to assist and advise him and his superb staff in every way possible to continue this crucial work.

It is the goal and obligation of all involved to accomplish as much as possible, as rapidly as possible.

With continued focus and commitment, this problem, which is currently eroding the vital fabric of our social system, will be actively addressed and ultimately resolved.

Sincerely,
Barry Munitz
Chair, California P-16 Council
Trustee Professor, California State University, Los Angeles

ANTI say: It's not the teachers, it's the union that is the problem

Come on my ANTI friends, what do you think a teacher's union is? It is the teachers. It is a union or an association of teachers who freely chose to join together. The teachers in the district voluntarily chose in a free and fair election to associate together in a union not once but twice.

At present Jan O'Reilly is the ELECTED president of that union of teachers. In June a new president will take office after another ELECTION.

Jan O'Reilly does not decide what the union is going to do. The teachers through their Site Reps tell her. Jan O'Reilly is not some Machiavellian mastermind manipulating the school board and teachers. She is just an ordinary classroom teacher who volunteered to run for president and then was elected.

Next year another ordinary teacher will take her place. Before she was elected a different ordinary classroom teacher was president, Susie Bristow, and before her Randy Wiens and Tom Conry. All ordinary classroom teachers from various school sites in our district.

In the Vista Teachers Association's nearly twenty year history of political involvement the teachers have elected many, many executive officers including presidents. Jan is at least the fifth president since that time and their have been dozens of different Executive Board members since then as well. Each new VTA president and each new Executive Board member is a completely independent actor. Most of their decisions I agreed with, some I did not. Which is fine. That's the way it is in a democracy, which is what the VTA is.

By the way the teachers of this district NEVER took any political action of any kind until the early 1990's when a group of extremists took over our district in a stealth campaign and then caused so much chaos that their actions on our VUSD school board made NATIONAL headlines and front page news in the New York Times, LATIMES and SFChronicle. The teachers joined a community recall of those extremists who were booted from the school board.

However, their movement did not end with their successful recall. The movement continued and managed to stop several subsequent school bonds which resulted in more delay and increased cost for our new schools. When we finally passed a bond, the extremists had managed by that time to grab back two of our five VUSD school board positions. Those two seats were held by Jim Gibson and Dr. Stephen Guffanti who then stopped the district from building our new third high school for six years because FOUR votes were required to purchase land. One of them either Gibson or Guffanti was needed to side with the board majority and favor the purchase for the purchase to be allowed by state law.

ANTI friend, are you are aware that the teachers of VUSD have had (1)no pay raises nor contract in over two years? The teachers in fact (2)gave up pay this year--that amounted to a little more than a half a percent cut in pay. The teachers have accepted (3)less and less medical coverage at higher and higher prices which has resulted in several percentage points LESS of take home pay. The teachers of VUSD have had (4) no say whatsoever in the search for a new superintendent that resulted in Joyce Bales being hired. They had (5)no say or even a non voting seat at the table when the five superintendent candidates selected were interviewed. They had (6)no say in Joyce Bales contract being extended last fall. If you believe that Jan O'Reilly or any other teacher has control over board actions, then either you are not paying attention or you have been confused by someone with ulterior motives.

Much of the reason for the lack of funds for teachers and much else in our district had to do with the unnecessary EXTRA FIFTY MILLION dollars the taxpayers of this district were forced to pay for the new third high school. None of the four trustees that you mentioned (Jaka, Chunka, Herrera, or Lily caused that colossal waste. Only one trustee left on the board is directly responsible for that massive lost of taxpayer money. His name is Jim Gibson.

All Jim Gibson had to do in 2002 or 2003 was to allow the district to build the third high school on the last large piece of CHEAP, vacant, level, graded land in the district. But he refused. Not just once, but time after time. Without him there were not the LEGALLY required four trustees supporting the purchase of that LAST, cheap, level, piece of property. The taxpayers of VUSD were forced to build the school on a much more expensive, hilly, ungraded site which DOUBLED the cost of the third high school.

So if you are unhappy with spending priorities at VUSD, look closely at who really caused the financial problems. The teachers who now have the THIRD LOWEST PAY in San Diego County had NOTHING to do with it.

For those of you who would like to see all the ANTI comments after the article in the North County Times telling about the Encuentros program, here is the link:

Here is an ANTI comment from that link that induced me to write the above post:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_60b263fe-df1a-5b91-af87-ad1a53bc7a98.html?mode=comments

Roxy said on: October 25, 2009, 6:42 pm
con no more (that's me) ---- Yeah “plain truth” (another ANTI blogger) is wrong the teachers don’t control the VUSD. It is Jan O’reilley and her teachers union who control the district. They pay the campaign contributions of the VUSD puppets [LILLY, HERRERA, CHUNKA and JAKA].

The puppets rubber stamp Jan’s wishes, it is much like organized crime. Jan is the MADRINA/GODMOTHER. LILLY, HERRERA, CHUNKA and JAKA kiss the ground she walks on. In the meantime the VUSD students get royally screwed!

Yes it is ha, ha, ha, ha, for you but for the VUSD students it is the slammer!!! Thousands of these students end up in jail because VUSD is a feeder into JUVI and state prisons.


Notice that the comment editor at the North County Times has no problem with the factually incorrect and liabelous charges contained in Roxy's post. When our side responds, we are often deleted by that same Comments Editor. There is an obvious bias at the NCTimes and there always has been. We just have to live with it.

Retired teachers living on easy street?

Our ANTI friends repeatedly claim that teachers are over paid and under worked. One infamous ANTI bloggers in the North County Times article comment sections repeatedly claims that teachers are paid 100K a year to work seven months. I know it make no sense to me either. This blogger is corrected over and over again. Links to the actual VUSD teacher salary schedule make no difference to him. He just repeats the lie.

Another ANTI blogger repeatedly blogs that retired teachers make 80 to 100K and that their pensions are bankrupting VUSD. I point out that all the money for retired VUSD teachers comes out of a STATE fund called STRS. No retirement pension money for currently retired teachers comes from the VUSD budget. I point out that retired teachers like myself make less than 25K a year with NO medical benefits. Many of us do not even qualify for medicare. (Unbelievably California teachers of a certain age were prevented by law from contributing to Medicare and so in retirement do not qualify). No matter how many times are ANTI public education friends are corrected they continue to post their inaccurate comments.

Today in the Letters to the Editor section a retired teacher living in Fallbrook, Genie Summers replied to the teacher bashers. The link and contents of the letter are below:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/letters/article_02215c42-0173-53d1-aa8e-a1d97c405279.html


Hoping to set the record straight

As a retired teacher, I would like to clear up some misconceptions on a few points regarding teachers' pensions. Many people seem to think that teachers receive their pensions as a "free" benefit, when in fact they pay into their own retirement accounts. The average retired teacher paid into his/her retirement for more than 26 years and receives less than $2,700 per month in benefits.

Unlike corporate workers, teachers are required to contribute to their own pensions (usually 8 percent) to the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which is higher than the rate private workers pay for Social Security. In general, teachers are not eligible for Social Security, so their CalSTRS pension is their only income in retirement. Few teachers receive medical benefits, if any at all, from their school districts.

Teachers don't enter this profession to get rich. However, they make contributions in good faith, were promised a pension in return and should be able to depend on this modest retirement income.ˇ Please do not "lump" our retirement program with those of other public employee pensions or school administrator pensions. Thank you for this opportunity to present the facts.

Genie Summers
Retired elementary teacher
Fallbrook

Has Arne Duncan gone too far? Truthdig's Mike Rose thinks so.

Arne Duncan is Obama's secretary of education and has outlined a number of education "reform" initiatives that seem to be ill advised--unlimited charter schools, teacher evaluations linked to student test scores, even merit pay. Here is the view of Arne Duncan's "reforms" by Truthdig's Mike Rose:

Blinded by Reform
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091021_blinded_by_reform/

Posted on Oct 21, 2009
By Mike Rose

It’s gotten lost in the splashier news, but big things are going on at the U.S. Department of Education.

Following on the unprecedented federal reach of No Child Left Behind, the Obama administration is extending further and putting serious money behind its education initiatives, inviting states and districts to compete for federal dollars. The department wants to increase the community college graduation rate. For K-12, it wants to stimulate the production of better state standards and tests, measure teacher effectiveness, turn around failing schools and increase the number of charter schools. Through a third initiative it wants to spark innovation and scale up the best of local academic programs.

This is a moment of real promise for American education, from kindergarten through college. It has even created the season’s oddest political couple: With the Department of Education’s blessing, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton are about to tour the country for educational reform.
Reform is in the air. But within many of these reforms are the seeds of their undoing.

For example, the Education Department is putting a lot of stock in charter schools as “engines of innovation”—in fact, it will not consider a state’s proposal if the state has a cap on charters. Yet a number of research studies—the most recent from Stanford—demonstrate that charter schools on average are no better or worse than the regular public schools around them. Some charters are sites of fresh ideas and robust education, but so are magnet schools, and career academies, and—we seem to have forgotten this—regular old schools with strong leadership and a critical mass of good teachers. But the reformers’ overvaluation of charter schools seems to dim their view of these varied manifestations of excellence.

Another example is the department’s attempt to link evaluation of teacher quality to student performance. (Merit pay could also follow.) And, again, the department will not consider a state’s proposal if the state outlaws such linkage of evaluation and student performance.

This linkage has a common-sense quality to it, especially what is called “value-added” analysis: that is, the degree to which a class’ test scores improve from the beginning of the school year to the end. Yet among experts in educational testing and measurement, there is a good deal of disagreement over the legitimacy of using these techniques to judge teacher quality. There are a host of factors that can affect scores: the non-random mix of students in a class, the students’ previous teachers, the lobbying of senior teachers for higher-scoring classes or the assignment of such classes to a principal’s favored teachers. There are also technical issues with the analysis of the test data. And there are significant conceptual concerns about exactly what the tests are measuring. In fact, the National Research Council, the prestigious, nonpartisan government agency, has just issued a statement reinforcing all of these concerns.

The Department of Education champions “evidence-based” and “data-driven” practice. Why, then, does the department espouse approaches that warrant scrutiny?
I think there are three interrelated reasons.

Given the immense pressure in politics for a quick result, there is a tendency in social policy toward single-shot, magic-bullet solutions, solutions that are marketable and have rhetorical panache but are simplified responses to complex problems. Charter schools will transform American education, or the linking of student test scores to teacher effectiveness will pressure teachers to change the way they teach and their expectations for what students can achieve.

This magic-bullet thinking is enabled by the paucity of schoolhouse-level knowledge of teaching and learning in the formation of educational policy. Not many policy analysts have taught school and, with few exceptions, those who have taught spent only a youthful year or two in the ranks. More troubling is something I have witnessed over the years: On-the-ground, intimate knowledge of teaching and learning is not valued, and is seen as an imprecise distraction from the consideration of broader economic and management principles that lead to systemic change. It’s like setting up a cardiology clinic without the advice of cardiologists.

The third element involves the rhetoric of reform. The advocates of the current model of test-based accountability have been very successful in depicting their critics as “anti-reform traditionalists,” as “special interests” or, the kiss of death, as members of the “education establishment.”

There is a lot to say about the accuracy of this depiction, for many who are tarred as establishment traditionalists have a long history of challenging traditional school practice and working to change it. But for now I want to focus on the way this demonizing rhetoric can jeopardize the work of the reformers themselves.

Take, for example, the concern expressed by teachers’ unions about linking student test scores to teacher evaluation. It is easy to characterize these concerns as special-interest pleading, but some of the evidence cited by the unions comes from researchers with no vested interest in teachers’ bread-and-butter issues. (One such researcher is a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.) When legitimate concerns about reform techniques are easily dismissed as “anti-reform,” then you have a closed policy system, one shielded from self-correction.

It is good news indeed that school reform has become a top national priority, that the ways schools are structured, children are taught and teachers evaluated have become issues worthy of federal attention. But for reforms to be effective and sustained, they need to be grounded on the best we know and examined carefully and from multiple perspectives.

Mike Rose is on the faculty of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and author of “Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us.”

AP / Rich Pedroncelli
A third-grader wraps his mind around the president’s education speech.

Censorship: Maya Angelou, sex education, and evolution

I was once told by one of our local ANTI friends, who was a candidate for our VUSD school board in 1998, that "information once given could never be taken back". This school board candidate thought giving full information to our students was a bad thing.

Certainly some information is age appropriate, but withholding vital information from students is not the function of fact based public education.

That 1998 candidate was talking about our Sex Education Curriculum when he told me about his fear of information getting to students. He was specifically afraid of middle school and high school students getting birth control information. Having seen seventh grade girls (very few but some) bringing their babies back to school to show their friends and teachers, I disagree with him about the importance of a birth control component of sex education.

Our friends in the ANTI camp have also disagreed with information about science being taught in middle school and high school, especially evolution and specifically what we know about the fossil record and genetic record of human evolution.

I was able to teach the unit on human evolution to my middle school students only after I showed our vice principal the State Curriculum Guide that included human evolution in middle school. After several of our ANTI friends complained that human evolution should not be taught and their children attempted to disrupt all teaching of evolution in our middle school science classrooms, our VP had been ready to instruct the Lincoln Middle School Science teachers to de-emphasize evolution and leave out any mention of evolution in regards to humans. I was only able to continue the teaching of evolution because of what I showed him in the state wide guide. This incident happened before the California Standards were adopted.

Our current California Standards for Science do NOT mention human evolution. Our ANTI friends were successful in stripping it out at the state level when the Standards were adopted. Censorship can work.

Information can be withheld. Students can be denied a full fact based curriculum. The current California Standards in Science are an example where our ANTI friends won a huge battle in the science censorship war. Hopefully brave middle school or high school science teacher still teach what we know about the record of human evolution and have not stopped because the subject was stripped out of the new Standards.

Book Censorship has been another favorite for our ANTI friends. With that in mind I share two articles from the Orange County Register and a school board member and ex school board member advocating book censorship. They want Maya Angelou's book, Why the Caged Bird Sings taken from the school library.

Trustee: Ban Maya Angelou autobiography from libraries
Locals express concerns about "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which includes a rape scene of an 8-year-old.
BY ANNIE BURRIS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

HUNTINGTON BEACH – An autobiography by renowned author Maya Angelou has become the latest book in Orange County to be challenged as unfit for school libraries.

Judy Ahrens, a former Westminster School District trustee, took to the podium at Monday's Huntington Beach City Council meeting to read a scene from Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' that details the rape of an 8-year-old girl. The reading was a demonstration on why the book should be banned, she told the audience.

"I would like to say I don't wish to read this material … but for the sake of the innocence of our children … sometimes we have to do things in life we are uncomfortable with," Ahrens said during the meeting which is televised on the city's cable channel.

The best-seller is the first volume of Angelou's autobiographical series and was the third most challenged book in schools during the 1990s, according to the American Library Association.

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,'' published in 1970, is a memoir tracing Angelou's childhood in a rural community during the 1930s. The theme of the book is using "the power of education and literature to save oneself from a bad living situation and overcoming adversity," said Deborah Caldwell, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom with the American Library Association.

"There is this rape scene in the book but it is part of the larger theme where the character overcomes such obstacles to become a better person," she said. "Denying the entire community access to the book is a real issue especially when it is a publicly funded library."

Read the rest of the article at the Register's website:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/school-book-ban-2616544-maya-trustee
NOTE: This article has been taken down from the Orange County Register site. I discovered it missing on October 22, 2010 but found the same article reprinted here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2367631/posts

Additional note written on October 22, 2010:

Below is a comment posted by someone calling himself John Briscoe. John Briscoe is the name of the school board trustee who according to the Orange County Registrar advocated for the removal of the Maya Angelou book, Why the Caged Bird Sings. See the above link to read what the Orange County Registrar said about John Briscoe or read what is posted at the end of this blog to get a clearer view of the kind of angry ignorance that has become so powerful in our educational system and now seems to control our country as well.


---------------------
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Poll: Readers don't want Maya Angelou's book banned
About 1,800 online readers voted; 85% oppose ban.
BY ANNIE BURRIS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Readers who responded to an ocregister.com poll overwhelmingly oppose a ban of Maya Angelou's book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" from public school libraries.

About 1,800 people voted in the poll in two articles about efforts in Huntington Beach to pull the autobiography from Ocean View School District's middle school libraries.

About 85 percent of readers said not to ban the book and 15 percent said to pull the book from the libraries, according to the poll, which was posted Tuesday morning.

Judy Ahrens, a former Westminster School District trustee, took to the podium at Monday's Huntington Beach City Council meeting to read a scene from Angelou's book that details the rape of an 8-year-old girl. The reading was a demonstration on why the book should be banned, she told the audience.

John Briscoe, an Ocean View School District trustee who headed the presentation, said he and Ahrens went to the City Council to publicize a matter of interest to the community.

Angelou, who is scheduled to speak at UC Riverside Thursday, recently talked with the Press Enterprise about banned books.

"I'm always sorry that people ban my books," she told the paper. "Many times I've been called the most banned. And many times my books are banned by people who never read two sentences. I feel sorry for the young person who never gets to read.”

There were more than 150 comments under the two stories.

Cathytrout wrote that the book changed her life.

"A babysitter molested me when I was 7 years old, and I carried the shame of that like an albatross around my neck," she wrote. "Then I found this book. I read about the pain of another little girl, and it pulled me out of my darkness. Her words released me from my own cage, from my shame. Those who decry this book don't know why Maya sings."


For the rest of the article see the Orange County Register website here:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/book-school-wrote-2617870-children-angelou

Stimulus saved many teaching jobs

The Obama Stimulus money saved us seven days of school and pay in VUSD and all of California. The stimulus made it possible for our district not to lay off VUSD teachers. In Los Angeles alone as many as 6000 jobs were saved.

Both of our local Congressman Brian Bilbray and Darrell Issa voted AGAINST the stimulus as did EVERY single other Republican in Congress.
Read more about all Republicans voting no here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/14/us/politics/14web-stim.html


Read more about jobs saved by the Stimulus here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-education-jobs20-2009oct20,0,3456241.story


Stimulus saved 6,000 education jobs in L.A.,
report says

More than 250,000 full- and part-time jobs escaped budget cuts nationwide. A more complete accounting will be posted online next week.
By Joe Markman
October 20, 2009

Thanking teachers--two perspectives

In today's North County Times there are two perspectives on teachers. The first is a letter to the editor written by an education supporter. The other a comment on that letter written by one of our local ANTI educational bashers.

In the interest of allowing us to better understand the minds of those who support and those who oppose public education, I will print both.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/letters/article_2589bd7b-35d2-5995-b33d-a503326cc13d.html

October 20, 2009

Remember to thank a teacher

Teachers may not make a lot of money, but they make a lot of difference.

Each year, Retired Teachers Week (Nov. 2 through 8) is celebrated when we especially thank teachers for making a difference in the lives of students. It is not easy to help children learn and grow by empowering them to go further than one can dream.

A child arrives like a mystery box with puzzle pieces inside. The teacher sorts them out and helps to create a work of art who believes in himself, thinks for himself, becomes responsible and is finally able to stand alone.

If you appreciate teachers, check the Web site http://ilovesch ools.com/, which empowers teachers with the tools to enrich our children. Remember to thank a teacher.

Lucile Reeder
Fallbrook




unlaxx said on: October 20, 2009, 6:57 am
Re: Remember to Thank a Teacher

I respect teachers, but not the teacher's unions.

Our schools are trying to balance next year's budgets seeing that the stimulus borrowing which "saved" jobs this year has only exacerbated the situation for next year.

The answer would be lowering pay, increasing class size, or both.

However, union contracts prevent changes to these items.

So we'll see the elimination of sports and music programs, any remaining bus service, and more deferred maintenance.

Meanwhile, teachers will continue to gripe as they enjoy the only job I know of that pays an annual salary with 3 months vacation each year.

Jim Gibsons apologists run terrified from his record--50 million waste on third high school

Our ANTI friends are desperate to extricate Jim Gibson from his abysmal record as a VUSD school board trustee. The part of the record that they are most concerned about is the 50 million dollars of taxpayer waste that Jim Gibson cost our good VUSD Taxpayers by refusing them the chance to build the third high school at the cheap level Kawano/ Strawberry Hill site.

The ANTIs are so terribly desperate that they have been reduced to lying and cherry picking facts to try to change the record of Jim Gibson's wanton disregard for taxpayer money. They do not want VUSD voters to know the following inconvenient facts:

(1) For 12 months (March 2002 - March 2003)after the school bond, Prop O, passed, Jim Gibson and Dr. Stephen Guffanti refused to allow the taxpayers of VUSD the chance to build the third high school at the last, cheap, level, vacant, 50 plus acre site left in our district.

(2)Finally the three good responsible board members gave up trying to convince Gibson and Guffanti to provide the LEGALLY required fourth vote to acquire this LAST good site in our district for the high school. In March of 2003, the THREE THRIFTY school board members voted to ask the VUSD search group to see if they could find another place as good as Kawano/Strawberry Hill site.

(3)After FIVE more months of search, in August of 2003 it was clear that there WAS NO PLACE in our district as cheap, level and quick to build on as Kawano/Strawberry Hill.

(4)The THREE THRIFTY school board members tried yet AGAIN in August of 2003 to get Gibson and Guffanti to allow the taxpayer the cheap level Kawano site now that it was absolutely clear that nothing as good as that site remained inside VUSD. (Most of VUSD was already completely built out with no large level high school sites left other than the Kawano site).

(5)Gibson and Guffanti still refused to allow the taxpayers access to the cheap level Kawano Strawberry Hill site. They just said no and no and no again.

(6) The result of their refusal to cooperate cost the taxpayers of our district an extra 50 million dollars. Their refusal forced the district to put the third high school at an inferior secondary site--the site at Melrose-- that was NOT level, not graded, not entirely in our school district, and worse inside the city limits of Oceanside which had a history of NOT cooperating with the VUSD.

Below is an example of cherry picking by one of our ANTI friends, "Dorothy" in order to try to hide the six inconvenient facts mentioned above. I took this cherry picking lie from the the comment section following the recent article (Tuesday October 13, 2009) about the new high school.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_6c857e07-a64e-5558-9274-96021809b9a3.html?mode=story


She is so desperate that she gives the URL of an article that proves exactly the opposite of what she says in her comments. I urge everyone who has any doubt about which side is lying and which is telling the truth in the Great VUSD Wars to read the article she refers to in her comments. Her comments are found here:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_6c857e07-a64e-5558-9274-96021809b9a3.html?mode=comments


The article she is cherry picking is found here: Please read to see who is lying.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_675be210-95ff-5b76-bda0-4f74980ce7aa.html



Her comment were made on October 18 at 4:46pm


Our ANTI friend, Dorothy's, cherry picking lie to try to extricate Jim Gibson from his part in costing the VUSD taxpayers 50 million dollars:

con no more...here is the VOTE that I found for you and NCTimes even carried it...it was unanimous AGAINST the Strawberry Hill location for the Magnet High School. http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_675be210-95ff-5b76-bda0-4f74980ce7aa.html
Now, you owe Dr. Guffanti and Trustee Gibson an apology for blaming them for something that they didn't do! Again, get your facts straight yourself before you throw out accusations of wrongdoing.

My answer:

Dorothy, I am so disappointed with your post on October 18 at 4:46PM. You are well aware of the admonishment "not to bare false witness", yet in your post you did just that. Truth is full truth, not cherry picking.

I know you read the first two sentences of that article you refer to. Those sentences alone confirm all that I have written as does the rest of that article.

I invite all who wonder which side is the Great VUSD Wars is truthful and which is lying to read the article that Dorothy cherry picked her information from.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_675be210-95ff-5b76-bda0-4f74980ce7aa.html


As Dorothy knows the vote, the previous March, that was referred to in the article happened ONE FULL YEAR (March 2003) after the school bond Prop O was passed (March 2002) and a year after the Kawano Strawberry Hill site was selected as the LAST, level, cheap, vacant, high school sized site left in our school district.

For a full year the "THRIFTY THREE" school board members tried to convince the two wasteful ones (Gibson and Guffanti) to allow the taxpayers of VUSD to have access to the CHEAP LEVEL Kawano Strawberry Hill site.

Finally the "Thrifty Three" gave up and decided to instruct the VUSD search team to look for another possible site for the third high school. The Thrifty Three knew that each month of delay increased costs and delayed the opening of the new high school. The unanimous vote had to do with stopping preparations at Kawano and instructing the search team to look for a secondary site. All of these facts, YOU WELL KNOW, Dorothy.

The article your URL referred to was written in AUGUST 2003 after another five MORE months of fruitless searching, the search team had found NOTHING nearly as good as the cheap, level Kawano Strawberry Hill site was.

The Thrifty Three tried again at this board meeting in AUGUST 2003 to re-open the purchase of the cheap level Kawano property. This August 2003 meeting was SEVENTEEN LONG MONTHS AFTER THE SCHOOL BOND PASSED. At this August 2003, meeting Gibson and Guffanti again refused to allow the taxpayers access to Kawano Strawberry Hill. The wasteful duo, of Gibson and Guffanti, just kept saying no, no, and no again.

Now we are stuck with a 100 million dollar high school instead of a 50 million (possibly 52 million) dollar high school. ALL OF THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS more of expense are the DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY of JIM GIBSON and Dr. Stephen Guffanti and as a result of their 'just say no' attitude.

Proof of that is in the first two sentences of that article. Let me quote them for you:

"VISTA -- Vista Unified School District board members agree that building two magnet high schools is a top priority to ease overcrowding at the district's existing high schools, but they are struggling to reach agreement on where the new schools should be built.

Three board members (the Thrifty Three) say they wanted to build the high schools on a 50-acre tract known as Strawberry Hills in Bonsall. But the other two members (Gibson and Guffanti) said they want the district to put more effort into looking at smaller sites around the city.

I urge all who wonder which side is telling the truth to read the article that Dorothy refers to.

When will Jim Gibson apologize to the students and taxpayers of VUSD?