Quick Hits: Hillsborough County, Everyday Antiracism and Stephen Krashen Worship
Some old, some new, some blogs, some traditional media. All worthwhile, ‘cuz we’ve got Florida, race and Reading First.
The travel debate in Hillsborough County, Florida [St. Pete Times].
The travel expenses are in - board member Susan Valdes spent a lot, no doubt. But $50k over 4 years isn’t all that much if the travel/conferences were worthwhile. Her unfriendlier colleagues on the Board point to the gaudy number and never once address what she actually did with the funds.
There’s no evidence of impropriety, just frequent professional development. The horror!
And cue the gall from Jennifer Faliero:
Board Chairwoman Jennifer Faliero, who requested the four-year analysis of travel by elected officials, agreed. She led the call for a temporary halt on out-of-county travel at the last meeting.
She doesn’t think travel should continue during a time of budget cuts, but acknowledged that other board members don’t agree. She is pushing for oversight and budgeting that would equalize travel among officials.
“We didn’t have a policy, so you leave yourself open to all kinds of abuses,” said Faliero, whose own expenses totaled $13,000. “Even though you hope people will use common sense, that hasn’t happened here.”
Golly gee, it’s almost as if Ms. Faliero doesn’t want Ms. Valdes to win re-election!
Of course, everyone will remember that Ms. Faliero didn’t see it fit to live in the district she was actually representing [she moved back after public pressure]. If anyone is to criticize a board member about using common sense, it isn’t Faliero.
In the tradition of Ann Landers, I’ll issue a Confidential to Jennifer Faliero:
Grow up, you partisan hack. Or at least be politically savvy enough to conceal your motives more effectively.
Getting Real About Race in School [Eduwonkette].
This is old news, but it’s worth revisiting. Eduwonkette featured as a guest blogger Harvard’s Mica Pollack, author of Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real about Race in School.
And to think, I’ve only been committed to anti-racism on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Saturday!
Pollock’s guest post is another in a series of Eduwonkette’s reminders that you [or me, or anyone, I guess] should know Pollock’s name. May 21st’s summer reading list suggestion and May 30th’s “Cool People You Should Know” nod apparently weren’t enough. Perhaps a hidden tenet of “Everyday Antiracism” is that we need to be reminded of it every day.
But Pollock’s debate is what warrants attention here. After repeating the 4 bullet points that explain the core of “Everyday Antiracism” - I’d bother linking to them if they weren’t repeated in half of Pollock’s posts - some commenters engaged Pollock in rigorous, sensible debate.
And you know how it goes. When the going gets tough, some just get going. Not everyone thought Pollock’s Kool-Aid tasted sweet, so she huffed, puffed, took her ball and went home.
I came late to the party [and the commenters raised all the issues I wanted to address, so I was content with just reading], but I’ll reprint my comment here:
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Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- BREAKING: Hillsborough Election Results Are In, Valdes Wins, Kurdell Doesn’t at Education for the Aughts - American School Issues and Analysis - [...] Valdes over Schmidt. Good, she’s alright. I guess this means Faliero’s childish attacks didn’t work. Sorry, [...]
I suppose we’ll see further discussion at schoolracetalk.org.
Silence [right here on the Aughts].
Silly me, I decided to judge Stephen Krashen’s latest Reading First USAToday Crap-Ed piece on its merits. I thought that Reid Lyon’s argument was more compelling.
Gary Stager took me to task. His pith:
Very true. In related news, Gary Stager sports a mustache while I prefer a full beard.
Anyone can put out a stinker regardless of what they’ve done in the past. I happen to think that Krashen is full of stinkers, but that’s beside the point. His editorial, again, was not compelling - and when you write as many letters to the editor and op-eds as Krashen does, it happens. I replied:
Silence, silence, silence.