Geobop: Thursday, June 29, 2000 Dan Barton: Betrayed Bergie Bits Mindy's Gone! Gregoire + Sidran Governor Strategy Washington State School Board Teacher COLA Rules Utterly Bewildered Dan Barton: Betrayed Well, my favorite tyrannical, sexist, lunatic principal finally made the big time, getting a place of honor in the Seattle Weekly. So why am I so glum? Well, it appears to me that my favorite Seattle political reporter, James Bush, sold us out. I never expected him to go for the jugular, but I thought he would do what he's best at - report the truth, and the simple truth could destroy Barton. Instead, Bush gave us a masterful propaganda piece dripping with disinformation. It may also be the most BIZARRE article Bush has ever penned. I never thought I'd see the day. In fact, I have to wonder if the Seattle School Board asked Bush to write this piece. If it had appeared in print during the school year, hundreds of teachers would have been gossiping about it in schools across Seattle. Instead, it came out at a time when no one's thinking about education, and a lot of teachers aren't even in town. (Did the teachers union arrange for the heat wave, too?) So why publicize Barton at all? I've promised to make him a campaign issue. Now when I criticize Barton, the district can use Bush's article to defend him. If Bush had said that Barton has no problems, he would have fell flat on his face. So he mentions many of the criticisms, but he ignored some of the more serious and bizarre charges, trivialized others, then emulated Barton in trying to turn the whole thing into some sort of education reform fairy tale with the oldest moral in the world: Dan Barton isn't a bad guy; he's just trying to hold teachers accountable. Consider the title: "Principal problem: Is Dan Barton a take-charge reformer or a boss from hell? Or both?" 2nd Paragraph: "Since taking over at the start of the 1993-94 academic year, Barton has focused on improving the teaching staff while implementing a cutting-edge curriculum of learning for the 21st century. He's attracted a core group of young teachers devoted to implementing the changes he espouses." (I can hear Barton's victims moaning as they read this crap!) "While many criticized Stanford for his failure to demote principals who didn't produce results, Joseph Olchefske, his successor, signaled in May that he isn't a get-along, go-along administrator. Superintendent Olchefske demoted four principals, the first such demotions in more than a decade. Barton, however, appears to enjoy Olchefske's support." So what?! Olchefske supported every derelict in the district! He actually hired Al Jones! "'There's no question there's a lot of controversy here,' admits the 44-year-old Barton. 'What we're trying to do is unbelievably challenging.'" What kind of crap is this? "As a doctoral student, Barton says he was struck by two pieces of educational research. The first was the prediction that, due to advancing technology, about 80 percent of today's kindergarten students will end up working at jobs that didn't exist when they entered school. The second was an estimate that these same students will change careers at least four times during their lives. Thus, the principal reasoned, the educator's job isn't just to teach students, it's to teach students how to learn. "While teachers have long realized that students learn in different ways (educational theorist Howard Gardner identifies nine types of intelligence), efforts have previously focused on showing teachers how to teach in multiple ways, thus enabling them to connect with each student on their own level. Now, the leading edge of educational theory promotes teaching students to learn using all the multiple intelligences. 'We need What the hell does all this have to do with calling teachers bitches and talking about breast feeding and Barton's failing marriage??? "For many current Gatewood teachers, the chance to work at the school makes them feel like they've died and gone to heaven--and discovered that heaven looks a lot like grad school." Sheez! After thoroughly snowing readers with all this New Age gibberish about education theory, Bush finally gets around to Barton's detractors - and THE REPRIMAND: "The reprimand, issued by Seattle School District's personnel director Michael Jones, begins by scolding Barton for some minor transgressions (a few public uses of the word 'bitch' and a middle-school-caliber sexist joke), then cites the larger issue of a breakdown of professional boundaries between the principal and staff members. According to the reprimand, Barton inappropriately discussed his failing marriage with teachers and attempted to socialize with staff members, including two teachers who complained of being invited for one-on-one sailing trips on the principal's boat." What does Bush mean by "minor transgressions"??? I put a copy of the reprimand online at http://www.geobop.com/Education/People/Admin/Principals/Barton/ Barton didn't just use the word "bitch" in public, he called his staff bitches. Bush doesn't even mention the part about Barton talking about breasts and breast feeding. How was Barton punished for his "minor transgressions"? "Barton says he has apologized to his staff and the PTA for his actions. 'I acknowledged my mistakes and we, as a faculty, have moved on,' he says. Teachers and PTA members confirm that Barton fully disclosed his errors, answered questions about the situation, and invited individuals to question him about the situation either in private or in the presence of his supervisor or another teacher. He and his staff have completed the sexual harassment training mandated by the reprimand. The two complaining female teachers have since transferred to other schools." On my website, I wrote the following: In a letter to the editor of the West Seattle Herald ((Feb. 16, 2000), retired Gatewood teacher Laura Webb wrote, "The parents need to know five signed affidavits are on the books EEOC beginning in 1994. This was for five separate situations of sexual harassment." Why didn't Bush mention the FIVE incidents of sexual harassment? Why didn't Bush tell readers that Barton doesn't work Fridays? Consider this passage: "Is Barton's temper a problem? 'It's a hard question to answer,' says assistant principal Tim Moynihan. Although he's personally never seen his boss yell at anyone, some people have obviously taken offense at the principal's intense, no-nonsense style." Well how about telling your readers that Barton NEVER HAD an assistant principal until the shit hit the fan. Instead of dealing with Barton, the district threw more money away on an assistant principal to do Barton's job while Barton - what, has sex in his office? And is Gatewood big enough to merit an assistant principal? One teacher told me she was irked that Bush mentioned her in his article; she claims she had asked him not to. "He [Barton] also appears to have the confidence of his employers. Superintendent Joseph Olchefske has told complaining parents that he has faith in his reform principal and his program." But Olchefske is a derelict himself! The conclusion is chilling: "When you consider the other problems with principals Olchefske may have, it doesn't seem Barton is likely to become a top priority anytime soon. . . . As an administrator who has worked to improve his staff, weed out poor teachers, and implement a new, ambitious curriculum, Barton easily outshines Seattle's weaker principals. "And reform-minded teachers such as Butler argue that Barton's future is an important indicator for principals who want to make changes. 'If people [who] are willing to make things change get their neck lopped off, you just know what that's going to do to the Seattle school system.'" Unbelievable. The other amazing thing is the number of teachers who were willing to vouch for Barton, some making absolutely bizarre statements. I encourage people on this list to visit the Seattle Weekly at http://www.seattleweekly.com and download this article for future reference. Though the Seattle Weekly dug its grave last fall, I still held out hope that James Bush still had class. One of Seattle's best known education activists like him, but she also likes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Rebekah Denn, who likewise turned out to be a little tramp. There are almost NO reputable media in Seattle. That's a sad and scary thought. Reference: "Principal problem: Is Dan Barton a take-charge reformer or a boss from hell? Or both?" James Bush, The Seattle Weekly, July 29- Bergie Bits Check out Terry Bergeson's report card at http://www.geobop.com/Education/Bergeson/Issues.htm. It ain't pretty. Check out the Washington Software Foundation's Board of Trustees at http://www.wsf- wa.org/about/trustees.html. They include campaign chums Terry Bergeson and Don Nielsen and ex-Mayor Norm Rice's wife, Constance. A Seattle Aquarium page at http://www.seattleaquarium.org/news.htm lists Bergeson, Mayor Paul Schell, and Tom Alberg. Yuck! Mindy's Gone! Mindy Cameron, who rivals Joni Balter as Seattle's most hated columnist, is retiring! I wonder if it might have something to do with the approaching elections. The overpaid elves at Seattle Schools headquarters have been working overtime trying to hide derelict principals, and I suspect the Seattle Times may be doing a little house-cleaning, too. Reference: "'Times' change," James Bush, Seattle Weekly, June 29-July 5, 2000 Gregoire + Sidran In "The evils of big government" (The Seattle Weekly, June 28, 2000), Geov Parrish beats up on Attorney General Christine Gregoire. In the meantime, new Seattle City Council appointee Judy Nicastro dissed hated City Attorney Mark "Darth" Sidran at a contentious July 7 city council meeting, and he nailed her with some rude, sexist comments in an elevator, after which Nicastro nailed Sidran with a letter cc'd to Council President Margaret Pageler and Mayor Paul Schell, followed by a written (and somewhat bizarre) apology from Sidran. The torrid affair is discussed in "Sidran says he's sorry: Nicastro calls bullshit on City Attorney for his behavior in council chambers and elevator," Josh Feit, The Stranger, June 28, 2000 http://www.thestranger.com/2000-06-29/city3.html Governor Strategy Is Senator Harold Hochstatter going to hang in there and run against Carlson and Locke? I sure hope so, because I fear a race between Locke and Carlson could wind up with either one (probably Locke) winning a 51% victory in the primary, and that would be the end of any discussion of the issues. If Hochstatter is also a candidate, I suspect pull a few more votes away from Locke. Then again, Hochstatter is pretty right-wing, and he might actually scare some people into Locke's arms. Since our next governor will probably be Locke or Carlson, the entire campaign's pretty much a lost cause. In that spirit, it might be kind of nice if it was wrapped up in the primary. Guess what campaign voters would be left to focus on? Well, the battle between Maria Cantwell and Slade Gorton would get a lot of press, but the media would be hard pressed to continue ignoring the SPI campaign. Washington State School Board Someone asked me if I knew anything about the Washington State School Board. I didn't even know of its existence. All I know is what's online at http://www.keepschoolssafe.org/wssda.htm Teacher COLA Rules I-732 is the first of three education initiatives to collect enough signatures to get placed on the ballot. The state must validate 179,000 signatures, while Citizens for Quality Educators say they've gathered 290,008. About 21,000 people have signed off on I-729 (charter schools), while about 210,000 have bought into I-728 (K-12 2000). "With the July 7 deadline for submitting signatures fast approaching, volunteers for the other two education initiatives say they will make a final push over the weekend." There's a lot of humor in this BIG ED initiative drive. "Signature-gatherers have run into some public confusion over the three education initiatives. On Tuesday, when I-728 co-chair Lisa Macfarlane walked around Seattle Center during the lunch hour, she encountered people who had never heard of the class-size reduction initiative or who said they'd 'already signed it.' "When Macfarlane explained the differences, several people realized they'd signed the cost-of- living initiative, and added their names to the class-size reduction petition." By the way, I recently learned that Macfarlane is an attorney. "I-732, which kicked off its signature-gathering effort earlier than the other two initiatives, and I- 728 are grassroots campaigns." Close your eyes and think about the word "grassroots" before you read the rest. "Both are backed by the Washington State PTA, the Washington Education Association -- the state's largest teachers' union -- and other state education groups. And both have deployed hundreds of volunteers to collect signatures. "I-728 has also used paid signature-gatherers, as has I-729, which is backed by Microsoft co- founder Paul Allen." Yup, that's what I call grassroots. Nothing like an ordinary billionaire and teachers union stumping for a social cause. "None of the initiatives involves a tax increase." Two of the initiatives would pour millions of dollars more into education, but there's no tax increase involved. Remember the dictum "There's no free lunch," then read the fine print. Another interesting thing is that the Seattle P-I included the website URLs of the I-728 and I-732 campaigns. Screw the SPI campaign. The charter school campaign has a campaign website and phone number "in development." Sheez, talk about late for lunch. Reference: "Teacher COLA initiative petitions go to Olympia," Debera Carlton Harrell, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 29, 2000 Utterly Bewildered Check out the commentary on California's LA "Mummified" School District at http://www.newtimesla.com/issues/2000-06-29/stewart.html?newsletter