| The number of administrative positions has also seen a sharp upturn; according to M-DCPS high school science teacher and union activist Shawn Beightol, "Rudy Crew's burgeoning administration downtown is doing nothing to rein in uncontrolled and mismanaged spending. In fact, it can be shown that the hiring of 248 additional staff to reduce overtime expenses actually cost the district an additional $10 million....He has gone from 163 administrators downtown that make over $100,000 in July 2004, to 225 in July 2006, to over 400 in January 2008." |
| M-DCPS superintendent Rudy Crew and his school board have already taken a first big bold -- and most commendable -- step towards solving their district's |
| problems by last month becoming the largest school district in America to voluntarily place its check register online; click on the link at far left on the U.S. Roster to view over 6,500 pages of payments sorted alphabetically by vendor. These issues exist in most America public schools; when Rudy and his trustees have solved these six, Rudy will have established a real and lasting legacy. |
| P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
| It's a puzzlement Why was Marta Perez the only trustee looking into the district's expenses; perhaps her being a three-term trustee would explain things. Is it healthy for our public schools for our administrators to ask our elec- ted trustee to take things on faith rather than produ- cing detailed factual information? As late President Ronald Reagan said, "Trust -- but verify." My recent examination of Rudy's treatment of other board members has raised questions regarding whether the district deals equitably with all of its elected trustees. (See 4. "Questionable practices" below.) |
| O/T not documented properly As if $27.8 million in overtime in one year was not enough, the Auditor General says it was not adequately documented. Sadly for the district, this leadership oversight comes "on the heels of severe state education budget cutbacks: The School Board was recently tasked with slashing $240 million from the budget over the next four years. As a result, district officials have been squabbling with teachers over how to pay the rising cost of health insurance. Last week, Crew said he would consider laying off hundreds of employees to balance the budget." (SOURCE--Kathleen McGrory/Miami Herald) Although a spokesman for the district pointed out by phone late Friday that some of the overtime was covered by costs for events themselves, security for football games being one example, the fact remains that -- again referring to the chart above -- overtime in MDCPS has more than tripled in five short years. |
| Arza's racist language While Arza has admitted having used the language -- something which can never be condoned under any circumstances (Arza blamed it on being drunk at the time) --individuals have raised the issue that Rudy Crew was not happy with his employee Arza given Arza's Republican politics. Questions have been raised as to why Crew would take a tougher stance regarding a racial slur than he would a student athlete's statutory rape of a 14-year old studen -- a rape, according to a published report from the investigating grand jury, whose consequences "for the little girl included attempted suicide and life in a residential psychiatric facility." Prior to the rape she was an honors student. These are questions only Rudy can answer. (See "3. Leadership" below) Another big question: Should Arza should have continued working as an M-DCPS employee after his election to the Lege? Look at the two consultancies (see greybar below) Arza accepted in 2003 after resigning from M-DCPS: |
| The Board "encourages the continued professional growth of the Superintendent through his membership in appropriate professional organizations and his reasonable attendance and participation in appropriate professional meetings at the local, regional, state, and national levels. Specifically, the Superintendent is encouraged to attend and participate in professional conferences, in-state and out-of-state, that support his efforts to enhance the quality of programs, leadership and governance of the school district. The costs for attending and participating in such conferences, including registration fees, travel, meals and other associated expenses shall be paid or reimbursed by the District at the request of the Superintendent." -- Excerpt, Lake Travis ISD 7-page employment contract for supe Rocky Kirk through 12.31.12; more Texas supe contracts at KEYE-TV here. |
| During his heyday . . . Ralph Arza was: o Chair/FL Lege's PreK-12 committee o Vice chair/House Education Council o Member/Ed. Appropriations Committee There were grumblings among M-DCPS co-workers regarding Arza's absence at his day job -- the former longtime Miami High School coach became a history teacher -- to participate in legislative ses- sions in Tallahassee; for example, he missed 120 out of 212 workdays in 2002. (SOURCE--WPLG-TV) |
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| 'Even more disturbing, after the rape, when Student A disclosed her suffering to two staff members, they all but ignored her, forcing the girl to shoulder the burden of the sexual assault by herself and encounter her attackers on a daily basis.' Stancik also discovered that August Martin staff members withheld information from investigators and made inaccurate statements to the press. Although he reassigned the assistant principals after the scandal, Crew refused to remove Principal Richard Ross despite Stancik's recommendation and parents' outrage...." (SOURCE-- Francisco Alvarado/Miami New Times) 2. 1999 / Cheating on standardized tests - Stancik uncovered another scandal that parallels a Miami problem; he "exposed that Crew's office of spec- ial investigations was aware many teachers were changing students' grades on flunked tests, but did nothing. One of Crew's top New York lieutenants, then-Special Investigations Director Marlene Malamy, played a major role in the misdoing. (SOURCE--Francisco Alvarado/Miami New Times) Stancik Dec.1999 report re standardized test cheating here. |
| Conservative Commentary - Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida (Last updated April 2008) |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
| FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of education issues vital to a republic. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Section 107 which states: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright," the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
| ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS: Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you. |
| Copyright 1999-2008 Peyton Wolcott |
"Walk softly and carry a big stick." -- Teddy Roosevelt "Trust but verify." -- Ronald Reagan |
| Just because you can doesn't mean you should. |
| Marta Perez (PHOTO--H. Gabino/El Nuevo Herald) |
| There were 21 findings in the report; here's the one regarding the undocumented overtime payments: |
| Although Florida's Auditor General performs auditors every three years on districts with more than 150,000 residents, the timing is interesting given lead-up events: |
| Oct. 9, 2007 Marta Perez request to Rudy Crew: Names Current work location assignments Base salary Overtime payments for all Confidential Exempt employees pay grade "G" and above For FY 2006-07 and FY to date |
| Oct. 25, 2007 Rudy Crew to Marta Perez |
| QUESTIONS: 1. WHAT IS "CEP? CONFIDENTIAL EXEMPT Personnel? 2. JUDY LISBEY IS RUDY'S admin? Yes channel 10 story (secty who comes out & says "no comment" is judy) WHAT DOES HER SISTER CAROL DO? WHAT IS "ACCOUNTABILITY AND SYSTEMS"? they do management & compliance gopher for supe to play with nos. 3. DID RUDY SEND WORK LOCATION ASSIGNMENTS (I CAN'T FIND) - no |
| Aug. 29, 2007 Marta Perez to Rudy Crew Office of Civil Rights Compliance, the Civilian Investigative Unit, and the Office of Professional Standards on Feb. 14, 2007 Overtime for any of the above |
| Oct. 9, 2007 RC to MP Ofc. of Prof. Standards & Ofc. of Civil Rights Compliance: None on Feb. 14, 2007 Civilian Investigative Unit: $1,153.65 |
| 1. Why only these three offices? 2. Why is Marta only looking for Feb. 14, 2007 O/T? That was date of board mtg. - there was an altercation An outside vendor (re a NWern HS rape investigation) claimed they were changing dates - Rhonda Vangates told vendor she could cover it up. Crew & cronies intimidated vendor. The pp who stayed are salaried; they're not hourly, should not be getting O/T |
| Oct. 12, 2007 MP to RC Asked for names of employees of Civilian Investigative Unit - Feb. 14, 2007 O/T, plus amount paid each. |
| Oct. 15, 2007 RC to MP & Board Sent 5 names with amount for each. |
| New York City redux in Miami While it may seem anomalous to be looking so closely at Miami-Dade the same month Rudy Crew was named "Superintendent of the Year" by the American Association of School Admini- strators (AASA) at its annual convention in Tampa, such an occasion suggests an oppor- tunity to take a closer look; also, this commen- tary was prompted not by the award but by the Florida Auditor General's report's preliminary findings, issued the same day, which had been in the works for several months. |
| LAWSUIT FILE? |
| MIAMI-DADE CPS TIMELINE May 2003 - MDCPS hires former FBI On August 17, 2005, after Crew prodded them, school board members opted not to renew Cousins's contract. Then the board decided, eight to one, to end an agreement that made the Inspector General's Office independent. (SOURCE--Miami New Times) |
| From Stancik's Dec. 1999 report In many cases, cheating so dramatically skewed student performance that the test was rendered all but meaningless. For example, one girl’s 4th grade reading score increased from the 12th percentile to the 81st percentile as a result of receiving assistance, only to fall to the 19th percentile the following year. Another 4th grader, who was “helped” on a reading exam by an educator, saw his score shoot up to the 13th percentile from the 01st percentile and then return to the 01st percentile the next year when help was not forthcoming. Still another student, a 7th grade boy, zoomed from the 09th percentile in reading to the 88th percentile after being given “clues” by his proctor. · Inflated scores misled parents about their children’s skills. Consequently, educational decisions that would likely affect a child’s future were made using erroneous information. |
| in FY 05-06 for MDCPS maintenance and police departments, plus the school board administration building. Rudy's defense for refusing Perez' November 2006 request? Producing such a list would take too much time. You'll recall that when Rudy's sons Russell and Ryan were arrested in 2004 -- the two of them allegedly beat up a single third party -- Rudy's employee, MDCPS police chief Gerald Darling, wrote a nice letter of recommendation for the boys to show to the court. |
| Evelyn Langlieb Greer |
| AntwainEasterling |
| Clockwise from left: Russell (L) & Ryan Crew (PHOTO /Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Dep't), samples of Lauren Crew photogragraphy from her website; Gerald Darling |
| Not quite yet -- especially after national coverage of last Friday's riot at a Miami high school. But Miami-Dade County Public Schools could well be a model for the nation after they meet the six challenges identified at right. Having watched the nation's fourth largest school district for some time, it occurs to me that although M-DCPS is experiencing tremendous issues, every one of them is solvable. |
| 1. Leadership/governance: Nepotism ... Favoritism ... Out-of-control spending 2. Is M-DCPS too big? 3. Public attitude shift |
| Leadership, governance: Nepotism ... Favoritism ... Out-of-control spending |
| Whether Rudy asked or Gerald volunteered, critics charge that such a letter in such circumstances does not pass the smell test. Rudy also came under fire for attempting to bind the district to a no-bid contract with son Russell's company, edu-vendor Scientific Learning Corp. (more about SLC in 4. below), without disclosing the relationship. Rudy said he did not believe he had to as Russell was not employed in a significant capacity at SLC; besides, the district had been purchasing from SLC for some time. This, too, does not pass the smell test. Folks have pointed out that Russell should not have taken the job with SLC as it looks suspicious, looks as though the SLC might have had ulterior motives in hiring the son of the superinten- dent of the nation's fourth-largest school district. |
| Rudy's daughter Lauren Crew, a photographer, works as an M-DCPS elementary school art teacher. |
| Board chair's wife Last December when Glades Middle School principal Elio Falcon hired board chair Agustin Barrera's wife, Alina Gallego, she became his middle school's fourth assistant principal; in addition to the promotion from her old job as social worker at Ruth Owens Kruse Education Center, the new one's half the commute -- only 3.8 miles from home. Board chair's brother-in-law Until Ralph Arza suddenly resigned his position as a Florida state representative on October 30, 2006 -- the resignation prompted by news accounts and a pending House investiga- tion into charges that he'd called Rudy Crew the "n" racial slur word -- he was both a powerful legislator and a long-time M-DCPS teacher, and is married to MDCPS board chair Agustin Barrera's sister, Yris. (More about his political career at right.) |
| $10 mil admin., $27.8 mil O/T, $2 million for cell phones As with most American public school districts, Miami-Dade County Public Schools' income and expenses have continued to rise while at the same time full-time |
| M-DCPS out-of-control spending |
MENTION: MIAMI HERALD BLOG ENTRIES - 2 ARTICLES |
| RALPH ARZA: TEACHER / POLITICO Long before he established himself as a tenacious member of the Miami-Dade legislative delegation in Tallahassee, 45-year-old state Rep. Rafael "Ralph" Arza (R-Hialeah) was the king of Doral. In 1996, after losing a bid for the county school board, he was appointed to the Doral Community Council by former county Commissioner Miriam Alonso (now facing felony charges related to laundering political contributions). Arza served as the council's powerful chairman until 2000, when he gave up the seat to run for the legislature from District 102, which includes most of Hialeah, parts of Miami Lakes, and a small portion of Broward County. He won easily. Last year he ran unopposed for his third term. Despite the lack of an opponent, Arza collected $200,000 in campaign contributions, $40,000 of that from real-estate investors and developers. . . . Arza has become a player in the state House, especially regarding education issues. (For two decades he's been a history teacher at Miami Senior High School.) He is chairman of the legislature's PreK-12 committee, is vice chairman of the House Education Council, and sits on the Education Appropriations Committee. In 2001 Frank Bolaños, a close associate, was appointed to the Miami-Dade School Board by Governor Bush. Arza takes credit for engineering the appointment, much as he helped his brother-in-law, Agustin Barrera, win election to the school board in 2002. (SOURCE--Jim Ridley/Miami New Times/04.14.05) |
| Right to left: Ralph Arza; Yris Arza; Linda Eads, Florida SBOE; Perla Hantman, MDCPS board bember; then-MDCPS supe (and honorary gala chair) Merrett Stierheim at 2004 New World School of the Arts gala |
| Shawn Beightol |
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| Leadership |
| PATTERNS IN RUDY CREW LEADERSHIP Events in NYC reoccurring in MIAMI |
| NYC Public Schools 1. Sept. 1997 - Student raped by star jocks, cover up Edward Stancik, NYCPS special commissioner of investigations, released a report "criticizing officials at August Martin High School, where a female student had been allegedly raped by four members of the varsity football team in an empty classroom. 'Had swift action been taken, it is possible that the rape could have been prevented, or, at the very least, interrupted,' Stancik wrote. |
| August Martin HS (NYCPS magnet school for aviation) |
| M-DCPS marketing campaign |
| Northwestern HS principal Dwight Bernard's arrest (NBC) |
| Justice Intercep- ted: The All Con- suming Power of Football" Grand jury report June 6, 2007 " When the football player, Antwain East- erling, was arrested two months after the rape, "District Admini- stration...made it crystal clear that its priorities were skewed, too. The State championship game was to be played in a few days, specifically, on Dec. 9, 2006. The big ques- tion on the day of arrest was, 'Should the kid play?' Not, 'How is the little girl?' ....Ultimately...the decision was made that, yes, indeed, he should play. Appar- ently, the sworn arrest affidavit recounting the victim’s statement and the defendant’s confession were not enough to indicate that a crime had actually occurred. ....Principal Bernard failed to perform his job in this instance. With position comes the obligation to make difficult decisions. He let the matter go downtown and there- by washed his hands of it....A decision usu- ally made by a princi- pal, was made by district adminstrators and attorneys for the School District. Their decision was to let him play. Again, we do not believe that this is the message that should have been sent to the students and athletes who attend schools within this district.... The perversion of educational values goes beyond the level of the school straight to the heart of the District. Our concerns about the District’s actions did not stop with the issue of whether the star athlete would play in the champion- ship game.... It appeared that an effort was made by a high level district administrator to halt the criminal investigation which was specifically looking into the failure of the MNW personnel to report these crimes to the school police.... Twenty-one (21) school employees knew about the first incident...teachers, administrators, coaches and counsel- lors. Surprisingly, while the police investigation was still underway, the high level District Administration stepped in and, to some, seemingly reinitiated the cover-up attempted by the administration at MNW. Miami-Dade Schools Police was in the process of con- ducting interviews when District administration ordered it to cease its investigation. CONSEQUENCES: The consequences for the school included a state football championship, the possibility of a nationally televised high school football game for the team, increased exposure for the players and coaches, and perhaps most important, an image of success for a school that was failing in nearly every other way. |
| Barnard was arrested, Antwain got to play in the big game, Rudy Crew's assistant Ronda Vangates called off the district's investigation, Northwest- ern won the state title 34-14. "Like everyone else in charge at Northwest- ern -- coach Roland Smith included -- Rudy Crew passed the buck." (SOURCE--Manny Navarro/Miami Herald 2. 2008 / Cheating on standardized tests - "Faculty at Edison Middle School in Miami informed the school board that an administrator leaked the prompts to the FCAT exam to reading coaches at the school a day before February's exam was given to 8th graders.... Miami-Dade School's Superintendent Rudy Crew received a letter dated February 13th, alerting him of the problem that has allegedly been occurring for the last two years." (SOURCE--CBS 4) |
| Lack of autonomy and the ability of investigators to work free from District interference is, sadly, not a new issue for M-DCPS. The Fall Term 2004 Grand Jury Investigation into M-DCPS dealt in part with the lack of independence of the Inspector General. The purpose of the Inspector General is to serve as an independent watchdog to investigate and/or prevent abuse, fraud, mismanagement and waste within a governmental agency |
| Miami-Dade CPS 1. Sept. 2006 - Student raped by star jock, cover up On Sept. 16, 2006 Northwestern High School running back Antwain |
| time full-time enrolled student numbers have continued to drop. (See chart at top right.) Florida's Auditor General's office -- which comes calling every three years in districts with 150,000 and above total populations -- earlier this month released its preliminary audit which found that the district's overtime costs the prior year were $27.8 million and cell phone usage $2 million. |
| M-DCPS central administration is so large it has its own MetroMover station (PHOTO--Transit In Utah blog) |
| Ironically on the same day that the findings were being released in Miami on February 15, M-DCPS superintendent Rudy Crew was in Tampa receiving the American Association of School Administrators' annual "Superintendent of the Year" award at AASA's annual convention in Tampa. (More below in 3. "Leadership") |
| While in the course of running large districts superintendents are bound to encounter a certain number of challenges and problems -- including the fact that not everyone is going to love you and/or your leadership style -- Rudy Crew has been unlucky in that at least three major and unique problems he had in New York have reoccurred in Miami. (See greybar comparisons at right.) There is at least one positive and signifi- cant redux also. According to Answers. com, "A year into his job, Crew opened up the books for the entire New York City school system, and showed parents and teachers how its $8 billion annual budget was distributed. It was termed the most thorough accounting in the system's history." The parallel in Miami-Dade County Public Schools would be Rudy's voluntarily posting the district's check register online last month. |
| BREAKING NEWS: Saturday / March 9, 2008 M-DCPS police no-confidence vote re chief Darling |
| Coverage of February 2008 Edison High School riot by CBS; where was M-DCPS Chief Darling? |
| 3. Thwarting special investigators During the early part of his tenure in New York, Rudy Crew "worked alongside then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani to fix the Big Apple's poorly run public schools. But Crew could not control Edward Stancik, the special commissioner of investigations, who exposed several scandals." (SOURCE-- Francisco Alvarado/Miami New Times) In 1997, a New York Times editorial remarked that Crew "blundered...when he attacked Edward Stancik, the New York City school system's special investigator. Mr. Stancik...has done a solid job of exposing corruption in a system where criminal inquiries were virtually nonexistent before his arrival in 1991. In criticizing a successful investigator, Dr. Crew has picked a fight that he is unlikely to win -- and has given the impression that he views tough law enforcement as a threat to his authority....Dr. Crew should learn to work with the investigator instead of against him." |
| 3. Thwarting special investigators In 2003, former FBI executive Herbert Cousins (above) "was an easy choice for a group of lawmen tasked to recommend a candidate to become the Miami-Dade school board's first inspector general. In May of that year the board unanimously awarded Cousins, who is also a former teacher and principal, a $140,000 annual salary and the power to weed out waste and fraud." In addition to having headed FBI field offices and training FBI agents, in 1990 Cousins had "led a group that arrested Miami cult leader Yahweh ben Yahweh and 15 disciples of his sect on racketeering and capital murder charges." During Cousin's two years at M-DCPS, he investigated the MOTET driver ed scandal, a major interstate fraud case, plus "closed 50 cases, including a criminal probe with the DEA that disclosed 22 school district employees had used health insurance cards to buy OxyContin and then sold the drug on the street. All were arrested....On August 17, 2005, after Crew prodded them, school board members opted not to renew Cousins's contract. Then the board decided, eight to one [with trustee Marta Perez the lone dissenting vote], to end an agreement that made the Inspector General's Office independent....The position has remained vacant. [Last year] the school board offered the job to Bob Emmons, a former assistant inspector general with the U.S. Postal Service, [who] declined, citing a lack of 'independence.'...The result is that — for almost two years — there has been virtually no independent oversight of the board's six-billion-dollar budget." (SOURCE-- Francisco Alvarado, Miami New Times, "Bad Apple," Aug. 2, 2007) |
| Edward Stancik (PHOTO--PBS) |
| Herb Cousins (PHOTO--J.Carini/Miami New Times) |
| Perez: $100,000 questions Here's an example of what trustee Perez was looking for that supe Rudy refused to produce: a list of employees whose base salaries plus O/T were over $100,000 |
Trustee Evelyn Greer's dog in the race Minutes for the next month's board meeting record Perez as saying, "This administration was spending rich, but information poor." In the same meeting's minutes, Greer "said that there is a proper procedure in the rules for obtaining that inforation, and that the Board was here to advance the goals of the children and parents, and citizens and taxpayers of the District . . . . Continuing, she said that she reviewed all of the items listed and that they would take hundreds of hours to produce. She felt that some of the were inappropriate for Board members to obtain. She did not find that she was offended by the Superintendent's decline to produce these items on short notice at a time when bigger projects were trying to be done in this District." Trustee Greer's "bigger projects": MDCPS-funded affordable housing -- and her husband and son are developers in the affordable housing industry Whenever I see a trustee backing a superintendent who does not want to be transparent, so many times the trustee doing the backing is wanting or already receiving backing from the superintendent for their own self-benefiting projects. Imagine my surprise to learn that |
| CARTOON: Rudy Crew holds new book--re M-D's 26 "F" schools (ART/Tatiana Suarez/Miami New Times) |
| USA Today re Northwestern HS football here. |
| 4. Questionable business practices |
| Feb. 15, 2008: Rudy Crew (2nd from left) accepting $10,000 scholarship for alma mater at AASA convention |
| While such an award as Rudy has just received carries with it a certain amount of cachet, it is impor- tant to remember that AASA is basically a trade association for public school executives, its empha- sis on the status and well-being of constituency as a career class. Further, AASA is primarily funded by taxpayers, via provisions in your local superinten- dent's employment contract, as with this example: |
| "Job Central and Resume Review" AASA San Antonio convention (2005) |
| AASA's conventions, fueled by vendors, . Folks in Texas have nicknamed our state's equivalent, the Texas Association of School Administra- tors, "The Lodge." |
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| Ronda Vangates |
| How is it that public schools have wandered away from their appointed task of educating schoolchildren and into the affordable housing business? |
| Straying from the original objective Two recent examples of businesses who appear to have lost sight of their original purposes are Starbucks and The Weather Channel. Starbucks brought the Italian coffeehouse to America and we liked the idea. Turns out, we welcomed a living-room looking place where we could sit a spell and have a great cup of coffee. |
| When longtime leader Howard Schultz stepped down in 2000, Starbucks started down the Krispy Kreme Highway with equally disappointing results: The stores started looking messy, the comfy seating started losing out to plastic chairs, and with the switch to automatic espresso machines the great coffee smell disappeared. Post-Schultz, as Craig Harris wrote in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer two months ago, Starbucks "intensified its focus on music, book deals and the promotion of two Hollywood movies, which had only modest success, to drum up business. Stores also became cluttered as Starbucks sold stuffed animals and CDs." The pleasant background music became radio, with announcers and ads. In January Schultz took control again and one night last week all stores closed for three hours so baristas could be retrained in such basics as making coffee and cleaning toilets. To emphasize where his attentions lie, last Friday Schultz announced he was even giving up his DreamWorks directorship in order to concentrate on Starbucks. |
| When meterologist John Coleman founded The Weather Channel in 1982, his idea was simple: to present useful 24/7 weather information. A year later Landmark Communica- tions took over his idea and TWC morphed into something else, with current cable subscribers now having to wait through global warming propaganda and "Storm Stories" for basic right-now weather updates. Unlike Starbucks, |
| whose publicly traded NYSE:SBUX fortunes are easy to follow, because Landmark's still privately held there's only a rumored $5 billion for-sale sign via JPMorgan and Lehman for anyone to know whether straying from the original purpose has worked better for TWC than it did for Starbucks. But hold on, here's viewer feedback for TWC's "A Very Political Climate - Forecast Earth," 1361 entries since December -- most appearing to be negative, as this: |
| But what do Starbucks and The Weather Channel have to do with Miami-Dade County Public Schools? |
| o If there is any correlation whatsoever (which most reasonable people doubt), between human activity and "global warming" which most will acknowledge is occurring on a minor level, it must be based on a small subset of human activity. My own guess (which is at least as valid as that of such experts as Dr. Cullen and Al Gore) is that the most likely activity would be the generation of hot air by said experts. Which human activity caused the "global warming" that ended the last ice age? -- Jerry Murdock |
| o There are too many self promotions such as all those promotions for Storm Stories. These shows also get in the way of seeing the national forecast information. o It's especially annoying that "Storm Stories" is always on from 8:00-9:00 p.m., which is prime severe thunderstorm time in the summer. I want to see my Local on the 8s when all hell is breaking loose outside, not twenty minutes of Grandma telling us how she found her antique bundt cake ring in a field six miles away "after the tornado come through." |
| And two from TheWeatherPrediction.com: |
| o It's so frustrating to have a storm moving in only to find that TWC is showing Storm Stories. We work outdoors a lot and had TWC on almost full-time when it was all weather, now we rarely bother. |
| Here's one from TelevisionWithoutPity.com: |
| Landmark's 2006 sales were $1.75 billion in 2006, with less than $79 million attributed to the Weather Channel. (SOURCE--Hoover's) |
| Bilzin Sumberg Hosts Breakfast Reception In Honor Of House Majority Whip, Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-Sc) (Greer $500 donor John Sumberg 2nd from right) |
| SHOULD M-DCPS BE SPENDING THIS MUCH MONEY WITH A COMPANY WHO'S HIRED THE SUPERINTENDE NT'S SON? Vendor Name (ID) Check Date Check Amount SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 1/18/2008 $4,995.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 6/27/2007 $69,000.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 3/30/2007 $5,500.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 3/23/2007 $1,000.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 1/26/2007 $4,400.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 1/19/2007 $3,500.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 10/6/2006 $6,600.00 SCIENTIFIC LEARNING CORP (3735867) 8/11/2006 $8,250.00 |
| M-DCPS predecessor "In October 2001, Deputy Superintendent Henry Fraind retired under pressure after it was discovered that a clique of longtime administrators and powerful outsiders exploited the district's vast resources. Fraind got his Ph.D. from Pacific Western University in 1982, a noted diploma mill." (SOURCE--Wikipedia) Best Unguarded Moment Caught On Videotape (2000) Henry Fraind In his many years as the public face of the county's public schools, Fraind had repeatedly proven himself to be inarticulate, insensitive, and inflexible. When school-board members finally got tired of him making them look bad and decided, at their March meeting, to appoint someone else as their spokesman, Fraind demonstrated the wisdom of the decision by offering an upraised arm and fist -- in the universal gesture for "up yours" -- to a parent who had questioned his salary level. How ironic that the first candid, straightforward, concise statement from this guy, captured by the television cameras that record each meeting, came only on the eve of his removal as the district's mouthpiece. (SOURCE--Miami New Times, 2000) |
OTHER QUESTIONABLE
PRACTICES
PRACTICES
| For most of us, it's self-evident that the purpose of our public schools is to educate. This is why we willingly fork over our property tax dollars. Because M-DCPS District 9 trustee Evelyn Greer and now superintendent Rudy Crew appear committed to entering their school district in the affordable housing business -- to which both Greer's husband and son have commercial ties -- this seems an appropriate time to revisit the district's legal charter. But first let's look a Greer's donors, the folks who have given her hundreds of dollars. |
| VISION We are committed to provide educational excellence for all. MISSION We provide the highest quality education so that all of our students are empowered to lead productive and fulfilling lives as lifelong learners and responsible citizens |
Friends, much has happened in Miami-Dade County Public Schools this past week. Still verifying information. -- Peyton |
| 03.14.08 In the meantime, look at the interesting story about the skyrocketing numbers of high-priced administrators now working at M-DCPS published on the front page early this week of El Nuevo Herald, The Miami Herald's Spanish-edition sister publication: Cuestionan abultados pagos en educación En momentos en que se habla de severos recortes y de posibles despidos para poder balancear el presupuesto del sistema escolar de Miami-Dade, la frase de "apretarse el cinturón'' aparentemente no se aplica a los sueldos que ganan los altos administradores que trabajan para el superintendente Rudolph Crew. Although my Spanish is rusty, I've been able to figure out (follow the jump at the link) that the number of $100,000+ administrators at M-DCPS almost doubled from 2006 (221) to 2007 (413). This story, page-one top right corner news in the Spanish version, still has not appeared in the English language newspaper housed in the same building, The Miami Herald. Both are owned by McClatchey. Continuing to follow the money . . . . |
| Another irony associated with the Florida Auditor General's preliminary report is that the AG details the same information M-DCPS trustee Marta Perez had tried to obtain from Rudy since 2006, to the point of filing a law- suit. Had Rudy supplied the informa- tion Marta had requested, rather than declining on the grounds that produ- cing such a list would have taken too much time, he could have saved the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs. |
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| No other nepotism? There are other examples of M-DCPS family members being given jobs and/or special treatment; for reasons of space, the only two executives mentioned here are the district's top two individuals: the superintendent and the elected board chair. M-DCPS responses: none received Two weeks ago I contacted Rudy, Agustin and Elio for responses, asking Elio how he'd determined he needed a fourth AP and hired Alina over other candidates. I also asked Agustin for a disclosure form which would show he'd disclosed to fellow trustees that Alina was his wife prior to their vote. RESPONSES: NONE. |
| BAR BRAWL, ARREST: On Dec. 29, 2004, Rudy Crew's sons Russell and Ryan (above) "were arrested and charged with aggravated battery. The pair, at the time in their late twenties,allegedly beat up Patrick Dorneval outside Fat Tuesday bar in CocoWalk. Dorneval's face was left a broken, bloody mess. Prosecutors later charged Russell with petty theft for lifting a homeless man's wallet. Subsequently the Crew boys were placed on one year of probation and were ordered to pay Dorneval $25,000 in restitution. Three months after the arrest, Crew told New Times: 'I'm proud of the men they have become because I know the full measure of their character. It's regrettable that the fact that they are my sons is drawing attention to an incident that wouldn't merit it otherwise.' (SOURCE-- Francisco Alvarado/Miami New Times/"Rudy Crew’s Crapola" pub. 09.20.07) LUCKY BOYS: After their arrest, Rudy's new employee, MDCPS police chief Gerald Darling (above right), graciously wrote a letter of character reference for the boys to present in court. FOLLOW THE MONEY: "These days Russell is employed as business development coordinator for Scientific Learning, an education technology firm. Later this month the school board will consider approving a $290,500 no-bid contract with Scientific Learning to provide software and consulting services to 40 schools. During the board's September 5 meeting, when the issue first came up, Crew told his bosses the district had been doing business with Scientific Learning even before his son was hired. He recommended approval, adding that his son's job with the software developer had nothing to do with the choice." (Ibid.) |
| Arza's consultancies After taking leave from his $57,375 position as a history teacher at Miami High . . . Miami City Manager Joe Arriola in September handed [Arza] a no-bid contract worth $3500 per month (not to exceed $25,000 over six months) to serve as a consultant on education matters. About the same time Arza also received an invite from Florida International University to be a "visiting lecturer" for nine months. Fee: $23,000. (Arza makes $28,000 per year as a legislator.) (SOURCE--Rebecca Wakefield/Miami New Times) |
| Nepotism: "Favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship." (Merriam-Webster) |
| The Miami-Dade County Public Schools is committed to three major goals: (1) Eliminating low performing schools (2) Increasing academic achievement for all students and (3) Bringing cost efficiency to the districts [sic] construction and business practices. --M-DCPS Attendance Services |
| Easterling raped a 14-year old girl (honors student, band member) on the floor of a bathroom after a big game. When the girl's mother reported the incident to NWHS, principal Dwight Barnard said he would call the police--and didn't. |
| MORE QUESTIONS FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS By Peyton Wolcott Monday - March 31, 2008/1:36 a.m. - Updated Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - 7:21 a.m. 1. Why is M-DCPS having to give $18 million back to the feds? Who among M-DCPS' many $100,000- plus per year administrators was/were in charge of federal funds oversight and should have made sure this didn't happen? Was the $18 mil payback preventable? What can be done to avoid a recurrence? 2. Why is M-DCPS hiring retirees? Is this an efficient and cost- conscious business practice? CBS and trustee Ana Rivas-Logan are asking--as are M-DCPS teachers: http://cbs4.com/local/Miami.Dade. Schools.2.691741.html 3. What do M-DCPS' recent payments totaling more than a million dollars to The Miami Herald mean? In the larger scheme of things? 4. How can and why should/would a public school district enter the affordable housing business -- and who decided on behalf of Miami-Dade County Public Schools? |
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| Crew's Control By Francisco Alvarado / Thursday, March 20, 2008 / Miami New Times When you take care of Rudy Crew, he takes care of you. Miami-Dade school board member Evelyn Greer can attest to that. Last August, Greer led the charge to give the schools superintendent a $41,000 bonus even though he delivered 38 failing schools after promising none. Crew appeared to return the favor January 18, when he wrote a letter declaring the board's support of a county request for $5 million in state housing funds to construct condos at the Brownsville Metrorail station. The builder is the Carlisle Group, an affordable housing company founded by Greer's husband, Bruce, and currently helmed by their son, Matthew. "We are encouraged that Miami-Dade County and the Carlisle Group IV LLC have embarked on the mission to increase the availability of affordable housing for essential workers in Miami-Dade County," Crew wrote to County Manager George Burgess. One pesky detail: Crew never received permission from the school board to send the letter on its behalf. "That has never come before us," said board member Marta Perez. "I didn't even know it happened until I read the letter." Coincidently, county officials appeared before the school board's blue ribbon committee on affordable housing this past February 27 to request that the Carlisle Group's project be listed on a district website that lists affordable housing options for teachers who want to purchase homes. Greer, who created the panel and had never missed a meeting, was conspicuously absent. Crew and Greer did not return phone calls seeking comment. "The superintendent routinely signs letters of support for grant applications," says school board spokesman Jon Schuster, "including several that would provide affordable housing for teachers, which has been in short supply in recent years." |
| Evelyn Greer, son Matthew Greer of Carlisle; Evelyn wants to bring affordable housing to M-DCPS (PHOTO--Marlene Quaroni) |
| Friends, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has taken a big and important steps towards transparency by voluntarily posting its check register online -- the largest school district in the U.S. to do so. What an encouraging start. When M-DCPS repairs itself in three major areas, America's fourth-largest district, with annual expenditures in the $6.1-6.8 billion range, will be a model for the nation. It is my hope and intent that together we can all witness Miami's resurgence and regrowth. |
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| Rudy's sons When his two younger sons Russell and Ryan were arrested the last week of 2004 (more below) in what appears to have been a bar brawl (more below in grey box), Rudy's new employee Gerald Darling, chief of M-DCPS police, wrote a letter of character reference for the boys to the court. |
| Clockwise from top left: Elio Falcon (L), Agustin J. Barrera (R), Glades MS |
| News from Miami |
| Nepotism, favoritism? |
| Easy on Rudy The newspaper of record plays softball with the schools chief. By Francisco Alvarado Miami New Times April 10, 2008 The Miami Herald does a fine job exposing waste and corruption at city and county halls. It's too bad that enterprising tenacity doesn't carry over to coverage of Miami- Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS). It seems the city's major daily is mesmerized by schools superintendent Rudolph "Rudy" Crew. Bad news gets buried. The good gets front-page treatment. Consider the events of this past February 15. Florida Auditor General David Martin released a preliminary report about MDCPS documenting serious problems with finance and operations — $27.8 million in unjustified overtime, dead people signing up for classes, failure to check the background of hundreds of employees. You'd have expected to read about it the following morning in the Herald — on the front page, above the fold. Instead the newspaper of record informed its readers that Crew had been named national superintendent of the year during the American Association of School Administrators' award ceremony in Tampa. The headline blared, "National award widens Crew's horizons." Three days later, an editorial canonized the 57-year-old educator. "All Miami-Dade residents can take pride in Mr. Crew's honor because it puts a spotlight on our schools." Meanwhile the audit went unreported until February 20, when a story about it appeared on the bottom of the Metro page. Strangely no editorials criticized the Crew administration for incompetence. More telling is that during the past year, the Herald has missed opportunities to report on: • Crew lobbying Miami-Dade County officials in support of a condominium project being built by the Carlisle Group, a company founded by school board member Evelyn Greer's husband and helmed by her son. • Teachers under administrative investigation who are paid to report to a room where they sit and do no work all day. • The fact that, as CBS 4 reported, 27 high-salaried school administrators retired, only to be rehired at higher rates of pay, costing taxpayers $3.2 million last year. • The revelation that Carlos Manrique, the school district's supervisor of adult education, earns $85,000 a year even though he does not have a college degree or any teaching experience. Herald managing editor Dave Wilson says his newspaper has been at the forefront in coverage of the melee at Miami Edison Senior High and last year's sex scandal at Miami Northwestern. "We don't throw softballs at any major public entity." |
| CHECKS PAID BY MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO THE MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING CO (2868024) 3/28/2008............................. $ 540.00 2/15/2008..............................$ 10,121.00 2/8/2008............................... $ 16,202.27 12/14/2007........................... $ 2,988.00 11/16/2007........................... $ 2,448.00 11/2/2007..............................$ 22,700.00 10/12/2007............................$ 3,237.00 10/5/2007.............................. $ 16,408.50 9/21/2007.............................. $ 5,478.00 9/14/2007.............................. $ 1,834.00 9/7/2007 ................................$ 11,532.00 8/31/2007 ..............................$ 11,019.94 8/17/2007 ..............................$ 5,280.00 8/10/2007 ..............................$ 6,600.00 8/3/2007 .................................$ 640.00 6/29/2007 ..............................$ 3,984.00 6/22/2007.............................. $ 13,485.27 6/15/2007 ..............................$ 199.00 5/25/2007 ..............................$ 4,643.16 5/18/2007 ..............................$ 9,958.70 4/20/2007.............................. $ 9,960.00 4/6/2007 ................................$ 6,017.48 3/16/2007.............................. $ 7,510.70 2/9/2007 ................................$ 1,997.07 2/2/2007.................................$. 15,872.23 1/19/2007..............................$ 7,055.97 12/8/2006 .............................$ 1,929.60 10/20/2006 ...........................$ 1,480.05 10/13/2006 ...........................$ 1,929.60 10/6/2006 .............................$ 11,696.39 9/15/2006 ............................$ 14,502.99 9/8/2006 ...............................$ 2,170.80 9/1/2006 ..............................$ 1,550.00 8/11/2006 .............................$ 8,530.40 7/14/2006............................. $ 778.05 |
| THE MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING CO (2868016) 3/21/2008.................$ 6,338.76 3/14/2008.................$16,982.68 3/7/2008 ..................$ 1,566.00 2/29/2008 ................$ 9,709.00 |
QUESTION: Would Rudy's kids have been treated
otherwise were Rudy not M-DCPS superintendent?
otherwise were Rudy not M-DCPS superintendent?
| M-DCPS trustees |
| Rudy Crew |
| Carlisle property map: 46 properties listed |
H o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n: o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e. COPYRIGHT PEYTON WOLCOTT 2003-2008
| The faces and places of Miami-Dade County Public Schools |
