Sesnita Moepono recusing herself from the Labor Board Hearing is one thing. Hearing her reason is another. It saddens me that the reason is attacks from HSTA members.
It brings up the fact that HSTA members and its leadership have no clue about politics. Over the past few years we have not had a qualified GRC specialist or a GRC chair that has any idea what to do. The leadership at HSTA has more invested in protecting their positions than in doing what is right for teachers.
Scarier yet we have leaders who do not learn from previous mistakes
Friday, August 19, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Return
Okay I have neglected the blog. I have been fighting a false charge and I have lost so I have free time and will concentrate on the blog.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Blueberries
This is for all who teach or have taught and for all those who read the newspapers and wonder why big business thinks that it should run our schools...
THE BLUEBERRY STORY
A Businessman Learns a Lesson
by Jamie Robert Vollmer
"If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn't be in business very long!" I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife.
I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive for an ice cream company that became famous in the middle 1980s when People Magazine chose our blueberry as the "Best Ice Cream in America."
I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging "knowledge society." Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly.
They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement! In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced equal parts ignorance and arrogance.
As soon as I finished, a woman's hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant - she was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.
She began quietly, "We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream."
I smugly replied, "Best ice cream in America, Ma'am."
"How nice," she said. "Is it rich and smooth?"
"Sixteen percent butterfat," I crowed.
"Premium ingredients?" she inquired.
"Super-premium! Nothing but triple A." I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming.
"Mr. Vollmer," she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, "when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?"
In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap. I was dead meat, but I wasn't going to lie. "I send them back."
"That's right!" she barked, "and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant.
We take them all: GT, ADHD, ADD, SLD, EI, MMR, OHI, TBI, DD, Autistic, junior rheumatoid
arthritis, English as their second language, etc.
We take them all! Everyone!
And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it's not a business. It's school!"
In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, "Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!"
And so began my long transformation. Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.
None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a postindustrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission and active support of the surrounding community.
For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.
Please forward THE BLUEBERRY STORY to teachers, parents, politicians and everyone interested in education.
THE BLUEBERRY STORY
A Businessman Learns a Lesson
by Jamie Robert Vollmer
"If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn't be in business very long!" I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife.
I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive for an ice cream company that became famous in the middle 1980s when People Magazine chose our blueberry as the "Best Ice Cream in America."
I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging "knowledge society." Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly.
They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement! In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced equal parts ignorance and arrogance.
As soon as I finished, a woman's hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant - she was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.
She began quietly, "We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream."
I smugly replied, "Best ice cream in America, Ma'am."
"How nice," she said. "Is it rich and smooth?"
"Sixteen percent butterfat," I crowed.
"Premium ingredients?" she inquired.
"Super-premium! Nothing but triple A." I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming.
"Mr. Vollmer," she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, "when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?"
In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap. I was dead meat, but I wasn't going to lie. "I send them back."
"That's right!" she barked, "and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant.
We take them all: GT, ADHD, ADD, SLD, EI, MMR, OHI, TBI, DD, Autistic, junior rheumatoid
arthritis, English as their second language, etc.
We take them all! Everyone!
And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it's not a business. It's school!"
In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, "Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!"
And so began my long transformation. Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.
None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a postindustrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission and active support of the surrounding community.
For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.
Please forward THE BLUEBERRY STORY to teachers, parents, politicians and everyone interested in education.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Gubernatorial Debate
Just finished watching the Gubernatorial Debate. For those that weren’t paying attention Aiona said that the budget includes furloughs.
He also wants a management audit of the DOE. He stated that comparing 1978 to now the amount of students are the same yet the budget doubled. According to the Grassroots Institute the cost of the 1978 Con Con was $2.5 million, which translates to $8.4 million dollars in 2008. I think the administration owes the DOE some cash!
He also wants a management audit of the DOE. He stated that comparing 1978 to now the amount of students are the same yet the budget doubled. According to the Grassroots Institute the cost of the 1978 Con Con was $2.5 million, which translates to $8.4 million dollars in 2008. I think the administration owes the DOE some cash!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
US House CD1
I guess I have to vote for Hanabusa. While I don't like her having Djou in congress is not productive.
Monday, August 16, 2010
A lesson in politics and recommendations.
Making recommendations in an election is a tricky business. Do you choose a candidate that best articulates your beliefs or just pick a winner? Do we choose to be part of a candidates’ main support or be a bandwagon jumper? The main purpose of recommendations is to help a candidate get elected. This is in hopes that you will be able to gain access and articulate your position to gain their support. It is not so a candidate blindly supports your position.
As an example of this an elected official can vote for your position 100% of the time, yet be in the minority. They must also be able to support and present your positions so that your positions are passed. They must be willing to lobby others on your behalf.
A recommendation is not just a list of candidates but also comes with abilities and responsibilities. First it allows us to give money to candidates. Unfortunately in Hawaii, history has shown that most candidates that run out of money for media buys close to the election lose. Second it allows the candidate to use the HSTA logo on campaign materials. But most importantly it allows HSTA members to wear their shirts and actively campaign for the candidate.
If teachers want their voice to mean something they need to learn to deliver the vote for the recommended candidates. I firmly believe that when HSTA members start bloc voting they will begin to gain more political influence.
As an example of this an elected official can vote for your position 100% of the time, yet be in the minority. They must also be able to support and present your positions so that your positions are passed. They must be willing to lobby others on your behalf.
A recommendation is not just a list of candidates but also comes with abilities and responsibilities. First it allows us to give money to candidates. Unfortunately in Hawaii, history has shown that most candidates that run out of money for media buys close to the election lose. Second it allows the candidate to use the HSTA logo on campaign materials. But most importantly it allows HSTA members to wear their shirts and actively campaign for the candidate.
If teachers want their voice to mean something they need to learn to deliver the vote for the recommended candidates. I firmly believe that when HSTA members start bloc voting they will begin to gain more political influence.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
HSTA BOD and elections
I attended the HSTA Board of Directors meeting today. It really astounds me how little the board knows about politics. They seem to have this belief that they have political power and can influence elections by withholding a recommendation.
It didn’t work before and it won’t work now. Teachers need to target a race and work hard for their candidate to win. There needs to be proof that teachers have the will to work hard for a candidate. When they do it will have an impact.
As an example if HSTA chooses to recommend Dwight Synan instead of Calvin Say. If HSTA then worked hard to campaign for the election of Dwight Synan. And finally if Dwight Synan won. That would prove that HSTA has the political strength to influence the legislature.
It proves nothing to withhold contributions and support.
It didn’t work before and it won’t work now. Teachers need to target a race and work hard for their candidate to win. There needs to be proof that teachers have the will to work hard for a candidate. When they do it will have an impact.
As an example if HSTA chooses to recommend Dwight Synan instead of Calvin Say. If HSTA then worked hard to campaign for the election of Dwight Synan. And finally if Dwight Synan won. That would prove that HSTA has the political strength to influence the legislature.
It proves nothing to withhold contributions and support.
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