What would you call it if you were the CCSD School Board and had to name a department in charge of providing substandard schools to poor and minority children? I call it DSSPMC. They call it "Modernization". Modernization sounds like something you would want. Unfortunately it doesn't describe what it does. Department of SubStandard Schools for Poor and Minority Children = DSSPMC
DSSPMC comments below....
May 25 2010
As the district has deliberately poured a lot of money into new schools for neighborhoods that do not yet exist they appear to have the plan to substantially ignore the needs of your existing schools. Many of these are in sorry shape due to bad planning and bad management of maintenance by the Top level (Trustees and Facilities managers at the top...) Terri Janison has been a big advocate of the many portable trailers that sadly support this incompetently planned system. I have pointed out to the School board publicly and over many years that this is illegal and discriminatory. As with any of the other illegal activities that I have presented there it is ignored. Lately considerable discussion has come up about ignoring children with disabilities, and their families with similar needs. Also much of what the DSSPMC does is employment discrimination. so if a toiled doesn't have a big enough door to fit a wheelchair then there's no need to single out what kid they are trampling the civil rights of. It is trampling the civil rights of everybody who needs a door big enough. you should understand that these are not "Special doors" it is just the most common 3' door in the United States. the reason why they get away with this nonsense is because the district has their own, attorneys, building department, inspectors and investigators. so who would discipline them? (Voters) that is hopefully you. After that I can say only one thing. There is trampling on civil rights and then there is TRAMPLING ON CIVIL RIGHTS. This is the one that gets you an "A" ticket to hell. What could be more despicable then doing this to children with disabilities?
Update January 14 2009
Although at least one Board member appears horrified with the prospect of the Facilities Department deliberately planning schools in older neighborhoods to be substandard (for years now) the board typically votes as a block. Most everything that facilities brings before them gets the unified rubber stamp. It is worrisome that the staff somehow gets a hold over them and makes them vote with staff 100% of the time. Frustrations from the podium have continued and the "welcoming" attitude from the Chairperson towards anyone wanting to speak in a remotely negative way eggs them on. So it seems only natural that after complaining and realizing that the bureaucracy has hidden behind minority children (who it gave substandard effort towards for years) the community should be doubly pissed. They want to the National Department of Education and filed a discrimination complaint. http://www.lvrj.com/news/inquiry-targets-allegations-of-west-prep-racial-discrimination-81453622.html given recent events we know that there is no discipline for the district from its own investigators nor the NV AG's office. It will be interesting to see what the Department of Education does.
Here are my comments posted to the LVRJ web site under this report..... (I was limited to 500 words)
"talktoccsd.com wrote on January 14,
2010 05:52 PM: If the board members
think portables are ok then why not move into a doublewide as a show of
solidarity? Attend the school board meetings. You will hear that the
district has deliberately planned to have two separate design systems. One
to provide new schools in as yet unbuilt wealthy neighborhoods... one system
for designing in poor and minority neighborhoods. It is a stated plan in
their school design process. Substandard schools for poor and minority
children is the term used. What they don’t want you to know is that the
district already doesn't need any portables. The voters voted for year
around schools in 1998 to avoid this cost. A cost in dollars and bad
facilities. There is empirical data that proves that bad facilities detract
from education.
So why did they buy portables? and build 5 schools
now when the student population is going down? And switch from year around
to 9 month when the voters decided that the voters can't afford 9 month?
RUNNING A $5 BILLION BOND PROGRAM IS POWER!
Don't bother going down to
the school board to complain. Terry Janison will cut you off before you
finish and before your time is up. The state AG refuses to do anything about
it. Want evidence? Sorry they refuse freedom of information requests and you
need to hire a lawyer to get what should be available with a phone call!
Want to have an investigation? They got their own investigators. Guess where
that goes? Want Police? The board chairperson will call them and give you
the Rose Moore treatment.
You can’t get to be 48th in the nation by just
underpaying your teachers. You need a comprehensive plan!"
September 11 2009
http://www.lvrj.com/news/58935637.html this is the latest regarding West Prep.
Introducing the Department of Sub-Standard Schools for Poor & Minority Children.
You should know that under the current bond program there are two completely different paths of progress for school construction. One conducted by the 'New Construction Department'. These are neither exclusively new projects now new buildings. The other is "Modernization" which does not indicate that when the work is done the buildings will be "Modern" or up to date. Sounds like CCSD speak... doesn't it?
The modernization department criteria for doing work is DIFFERENT then the other work. Go figure! It's not even pretending "Separate but equal"!
Before understanding this issue you should first understand that when CCSD Facilities gets caught "Cold" doing something major that it is not supposed to be doing their reaction is that typical of all bureaucracies. They attempt to obfuscate what is going on by changing the organizational chart. Naturally changing the org chart of the staff does not change their habits or the way in which they do business. One thing unavoidable about the type of shenanigans that we see here is that after constructing something we don't have to search for evidence much because the building itself is a huge chunk of evidence. The changing the org chart thing is just a way of asserting that they don't do that anymore. Of course the situation has become progressively more inequitable and not less. Because while new schools progress the schools that tend to be in poor and minority neighborhoods get the same treatment as ever increasing the disparity. All you have to do to see how "Things have changed" is wait and see... probably for the worse.
Below is a salient news report with a little introduction that I wrote.
Here is an interesting opinion by Chip Mosher on the West Prep situation. While I have no first hand knowledge on the West Prep or prime 6 issues it sounds like what I've experienced elsewhere in the district. http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2009/09/03/opinion/socrates_in_sodom/iq_30928601.txt