Update 3/5/08: This post now has 2,003 comments! However, it has exceeded the capacities of our server and has been truncated recently at about 1,529 posts. But one of our readers has stepped up to the plate and painstakingly copied all of the comments into three NEW posts:
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2008 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2007 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2006 Comments
We have also started a NEW open SAUSD thread, which I hope our readers will post to regarding new SAUSD news and views.
You can also go to our home page and go to the right column. Click on “SAUSD Posts” and you can get links to ALL of our past SAUSD articles.
I must say, I am amazed at the stories that have been posted on this blog in the wake of Al Mijares’ exit from the Santa Ana Unified School District. I am posting this item merely to give SAUSD bloggers a place to post their comments. Post away my friends – we have an opportunity now to finally do away with the corruption left over from the Mijares regime. Change is at hand, but we must remain resolute.
I noted that someone affiliated with the SAUSD administration recently posted a threat on this site – alleging possible legal action against SAUSD employees who post anonymously on this site. That is despicable and a form of terrorism. Do not let fear restrain any of you from revealing the truth.
The final challenge we face in Santa Ana is to replace Mijares with someone competent. We won’t have another opportunity like this anytime soon. This process must be open and focused and whatever else happens we must keep Audrey Noji out of the Superintendent’s position. As a member of the Cerritos College faculty and a member of the teacher’s union at that campus I opposed her when she tried to get a job at our campus. If she goes after the SAUSD superintendent post I will do so again. I know we can do better!
All of my children are in the SAUSD system. For their sake and that of all schoolchildren in the district, I urge those who are rebelling against the last vestiges of Mijares’ broken empire to keep the information flowing and to do whatever it takes to ensure that our next superintendent will be up to the task. Mijares certainly was over his head throughout his doomed tenure.
What would you suggest Jeff Bishop do for Willard?
Maybe he should do what the last 2 Principals did, NOTHING!
Maybe he should follow his predecessors
I was hired as a teacher in SAUSD 20 years ago, coming in with a doctorate in chemistry with 7 years paid research experience. I made the mistake of trusting the personnel director of the time who directly lied to me, saying this experience was irrelevent to my placement on the salary scale. This casual lack of integrity was completely foreign to me at that time, but veteran teachers cautioned me about incipient corruption thoughout SAUSD management. SAUSD gives 1 step placement for 3 years experience in technical fields. I got this corrected at the end of my second year, but lost $6,000 for the first two years.
A few years ago we hired a new chemistry teacher with a doctorate in chemistry and retired from industry. Same deception from HR regarding salary placement, but he got it corrected right away after hearing my experience. Different HR managers, same lack of integrity. Last month I met another chemistry teacher from another SAUSD high school, retired from a career as an industrial chemist, and again cheated by HR!
Art, I so appreciate your blog site; this thead so appropriately titled. There are so many obstacles preventing teachers from communicating with one another. I’m hoping SAUSD teachers reading this will check with colleagues at their school sites who teach technical subjects such as any of the sciences, accounting, or other highly specialized subjects, to make sure they’re aware of the “1-for-3” provision in initial salary placement, section IN.2.4 at the end of our contract. Any who believes they’ve been dealt wrongly by HR can send Kemprof an e-mail [drgreynolds@sbcglobal.net]to discuss this, or contact Dave Barton at SAEA directly through http://www.sateach.org
Rumors are that Jones is trying to come back.
Rumors are that she is also planning on suing the district.
First off, no one wants her back. She’s just trouble and she’s cost the district a lot of funds and good personnel.
It should suprise no one that she plans on suing. Nothing is ever her fault, so she’s going to try and prove that point. But there are DROVES of us willing to volunteer to help the district dispatch her case in court. All the people she’s harmed and used are lining up. The line is long Mrs. Jones.
See you in court!
Saddleback thread:
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/08/saddleback-student-heading-to-olympic.html
Anonymous Says:
8/08/2007 10:10 AM
#10
Saddleback High School is the only SAUSD comprehensive high school that is NOT in Program Improvement.
Your moronic message merely telegraphs your stupidity in a very public manner. Perhaps you’re the one who has taken too many punches to the head.
Does lying and cheating and changing grades count as valid ways to stay out of program improvement? Hell, an autistic kid tested out as “above average” in the world of Saddleback. That kid can’t even read. When the teacher brought it up…. OOops!
Grades back, teacher targeted to be removed from the staff.
The magic of Saddleback’s books are not magic at all. Stay tuned.
saddleback98 Says:
8/08/2007 12:18 PM
#13
Shut up or put up.
If your alleged claims are accurate then file the appropriate grievances and bring these alleged abuses into the light of day.
Somehow I doubt you are as brave and courageous as the Women of Washington who did have the gumption to expose the school district for it’s illegal activities.
C’mon. Put up or shut up.
Anonymous Says:
8/10/2007 5:54 AM
#14
Just why do you think Jones is gone?
For doing the same stuff she did two years ago, plus more.
Good riddance. You should see “real” scores and “real” graduation numbers under a new principal.
Brace yourself, I’ll bet the numbers will be lower, but at least they will be accurate.
Liars and cheats paint rosy pictures, all the while covering up huge staff turn over, subs hired instead of fully qualified teachers, zero leadership and guidance from the top, retaliation for trying to solve problems and asking questions, snitch networks, theft of student funds…. well the list is long. Ask someone who works there.
Ask any counselor that was not in the snitch network. They’ll tell you what numbers are all cooked up.
Anonymous Says:
8/10/2007 6:02 AM
#14
Psst… dopey. Teachers did get her removed for all the bad stuff she’s been doing. There have been teachers quietly dealing with Saddleback’s corruption for quite some time.
The district learned something from the Washington scandal: when teachers show up with a BIG problem and legal issues, someone at Chestnut will DO somemthing about it. Because now the district officials know that teachers will go to the press.
The problems are being kept quiet, but they are NOT being tolerated as in the past.
And pssst… wait until the people who have been getting their paychecks padded start getting contacted by Olansky’s office. Poof.
Good riddance to the whole corrupt collection of toadies that Jones collected and protected over the years.
Anonymous Says:
8/11/2007 4:07 PM
I am a teacher at Saddleback. It is true. Over the past two years, many of the teachers had been gathering enough support and evidence to make a complaint. This isn’t something that’s done out in the open. This is why you haven’t heard much commentary in the news.
To Luis, I’m glad you enjoyed teaching at our school. We really have a wonderful staff. I was also among the summer school staff. I noticed, however, there were very few of us Roadrunner teachers on campus this year. Regardless, it’s always nice meeting other teachers from around the district.
Anonymous Says:
8/11/2007 6:21 PM
#17
It’s likely your two year efforts to get rid of Jones has not been in the open, because a deal was struck between DO and SAEA.
There’s always a deal struck. I’ve been around too long and know how it really works.
It’s unfortunate that poor performance isn’t dealt with as it should be. These back door deals have a price. Why else is the district saddled with Tony Espinoza?
Doesn’t hurt when a few school board members intervene on your behalf as well.
http://www.smp.gseis.ucla.edu/Impact/_images/maps/Orange_County_1-07.pdf
Link for UCLA’s SMP (school site managment program) for schools in the Santa Ana and Anaheim school districts.
Schools in SA: Fremont, Hoover, Willard, Spurgeon, Jackson, Diamond, Adams, McFadden, Saddleback, Edison, Walker, Franklin, Martin, Garfield.
Luis Navarro’s ode to Jeff Bishop is touching. Maybe he should consider dedicating it to Audrey Noji as well ….
My support will not tire,
nor falter,
and he will not fail.
Luis Navarro usually responds back with answers.
Did he go on vacation or did the questions get too difficult this time around?
New Asst. Superintendent of Elementary Schools hired. A guy from Norwalk (?) anyone know his name?
Hey Luis,
You seem to be in the inner circle loop. You know anything about the new Asst. Super of elementary instruction?
#1335
herman Mendez from Norwalk-LaMirada.
Mr. Bishop lost a good VP, Mark Bello, to Carr.
Mark will join Mr. Patrick and VP’s Robert and Kati at Carr.
I first met Mr. Bello when he was working with the technology dept., and enjoyed working with him two years ago while he was VP at Wilson. He is one of the bright stars in SAUSD’s darkness. I hope he has finally been placed with an exemplary principal. Let’s hope he can tolerate SAUSD’s faults and be a facilitator for positive administrative/district changes.
#1327 comments….
“ms. madrano’s office is down in the area of Willard where the new gym equipment is.”
Ms. Madrano is not a SAUSD employee. So why does she maintain an office, in a public school, that’s subsidized by tax dollars? Shouldn’t someone be asking what are the liability issues? Afterall, this is an isolated instance of special treatment for a non SAUSD employee. Yo, Risk Mgmt – whatta’ay say?
#1338 – Bishop lost 2 to Carr – Mark Bello transferred to Carr as AP. Melissa Bohinc (Willard Title I) appointed as AP at Carr. Willard’s loss is Carr’s gain.
After following this blog for the last year, it appears that someone is finally beginning the process of removing problem administrators. I repeatedly see references to the principal at Willard – Mr. Bishop. It seems that the school is in choas with abysmally low test scores and a myriad of staff departures. I’m wondering why the officials at the district office would continue to let him remain the administrator of the school.
About Ms. Medrano at Willard – although she is not a district employee, she has taken charge of the bilingual parent group and the
Willard Counselors are now not allowed to even attend the meetings, let alone speak with the parents. How can this be allowed to continue?
Poster #1339
Mr. Bello is one of the district’s bright spots; I hope they don’t devour him.
For #1343
Your post suggests Ms. Medrano has hijacked the parent community center at Willard. Is she a concerned parent with a child attending the school? I’d like to know how a non-SAUSD employee can exert influence on counselors by barring them from meetings. If this is true, something must be done to assign a classified employee with the appropriate credentials.
Is this the same Mrs. Medrano?
Anonymous said…
I WONDER HOW MUCH MRS MEDRANO MAKES AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANTA ANA EDUCATION FOUNDATION (SAEF) I HEARD IN EXCESS OF $150,000 PER YEAR
7/30/2006 11:16 AM
Everything that Bernadette Medrano does at Willard is with Mr. Bishop’s blessing. Therefore, he completely supports how the parent group is handled by an outsider. He has no qualms at all about having Ms. Medrano as his intermediary with the parents. It’s a very sick and unhealthy situation and I don’t know why the district allows this unhealthy situation to continue festering.
#1332, #17 While SAEA has always been up front on problems at Saddleback, it was the courageous, professionalism of a small group of teachers who made the difference. They had faith in approaching the District with informaiton and it was listened to- this is a new District administration, Saddleback had suffered under Jones since 2001with no recourse until now.
Bernedette Medrano has a nasty temper and threatened Art, politically, if he didn’t stop blogging about the school district.
She, herself, USED to blog and post here under her own name, btw.
People questioned her SAEF’s practice of ignoring the submission of state/fed taxes and she pulled out of blogging at OJ.
She never did report whether that organization filed the back taxes.
Maybe Luis Navarro could check up with her on that and assure OJ readership that all those forms are now filed.
Allegations of Retaliation for Special Education
Advocacy
This presentation explores the case law in which courts have found
that parents have a cause of action for school officials’ acts of
retaliation
against them for advocating for the rights of their children.
Susan G. Clark, Counsel, Pepple & Waggoner, Cleveland, OH;
http://www.educationlaw.org/images/PDFs/2007/07ACflyerSept.pdf
“1334 Anonymous Says:?8/13/2007 12:55 PM
If Russo, Audrey and the School Board are working in the best interest of the students and Public Education, they would remove Bishop from Willard. The test scores have fallen each year he has been there. Obviously, he doesn’t have what it takes.
#1347
It took a group of courageous and professional teachers to remove Ms. Jones, but Jeff Bishop has stacked his deck. There are maybe 25% of the original teachers left at Willard from when he started there in 2003. The site has the commiseration of the union and is the laughing stock of the district. The fact that the heads of the district have obviously walked away from this disaster is just unforgivable.
This is addressed to Ms. Russo and Dr. Olsky:
It is time to call Mr. Bishop in to your offices like you have done with Mr. Espinoza, Ms. Jones and Dr. Bratcher. It is time for him to be replaced. Over 75% of the teachers have left Willard since he arrived. You must realize the problems at Willard are more serious than just having the lowest test scores in the county.
Mr. Bishop would have you believe that the teachers that left were ineffective teachers. However, the facts speak for themselves. Teachers have left Willard because they have been hired at schools such as the Middle College High School, MacArthur Fundamental School, Villa Fundamental School, Mendez Fundamental School and Segerstrom Fundamental High School. I think it is easy to deduce that these were not “bad” teachers. They were teachers who felt the lack of support, bullying, etc. were not something they wanted to contend with anymore.
Many teachers commented that the only reason they opted to leave was because of the principal. It is your professional duty to rectify this situation as soon as possible. The school is hemorrhaging badly.
Can anyone explain what happened to Jeff Bishop? If you speak to people who knew him (VP) at SAHS, some will tell you “he was the best disciplinarian” they’d seen in the district. Fast forward to his principalship at Willard and people describe him as a raging menace.
At what point does a district step in and relieve the staff of a leader who does not know how to lead and who is actually destructive?
Its obvious that he’s in desperation mode by letting go of so many staff at Willard. Most teachers like to stay loyal to a good site. A site full of abuse and chaos will make teachers look for opportunities to leave.
It would be nice to have some kind of official notice that Jones is NOT coming back. The staff at Saddleback is optimistic, but guarded. That girl has more lives than a cat 😉
Where is Dr. Al now?
http://bw.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=52512001
Take a look at who is listed as his “network” buddies. It’s Bernedette Medrano’s Hubby!!!
Luis –
Your ardent support of Russo and Noji is utterly fascinating. It’s unfortunate that your energies are spent on these two gals and there is none left for the students. After all, it’s the students that are failing.
Luis is a known Claudia Alvarez and Audrey Noji apologist. He has regularly been Alvarez’ mouthpiece on Santa Ana Citizens Yahoogroup in opposition to a swap meet and is a mouthpiece for Noji and Russo here on Orange Juice.
How much does Claudio have to do with influencing Noji. Yet another reason to vote against a term limit extenstion.
Student scores level off in state
The leveling off spurs concern. Also troubling are lagging results by the state’s black and Latino students.
By Joel Rubin and Seema Mehta
August 16, 2007
California public school students posted small or no gains on standardized test scores last spring, raising concerns about a leveling off of previous achievement increases and continuing debate about the disparities between black and Latino students and their white and Asian peers.
Statewide, 41% of students reached the “advanced” or “proficient” level in math and 43% in English on standardized tests — scores that marked no movement from last year in math and only a one-point rise in English, according to results released Wednesday by the state Education Department.
By contrast, students’ scores had jumped 7 percentage points in both subjects in the previous two years. The results, researchers said, could be the beginning of a plateau in achievement levels that often comes after initial gains.
State officials had hoped the latest round of scores would provide more strong evidence to support their efforts to raise educational standards and accountability through testing. Sounding a more subdued note than in previous years, state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell turned particular attention on the comparisons between racial groups.
“This year’s results offer both encouragement and reason for serious concern . . . But the data also show the persistent achievement gaps in our system that California simply cannot afford to accept — morally, economically, or socially,” O’Connell said.
The learning chasm that separates white and Asian students from Latinos and blacks is not new — or unique to California — and stands as one of the most troubling issues facing the country’s public school systems. In California, white students cross the proficiency threshold at about twice the rate as Latinos and blacks in math and English — a gap that has remained virtually unchanged over the last five years, since the current assessment program began.
But O’Connell ratcheted up the debate Wednesday. Educators and civic leaders, he said, must break the commonly held assumption that Latino and black students’ low scores are due largely to the effects of poverty. For the first time, O’Connell compiled statistics that showed black and Latino students who are not designated as poor are performing below white students who are at or near the poverty level.
“These are not just economic achievement gaps; they are racial achievement gaps,” he said. “We cannot afford to excuse them; they simply must be addressed.”
O’Connell emphasized the economic toll that the growing ranks of poorly educated minorities could have on California. “I really do believe that the biggest threat to our ability as a state to remain the sixth- or seventh-largest economy in the world is to make sure is that these [groups of students] are prepared to become contributing members in our workforce.”
Russlynn Ali, executive director of Education Trust-West, a public policy group that focuses on school reform, praised O’Connell for making the distinction between race and economics, saying she hopes it will lead to reforms aimed at improving resources and instruction for minority students regardless of their economic class.
Studies on teacher quality conducted by the group, for example, found that poor white students often have better access to more experienced, educated teachers than wealthier black and Latino students, Ali said.
“So often people think this is about poverty, but it’s not just about the damage that poverty inflicts,” she said.
The standardized tests, which include science and history in some grades, are aligned to the state’s curricular goals and given to students in grades two through 11. Individual student scores will be sent to their homes.
The scores will be used later this month to help determine the ranking of every school in the state under the Academic Performance Index, which forms the foundation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Under that education measure, California must raise all students to the proficient level or above by 2013.
The 710,000-student Los Angeles Unified, by far the state’s largest district, produced a muddied, mixed set of gains and setbacks among various grades and demographic groups.
Ninth-graders, for example, posted strong gains, with 25% more students scoring at proficient or higher and 40% fewer students than last year languishing in the “far below basic” category in English. But in grades six and seven, English scores declined after several years of slow improvements. The only unequivocal success came in the early elementary grades, where the district made progress — albeit meager in places — across the board.
Girls, meanwhile, performed several percentage points better than boys and, broadly speaking, L.A. Unified fared similarly to other urban districts such as San Francisco and Oakland.
The performance of the nearly 265,000 students in L.A. Unified who are struggling to learn English as a second language remained troubling, with most of them scoring either “below basic” or “far below basic” on language arts tests.
The district’s weak track record in teaching these English learners has become a matter of sharp scrutiny. Last month, school board President Monica Garcia and board member Yolie Flores Aguilar sponsored a measure ordering district staff to redesign how these students are taught and their teachers are trained.
Overall, L.A. Unified improved at a faster clip than the state as a whole but remained well below California averages. Fewer than one out of every three Los Angeles students scored at or above proficient in English and only 28% did so in math. And hundreds of thousands of students in the district remained stuck at the bottom ranks of the exams.
“We’ve still got some real heavy lifting to do,” Supt. David L. Brewer said. Along with improving instruction for English learners, Brewer emphasized that the district needs to better support failing schools, but it must also set clear, strict goals and hold school staffs responsible for meeting them.
The year’s results present Brewer with a starting point of sorts. A retired Navy vice admiral, Brewer took over the district about nine months ago and is under considerable pressure to improve instruction, especially at middle and high schools. Any improvements or declines next year will be laid at Brewer’s feet.
Capistrano Unified, a high-achieving Orange County district, showed spotty gains, flat lines and small dips over various grades in English and math proficiency between. In earlier years, students had made far larger gains. Similarly, in Santa Ana Unified, the state’s fifth-largest district, growth at early grade levels outpaced the state but were slower than previous years’ results.
Michelle Benham, Capistrano’s executive director for assessment and research, compared the slowdown to a young child’s learning curve.
“I have a toddler. The concepts she’s gaining right now are huge,” Benham said. “I wish she could continue to learn as much in the next 10 years of her life that she’s learned in the first three.”
Researchers said it would not be surprising to see this year’s leveling-off of statewide results continue in coming years. The earlier gains came about partly as teachers grew more familiar with the tests and so better prepared their students, but replicating the significant jumps year after year becomes increasingly difficult, said Christy Kim Boscardin, a senior researcher at UCLA’s National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing.
Such a trend would mirror what is occurring in other states, said Bruce Fuller, an education and public policy professor at UC Berkeley who led a recent national study on education accountability systems.
“Calif
ornia’s consistent with what we’re seeing around the country; nationwide, state test scores have begun to level off,” he said. “The good news is we saw marked progress in [prior years] but the bad news is that the earlier buoyancy has largely faded.”
To view the 2007 California STAR results, go to the website http://www.latimes.com/greatschools . Search for your child’s school and click on the Test Scores tab to see how it fared.
—
joel.rubin@latimes.comseema.mehta@latimes.com Times data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.
#1357
Apologist? What a nice way to frame Navarro’s brown nosing/a** kissing of Alvarez, Noji and Russo.
Alvarez’s wake of destruction is of tsunami proportions in Santa Ana.
Alvarez & Pulido is the team to defeat in Nov. ’08
http://www.ocregister.com/news/district-school-report-1811224-nutrition-districts
School lunches get ‘C’ in O.C. districts
Santa Ana and Capistrano unified districts among nation’s largest to be reviewed by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
City News Service
SANTA ANA
#1360
Message to Romero ….. stop providing rotten fruit to our school children! Washington ES bitterly complained about the quality of food dished out earlier this year.
Could it be Triggs is tapping into this revenue stream and that’s why the quality of food is inferior ?
In response to #1354: “What happened to Jeff Bishop?” At SAHS Jeff was an excellent VP and a decent person, at least in his early years there. But he wanted to advance out of that thankless job and he’s an observant guy. The leadership culture of sausd administration has long been one of domination and patronization, as opposed to collegiality and trust. I’m sure Jeff felt he was developing strong leadership skills as he became the bully boss, and in fact this strategy works in sausd. Look at the administrators who leave, look who gets hired and promoted.
A good number (not all) of our poor administrators are good people, sincerely committed to the development of youths, but they’ve spent their careers in a corrupt system with few outstanding leaders to learn from and model.
There are a number of employees who have been brutalized by incompetent site managers and wind up with a workman’s comp suit against the district. Dealing with Risk Management, you would think that the target of mistreatment (the injured employee) was somehow at fault, despite the overwhelming evidence that there are some very nasty serial bully bosses that have remained unchecked for many years and who have a notorious history of abusing other employees.
Did you know that if you have an attorney to work through the red tape of workman’s compensation that the workers in the district Risk Management tell you that they cannot speak to you unless you are not represented? That you are getting different treatment than if you had no representation?
And then add this to the mess: There is actually a SECONDARY Risk Management service (Southern California Risk Management Association- SCRMA) that has redundant “Examiners” for the W/C claims. So you not only get an Examimner at the DO who does not know what she is doing and won’t give any helpful answers, but you can get the exact same treatment from the SCRMA examiner.
These “Examiners” are not impartial or even professional in demeanor. They act as judge and jury that the injured employee is at fault. It is a very contentious experience. Add to the fact that it looks like there is built in redundancy in the process – it appears to need a good overhaul. Just how much money is spent on the Risk Management process that cannot even root out the most serious repeat offenders in the system?
WHY does SAUSD need two sets of adjusters -when neither group is helpful or professionally friendly?
Attorney Peterson for the district has got to love this set up. Complete dysfunction and chaos by people who are tasked to assess risk factors in the district. He’ll never be out of cases to try. The problems will repeat themselves over and over with this kind of lack of oversight.
Who can employees go to to set out some of the problems and gross inefficiencies in this process that most likely eats up a big chunk of district resources?
If an employee is unlucky enough to get injured by another employee, the injury is compounded by the antagonistic responses from Risk Managment in SAUSD.
In GOOD districts, Risk Management does not assume a contentious stance in dealing with injured employees. They deal with ALL employees equally and with professionalism. This is not currently happening in SAUSD.
I agree with 1362. There have been too few good managment leader role models in various departments. Leaving people to their own devices, without oversight and direction on how to do their jobs in a civil, professional and efficient way is not a solution. Risk Managment needs assistance. And badly.
You would have to be a complete idiot to try and resolve a workman’s comp claim against SAUSD without a competent WorkComp attorney.
The district was being investigated for W/C insurance fraud just a couple of years ago, wasn’t it? I believe it has been fined and penalized for abusive practices, as well.
DO NOT GO IT ALONE.
Risk Management is taking the line of protecting the worst abusers in the system. Management there is not interested in finding out the truth of why employees are injured and who is injuring them. If that had been their focus, it could have saved the district a lot of money. I think that needs to be examined by the board and superintendent.
I wonder if Ms. Russo had any idea how deep and farspread the problems of this district would go. It just seems to be one mess after another emerging.
Any student,teacher or parent who has encountered Bishop of Willard in the last few years should be interviewed by the police department. The man is out of control. Must he physically hurt someone before he is removed?
Bishop screams and yells at everyone, especially if they are female. Screams at them in front of other employees, calls them at home and screams at them, throws/slams telephone in his office, etc. The majority of people that he does this to are people that are on an upwardly mobile career path and so they will never lodge a complaint. But everyone outside his office door hears and knows what’s going on when he goes into one of his tirades. And, of course, the staff meetings are delightful. He goes off on one tangent or another and we all sit there as if we are comatose. He openly bullies teachers and reminds us that because we are a PI school that, in the end, our union will offer us no protection. Uses the bilingual parent group in a subservise way (which is why he keeps the Counselors and Outreach Consultant out of those meetings). Goes to them to drum up support for his agenda and tells them that he needs their support because teachers don’t support him.
Watch for another PR stunt in the fall when he has the “Fitness Center” Open House. Will parade all the bigwigs through there and everyone will “ooh” and “aah” and think that Jeff really has his s**t together. In the meantime, the funding for this center was provided by the QZAB grant for the benefit of science. In actuality, the rooms and all of the equipment will be used on a daily basis by the PE Dept.
None of this matters anymore because Jane, Audrey and Bernadette Medrano think he’s doing great things at Willard. The huge staff turnover and low test scores would indicate to the contrary.
Pre-Bishop Willard gum chewing was a detention, vandalizm (writing in text books) was a 1 day suspension, drugs were a 5 day with chance of explusion. Post Bishop Willard is drugs on the field, no detention and no expulsion (huffing isn’t a drug), theft of the groundskeepers cart and joyriding (and running over students) gives you a 1 day suspension. Walking up to a teacher telling them to F**k off is grounds for walking promotion and continuing your education. Give the support staff and teachers, that are left at Willard, a huge hug next time you see them. They put up with crap all in the name of students. When Bishop pounds on the board and exclaims it is all about kids he should look out to those people and support them instead of defile them.
#1368 – AMEN! There’s nothing you have in this post that it not true. Jane and Audrey – this is what the Willard staff experiences on an everyday basis under the Bishop reign of terror. It is chaos everyday.
Now, about the test scores…..
Where IS Risk Managment? The things described at Willard are deeply disturbing.
What kind of jungle fever district would allow such unprofessional and destructive conduct in a school? If any of that happened just once in a GOOD district, the principal would be on the immediate radar and be given intervention or their walking papers.
Now that Bratcher is leaving, there will be a whole group of unprotected incompetents left exposed in his wake. Make sure the next Asst. Super of Secondary is ethical and efficient.
That should help flush out a bunch of do-nothings and bullies that have been allowed to misuse their positions while collecting their big salaries. They are already starting to turn against themselves. Liars and thieves fingerpointing and stressing out.
Thomas Gordon asks a great question: What happened to the 17,000 + students in SAUSD who apparently have no STAR testing scores recorded? Yow!
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/08/sausd-leaves-17279-children-behind.html
There are a number of reasons why SAUSD should NOT be self-insured entity for workman
Camille Boden, needs to go. get rid of her and alot of the problems in the department will go away.
Yet another task for Ms. Russo.
Risk Management is one of the most unproffesional dept. in the district.
what connection is there between, Rudy the Maintenance supervisor currently on SUSPENSION for illegal use of funds and Jim Miyashiro.
Is it the good old boys club like with Larry Seroter and Miyashiros suspicious transfer of funds.
Where is the boat and how much district money did Rudy and Jim use to purchase such boat.
If Rudy is on suspension, why is Jim still working.
hey! Rudy!
I guess sh@*t flows your way. Keep your mouth shut and take Jim with you.
Heads up alert!
Those of us in middle schools and high schools have noticed a disturbing pattern of interference by Pat Machado. Most of us had no idea what she does or why she is interested in some of the employees who have been abused at the upper grades. Turns out that anything that has to do with her is a GREAT BIG HUGE RED FLAG. In the past, she was the principal at Century High School. She did such a terrible job that the entire staff demanded that she be removed. Machado was removed from the campus and given some job at DO. Her boss is the departing Lewis Bratcher. She is obsessed with abusing her position of authority and when her name comes up in association with particular teachers
All I have ever heard in regards to anything Pat Machado has been involved with is complaining. She seems to screw up anyting that is under her umbrella of responsibility. Summer school is a perfect example.
Machado, Bratcher and Bishop all worked together at SAHS. All 3 need to go. They all stumble around sucking up to one another. They have all performed very incompetently in their current positions.
Heard that Machado will go at end of year – is that end of calendar year or end of school year?
Pat Machado
Juan Lopez
Amelia Amaya
Camille Boden
Jim Miyashiro
alleviate, SAUSD of this poor and incompetent district administrators and everything else will follow.
SAUSD is heading in a positive direction, but there is ways to go. up until the remaining over-paid-under-qualified administrators are gone, the district will not be able to move forward.
who left the HR admin and why?
Why not ask Juan Lopez and Amelia Amaya.
They all need to go!