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.
#1479
You are right. If Jane wants to build trust, she’s going to have to treat people fairly and get rid of the old guard who undermines fair practices.
If Jane wants to attract new talent, she needs to get the processes smoothed out by eliminating the worst managers as well as spelling out what is fair for teacher to sign up for duties related to summer school.
1475, 1479…
At least they got paid. I was shorted nearly $4,000 on my paycheck this past Thursday. The payroll clerk in charge of my paycheck is NO HELP. Apparently she thought I’d been subbing when in fact I was requisitioned for that assignment as a contracted teacher. I am supposed to earn my daily rate. This woman actually expects me to wait an additional month for my pay and accept half the amount owed to me. I swear those people at the district are so inept!
Maybe Mr. G can take some time out of his busy blogging schedule and put together some information about High School Incorporated.
High School Inc agendas posted here. NO minutes are posted for any of the meetings. This is unacceptable. The BOE
Further evidence of Gomeztrejo
#1481
There was a big mess up with a teacher’s pay back when Christine Anderson was in the house. She went and got the employee paid the same day as her inquiry.
You might want to see if the new director of HR can do that kind of magic.
So many of SAUSD basic systems are broken. Bandaids can only cover so much. When is Russo going to get serious about firing the real problem employees?
I’d like to comment: This kind of principal is going to be a pain. Make sure you document and start networking with other teachers to keep this guy in check.
He sounds like he does not know how to do his job…. that’s not uncommon in education/administration… they receive very little training on how to do the job correctly, so they will focus in on being the dictator to keep everyone from knowing that they have absolutely no idea on how to do their job.
He will focus in on teachers that he perceives to be his biggest threats. Anyone who is popular, anyone who has very high technical skills, anyone who has had great evaluations- will be on his radar. He will start targeting you/your peers for removal. He will be secret about it.
As he begins to frustrate and drive off your colleagues, he will replace them with weaker teachers who are meek or outright henchmen to help him maintain and gain control of “his” territory. Your school will not be about educating students. It will become all about “him” and his own need to keep power.
Might help explain any recent employees exiting your campus.
There’s a subtle campaign, staged by the school board majority, to prop up Russo and make her the Supt she isn’t. Perhaps the public’s teletyped messages about Russo’s lack of experience and penchant for continuing the culture of cronyism has made some impact. Some of the dead weight has been removed, but there are many more inept and incompetent administrators still in place.
Meanwhile, Machado reports Spurgeon is a state school while two of SAUSD’s comprehensive high schools are in danger of being included on that list. That means Century and Valley are on the brink of being identified as state schools.
Russo greenlighted the appointment of Gomeztrejo. Freddy’s tenure is exclusively on her watch.
As far as High School Inc. Metzler and the Santa Ana Chamber were able to make inroads at the district with the blessing of Miguel Pulido and two of his political pimps – Richardson and Noji.
For those not familiar with city politics this is how it works. CityLine, a Santa Ana Chamber produced publication, subsidized by the taxpyers of Santa Ana, serves as a political endorsement and campaign tool for Pulido. Richardson and Noji have consistenlty been endorsed by the Chamber. Cozy, isn’t it?
#1485
Boy, does that describe Willard in the last 5 years under Bishop!
“He will focus in on teachers that he perceives to be his biggest threats. Anyone who is popular, anyone who has very high technical skills, anyone who has had great evaluations- will be on his radar. He will start targeting you/your peers for removal. He will be secret about it.
As he begins to frustrate and drive off your colleagues, he will replace them with weaker teachers who are meek or outright henchmen to help him maintain and gain control of “his” territory. Your school will not be about educating students. It will become all about “him” and his own need to keep power.”
This describes Bishop of Willard perfectly. The fact that he is now in his 5th year at Willard with the district and school board taking no action is almost criminal.
#1488
A true Nine thousand pound gorilla in the living room.
You notice that the new crew upstairs got rid of Bratcher & Stainer. When will they give relief to the campuses that hurt the most under terrible leadership?
The new principal over at Valley is a weeping wound to anyone who knows what has transpired. That school deserves true leadership – not someone who has no idea how to do his job.
Maybe Willard will get a reprive, like Saddleback did. Tell Jane you all are getting sick of the stench of gorilla poo
😉
Hello Roadrunners!!
I would like to send out to all of you my deepest gratitude for your hard work and friendship. I truly enjoyed my stay at Saddleback, but as some of you might already know, I was offered an AP position at C.E. Utt Middle School in Tustin.
Regardless of the school’s modifications and transitions, Saddleback has always been recognized for it’s outstanding students and staff. Keep up the good work and spirit.
Take care……..
Jimmy Bruhl
Activities Director
Saddleback High School
He was a GREAT ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR. He will be missed greatly. SAUSD should never have let this home-grown hero go to another district. Remember the huge event in 2006 that he put on at Carr? Nothing like that has ever been attempted and gotten such an overwhelming community response before or since his efforts.
Who in the DO is
#1489 Regarding the Principal at Willard – until Jane decides to deal with Juan Lopez, it is pointless to consider changing a site administrator. Look what he did to Valley. Willard does not need a three time failed administrator who coached the daughter of Juan Lopez.
#1490 I doubt if you were at Saddleback last year. Bruehl was a disaster. He was raised up to AD after spending a nano-second in the classroom. (Word has it he had been RIF’d he was so new). He was all talk, no action- one of Esther’s boys.
I am parent of a senior at Santa Ana High School , listening to her conversation I found out that one of the highest paid Outreach Consultant by the name of Rosa Rodrigues spends a lot of time trying to fix her daughters friends schedules and when I asked my daughter more details she told me that ” is well known that is you are her friend she will fix things for you” and then she drop a big No No No , that they huddled in her office to check (spy) on there no friends. to me that is so inacceptable . Why does she commands such a hefty salary , just to do favors. Does Mr. Salcedo allow her to play in the computer when there is a ton of work that she can under the SB65, not just play in the computer and Google just about every question that comes to her daughter and her BEST FRIENDS.
Dear Ms. Russo YOU assure us at the beginning of the year at the DAC/ELAC meeting at the board room that business was not going to be as usual a SAUSD. That every employee was going to be accountable.I have been gathering more information about this lady and if someone Mr. Triggs is brainstorming about reduction in the budget PLEASE! $80.000 won’t hurt.
Then again my daughter will graduate this year , I wont be able to find out more about MS. Rodrigues favors.
Or certain favors are only allow to the well know “CIRCLE OF FRIENDS”
Check out this OC Register story:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/students-school-class-1840111-classes-average
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/09/macarthur-teachers-protest.html
In response to growing class sizes at MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate School, teachers took to the streets to demand change. As we all know, the SAUSD has been the hotbed of corruption, unfortunately it has not gotten the attention that Capo Unified has gotten.
I am curious, why is there overcrowded classrooms in the Fundamental program when the district is supposed to be regulating the size of these schools? Teachers picketed before classes began. A teacher mentioned they should only have 25-30 students, instead they are close to 40 students. Meanwhile, many of the powers that be in Santa Ana claim there is no problem in the SAUSD, in fact things have just been hunky dory since Nativo has been recalled. When will our city officials and other community activists get their head out of the sand? They will likely not because doing so, they would be forced to admit that the recall of Nativo was not the fix all they claimed it was and that they sold the city a bunch of BS.
So what needs to be done to see a real rebellion against Rob Richardson and the corrupt board members? Well I guess we have to trick them into building a school north of 17th St. Kudos to the teachers for being the lone voices in the wilderness. Keep up the heat.
By the way, the huge class sizes may not be an accident but malevolent in nature. You all see, back in 2005, I was at a school board meeting on another issue and they were discussing the overcrowding at Valley High, where classes had as many as 50-60 kids in a class. Rosemarie Avila commented that this could actually be the beginning of a “new trend” where more students are put into huge classes. So is this yet another way to appease the “worst school board member in America.” Sad how this district loves to screw the teachers, the students and the city and yet so many don’t seem to care.
Coming soon, the truth of how they are trying to screw over the pre-schools. Cronyism at Mitchell Pre-School is coming soon.
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-api-scores-are-mostly-bad-news-for.html#comments
Anonymous Says:
9/02/2007 7:10 AM
My site started this year with five unfilled teaching positions. 15% of the classes began with substitute teachers and may continue without a regular teacher for months. This is an ongoing major problem in SAUSD (as has been mentioned on OJ many times before). SAUSD waits to hire teachers to be sure of their “numbers” and ends up missing out on the best teachers who are hired by other districts before summer. The children suffer because of the lack of commitment to put the best educator possible in every classroom. Do you think the parents of Irvine or any other district would put up with this lack of commitment to the children?
Anonymous Says:
9/02/2007 10:06 AM
The ACLU won the Williams case and it directly addresses the problem of unqualified teachers. Any person- parent, teacher, candle-maker can file a Williams complaint. Three were filed in the entire 60,000 student SAUSD last year. They concerned facilities, not textbooks or teachers. Ignorance- o ya. Cowardice- double check. Apathy- huh? Los pollos unidos!
Anonymous Says:
9/03/2007 9:26 PM
You hit it right on the nail Art when you said, “So when will the SAUSD Board President, Rob Richardson, be resigning? And will the SAUSD Superintendent, Jane Russo, resign as well? In any other school district, parents would be calling for their heads.” After going to PTO meetings and school board meetings and not seeing any other parents attend for this cause. I decided to just simply solve this problem myself. I PACKED MY BAGS AND MOVED OUT OF SANTA ANA AND TOOK MY CHILD TO A BETTER CITY AND SCHOOL. AMEN. I am pretty sure, if I dont like something in my new school district I will let my voice be heard and THEY (THE NEW SCHOOL DISTRICT) WILL LISTEN!
#1493
As a parent, do you feel betrayed by a system of insiders who give perks only to their friends, while neglecting the general population?
Would you help build a movement to get rid of bad board of education members and the superintendent?
Regarding the overcrowded classes at MacArthur – once again Trigg is balancing the budget on the backs of teachers and students. The teachers at MacArthur are fortunate to have involved parents. A little morning protest as parents are dropping off their children and they quickly receive district approval to hire more teachers. Amazing.
#1492
It is important that the readers of this blog understand that MacArthur teachers have been dealing with this issue for two years. We have filed numerous grievances, only to be ignored and told repeated lies by the office of Juan Lopez. This is not a first attempt at solving the problem, it’s truly the only option we felt was left for us.
1499, not to belabor the point, make no mistake, he was one of Esther’s boys. I personally had only pleasant interactions with him but he wasn’t near the god you paint him to be. I have a lot more respect for the others you name.
#1501
So you respect Mommie’s boys more than Jimmy?
That says a lot about YOU. Tick
Tock to Mommie’s sub males.
Jimmy’s smart. He got himself a peach of a job in another district before Mommie and her mob could give him negative evaluations.
I just bet he’ll be back when he’s ready to be a principal. Probably in 3 years or less.
Here is a poorly written “press release” located on the district’s website. It tries to “explain” the problems at MacArthur in flimflam language. “Several” teachers? From the reports and the pictures it was more than just 3-4. Great job to MacArthur teachers and students for drawing attention to a problem that needs accountability.
Just who writes these “press releases”? This one is just insulting with its circular language and vague points. There is a weird run-on sentence towards the end, too. Nothing like showing the world what SAUSD’s “best” efforts look like. Ack.
http://www.sausd.k12.ca.us/departments/pio/release.asp?id=167
New Elementary Education Assistant Superintendent Appointed at Santa Ana Unified
Santa Ana, CA – September 4, 2007
Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) announced its appointment, effective today, of Herman Mendez to the position of assistant superintendent of Elementary Education. In his new role, Mendez will oversee the operation and direction of elementary curriculum and instruction for 36 elementary schools and their staff.
With over 20 years of experience in the educational arena, Mendez joins SAUSD after serving as director of Student Services for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, where he spent 11 years of his career focusing on academic and achievement goals.
Mendez’ experience spans several other school districts in addition to Norwalk-La Mirada. He held the position of assistant principal for the Anaheim City School District from 1994 to 1996; taught at Capistrano Unified School District and was bilingual program coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“Mendez was the right choice for this role,” said Superintendent Jane Russo. “With 20 plus years of educational leadership and experience, Mendez has successfully led many programs and achieved desired results. We are very fortunate to be able to add his expertise to our team,” Russo commented.
Mendez holds a Bachelor Degree in Music from California State University, Long Beach and a Master of Arts from California State University, Los Angeles, as well as a number of certificates and credentials.
Professional affiliations include Association of California School Administrators, Association for Supervision and Curriculum and California School Leadership Academy, Senior Associate.
Contact Information
#1491
Willard needs a good house cleaning!
Willard parajitos are chirping loudly about Principal Medrano’s firm grip on the day to day activities. From all accounts Medrano swopped into Willard ands it’s been one helluva of a whirlwind.
It’s common chatter that Medrano is not a SAUASD employee, yet the district has charged her with the hiring of teachers; provided her with a bilingual assistant; special priveleged parking; and custodianship of the Parent Community at Willard. Her pet project, the Corporate Academy, lacks vision and qualified leadership. A collection of staff and teachers are dismayed that Russo has allowed a non-SAUSD employee to assume the duties and responsibilities of overseeing Willard.
Freddy Gomeztrejo stacks up as a five star educator compared to Medrano who has no professional background in education; teaching or administrative-wise.
Poor Willard. Like the ugly orphaned stepchild that takes a constant beating.
Maybe SAUSD would do something decent for that school if the teachers from MacArthur took their picket signs over to Willard.
Everyone knows it is a mess. Why is nothing done?
Medrano needs to be removed. Why is she allowed to remain there?
Most out of compliance school site for special education needs is Saddleback. Way to go Marilyn and Evelyn! It took real effort to destroy the special education department at your school. It is amazing what malicious incompetence can achieve in just a few short years! You
Regarding Willard – We are the joke of the district and we know it. Everyone knows it and yet no one downtown does anything about it. Like an overripe vegetable, we’re left to rot. We have lost 26 teachers from our school in the last 2 years. There are many of us who care deeply about the education our students receive. We try our best but we need a new site administrator.
Jane, please help us. You know who some of us are and we are counting on you to help us because we can’t do this by ourselves. I know that SAEA has brought to your attention the very serious issues that have plagued Willard under Bishop’s reign of terror.
That doesn’t include the 4 fully credentialed math teachers and 3 veteran science teachers who chose to leave after the first year under Bishop! I think we would all be surprised at the actual number of qualified instructors who have been either forced out or chose to flee the sinking ship since the fateful year of 2003.
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/09/sausd-blows-it-yet-again.html
Anonymous Says:
9/07/2007 12:13 PM
That’s better Thomas. We all like you better when you are community activists Gordon. These bastards here in Santa Ana need to be raked over the coals and you are just the man to do it.
Anonymous Says:
9/07/2007 3:45 PM
Williams forms are used extensively in some districts to address long-term subs being used to teach a class all year long. They are switched after 30 days w another sub. SAUSD was guilty of this in their high schools- and many other schools- last year. A parent, teacher, student, or any concerned individual may file, anonymously if they wish. Anonymous filings do not always affirm oversight. Unions sometimes file Williams on behalf of members fearful of retribution.
Does the SAEA file Williams for its members?
Anonymous Says:
9/07/2007 6:00 PM
FINALLY! Sooner or later the SAUSD parents needed to wake up from this nightmare. A little to late for me though. I took the proactive stance and simply moved my child to a better school district. But I truly want to applaud Mr. Gordon and Mr. Pedraza for their hard work! Hopefully more parents will attend the school board meetings like I did and make those school board members shake in their pants. Good job guys!!! My blessings.
-Ex-SAUSD Parent
Anonymous Says:
9/08/2007 9:06 AM
Mr. Gordon writes …
“Lets hope that those protests continue next week..”
Let’s hope MacArthur’s call to action is the spark that ignites parents, teachers and concerned residents from all school sites to publicly protest. Our students deserve better and so does our community.
As of yesterday Russo and her cabinet have neglected to inform Valley parents about High School Inc. This joint educational venture, between the school district and Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, might be an ideal educational program for the students, however the district has not informed SAUSD parents about High School Inc.
The promise of recruiting throughout the district appears to have failed too. How many students are enrolled in High School Inc? Have all Valley High students been funneled into High School Inc. without properly informing parents?
Anonymous Says:
9/08/2007 12:07 PM
Supt. Russo was riddled with one fiasco after another last school year and it appears she’s off to a rip roaring 07-08 school year.
Russo’s cosmetic changes don’t fool me. Rotten administrators should be shown the door. Stainer and Bratcher’s departures were long overdue. However, Russo’s lack of experience is impacting the classroom and MacArthur is just one example. The MacArthur protest provides a unique insight into the lack of leadership under Russo.
Most know that MacArthur is a fundamental intermediate school and that means there is a cap to enrollment. Admittance into Mac Arthur is determined by lottery and that was finalized last spring; that means district administrators knew by May, at the latest, the enrollment numbers for Mac Arthur for the 07-08 school year.
Armed with that data someone at the district offices made the recommendation to Russo to understaff MacArthur and she authorized that recommendation.
If Russo is cutting corners at MacArthur, the district’s premier intermediate school, one can only imagine how deep the cuts are at the neighborhood school sites.
SAUSD’s culture of hiring long term substitutes needs to stop! Trigg’s philosophy of treating students as revenue producing agents only is archiac and he needs to go.
Protesing is a grand idea, but most SAUSD parents cannot afford to take off work or they simply are not wired to be defiant and question school authorities; some would say that’s cultural.
There is a very good reason SAUSD has not had one cohesive parent organization for the past two decades. The fracturing of parent organization groups is a deliberate act promoted by district administrators.
How long must we endure the shortcomings of Supt Russo? Russo reports to the BoE and it’s time the residents put in place a board that will not tolerate rookie superintendents who surround themselves with inept and incompetent cabinet members. The Santa Ana community should not be subjected to suffering another decade of mediocre leadership.
Where’s the teacher’s union on this issue? I cannot believe the union is pleased with these unacceptable working conditions foisted upon their members. Aren’t unions supposed to represent their members?
It’s time for Dr. Barton to step it up and take a stand.
S A teacher Says:
9/08/2007 3:25 PM
Poster #5 asked “Where’s the union?” Please understand that SAEA is not an group of union professionals, we’re all full-time Santa Ana teachers (the prez. gets a leave of absence while prez., but still just his regular teacher’s pay), and as teachers we have to model for the community and our students respect for the law, as well as the proper way for citizen protest in a democracy. It’s important for students to see their teachers walking with the signs; here’s how to do it.
Despite starting with intolerably crowded classrooms we’re constrained by respect for the law, in this case our contract with SAUSD, which specifies in article 9.2 that we must give the district 3 weeks (Sept 21) to correct class size before “grieving” a violation of the contract. Despite the deceptive and sometimes fraudulent shenanigans pulled by district administrators, we have to be role models for the community. We can’t file grievances yet, but we can speak out and carry signs.
To update the situation at MacArthur: The district has hired one substitute teacher to relieve overcrowding in 8th grade language arts classes only. This does nothing for the other 2 grade levels and the other subjects (and only adds one uncredentialed person who is paid substitute pay and no benefits). The district’s press release states (although not very clearly) what we have all known for a long time, this district is using teacher’s preparation periods in the class average and counting them as a class of 0 students. Our contract clearly states that the class size average for intermediate school will be 31.75 and the district will make a “good faith” effort to keep it to this. The CBEDS data from the state clearly states that MacArthur’s class size is the highest for any intermediate school in the state by nearly 2 full students. The CBEDS data also states that only classes that actually HAVE students are counted in the class size average (you would think that everyone would understand that in order for a class to exist, it must have students!). The final statement in the press release regarding MacArthur teachers getting back to the priority of educating students was the ultimate stab, our priority has never been anything else except educating students. We are doing this because it’s obvious that the district’s priority has not been educating students. There has not been a work stoppage or any change in what we do during school hours. There will definitely be more to come from the staff as several parents have now joined the fight.
#1510 – The districts answer to everything (class size reduction, overcrowding, etc. ) is “Send ’em a sub.”
Over the years, in SAUSD, we’ve taught under slogans such as “Education 1st”, “we’re here for the kids”, “what’s best for kids”, “best practices”, etc. The overcrowded classrooms and the hiring of subs to get the district off the hook are a good indication that the district subscribes to none of the above.
When you try to balance the budget on the backs of teachers and students, it affects the entire community negatively.
Russo’s unwarranted attack on Inesee, over the CSR fiasco, and the MacArthur teachers is troubling. Supt Russo needs to focus on the task she’s been entrusted to do; provide a quality public education for SAUSD’s 55,000 students. And the BofE should do its job and hold Russo accountable for performance.
School’s been in session less than one week and Russo has her first fiasco. If this is a preview of what’s to come, it’s going to be a bumpy ride this year.
The emergence of Bob Nelson, retired administrator and favorite consultant, confirms Bratcher’s slow and early fade from the district. Russo couldn’t ditch Lewis fast enough.
Meanwhile, over at Willard the cat’s out of the bag and poised to pounce. It’s been confirmed that Principal Bishop closed down the parent center last spring because his sidekick Bernadette Medrano got in a personal tiff with the parent coordinator. The shut down resulted in this parent coordinator losing her position at Willard, causing a chain reaction of displacement for other school site parent coordinators.Bishop’s allegiance to Medrano, and visa versa, has caused a heap of turmoil at Willard.
Observers continue to wonder how a non-SAUSD employee is permitted to take on the day to day activities of running a school site. Insiders claim Medrano has the blessing of cronies Noji and Russo to do so.
Russo, Richardson and Noji’s favoritism for cronies are slowly emerging. Stay tuned.
#1508 – Heard that Willard’s math scores dropped again (if that’s possible for them to go any lower). Wonder how the scores would have been if he hadn’t alienated the four fully credentialed math teachers in his first year at Willard, causing them to jump ship.
#1512 – Bishop is a train wreck. It is well known that he creates upheavel and chaos wherever he goes. The district looks the other way which is tantamount to giving him the green light. In his convoluted way of thinking, he thinks that all of this chaos and upheavel will result in improved test scores. At least that is what he sells downtown. The results speak otherwise.
Anonymous Says:
9/08/2007 7:38 PM
One site in SAUSD five unfilled teaching positions. 15% of the classes at this site have substitute teachers and may continue without a regular teacher for months. This is an ongoing major problem in SAUSD. SAUSD waits to hire teachers to be sure of their “numbers” and ends up missing out on the best teachers who are hired by other districts before summer. The children suffer because of the lack of commitment to put the best educator possible in every classroom. Do you think the parents of Irvine or any other district would put up with this lack of commitment to the children?
This is just ONE site! What if 15% of all the teachers in SAUSD are substitutes? Is SAUSD really interested in the priority of educating students or saving money?
How important to the attitudes of all kids toward school , to get off on a flying start and bond with their teacher!
How about the classroom standards that are set in the first 2 weeks of school in behavior, how written work should be done, classroom decorum and procedures….and those that change with every time another sub is assigned to that class?
How about the subtle review of last year’s work being folded into introductions to new learning ,or do we wait …for the new teacher to introduce the new concepts and another, and another sub, with each interpretation at the time and with the experience of the new sub?
And the lack of investment in the future success of the classroom, since… ” I will not be here next month”!
And how about the background and experience of each new sub teacher…some just have a Temp. Cert. or Credential?
Do they have any experience with 2LL’s?
Case Number: 07HF1108
Defendant: Poole, Kendall Scott
Poole Kendall Scott Alias
Poole Kendall Scott Real Name 06/1957
Poole Ken Scott Alias 06/1957
Counts
3 counts found, displaying all counts.1
Seq S/A Violation Date Section Statute OL Violation Plea Plea Date Disposition Dispo Date
1 0 03/16/2007 311.11(a) PC F Possess / control child pornography NOT GUILTY 08/31/2007
2 0 03/16/2007 311.11(a) PC F Possess / control child pornography NOT GUILTY 08/31/2007
3 0 03/16/2007 311.11(a) PC F Possess / control child pornography NOT GUILTY 08/31/2007
CALIFORNIA CODES
PENAL CODE
SECTION 311-312.7
311. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) \\\”Obscene matter\\\” means matter, taken as a whole, that to the
average person, applying contemporary statewide standards, appeals to
the prurient interest, that, taken as a whole, depicts or describes
sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and that, taken as a
whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific
value.
Bail
2 bail found, displaying all bail.1
Details Bail Date Post Amount Avail Amount Depositor
Details…
Action Action Date Amount
Active 04/09/2007 $20,000.00
Exonerated 05/15/2007 $0.00
Refund 05/25/2007 $20,000.00
04/09/2007 $20,000.00 $20,000.00 Poole, David Alonzo JR.
Details…
Action Action Date Amount
Active 06/27/2007 $5,000.00
Active 06/27/2007 $5,000.00
Scheduled Hearings
One hearing found.1
Date Time Hearing Type – Reason Courtroom
10/19/2007 08:30 AM Pre Trial – H2
And the district allowed him to retire, Go to go Miyashiro!
#1514
I’ve learned that it’s never about the students’ best interest. It’s always about money. Right now, I have my own class, but I’m teaching on sub status and pay. Nevermind that I have a credential with 5 years teaching under my belt. I’m making a third of what I should be making. I’m told that I’ve been requisitioned, I must remain patient and the numbers will hold…then I’ll get my contract. Meanwhile, there’s an FTE position that’s into their second week with a 2nd sub. My credential is in that subject. I want that class, but apparently, the district thinks it’s better to have a sub a week instead of flying the position. (The school sent the req weeks ago!) Otherwise, I could apply for it, interview and get the job. My school loves me and wants me to remain there. But I can only hold out for so long. I’ve been biding my time for far too long. How much longer do I have to pay my dues?
I’m seriously considering leaving the district. They have no commitment to neither the students nor the teachers.
#1516
It’s sad…that I must apologize to you for this district. I have been teaching here for many years now and it pains me that I need to apologize to colleagues about the many inappropriate/unethical procedures used by my employers. I did my student teaching “time” in SAUSD in the 70’s. That “experience” caused me to never want to return! I ended up here in the 90’s by God’s grace. For better or worse, this is my “mission-field”. In the beginning, I thought it was the children who needed the most help…now I know it is the Pharisees who I must address. I love the children and families I serve every day. It’s a shame that I, you, and all the honest souls who love true education and righteousness must endure the SAUSD sham. Please don’t give up. SAUSD needs honest educators.
Hey #1514,
This is a favorite illegal money-saving tactic of SAUSD: call an open teaching position a “sub” position and tell a credentialed teacher teaching it they’re hired as just a sub. If this is a regular core curricular class, and you have a clear credential, you are a probationary teacher, not a sub. We have a contract that stipulates how positions are filled, at what stip and at what salary (on line at wwww.sateach.org , but you’re a fool who deserves sub-pay if you let the scoundrels at human resouces interpret that contract for you. Get yourself over to SAEA next to OCTFCU on Broadway, check the website above for the address, fill out a membership application (if you’re a sub, you probably haven’t done this) then get an appointment scheduled with one of the officers (Barton, Shephard or Isensee)and get this corrected. Fighting petty tyrants is a never-ending chore. You need to teach your students how to do it; and you need to show them how to do it in your own life.
Pedroza reports the following:
Is Pulido pulling strings again?
A pajarito reports that Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is trying to pull strings to get one of his children accepted into one of the Santa Ana Unified School District’s (SAUSD) fundamental intermediate schools. Apparently he forgot to put his name on a SAUSD fundamental lottery. Is Pulido asleep at the wheel? Maybe he has been too busy playing with trains…and raising our water rates.
Put Pulido’s kid at Willard. He’ll then have to do something: Either get that site cleaned up, pronto! Or he’ll have to pay for some private school.
It’s time to make the school system “personal” to the city leaders.
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/09/macarthur-teachers-protest.html#comments
1. Veteran Teacher Says:
9/06/2007 9:09 PM
Claudio, You’re a bit harsh on our school board and district with terms like corruption. Arrogant, inept, deceptive, timid, clueless…yes, but corrupt…no. Arrogant and clueless regarding real problems in classrooms, district managers and most principals never, never, never seriously ask for, or act on the input or counsel of their own veteran teachers. They either don’t trust teachers, or feel it shows weak leadership to ask the advice of those they’re assigned to lead. They prefer “hard data” or advice from consultants. For example, Asso. Supt. Lew Bratcher, a very nice guy but a disaster as director of secondary division (intermed. and high schools) has actually said (I heard this personally) that “data shows that lowering class size does not improve student performance.” He’s looking at experiments where large numbers of inexperienced and marginally qualified teachers were hired at high cost to slash class sizes, and overall performance dropped. What is overlooked is that a veteran teacher can do a better job with 40 then a newby can with 20, but still the better performance with 40 is sub-par.
Another Bratcher quote: “It’s easier to add teachers than subtract teachers.” So with typical financial timidity, he grossly understaffs schools for the start of classes, and waits to see actual student counts, then additional staff is hired to drop class sizes to contract maximums. That’s why every year we start out with 40’s and 50’s in classes. But hiring in September insures scraping the bottom of the barrel in teacher quality: substitutes and screwballs no one else would hire earlier. This doesn’t show up in “hard data”.
Corrupt?…no, just inept.
From the recent Register article regarding overcrowding, there were several comments that stood out:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1840111.php
There are classes still at Valley high school with 50, 60 and 70 students. Students are sitting on the floor.
gigi – Sep 08, 2007 07:21:02 AM
The teachers certainly are right to protest a 42 student average class size. I have visited MacArthur as a subject specialist and gave a presentation to a class that had over 40 students. The students were squeezed into a bungalow and it was overwhelming for the teacher, the students, and for me. Very good teachers become drained in these conditions. If we want to encourage a society that supports education and good teaching we need to provide an environment that encourages great learning and great teaching. Let’s work to keep our good teachers fresh, capable, and enthusiastic about going to work each day so that they can do thier job to the best of their abilities. Let’s not provide an environment that will lead to premature burnout and a second rate education for this generation.
concerned – Sep 07, 2007 02:38:46 PM
I thought MacArthur was a FUNDAMENTAL School? So, therefore, there should be a cap on enrollment? I’m not surprised that a Substitute was hired to alleviate the “problem”. The District is so cheap, it tries at every cost to save money.
Frustrated SAUSD Employee – Sep 06, 2007 07:11:46 PM
WTH, Read the article, don’t just look at the pictures. Those dedicated teachers AREN’T ON STRIKE, they’re just picketing to let the parents and school district know that they are unhappy with the overcrowded classrooms. 42 to a single classroom is insane. After picketing BEFORE class in the morning, they then walk into the school and teach the kids. These are dedicated teachers who genuinely care about the kids. The kids DO NOT benefit from being squeezed into a small classroom with 40 other students and one teacher. Let’s all hope the school districts all over Orange County take this picketing as a wake up call and hire more teachers. These kids are our future!
OC Resident – Sep 06, 2007 12:48:16 PM
My daughter attended MacArthur last year and NO we are not illegal. Most of that school is not. It’s way overcrowded though, that’s why I send her to a private school now and the max in her class is 20! And that’s both 7th and 8th graders combined.
oc – Sep 06, 2007 12:34:41 PM
I went to MacArthur from 96-99. It was such a great school! It’s unfortunate what’s happening now.
Laila – Sep 06, 2007 11:38:21 AM
MacArthur is a great school with a very diversified family make up as are all of the Fundamental schools in Santa Ana. This is not a racial issue This is a school funding issue. Start spending our tax dollars on our children. The teachers are already underpaid. Please do not add over worked and stressed out to that. We risk losing so many great teachers The teachers of the Santa Ana fundamental schools are terrific. They have given my children a great love of learning and helped to create great citizens in our city that will eventually be going off to be great leaders in our world. Santa Ana School Board please help. Give the teachers the help they need. We need them!
santa ana mom – Sep 06, 2007 11:15:59 AM
Fighting petty tyrants is a never-ending chore. You need to teach your students how to do it; and you need to show them how to do it in your own life.
Amen! SAEA wouldn’t have to act like the district’s nanny if HR did a proper job.
If the Board of Ed and Jane Russo are “satisfied” with the lousy reputation that this district has because HR can’t get its act together, then they need to rethink that, again. Shabby HR practices affect the bottom line.
#1520
Pulido’s kid should be wait listed. Until then he can send his kid to Willard, opt for a private school or try Orange Unified. There’s a thought – Miguel can tap his pal Steve Rocco for a favorable recommendation.
Too bad the mayor and his wife did not put their child’s education first.
Lingering questions remain.
1- MacArthur is a fundamental school with a capped enrollment. District admins knew the enrollment numbers for MacArthur last spring. Why did Russo and Trigg overload classrooms and fail to provide enough desks?
2- If MacArthur, the district’s
golden school, is facing overcrowded classroom conditions, then it’s a fair assumption that the majority of SAUSD schools are facing similar conditions.
The BofE needs to hold Rookie Russo accountable and Don Trigg needs to be shown the exit door.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Teachers take class size concerns to board
The teachers at Santa Ana’s MacArthur Fundamental say their classes are too crowded.
By DOUG IRVING
The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA
In another case, Peterson deposed a state certified doctor THREE TIMES and got the same result each time. Lots of money $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and he still insists that the administrator that caused the stress claim is somehow not at fault. This is a guy who has worked with this administrator
Supt. Jane Russo said the district was continuing to review how it does business. .
“While this type of self-assessment can be uncomfortable and at times even troubling, it also is a reflection of our district’s commitment to do things right and to do the right thing,” she said.
Tuesday’s announcement is the latest financial blow to the beleaguered district, which this year cut $21 million in spending because of declining enrollment.
The irregularity took place during the 2005-06 school year, when two employees mistakenly multiplied the number of special education students participating in summer-school programs by 4.8, the number of hours a summer school student spends in class each day, said Don Trigg, associate superintendent of business services.
The district will not have to pay back the money but will receive $3.2 million less for the current school year, he said.
Officials are considering disciplinary action against those involved in the matter, Trigg said. The district also plans to hire a quality-control specialist to deal with state and federal program documentation and to move employees who handle accounting for such programs into the business services department.
Trigg said the $3.2-million loss would not result in further program cuts, because district officials were able to offset it with unspent funds.
The district, Orange County’s largest with nearly 54,000 students, has a history of flubbing state programs.
This year, Santa Ana Unified lost $2 million because of problems in its class-size reduction program in elementary schools. The flaws were uncovered after a series of Times articles revealed that teachers at several schools were asked to sign falsified class rosters and that the district misused substitute teachers in an attempt to qualify for $16 million in state funds.
The loss stems from the district’s failure to keep first-, second- and third-grade classes limited to an average of 20.4 students per teacher, in order to receive state money. An auditing firm recently began investigating whether similar problems occurred the year before.
Last month, auditors announced that class-size reduction efforts were also improperly implemented in two high schools, costing the district $90,000 for the 2006-07 school year, and as much as $20,000 for the previous year. Auditors found that 467 special-education students who were being moved into about two dozen regular classes were not included on class rosters.
In both instances, auditors faulted the district for shoddy bookkeeping and urged trustees to monitor class sizes frequently and to ensure that class rosters were accurately recorded.
These are losses to a district that has faced consecutive years of budget cuts largely caused by declining enrollment.
Santa Ana Unified saw strong population growth in the 1990s and is still building schools to relieve overcrowded classrooms. But the district has lost more than 6,000 students over the last four school years because of declining birthrates as well as rising housing costs that have forced families to move inland in search of affordable homes.
Meanwhile, spending on special education, employee benefits and other costs continue to rise.
Trustees have cut $79 million in spending since 2004 and are expected to cut an additional $19 million for the 2008-09 school year.
seema.mehta@latimes.com
ashley.powers@latimes.com
http://o-juice.blogspot.com/2007/09/sausd-blows-another-3-million-dollars.html
What can you buy for $3 million dollars? The O.C. Register reported today that the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) “received an additional $3.2 million in state funding last school year, money the district was not entitled to collect, because of clerical errors made by district staff, Superintendent Jane Russo revealed today.” Oopsie!
Surplus? Clerical errors?
Just who is supposed to be overseeing this important process of accounting?
Remember the Nunley story?
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/sections/local/local/article_587903.php
SANTA ANA