Update of the school board meeting of October 16, 2012..
Betty Owens' continued in her efforts at stopping both targeted board members and the community from speaking at the board meeting's dog and pony show last night while still promoting the false image portrayed at every board meeting. The problem is that she holds the public in contempt. But this time was different. For the first time ever, both the audience and some board members walked off the stage, and out of the lies, stifling script, and muted play being staged at Rich South High School, and went home.
Betty Owens, in her non-transparency, who has no answers to our questions, has been out of control for over a decade in her attempts to stifle both targeted board members and the community in their attempt to speak to our realistic plight, discuss the real challenges that we must face, and to solve our district's real problems. She still doesn't understand that the parents and the community nor the board works for her. Rather, she works for the board and the community. While still insulting our intelligence and treating us like idiots, she still doesn't understand that the only person that we can control in life, is ultimately, ourselves.
As board members, we must be accountable ourselves, first and foremost, in evaluating, assessing and then protecting the school district's academic, instructional and fiscal assets. Rather than accept her real role and be responsible first, she continues to fight our parents and community at open board meetings and in court wasting millions of our tax payer dollars to do so. Rather than fight our parents and community, we should be working with our community to get the schools off probation and the state's watch list. But Betty is not interested in that.
As school board members representing our community, we must respect and encourage our parents and tax payers full participation rights, free expression, and the rights of our fellow board members who seek a hearing before the board. Yet, Betty continues to speak, focus and act on what she believes that she can control as she continues to try to muzzle and mute the voices of dissent of both the school board and our community at open board meetings, rather then listen. When we are sitting on a school board watching public officials who represent our community being mistreated and the community that we have sworn to represent being underserved, misrepresented, threatened with arrest for speaking, and muzzled in the same fashion, it is time to quit.
We don't respect our First Amendment Freedoms and our right to public participation in the affairs of our own community when we refuse to respect and protect them. A school board is not a secret fraternal order. The first responsibility of any elected official is to the community he/she represents, the people who elected him/her.
Leadership needs full school board and public input. Walking out on the last dog and pony show being staged by Betty last night epitomizes what school board members and the community should do when a public body fails in its public duty. Despite being ostracized, chastized, muzzled, and muted again by the board chair, the community and targeted board members stood up for the people who elected them. Leadership needs public input. In the absence of the public input that was shut out over a decade ago, the board majority has shown no ability to improve our schools. By the 2011-2012 school year, less than three our of every ten of our high school students were at grade level.
The school board majority acts as if they have taken an oath to each other instead of a pledge to represent the full board, the rights of our children to a quality education, and our community's right to participate in the conduct of its own internal affairs. The most effective way to solve the failures of our children, and the debauchery of our community is to bring multiple perspectives and experiences to bear through full board and community participation and collaboration.
Dr. David E. Morgan...School Board Member...Rich Township High School District 227..... Olympia Fields, Il.
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