| The Reform School Board that Advocated change, progress, and a new vision during the election must still have the best interest of students at heart after the election Today, with nothing reformed and little change, for over four years, that I have sat on this school board and tried to push toward the edge of the new frontier in the beginning of improving student achievement performance levels and putting in place the proper keystones for students to learn and achievement at the highest possible levels. Meanwhile, today the resulting criticism of those still sitting on the school board for other reasons has been violent enough to threaten my popularity as was the same case during the Brunson-Norwood-Owen regimes of dictatorship. Today, these same school improvement initiatives are still threatening the popularity of advocates for improving our schools on the so-called "New, and Changed School Reform School Board" elected on April 9, 2013. On these occasions, the counsels of silent submission to educational-civic- inferiority and unaccountability, criticism in our push for safety in educational excellence moving forward for our children and community has won the day on the school board. For those of us within district 227 who has espoused excellence in public education for a predominantly black community and quality education for our children, we have had to walk warily to avoid the harshest criticisms and judgments, and naturally so, for we are dealing with the one subject of deepest sensitiveness to our community. If a safety-security-common-sense-inclusive plan of the full board-three -high-schools- parent-community-students-participation approach had been in place in the three high schools, school riots on Monday, Oct. 30, 2013 would have been prevented with students facing felony charges. Likewise, if the school board would meet and discuss how we are to move forward in educational excellence with school district inclusive-full-board-community-district-parent-involvement efforts we could succeed in every area on the road to educational excellence in our schools. What happened at Rich South and Rich Central on Monday was due to lack of a proactive safety-security plan in place developed by the administration in emergencies, not the police department. Today, we still don't have a proactive plan to address safety in our schools and to promote accountability in leadership, instructional effectiveness, educational excellence, and moral, and fiscal integrity in every realm of our school district performance levels, and the students are not to blame for it. Many times, those who have spoken up for a quality education for our children, have been viewed as too radical or had their character slain by an adjective as being "too intemperate," by those who have been taught in the counsels of silent submission in educational and civic inferiority, who has sold our children's future for a mess of pottage, and have overlooked certain elements of true manhood, and womanhood that our educational program of excellence and supporting the idea of getting the three high schools off probation and the state's watch list demands. The erroneous idea is still pushed that to save our children and community from further ruin were unnecessary or "too extreme" or "expensive." Today, more than seventy percent of our children are graduating from three inferior high schools not ready for college and careers with high tech prisons within driving distance. This is a formula for disaster and failure in any community. As always, with the Brunson-Owens-Norwood regime of dictatorship, today with the so-called "New Reform School Board of Progress and Change" we are more and more finding such criticism found by the previous board in our efforts at a continuing open community expression forum and full board-parent-community- participation venues at board meetings to move our district forward "too extreme." Today, to save our children's and community's future from further ruin, we must continue to be representative in character, impartial in conduct and educational excellence, and true and firm in courageous leadership. Our efforts at improving student performance levels must not seek to compromise something of the best thought, the most unselfish striving and the highest democratic ideals. These are scattered in forgotten nooks and corners throughout school district 227. Citizens of considerable training, of high minds, and high character and motives, who unknown to their fellows, exert too little influence. That's why having a superintendent selection process with full board and community participation must now be our first and top priority. As a school district, we will either rise or fall based upon our leadership. Discriminating and broad minded criticism is what our school board needs to do the work that effective boards do, and to fulfill our role in creating the quality public education system that is so fundamental to a strong democratic society. Criticism of presidents , congressman, and political leaders by those led, of writers by readers, of community leaders by citizens, of school boards by their communities; this is the soul of democracy and the foundation for a free society. The community needs it for the academic well being of her own district sons and daughters. The school board needs it for understanding our role in putting in place the proper keystones for students to learn and achieve at the highest level possible. Improving communication, full board and public participation from parents and community, and feedback are critical elements in solving our school district's performance problems. At the school Board Meeting on September 30, 3013, Cheryl Coleman, in her extreme control measures of parents and targeted school board members, prevented a parent from expressing her concerns and fears to the community addressing what had happened to both her and her daughter at Rich South High school during the September 30, 2013 riots in the absence of an effective security plan for district 227 schools. After getting up to address the community, she was cut off and told to speak only with Cynthia Hudson in private. As a school board member, she has continued to ask me to do the same thing, scolding me when I have asked Cynthia Hudson, ( her own self appointed-with-no-input-from the-full-board district 227 director of operations), a public question about a public body in public. Today, in opposition to her own suggestions, I am being criticized and unfairly judged as a citizen and school board member for meeting with Cynthia Hudson two weeks ago, in a not-so-private-meeting, when it was necessary to do so while she was serving as superintendent designee in the absence of the superintendent. This is the same old suppressive-extreme control policy with gag rules habits of the old school board and of the reemergence of speech suppression and extreme community control measures violating our First Amendment Freedoms that we have witnessed on this school board for over two decades. Leadership is merely influence. Leaders influence, instruct, and inspire with vision. As leaders, we control things and lead people. For the restoration and maintenance of full board and community participation, and educational excellence in our schools are the reasons that I came to the school board in April 2013. Today, the three policies that I have requested two weeks ago to be placed on the board agenda for Oct. 3, 2013 that supports these excellence in public education initiatives are now being denied by Cheryl Coleman just as the Brunson-Norwood-Owens regime of dictatorship have denied them since I have sat on this school board. Today, we must develop a common-sense-school-district-parent-community-student-administration-led security plan created for our school district by our school district, in working with the police department, but not led by the police department. Every school district must formulate its own security plan working with and informing the police department in its development. When our school board agrees to fulfill our roles by putting in place the proper keystones for students to learn and achieve at the highest possible levels, to address our need to hold the superintendent and district accountable for improving student achievement performance levels, address students monthly progress with the superintendent and engage the school community in achieving this goal, we must hold up our hands and heads and strive with them. We can rejoice in its integrity of data-driven accountability in choosing the best and brightest (not merely their friends and connected acquaintances who may not be qualified) and glory in the health and strength of raising student achievement performance levels and democratically engaging the school district 227 community to achieve this goal. But as far as far as our schools board still does not recognize injustices done to our children and community, still does not rightly value a continuous/accountability driven academic improvement process and the three recommended school board October 3, 2013 suggested agenda policies that supports it but are being denied placement on the October 3, 2013 board agenda that was requested in writing two weeks ago, still does not value the duty of our roles in school progress by failing to meet in our annual two-day board summer conference at the Holiday Inn in Matteson for our annual board self-evaluation and school improvement plans for the 2013-2014 school year to address our district's goals, belittles the continuing emasculating and ineffective effects of lack of community and full school board participation in our community's internal affairs, and violates our freedom of speech, still have not put in place a professional-data-driven-superintendent-democratic-open-to-community-participation-superintendent-selection process for both interim and permanent superintendent involving the full school board; as long they are negligent in their roles in these significant duties that must be done to move forward in academic progress, then we must unceasingly and firmly oppose them. In every civilized and peaceful manner, to be the best as a school district and community, we must strive for the rights which the world accords to all men and women. We can never have a successful school district or a united school board until we cling unwaveringly to the justice and democracy that is America. Today, we cannot afford to continue to sit silently and idly by as the inevitable seeds are sown for a second harvest of disaster for our children's safety, academic improvement, and community's future. Today, we must continue to practice forward ever, backwards never. David E. Morgan, Ph.D., Educational Leadership School Board Member & Chairperson of the Continuous Academic Improvement Planning Committee Rich Township High School District 227 Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461 |
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