"Frantic" Tallahassee Battle: School Board Thwarts State Control

• get ready for another taxpayer bailout, she is using the same attny as charlene rebecca blackwood

• JAD, Reviewed the information you gave me. Policy 7001 actually reiterates the authority of the Building Department to enforce building codes and their violations through Florida State Statutes, which has been in place since 1974. Someone forgot to tell the School Board of Broward County. I read through all of the smoke and mirrors charts and flow charts. All of that is very good if they will be enforced but instead of simplifying the procedure, it is a process of killing more and more trees. It is interesting to note that the OEF 110 Certificate of Occupancy form that goes to DOE in Tallahassee now just has the Building Official's signature, not the Building Official and the Building Inspector assigned to the project. It still states, "I have inspected all of the safety systems......." How can the Building Official sign that when he didn't inspect any.? Also, after having no evaluations in the Building Department for more than 5 years, the School Board has now revamped their evaluation process and now are going to enforce that. Anybody got a bridge in New York they want to sell? Remember the legal firm who represented me in the termination hearing, Meyers (sic) and Brooks, actually Meyer, Brooks, Demma and Blohm, P. A. in Tallahassee. They are listed as the authors of Code of Ethics for Public Officers in the attached Exhibits on the March 2, 2011 responses from Notter. Ironic, isn't it? Never saw themselves in a conflict of interest when they had contracts with the BTU/TSP Union and the School Board of Broward County. Remember the old saying, you can bedazzle them with brilliance or baffle them with bulls___. My e-mail address is cblackwood@bellsouth.net. Let me know how you plan to organize this complaint so I can write the cover letter for you and any other interested parties who have the courage to add their name to the list of outraged taxpayers.

• JAD, Will review and get back to you. Will be happy to write a cover letter. Just finishing one to Inspector General Ed Jordan regarding Exhibit F which is the final ruling of Administrative Judge Patricia Hart. Items listed as reasons to be considered from 2001 to 2004 that should have been used for my termination actually reveal the attempts of upper administration to allow Facilities and Construction Management to interfere with the statutory rights of inspectors to enforce building code violations. Not only Facilities, but the Safety Department, the District Maintenance Department, Building Department subordinates, Board Members and the Superintendents of Schools Till and Notter. An e-mail address might be helpful when coordinating this letter. I came to work for Broward in July 1996 and it was very apparent within the first few months that Broward was just as corrupt or more so than Miami Dade County Public Schools where I worked as a project manager.

• Charlene Rebecca Blackwood -- One of these days (if it becomes necessary) I would like to get together and go over the documentation. If you need someone to research the matter, if you decide to sue the school board for libel, I’m sure that many people will help you, gratis, with research that needs to be done. The questionable material that I posted was not written by me. The questionable material was found in a 34-page official school board document, titled “Plan of Action to Address the Findings and Recommendations of the Grand Jury.” This document, with the date of March 31, 2011, contained responses (& clarifications) to that same-titled document, that had been dated March 2, 2011. I had been examining these documents in order to (correctly & exactly) prepare my request to the accreditation panel, for an investigation of the Broward County School District (also known as the Broward County School Board, through interpretation of art. IX, sec. 4, Fla.Const.). I thought that I had found some discrepancies in the recently issued report (of less than one week), and I compared this report to the older report (issued over one month ago). The March 2, 2011 “Plan of Action to Address the Findings and Recommendations of the Grand Jury,” is a 20-page document. You can access this document from the Superintendent’s site at the official school board web address. There are two separate sections -- there are several individual subsections to section 1 (on pages 1 – 13) and descriptions of 20 different areas in section 2 (on pages 14 – 20). I found troubling the fact that someone had altered the original document with the intent of humiliating & embarrassing a former school board employee who had been believed to have acted out of concern when reporting on the waste and abuses allowed by those ruling & overruling. In the 1990s, several of us had also tried to bring these certain abuses (& waste of bond moneys from a county school board general obligation bond, agreed to by a majority vote of county residents) to the attention of the school board, but had been shut out of the process because we were told that we had no business with the school board & to take our complaints elsewhere, as we had not been employed by the school board. Thus, after several attempts to show that we could prove acts of criminality (in school construction, that had the potential to harm the children attending the shoddily constructed schools), we were dismissed, as not having any standing to follow through with complaints of shoddy construction, inflated construction costs, manipulated pricing from change orders, etc. So, it is important to document the fact that even those employed could not change the criminal ways of those on the school board. I believe that I can prove that the school board would use one faction against another so that it would not have to properly address what needed to be changed (by telling employees they could not act because they were employees, and by telling members of the public, who were not employees, that they could not act because they were not employees). I thought that if this was brought to the attention of the pulpsters that this information would arrive full force where it was intended. I believe that the information contained in the report had been deliberately inserted to harm a former employee, and it was done in a vindictive nature. Just examine the report, and, if you agree with me, write a cover letter to the accreditation panel with an explanation of the way that this response to the Grand Jury report was nothing more than a contrived response to further embarrass and humiliate a former employee who, as an employee, had tried desperately to do the right thing, but had been prevented because of disreputable procedures employed by the school board and a possibly corrupt court system (that would NOT have ruled in your favor, even if you were proven right -- which corrupt court system will eventually be shown, just as the corrupted school board & corrupted county commission will be proven). Please review the following, and accomplish what you had originally set out to do, which was to document, report and succeed in showing the government corruption of the School Board of Broward County. The numbering and titles of the 21-subsections of section 1 of both the March 2, 2011 & the March 31, 2011 dated “Plan of Action to Address the Findings and Recommendations of the Grand Jury” are -- A.1 “TCOs and Occupancy of Unfinished Schools,” A.1.a “TCOs issued with safety issues outstanding,” A.1.b “Number of projects opened with a TCO or no documents at all,” A.1.c “TCOs Stay Open for Years,” A.1.d “Retainage,” A.2.a “Lack of Accountability,” A.2.b “Lack of Disciplinary Authority,” A.2.c “Infighting,” A.2.d “Lack of Training and Standardization for Inspectors,” A.2.e “Use of Untrained Inspectors,” A.2.f “Inadequate Record Keeping,” B.1.a “The Consultant,” B.1.b “Beachside Montessori,” B.1.c “Construction Manager at Risk, QSEC, and Campaign Contributions,” B.2.a “Failure to report gifts,” B.2.b “Breaches of confidentiality,” B.2.c “Silencing Critics by Threats,” B.2.d “Voting Conflicts,” B.2.e “Self Serving,” B.2.f “Stalling the Plant Survey,” B.3 “Single Member Districting.” The section, titled “Infighting,” was on page 7 of the March 2, 2011 document, which would read, in the entirety, as “Actions Taken Prior to Release of the GJ Final Report: In January 2007, the District revised and expanded its policy regarding Building Codes and Plan Approval (copy of Policy 7001 attached as Exhibit 13). The revised policy outlines a formal appeals process to resolve disputes between the Building Department and other interested parties. The Interim Deputy Superintendent worked with the Chief Building Official to reinforce a culture of collaboration between the two departments. Actions to be Taken: Management will conduct a joint staff meeting with the Building Department and the Facilities & Construction Management Division to emphasize the need to work more cooperatively for the benefit of the District. This meeting will be completed by March 11, 2011.” It is the response (to that document that was first published) that I thought was troubling. This response supplemented that published originally on page 7 of that March 2, 2011 document. The revised March 31, 2011 document, with the “response” to the problem documented as “Infighting” was published on pages 10 & 11. I thought this response to be libelously made. In no way does this response CORRECTLY address that which had been brought up by the Grand Jury report. THE RESPONSE, published on pages 10 & 11 of the March 31, 2011 “Plan of Action to Address the Findings and Recommendations of the Grand Jury,” DID NOT SERVE A VALID PURPOSE. If there were to be any reason to say why such malicious content was contained in this official government report that was a response to concerns of the Nineteenth Statewide Grand Jury, it would be to further humiliate and embarrass a former employee, in a vindictive and hateful nature, which is the strategy employed by the school board to keep employees & former employees in their place. I believe that this should be told the accreditation panel, in order for the panel members to understand why the panel is not receiving so many reports by employees or former employees of the school board. This documentation could seal the fate of the school board. Do you want to see if this act of whistle-blowing will finally bring to light that which you have tried for so long to accomplish? If so, ask the panel to investigate the matter. No one should live with any fear of retribution or shame that the powerful school board will again embarrass and continue to humiliate you (in official documents, available on-line for anyone to read). What was reported in that official response should be tackled, so that these (haunting) rumors, innuendos, and false allegations will finally be put to rest. It’s up to you and any other employee or former employee that has suffered such abominable tactics to silence the critics of the antics and criminality of the school board d/b/a Broward County School District. Contact anyone who can help, but most of all, send the information to the accreditation panel.

• Broomie, What happened to your blog? Did they shut you down? If so, who is "they"? I really got a kick out of it. I would hope you would continue if legally possible. Keep the faith.

• Good for you, getting started on your draft of a complaint lettter to SACS. & great suggestion to divide up the work. I don't think these guys will have any trouble determining that the complaint is valid, Before I do anything, I'm going to look carefully at the "scope of policies and jurisdiction" part. The Montessori school looks like a keeper, and all the cronyism. I'm not sure that an organization set up to accredit schools and colleges would have had the foresight to prohibit categories of action that included things like "bought swamp land upon which to build a school," but I could be wrong.

• @Christy, No, but I agree she was able to speak her mind well. She is also very brave to put herself out there like that. I am just a hard working teacher who wonders when we became the enemy. I share the many concerns of the taxpayers (of course I am one), and parents (I am one of those as well). Only a select few seem to be reaping the benefits of nepotism, dirty deals and very questionable ethics, however it stains all of us in the system. But please believe me, most of us are hardworking people who earn our pay and have had no easy breaks. (To anyone tempted: please spare me the lecture about having 2 UNPAID months off. )

• In response to JAD, I was only Senior Supervisor of Inspections and Code Compliance of all building and trades inspectors until 2001, then became the Senior Supervisor of Building Inspectors in 2001, then a mix of building and trades inspectors and then back to Building Inspectors when I was removed in 2005. I appreciate your interpretation of my civil record with the School Board but I would like to correct some false information you have stated. In November 2001, I and two other female inspectors filed a lawsuit against the School Board of Broward County for whistleblowing, discrimination and harassment. Our lawsuit was based on the fact the School Board of Broward County and Dr. Frank Till refused to grant enforcement to the inspectors they hired to inspector their construction and maintenance projects allowing contractors (many through the Facilities Project Managers) to refuse to correct failed building code inspections, to substitute materials listed in the specifications without approval or credit to the DIstrict, and to file for change orders that were included in the contract documents that were supposed to be included in their bids. Also, I was threatened with loss of my job for complaining about the code violations and the code violations were overridden by individuals who filed applications for Building Code Officials who did not meet the requirements on the application form; who transferred their limited license from Palm Beach County (not allowed by State Law); an indicted Building Official from Miami Dade County who resigned the month I was removed from my job by an armed SIU employee. After I was removed the School Board "appointed replacement" did not have the degree required by the Job Description, did not have the experience required by the Job Description or the State of Florida requirements but was allowed to be the Temporary Building Official for more than 4 years while the School Board paid $1,000 a day to sign for permits that went through the department because he was not qualified. This person was investigated by the Florida Department of Regulation and found to have approved permits without a license. He was making $100,000 a year. I will address the present Building Official later. During our lawsuit, our attorney recommended we have separate trials. I was offered $600,000 to go away plus the School Board agreed to pay $200,000 additionally to our attorney if I would settle. The other two women were offered $400,000 each. We turned down the offer. Once we turned down the offer, our attorney proceeded to threaten us with withdrawing from our case and filing a lien on our case to prevent us from going to trial. She said she did not have the money to continue the suit. Two of us went to attorneys in Jupiter and Miami who agreed to share the costs of the case and the case with her but she refused; The Monday before the trial on November 4, 2004, our attorney informed us she was withdrawing from my case on Friday, November 1, 2004. She again changed her mind because the judge assigned to my case was changed at the last minute. During the jury selection, I got into a dispute with my attorney because she selected an alternative jury member whose parents were employees of the School Board and best friends with Bob Parks. They attended each others' Christmas parties. Despite my objections, this person was selected but later became Jury Foreman. Judge David Krathen found there was whistleblowing, discrimination and harassment but in the State of Florida, YOU CANNOT WIN A WHISTLEBLOWING LAWSUIT IF YOU CANNOT PROVE FAILURE TO PROMOTE. Despite the fact I had been the finalist in at least 2 job interviews for Director of Facilities, Superintendent of Facilities and second for Building Official on two occasions (Lee Martin was selected who had been indicted by a Miami Dade County Grand Jury but it was dropped because even though the reasons he was indicted were legal, no one was injured by the time he corrected it during the investigation) (Alan Gilbert who had a limited building code administrator's license which does not allow transferring to another position), I was not given the positions for which I was a finalist. All of these positions were under the watch of Dr. Frank Till, who had to approve the selections. Dr. Till and I had a disagreement regarding South Broward High School within 2 weeks of my interview for Building Official. Dr. Till was the head of the committee. Our disagreement was because I had notified Dr. Till and Safety Director Jerry Graziose that South Broward was not completed for occupancy (no working fire alarm, no working fire sprinklers, openings from the 2nd and 3rd floor for walkway work and roofing work to the building next door). This was the day before he and I went to South Broward for a jobsite meeting so that he personally could get the information from the contractor. Prior to the commencement of the site meeting, I visited the building and found that Director Jerry Graziose had given permission for all of the teachers and their children in the 97,000sf building to occupy the building to prepare their classrooms. This was not allowed by building code. I went to the jobsite trailer to speak with Dr. Till. His meeting was still going on. I waited until he finished and advised him the teachers and their small children had to be removed because it was unsafe to be in the building. I left the jobsite after the meeting. Dr. Till and the then Director of Compliance and Contracts Bob Goode decided it was okay for the teachers to occupy the building but the children were moved to Dania Elementary School - this too was not allowed by building code. Within 3 days I received a letter from Dr. Till advising me if I ever interrupted any of his meetings (which I did not), I would be terminated. Yet, the jury decided I did not prove the District failed to promote me. In the Director of Facilities position, Rick Ragland had dropped out of the competition. After the interviews were completed, he was personally called and told if had to come interview because of my scores. Rick was selected. Coincidentally, Bob Hamberger, the present Building Official testified against me in the trial on behalf of the School Board. He said I was too strict in allowing inspectors to interpret codes as black and white that codes were gray and could be interpreted at the discretion of the inspector. For those of you who work in codes, codes are minimal, the specific regulations are in black and white and those only gray areas were in ranges of heights allowed by code. Mr. Hamberger had been a painting contractor with a Bachelor of Arts degree when he went to work as a field representative for Architect Donald Singer. The School Board sued Singer for $13 million dollars in the 90's for his contract with the School Board for 10 prototype elementary schools. Singer was able to escape buying professional liability insurance for each school and used the same $1 million dollar policy over and over again on each school. The School Board settled with him in 1999 got $750,000. After the Building Department moved to Rock Island Annex in 2002, I approved Hamberger's absences from his position to pursue a Masters degree in Building Construction Management. He and later had a discussion about my approving his absences for his degree which I had hoped he would share with the staff which he did not do. He told me had the right to go to college during the day and take off his vacation and sick days to do so. He was not convinced he needed my approval. Mr. Hamberger never supervised inspectors for 5 years which is required in his application to the Department of Business and Professional Regulations to become a licensed building code administrator. Someone had to certify this for him. It would be interesting to see who signed his certification on his application. After the loss of my case, The School Board came after me for $87,000 in legal fees. Included in these fees were legal fees for Marilyn Battista McNamara. My understanding she was a full time lawyer working for the School Board. She charged more than the outsourced attorney who was paid $110 an hour. She charged twice or more. The judge reduced her hourly fee charge to $110 an hour and ruled I had to pay $67,000 in legal fees for failure to win my case. I filed bankruptcy immediately to prevent the School Board from garnishing my wages which would have resulted in my being unable to pay my mortgage. In February 2005, I was removed from my position in the Building Department and transferred to the Book Depository where I was removed and put into Purchasing until I was terminated on January 10, 2008. I was directed by Associate Superintendent Donnie Carter to prepare the Policies and Procedures for the Building Department which Temporary Building Official Ron Morgan ignored my requests for the appropriate information to complete, nor no one ever asked for when I left in January 2008. I was not told why I was removed from my position until I saw an article in the Sun Sentinel the following day saying I harassed several employees to the point they had become ill and had to seek medical help. During the next 20 days, Donnie Carter, a representative from SIU and a representative from Human Resources and interviewed the staff at the Building Department regarding what was wrong with the Department. This came to their attention by complaints lodged by Diane Clark a secretary, Sherrie Gammon a scheduling clerk and two other secretaries who stated my positions against Temporary Certificates of Occupancies and cited code violations were slowing down the construction progress of the School Board's projects. None of these women had any experience in construction. Also, Ben Williams' niece lodged a complaint against me saying I yelled at her (later it was discovered there was a witness who said Ms. Strong had yelled at me). I was removed to the Purchasing Department and within those twenty days, I was summoned to K. C. Wright to be informed of the charges against me. The Union, prior to this meeting, requested copies of my personnel file to prevent anyone from putting in false information. During the meeting at K. C. Wright with Donnie Carter I was given more than 100 pages of interviews and was told to defend myself against these. I had no documents, no access to any information. All I could say was they were false and lies were told by individuals with personal axes to grind. My termination was brought to the Board in June 2005. Allegations were made I had a poor personnel file. The Union offered copies of that file but all Board members refused to read it. The Board passed Till's request to terminate me. An Administrative Hearing was requested by the Union. I was given an attorney from the law firm of Brooks and Meyers of Tallahassee. I later found they also had a contract with the School Board. No one from the Union or the School Board would address the issue when I stated this was a conflict of interest. During deposition, I found that Ms. Strong (Ben Williams niece), Robert Hamberger, Al Jackson, Valeria Oscheneek, and Jose Sadin with Lee Martin's assistance went to Mike Garretson, the head of Facilities and Construction Management to file a complaint against me with the Special Investigative Unit. Their complaints were found to not violate law but a management issue with Lee Martin and sent back to him to address but he refused to. Ms. Strong also filed 2 complaints against me with the District's Equal Employment Opportunities office which were found to have no basis. Also during deposition secretary Diane Clark said I refused to reprimand an employee who in a private conversation made a remark about another secretary being a snake with two tongues. It was found from witnesses testimony I was not in the office. Another complaint about a draft Letter to the Editor that was sent to the Union for their advice about filing but never was because the Union discouraged it; and a yelling incident with Jerolie Strong was found to be her instigating it, not I. The allegations of my making Robert Hamberger, Valeria Oscheneek, and Jerolie Strong were thrown out because they cited HIPPA laws and refused to say what those medical problems were. Also during the depositions, other allegations were mentioned that supposedly happened years ago, but MY ATTORNEY REFUSED TO ADDRESS THEM BECAUSE SHE SAID THE JUDGE WOULD NOT MENTION THEM AND THEY WERE NOT PERTINENT TO THESE ALLEGATIONS. I told her at the time, I had documents to show these statements were false but she refused to address them in testimony. Believe it or not, these allegations were the one's the judge did mention in her ruling. THE JUDGE STATED THE CURRENT ALLEGATIONS DID NOT CONSTITUTE ACTIONS THAT REQUIRED TERMINATION. SHE DID STATE THAT THE OTHER ALLEGATIONS (THE ONES NOT DEFENDED BY "MY AND THE SCHOOL BOARD'S ATTORNEY") SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED AT THE TIME THEY OCCURRED AND MIGHT CONSTITUTE MY TERMINATION. SHE ORDERED THE SCHOOL BOARD TO PUT ME BACK TO WORK IN MY DEPARTMENT. The School Board refused to put me back to work in my department. I stayed in the Purchasing Department where I made coffee 3 times a day and shredded files assisting the clerical staff there, whenever I was asked. I was offered a position in the safety department performing safety inspections, which I refused. In October 2007, at the same meeting Temporary Building Official Ron Morgan explained to the Board how he had paid over $700,000 to PBS&J for inspections that were not performed, reinspections that were not performed and the inspectors not having the appropriate licenses to perform the inspections. He had even paid for secretarial services that were included in the contract. Mr. Morgan still had not gone to college to get his Bachelor's degree which was one of the requirements of his receiving the Temporary Building Official's position. The Board greeted him with open arms stating they were glad to meet him. My agenda item followed his. I was led to believe by the Union representatives that the Board would put me back to work. Instead, the Board's contracted attorney told them I should be fired against the Administrative Judge's ruling because of my "Poor Evaluations" and personnel file. I had never received anything less than "Meets Expectations" and on two occasions had received "Exceeds Expectations". He raved on and on and the Board voted unanimously to appeal the Judge's ruling and terminate me. Two rejected appeals later and $295,000 in legal fees ($145,000 to Brooks and Meyers and $150,000 to the Board's outsourced attorney), I was terminated and the Board settled with me for $67,000 in salary, sick time, vacation time and remaining Drop funds from January 11, 2008 to June 30, 2008, the last date of my DROP. I appeared before the Board asking for an apology which I was not given. During my termination, I met with two law firms representing the School Board in 5 lawsuits which resulted in the School Board receiving in return $3.3 million dollars on projects that the inspectors reported to me cited as failed. I also worked with Attorney Amy Fischer of Attorney Malcolm Cunningham's office in West Palm Beach on the "Other" category in change orders (concocted by Lee Martin and Mike Garretson), which prevented the Architects and Engineers from being charged with Errors and Omissions that would have been paid to the District under the Professional Liability Insurance Policy the District pays for, for each of their construction projects. The total sum of these was between $4 - $5 million dollars and the District has been collecting on these over the past two years. But remember, these were only cited on maybe 10% of all of the construction projects under construction at the time. I do not have anything to apologize for. I paid for attorney fees, more than $20,000; paid for poor credit due to having to file for Bankruptcy to keep from being homeless; been ridiculed by false accusations; had to defend myself against the School Board machine. Isn't it interesting that I was the only one mentioned in the Grand Jury report for telling the truth. There was not just one Grand Jury, there were 3. So someone is telling me that all 3 of these Grand Juries came up with the same results with testimonies by altogether different individuals. I know this is a long statement but I just wanted the record straight and if you don't believe me, I have 60 boxes of copied documents to prove it plus copies of the depositions. s

• Lucky, Is this you at the school board meeting speaking out? Just wonderin. Whoever this is she did a nice job speaking her mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It5rCNsEBgI&feature=related

• Tell the lawyers to stop stealing and I'll stop also,unless you feel that stealing is ok.

• Yes, Dr. Till was fired October 2006. When you read page 12-17 into the document you will see the date of application for SAC and all the other dates and people involved on a timeline. Nutter listed on a front cover of "Quality Assurance" report for SACS Accreditation is certainly a place where one would not expect a typographical error or an incorrect name or falsified name and improper superintendent listed. All very suspicious. http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/k12programs/District_Accreditation/BCPS%202005-2006%20GSS.pdf (see page 12-17).

• They don't like "the" used. Just Ukraine now, WL.

• I was born a nitpicker, became an editor, and am too superstitious to speculate further. So I point out that the 18th century, when Dr. Johnson made that famous observation, was very much then to our now. In Johnson's lifetime, in England, regicide was an option as well remembered as declaring and fighting for independence is to Americans today. Moreover, the defense bar had yet to attain its present robustness, welcome in principle but sometimes frustrating in practice. As a result, and also because of all the interlocking factors jad outlined, the awareness that one's actionable offenses are being widely exposed to public scrutiny may not be seen as an existential threat. Which is not to say that threats of major lifestyle changes for known perps shouldn't be magnified until it becomes possible to secure them.

• copied from the new Ethics website from Browardschools.com: What are the Ethic Laws regarding Nepotism? A public official may not: * Appoint, employ, promote, or advance, or advocate for the appointment, employment, promotion, or advancement in or to a position over which he/she exercises jurisdiction or control. The anti-nepotism law in the Code of Ethics does not apply to a district school board. However, s.1012.23(2) prohibits a district school board member from employing or appointing a relative (as defined in the Code of Ethics’ prohibition) to work under the direct supervision of that board member. So apparently its perfectly fine to employ nepotism in the Broward Schools organization!!!!! There is certainly PLENTY of it in the administrative ranks.

• The bottom line is you're a broken record. Learn a new tune New Yawk douche bag!

• It's 6 am do you know where your lawyer is A cheating on his wife B stealing C broke D all of the above

• What are you a sister living in the hood,now if you want to start a little name calling I'm in what you seen before was nothing. Be nice

• You forgot about Obama I'm sure you want him blessed also so you can keep getting free money,and why did the Feds put Scott rothstiens in jail he was trying to make ends meet also.

• Christy -- that “Nutter” attribute to the “Quality Assurance Review Team Report for Broward County Public Schools” still bothers me. I went back to the site, and I looked over that document again. This is what I don’t understand. The Superintendent of the Broward County School Board was Dr. Frank Till -- from August 1, 1999 to sometime in November, 2006. What was the date in (November) 2006 that Till had to step down? That seems to be an issue, due to the fact that the “Quality Assurance Review Team Report for Broward County Public Schools,” that had been prepared for the “Initial District Accreditation Five-Year Visit Council on Accreditation and School Improvement,” had the dates of “October 29 – November 1, 2006” right on the front cover, with the name of the purported superintendent. Was Notter the interim superintendent yet? Even if he was, how is it possible that he may have been recognized as the superintendant rather than his official position of INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT? Notter did not become superintendent until August 7, 2007. Do you think that would be a good enough reason to misspell Notter’s name as “Nutter” (and misidentify the middle initial, as “L” instead of “F”)? It makes you wonder if this whole accreditation scenario was nothing more than a scheme? Did this really happen for the reasons given or was accreditation accomplished to perfect the bonding scheme or other nefarious purpose? What did Beverly Gallagher and James NUTTER believe would happen with this document, prepared at the behest of SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS JAMES L. NUTTER (not interim superintendent James F. Notter -- or Superintendent Dr. Frank Till)? Why the lie about the identity? On page 2, the statement was made that “During the on-site visit, members of the Quality Assurance Review team interviewed the Superintendent of Schools, eight members of the Board of Education, 79 principals; 125 school level administrators, 93 members of the central office staff, 424 parents and business partners, 124 students and 622 teachers; for a total of 1,476 Broward County Public Schools’ stakeholders.” Were all of these people interviewed reporting the superintendent as James L. Nutter, or James F. Notter, or Dr. Frank Till (or, was it like the downtown Scott Rothstein/Moe Sohail Bentley accident scene, where Fort Lauderdale police officers could not recognize and did not know who their Chief was)? (There is mention of only one superintendent, and no mention of an interim superintendent -- so there should be only one person with that recognition.) Did Broward County schools receive a Dr. Bill Mathis review (on page 17 of the closing summary), stating “The Quality Assurance Review Team found the Broward County Public Schools to be an outstanding school system led by a skilled and talented professional staff, dedicated and knowledgeable board of education, educated and involved parents, and a supportive community that collectively encourage and support student success at all levels of the system. It is evident throughout the system that instructional improvement that results in improving student achievement is the highest priority.” Dr. Till is identified in 3-time frames for October 30 events with all quality assurance team members (that begin at 8:00 and end at 9:45, with 9:00 – 9:45 scheduled as an interview of Dr. Till). Then, on the third to the last page, the persons identified as attending an 8:00 – 10:00 AM November 1, 2006 event, with all quality assurance team members (in room 203) for follow-up interviews to complete the accreditation standards, are identified as “Superintendent and Senior Management responsible for: Beliefs and Mission Governance and Leadership Dr. Till, James Notter, Robert Vignola and others.” On the last page, it shows a scheduled 2:15 – 2:45 final conference (in the conference room on the 10th floor of the crystal palace), that would be attended by the Superintendent (without naming the super) and senior management of the core group together with the QAR (quality assurance review) team chair and co-chair. Who do you think attended this meeting -- Dr. Frank Till (possibly, because he has been documented as the superintendent on October 30 and identified with Notter’s name for a follow-up interview on November 1), James L. Nutter (probably not, because a person by that name does not exist), or James F. Notter (who was not the superintendent, and may not have even been named yet as interim superintendent)? Oh well -- like Windsome Lad (the admitted pedant), I’m just mulling over some information, while I try to hammer out my complaint and request for an investigation. (And, like Windsome Lad, I do believe that, acting on the complaints, there will be a probation that will be offered -- but with the removal of a major amount of corrupted school board members and public employees.) Anyway, I don’t want the request to be ignored because I misidentified the superintendent that brought about that 2006 accreditation. I guess I’ll have to figure out another way to phrase the statement. BTW -- that is another little piece of the puzzle too. Besides that little musical chairs number, I have noticed another type of scheme, wherein there will be very misleading information (in researched documents, used as back-up materials) that can damage a person’s request for an investigation, because the information does not jibe with the evidence. In those instances, your request will be the one that will get trashed, because a cursory review and phone-call to the person-accused will be taken at face-value as being the truth of the matter (kind of like taking the word of a Police Officer on the witness stand, because there is no reason for him or her to lie). That is why I always (AND I MEAN ALWAYS) go over every piece of information (and check and double check) before sending the material to where it needs to go. I’m sure others probably already have their requests ready for mailing, and I’ll be last one out. However, every request for an investigation has meaning, and the more requests there are, the more chance that an investigation will be done (even if it just brings about a short period of probation). So, even though there will be others beating me to the punch, my request is going in, unless (within the next couple of days) the State actually determines to go through with an investigation, on its own. ALSO OF PERSONAL IMPORT: Christy -- I have always wanted to thank you for all the work you do in finding & putting up pertinent addresses you have found and researched. I look for those addresses, and try to examine the information to see how it can fit with what needs to be done, to make this county a better place. And, I try to use posted information, as that provided by Flori-DUH, that really spark my curiosity. This blog is enlightening and a real learning experience. I was able to understand more about my friend from an address left by skydove, and have enjoyed visiting sites mentioned by Virgil & Model Citizen. So, thanks to you and others (and especially the Pulp, himself,) for keeping this site so vital -- and interesting.

• Not that is disagree with the thrust on your analysis, but you are typing from The Ukraine?

• I wrote "AMA" for "MLA," having skipped "PSA.." Mia culpa, mia culpa.

• So Ben Williams gets his two sons ,numerous black friends and other relatives a principal job,Kraft gets her husband some money for a contract, Jen Jen gets a school built for her kids, and a boyfriend in the process. Notter, gets his daughter a principal job, plus so many other atrocities, B Gallagher gets her daughter a cushy high paying job, and money in her pocket. Bob Parks, omg where shall we begin?Dinnen is a lying wind bag. WHo is to blame for Miriam Oliphant?

• OK, I was born a pedant and I'll die one. Here is Boswell quoting Johnson, "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." I need money. I am now charging for the AMA citation.

• Thanks, Jad. You've said almost everything that could be said.

• In my opinion, based upon what they usually do, the Southern Association would put the district on probation as a first step to any action. This is the route they took with Clayton County, the route they are taking with Cobb County and what's happening with the Atlanta Public Schools. As Christy, I think, quoted Samuel Johnson, "nothing focuses attention like a hanging," probation would be a near-hanging. I've drafted a first paragraph of the "Complaint Information" stealing heavily from the grand jury's report. It is limited to five sentances and, thanks to the jury's language, it is reasonably comprehensive. The next element is a "brief description" that should describe how the action of the board/district is inconsistant with the "Principles of Accreditation." One is expectected to cite the principle from which the board or district deviated. Perhaps we could devide the work? Somebody handles 'bought swamp land upon which to build a school." somebody gets, "new Montesori school in my district for my kids," somebody takes on "board build to over-capacity without regard to state law." The Association has 30 business days to "review the complaint, its documentation and to determine if it is within the scope of its policies and jurisdiction." The grand jury report makes a reasonable argument that the complaint is valid.

• Thanks for the comprehensive rundown, jad. I hadn't read the Findings & Recommendations, and you confirmed my assumption that it would be obfuscatory and and self-serving, having been put together by someone with deep knowledge of what to omit, what to emphasize, and how much distracting, misleading or potentially misleading garbage to include. On the Georgia link Christy posted, you can read Mrs. Amason's letter to SACS: it's under a page and a half, efficiently exposes a pattern of nepotism and cronyism, and requests prompt attention. Doesn't it seem that the situation in Broward is so much more more complex that the commissioners in Decatur would throw up their hands and boot it back to us on a technicality? Although the grand jury's report and the school board's "findings" are canned and accessible, these materials raise questions that may be beyond the capacity of SACS to investigate properly. Plus there are the criminal issues that we know they can't address. It may seem to be more effective to protest the school board's abuses through a regional organization like SACS than by relying on the SAO or yet another grand jury report. But I wonder how finely tuned a response can be expected from Decatur. Windsome Lad suggested giving them enough evidence of gross impropriety to "get their attention." But wouldn't SACS be likely to avoid disaccreditation as imposing hardships on thousands of students way out of proportion to the benefits of getting rid of a handful of all-too-replaceable bad guys? I don't like to be negative or defeatist in the face of your well-reasoned exhortations, but my thought now is that efforts would be better spent on making sure that to the charges against the county commissioners is added that of paying themselves way more than the state constitution allows. Your post in the "Working Girls" blog, in which you explored FloriDUH's find in detail, appeared after this blog had been up for a while. Maybe you'll repost it during the week, so that more people can see it conveniently.

• Skydove & others -- I believe that the only way to get anything resolved is to take the bull by the horns. We, the taxpaying citizenry, have been forced into this position by our do-nothing, complacent (and possibly criminal or associates to criminals) leaders. So, to show our muscle, we should ask the accreditation panel members to become involved. If we don’t, we will continue under the same corruption, nepotism, cronyism & wasteful spending that has been ongoing for at least 30-years (and probably more). (Additionally, remember that the school board is not the only corrupt entity -- what about the county commission, the courts, Tamarac commission, city of Sunshine Ranches officials, BSO, Rothstein’s bought-and-paid-for law enforcement in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida Water Management District, and on-and-on?) The corruption has to stop (-- it is not just about the theft of our money, but how our money is being used in a criminal enterprise that has threatened the health & well-being of OUR CHILDREN and of OURSELVES.) There have been too many Grand Jury reports that have been swept under the rug. We need to take action. We can no longer idly sit by, and hope that the corrupted government (officials & public employees) repairs itself on its own. If you read the official report that is in response to the Grand Jury report (& demanded by the State Department of Education), you would NOT know that the Grand Jury report is being addressed. There are sidesteps to issues and a song and dance on any matter that should be discussed -- it’s a total white-wash! You should at least review this report to understand what dupes these elitist government officials have taken US to be. Does page 10 of this report, decribed as Findings & Recommendation (from a school board web site, posted by Christy), contain official information (accepted as correct), under material titled “Infighting” at sec. A.2.c. Only the person who is being partially identified can say whether there is any truth in what is being alleged. If there is duplicity in the identification, that will give us more to use when calling for an investigation. If we can prove that the Grand Jury report is being used erroneously, and matters are being deliberately misidentified (in contravention of the need for an investigation), those who will be filing reports for the accreditation panel to investigate the school board will have that much more. This official school board report speaks derogatorily of a senior supervisor of inspectors who had been terminated in 2005. This former employee is the only person focused on in any manner, in this report (as though there were no allegations of corruption against any other person). The response contained an aspersion (or multiple aspersions) against the character & reputation of this senior supervisor. I was wondering if this was the truth of the matter, since this is contained in the presentation of the official report (and you would think that the laws in regards to slander & libel would have prevented this information from being contained in a report easily available to all members of the public, if the report were to be a distortion of the truth). These are the two paragraphs in question: ____________________ The Grand Jury Report outlines the reassignment and subsequent termination of a Senior Supervisor of Inspectors in 2005 as a significant component to this finding. The information pertaining to this matter is not accurately reported in the GJ Report and leads to inappropriate conclusions. The GJ Report suggests this Senior Supervisor filed a suit following her termination for “blowing the whistle on numerous suspect practices at the Facilities Division”, and “after years of litigation she received a settlement from the District which was widely publicized.” In actuality, this inspector filed a lawsuit against the District in 2001, alleging violations of the Whistleblower Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act. In 2004, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the School Board, and a judgment was entered against the plaintiff for the District’s attorney fees and costs. Following the termination of this individual in 2005, she challenged her termination through the administrative appeal process outlined within the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The recommended order (Exhibit F) entered by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) documents there was sufficient evidence “to establish that she engaged in numerous acts of insubordination that, taken in the aggregate, rose to the level of gross insubordination.” The recommended order further stated this individual’s “conduct in the workplace and as a Senior Supervisor of Building Inspectors was totally unacceptable for an extended period of time.” Ultimately, the ALJ recommended reinstatement of the employee solely based on the fact the acts of misconduct and insubordination occurred outside the 20-day window for disciplinary action prescribed by School Board policy. The ALJ stated …but for this conclusion, [Senior Supervisor of Building Inspectors] ongoing misconduct and insubordination would more than justify termination of her employment with the School Board.” The “settlement” was a necessity only because this individual was a participant in Florida’s Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) and was therefore ineligible for reinstatement. ____________________ BTW -- Beachside Montessori was addressed on page 17 of the Findings & Recommendations report (@ sec. B.1.b.), if you want to call it that. There was nothing of substance. None of the activity leading to the placement of the school, the destruction of a community’s open space, the favoritism shown certain families of pre-K enrollees, the unconstitutional & illegal payment of moneys to subsidize programs at a free, public school, etc. were mentioned. In other words, the whole report, concerning the public corruption involved in the construction of Beachside Montessori, was avoided with mere references to members becoming aware of a need for an ethic’s code. WTF??? So, this section (like the others) was a total wash!!! And -- I very much enjoyed the comment by anonymous (in reply to Score Keeper’s comment of “Sun Sentinel is reporting that there is going to be discussion at the county commission meeting on Tuesday on a joint county/federal courthouse”) that “Ritter and Lieberman want to make sure the courthouse they will be spending much time in will meet their standards. Look for a new beachside jail with full resort amenities to pop up so they can serve their time in five star quality.” That fit in so perfectly with what is wrong with the building of the Beachside Montessori school and of broward-town (and, along with the corruption of the courts, should be next in line for a thorough investigation & eventual cleansing). Those posted comments took a poke at the powers-that-be. The sarcasm translated to a picture that contained the way that so many of these oligarchs would demand to be punished, which is that they would try to find a way to glorify their incarceration (THAT IS -- IF WE ALLOW THE STATUS QUO TO CONTINUE -- it’s on us, as to whether we will be complacent, and permit the continuation of this ongoing criminal enterprise). Just examine how Jen-Jen got away with that Beachside Montessori, and how Michael is always a Satz-on-his-hands State Attorney did ABSOLUELY NOTHING about that in-your-face public corruption. And, look at how a reward was later given to make a judge out of the husband of her magnificence. Hey -- maybe crime does pay in broward-town. At least, it has until RIGHT NOW -- when we have an opportunity to ask for a complete & thorough, independent investigation by people from outside this community, whose job is to investigate such corruption -- as already focused on & documented (not just by the people, but) by a Statewide Grand Jury that had been impaneled to root out areas of PUBLIC CORRUPTION. What the State has offered is a pyrrhic victory. Read the Grand Jury report and the report on the Findings and Recommendations, and correlate your knowledge of these reports to that compromise (of no investigation until the school board has months to repair the damage done) that has been offered by the State (Senator, who as BrowardCleansweep infers, has family members that may not want to be investigated for their roles at the school board). If we accept this double-crossed swindle, we will lose the momentum that Grand Jury report has made available, and within the time frame given by Senator Rich, we will be defeated. In other words, NOTHING WILL CHANGE -- AGAIN. The opportunity to remove public corruption from the school board is there for the taking -- right now. We do not have to kowtow to the State’s make-friendly team. If members of the taxpaying public are willing, a battle to rid public corruption from the school board (and eventually the entire county) can ensue. All of the evidence of the corruption is there for us to use. Don’t be fooled -- do not accept anything less than a real victory. After all, isn’t that what we need and have been guaranteed under the law? For anyone that is going to ask the accreditation panel to investigate the Broward County School Board, any information can be used. If you want to send in the 51-page Grand Jury report, easily printed from an Internet site, that in itself is enough. If you want to include this 34-page Findings & Recommendation, this can be easily printed, also. You don’t need to get fancy, and I know that with these matters less is better. A brief description of what you consider should be investigated, in a cover letter, with references made to the official document you have chosen to use, will be enough for these panel members to make a decision. This is not a feat that can be won by one person, but by the combined forces of ALL who want to act to remove the blight of public corruption and wasteful spending of our expropriated tax dollars. If enough of us send in documented statements to this accreditation panel (to the addresses linked into Christy’s postings), we will be successful in at least starting a process that hopefully will culminate with the punishment of (& loss of the taxpayer supported pensions & retirement benefits being paid-out to) corrupt public officials & employees. This elitist bunch has to stop its rule, and the taxpayers have to realize that they can eventually put a halt to these aristocratic maneuvers of ALL county officials (one step at a time). ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

• 60 minutes Unfuckingbelievable!!!

• Did you get kicked off CL's Rants & Raves?

• Sure as soon as your mother leaves

• No I'm a nice person I just don't like people that steal

• I would not go so far as to say it is not worth filing the complaint. The district will be up for reaccreditation in 2012 and a complaint might make the reaccreditation more rigorous.

• Not as easy as you think... For instance what would be the boundaries for these new districts? You would have defacto segragation again. You see the gerrymandering of congressional districting... What would you do with school districts? I look at areas like Pompano and Deerfield which would have almost all black high schools if it weren't for the magnet programs. Then there is the economics of it. In areas like Weston where property values are high, the millage rate would be lower for those schools... Areas like central Broward Oakland Park Blvd to Davie Road, 441 to Federal Hwy is predominately lower middle class... How do you fund that? Each city can create a "Charter" School if they'd like. Weston actually floated the idea of taking over the schools in Weston and creating their own school board but it just can't work. Cut 4 SB members Re-district to NE/NW/SE/SW and one at-large... Re-district the schools and hold area supers, department heads(all department heads) and school principals responsible... make their pay contigent upon school maintaining A-B status... Leave the teachers alone to teach. What this does is cut the fat for stupid ideas from 4 SB members doing the lobbyists bidding and their related staff positions (replace those staff members with teachers in the class room) Buy making Administrators and Principals financially at stake for student achievement... The administrators and department heads have "skin in the game" When spending money on a school that is not needed or equipment that is not needed when they know the cash is needed in the classroom they can make a good decision that benefits them. One more thing get rid of the "use it or lose it" budget mentality. We all know that bureaucrats use all of their budget so they can get the same money next year. I say reward the Area Supers/Principals who return money after the budget. Just my .02

• I'm rethinking it all, too. As you and others have pointed out, there'd be much collateral damage as a result of loss of accreditation. Also, when you read the first couple of pages of the SAC doc, it doesn't look like they're set up for our kind of grievance. They don't want to hear about "financial matters." Also, the part that says also won't consider a complaint if it's "currently in administrative proceedings, including institutional proceedings, or in litigation" might mean that they'd chuck the whole thing because of the Kraft is unresolved. SAC seems to hold out hope to complainants who present "substantial, credible evidence that indicates systemic problems," but again, do we want the "remedy" of disaccreditation? An earlier idea (from jad? fly on the wall?) about calling in the inspector general from the state education department is likely to be a better way to go. I don't know who has standing to make the call, however.

• Sure sure. Can you ask your sister to move over?

• I wrote, "The form at the end of the SACS complaint policy is, indeed, for colleges and universities." On second reading, I am not sure I had the correct interpretation. On third reading, I am becoming convinced the policy is ambiguous. I'll call them tomorrow afternoon.

• This is one of the most disgusting comments I've ever read on the Pulp. You are a complete low life evil hateful idiot. Do us all a favor and go back under your slimey rock.

• Hey jerkoff go make ends meet by doing something where you don't go to jail and rob from people, make or do something where you can help people or provide a service no steal,your a fn dirtbag are you a lawyer,broke dick mf.

• And may God Bless the GOP!

• Hey jerk of make ends meet why don't u make the end of a lawyers cock meet your lips mabey it wasn't 1200 lawyers but if was 1201 shitbirds fuck you and them sb

• You are a fucking moron. Stern did not employ 1,200 lawyers. Most were common everyday folks trying to make ends meet. I look forward to the day Walmart repo's your PC.

• Both Atlanta Public Schools and Cobb County Schools are under the gun. Clayton was in trouble back in 2008, but maintained accreditation. Cobb gets 30 days to respond to accreditation claims ajc.com April 1. 2011 http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/cobb-gets-30-days-894972.html The form at the end of the SACS complaint policy is, indeed, for colleges and universities. For school and school district, the procedures are listed on page 2 of the policy. Christy’s got two useful links in a previous post. The one to the Broward County Schools is, in fact, a link to the principles of accredition used by AdvancEd, SACS accreditation arm. Personally, I'd hate to see the district lose accreditation. It would be like throwing out babies with very dirty bathwater. SACS Probation, with strict State oversight with the authority and gumption to recommend breaking the system up into managable components, might get their attention. There is a huge facilities problem that we'll be dealing with for years to come. In my opinion, the schools, especially the middle and high schools, are too large to be managable in and real sense of the word.

• Disband the school board. Having nothing is better than having those criminals in office. Make them pay back the money they corruptly misused and pocketed. Take a stand, Broward County. Throw the bums out. Publicly and embarrassingly. It will be a national story and we can do it. They won't go by themselves, they need to be forced out of office.

• Do you think there's enough outrage to have a recall on the sitting board members like that awful Gottlieb tart, Murray, etc. And do you think we taxpayers can demand that Notter and these clowns be criminally investigated?

• The complaint procedure outlined by SACS is formidably complicated. Yet despite pages of requirements, starting with the need to first try to "resolve the issue through all means available to the complainant, including following the institution's own published grievance procedures," one person in Georgia persevered and got spectacular results. Before people here begin working their way through the hoops of drafting a complaint and acquiring supporting documentation, maybe the successful parent in Georgia could be asked to provide a tutorial, say in the form of an interview with Pulp. The complaint form at the end of the SACS doc is very simple, but it's set up for colleges and universities. It would be useful to know how Mr. (Ms.?) Amason got past that one, as well as whether any lessons learned the hard way could be imparted in advance.

• I agree with you Christy. I have said for many years that the economies of scale do not in the public schools. The reason is vibrantly clear: political corruption, nepotism and cronyism. In smaller disctricts these causes-of-failure are simply easier to spot and, therefore, not as rampant.

• Kudos to Christy, our resident R.A. :)

• You have a good point, Christy. If I were in the Don’s shoes, I might be spending my Sunday belatedly sweating over Florida statutes 112.3173 (forfeiture of retirement benefits) and the entirety of chapter 838 (misuse of public office) rather than poring over travel magazines. It’s surprising that 112.3171 treats "aiding" and “abetting” as the equivalent of “committing” theft or embezzlement. I find 838.22 (bid tampering) particularly entertaining and enlightening. Not as entertaining as the instructional video on how to maintain an intact conga line on a Vaselined dance floor on a cruise ship in choppy seas, but worthwhile nonetheless.

• let's show up with money bag filled with 100,000 BIG ONES

• Motivation: last year I wrote about Georgia Slack giving campaign contributions to Ann Murray and other school board members. last year I wrote about Laurie "Rich" Levinson's ties to Kraft and the "fresh air" machine. last year i wrote about Laurie "Rich" Levinson's hubby and his firm working for Marko/School Board. doubt an oversight committee would overlook those tidbits. This supposedly reform-minded board picks three counsel finalists that couldnt get hired in 1980s Miami. McNamara is Marko. Pitts is ground zero in the Atlanta cheating scandal. Carland was booted from guardian ad litem in 1996 thanks to a scandal. Someone should talk to Judge Dale Ross. so much can happen in a year.

• This week The Pulp dealt with Corrpution Board and Trash...the school board fits into both catetgories. disband the school board, that's what the grand jury told us to do. Let's follow their recommendations.

• I reread my comment. I think you all get my point. Be prepared for many positive things being taken away from Floridians(or not done) because the Repulicans and Crook Scott are in Tallahassee.

• Hey really lawfirms are going down like hot cakes these days,they dont have a chance to steal as much money these days like they use to, im thinking about shorting law firms kinda like you short the market when things are going bad with stocks,I wonder how many will close next week i think the under over is somewhere around 5 just like sports betting,im taken the over.keep up the bad work lawyers were rolling now.

• Well, maybe it's like Gottlieb building a private school quality facility for her kids so she doesn't have to pay tuition (screw the taxpayers, who are they?!) Ritter and Lieberman want to make sure the courthouse they will be spending much time in will meet their standards. Look for a new beachside jail with full resort amentities to pop up so they can serve their time in five star quality. Why don't we write them a nice little letter asking them to leave office, and town.

• @Pulp - FYI: As best I can tell, Senate Bill 1466 would eliminate class size quotas for 6th and 8th grade Social Studies since there are no state tests scheduled for the courses in those grades. The only Social Studies classes that would fall under the heading of core for class size are 7th (Civics), and the high school graduation requirements (U.S & World History, Government, and Economics). 6th-8th grade Reading/Language Arts, Math, and Science would be considered core since there are assessments for those areas. ESE and ESL classes would also fall under the class size quotas. Here is a link to the bill, follow the underlined text: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/1466/BillText/Filed/PDF The bill has already passed the Education Pre-K – 12 Committee and Education Pre-K – 12 Appropriations Committee and is in another budget committee. A similar bill is in the Appropriations committee in the House (House Bill 5101). please check into this if possible.....

• Usually they already have whom they want to place in that job being it a teacher, counselor, AP, etc. After they decide to whom the job goes to, then it is advertised

• Eric Smith stepped down.... I hate to see who Max Headroom may put in his place

• That will be probably be cut too by the this Republican run state. Shame on them. There'll be some Moron up there who'll say why can't they just eat at home!

• Hey David Steans law firm closed friday and 1201 shitbird lawyers are looking for work mabey some of you people have odd jobs for them like walking your dog and wiping there ass or cleaning your toilets he aso has everything for sale even his wife,so help your local lawyer and give them a hand i did im clapping.

• fun fact: During the 2009/10 school year the Broward District’s Food and Nutrition Services Department served more than 33 million meals -- 8.5 million breakfasts, 24.5 million lunches and 1.3 million snacks.

• Hey did any lawyers get arrested or pass away today I haven't see the paper yet.

• Welcome to Broward Schools SACS CASI Information System. This web page was designed so that district staff and the Broward County community can stay up to date with information and standards provided by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), District Accreditation as a Quality System. Broward County Public Schools was awarded their District Accreditation in November of 2006. This distinction is the highest level of accreditation that a school system can receive from the SACS CASI organization. Currently, Broward County Public Schools is finalizing their two year progress report that is a required by the SACS CASI organization. This essential step is an internal review in which we make sure that we are following the recommendations given by SACS CASI during their 2006 visit. The matrix submitted to SACS CASI for the two year review is available as a link on the home page of this Web site. Broward County will continue to strive for excellence in education. District Accreditation as a Quality System has validated Broward County's outstanding accomplishments as well as recognize the efforts of every Broward County School District employee. http://www.browardschools.com/sacs_casi/

• @Christy - Your idea to divide Broward into several districts is great except it is not in SBBC's power to do it. Maybe the County Commission could. The SBBC is already divided into 3 areas but mismanagement continues. I'd like to find out if we could actually divide Broward into separate, autonomous districts (instead of just 1 Broward School Board district - each with their own leadership, taxing powers, transportation and building authority. I lived in another state where each town operated their own school system. It seems like being the "6th largest school district" is just too big to manage.

• Jad, One parent/individual alone can fill out complaint form and initiate investgation by SACS: Example: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/013108/news_20080131041.shtml Procedure: http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/081705/complaintpolicy.pdf

• ATG Good morning back to you. 'We put those fools on he Board..." Emphsis on WE. Now WE have to do something about it and keep doing something about it.

• Very good points jad. But again, it comes down to us, the people who must always be vigilant. That takes grea and continuous effort.

• Christy, Not a bad idea and I wouldn't mind trying it if the right controls are in place and the right PEOPLE run the show. It always comes down to who's running the show and how carefully we watch them. One of the first and many challanges would be to be insure an equitable division of resources so everyone has the same opportunity. You'd still have to maintain the schools and more often than not there is an economy of scale if the Maintenance is a larger operation. As knowledge & technology advance, the schools have to be updated periodically so little Johnny is getting the latest information so he/we can compete with the emerging economies. The teachers' pay scale, as well as others, would have to be roughly comparable so there is some stability. Despite the current perception, there is value in having people stay in the same position for long periods of time because it helps continuity. Yes that's been abused too, but there is inherent value. You are comparing Broward with a district of 3,000, (I assume relatively homogeneous), students. While the overall goal is the same, there are many, many more challanges facing Broward. Still, an idea worth exploring. Fellow bloggers- any more comments?

• Nan Rich has traditionally been a champion for those without a voice: children, the elderly, the disabled. I am disappointed that she opted to interfere in this instance, and in this way.

• Sometimes I see him in Publix.

• People, do yourself a favor and take the time to read jad's post above. Jad had a very clear picture of the "real" behind the scenes activities and some very astute recommendations. I understand, like jad, that some information cannot be simply wrapped up in a couple of sound bytes. So really, do yourself a favor, take time to read the post. Think about what Karnack, Fly on the Wall, Hammerhead, Simple Man and many others (Billy DeLions --- sorry I almost forgot you). Nobody wants to initiate the loss of accreditation, but it may be the only way to curtail the activities of the higher up politicians (think Nan Rich) from doing the magic re-focusing on spin that explains away the exposure as a simple misunderstanding. Bull@!$t!! These people need to be held accountable. I agree that Notter should not be able to receive a pension without first undergoing a full investigation into his actions or inactions which facilitiated the biggest (known) government fraud and waste in Broward history.

• Sun Sentinel is reporting that there is going to be discussion at the county commission meeting on Tuesday on a joint county/federal courthouse. That means that there is potential for the currently investigated commissioners (Ritter - Lieberman) to vote on the issue while they are arguably in the plea bargaining phase of their imminent arrests. Does anybody else see this as a disturbing set of circumstances? They may just be making joint use of a legal complex, but it certainly brings a lot of political issues into the dynamic of what should be ONLY legal issues. JenJen's husband is a judge isn't he? There are so many possibilities that point to deals being cut in return for getting this new complex that I smell a rat. If it is a good idea to combine resources, why do it during the biggest collective corruption scandal in Broward or the US for that matter? Any thoughts?

• Good Morning All! Happy Sunday We put those fools on the Board. Murray, Williams, Gottlieb ..... Send a fool to close the shutters and he'll close them all over town. Yiddish Proverb

• Jad, Knew you'd be on this! " Notter must not only be forced out of office, but Notter must face the music, with a loss of his pension (that had been supported by the trusting taxpayers), for using his position of power at the top to assist an enterprise in bilking the taxpayers of this State." I couldn't agree more! Notter thinks he can retire and enjoy his family and friends, sit back and now collect a pension? No way! We the people hold Notter accountable!

• Christy -- I read that USA Today article, and the other information on the other sites. Then, after you left another site, I clicked over to see who this Sharron Pitts is (not knowing that she would be a part of another ongoing story). WOW!!! She is involved with this dysfunctional school board in Georgia, and Broward County is thinking of bringing her aboard here (as a Marko replacement). You can’t make this sh*t up!!!!!! We are more dysfunctional than I thought!! This move (from one dysfunctional position where you might shoulder some blame to another dysfunctional position where no one knows your capabilities) kind of helps me understand something that I noticed many years ago. I could see that government agencies played a game of musical chairs, by moving corrupt officials around to mismanage other areas (rather than let them stay where corruption was being alleged & be punished, if found guilty for their misdeeds). Floyd Johnson comes to mind (who mis-managed the school board, then the county, then the City of Fort Lauderdale, and on-and-on). The way that the game was played was that good people would be let go over some insignificant measure, while the corrupted were always helped out of the mess (not to change their ways, but to continue somewhere else, with other avenues of the racketeering enterprise that had not been exposed). There would be some type of interference by a higher-up into an investigation, which would result in the heat being removed from the corrupted official & from the mismanagement of the board or agency or political subdivision (by employing this little tricky maneuver). It was such a neat little ploy, and one that I learned could be expected. Once exposed, the corrupted government official’s strategy to downplay would be engaged, by using whatever asset was available -- like the influence peddled by nameless senators, representatives, or others from the same workplace (touting a new reality). And -- NO -- I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT A THIRD WORLD NATION WHEN EXPLAINING THE MANEUVERS MADE TO KEEP A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT IN POWER. Well, maybe not -- time will tell. If this is allowed to continue here, a second-rate or third place status could be in the works. This is mindboggling & such a terribly depressing thought %~( Just look at some of the PERMITTED ACTIVITY that went unpunished (or had to resort to a showing of concern with a slap on the wrist reaction -- to quell the public’s ire). This is what an article revealed about the misbehavior of the lawless, aged juvenile delinquents on the Georgia school board: “The acrimony on the board began when five members on the board decided to change board policy for the purpose of changing the sitting board chair and vice chair. The original policy stated that in order to remove a board chair or vice chair, a two-thirds majority was required. On a 5-4 vote, the board ignored legal advice that the policy change was illegal, and replaced the chair and vice chair with a simple majority vote . . . The board also skirted around their own policies and procedures to work with unauthorized vendors, with the Chair authorizing work without the Board’s knowledge . . . As for the personal conduct of board members, that’s also proven to be problematic. After having been warned once about using the school district credit card for personal purchases, a board member continued to rack up over $800 dollars worth of charges.” This is already sounding like Broward County. You know -- ignoring the law so that county commissioners could rake in almost a hundred grand, rather than the $22,500 the law dictated as the maximum that could be compensated, the misuse of credit cards that commissioner Eggelletion (among others) was so famous for, school board member Stephanie Kraft (at the instigation of school board member doggie-bag Gallagher) hand-picking Dr. Bill Mathis as the board’s psychologist/consultant, and playing footsies with an endless number of vendors (with which the school board member with the judge husband, JEN-JEN, had an expertise, especially with her Citibank paramour -- OH, shame! NOT with these foul creatures.) So, I guess that Sharron Pitts would fit in rather nicely. This was published in the last paragraph “The Atlanta Public School System’s Board of Education was recognized as one of the best school boards in the nation just over a year ago.” WOW!!! Who did they pay-off in the news industry to write that incredible lie? You know the white-washed stories of the magnificence and integrity & honor of the Georgia school board & its members, that had been written (by these journalists and reporters), could not have been the truth. And, this had to have been known -- A school board does not become that corrupt overnight. This school board, like the Broward County School Board, had to have corrupted itself over decades. Yet, like Georgia, Florida could mis-spend its money touting itself in a good light, such as with the evaluation by Dr. Bill Mathis, which reported “I acknowledge and salute the current and past Board Chairs who played phenomenal leadership roles in a highly functioning and effective School Board.” Georgia is not alone in its portrayal -- as corrupt as Broward County had become, the school board managed to find hundreds of thousands of dollars for an outside consultant to fly in from California to white-wash the filth. And, as in Georgia, there were reporters willing to report on the glory of the school board and honor & integrity of the super. (This was expertly reported by what a reporter is really supposed to be, Bob Norman, in the February 24, 2011 article titled “Updated: Stephanie Kraft was behind the Dr. Bill Boondoggle,” when he wrapped up the needs & desires of a high-priced hook-up as “It’s the oldest story in the book: Government hires “consultant” with big dollars and consultant says exactly what government wants him to say.”) In conclusion to this story of ongoing public corruption, it must be found that burying the truth for so long has jeopardized both the State of Georgia and the State of Florida -- even though, at various times, there have been many who have tried to reveal the truth of the matter. I was a PTA president over twenty five years ago, who had to deal with the despicable characters of William Dandy and the members of the county school board, involving (what I thought at the time as) the scandalous misappropriation of moneys that had been sent to be used by my school, but (even though the money had been spent) had never been used in any manner by anyone at the school. I went everywhere trying to expose the misappropriation of funds and scandalous activity of a corrupt school board. At that time, I didn’t know that what I believed to be scandalous was an accepted practice in Broward County. About 15-years ago, volunteering for another civic group, we realized that the school board deliberately maintained records in a manner to circumvent the public records law & government in the sunshine (that everybody thought was so well-protected, because it was a constitutional right). At meetings with Ray de la Feuilliez and Don Frederick, about shoddy school construction, misuse of bond moneys, and corruption within the area that had oversight of building the schools, we were lied to (in our face). Eventually, we saw the school board undergo an internal investigation and a subsequent federal investigation. But, as with the cozy relationship with contractors (like that of S. T. Wicole Construction Corp. & Beatty-Balfour), the 1990’s investigation lead practically NOWHERE (because there always seemed to be outside interference, by politically connected persons, to quash all investigations). Additionally (on a smaller scale, but much more harmful), it was evident that there was mistreatment of those members of the general public wanting to be heard (like Barney Schlesinger), who had been threatened & intimidated by board members and ordered to be bodily removed by the gendarmes (rather than give this elderly gentleman his right to speak at the microphone, to openly voice his opinion about the corruption, on issues he had studied & could prove). I personally know of or have witnessed so many people being mistreated by the school board, yet this was never reported in either the Fort Lauderdale News or Miami Herald (although these papers would report of the same or similar atrocities if they occurred in Haiti, China, or any other unfriendly nation). Finally, there is a Grand Jury report that might put a spotlight on that which has been ongoing for decades. But, professional politicians in the Florida Legislature want this issue buried, rather than appropriately addressed. WHY??? Because they know that the gravy train will be over if the press gets all of the facts to print, and the exposé is read in the full light of day!!! That is the only reason that I can think of that would make these sold-to-the-highest-bidder politicians risk their careers to prevent a thorough investigation into the matter of public corruption (that also includes the waste & misspending of hundreds of millions of dollars and the illegitimate use of the State’s credit to back 2-billion dollars of bonds). This is the closest that the people have ventured to arriving at the time to dispose of the corrupt entities that shamelessly walk our governmental centers. There have been so many missteps by so many incompetent, and downright stupid school board members that an investigation will reveal how the scam has been done. If you know how these games are played, you can put an end to them. So, if our representatives do not want to assist us, and government officials have put us on ignore, it is left to the people to find an alternative means to address the public corruption of the Broward County School Board. I believe that Christy has found that alternative. Christy has given us enough information that it should be easy to gather up materials and send them, with a cover letter to the entity responsible for the accreditation of the schools in this school district. If enough of us send these bundles, I believe that there will be an investigation -- which will expose the corruption and may assist in getting back some of our wasted tax dollars and/or reducing our taxes from an over bloated budget, that may have paid ghost employees, paid for nonexistent programs, overpaid into pension programs, overpaid personnel, overpaid the superintendent (in the same way that the county commissioners have been overpaid), etc. You get the picture. Maybe reporting the misdeeds & exposing the corruption by sending the Grand Jury report to an accreditation panel will open up an investigation that will finally cleanse this area of all the vermin that have infested almost every level of government. What needs to be done is to remove all of those who are corrupt. But, we especially need to remove FOREVER any person at the top of this food chain -- so that the contamination does not spread anyplace else in the world. We can’t let Notter leave Broward as though he did nothing to harm the district (where Notter could possibly seat himself into another position in the magical game of musical chairs). If we wait & let time go by another 8-months, he, as well as others at the top that will try to make an escape from comeuppance, will never be punished. (Notter would have avoided punishment, that could include the loss of any pension and retirement benefits, for aiding & abetting a scheme that put the State in 2-billion dollars worth of bonded debt). While I believe that the bonds had been issued fraudulently, and should not be included as a debt to the people of Florida, it is going to take a concerted effort to get out from under those fraudulently backed notes (and may not be attempted because of the disastrous results that could occur to the bond market and to people’s investments & retirement funds). Notter must not only be forced out of office, but Notter must face the music, with a loss of his pension (that had been supported by the trusting taxpayers), for using his position of power at the top to assist an enterprise in bilking the taxpayers of this State. Those at the top, with the most control over the people must be removed, if we ever expect a change for the better. Remember when Scott Rothstein was the head of the grievance committee for the Florida bar (subsidized by the trusting membership). He had the power and was given the opportunity to punish any good lawyer and ignore the complaints made against the evil dastardly deeds of corrupted beings calling themselves attorneys-at-law. Mitch Caesar is in a similar position -- where he can punish any decent, honorable, hard-working democrat and continue to support those bought-and-paid-for professional politicians seeking office or running their own game of control at local platforms (subsidized by the trusting membership). These corrupted beasts make it possible for a person like a Stacy Ritter, a Diana Wasserman-Rubin, or an Ilene Lieberman-Michelson to be elevated, where they can join others in the county to play the game of musical chairs. Once they become players, these evil entities can be switched in-and-out of any office that the powers-that-be and their minions believe best serve them. Notter has done so, but he has been exposed. Like Rothstein, Notter (and others involved) should have to answer for his sins. The money-laundering scheme practiced at the local school board beat out Rothstein’s take. For once, let the investigation come to its natural end -- not by some slimy politician’s conniving power to control the time. Let the investigation reveal what has occurred so that we know how NOT to repeat this horrendous, duplicitous event ever again. Remember that he who does not know the past is bound to repeat it in the future. Let us remove that fate from ourselves NOW.

• Another Voice, I can only go by my past experience and what has worked in the past and present. I come from a school board which the district consists of 3,000 students. The school is in the top performing 100 high schools in the nation! If it were up to me to come up with the answers, I would divide the 250,000 students into smaller districts. Allowing for Management, easy disclosure, eye on integrity, leadership and what is best for students. Easy fix.

• Disband the entire school board! Let the schools manage themselves so our kids can get an education, please.

• Let us not forget that a current board member's mom (senator) used her influence to stop the senate from voting on an oversight committee. That means that her mom put an almost unfair amount of pressure on her. If Rich-Levinson doesn't do all the right things from here out, it will only appear that her mother prolonged the inevitable activities of a much maligned and corrupt school board. Either Nan Rich knows her daughter is going to do the right thing or Rich-Levinson is under the microscope like no other before her. Thanks mom! Now let us move forward and see. If she plans to restore the public trust then she should be very busy directing Notter to clean house in the HR department while supporting the ouster of the old board members who are still working the tired old plan that got them in this situation.

• Anon, I agree with a lot of what you say, uprising, protests, recall, etc. Also correct on the forgetting part. But I don't agee a board is unnecessary. This board is unnecessary. But the kids have to have an education and when a vacumn is created, something will fill it. We have to be very careful what we wish for.

• JenJen could be replaced by a wet-vac set on "maximum suction".

• Exactly DF. But who hired the board? The people did.Who would evaluate the next super? The Board. The superintendent is basically a manager of billions of dollars and an endeavor with 30,000+ employees. Does anyone on the board, singly or collectively strike you as being competent to evaluate such a manager? They'd have no idea of what to even look for. The answer starts with us DF. We are the true source of power and sometime we have to bear the inconvenience of being well informed. It takes effort. Freedom isn't free.

• How many school district employees owe Miriam Oliphant their paychecks, dating back to Oliphant's gig on the school board ? Judging from her well-publicized hiring practices during her subsequent reign of destruction as Elections Supervisor---she must have ruthlessly forced a lot of her "pieces" into school district paychecks during her early days as a godmother-in-training. I'll bet one of her first steps was positioning her minions inside the personnel department so they could make certain that hiring was based not upon competence, aptitude, or experience, but upon some arrangement with Oliphant. She has got to have a massive deck of IOU's and money orders stashed in her lingerie drawer, hidden under the AKA directory.

• What would you replace them with Christy?

• Why is it the electeds say it is a "staff" problem. The last I saw, The Board hires the Super who appoints the staff. The Board also approves those lucrative "staff" contracts like Marko's. If it is such a "staff" problem why did the board choose to keep Marko around? I'm sure the issue is more complex than just saying its all staff's fault. In any bureaucracy you have to know how to get things done. What happens is "Staff" make nice with board members to secure their position. The "staff" does the board members' wishes. Now the shit hits the fan the board looks at the staff and says its all their fault. Turnover is good. Hopefully the SB will get a Super from outside of So Fla with no ties and can "Evaluate" the top positions in the administration. A great example of this is the trial ballon the board floated about privativing the construction/facilities departments. Why are the electeds even trying to do that? Why not get the new Super in let him evaluate district needs make recommendations and then act? Seems to me the prudent move.

• Good Point Extra. No question some staff is way too entrenched and needs to go.

• Don't even bother trying to reason with these people, Another Voice. They have very vivid imaginations and don't like it when reality gets in the way.

• Hammerhead, First of all I'm not Marty, whoever Marty is and who I am is not as important as what I'm saying. I have no political agenda beyond contributing to productive change based on accurate information. What do you think my agenda is? Where have I brought untruth to the discussion? I don't know why you feel compelled to trash me when I'm only trying to contribute to the discussion. This is not about us personally. It's about how we move forward. Aside from the Kaufman issue on which I stood corrected, could you just tell me what I have said that's wrong? I'll listen. As I gather, you want more oversight, more investigations, etc. Fine, but those things cost a lot of money which we don't have right now and do not guaranee we'll get what we want. We've taken that route ad nauseum and nothing ever changes. It's us HH. We are the solution. If we're gonna go through this trauma again, let's do it right this time. And let's not fight between ourselves. It won't solve the problem. That's another thing the powers that be absolutely depend on.

• When a Teacher or Principal is suspected of negligence/misconduct they are pulled immediately from the classroom/school yet the school boards get almost 1 year to clean up their act? NO. We the people want change now. Notter gone, now remove all the other clowns. "Abolish the School Board" Grand Jury Report 2011

• But the reality is that it is not just politicians with power: it is powerful staff around for decades. And there are alot of lifers out there. Unless one devises a system to remove the nepotism, good-ole-boyism, and other favoritism -- particularly that which allows less-than-stellar power brokers to groom their own proteges and replacements in the buraucracy -- changing the politicians frequently will only provide the bureaucrats with even more power. The interesting thing about BCPS is that the lack of term limits plus accomodating staff members plus alot of "invested" political donations produced a well-oiled machine which brooked no opposition for many years. It made alot of folks in this town alot of money.

• We have the school against the wall and they get another 9 months to clean up their crap? This is ridiculous. We need to protest in the streets to get this board recalled, otherwise we're just wasting more time and money. They bank on people forgetting how corrupt this all was and moving on. The school board needs to resign and we do not need to replace the board. It is an unnecessary. Who can start this petition?? They have to go, and it's time for an uprising by the taxpayers.

• A Frenchman, an Englishman, an American man, and a lawyer were sitting on a train. The Frenchman offered everyone some of his baguette, then threw it out the window, saying, “Don’t worry – we have plenty of those where I come from.” The Englishman offered everyone a crumpet, then threw the rest out of the window, saying, “Don’t worry – we have plenty of those where I come from.” Then the American threw the lawyer out the window, saying…

• Identifying a douche with a political agenda and overtly acting as a political operative in this environment is also part of the civil discourse. You have an agenda and it is clear from you typical perspective, despite which moniker you choose. You certainly didn't deny being Marty...and that was the original point. Now take your skewed spin on the realities we all face and go home. Otherwise, face reality and bring truth to the discussion. There is nothing civil about a pathological liar...is there?

• Q: If you see a lawyer on a bicycle, why don’t you swerve to hit him? A: It might be your bicycle.

• Right on the money MM. It comes down to the people elected who are put there by the people electing them. What's happening is just the pendulum swinging. The trick is to get it to stop somewhere near the middle and keep it there so the solution isn't worse than the problem. And that takes a lot of effort. What's happening in the district is just a snapshot of what's going on in the whole country. Well said. Lord Acton said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's why politicians are like diapers needing frequent change for the same reason.

• Any arrests today?

• Hammerhead Further to my last reply, I frankly don't know what the grand jury was presented. It may have been pefectly accurate info. All I said was they didn't tell us anything we didn't know already. 'the presence of corruption with the implication that it was already a well known fact...' It always was a well known fact as I see it.

• Hammerhead Despite the incivility in your comments all I said was that Grand Juries are not perfect nor are investigations always the answer. The Grand Jury can be maniplated any number of ways as well as investigations. The simple fact is there are no simple answers besides getting the right people in the right place and keeping a very close eye on them. What's wrong with that? Read what you just said ..."the Warren Commission was a bunch of elected officials..." That is not accurate. The Warren Commission contained a number of non-elected officials, Warren being the first. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, not elected. John Foster Dulles, (fired by Kennedy shortly before the assination), was head of the CIA, not elected. Their agenda was to help cover up the coup that happened in Dallas and to placate an extremely agitated American people. What was the Warren Commission? An investigation. "...the Grand Jury is a group of randomly elected taxpayers..." True, but so are criminal and civil juries. Are they perfect? '...randomly selected taxpayers...' isn't that similar to the general electorate? Who gave the Board Members their power? It's pointless to try to shift the blame onto extremely flawed individuals who are just exhibiting the darker side of human nature when we the people put those people there. That's all I'm saying. This is not a contest. It's a necessary civil discourse. So let's keep it that way. I'm not against you and I've found your information to be very valuable. We want the same thing. Productive change, not just a knee jerk reaction that can make things worse so we have to start all over again. No hard feelings.

• Scorekeeper & Hammerhead. You misinterpret my intentions. I'm not trying to distract anything. This blog is the best thing going and should have been going for the last 10 years. I encourage it. Finally, the people are making the effort to inform themselves. That's good. I just want to do my best to keep the blog correctly focused with accutate info, that's all. I made a mistake about Vicki Kaufman and I stand corrected. That's what I'm talking about. Accurate information and you did the bloggers and myself a service by correcting me. No hard feelings. All I'm really saying is it doesn't matter what system you use. It will always come down to the people in that system and we just need to find & encourage the right ones. I believe they are out there.

• Score I stand corrected. Thank you

• Dead Norm commented on there also.

• The current problems at the Broward School Board really come down to one issue and that is integrity or should I say lack of integrity. It isn’t about whether or not the Grand Jury, the Board, senior staff, the public or even those like myself who have complained as loudly as they can about issues are completely right or wrong. I don’t know of anyone who is ever completely right or wrong about every issue. Issues and or problems arise nearly every day that require honest research, analysis and ultimately a decision on how to best resolve the problem. If the people we have elected to oversee and participate in that decision making process begin to insert special interest, political platforms, personal gain, whether it be financial or otherwise, then the entire process begins to break down. The real truth or solution becomes obscured with half truths, political posturing, false needs, customized data selection, and when all else fails outright lies. Is every problem addressed like this, of course not? I personally witnessed Stephanie Kraft in my opinion; evolve from a concerned and committed activist and reformist into one of the shrewdest political operatives of our time. How did this happen? It happened because she failed to maintain her integrity. I believe it happened because she became convinced that the making the deal or solving the issue at hand to her benefit was more important than maintaining her own values. Humans are blessed with one the thing that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom, our brains and the power of reason. Given a set of facts and a desired outcome we have the ability to make informed decisions. Are those decisions always right, again of course not? However, there is a distinct difference between an honest mistake and a politically contrived solution. For all intents and purposes a politically contrived solution is a lie. What we are witnessing today in Broward is only a microcosm of our political culture nationally. One politically contrived solution piled on another and another until we have forgotten what the real facts are and the truth, well that’s a word used in some other languages on some other planets. It makes no difference what party or political persuasions you believe in we are surrounded by specialists who are well versed in the spread of these contrived solutions, aka liars. Dare I remind us all of the story of our first president George Washington who purportedly could not tell a lie. Certainly that must be the first cruel hoax played on an emerging and unsuspecting American public. I don’t know if the American people have become apathetic to all of the lies because they are so pervasive or they believe they have more pressing priorities in their lives. I do believe our apathy or willingness to accept any manner of politically motivated fabrications is the root cause of the problems at the School Board and overall decline in our moral values. I do not claim to be the authority or expert on the status of American values my statement is based on my own observations and opinion. I do however believe the solution to improve governmental behavior is not out of reach or for that matter it does not require the ability to solve the problem of time travel. It really comes down to demanding integrity from those we elect to serve us and not themselves. It really comes down to I shall not tell a lie.

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