CAT Tracks for May 21, 2010
BEARS REPEATING...

CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Should you experience a feeling of déjà vu while read the following, do not panic. If you are not already doing so, simply sit down, take a deep breath, and keep reading...

I've run out of words to describe the disgust that I harbor for the idiocy that underlies the obsession that Cairo School District Number One holds for James Gibson...

I'm "tapped out" of anger to fuel another edition of "Ron's Rant" concerning the insanity of District officials determined to throw good money after bad in their flailing bid to keep James Gibson away from the children of Cairo School District Number One.

James Gibson...

  • Who was recognized by his colleagues as a highly qualified professional who had turned the chaos of Crisis Classroom into an educational tool for reclaiming youth prone to bad behavior.

  • Who had letters of recommendation from District administrators - present and past - at least those who were not bent on persecuting James for being "uppity" in demanding to be paid as the TEACHER they hired him to be instead of a teacher's assistant.

  • Who had rave reviews from District officials - Superintendents and Principals - until the arrival of FORMER Superintendent Gary Whitledge (described politely by the IL Labor Board Judge as "disengaged") and FORMER "Executive Dean" Tony Maltbia (working under a creative title because he was NOT CERTIFIED to do the job for which he was hired...Principal.) Rather than cut their losses after the departure of Whitledge and Maltbia, the District has spent over $250,000 to "defend" their actions.

  • An African American male teacher...a rare commodity anywhere in the United States, but especially noteworthy in Cairo where the student body is upward of 85% African American. (QUICK QUIZ: Name the African American male teachers currently working in classrooms in Cairo School District Number One. HINT: I ran into him yesterday when I visited CJSHS. ANSWER: If you said Coach Ronnie Woods, take a bow!)

  • A consummate professional who even dressed the part...wearing suit and tie every day to work (sometimes to the condescension of FORMER Superintendent Gary Whitledge.)

Okay, okay...guess I ranted a little bit. But...I didn't "cuss"!


On April 30th, I posted an edition of CAT Tracks entitled "THERE IS NO HOPE FOR CSD #1", specifically lamenting the decision of Cairo School District officials to "take exception" to the James Gibson Decision handed down by the IELRB Administrative Law Judge...the District's "second bite at the apple" (following their 2007 loss in an arbitration case over the same issues.)

Lawyers for the District (aka "Robbers All") regurgitated their same tired arguments in a 27-page legal brief requesting that the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board throw out the decision of their Administrative Law Judge...which echoed the previous decision by an impartial arbitrator.

Well...

Last night, the Cairo Board of Education voted unanimously to pay for said 27-page legal brief...

If you have forgotten (or are new to this site), the bill you should note is the one for "ROBBINS SCHWARTZ NICHOLAS"...$11,837.26.


Come Monday...

The Cairo Financial Oversight Panel will get their turn to approve payment of the bill...and they should!

The "Robbers" did NOT take it upon themselves to write this brief.

Oh, they are not "innocent" by any means. They could have given some sound - CHEAP - legal advice...for the District to - finally - "cut your losses" and "pay the man". But, they are lawyers...whose income is directly tied to providing legal services. If the lawyers say "cut your losses", they are saying in the same breath..."stop paying us". It's one of those "conflict of interest" situations. It's like having the lawyer at the bargaining table...with the meter running. The sooner the lawyer negotiates a new contract, the lawyer's meter stops running. Drag out negotiations...CHA CHING!!!

This 27-page, $11,837.26 legal brief was written with the prior approval of Cairo School District officials.

If the Cairo FOP did NOT know about the brief, well, they should have...and heads should roll. Watching and approving the District's financial decisions is their reason for existence. For sure, they rubber-stamped every previous step in this sordid mess, so they need to rubber-stamp the current "payment of bills".

However...

It is time - way past time - that the Cairo FOP exercise the fiscal responsibility for which they were appointed. The Cairo FOP should pull the plug on the Cairo BOE's persecution of James Gibson (to the detriment of the students of Cairo School District Number One.)

It is time that the Cairo FOP stop the bleeding...

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

What!

Didn't you read the title of this post?

Plus...the leading phrase:

I wrote those words on May 21st to open an edition of CAT Tracks entitled "The Price of 'Taking Exception'". I then proceeded to pound out a thousand words...expressing my disgust...which you just read again!

However...

I'm keeping my word this time.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...