Those employees who gave up one of their dwindling days of summer to attend the Cairo School District "Staff Day" on August 4th, received the following missive for their effort:

As for the attachment shown...

The premium outlined in "bold" is for the typical single employee-only coverage.

Yes, a jolly reminder that the Cairo Board of Education had notified Madam CAT President minutes before the "first negotiations session" that it was going to increase the premium required of employees UNLESS A NEW AGREEMENT WAS IN PLACE BY THE OPENING OF SCHOOL! (As you will recall, in my "I Will Not Be Catty" post of yesterday, the Cairo Board of Education notified Madam CAT President that it will not even present its initial bargaining proposal until AFTER the conclusion of the first day of school.

So much for giving the employees a chance...

Yep...

..."stocking stuffer".

IF you ass-u-me that they will take off their shoe prior to sending their foot up your wazoo. I'm not that optimistic...

Looking ahead...

Next scheduled CSD #1 event is August 11th...registration for the 2011-2012 School Year.

The theme this year should be "EXODUS".

If Cairo School District mistreats its employees (and it most certainly does...got the court documents to prove it!)...

...its treatment of "captive" students inflicts even greater-lasting damage, a lifetime's worth.

Routinely cutting and slashing educational programs that deny the children of Cairo an opportunity to learn and escape the poverty into which they were born...while the District's BOE and FOP build and worship their mound of money.

Truer believers in the "Golden Rule" do not exist:

"They who have the gold make the rules."

So, when students and parents arrive at CJSHS and CES on August 11th and see for their own eyes that there is NO BAND (despite 50+ who expressed an interest)...that there is NO ELEMENTARY READING PROGRAM (despite a school district on the "NCLB BAD LIST" because such a large number can't pass the state test)...

...well, those students and parents may well follow in the footsteps of those who have gone (and I mean "are long gone") before.

The Cairo BOE and the Cairo FOP gritch and bowl about how the District is losing forty approximately (40) students a year.

Well, look in the damn mirror...the major reason for the loss will be staring right back atcha!

Yeah, Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror" has been playing on my pre-set car radio station of late.

If the BOE and FOP were really concerned...really wanted to "stop the bleeding", they would follow the song's advice and take a good long look at themselves...and make a change!

But...

...remember!

Hope died in Cairo School District Number One on the evening of June 24, 2011.

The Cairo BOE and the Cairo FOP are content...

...like the BOE member of yore, who stuffed his face with a fat sandwich and rudely spoke with mouth full: "I thought we cut out the snacks at Emerson School."

DAMN!

Talk about pulling back the curtain and seeing the BOE priorities that lie behind!!!

Yes...

The Cairo BOE and the Cairo FOP are content...to dine and travel on the District's dime (and give their Chicago Superintendent/Interim Superintendent free lodging, utilities, and golfing fees), while cutting programs and services to the children of Cairo...without whom the Cairo BOE and the Cairo FOP would not exist.

Shame on every last one of them!

They hold in their hands (in a death grip) the means (the money) to make a difference in the lives of children...and they hoard it.

And...

The Cairo BOE is content...because they know nobody is going to show up at their meetings and challenge them. They know that maybe a handful of (disgruntled) employees will show; they require the administrators to attend; the District Business Manager; one of the FOP's Financial Advisors; maybe a single pissed off parent (who certainly will not come back next time.) That's it...no accountability for their actions (and free food!) What's not to like?

The Cairo FOP is content...because they see even less people at their meetings. And, the people who are there are mostly from ISBE...also interested in the "bottom line"...M-O-N-E-Y. I mean, like I said before...the only real difference any more between the FOP and the BOE is that one invites you to eat with them, the other doesn't.

Nothing will change in Cairo School District Number One until such time that parents and taxpayers get pissed and take back the school district. They abandoned it years ago in frustration and into the resulting void rushed folks with very narrow agendas. These BOE members have used the absence of opposition to feather their personal nests and take care of friends and relatives.

All of us are now reaping what they have sown.