Category: Accountability

Accountability

Experienced Black Female Educator Challenges Status Quo

jcpswatch

There’s an election going on. A very important election. For the first time in 20 years, ever since the sitting president removed term limits for himself and his loyal accomplices so they could remain in power, he and his white incumbents face a very a real threat from dissatisfied rank-and-file members

A Black, female educator, with 13 years recent and relevant classroom experience, not to mention private sector leadership experience — and who spent her lifetime in Black skin — is challenging the controversial white, male incumbent for the top leadership position.

The Jefferson County Teachers Association is one of just a handful of teachers unions in Kentucky that has a treasured collective bargaining agreement. They represent over 6,000 certified teachers, working in 150 plus schools, which range from 9% Black to 92% Black. And while the student population is around 50% white overall, some schools are 78% white, while others are just 2% white.1

Unfortunately, only about 24% of JCPS teachers are Black, leading to disconnects not only between students and their teachers, but also between Black teachers and their white peers. Many Black educators have told us they frequently experience hostility, have had grievances filed against them, and even experienced demotions after simply drawing attention to harmful behaviors or advocating for racial justice on behalf of their students or peers. They also have told us that their union has been at best, MIA and at worst, complicit, in the pursuit of justice in these matters.

One of the bills that has already passed the House and Senate and was vetoed by the Governor sits precariously waiting for the super majority GOP session to resume on Feb. 2, 2021. McConnell-like predators who remain in office have passed bills to strip the governor of his powers, including his ability to reorganize boards and committees, like he did with Education. That’s why House Bill 5 is dangerous for teachers’ pensions.

Couple that with House Bill 258, which is the new pension plan that the union has endorsed, puts new teachers in a hybrid plan, cutting off funding to the current plan. It’s sponsored by none other than Jerry Miller, of “sewer bill fame.” 

Watch Kentucky Teacher Pension Swan Song to learn why financial experts believe these bills, if passed, will be the final blow to the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System.

But that’s not all. The teachers’ union holds lots of seats at lots of tables, and has run roughshod over delicate coalition-building work around racial justice for some time now. Efforts by Dear JCPS and others to elevate impacted community voices have been derailed on numerous occasions, when union leadership disagreed with the opinions of those in consensus. It’s what led to Dear JCPS’s resignation from AROS last July. 

I believe today’s events regarding implications that an email we sent to candidates was somehow improper or unethical, are another example of the same. One of the members of The People’s Agenda’s 17-person decision making council, who voted on our slate of candidates, also currently serves on the JCTA Board alongside some of the candidates our nominees are challenging.

When she did not agree with some of the nominating committee’s recommendations, she made her concerns known on every call that she attended and in chat conversations. She even made numerous calls between meetings to try to express her concerns about being on the same slate with another candidate she did not like. When pressed, her only rationale had nothing to do with his platform, track record or credentials, but only that she “never liked him” and when she met him years ago her “spirit was uneasy.” 

Due to her continued grandstanding, we decided to take additional steps to attempt to reach out to all downballot candidates who had challengers and give them another opportunity to seek endorsement. An email was sent to more than two dozen candidates. When none of the emails showed on the campaign reporting software to have ever been opened, I reached out to a few of them and asked them to look for it to make sure it hadn’t been blocked like it was last time. Only those who I told about it opened it. That changed Thursday and one of the candidates actually filled out our request. As requested, she willingly provided her home email address, phone number and t-shirt size. Additional questions were sent for follow up, which she did not reply to. The nominating committee sent around its first round of downballot endorsements, and due to lack of differentiating information, her challenger was nominated instead.

When it was time to call for the vote, the above-mentioned vocal objector to the slate was the only “no.” Having been unsuccessful in her lobbying efforts on behalf of status quo candidates, one of whom was her cousin, she appears to have decided to go around the council to try to have our work derailed using other channels. For example, in an attempt to sully the candidates on our slate, confidential information only 17 of us would on the Council would have had access to was shared with JCTA leadership, who then forwarded this and another email to all of the candidates, implying our Coalition was doing something wrong, although we were not.

This is not new. Many folks doing this work alongside me can tell you the same thing happened when the majority of organizations in AROS came to a consensus last May to conduct a campaign around a pledge to support the tax increase, only to have it vetoed by one member group that had not even been in attendance during that meeting.

Others will tell you about the time when an attempted state takeover of JCPS was announced, white JCTA leaders abandoned the structure and working relationships that had been cultivated in AROS, only to form “Our JCPS” and pick and choose whose voice was heard at the table. I continued to witness Black teachers, parents and students pushed out of decision making, denied and delayed justice and be attacked and discredited. For speaking up, I was similarly “uninvited” from the conversations, maligned, and attacked by white leaders and their white peers from other unions.

So, for those concerned about “outside influences” and whether it’s any of our business to interfere with teachers’ unions elections, hopefully this history provides a little bit of insight as to the ways the entrenched union leadership has interfered with attempts to bring justice to Black, Brown, poor, and marginalized JCPS students, teachers and families, and in particular those living in West Louisville. But if not, the voices of the current and former members who have asked us to intervene on their behalf, should not be dismissed.

One final note: At the request of some candidates who may have been endorsed but have been poisoned against the idea of candidates running as a slate (although that is what the white incumbents are currently doing), I want to make one thing abundantly clear. Although support and resources, including a $400 marketing budget, are available to endorsed candidates, at this time, none of them have accepted our offer. We will continue our work supporting and elevating candidates who share the vision of the People’s Agenda Education Committee, which includes:

  • Democratic and transparent elections and endorsements;
  • Fight privatization of public education, including protecting and funding pensions, and preventing vouchers;
  • Racial Justice for Students and Teachers, including plans for a safe return to school for EVERYONE!

Supporting documentation for all of the claims made above will be published here or at www.thepeoplesagenda.net as soon as possible.

Stay tuned to this blog for more information about the JCTA election, which runs from 6 AM Wednesday, Jan. 27 through 5 PM Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Accountability, Privatization of Public Education

Teachers Pension’s Swan Song

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KY House Bill 5 – fast tracked through the Kentucky House and Senate with little fanfare earlier this month – is an ALEC-styled bill that will prohibit Kentucky’s governor from reorganizing boards and commissions. It was vetoed by Governor Beshear last week, while the legislature is in recess. His veto is expected to be overturned when legislators reconvene on Tuesday, February 2.

Why such urgency by the legislature to limit the Governor’s power? 

Could it be that they are still scrambling after Beshear became Kentucky’s first governor to reorganize the state’s Board of Education? 

With the stroke of a pen, Beshear’s powers enabled him to thwart unethical political maneuvering by strange GOP bedfellows including Hal Heiner, Wayne Lewis, Milton Seymore, Gary Houchens, Matt Bevin and others. Controversial and contentious political moves had left these politicians poised to devour public schools with the implementation of charter schools, vouchers and a state takeover of the state’s largest school district, as they’ve done in so many states before us. 

TELL ALL LEGISLATORS:

“Allow VETO of House Bill 5 to stand!”

Financial experts believe Kentucky legislative majorities still plan to infiltrate the pension board, which controls who benefits from the secret, no-bid contracts that riddle the state’s public pension systems.

In this episode of Save Our Schools with Dear JCPS, entitled “The Swan Song of the Kentucky Teachers’ Pension,” Chris Tobe, financial planner, former pension board member, candidate for Kentucky State Auditor, and author of Kentucky Fried Pensions, relates how this is not out of the question.

We also discuss how the Kentucky’s Teachers’ pension could be directly tied to the January 6 insurrection at our nation’s Capitol.

Watch the entire 59 minute interview here:

It’s not too late to prevent this unwanted power grab by the state legislature. Teachers concerned about preventing further grifting that will  lead to the final destruction of their pension should contact their House Representatives and Senators at 800-372-7181 and make sure they know where you stand on HB5. Tell ALL LEGISLATORS to “Allow the Governor’s VETO of House Bill 5 to stand!”

Accountability

“Friendly Incumbent” or “Friendly Fire?”

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Elections for more than a dozen open seats on the Jefferson County Teachers’ Association (JCTA) Board, (including the four key leadership positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer), are up for grabs. With the election less than two weeks away, candidate campaigning, and sadly, nasty disinformation campaigns originating from entrenched white leaders intent on staying in power, have begun. This isn’t the first time in our nation’s history union leaders have attempted to usurp the wills and voices of their rank-and-file members using mob-like mentalities and bullying tactics. In fact, the Landrum Griffin Act of 1959 came about as the labor movement was under intense Congressional scrutiny for corruption, racketeering, and other misconduct. The new law:
established a code of conduct guaranteeing certain rights to union members within their union, and imposed reporting requirements on unions, union officers, employers, and consultants.
This is also not the first time in recent history in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) powerful third-party organizations have been accused of tampering with elections and outcomes. Following numerous anomalies chronicled in this series of articles regarding numerous controversial PTA elections, in July of 2019, Adelmann spoke at a JCPS Board of Education meeting about the need for greater oversight of external organizations. The unsettling events witnessed by Adelmann and others also prompted her to submit an open records request for copies of state-required financial documents for each of the PTAs in the district. This action, surprisingly, landed her in court, but was ultimately appealed and awarded in Adelmann’s favor, upholding transparency for public stakeholders. Watch the video below:
Unfortunately, being on the receiving end of mud-slinging from bourgeois elites and their enablers is nothing new for Adelmann. Since its founding in July of 2015, Dear JCPS has been demanding accountability and transparency from district leaders. Although some perceived the “drama” as unpleasant, deterring them from wanting to get involved, pushback from those loyal to corrupt administrators is reminiscent of those protecting status quo under Dr. Hargens. Yet, if you ask teachers today, most would say they approve of how that turned out. A rally on the steps of Van Hoose, spearheaded by Adelmann, called for Hargens’ resignation, which came shortly thereafter, a full two years before her contract was set to expire. Similarly, the removal of David Jones, Jr. from the JCPS School Board of Education in 2016, can also be credited to actions of grassroots groups. Jones’ opponent was endorsed by Dear JCPS, and not the teachers’ union, as most believe. They remained silent in that race.

Election Tampering?

The recent botched election for Better Schools Kentucky, the union’s political action committee, which directs endorsements, funds and volunteers to candidates using members’ dues money, wasn’t the first questionable election that the union President appears to have undue influence over. Another, more tangible example of how JCTA President may have manipulated elections behind the scenes in August of 2018. On the filing deadline for the JCPS School Board race, Dear JCPS President and Co-founder, Gay Adelmann, received a series of text messages and phone calls from an allied stakeholder. He was thinking about throwing his hat into the ring and wanted to know if she thought Linda Duncan should be replaced. Adelmann responded with an unequivocal yes, and an intense series of phone calls and text messages ensued, given that the deadline was less than 4 hours away. After advising the potential candidate what he needed in order to file, Adelmann proceeded to notify McKim that someone had stepped up to take Duncan’s place, assuming he would share her excitement. Apparently he was secretly working against the interests of the democratic way. She remained in contact with the potential candidate the remainder of the afternoon, helping him think through the logistics about how to obtain the necessary signatures, and deliver the required forms (and possibly meeting a constituent at the clerk’s office for a last minute signature), before the early afternoon deadline. Adelmann recounts this incident in more detail during a recent 4-hour “tell-all” Facebook livestream. Among other things, she sheds more light onto how the 20-year President of arguably the state’s most powerful union, abused his power by acting on this information to convince an amazing social and racial justice advocate, union leader, parent and taxpayer to stay in his lane. Perhaps Adelmann’s  own “head’s up” text message was her own undoing. But this isn’t the first time this union leader has received negative press for interfering with elections. After the leader convinced the concerned stakeholder to pull out at the 11th hour, our candidate stopped communicating with Adelmann, and instead posted this vague post on Facebook about averting a close call. The reasoning for the change of heart, according to our source at a later date, was that he was manipulated by the JCTA President into believing Duncan was a “friendly incumbent” and told that union folks need to stay in their own lanes. (Our friend was a leader in a union that represents members in the communication industry.)

Friendly to whom???

Friendly to JCTA and JCPS executives and electeds? Because many of the grassroots groups, including Dear JCPS, LSURJ, and The Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Black Lives Matter Louisville had witnessed and expressed disdain for culturally inappropriate comments Duncan was notorious form. Many of these same  grassroots groups, as well as the League of Women Voters Louisville, had filed to be intervenors in the hearing, because we welcomed our “day in court.” Many believe what the JCTA President and his insiders meant by “friendly” was that Duncan favored a “compromising” stance on the state takeover that was currently being negotiated by a hostile state education commissioner and board. They clearly preferred a board member who they could rely on to cast the deciding vote that would prevent the state takeover negotiations from ever going to a hearing. We believe this JCTA President interfered with the democratic election process, because he and others had a vested interest in continuing to bury the seeds of truth. #ItsOurTimeJCTA #JusticeForBreonna #JusticeForDaquan #BlackJCPSStudentsMatter #BlackJCPSTeachersMatter
Accountability

Botched BSK Election

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The recent election for Better Schools Kentucky, a political action committee within the teacher’s union, which endorses candidates and directs member dues money to candidates for key legislative and school board seats, uncovered numerous anomalies and programming concerns with the union’s antiquated electronic ballot system. Candidates asking too many questions created an avalanche of more and more questionable outcomes, some of which are explained in the 9-minute video below. The video is excerpts taken from the January 4, 2021 People’s Agenda meeting, which are held every Monday at 4:00 PM on Zoom.

Instead of explaining the anomalies, the initial winner was eventually overturned, legal challenges were issued, while the tightly controlled decision makers held a closed-door emergency meeting to invent policies that had never before been written, because apparently no one had ever asked this many questions before.

The BSK election committee determined, after the fact, that a run-off election was indeed necessary when there in no majority winner for the only member-elected position on this year’s PAC board. So it was scheduled for 3 days in January.

The run-off election was an even less transparent and more tightly controlled race, in which the original winner’s victory was restored by 11 votes. These run-off results have to be taken at the committee’s word, because very few people truly know what is going on behind the curtain. Although our supported candidate, Kenyata Dean-Bacon may have only lost by 11 votes, but the run-off elections generated more than double the voter turnout than the first election. This tells us we’re no longer the only ones paying attention.

More important elections to the top positions are coming up January 27 – Feb 3. Be sure to support the candidates who support democratic and transparent elections, including reinstatement of term limits; fully funding pensions including for new hires; and a commitment to racial justice for teachers, students and their families. More information about these candidates and their shared vision can be found at www.thepeoplesagenda.net.

Accountability

Third Time’s A Charm

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Or is it?

Last month’s election for JCTA’s political action committee (PAC), better known as Better Schools Kentucky, was not devoid of excitement and intrigue, that’s for sure.
 
If you missed it, you are probably not alone. Only those who are familiar with JCTA bylaws would be aware that one would have to call the JCTA office to get the results. So we wanted to make it easier for you.
 
At one point, candidates asked for a recount and they were told that there was “no opportunity for human error,” only to find out later that an errant letter “e” in one of the write-in candidate’s names caused everything to shift. Instead of explaining all of the anomalies that the candidates inquired about, JCTA’s response was to declare a different winner than was originally reported.
 
You don’t say?
 
In fact, of the four candidates on the ballot, none of them won by majority — either time — so the BSK election committee had to hold a special meeting to determine if a run-off election between the two top vote-getters would be necessary.
 
They decided it was. The run-off starts Monday, January 11 at 6 AM and ends Wednesday, January 13 at 4 PM. JCTA members should keep a eye out for the link to vote.
 
After all of these anomalies, how can JCTA members be assured that the election results are reliable? What’s different this time? Imagine how Americans would feel if Trump and his people were the ones conducting the Presidential election and reporting the results.
 
Why not give BOTH of these winners a seat at the table? Of the 12-person committee, 10 of the seats are nominated by President Brent McKim. We couldn’t help but notice that 8 or 9 of the 10 individuals put there by him are white. Instead of using his nominating power to ensure a diverse committee, he’s forcing these two exceptional Black women to duke it out in a run-off for the only member-elected seat in this year’s BSK election.
 
Since a run-off is likely to expose more embarrassing glitches to the union’s archaic electronic voting system, why not just add another seat to the committee and make it 13? It’s still not quite representative of the district as a whole, but it’s a start.

Rank and file teachers who demand better endorsements and more democratic representation are circulating a petition encouraging JCTA President Brent McKim to step down. After his election in 2001, he was instrumental in removing term limits, enabling his staying power. According to the petition, 
 
The 20-year tenure of current leadership is based on the undemocratic elimination of term limits by this leadership in the early 2000s.
 
RaShauna Tyson, a math teacher at Frost 6th Grade Academy, has filed to challenge McKim in the upcoming election. Kumar Rashad, Breckinridge Metro teacher, has filed to run for Vice President against long-time incumbent Tammy Berlin. Tyra Walker, a teacher at Roosevelt Perry, is running unopposed in her bid to retain her seat as JCTA Secretary. Manual history teacher Randy Wieck has filed to challenge incumbent Maddie Shepard for JCTA Treasurer. You may recognize Dr. Wieck’s name, as he has been an outspoken critic of McKim for his failure to act on addressing pension mismanagement. 
 
The BSK run-off elections start Jan. 11 and end Jan. 13. The general election begins January 27, at 6 AM, where numerous regional positions are also on the ballot.
Accountability, Admin, Privatization of Public Education, Student Assignment, Teachable Moment, Teacher Shortage, Vision: 2020

Come Have Some Tea With Me

jcpswatch

My friends call it “spilling the tea.” My family used to call it “spilling the beans.” Although I think the expressions came from two completely different origins, they mean roughly the same thing in this situation.

Not sure where the expression came from, but I can picture some well-dressed Southern ladies sitting together at their bridge table, and when one of them starts to tell a juicy story about one of their “friends,” it causes another to knock over her cup of tea, causing a commotion for all.

Welcome to my tea party. I’m about to spill some tea.

Let’s begin in the present, so I can show you what to look for while it’s still happening. Right now, JCPS teachers are in the midst of a silent coup by the current regime. The fewer teachers who even know this election is happening, the greater the chances they can keep their current dear leader in power. 

Up for grabs is the At-large BSK position. The election was held during a 3-day window: Nov. 30 – Dec. 2. What happened during that time could fill an entire season on Netflix, but we’ll sum it up here.

At first, Natalie Rashad was declared the winner. But when the election committee couldn’t explain the irregularities on their infallible software’s tabulation sheet, they went back to their programmer. He magically discovered an error and running tabulations a second time resulted in Kenyata Dean-Bacon becoming the winner. (Maybe they thought it would just be easier to give in than to explain the myriad of errors.)

However, when not a single one of them noticed there had not been a majority winner until Kenyata asked about it, the election committee held a séance, I mean special meeting, and decided that a run-,off would be necessary, putting Kenyata’s narrow victory at risk, and pitting both worthy candidates against one another at a future date.

Third time’s a charm, right?!

But why the mystery? Why wouldn’t the timeline they are organizing just follow the bylaws? Is it really that “unprecedented?” Or is it “going according to plan?”

Does this botched election remind anyone of the recent Bar Exam debacle? When several would-be lawyers had their joy stolen from them because after they had celebrated passing the BAR exam, they later learned they had failed? Many were saying “just give it to them.” After all, these tests are barriers; ways to discriminate. And judging by the makeup of the organization, it’s working just as it’s intended!

Tell JCTA to give BOTH of their BSK winners a seat at the table. Lord knows they’ve earned it! Take a look at the barriers and hurdles they’ve had to face to get to this moment to even be considered for the ONLY position on the BSK this election cycle that is put before the members. Could JCTA make it any less equitable and democratic? I don’t think so!

Kumar Rashad for President!

Come on, JCTA. Especially you, JCTA President Brent McKim. All eyes are on you. Do the right thing. Give up your seat that’s been controlled by mediocre white blood for decades. It’s time for new blood. Be the hero. Endorse Kumar Rashad for president. Allow members to bring back the term limits you removed, so this type of stagnation doesn’t continue to happen. It’s his time. If not now, when?

Let’s all get behind #KumarForJCTAPresident, and follow a path that will allow JCTA to award BOTH of these two fierce advocates for black, brown and poor JCPS students a seat at the BSK table. Let’s quit manipulating results and moving goal posts and get back to supporting our students and teachers. (Sorry for the shade toward McKim, but he’s been given every opportunity and we’ve reached this point where the members have some decisions to make. They deserve to finally see what’s been going on behind the curtain all these years.)

Teachers, get organized! They still plan to move forward with a run-off BSK election. So, unless they are planning to violate their own bylaws, it would happen this Wednesday (Dec. 16). Also, start preparing for the general election starting on January 27, where several key positions are up for grabs.

Accountability, District Boundaries, Police Free Schools, Privatization of Public Education, Student Assignment, Teacher Shortage

Re: Student Assignment Plan Proposal

jcpswatch
This message was sent via email to Board Member James Craig on Dec. 1, 2020, ahead of the Work Session on the Student Assignment Plan proposal discussion.

Good evening, James,

I wanted to reach out as your constituent, first to congratulate you on the tremendous strides toward equity and racial justice that the district is making under the collective leadership of you, Dr. Pollio and the rest of the board. I also wanted to express my support for the proposed changes to the student assignment plan, as well as some additional requests for consideration.

From the reconfiguring of the map and the addition of a close-to-home “no-application required” school choice for West Louisville students, to putting an end to push outs from our traditional schools and to resetting diversity targets, these changes are to be heralded and will no doubt improve situations and outcomes for many of our district’s most underserved students. We must continue to pursue them as urgently as possible.

My overarching concern with the proposal is that these changes still don’t go far enough, still lack “the notches in a new belt,” if you will, and as a result, still have potential to backslide and/or cause unintended harm.  I know neither of us want that, which is why I wanted to continue bringing feedback and concerns from the community.

First, the district was very responsive to the earlier demands that were brought forward by the Coalition for the People’s Agenda, which is why we were pleased to extend our support for the tax increase (congratulations, again!). These demands still resonate as we move forward with the implementation of the student assignment plan. As a reminder they were “EARN”, or:

  • Evaluation and presentation of inequities in current plan, in its entirety. We have seen great efforts being made here and I was moved by the public forum that was held. However, this needs to be ongoing, intentional and more community driven. We would like to talk with you in the future about what that looks like going forward.
  • Anti-racist budget (divest from policing, testing, harmful curriculum; invest in counselors, smaller classes, recruitment/retention).
  • Resolution in support of the Coalition for the People’s Agenda and the movement for Black Lives. (Board Member Shull has offered to take the lead on this and the Kentucky Alliance Education Committee will consult. I hope you will support or even consider co-sponsoring it with him.)
  • No wholesale return to in-person schooling until it’s safe (safe from policing, racist teachers, and COVID). Would like to update you on some examples of how the internal investigations process broke down, and suggest a form of intervention/restorative practices with teachers who exhibit harmful behaviors.

As my board member, I would like to ask you to see if you can determine if there is any feasibility to implementing the following “emergency provisions” with the proposed changes expected to be voted on at the next board meeting. You see, these are barriers that have prevented, and continue to prevent, some of the proposed changes from happening organically, and the coalition believes that removing them prior to the start of the 2021-2022 school year would allow the district to ease into some of the proposed changes, and also right some of these identified wrongs even sooner :

  • “Dual resides for everyone!” Not just West Louisville students, but all students could automatically have Shawnee as one of their two choices. Simply providing dual resides for West Louisville students risks further resegregation, but offering that option to families outside of West Louisville might set the stage for “flipping the script” for further voluntary integration in the future. “More carrot, less stick.”
  • “Ban the box!” Remove the application barrier for families that do not have a resides school that is close to home while we wait for the dual resides plan to be fully implemented across all grade levels (and even now while learning is virtual). This is a barrier that disproportionately impacts black, brown and poor families and now that it has been identified, it should be removed without any additional study necessary. It, in effect, allows the district to baby-step into the dual resides plan, accomplishing the same end result, but during this interim could still leave the decision-making ability up to the school’s principal. It would simply allow impacted students to apply, when in the past, they needed a 2.0 GPA and no behavior or discipline issues. For our West Louisville families, these are hurdles that were likely exacerbated by the discriminatory system in the first place.
  • “Guaranteed curriculum.” Please research Marzano’s guaranteed viable curriculum to explore if this concept can be incorporated into the above implementation of dual resides, hubs or any other emergency situations as we try to mitigate the remainder of this school year without gaps widening any more than they already are.

I do hope there will be a way for the public to submit 3 minute videos or join the zoom meeting on the evening the board intends to vote on such a historic decision. During this extraordinary time we are living in, in the midst of a pandemic and as ground zero participants in the movement for Black Lives (with Breonna Taylor and many other victims of police brutality and corruption being JCPS graduates), and on this day our mayor declared racism a public health crisis, I am proud to bear witness to one of the nation’s leading urban school districts also leading the way. Let’s continue to be a shining example of how to deconstruct and dismantle structural racism in public education.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Gay

Gay Adelmann

Co-founder, Dear JCPS
Co-founder, Save Our Schools KY
Charter Member, Network for Public Education
2014 Governor’s Commonwealth Institute for Parental Leadership (GCIPL) Fellow
Board Member, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Chair, Coalition for the People’s Agenda Education Committee Decision-Making Council

“Printed in-house using volunteer labor.”

Revenues benefit:
Dear JCPS & Save Our Schools KY
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Voicemail (260) 633-0463

Accountability, EARN the People's Vote, Police Free Schools

We Support Philly Students’ Demands!

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Imagine a world where ALL children feel safe in their schools and not fearful of becoming the next victim of racial profiling or police brutality. Help us get the message to those who have the power to correct the injustices that our BIPOC students across this nation face every day.

Philadelphia Student Union Representatives write:

We are writing with a request to support our family at the Philadelphia Student Union. As you may have heard, Philadelphia police murdered Walter Wallace Jr, a young Black man in the middle of a mental health crisis, in West Philly, not too far from PSU’s office and the site of the MOVE bombing. Since then, folks have been mobilizing and protesting, including young people. The police, like they always do, have been violent against protestors. PSU youth have drafted a statement and continue to demand police free schools and the end of racist policing in their schools and communities. School policing is a violent system. Street policing is a violent system. PSU has known this first hand.

Below is their statement:

https://www.phillystudentunion.com/post/our-statement-on-the-murder-of-walter-wallace-jr-by-the-police

PSU is also asking folk who can, to call the Board of Education demanding they abolish the school safety office that employs to school police. 

Call, email, or write a letter!

Phone Number: 215 400 4010

Email: schoolboard@philasd.org

Twitter:

@PHLschools
@SDPHite

Sample script and contact info provided below!!  Also tweet this story using icon at the bottom of the page.
#JusticeForWalter #PoliceFreeSchools

Accountability, EARN the People's Vote, Student Assignment

Timeline of Recent Events

jcpswatch

The public has been denied the opportunity to speak at JCPS board meetings since COVID forced all public meetings to be held virtually in March.

On July 16, Gay Adelmann and Tyra Walker met with Dr. Pollio over Zoom, to make him aware that a handful of powerful players were continuing to derail grassroots groups’ efforts to support the tax increase. Gay sent a follow-up text message to Dr. Pollio demonstrating these concerns. To date, there has been no reply to these text messages.

On July 27, Dear JCPS severed ties with the local chapter of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, due to continued microagressions from leadership delaying and dismantling grassroots efforts to coalition-build.

On Aug. 6, leaders from four Black-led and Black-allied organizations requested an “URGENT” meeting with Dr. Pollio to let him know we had concerns that the consulting firm’s strategy for the tax increase was out of touch with many in the Black and West End communities and could backfire. With major changes to the Student Assignment Plan anticipated to be voted on at the August 17 board meeting, it was imperative these voices be heard before that meeting.

On Aug. 10, this article was published, “Louisville voters to decide on JCPS tax increase after petition collects enough signatures”. It states,

A group of teachers and community members that has been calling petition signees to verify signatures are finding several petitioners who say they didn’t sign the petition and want their names removed. 

Emilie McKiernan Blanton, a JCPS teacher and leader in the local teachers union, estimated that about one-fifth of people who have been reached by phone have asked for their signatures to be withdrawn.

The effort is not officially tied to the union, she said. Murphy said the district did not organize the coalition, either, but was aware of the effort.

On Aug. 11, the co-chairs of the Kentucky Alliance sent a request to district leadership to allow public comment.

On Aug. 17, we continued to express our concerns about not being heard, and invited allies to join us in next steps, which included reaching out to Board Members to demand Justice for Black JCPS Students. We learned that the Student Assignment Plan decisions would not be made at that time.

On Aug. 18, “JCPS to challenge petition against proposed tax increase” was published. It states,

The findings come after a group of teachers and community members, not tied to an official union effort, found several people who said they didn’t sign the petition and wanted their names removed, The Courier Journal previously reported. 

Multiple school board members said the analysis’s findings concerned them.

“It’s not clear to me that Jefferson County voters received a fair review of this petition,” board member James Craig said in a message. “This petition process seems to be completely devoid of any integrity. I am alarmed at what I’ve seen unfold during this debate.”

On Sept. 1, members of the Coalition for the People’s Agenda sent the following email to the JCPS Board, asking that it be included in the minutes: We, the People, Object!

Later that night, during the Sept. 1 board meeting, Dr. Pollio told the board and the public that a REAP had been done on the current student assignment plan, when in fact, it hadn’t. We published a summary here: Where’s the REAP?

The following morning, the Coalition received a tone-deaf response from Board member Chris Kolb that completely dismissed the concerns of the group leaders, who were mostly Black. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, more than a dozen Black-led and Black-allied grassroots leaders finally had their first opportunity to share their concerns with Dr. Pollio since July 16.

On Friday, Sept. 25, Dr. Pollio sent a text message explaining the misunderstanding and has agreed to conduct a REAP on the current, entire plan at the next Student Assignment task force meeting, but we still don’t know when that is. We are running out of time!

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, in lieu of being able to speak publicly at that night’s board meeting, Dear JCPS co-founder, Gay Adelmann, sent another email regarding the REAP to the JCPS Board and allied organizational leaders, to be included in meeting minutes. It included Friday’s text message from Dr. Pollio and four follow-up questions. 

During the Board meeting, @JCPSSuper appeared to be responding to some of the Coalition’s demands for an “anti-racist budget” during the budget discussion, further defining the resolution that was passed on Sept. .

  • “New and innovative learning spaces in schools throughout the district, especially in West Louisville. We will be breaking ground on two schools this coming month.”
  • “New investments in our athletic facilities all over the district.”
  • “All of our AIS schools with more teachers, smaller class sizes, multiple mental health professionals in the school and social workers.”
  • “This is the work to provide those mental health professionals. I’d like  to see three [mental health professionals] in each of our AIS schools, more time for professional development, and extended learning in our AIS schools.
  • Fund the racial equity initiatives, like bridging the digital divide, expansion of restorative practices across all of our schools, providing quality choice for every student in the district and expansion of our teacher residency program, so that our teacher demographics directly reflect our student demographics.“
  • “Finally, we’ll see 10,000 targeted students in summer learning programs to increase outcomes for students, especially in reading and math.”

On Thursday, Oct.1, we received an email from Dena Dossett letting us know they were planning to conduct the REAP at the Oct. 7 task force meeting.

 

 

 

Join us for a watch party on our Facebook page beginning at 5:00 PM Wednesday.

On October 14, we met with the district’s communication chair and asked for introductions to the tax increase strategy team so that we could collaborate the last two weeks of the campaign. This effort has been hit or miss. Mostly miss.

On Oct. 21, this bombshell was dropped. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2020/10/21/jcps-tax-petition-leader-theresa-camoriano-says-nemes-gave-her-access-to-republican-voter-database/5998019002/

JCTA decided not to rescind Jason Nemes’ endorsement.

On Friday, Oct. 20, the judge ruled that the petition did not have enough signatures and that it would be thrown out.

On Nov. 2, this article detailing some of the involvement from SCALA and David Jones, Jr. was published. This was denied previously. District leaders have some explaining to do, but we will get to that when the time is right. 

2021

In January, 2021, several rank and file teachers who have been less than complicit with the continued abuses listed above decided to challenge status quo and run for JCTA Board of Directors. When the election results were reported, some of those teachers filed a legal challenge to the election results, based on a number of factors.

 

JCTA Election Challenge

Meanwhile, the Coalition for the People’s Agenda Education Committee continues to meet and refine our list of demands. Email moderator@dearjcps.com for a Zoom link to our next meeting.