Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Corona buys seat for $27,000+

Taking a page from the Chicago politics "pay to play" book incumbent Steve Corona and the rest of the new board members spent what they though it would take to keep the "Blues" off the board. Corona spent five times what he did last time to continue his long oversight of the system's decline. Those who backed the new members invested heavily in the failing status quo, including the contractors who make their money from FWCS and the taxpayers.

With the exception of Kevin Brown, no-one on this board has a clue to what's going on in the classrooms and what it will take to turn things around. They will believe what they are told by an administration that thinks the path to educational excellence is social promotion and "buildings like Aboite".

The irony that sweetens the grapes is that they spent way more than they needed to. They were all the first names on their respective ballots, which is the main criterion for most voters in a city election. If Diane Sliger had changed her last name to Armstrong, she would now be on the board. And Corona supposedly still owes himself $8500. Let's see, where the hell did I put my checkbook?

Friday, January 23, 2009

Last one is a "loser"

Yesterday's JG (no not my copy, I cancelled my weekday subscription) said Robert Armstrong won a seat on County Council without spending a dime on his campaign. He was on the FWCS board before that. All three new FWCS board members chosen in the last election were the first names on the ballot. Does that mean the primary qualification for local public office depends on the first letter of your last name? That's all I can think of as a reason for Steve Corona being on the school board for 28 years. Nobody knows who the hell they're voting for.

That's the bad news. The good news is that nobody cares who the JG endorses either.