Stakeholders and money

Bit and pieces that have collected over the last couple of weeks.

Stakeholders: The City Paper editorialized on 4/7/08 in regard to the number of people running for the MNPS BOE and how several current members got on the Board with 'business' support:

That being said, there is not only a debate that needs to take place about where the schools are headed but also what has the quality of the board’s stewardship been sine the 2006 elections.

It happened again, chatting up another citizen while waiting to give blood they sheepishly admitted they occasionally watch Channel 3 and the BOE meetings. Then they shake their head and make a comment about how unbelievably inept the BOE is and then they tell me what numbers their child has for the lottery to magnet schools. Their zoned school isn't an option.

Frankly, the Board's stewardship has been lousy. They have failed over and over again to hold their only employee responsible for the failures in the district. They gave him pay raises and extended contracts. No one who voted to keep Garcia at the helm of MNPS should be reelected. As the current candidate list stands the only person we can actually hold accountable is MNPS BOE member Ed Kindall (District 7-Downtown-Glencliff) as MNPS BOE member Gracie Porter (District 5-East Nashville) has no opposition and MNPS BOE member George Thompson ( District 1-Bordeaux) and MNPS BOE Chair Marsha Warden (District 9-Bellevue) have wisely decided to move on. Kindall has been on the board for nearly a quarter of a century. He's got a lot of explaining to do.

And so the 'business community' referenced above has decided that more community input is necessary. But they didn't mean community community. They meant special interests community. Again from the City Paper we learn that several entities have written the mayor and BOE expressing their desire to help find the new schools director.

The letter was sent March 27, and was signed by leaders of the Chamber, IMF, Metropolitan Nashville Education Association (MNEA), the local NAACP chapter, Service Employees Union, Steelworkers Union, Stand for Children, and Nashville Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Seems to me several of these entities have already put their money where their interests lie and have, essentially, bought and paid for their representation on the board. See Gracie Porter's contributors in 2006 as an example. <<<----- What we need is some vetting by parents and taxpayers. We need some specific statements from the candidates. We need a person who is an excellent administrator first and then someone who can work with the educators, parents, the council and citizens. Oh, and the Metro Council (those that hold the purse but don't have the authority to direct its spending) also wants a voice in the process. As quoted in the City Paper on 4/8/08

Council member Jim Gotto said, “It is fine and well for all of these individuals and groups to want to give [board members] input, but board members, you make the choice. You’re going to have to live or die with who you choose.”

Ah, but that requires some accountability by the voters. Which is something that has been sorely lacking.

MNPS budget: CM Emily Evans (District 23) has a series of lessons regarding the Metro Budget. Here's the link to her MNPS overview.

The Director of Schools, Chris Henson spoke at great length tonight about getting input from the schools themselves on how to improve and working to eliminate top-down decision making. This notion that the people that spend each day with your child are best equipped to decide what they need to get the job done is irrefutable and represents a cultural change that can only bring us good things. Chris also said that not every school needs the same thing.

Which fits very well with this City Paper article of 04-18-08.*

In accordance with what has been asked of the district by the Tennessee Department of Education (DOE), Metro schools will soon submit “action plans” on a quarterly basis that will monitor student performance and play a role in school funding. The plans complement the annual School Improvement Plan structure, which is already in place but in the process of being overhauled.

At some point we've got to recognize that each school, each district isn't the same. The Central Office is too far removed from the front lines to mandate how every dime of this money is spent. Schools have got closets full of 'central office ideas' that are going to waste because they don't fit that school's population or are yesterday's hot idea. We have got to hire great principals who, like the superintendent should be, more managers (and teacher mentors) than educators and let them manage their portion of the budget as their student needs warrant. I believe that will create better neighborhood schools AND create a cadre of experienced administers that can move up that career ladder and mentor the next generation of principals.

Things are looking up: It's looking like between Interim Director Chris Henson and the State DOE some major improvements are being implemented in MNPS. Throw in the obvious relief as expressed by many folks including today's Rex in the City

Principal hiring procedures are now what they were before Garcia arrived; the district is now completing school improvement plan forms using the same template as other districts in the state — MNPS had its own form during the Garcia administration — and district leaders have been told in plain language to shut down the “culture of fear” pervading many Metro schools.

and things haven't looked so good for MNPS in almost a decade. If Henson keeps this up and we get through this BOE election season in August we should seriously consider offering him the job--if he'll take it.

MNPS website still quite frustrating. Some sub-domains would be handy.... http://www.MNPS.org/Board, /Schools, /Budget. No one remembers numbers. Where's Interim Director Chris Henson's page? Why can't the BOE member page also include info on their district...or at least a link to that separate page that MNPS provides?


*[Man I HATE that the City Paper doesn't include a date on their articles. If no one comments you've no idea when it was published. I finally found the date by searching for the article. Thankfully, they've finally started including dates there.]

Gracie Porter 2004 Election Finances

Gleaning from the 2004 Campaign Financial Disclosure Statements of Gracie Porter , District 5 Representative for the Metro Nashville Public Schools reveals the tremendous investment that Democratic PAC's and the unions involved in the public school system made in ensuring Porter's election.

For those unaware, I was appointed by the Metro Council to fill the unexpired term of the former BOE rep in May of 2006. Just 11 weeks later was the general election and Porter and I, and two other candidates, all ran for the seat. It was obvious during the campaign that big guns were pulled out to keep me from retaining my appointment on the MNPS Board of Education. I think many people will be surprised at how much money and manpower these Democratic PACS and these unions expended to ensure that I wasn't around to ask questions, hold people accountable and provide answers to parents, taxpayers and voters.

Here is ample evidence that the foxes are guarding the hen house. No real progress will be made in Nashville schools until we break the conflict of interest that results when a BOE member owes their seat to the folks they are supposed to hold accountable.



This chart shows $18,300 from PACS and unions. That's 88% of her contributions coming from "Democracy" for America/TN, SEIU, MNEA, AFL-CIO, the Tn Democratic Women's PAC, and the Chamber of Commerce's Success PAC which fought hard to keep Pedro Garcia in charge of MNPS.

So, who do you think is going to ensure her reelection?




















All of this is important to keep in mind as this is the final week to qualify to run for any MNPS BOE seat. Petitions must be picked up from the Metro Election Commission and returned before noon on Thursday, April 3. If you are unhappy with how MNPS schools are being run do something about it. Be or back a candidate that will hold the system accountable with your time and your treasure. It's not too late to get 25 fellow district voters to qualify a candidate.

Here are the current BOE members up for re-election in August.










From left to right:
Ed Kindall on the BOE since 7/9/1985, nearly 23 years,
George Thompson on the BOE in 1991 and then back on 8/1/1996, more than 12 years,
MNPS BOE Chair Marsha Warden on the BOE since 8/24/2004,
Gracie Porter elected in August of 2006 and
Mark North since spring of 2007.

BOE is unsure--I'm not

It's the sub-headline that tells the real story regarding the MNPS BOE and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean's 'partnership' to find a new superintendent for Metro schools. That sub-headline at the Tennessean is:

"Board members seem unsure about next step in process"

And that's exactly it. We've hired 9 people to run the district, they rubber stamped pretty much everything former superintendent Dr. Pedro Garcia wanted, they were propped up by the business establishment and the unions and haven't been held accountable by the electorate, it was assumed that since they had legal and education experience they were qualified and so here we are. They are unsure about how to hire one employee. Like nearly everything else they've decided to 'hire' out the hard work which will then allow them to avoid accepting all the blame later. They'll let the mayor help, they'll call in the Tennessee School Boards Association and before the final decision is made they'll have created a community group to advise them. What are these folks getting paid to actually do? When things are cruising along they wield that rubber stamp pretty well, but let the system wobble a bit and they just aren't up for the task. One of them needs to grow a backbone and start leading.

From BOE member's Karen Johnson blog:

"...the School Board in a 7-2 (Marsha Warden, Steve Glover, JoAnn Brannon, Mark North, George Thompson, Gracie Porter and Ed Kindall -7) (Karen Johnson, David Fox -2) vote moved the following motion from Board Member George Thompson "I move that we request the involvement and participation of Mayor Karl Dean in helping to identify a candidate for interim director of schools to be selected by this board....then at the appropriate time the Mayor would further be involved to participate with the board in a search for a permanent Director that will be hired by the board."

Karen Johnson offered an amendment to include 'all stakeholders' in this motion. It was voted down:

The amendment failed by a 5-4 vote (Marsha Warden, Steve Glover, Mark North, JoAnn Brannon, and David Fox -5) (Karen Johnson, Ed Kindall, George Thompson, Gracie Porter -4)

From the City Paper:

[Mayor Karl] Dean later added that he believes the interim director position should be filled quickly, and that he believes the best process would be for Dean himself to find members of the community willing and qualified to fill the temporary position. The board could then make the final decision.

This is just a bad idea. first of all...it's not his job. He's got enough on his plate. It is the BOE's job and they need to earn their paychecks. What quickly hiring someone will do is give the appearance of stability and progress in time for the August BOE election.

At this point in time the MNPS staff doesn't need the distraction of taking on a new person and training them in the finer points of running the school system. Something like this will slow them down and eat up valuable resources at a time when we don't have them to spare.

For now, Chris Henson needs to focus on the budget. I suggest the other 'cabinet members' can step up and finish out the school year and begin planning for the next. They've been around long enough to have done this several times, this isn't reinventing the wheel. They can do this. Likely, without the heavy hand of the former superintendent they'll have a great opportunity to shine and show us just how successfully they can work together and actually get the job done.

This season of change is a great time to see which of the BOE members is up to the task of actually running the system and has earned the right to stay on the BOE. Pay attention and remember this August. Remember, all but North, gave former superintendent Pedro Garcia a hefty raise and voted to renew his contract, Porter once, the rest over, and over and over again.










From left to right:
Ed Kindall on the BOE 23 years since 7/9/1985,
George Thompson, more than 12 years: 4 months on the BOE in 1991 and then back on 8/1/1996,
MNPS BOE Chair Marsha Warden on the BOE since 8/24/2004 ,
Gracie Porter elected in August of 2006 and
Mark North since spring of 2007.

Thank you, whoever you are

Last spring a teacher was assaulted at Jere Baxter ALC. Neighbors were shocked at the attack and further shocked to learn that no alternative schools had school resource officers. The neighborhood association tried to get answers from Gracie Porter and the police department with very little success. The best that could be done, we were told, was to separate the students by grade and to keep calling the police when neighbors and local merchants observed illegal behavior.

Today, I've been told that Jere Baxter ALC now has a police officer at the school for four hours per day until December 22. No one seems to know how this came about, but we're all very thankful it has. The principal was quoted as saying the attitude of the students at the school has changed 180 degrees. I can't imagine how much relief teacher must be feeling about their safety. I know the local merchants are happy to see that their serious concerns about truant behavior is being addressed.

I'm told some folks are starting to think outside the box in regard to these schools and I'm hopeful that further improvements for these students, and the neighborhoods that host them, will be forthcoming.

Heartfelt thanks to whomever saw the wisdom in placing an officer at Baxter. I hope that when school resumes in January they'll have found a way to continue that position. Thank you for this much. It has already made a difference.


Previous post: MNPS-PD

MNPS-PD

Inglewood residents were shocked to discover after a teacher had been assaulted at Jere Baxter Alternative School last spring that there is no police officer in this school specifically designed to hold students that have 'issues'. In fact, neither of the alternative schools had a police officer. There was only one campus supervisor assigned to the school that day of the assault. I was told that campus supervisors do not carry weapons and aren't required to have any formal security training. That made no sense.

Residents had known for some time that the students in this school made a habit of being delivered by city buses to the building and promptly heading into the neighborhood or neighborhood businesses. Local merchants had to take it upon themselves to chase the students off in an effort to keep them from intimidating their legitimate customers. Police cars regularly appear at Baxter ALC. It's hard for mere citizens to see the wisdom of letting something happen and then calling for a police officer when having one there and available could head off serious trouble.

When the police department was called and asked about why there was no police officer in the school they said it was the call of Metro Schools. When I asked Metro Schools they said it was a police department decision. What became clear was that no one was stepping up. The Inglewood Neighborhood Association invited school board rep, Gracie Porter to the May 2007 meeting to discuss the recent assault, the loitering and the lack of a police officer. She provided some basic information regarding the school, the churning of the student body population and the turnover in administration there to give us a larger picture of the situation. She also told us that she learned the day before that Nashville Chief of Police Ronal Serpas , MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Pedro Garcia and Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Ralph Thompson were going to meet about discipline issues and police presence in schools the next week. When she was asked if she was going to attend considering how concerned we all were about this issue her reply was "I'm not going to crash Serpas' meeting." She did say she expected some restructuring to be done by the next school year that could help the situation.

So Thursday we read in the Tennessean that there is talk about school systems creating their own police forces. The legislature created a study committee (they're very good at that). The legislation is HB1765/SB1451 sponsored by State Rep. Ulysses Jones (D-Memphis) and State Senator Reginald Tate (D-Shelby County) . I'm very concerned about this. My biggest concern is that we'll not have any way of knowing exactly what has happened on those campuses. I look back at college campuses that regularly didn't report serious crimes out of concern for their image. The same could easily occur in MNPS. The Tennessean wrote:

The school district Tuesday released statistics on student offenses in Metro during the 2006-07 school year, but they weren't broken down by school.

And that's exactly correct. They report this information by cluster. There is no way for a parent to know if the school their child attends is safe, let alone exactly what happened and how many times. These are our children. We have a responsibility to ensure their safety. We have a right to know as much as possible about how safe they are while there.

And the Tennessean reports the disincentive there will be if MNPS is allowed to handle all these issues:

But creating a self-run police department can put school districts at odds with the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires states track the number of serious incidents that occur at a school. If over three consecutive years a school meets the "unsafe" requirements defined by law, students are allowed to transfer to another school.

Because police officers are responsible for recording some incidents in school, an officer employed by the school district could have an added interest in making sure a school in his district doesn't wind up on the list.

KnoxNews has an article on this issue also. The issue of who will pay for this is huge and they provide some important editorial comments about that.

It might make things simpler for the school systems, but it would make things more expensive for the taxpayers.

The push is on to create taxing authority for local school boards. Can you see it coming? Not only do we need more money to get the job of education done (as if money was the answer) now we'll need more money to create a police system. We are underfunding MPD, how are we going to afford to create an MNPS-PD?

The public education system has lost its focus. Every year, for what seems like good reasons their mission expands. It currently includes feeding, clothing, nursing, transporting, parenting and now policing children. All the while the original mission fails regularly. The school system doesn't need to expand. It's my opinion we should let the school system do the teaching and let the police department handle the crime.


For further info:
National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers (NASSLEO).

BOE Agenda 2007-04-24

The BOE agenda for Tuesday night has been uploaded to the MNPS website this morning.

Item A(2)(b) would allow current 4th graders at AZ Kelly & Maxwell to remain there for their 5th grade year (transportation provided). Page 3.

Superintendent Pedro Garcia is graded on EE-7 (Budgeting and financial planning) and that can be found beginning at page 8. Board member George Thompson in dual role as BOE member and head of the Council of Great City Schools is quoted as saying:

"Continued improvement needed - The amount allocated for board Development and other governance priorities is unreasonably low for a district our size. Lack of appropriate development breeds confusion as to the Board members' role and thus invites micro-management."

Gracie Porter's comments about this essential function are not to be found on this document.

Page 10 is where Karen Johnson's concerns about Metro taking over payroll functions from MNPS are expressed.

"Please provide update on how well most recent payroll change is working. MNEA had expressed concerns. Would like to possibly see employee feedback survey on this."

She's also concerned about the contract bids:

"Would like to see information on all who bid for services and who is awarded contracts all in the same document. Would like to see a breakdown if possible on how many are minority owned specificying women owned, African-American owned, Hispanic Owned, Asian Owned, etc..." (Page 11)

But this may be the MOST important part of the meeting. The Board is amending their own job description. Much of this is similar to the old version but they've added some specifics and every citizen will want to review this and comment to the Board about this. There is little room in this document for dissension which seriously concerned me back in the summer when I was subject to it and it still concerns me. I understand that the Chair needs to do a better job of running the meeting but muzzling the members isn't the way to go. The public already has little knowledge of Board member opinions on issues--this isn't going to help. How do you encourage 'diversity in viewpoints' and yet require members to 'criticize privately' or 'never embarrass each other or the district'? This document doesn't encourage a healthy airing of the pros and cons of issues facing the community regarding public education.

And what parents are still not going to understand is section 3 which specifically prevents the board from assuming 'responsibility for resolving operational problems or complaints'. Most voters and taxpayers assume that this is part of the reason we have a school board. That stepping in when things aren't working is why they voted for their board member. What they're going to get instead is direction to the central office person in charge, a smile and a 'vote for me' later on.

There are no provisions in this document for those who dare to violate the policy.

Policy Type: Governance Process GP-2

Governing Style

The Board will govern with emphasis on End results for students rather than on interpersonal issues of he Board; encourage diversity in viewpoints, focus on strategic leadership rather than administrative detail; observe clear distinction between Board and Director roles; make collective rather than individual decisions; exhibit future orientation rather than past or present; and govern proactively rather than reactively.

Accordingly:

1 The Board will cultivate a sense of group responsibility. The Board, not the Director or staff, will be responsible for excellence in governing. The Board will use the expertise of individual Board members to enhance the performance of the board as a body, but will not substitute individual judgments and opinions for the Board's collective values. Accordingly, members will;

a. focus on issues rather than personalities
b. respect decisions of the full board
c. exercise honesty in all written and interpersonal interaction, never intentionally misleading or misinforming each other
d. criticize privately, praise publicly
e. make every reasonable effort to protect the integrity and promote the positive image of the district and one another
f. never embarrass each other or the district

2. The Board will hold itself accountable for governing with excellence This self- discipline will apply to attendance, preparation for meetings, adherence policymaking principles, respect of roles, and ensuring effective governance capability into the future To ensure that the board's business meetings are conducted with maximum effectiveness and efficiency, members will:

a. speak only when recognized duing meetings
b. not interrupt each other during meetings
c. not engage in side conversations during meetings
0. ask questions for clarification
e. listen for content and understanding
f. not repeat what has already been said during meetings
g. support the chair's efforts to facilitate an orderly meeting
h. communicate in a timely manner to avoid surprises
i. ensure that all members’ voices are heard
j. adhere to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 10th Edition.
k. refrain from introducing a motion as new business for matters not directly related to the current meeting's agenda items nor related to an issue currently tinder consideration. Instead, any unrelated motions should be accompanied with a request to place the motion on the next regular meeting's agenda for action. [emphasis in the original]

3. The Board will direct, control, and inspire the district through The careful establishment of written policies reflecting the Board's values and perspectives The Board's major policy focus will be on the intended long-term benefits for students, not on the administrate or programmatic means of attaining those benefits. Accordingly members will not:

a. assume responsibility for resolving operational problems or complaints
b. give personal direction to any part of the operational organization

4. Continuous Board development will include orientation of candidates for the Board and new members or the Board about The Board's governance process and periodic Board discussion and evaluation of its process to assure continued improvement

5 The Board will allow no officer, individual, or committee of the board to hinder or be an excuse for not fulfilling its commitments.

6. The Board will monitor its process and performance at each meeting through a debriefing process. Board members' attendance at all meetings and work sessions will be monitored regularly. Self-monitoring will include comparison of the Board’s performance with policies in the Governance Process and Board-Director Relationship categories.

7. The Board may, by majority vote of the members of Board, revise or amend it policies at any time. However, normally a proposed policy revision will b discussed at one session of the Board prior to being approved at a subsequent Board meeting.

Saturday 02/17/06

Bit and pieces:

Wrestling with the TSSAA round two:

WASHINGTON — Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court have been set for April 18 in the long legal fight over whether the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association can punish Brentwood Academy for allegedly recruiting athletes. Tennessean

If we don't know where they are, how do we know if they've been left behind? Metro Nashville Public School Board of Education is wrestling with line items on their budget. They've decided that keeping accurate records on the status and progress of students isn't a first tier budget item and have added it to the 'unfunded priorities list'. That means if they get more money than they're asking for--they'll put it toward this essential record keeping.

“What happens right now is we lose kids – we can’t find kids and it takes forever,” [Superintendent Pedro] Garcia said about bookkeeping woes. “Part of the problem is we have lots of hands in the pie – we got counselors and sometimes secretaries.”
(snip)
“I can tell you, if you have a person [at the school] that you know that’s in charge of records and someone that’s diligent, I think it’s a start,” said board member Gracie Porter. City Paper

We're paying twice for the same product:

More than half of all students who enter college in Tennessee are not academically prepared and require at least one remedial course, according to the Tennessee Board of Regents. The problem is growing.

Remedial education costs the state more than $25 million a year and the number of students enrolled in these courses is expected to grow by about 30 percent over the next decade, said Treva Berryman of the TBR, the governing board for 19 of the state's four- and two-year colleges. Commercial Appeal

America's third world education:

One of the state's top education officials said Wednesday that the United States is at risk of becoming a Third World economy if its public schools don't improve, and his Knoxville audience was glad to hear Tennessee wants to raise standards. KnoxNews

He may want to remember that some of those countries considered third world--are ahead of us in several subjects.

"In fourth grade, American kids do above average internationally. By eighth grade, they slip a bit, and by 12th-grade, they've slipped a lot," Marsh said. "We're the only country that slides down that much from fourth to 12th grade." USC Daily Trojan

This is something Save Our Students told us last year but people got bogged down in who the messenger was instead of the truth of the presentation. Maybe this year they'll listen.

Will someone step up?

BRISTOL, Tenn. - It's official: No one is officially running for the District 2 seat on the five-member Bristol Tennessee Board of Education.
(snip)
"Recent history has shown that parents are more reluctant to serve in positions that have less direct impact on children, such as PTA Council and the Board of Education," Bailey said. "This is especially true when there is a perception that anyone who does serve on the Board of Education will be unjustly criticized in the media."

Boy, don't I know that. There's still a fellow out there insisting he knows the truth about who I am and how I got on the school board. He's dead wrong--but that inconvenient truth isn't impeding him at all in the pursuit of his agenda. People are going to write and say ugly things--truthful and not. People are going to call you and expect you to solve things you have no authority to solve. People are going to unrealistically expect you to have all the answers. But, here's a real opportunity for someone to put their hand to the rudder that will set the course for thousands of children's future. I hope someone steps up via a write in candidacy. These schools need oversight outside of the administration and their professionals.

Cutting line

Great news for the students at Julia Green Elementary in Green Hills--a Frist family donation of several million dollars will allow this school to cut to the front of the capital improvement budget and move it from 68th on the list for repair/renovation to near first.

I'm looking at the Capital Improvement Budget for 2006-2012 provided to me while on the School Board this summer. This document has a renovation score included in it. A survey was done of facilities and each was given various numerical scores based on its condition. Julia Green Elementary was very near the end of the list at 68 of 76. 67 other buildings were in line before Julia Green Elementary. In the first 8 most needing of repair were 4 schools in East Nashville's District 5 alone-Isaac Litton Middle School whose recent lead levels in the drinking water has made headlines, Rosebank Elementary whose electrical problems literally blew out light bulbs and sent shards of glass showering down on people, Maplewood High and Stratford high where I witnessed a serious water leak in a computer lab among other things. On this chart District 5 schools (BOE member Gracie Porter's responsibility) are highlighted.

And so here we have a perfect example of the tension between the haves and the have nots in what is supposed to be a free and equal public education system. Your mileage will vary. This is what makes suggestions like Councilman and mayoral candidate Buck Dozier's to create a billion dollar endowment for the public schools an idea worth discussing. We have got to seriously consider long term funding for maintenance and building projects. Here we have a school in a wealthy section of town, with merely a 25.7% economically disadvantaged population leap frogging ahead of dozens of other schools with thousands of children who have parents who could never dream of cobbling together $30,000 let alone $3 million.

I know full well that the Frist family has been at the forefront of many worthy public projects--my children have benefited from their donations to the zoo and the museum. I do appreciate their generosity, however, I know full well that we have schools with more serious and immediate needs. Julia Green parents may be rightly concerned about the condition of their school but I challenge them to cross the river and see what other people's children are having to live with and without.

This is good news for 37215 but sobering news for 37206 as we wait in line for our turn.

Porter's explanation

Here's MNPS BOE member Gracie Porter's (District 5) explanation for her abstention on the vote to give Superintendent Pedro Garcia another 3 years to run the system:

-----Original Message-----
From: gracie@gracieporter.com [mailto:gracie@gracieporter.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 8:08 PM
To: Kay Brooks
Subject: Re: Garcia vote

As you may have heard, the school board meeting was filled with emotion and conflicting views. The board was far from being in agreement on all issues. The public and many special interests were also watching this vote to see how this new board would handle Dr. Garcia's contract.

I'm not satisfied with how Dr. Garcia has responded to the needs of our district, but I wasn't ready to show him the door. I hoped that this new board might be able to make some progress if we invested another year in building a relationship. If we were successful, we could extend Dr. Garcia's contract. If not, then we would face some difficult choices.

I was prepared to vote for a one year extension to Dr. Garcia's contract, but not for three years. My first vote reflected that view, but when the second vote came up, it was clear the majority of the board was going to support a three year contract. If I had voted no, some might have interpreted that as a rejection of Dr. Garcia. Voting yes could have incorrectly suggested that I agreed with a three year contract. An abstention was the only way to communicate that I thought another options was needed. My vote allows me to explain my position and I thank you for giving me that opportunity.

My immediate response back was:

Thank you for this partial explanation. I wasn’t a witness to the vote, and it’s not available online, so I would appreciate your patience here—

Why couldn’t you have stated you were voting no on 3 years but would vote yes for 1?

She abstainied!

The surprise is not that Pedro Garcia got three more years to be superintendent of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools but that District 5 voters were represented by an abstention. Gracie Porter who won support from the District 5 voters thanks to her close connections to the MNEA, the SEIU, AFL-CIO, 'Democracy in Tennessee', the Chamber of Commerce, along their manpower and money got very little representation last evening when push came to shove. Instead of voting no on the 3 year contract extension she abstained. She got 2709 votes and we got none on this issue.

Since there is no explanation on her website I've e-mailed her for one.

Gracie needs to remember that her contract with the people of District 5 lasts only until August of 2008 and 2,197 people chose someone else to represent our District. Votes like this aren't going to be helpful if she intends to stay around at least as long as Garcia.

SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 5

Candidate	ABS	EV	FSV	ED	TOTAL
K. BROOKS	4	200	0	612	816
L. H. HART	4	183	0	582	769
G. PORTER	11	649	0	2049	2709
C. L. TOWNSEND, SR	14	172	0	426	612
WRITE-IN NP	0	5	0	3	8
TOTALS	33	1209	0	3672	4914

21 of 21 Precincts Reporting
Totals from Metro Election Commission