On a night the Board of Education terminated the school system’s relationship with a controversial charter group managing the troubled Dunbar School, school board member Ken Moales proclaimed Mack Henry Allen who was employed by the organization was the victim of a “high-tech […] lynching” and portrayed as a “black rapist.” Moales did not stay for the final vote. He stormed out of the meeting and threatened to sue the school board, according to CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart who has more:
Learning that other staff at Dunbar School had not received background checks, the Board of Education Thursday ended the district’s relationship with the private Family Urban Schools of Excellence.
“The safety of children is my first concern,” Interim Superintendent Frances Rabinowitz told board members before entering into executive session to privately discuss the matter prior to the unanimous vote. “Not having background checks is something we cannot abide.”
FUSE, a Hartford-based charter school manager that took over Dunbar last year, was initially seen as the savior of the failing K-8 school.
Full story here.
“For Clarence Thomas, Lynching Is Personal. Only.”
By Emma Coleman Jordan
Sunday, October 14, 2007
“As far as I’m concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves.”
With his Supreme Court nomination on the line in 1991 over the sexual harassment charges made by Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas famously played the highest race card in the deck of American history: the lynching of black men for real and imagined sexual offenses.
Clarence Thomas “High-Tech Lynching”
www .youtube.com/watch?v=egTyaIAaqz8
All Clarence Thomas did was to talk about his grandfather and what a hard worker his grandfather was and his values, hell I would have voted for his grandfather to be on the Supreme Court, just like the good work of Ken Moales’ father, Bishop Ken Moales Sr.
I was present at this meeting and Kenneth Moales Jr. was an absolute disgrace. He repeatedly attacked Fran Rabinowitz because she had previously stated she was going to be conducting an audit of FUSE and would bring the results and her recommendations back to the BBOE. She did say that. However once she started an HR audit, she discovered the majority of academic assistants FUSE had hired had never received thorough background checks. This is when she first discovered Mr. Allen had repeated felony convictions for drug dealing and was on a sex offender registry in Texas. Upon further questioning of FUSE, the interim CEO admitted there were additional employees with felony convictions. Based on this disturbing information, both Commissioner Pryor and she decided the relationship with FUSE should be terminated immediately. Moales repeatedly yelled at her and Ms. Baraka, repeatedly told Ms. Baraka she was a “joke” and stated he was going to file a lawsuit against Ms. Baraka and the Board. He then stormed out of the meeting. He repeatedly turned to Andre for support regarding the audit Ms. Rabinowitz promised and on two separate occasions Andre Baker publicly supported Moales’ position. After Moales left, the remaining BBOE members entered executive session. When they re-entered the room, they unanimously voted to terminate the Memorandum of Understanding based on FUSE’s failure to abide by the terms of the MOU, specifically their failure to complete background checks on all of their employees. There was no discussion and the vote was unanimous, including Andre Baker.
On a side note, during Moales’ 10-12 minute litany, he described Mr. Allen as a wonderful example for children and described him as a pillar of the community. He also stated the children, parents, teachers and staff at Dunbar all described him as the best “educator” in Dunbar. Please note Mr. Allen is not a certified educator. He also stated “70% of his parishioners were convicted felons and he would always stand by them.” I wonder how his parishioners will feel about this statement. In closing, he was completely off the wall and looked absolutely ridiculous.
Maybe Moales forgot to take his Ritalin.
He blew a Fuse!
I know a good headline when I see one (steal one).
That really sucks!
Just one more comment. While this fiasco was in progress, I received this latest Hartford Courant article on Mr. Sharpe and FUSE.
www .courant.com/community/hartford/hc-hartford-sharpe-lease-0711-20140710,0,4307957.story
What if the Courant hadn’t reported the facts?
What if Moales Jr. still led a majority of the BOE?
A longtime observer of city government and the BOE commented, after last night’s latest episode of Moales acting very badly at a BOE meeting to no avail:
He’s losing the battle and the war, and seems to be unaware.
As a person of color myself, it is disappointing when people pull the race card when they can’t get their way. You win some and you lose some but don’t call race every time you lose. How pathetic. This behavior is very unprofessional. Pillars of communities usually don’t act like this. I seriously doubt Pastor Bennett from Mt. Aery would pull a race card or would act like a crybaby. I heard people from Moales’ congregation are leaving and this is unfortunate but this is what happens when you mix politics and religion. Keep them separate or else your church will shrink when your credibility shrinks. It is not fair to congregation members, it really is not.
Ernie Newton Seeking To Dismiss Criminal Charges
By CHRISTOPHER KEATING, ckeating@courant.com The Hartford Courant
6:30 p.m. EDT, July 10, 2014
HARTFORD – An attorney for former state Senator Ernie Newton said Thursday that he will ask a judge to dismiss seven criminal charges due to a recently discovered audit that he says exonerates Newton of campaign finance fraud.
The defense team never saw the audit by state election officials until recent weeks, but it says that Newton had reached the minimum $15,000 fundraising threshold to qualify for more than $80,000 in public financing in a state Senate primary that he lost in August 2012. The fundraising is at the heart of the criminal charges because the prosecution charges that Newton never reached the threshold and should have never received the public money–leading to a felony count of first-degree larceny for “falsely obtaining thousands of dollars in public funds.”
Attorney Darnell D. Crosland, who represents Newton, read some details of the audit during a hearing in Superior Court, telling Judge Joan Alexander that 357 campaign contributions had been certified as “qualified” under state rules and that the final tally was $15,020 – just barely above the threshold.
“Mr. Newton has reached the threshold for qualified funds, which has brought us here,” Crosland told the judge. “We’ve been before this court for about two years. … We’re approaching a Brady issue or a discovery issue because this should have been turned over a long time ago.”
The judge responded that she was not ruling that prosecutors were guilty of a “Brady” violation–meaning that they had not turned over evidence that would prove the innocence of a defendant.
In a rare appearance in court, deputy chief state’s attorney Leonard Boyle–the second-highest ranking state prosecutor–said that the “draft summary” of the audit that was dated June 3, 2013 was a mistake.
“I have reason to believe the 2013 date was in error,” Boyle told the judge, adding that the document should have been dated one year later.
The prosecution charges that Newton came up $500 short of the fundraising threshold and then prompted five campaign workers to sign cards that stated that they had contributed $100 each. The state says that Newton then used the false documentation to gain the public financing.
Crosland, who had not met Boyle before, was surprised that such a high-ranking state prosecutor had arrived in court on the Newton case.
“When you see a supervisor come out, either there’s some smoke coming out of the galley or there’s a fire onboard,” Crosland said. “This ship is definitely sinking.”
Crosland said he will seek to have the case dismissed if prosecutors do not drop the case themselves.
“I think this case should go away, and I compliment Mr. Boyle, who exhibited a real level head today,” Crosland said.
Reached at his Rocky Hill office after the hearing, Boyle declined to comment because the case is still pending.
Despite the charges against him, Newton is running in the August 12 Democratic primary in his hometown of Bridgeport against Andre Baker, a member of the city’s school board. A convicted felon, Newton served more than four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting a bribe and other charges.
During the hearing, Newton formally rejected the prosecution’s plea bargain offer of eight years in prison that would be suspended after he served three years behind bars. The offer included five years of probation on seven counts, including the larceny charge, a felony count of tampering with a witness and five counts of illegal campaign practices.
If the criminal case is not resolved, a trial could be held starting in December.
I don’t know if there are any CT News Junkie readers on this blog, but I would really encourage you to read CT News Junkie on a daily basis. They have great op eds and really do some excellent work. This piece by Sarah Littman is an excellent read. She does an excellent job of showing how Malloy, FUSE, Mr. Sharpe, Northeast Charter Schools and ConnCAN are all intertwined. She highlights the recent failure of not just FUSE, but more importantly the contempt these organizations show regarding transparency, accountability and oversight. Charter Schools repeatedly claim they are “public schools,” at least until the public wants information about these schools and management organizations that receive millions of taxpayer funds each year. Once you want to dig a little deeper, they are suddenly “private organizations.”
www .ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/op-ed_charter_advocates_give_new_meaning_to_chutzpah/
Here is a typical piece of charter school propaganda that was published earlier this week on CT News Junkie. If you go to the very bottom of the Op Ed, you will see the “writer” has three children who attend a charter school in Bridgeport, but has no children who attend Dunbar. He talks about all the wonderful work FUSE is doing at Dunbar and quotes all this data that is not even available on the Connecticut State Department of Education’s website. I started doing a little digging and discovered this is the husband of Linda Francis. Ms. Francis is affiliated with Excel Bridgeport, but more importantly she recently assumed a leadership role with the recently formed Bridgeport chapter of Families for Excellent Schools. This organization is heavily funded by Wall Street millionaires and its only mission is to promote charter school expansion. They worked closely with Northeast Charter Schools (co-founded by Mr. Sharpe, former CEO of FUSE) to gain approval of the two new charter schools coming to Bridgeport the state Board of Education approved in April. My point is does anyone honestly believe Mr. Owen Francis knows a single thing about what is happening at Dunbar School on any given day? This was written by paid staff from either Excel Bridgeport, FUSE, ConnCAN, Northeast Charter Schools etc., take your pick. If this doesn’t scream of propaganda, I don’t know what does.
www .ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/op-ed_sort_out_the_fuse_problems_but_dont_forget_the_kids/
It screams propaganda just as loud as CT News Junkie does. What’s your point?
I started doing a little digging and discovered Sarah Darer Littman has ties with Scholastic Books and they are tied deeply with the BBOE and Sarah Darer Littman makes income from doing classroom visits. Is she writing op eds to feather her own nest?
SPY, I have no knowledge regarding her “ties with Scholastic Books” and even if she does, what would that have to do with her op ed on charter schools and charter school organizations? Scholastic Books is the most reputable publisher of children’s books in the United States. They are also staunch advocates for the promotion of reading and literacy.
How is Scholastic Books “tied deeply with the BBOE?” What is your point?
SPY, Sarah Littman is an award-winning author who writes novels specifically geared to engage teenagers. This is a crucial demographic to appeal to because studies have shown this is the stage in a child’s life when they are most likely to walk away from reading. This is often due to a variety of other interests your average teenager may become involved in. There is often a shortage of novels/books that are written to specifically engage teenagers. She also offers free classroom visits to Title I schools which would include Bridgeport. She does this because she recognizes the importance of having children actually meet a local author in person. In addition, she supplies free author copies to many classrooms and free 20-minute Skype sessions. Both Scholastic Books and Sarah Littman are passionate champions of reading and literacy, so I would call that a match made in heaven. Please explain how her op eds on charter school mayhem and corruption “feathers her own nest.”
Come on. You play too smart to play this stupid. The BBOE is a huge customer of Scholastics. Haven’t you ever been to a Scholastics book fair? What about this? A private, for-profit, publicly traded company that is allowed to come into the schools and peddle their wares directly to children (US$2,148.80 million (2012)) or $2.15 billion. Not only books but tchotchkes and toys as well. Scholastic has been criticized for inappropriately marketing to children. A significant number of titles carried have strong media tie-ins and are considered relatively short in literary and artistic merit by some critics.
What is the BOE’s budget for Scholastic books? Does that contract go out to bid? Once upon a time in the late ’50s Scholastics was a rinky-dink, mail-order book club. Then the BOE government contract fairy waived its magic wand and bingo, $2.15 billion dollars appeared.
She lists her work with Scholastics in her bio. You are the queen of doing a little digging. Is that just to find the dirt you want to see?
Award-winning author? You mean at a company that grosses $2.15 billion can buy awards or do they simply give the awards to themselves? All scholastic authors are ‘award-winning authors.’ Coincidence or something more sinister? They are just the largest. Their reputation would be a matter of opinion. Any book or book company would promote child literacy. Possibly without the junk, so you do not have to squeeze the kids for every last dollar. Scholastics will make you a children’s author the same way Disney will make you a princess. In the kids book game, if you don’t play with Scholastics, you don’t play.
As a longtime member of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, I’d like to confirm this is a legitimate literary award. Sarah Darer Littman received the Sydney Taylor Book Award in in 2006 for her book, Confessions of a Closet Catholic. The Sydney Taylor Book Award is given by the Association of Jewish Libraries, an affiliate of the American Library Association. To learn more about the award please visit
www .sydneytaylorbookaward.org.
Barbara Bietz
Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee
Association of Jewish Libraries
SPY, as the former Regional Sales Manager for Scholastic Book Fairs, I believe I have a bit more knowledge on this topic than you. I managed all of CT, the five boroughs of NY and a small portion of NJ. I managed over $26 million in annual sales. Under Vallas’ reign, the BBOE spent $7 million on a no-bid contract with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for new text books, not Scholastic Books. Scholastic Book Fairs is a fundraising option that promotes literacy. Would you rather see our schools selling candy and baked goods or novels and books? The vast majority of book fairs are scheduled and organized by PTAs and librarians, not administrators and I cannot think of a single instance where a local BBOE was ever involved in the scheduling of a book fair. You just claimed the “BOE is a huge customer of Scholastic.” I just quoted the largest purchase of textbooks the BBOE has made in over eight years to contradict your assertions. Please post how much the BBOE has spent on Scholastic Books over the last year. I will bet $100 you will be unable to provide the information requested. So much for being a “BOE SPY.”
SPY, when I was a teenager I would spend hours reading Harlequin romance novels. There would be summer days where I would read three in a day and my father absolutely hated it and would repeatedly reprimand me for reading them, however those novels helped me expand my vocabulary, improved my spelling and improved my reading comprehension. If a child wants to read books on SpongeBob SquarePants or comic books, it shouldn’t make a difference. What is important is the child has found a book they enjoy and want to read. It is difficult to get an adult to read a book they have absolutely no interest in, so you can imagine how difficult it is to get a child to read a book they have no interest in. The reality is Scholastic Books is a very profitable company and I don’t deny that. However they are a profitable company that promotes literacy and a lifelong love of learning. I’ll take Scholastic Books’ Book Fairs over a child spending countless hours playing violent and expensive video games any day of the week.
So are you are in Scholastics’ pocket? Vallas’ textbook contract was about the only textbook contract BPT had in eight years. This, with the new common core requirement meant BPT really needed new books. Why are you bringing up something that is so ‘last year?’ Are you trying to kick up dust and muddle the issue?
SPY, please re-read my comments as many times as needed to fully comprehend my response. I believe I clearly stated “former Regional Sales Manager of Scholastic Book Fairs.” It was you who brought up how much the BBOE spends on Scholastic Books and it was you who brought up no-bid contracts. Are you really in a position to suggest I am trying to “muddle” the issue? I am still waiting for the specific information that supports your claims the BBOE spent a substantial amount on Scholastic Books last year. Will you be posting the supporting information soon? I am also waiting for you to identify the invited guest speaker who was the victim of my 10-12 minute “hysterical tirade.” I’ll wait for that information too.
BBOE being one of Scholastics’ largest customers is based on a number of assumptions. 1- BBOE has the third largest budget in the state. 2- BPT has the largest number of schools in the state. 3- BPT has one of the largest numbers of students in the state. Add all these up and you get: The most sites, the most money and the most customers. #1 in the state + or – 2 margin of error. Too bad our schools can’t have stats like this in all aspect of education. It would be nice to be first instead of last.
SPY, this is your supporting video footage of when I “screamed at a speaker in a 10-12 minute hysterical tirade?” You also described Mark Anastasi as “a speaker who was invited to speak at a BOE meeting.” I’ll agree I screamed, that I will give you, but I think it is quite obvious it was for less than 10 seconds, not 10-12 minutes and I was not “hysterical.” Whether you are a member of the public, a high-level administrator or the city attorney, you do not interject or interrupt an elected BBOE member when they are speaking, especially without first requesting the Chair to recognize you and respectfully requesting permission to address the Board. I was in the middle of speaking when Mark Anastasi rudely interrupted me to interject his opinion. I was one of the nine elected BBOE members, Mark Anastasi was not. Mark Anastasi deserved exactly what he got for interrupting an elected BBOE member and if you listen to my “hysterical tirade,” that is exactly what I was telling him. Please listen to the background noise, the vast majority of the public in attendance witnessed the entire incident and vocally supported the reprimand Anastasi so richly deserved, not what a paid ConnCAN blogger decided to edit to suit her needs and post on YouTube.
SPY, you know what they say about those who make assumptions. Your assumptions are incorrect. The largest Scholastic Book Fair in Connecticut was held by Greenwich Country Day School and that book fair generated $60,000 in sales. That is correct, $60,000. Still waiting for the specific successes at Dunbar School and I guess it’s fair to say you have no specific information to support your claim the BBOE spent a substantial sum of money in the last year or two. Does that mean you owe me $100?
SPY, in regards to your comment “Scholastic has been criticized for inappropriately marketing to children.” Who should they be “marketing” to? After all, they are a primarily a children’s book publishing company.
Hysterical is a subjective word. People can choose for themselves. The vast majority of the public in attendance witnessed the entire incident and vocally supported the reprimand is also what happens at a wrestling match. That does not make the vast majority of the public in attendance witnessed the entire incident and vocally supported the reprimand correct. I have seen fact-based movies where the vast majority of the public in attendance witnessed the entire incident and vocally supported a lynching. Hysteria is contagious. Mark was not invited to speak at the meeting? Did he just ‘pop by?’ Or did the BOE ask (invite) him to speak? Mark Anastasi rudely interrupted me to interject his opinion? He is a trained lawyer. His opinion may be, a little, valid. Other than getting elected, what supports your opinion? If he was rude, does one wrong turn deserve another?
With the amount of money ConnCAN is paying to all these people to do all this work, it would be cheaper for them to not get the Charter school contracts and just keep the money they pay all their operatives. ConnCAN has more people watching everything than the CIA.
SPY, there will be no new “charter” that runs Dunbar School. The only perk of entering the Commissioner’s Network is the extra funding that school receives. The Commissioner allocated an additional $1.3 million this past year to improve Dunbar School. FUSE took $435,000 off the top and lined their pockets. The vast majority of the remaining funds were allocated to hire a teaching assistant for every classroom and some additional positions. The Commissioner’s Network is a farce and disingenuous. How does an outside company receive $1,000,000 to add an additional adult to every classroom but the BBOE does not? If funding of the poor performing is the issue and the only benefit of joining the Commissioner’s Network is the guarantee of additional funding, the money should just be given to those who know the students and community best, that would be the BBOE. I am confident the BBOE will achieve better results with this funding than FUSE could ever have.
SPY, hours after you defended the CT News Junkie Op Ed I referenced, which was “written” by Mr. Francis, you requested I put up a link to the story. It is relevant because you clearly defended the Op Ed before you had read one word of it. Are you a paid proponent of charter schools, privatization etc.?
As far as Mr. & Ms. Francis having children in a charter, his wife chose to be involved in the educational process and joined Excel Bridgeport. Some people become head of the BOE, others become the head of Excel. If we need to ignore the views of one person, we need to ignore the views of the other. Mr. Francis may have been quoting information he gleaned from sources he researched on his own. There are other sources of information than BOE meetings and Google. I believe Mr. Owen Francis. I have no reason not to. I have no evidence he is a liar. Post a link to the article. We can read it and decide.
Never mind, I found the link.
www .ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/op-ed_charter_advocates_give_new_meaning_to_chutzpah/
SPY, I already posted the link to the article. The school year just entered on June 30, 2014, therefore not a single statistic or datapoint mentioned in his Op Ed is available in any public domain. Not on Dunbar School’s, the BBOE’s or the CSDE’s websites. He is not a parent of Dunbar School and is not involved in the school from day to day. As a matter of fact, he and his wife are originally from NY and have only lived in Bridgeport for approximately three years. He absolutely did not write this. I have absolutely no doubt I am accurate. A paid charter school proponent wrote it.
I am still waiting for proof. I will bet you cannot post one shred of evidence.
The story you posted states their has been quite a bit of success at Dunbar.
Living in BPT for three years is a long time. How long does someone have to live in BPT before their opinion and research are valid?
SPY, please put up a link, any link, that references the statistics and data identified in the Op Ed. It doesn’t exist. His children do not attend Dunbar School and never have. They attend Achievement First Charter School. You yourself stated he successfully conducted research. That would mean the same research can be conducted by others. I researched all the websites I listed previously. Where is all the data he quoted available to the general public? It does not exist in the public domain. It will be at least 2-3 months before the 2013/2014 data is available on the CSDE website. I have made a compelling argument and you know it.
Not really. He could have gone to the school and looked at the actual papers. We will have to see if that info appears on their website in 2-3 months, but by then FUSE will be gone. Hopefully the new charter that runs Dunbar will be successful.
I do not care who does the work as long as they do it well. If the BOE was good at doing it, they would still be doing it.
SPY, Mr. Francis could not go to Dunbar School to review the SBAC test scores because that information is received by the CSDE, not a local school district or a school within that district. The CSDE often keeps the results embargoed for over a month. The SBAC test scores for 2013/2014 have not been released, period.
BOE SPY is missing in action (MIA) but I’m sure he has an answer for Ken Moales proclaimed Mack Henry Allen who was employed by the organization was the victim of a “high-tech … lynching” and portrayed as a “black rapist.” Moales did not stay for the final vote. Come on BOE SPY, tell us all why Mr. Moales took a page from Clarence Thomas.
Yeah, I do. Remember, my only point was we did not know enough about Allen’s sex offense to make a judgment. If you read the entire story, even after the advert, you will find:
While neither California nor Connecticut list him on sex-offender registries, Texas, where he lived and served jail time as a result of gang and drug involvement did and refused to remove him from its list.
It would appear neither CT nor CA considered his CA crime a sex offense, and Texas refused to remove him from the sex offender list. Moales may have had a point. We are talking about Texas. More minorities have been put to death by Texas than any other state. Some of those people were later found to be innocent by DNA testing. One guy was found to be innocent and Texas was going to fry him anyway until the Supreme Court stepped in. This would mean, in Texas a minority is more likely to be executed for being innocent than they would be for being guilty in any other state. Allen committed this Texas sex offense in CA when he was 13. When Allen asked Texas to give a brother a break, they said NO! Look up some conviction stats in Texas as they apply to blacks and whites or crimes blacks commit against whites and vice versa. Black on white crimes receive considerably harsher treatment than white on black crimes. Just saying.
Moales does not present himself well. I guess you do not have to be that bright to go to and receive a master’s degree from Yale. Or he could have been disgusted by how people are so quick to believe this black guy committed some heinous crime against a child.
The article says ‘storming out of the meeting and threatening to sue the school board.’ The word ‘storming’ is subjective. The writer could have said ‘left the meeting early.’ One person’s storming is another person’s walking. I don’t know Moales but this could be the impression he gave from his body gestures. Most of the people who characterized Moales’ behavior in a derogatory way have a vested interest in doing so. As a pastor, Moales probably has a habit of using theatrical gesturing when he speaks and would tend to speak with a more than ‘normal’ bravado in his voice because that is what he does at ‘work’ at least once a week.
Fran was supposed to discuss dismissing FUSE with the board before doing so. However, after meeting behind closed doors she dismissed FUSE without discussion. Not exactly open, accountable and transparent. Did Fran receive her marching orders from the CEA before FUSE could be shown to be making positive changes causing even more embarrassment (Dunbar’s failing, not monitoring background checks, FUSE did what the BBOE could not) to the BOE?
SPY, if you had been present at last night’s meeting, you would have heard Ms. Rabinowitz issue a report where she informed the BBOE that the CSDE, specifically Morgan Barth, Chief Turnaround Officer, contacted her last week and informed her based on the newly discovered information regarding FUSE’s failure to conduct background checks as required by the MOU and the discovery of Mr. Allen’s extensive criminal record, Commissioner Pryor felt the FUSE partnership should be terminated. The partnership was not terminated until she shared some information with both the BBOE and the public. Then there was a 30-45 minute executive session where she shared confidential information with the BBOE. Under the Freedom of Information Act, executive session is allowed for five specific reasons. The discussion regarding an agreement or contract is one of the specified reasons. Clearly, the information was compelling because the BBOE voted UNANIMOUSLY to terminate the FUSE partnership. Fran Rabinowitz did not terminate the MOU with FUSE, that decision was made by the remaining eight elected BBOE members.
SPY, speaking of propaganda, please share all the measurable “positive changes” that occurred over this past school year under the stewardship of FUSE. I mean we don’t want any “subjective” comments like the school was cleaner and the halls were more orderly. Please give us specific and measurable data and statistics to support your claim of “positive changes.”
If we find someone in the BBOE with a criminal history, could we break ties with the BOE? This would actually be worse than the FUSE issue. The BOE did a background check and hired the person anyway. OR the criminal act happened while they were BBOE employees. This would only be fair.
SPY, I already stated my position on whether convicted felons should be allowed to work for the BBOE. In my opinion, it depends on a variety of facts and each incident and each individual’s circumstances, however I do not believe individuals convicted of drug dealing or sexual assault should ever be allowed to work in our schools where children could be placed at risk.
Was Allen convicted of sexual assault as a 13-year-old? Or was he on the sex offender list for something like voyeurism of a minor engaging in a sexual act? Like his buddy engaged the services of a prostitute and Allen was nearby (within eyeshot) waiting for his buddy.
So if someone working for the BOE is a convicted drug dealer then we can break ties with them? Is that the bar we have to crawl under? If you look, at least one person working for the BOE is a convicted drug dealer. I am not going to out this person because they have turned a corner in their life, but there is one and this person is in direct contact with students.
BOE SPY, why did he say “high-tech … lynching” and what did he mean?
I don’t know. Possibly people doing Google searches, finding something inflammatory and running with it? As soon as everybody heard ‘sex offender registry,’ they went nuts. Even though they did not know the facts. He is only registered in Texas and it is for something he did when he was 13. Not what you would imagine when you think sex offender.
CORRECTION–BOE SPY, wrong again!
Moales did not earn any degree from Yale University.
Moales told the CT Post he didn’t complete his master’s there because to do so he had been required to attend a “gay Eucharist.” This absurd–almost BOE SPY-like–claim by Moales was refuted by the then-dean of the Yale Divinity School.
For more info, refer here.
blog.ctnews.com/connecticutpostings/2013/10/08/did-moales-lie-about-gay-eucharist/
My bad. An honest mistake but feel free to blow it out of proportion as you like to do. He was accepted to Yale and attended master’s degree-level classes at Yale.
BOE SPY,
Glenn Beck took a theology class at Yale–wow! So what?
You completely ignore the fact Moales lied and blamed a well-respected institution on why he didn’t earn a degree.
Moales took no responsibility for his own actions and blamed someone else. Sound familiar, SPY?
Worse, Moales offered a poor-me excuse that insinuates disgust at and dismissal of people who are gay and who celebrate the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist. Come to think of it, that would include a good number … when you consider there are more than 2 billion Christians.
What would Jesus think of that, I wonder?
“Subjective?”
BOE SPY:
I challenge you to a public debate on the future of public education in Bridgeport.
Just me and you and a moderator who is a professor of education from a well-respected institution of higher learning in Connecticut selected by the board of the Bridgeport Public Education Fund.
Come on out of hiding and show your clear expertise in the light of your peers and fellow citizens, please!
If we can get an audience, maybe they can chip in $5 each … all of which will go to the Bridgeport “Lighthouse” budget.
What do you say?
Pete Spain, you need to stop messing with BOE SPY’s mind by giving her facts he can’t challenge and understand. Pete, you are making BOE SPY look bad and her handlers might get mad at him because she is not earning the money they are paying him.
Pete, what a brilliant idea. I would be willing to donate the $100 BOE SPY owes me to the entity of your choice. My guess is it will be a sell-out crowd. In my guesstimation, BOE SPY will not be able to take the thrashing he/she will be subjected too. He/she will likely “storm” out of the room but not before yelling “I am going to sue you, Pete and the Bridgeport Public Education Fund.” He/she will then probably exit the room and then quickly return to proclaim “I am also suing Maria Pereira, Sarah Littman and Scholastic Book Fairs for promoting literacy and helping to market children’s books to children.”
Are you a Finch lackey? Are you Moales? The more desperate he gets, the more hysterical you appear. Hmmm?
Are you Megan DeSombre? Can you tell Peter and Maria who you are?
Not really. I will keep my comments and opinions in this forum. Thank you very much. The only debate that needs to be had on public education is performance data. It is not about proving you’re right and I am wrong. It is about ‘how do we get these kids educated enough to find a job.’ Don’t we all want to end poverty, crime, racism and intolerance? I call the answer to all these problems education. I could care less about unions, who gets the money, teacher rights or the rules that dictate the process that needs to be followed to fire someone. I care about getting the info from those books into those heads. From what I have seen, the BBOE sucks at it. I think we should find someone else. My opinions are fickle. If the BBOE improves I will like them again.
Pete–Lighthouse? BPT’s public fund ripoff babysitting service? Not only is the public tasked for paying for your baby sitting so you can stay home all day, these kids get to trash a school. A win-win. If at least a little discipline and education went on that would be different. Please, Lighthouse is a joke.
SPY, when you ask a question there should be a question mark at the end of the sentence, not a period. Whether there is a period or question mark doesn’t really make a difference. You were clearly implying I was pushed out of the WFP.
SPY, I am going to agree with some of your comments regarding the Lighthouse program. That program is not managed by the BBOE, it is managed by the City. The vast majority of the program is federally funded. However parents do pay for the program utilizing a sliding scale. It serves as a pot of gold for patronage jobs. Tammy Pappa, the Director, received a $15,000 raise 2-3 years ago. Judy Marella, Mike Marella’s wife is employed with Lighthouse. My daughter was enrolled there and I would often find the children just playing in the gym and seldom saw the children focused on academics.
SPY, are you implying if all minorities received a good education, there would no longer be “racism or intolerance?” Are you saying every single minority who has a master’s degree or a doctorate is not subjected to any form of racism because of their level of education? President Obama is well educated, does that mean he has never be subjected to racism or intolerance? What an incredibly naïve, ridiculous and outrageous remark.
No, I am claiming if everybody received a good education there would be considerably less racism and intolerance. I think racism and intolerance are a product of ignorance. Ignorance is solved by education. There is no cure for stupid.
SPY, so you are saying if all Bridgeport’s children were well-educated this would help to eradicate racism and intolerance? Really, there are millions of well-educated people in the United States. That includes a variety of ethnicities and races, however racism and intolerance are still prevalent. Are you implying uneducated people are racist but educated people are not? Do you really believe everything you write on this blog? So if I had a master’s degree I am less likely to be racist when compared to a high school dropout?
Maria–I said everyone. I know BPT is your whole world but not mine. Yes, if you had a master’s degree you would be less likely to be racist or intolerant. Minorities have the same odds of being racist as anyone else. There are a lot of highly educated people in the country but the US has a ~79% high school graduation rate (~65% in BPT). So there are a lot of uneducated people as well.
Read, I know it is not a trashy romance novel but see if you can manage this.
www .hsu.edu/uploadedFiles/Faculty/Academic_Forum/2003-4/2003-4AFTheEffectsofHigherEd.pdf
Some studies have shown one of the major creators of tolerance is higher education. In their analysis of the 1984 General Society Survey Data, Lawrence Bobo and Frederick C. Licari focused on the effects of cognitive reasoning and the level of a person’s education on political tolerance. They examined whether more education increased tolerance even in the case where the individual disliked the group in question. They found a strong correlation between years of education and tolerance.
Why do you not believe everything I say on this blog? Doesn’t it fit into your worldview? Is there something about your education and your racial views you want to tell us?
SPY, I haven’t read a “trashy romance novel” in over 20 years, but if I do decide to read one, that will be my decision to make. Our entire exchange was around racism and in order to substantiate your position on racism you put up a link to a study that has nothing to do with racism. The link opens up with the following: ” he purpose of the study was to determine whether a correlation existed between increasing years of higher education and tolerance toward women, immigrants, Islamic people and homosexuals.” This study has absolutely nothing to do with racism. Are you trying to “muddy” the waters?
Other countries have civil wars to hopefully achieve a democracy and meanwhile Mr. Moales vacates his seat and walks out on his vote. What a smack in the face to our troops who defend America and die in Iraq and Afghanistan to uphold democracy. The fact he did not even stay for the final vote is a smack in the face of democracy. What next? Will state Democrats and state Republicans leave the chamber every time they know they are going to lose? This is so disrespectful to our veterans and troops and Mayor Finch should NOT allow this behavior. Freedom DOES NOT come free, it comes at a price (blood, sweat, tears and life), but all he cares about is ‘the black rapist image’–what about the IMAGE of DEMOCRACY!!!
You think the BBOE is a democracy? With so many fascist members who sit in the palm of the socialist CEA, how could you think that? Even if he did vote, would that have changed the outcome? Walking out was exercising his freedom of speech, the same freedom all those people fought and died for in the revolutionary war. BTW–Iraq was a war for oil and Afghanistan was in retaliation for 911. Neither really had that much to do with upholding democracy.
SPY, when the previous fascist members were sitting in the palm of Mayor Finch, was that a shining example of democracy? Under Mayor Finch’s stewardship the vast majority of the votes were 6 to 3. I do not recall a single incident where Mr. Simmons, Ms. Baraka or I stormed out of a meeting because we lost a vote. I agree with you, Moales had every right to leave the meeting, but it doesn’t mean yelling “I am going to sue you, Sauda and this Board” demonstrates an acceptable level of professionalism and decorum.
You’re right. Your group is OK because that other group was not better. Perfect WFP logic.
I remember an incident where one member screamed down a speaker in a 10-12 minute hysterical tirade. Any guesses who that member was?
I wonder if this member was drummed out of the WFP. That is how they promote getting rid of bad teachers. Maybe they use the same tactic with members. This tactic brings every ex-teacher into suspect. If someone used to be a teacher, did they leave or were they drummed out?
SPY, are you implying an elected BBOE member shouted down a public speaker for 10-12 minutes during public comment? If so, I have absolutely no idea whom you are referring to. I don’t even recall Moales demonstrating this behavior towards a public speaker.
A speaker who was invited to speak at a BOE meeting. That is OK, Maria. We remember.
SPY, please do tell. You are clearly attempting to imply I was engaged in a 10-12 minute “hysterical tirade” directed at an invited speaker. Please share the name of the guest speaker. This individual was clearly at a public meeting so it’s not a big secret. In addition, most of the regular BBOE meetings are videotaped by Soundview. There must be video footage to support your claims. Please share this individual’s name with all OIB’s readers.
SPY, one minute you’re referring to the WFP as my “group” and the next minute you are claiming I was “drummed out of the WFP.” Which one is it?
www .youtube.com/watch?v=A7mwGzyESXQ
Does this ring a bell?
I didn’t claim anyone was drummed out of anywhere. Please re-read my comments as many times as needed to fully comprehend my comment.
SPY, you wrote “I wonder if this member was drummed out of the WFP.” This was in reference to the BBOE member who had a “hysterical tirade” for “10-12 minutes” in regards to a “invited speaker.” You were clearly referring to me. Do you need to re-read your own comments too in order to better comprehend them?
I wasn’t claiming. I was asking a question.
You think all elected officials should walk out of a vote whenever they will lose. BOE SPY, you think it is good when American soldiers die because the wars were about oil and retaliation. You think someone is fascist because you don’t like them. BOE SPY, you think someone should never vote if their vote will not influence the outcome. BOE SPY you think little children who cry and say nana nana poo poo are using free speech. 🙂 “Ahem,” let me now exercise my free speech–nana nana poo poo!
I think choosing to not vote could send a louder message than casting a sole dissident vote. Walking out to show your disgust with a corrupt system is a loud message. Since so many people are talking about it, the message was heard.
I think Iraq was a bigger mistake than Vietnam. The entire thing was pure folly. Since Iraq was recently almost overrun by the Taliban it would seem we made things worse. We had to ask Iran for help. What does that tell you? I think Afghanistan was slightly less foolish. We achieved nothing there as well but we did not make it worse. Both were REALLY bad ideas. Just my opinion.
BOE SPY, is was his anger management problem and impulsiveness that made him scream, not his calculated attempt to demonstrate and show the world a lesson in free speech. The same impulsiveness that made him buy a luxury car when some members of his congregation hope they can even buy their next meal.
The same impulsiveness that got him a speeding ticket and the same impulsiveness that led him to not show up at his court date.
Maybe, I don’t know the guy nor am I a mind reader. Obviously, you have one of those pleasures. Or are you just making assumptions?
I am making assumptions based on his behavior.
If you mean based on his behavior and motives, me too.
True dat.
And the FUSE saga continues, the latest from the Hartford Courant. The Director of Jumoke charter schools, Mr. Sharpe’s nephew, issued a press release terminating their relationship with their own management company. This would be funny if it didn’t involve $53 million in taxpayer funds.
www .courant.com/community/hartford/hc-hartford-jumoke-fuse-0712-20140711,0,5722179.story
Yeah, the BBOE’s record would be a gas if it didn’t involve 22,000 kids and $225,000,000 tax dollars.