All schools, all the time

In these final few posting days (today and Monday) before Election Day, you didn’t think that I would talk about anything other than schools, schools, schools, did you?

I’m really puzzled by the contention made by Frank George in the Sun article that said:

George meanwhile said his fellow merchants have been intimidated into placing signs in their windows supporting Measure H.

This statement, I think requires a lot more clarification and a lot more supporting information.   After all, who are the intimidators that are pressuring independent business owners to post a sign that they may not want to?   I am imagining a roving band of parents and students storming into each establishment, taking a business owner (or manager) into the backroom, shaking their fists and saying, “put this up or else!”   Of course, when someone needs more “convincing,” they bring in their “secret weapon” an extraordinarily cute seven year old girl in pigtails that breaks down the will of the victim with her undeniable cuteness.  

I did notice last week when I was on Park Street, that Pillow Park Plaza did not succumb to these intimidation tactics and was sign-free.   I only noticed a few Pro-Measure H signs scattered on Park Street.  One I noticed in a second floor window above the Hob Nob,  one at Shear Delights, and one in the Theatre Construction office across the street from the Theatre.   There may be more, but I wasn’t really performing a thorough audit. 

I also enjoyed the barrage of letters that rolled into the Sun offices in anticipation of this final push toward Tuesday.    One of the more noteworthy ones was from Mike Robles-Wong who stated that the Community of Harbor Bay Isle Owners Association Board of Directors support a yes vote on H.  But even more interesting is Mike RW’s anecdote about his experience with the way real “fatty” school districts are run as opposed to AUSD, highlights:

…Nearly 20 years ago, I was hired to join the management team of another school district in our county that had fallen under state control. That district had failed to live within its means, and one of the more prominent tactics the state-appointed administrator used to correct the situation was to restructure some staff in ways that emulated more financially successful districts elsewhere. For example, employing a single personnel director, rather than the common practice of having one for teachers and another for non-teachers, was copied from the Alameda Unified School District. Being a smaller district, AUSD generally staffed functions in a more efficient manner, and low turnover meant that employees were very knowledgeable and were adept at multi-tasking.

If you walk into the administrative offices of the AUSD, you’ll see a lot of empty desks and very few staff. AUSD has cut positions in the past to stay viable. Some of those cuts are clearly hurting our children. One of the trustees of the Peralta Community College District recently told me that they are dealing with growing numbers of Alameda students who are adversely impacted by our local schools having too few high school counselors and other specialists. Cut the pay and benefits of the teachers, you say? AUSD teachers and administrators were and still are consistently among the lowest paid not only in Alameda County, but within a 25-mile radius. It seems apparent that the question of whether there is fat or not is a non-issue…

And of course there is the Tom Pavletic response, insisting on splitting hairs about what other writers have summarized about his statement as opposed to directly quoting him, as is his preference.   I’m not sure if direct quote (”Did you read the news story about how much AUSD employee unions, the Alameda Education Foundation and the political action committee supporting this tax [KASE] are spending?”) as opposed to the distillation by the writers (”In a similar vein, Mr. Pavletic asks why we’ve seen no story on how much money AUSD, the district’s unions, and the Alameda Education Foundation have spent on the parcel tax campaign. Again, there’s no story here.”) would have provided a response any different to the “question”…I assume it was rhetorical since Tom P. seemed to not want it necessarily answered, but rather to just throw it out into the ether to insinuate rather than to actually try to get an answer.  

The answer, is as the letter writers said, there is no story there, much like the Franklin Conspiracy Theory. The answer is, there is no story about it because no money has been given to the campaign from AUSD or AEF.   Unions are allowed to give money, writing a story about it would be akin to writing a story every single time a person sends a check to a candidate for public office that they support, a non-issue.