Please sir, may I have some more

I never understood how Don Roberts made the decision when to refresh his website and start on a “clean slate” so to speak.   Was it ten posts?  a weeks worth?  a gut feel?   It will always remain an Alameda mystery, like the Burrito tunnel.

Anyway, this particular post (and subsequent response) caught my attention.   Have you ever noticed that when Don doesn’t agree with a response letter to something he’s already posted he will put it below the first letter, but if he does agree with it he’ll put it above the initial letter.   But I digress.   The first letter was from Alamedan Lon Elledge who, after a visit to Mississippi , understood why AUSD is in the financial bind that it currently is in.  That’s right folks, it’s not what you would think such as items like fiscal mismanagement or me too clauses or unfunded mandates or reduced revenues from the state.  No, it’s…

Summer lunch programs.

Back to L.A.

Apparently the LA Times Editorial board failed to actually read through the Safe Schools Curriculum itself and instead, relied on the many press releases and/or conservative editorials on the issue in which to get their information.  In fact, I find it odd that the LA Times found the need to weigh in on an issue that hasn’t been discussed at all in their own paper, but I am at least gratified that the LA Times Editorial Board at least knew the distinction between Alameda, the City, as opposed to Alameda, the County, unlike this woman.

Talk about taking editorial liberties with what the reality is.   Here is where is breaks down for me, the LA Times, of course, has to make the requisite disclaimer that they are actually against bullying — I mean, who isn’t — but right off the bat they begin obfuscating the truth:

It’s high time that schools took anti-bullying measures more seriously. We just never thought that would include requiring fifth-graders to recite the meaning of each letter in LGBT…

Really, LA Times Editorial Board?  

Stormin’ Mormons

An article was published in Time to talk about the larger issue of the emergence of people of the Mormon faith as a political force to be reckoned with.   The example that leads off the entire article strikes close to home.   Highlights:

Last November, Jay Pimentel began hearing that people in his neighborhood were receiving letters about him. Pimentel lives in Alameda, Calif., a small, liberal-leaning community hanging off Oakland into the San Francisco Bay. Pimentel, who is a Mormon, had supported Proposition 8, the ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage. And that made him a target. “Dear Neighbor,” the letter began, “Our neighbors, Colleen and Jay Pimentel” — and it gave their address — “contributed $1,500.00 to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign. NEIGHBORS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THEIR NEIGHBORS’ CHOICES.” The note accused the Pimentels of “obsessing about same-sex marriage.” It listed a variety of local causes that recipients should support — “unlike the Pimentels.”…

Really?

So this one popped up on my Google alerts, apparently the Sacramento outfit that put out the lovely press release about the “multisexual curriculum” (shudder) isn’t done with our town just yet.   Oh no.   This new press release came down on the Christian News Wire claiming that AUSD is violating a federal law:

Alameda Unified School District is violating federal law on parental rights, Capitol Resource Institute has discovered, with its new mandate on pro-homosexuality curriculum.
 
The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (20 U.S.C. § 1232h) governs any survey, analysis, or evaluation given to students. …

“Alameda’s new curriculum requires written and verbal expression of student ideas, with a clear intent to evaluate whether students endorse homosexuality. It is intolerant of traditional views on human sexuality,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute…

Bus stop it

For those that drive Otis, the section from Grand to Park you may have noticed that bus stops have been reinstalled in from of Lum Elementary School after much drama around whether or not they were safe, being shunted back and forth and etc and so forth.     Recently, the Alameda Journal posted a My Word about the issue that, understandably, given the length of time this has been going on, got some of the details a bit incorrect.

The letter writer says:

IN JUNE 2004 mid-block bus stops were installed in front of Donald Lum school. Due to safety concerns, the stops were removed…

In actuality, the removal was prompted by one  police officer who contacted AC Transit, eventually the safety concerns cited by that one police officer were found to be non-existent.   Then, the letter goes on to say:

…On Oct. 25, 2006, after the May 2006 installation of the crosswalk’s in-pavement lights, the Transportation Commission passed a motion to eliminate the possibility of putting bus stops in front of Lum school due to safety concerns…

Are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?

Seriously, I was going to stop talking about the anti-bullying curriculum, I really was, after all there is quite a bit going on out there, cops leaving K-9 dogs in cars, Troy Lancaster’s killer’s conviction, etc and so forth.   But as I was going through my comments this morning, this particular message struck me because it’s something that has been brought up repeatedly during the course of this controversy and has bugged me all along:

… These little kids are not mentally developed for being able to comprehend and engage in philosophical and moral debates – hell it appears members of our school board don’t have that level of understanding and tolerance!

“Little kids” are smarter than opponents of this curriculum have made them out to be.   While everyone likes to talk about how smart their children are, even from birth, the notion that elementary aged children are too naive to comprehend philsophical and moral debates is just offensive.   They get it.   And unlike adults, when complex issues are edited to be explained in the simplest terms as in a lesbian is a “woman who has a romantic relationship with women.”   The large majority can accept that without knowing the mechanics of how that works in the plumbing department.

“People always think something’s all true”

I imagine in movies where the protagonist triumphs over adversity in front of an audience there is often the stage direction line written in, “Crowd breaks out in thunderous applause.”

That is exactly what happened last night when the School Board voted 3 – 2 (Mooney, Tam, Jensen — for / McMahon, Spencer — against),  to adopt the anti-bullying curriculum.   I was watching from home and as soon as the vote was made the volume level on my television peaked to the point where I literally had to put it on mute so that I wouldn’t wake my kids.  

It was clear when the Board Members began their comments and questions which had already made up their minds about how they were going to vote.   Tracy Jensen and Ron Mooney were clear locks for the curriculum simply based on the questions asked.   Trish Spencer was the mouthpiece for every kitchen sink opposition question that has been thrown at this curriculum, a clear vote against.

Whatever happened to fairness and equality

Best quote of the weekand literally made me LOL (not say the letters LOL but chuckle aloud), in fact, going back and finding and reading it again made me laugh again this morning.   A combination between just being fed up with the entire business of the anti-bullying curriculum, the ensuing shitstorm around it, and my frustration because as hard as I have been trying to be understanding of the opposition’s position, I just can’t.   Quote:

You are so concerned about what goes into other people’s mouths, I thought that I would return the favor.

Thanks ANT.

Well, not marching, they’ll dance at us

Just as a reminder, the big meeting over the anti-bullying curriculum is happening tonight, 6:30 p.m. at Kofman auditorium.  With all of the google alerts that have been popping up asking people to get out to the meeting, it looks like it will be quite the event.   I’m not sure if the School Board has decided whether to just keep on chugging along tonight until it all ends, or if they are going to continue it another night.

Probably chugging on would be the best bet otherwise they’ll just get more people to get more people to come out then this thing will be going on forever.

The best roundup of our own controversy and Castro Valley’s — the Castro Valley School District is being sued because a lesbian pastor spoke at Castro Valley High School’s Diversity Day – can be found at Mombian.   At the pinnacle on the over-the-top rhetoric meter are allegations that were made by parents that the pastor gave:

…step-by-step instructions on how to become gay and transsexual.

Set a course, Mr. Sulu

As usual Mike McMahon has gone above and beyond his call of duty as a School Board member and has not only kept his indispensable site continuously updated but he has also posted the list of folks who were unable to speak at Tuesday’s meeting so that they will know when approximately they are scheduled to speak on Monday. 

The meeting, by the way, will be held at Kofman Auditorium on Monday night at 6:30 p.m.    Kofman Auditorium is  located on Central Avenue between Walnut and Oak Streets.

According to reports there were a lot of people who wanted to speak but were turned away at the door due to lack of capacity.  According to Mike M. if everyone who submitted speaker slips showed up to speak on Monday and took their full three minutes that meeting alone will last five hours.   Of course this doesn’t include the folks who didn’t make it through the doors to submit a speaker slip.