1. Every other board member (aside from the new member) has been supported by or financially benefitted from the 7 PACs run by the small group trying to hijack the community.
2. They are not: yes-men, rubber stamps, puppets nor pawns.
3. They listen to anyone who wants to speak to them.
4. They are willing to engage in dialog and debate on any topic that is important to the community.
5. They have served tirelessly as defensive shields for the students, parents and staff of Lebanon schools to the best of their abilities. (For no compensation and admidst slanderous attacks.)
6. They stand up to Jim Robinson and district staff and ask for truth and honest data. (Although more often than not, the information is incomplete, not forthcoming, and in some cases, blatantly misleading.)
7. No one in their right mind would stay in there for this long under the barage of attacks unless they were not convinced that they were doing the right thing.
8. AND Finally - They represent the majority of the community, not a vocal, abusive minority.
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3 comments:
I love your site and applaud your efforts. I also understand your desire for anonymity, but your words will carry more weight if you sign your name. Our freedom depends not only on citizens willing to speak up, but also to stand-up.
I call your attention to the piece I wrote for the Albany Democrate about the other bloggers. Best of luck, who ever you are.
Open Letter to the Editor
The Lebanon School Board did it again Monday night. They started off very business like and ended in total chaos. The focus of conflict was, who else, ‘Jim Robbinson’. Having summoned the courage to bench Mr. Robinson a few weeks ago, the board has now fallen to bickering over what to do next. Representative government does not work well, when we elect bumbling representatives.
Two weeks ago at the Lebanon High School auditorium a parade of speakers expressed their discontent with Jim Robinson. Speaker, after speaker - students, parents, teachers and elected officials alike – congratulated the board on their courage in placing Mr. Robinson on paid leave and urged the board to stay the course. No one stood up for Jim Robinson. All the voices were negative. I can only conclude from this out pouring of public sentiment, that, deserved or not, Mr. Robinson has lost the support of the community.
With such a clear declaration from the electorate, why does the board now falter? It seems clear that some school board members either still support Mr. Robinson, or are afraid of him. Whichever their motivation, this division between the board members will continue to fester as long as Mr. Robinson is present. If Jim Robinson was the best educator ever and the Lebanon Schools would collapse without him, I could understand the impasse. This is of course clearly not the case! There are other administrators that can adequately fill his position, without the power struggles that have drained the energy and shattered the goodwill of this school board. So why continue to bicker? The prudent action is to remove the major obstacle to board harmony and get on with the business of education.
Mrs. Springer has often called for more unity on the board and some of the public comments at the last meeting made the same request. The Robinson evaluation process guarantees continued legal and political turmoil. The board needs to bite the bullet and buy Jim Robinson out of his contract.
Even if Mr. Robinson eventually receives a glowing evaluation from the school board, I doubt it will restore public confidence. The speakers the other night came to the microphone with opinions and observation that were independent of those of the school board. Right or wrong, due process or no, it seems the good citizens of Lebanon have already passed judgment on Mr. Robinson. How can a School Superintendent be expected to function properly without at least a modicum of public support?
A buy-out would spare Mr. Robinson the risk of a negative evaluation and it would spare the board and the community weeks of infighting and political melodrama. It would be money well spent, if it allows us to get back to focusing on the education of our children.
Paul Bullock
Lebanon, OR
Good letter, Mr. Bullock. Thank you for sharing it.
However, I want to support the desire to blog anonymously, especially in a small town on a controversial topic. It could be that whoever writes this blog would lose their job if their identity were known. Or it could be that others might be violent towards them. Lots of reasons it might be best to stay anonymous while voicing anti- CARES and anti-Robinson opinions.
I agree with IE. Whoever is writing this blog would have a lot at stake, especially if they are a school employee. It's seems more honest to reveal your identity, but in this town, it's safer to be anonymous. People can get ugly.
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