Also conspicuous in his absence APS Supt Winston Brooks.
Aside from that, the meetings were largely indistinguishable and classic APS; feel-good doing no good. Again, Brooks et al, expected participants to do their work without the data necessary to do the work. Not one single data point was furnished upon which participants could build; we have no idea how big the problem is, where it resides, or even whether things are getting better or worse.
Stakeholder participation and input was limited to three District supplied questions; what current efforts are successful (again, with no data to support any of them), what are the family and community responsibilities in solving the problem, and what are other possible solutions?
Among solutions, I suggested two; revive character education in the APS and, start telling interest holders the truth about the problem. The board resolution that adopted Character Counts! as the Districts model for character education is still binding. Not that you could tell. The District hasn't spent even one dime on a district wide effort to provide character education for students.
As for telling the truth, Brooks and the District need to share with interest holders, whatever information and data they have compiled. Data driven decision making is impossible without data; problems cannot be both hidden and solved at the same time.
The District, read Winston Brooks, has not surrendered one bit of data on bullying or upon one of its most important driving influences, student behavior (discipline) in general.
Why is Brooks hiding the truth, except that his administration is damned by it or its absence?Why is there not one word in the Journal about his cowardice or corruption, except that they are complicit in it, or complacent about it?
photo Mark Bralley
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