Get Schooled

By middleschoolteacher

August 1, 2008 9:29 AM | Link to this

I know this is not addressing your main question, but it does address one of the other items in the first paragraph. How does Eric Johnson, the one pushing the voucher program, feel about this survey question from January 8, 2008? This is the same research company as the one that conducted the voucher poll.

Q. Is your opinion of the Georgia state legislature favorable or unfavorable?

Favorable 31% Unfavorable 58% Don’t know 11%

Maybe Eric Johnson needs to act on this first!

School boards tend to know what the superintendent and central office personnel divulge to them. Did the superintendent in Cobb County know of this ahead of time? That is the question that should be asked!

By Jeff

August 1, 2008 10:20 AM | Link to this

If he was not proven guilty in a court of law, he is innocent.

If he is innocent, this is a non-issue.

By jim d

August 1, 2008 12:07 PM | Link to this

The question is if the board should have been told.

To that I give a resounding YES. The deception alone, in my twisted way of thinking would warrant dismissal

By catlady

August 1, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this

Being accused is not the same as guilty, however, if a letter of reprimand is in his file he should never have been considered for the position, and those who put his name up before the board should have a letter of reprimand in THEIR file.

Now every whacko (or truly aggrieved person) will be filing suit against him and the board if there is ever the remote appearance of misconduct on his part. The board takes on an enormous amount of liability on this to keep him as principal.

Whose deception was it? His? the Supt’s office/director of personnel? His former school system?

Reviewing how the charges were investigated sounds a little too much like blaming others for a bad decision.

By catlady

August 1, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

Jeff: in a court of law, you are either found guilty or not guilty. You are never found innocent of the charges. If found not guilty,you may or may not be innocent; it depends on the standards of evidence (ie, guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, or one of the other standards). (And, of course, it is possible to be found guilty when you are actually innocent, since mistakes can be made).

School personnel must be above any kind of reproach in regards to sexual issues.

By jim d

August 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this

Now moving right along, let’s discuss the brinery issue.

The AJC article claims; “The newspaper found that the district chose vendors without competitive bidding, routinely paid too much for equipment and bought millions of dollars of top-shelf equipment that it didn’t need. The articles helped lead to a federal probe and the indictments of the Scotts and Harris.”

So here’s an interesting question. “Who P#sed of who at the AJC? The AJC has been made aware of non competitive bidding that has happened in Gwinnett for years (in violation of policy and law) and has often chosen to ignore it.

Reckon why that is?

By jim d

August 1, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

Damn B and N keys!

By luvs2teach

August 1, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this

Off-topic: any teachers out there having trouble with their Sonny money cards? I just left $35 worth of stuff on the Office Depot counter because my card wouldn’t work - others in line said they were having trouble, too, at other stores.

Just wondering.

By jim d

August 1, 2008 2:40 PM | Link to this

Without meaning to be onerous, trite, or contentious let me say; “You get what you pay for”

By luvs2teach

August 1, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this

jim d - I wouldn’t expect a smart aleck comment from you at all, lol.

And you’re right - I got what I paid for - nothing! The clerk was surprised that I didn’t want to use my own money to pay for the stuff.

Have a good weekend everyone!

By thomas

August 1, 2008 6:07 PM | Link to this

I believe that there is a whole lot more to this story than meets the eye. I wish some people who work in Cobb would give us some background on this situation. According to an article I read, the EEO officer supposedly interviewed 107 people regarding this. In addition, the man was principal at a middle school and we all know most middle schools are full of employees. Plus, you’ve got people who either have friends who work at a school or know stuff through the grapevine.

Cobb teachers- what was going on at Floyd? Did the guy do it or was it a case of an angry, disgruntled teacher?

By Jeff

August 1, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this

cat:

In this country, one is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If he was never proven guilty, he is innocent according to the law. He may not ACTUALLY be innocent, but according to the law, he is.

And as long as he is innocent before the law, the case has no bearing on his public/professional life.

An example: You may have heard, since you live in the area, of a case that went down Tues night here in Albany. Dude A was seen walking in a aprking lot apparently breaking into peoples’ cars. Dude B, who caught Dude A looking into his car, shoots Dude A. HE claims he was justified in using deadly force (Dude A was hospitalized but not killed) to protect his property. According to the law in GA, however (Dude B is from FL), use of deadly force is only permissible when one’s LIFE is in danger or a third party’s LIFE is in danger. So the local cops charged Dude B with Aggravated Assault, and haven’t yet charged Dude A with anything. Case against Dude B is pretty slam-dunk. Heck, he admitted it ON THE NIGHTLY NEWS.

HOWEVER… he has not been convicted in a courtroom yet, and therefore techincally as of this moment he is innocent.

Interesting side bar to this: I now work in the DA’s office. Around 4:30, I was talking to the DA about this very case. I got home about an hour later and saw where the DA had commented on this case to the local media. He had done so literally about 3 minutes after I was talking to him about it. Just thought that was kinda cool… never been that close to breaking news before… :P

By catlady

August 1, 2008 6:44 PM | Link to this

Jeff: Until he is convicted, a person is presumed to be innocent. Once he goes before the court, that changes. When the finding comes from the jury, he is judged either guilty or not guilty. The word innocent does not play. The jury finds guilty or not guilty, not guilty or innocent.

I know it just seems like semantics, but ask your DA the difference.

By Lee

August 1, 2008 6:46 PM | Link to this

More info about the Cobb County principal from the Marietta Daily Journal. Nonetheless:

• Sounds like the whole situation is a cluster@#*%.

• What in the name of bloated bureaucracy does a school system need a “Diversity Manager” for? God, don’t get me started on this politically correct load of bullcrap.

• Cobb seems to have gone from one of the premier systems in the metro Atlanta area to a laughingstock. Did they hire everybody from Clayton County?

Jeff, this guy recieved a reprimand as a result of this investigation. THAT has a direct bearing on whether or not this guy should be (promoted/reassigned/transferred/fired). Court of law has nothing to do with it (except for the inevitable lawsuit - which, by the way, does not establish guilt or innocence, but rather, a finding for or against).

End of the day, taxpayers gonna incur some more costs because of this junk.

By Larry

August 1, 2008 7:36 PM | Link to this

The BOE should have been briefed on this investigation from day one. There is no level of management capable of making informed decisions when information is withheld.

The “fix” is to review established procedures for these investigations, correct them if necessary and immediately terminate anyone who violated existing policy. The BOE is in an undesirable and completely avoidable situation because something or someone was very wrong.

Concerning Bynum’s employment, since the BOE had insufficient information, the equally uninformed public lacks the prerequisites to form a valid opinion. Even the appearance of impropriety has its limits.

By TheBlogger

August 1, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this

Come on guys. Imagine that you are this guy and you are being wrongly accused. Yes, there is an investigation going on, but you honestly did nothing wrong.

Do you think it would be fair to be denied a job based on allegations?

I say go ahead with the hire and then if he is found guilt, fire him. Also, remember that there are plenty of Assistant Principals in that school to keep an “eye” on him in the meantime.

By catlady

August 2, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this

Whether he was involved in sexual harrassment or not, he got a reprimand in his file for discrimination. That is a pretty serious thing.

I don’t believe I have read anything about whether this is going to be taken to court; civil suit, I would guess. My understanding is it has been subjected to an “in house” investigation. Someone correct if in error.

By Lee

August 2, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this

The bottom line:

• Sexual harassment charges are extremely difficult to prove and often boils down to a he said / she said situation.

• The investigation was initiated in January. Bynum was promoted in June. It shouldn’t take six months to conduct an investigation of this type.

• The Diversity Manager ::gag:: in charge of the investigation allowed a secretary to conduct some of the 107 interviews. That one statement is a clear illustration that the manager had no clue on how to conduct an investigation of this type.

• If the Superintendent was not aware of an ongoing sexual harassment investigation, that is prove positive of a lack of governance within the school system.

• The School Board should have been notified of an ongoing sexual harassment investigation. They don’t need to know the specifics, but they should be informed. Why? Because sexual harassment often leads to lawsuits, especially if the investigation is botched. Gets back to that governance thing again.

• The AJC article states that the alleged victim “…has been transferred to another school.” Did they move the teacher at her request or did they move her in a manner that could be interpreted as a reprisal for being a whistleblower? If the latter, Cobb will probably have another lawsuit on their hands.

• One bright spot in this sordid mess is that Cobb is going to hire an outside investigator to look into the original allegation as well as the way the in-house investigation was conducted. Although, at this point, this action is more damage control than anything.

The bottom line? The Cobb school board has some serious issues in the way this superintendent is running the system. Better get out the checkbooks because they are going to court.

And remember, every dollar spent on lawyers, investigators, and lawsuit settlements is a dollar that is not spent on teachers, textbooks, and classrooms.

BOHICA!! Cobb Taxpayers. (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again)

By cobbparent

August 2, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this

As a former Floyd parent I can assure you all that Bynum has done all he has been accused of and more. The man is a tyrant, he is racist, a sexist and demeaning. Teacher leave his school at twice the county average.

The MDJ has done a decent job with this story for more info (http://www.mdjonline.com/content/index/showcontentitem/area/1/section/15/item/115995.html) Just look at the conditions in his final warning letter dated July 17.

CCSD has also agreed to release 300 pages from his disciplinary file on Tuesday due to an Open Records request. Should be very interesting.

I am not sure what the Board of Ed members knew about the investigation but Sanderson and the others in the Central Office were well aware. This was not the first complaint filed against Bynum. It’s receiving so much attention now because he has been transferred to a North Cobb school.

By thomas

August 2, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this

This whole Bynum just sounds interesting and odd. In a real sexual harassment case, a fellow like this would have been shown the door. (He would have resigned quietly at the end of the year)

I believe that this may be a case of a disgruntled employee with a grudge aganist the man. I read several local newspapers, including the Marietta Daily Journal. I read an awful of articles on the Cobb schools where people, WHO HAD SOME PERSONAL FORMER CONNECTION WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, are quoted with negative comments. In addition, many of the issues that system has had, like the later school start date, come from people with a hidden agenda.

From what I take of it, there are a LOT of angry Cobb school employees up there. People with grudges and axes to grind. Now I read that a lady running for school board is an ex-Cobb Central Office staff member who was mad at Sanderson (school supt) because he won’t let her violate the law and work overtime.

Some people don’t like reading the newspaper. I do. There’s more drama in the local newspaper than in the tabloids. From what I know about Cobb, including what I know from friends who work there, it has it’s share of unhappy people and spoiled brats.

By thomas

August 2, 2008 11:05 AM | Link to this

The question I have on my mind is where were all the “concerned” parents in Clayton when the school board had its last meeting to vote on the SACS report? Only six parents showed up. There are over 50,000 students in the Clayton County school system.

Sounds to me like this whole “concerned parent” talk is, like I always thought, was a bunch of junk. People use the words “I’m a concerned parent” when they want to come to the school and complain about BS and blame the school for their failure to follow up with their child.

Let “Devon” get a F on his report card or suspended for fighting and then you see a “concerned parent.” But where was the “concerned parent” when the boy was goofing off in class everyday, sleeping, acting a fool, monkey, and moron, not doing classwork or ANY homework, d_mn sure not reading a book or studying at home, and lets not forget being rude and disrespectful to his fellow students and ALL staff members (from the principal down to the bus driver)? This includes those roguish girls too.

I love Bill Cosby. He tells it like it is. This is reason number 1 why I walked away from the classroom I loved. Across America, black, white, Hispanic, or otherwise, our students and parents make school difficult. We really don’t give a d_mn about school. It is even getting difficult in the “good schools” now.

The truth hurts.

By catlady

August 2, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

thomas, not speaking in specifics on this case, but the reason you hear from people, WHO HAD SOME PERSONAL FORMER CONNECTION WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM is because the ones still in the system are too scared to say anything negative.

Re the Clayco schools: I think a lot of those wildly protesting parents thought either this was their chance to seize upon an excuse, or their chance to get in the limelight. Obviously neither the parents NOR OTHER LOCAL TAXPAYERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS have any care about the situation. They only want “someone else” to fix it. Excuses or showing up on the news: which one?

By WFC

August 2, 2008 11:11 PM | Link to this

I don’t know any facts about this specific case but know quite a bit about public schools and charges of “sexual harassment.”

• “Sexual harassment” is the “magic bullet” for anyone having a complaint against a school system employee. The mere bringing of the charge destroys the employee’s career.

By Lee2

August 3, 2008 10:26 AM | Link to this

“Sexual harassment” is the “magic bullet” for anyone having a complaint against a school system employee. The mere bringing of the charge destroys the employee’s career.”

Apparently not in this case. The alleged perpetrator of the sexual harrassment gets a promotion, the teacher who brought the charge gets transferred, and the Diversity Manager ::gag:: is going to get investigated by the Superintendent.

By WFC

August 4, 2008 7:44 AM | Link to this

LEE2: you have a point… but… look what’s happening. The guy has been convicted of NOTHING by ANYBODY and he’s being hammered before school even starts!

As I said, I know nothing about the specifics of this case so I’m in no position to make a judgement.

My comment was a general statement about school systems and the bizarre ways they handle such allegations. If a slug of a student with a 54% average has to explain it to her/his parents…. just scream “sexual harassment” and watch what happens!

By jim d

August 4, 2008 8:38 AM | Link to this

WFC,

While he was not convicted of a crime it is apparent that he was not totally innocent of wrong doing. “a letter of reprimand was placed in Lawrence Bynum’s file for violating equal opportunity employment practices.”

The Question was. Should the BOE been made aware of the potential skeletons? Again I give a resounding yes to that question based soley on the fact that his job is of a public nature and one of trust.

By ironmaiden

August 5, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this

I have friends who teach at North Cobb HS, and I can’t imagine what this public revelation must be doing for out-of-the-gate morale. And does the community feel that they are deserving of a principal with sexual harrassment reprimands??

By High school

August 8, 2008 12:44 AM | Link to this

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