An Open Letter to Mayor Robert J. Duffy

Dear Mr. Duffy,

As darkness falls over the City — I imagine that you have completed your political rounds (running to and fro, spewing political rhetoric concerning your love for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and for the principles that he advocated and lived by).

Well sir, I feel totally, absolutely, unequivocally, certain that if Dr. King was a citizen of Rochester, New York today — he would be fighting you tooth and nail regarding your unprincipled, despicable attempt to strip the people of Rochester of our Constitutional right to vote for representatives on the Rochester Board of Education.

I am quite sure you recall that Dr. King spent a significant portion of his life fighting against Jim Crow laws that deprived mainly poor people of color of suffrage rights.

In any case, I hope that you had a happy Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

As a City of Rochester, New York State, and United States of America, tax-paying, politically astute and involved parent, citizen and grassroots community activist — I am writing concerning a situation that occurred on January 15, 2010 (the actual day of Dr. King’s birth in 1929).

As you know, I was in attendance at City Hall during your press conference on January 15, 2010. I must say that it was somewhat awkward, especially since it likely would have been perceived as inappropriate and disrespectful for me to respond — when (during the course of the press conference) you acknowledged my presence, and noted that I oppose mayoral control of the Rochester City School District (RCSD), and then asserted that you are “willing to debate [me], Van White [or] anyone else” regarding the issue of mayoral control.

I just wanted you to know that (like yourself, or at least like you claim to be) — I am definitely willing to engage you and/or anyone else in debate around this critically important issue (anytime, any place, under any rules, circumstances or conditions). If debate is your desire: Let’s do it. I am quite certain (since he has been publicly requesting to do so) that Commissioner White would also be more than willing to debate you and/or the “experts” that you have been flying in and out of town (more than likely at taxpayers’ expense). In fact, as you know — your Chief of Communication, Mr. Gary Walker, has attempted to dismiss the Commissioner’s request for civil debate by declaring that he is desirous of creating a public “spectacle.” Walker’s comments remind me of the time when Malcolm X’s house was firebombed during the 1960’s, and media operatives (such as Mr. Walker) attempted to validate a theory that Malcolm had staged the firebombing himself. As Malcolm stated at the time — “if [Commissioner White] wanted to put on a show — [he] certainly could have found a better way to do it” than by challenging you to a debate about this vital issue, which parallels and surpasses the seriousness of Malcolm’s home being firebombed. I hope you understand the analogy. If not, I would be happy to elaborate. After having said all of that — this critical issue is not about individual debates. Instead, what’s really needed, and what a huge sector of Rochester’s population is asking for — is broad-based, serious, community dialogue.

You seemed overly confident at your January 15th press conference regarding your ability to razzle-and-dazzle your most loyal cheerleaders (major media — for more than an hour) — concerning, in many cases, pure, polished, political rhetoric, which has absolutely nothing to do with educating our children well. I hope you didn’t go away and pound your chest — because those of us who are not cheering for you, or duped by your smooth rhetoric — found large holes and glaring contradictions regarding that which was presented by you and your main henchmen (David Gantt and Joe Morelle) during the press conference. If you would like for me to explain why I referred to your political pals as henchmen — I would be happy to do so. By the way, it is just plain scandalous that you are asking these men and others (who compose that which is widely accepted in many local, regional and national political circles as being one of the most dysfunctional, so-called “governing” bodies in the nation, that’s right, the infamous New York State Legislature) — to make a determination regarding whether or not the citizens of Rochester should be stripped of our Constitutional right to vote for local representatives. The New York State Legislature is a body that absolutely cannot effectively or efficiently govern itself — one that (for four weeks) couldn’t even decide which Political Party was in charge of its upper chamber; one that can’t effectively address its own huge budget deficit; can’t reduce taxes; spent $170 million in the 2009-10 budget (in the midst of a full-blown recession) on so-called “member items” — not to mention corruption convictions of State Legislators such as Anthony Seminerio, and the criminal who led the New York State Senate for decades — none other than Joseph Bruno. This is the gang that you apparently believe are qualified to determine whether or not the people of Rochester should be stripped of a hard won, blood stained, Constitutional right? You have got to be kidding. One of the most fundamental and glaring contradictions relative to this whole scenario is that, as it relates to malfeasance, every single thing that you are accusing the Rochester Board of Education of — the New York State Legislature is also guilty of (ten-fold). So, as I stood there watching Gantt and Morelle pompously poised at your side on the 15th, again, all I could think was: ‘These guys have got to be kidding.’ The following represent just a couple of the most blatant, specific, contradictions during your lengthy press conference, which of course Gary Walker’s cheerleading, media-pals missed and/or would not dare report — even if they hadn’t missed them:

1. Although you have been clearly touting elimination of an elected Board of Education, at one point Mr. Morelle exclaimed that under your scheme there “will be a directly elected board for governance.” Apparently, either this was a slip of the tongue or a trick of the tongue. That is, Morelle said the governance board would be elected, but he did not say who would compose the electorate. Perhaps he believes that he can arrange for the smart people of Irondequoit to become those who choose the governance board for the dumb people of Rochester.
   
   

   Where Mr. Gantt is concerned, he has outright abandoned and is thoroughly disrespecting a huge sector of his constituents — by claiming that he will introduce a bill, and he “don’t care who likes it or not” — because he will get __________? Since you know better than I — you fill in the blank. Many, particularly in the African American community, are of the widespread belief that David Gantt does not do anything, especially if it’s politically risky (and this situation is indeed very risky) without getting something in return. This leads to the next glaring contradiction regarding the position that you articulated at your unusually long press conference:

2. You claim that prior to initiating dialogue with parents and other community members, you want to “wait and see if an affirmative decision” comes forth from the Governor — relative to introducing a “program bill.” Yet, your constituent-abandoning henchman declared that “I intend to put a bill in — whether there is a program bill or not.” Thus, Mr. Mayor, unless henchman #1 (whom you all supposedly, affectionately, refer to as “the dean”) is just blowing smoke — obviously, open, “transparent” (your word) — community dialogue should already be well underway, and you should not make the mistake of believing that it is adequate to engage in so-called “transparent” dialogue via WXXI and other such venues, in which Mr. Walker (the ex-newsman) likely has inside connections in the highest of places. No sir, you must face the people, and since you have declared that “education is the hill that you are willing to die on,” politically speaking — don’t be surprised if it is the hill that the people of Rochester, particularly those who are parents, and whose children’s lives you seem to think that you can play with, and kick around like a political football — choose (politically speaking) to kill you on.

Sincerely,
_______________________________
Howard J. Eagle
Rochester City School District parent of two students
Local, State & Federal taxpayer
Career educator (retired Rochester City School District Social Studies Teacher — 23 years)
Chairperson (Activists Against Racism Movement’s — AARM’s Education Committee)
Steering Committee member (Community Education Taskforce)

Duffy Wants Control of the Rochester City School District (Surprise-Surprise)!

So, it has finally been stated publicly (in accordance with a 12/21/09 D&C Editorial, Robert Duffy wants mayoral control of the Rochester City School District (surprise-surprise)!

I (for one, and I’m sure many others, have some very serious issues and problems regarding the specifics of the above referenced article, in which the “great revelation” was made public). The article, which is filled with half-baked ideas and pure nonsense, can be accessed at the following link:

Rochester mayor should form plan for overseeing school district

The very first point that people need to understand is that (regardless of how rich he may be, and regardless of what the D&C editors may think) — the erroneous, in fact libelous assertion that under Michael Bloomberg, there has been widespread, sustainable, fundamental change and improvement in New York City’s public schools — is just that (an erroneous and libelous assertion). In fact, as you are reading this — there are thousands of disgruntled and dissatisfied parents, students, educators and others organizing, and literally protesting in the streets of New York City — because of Bloomberg’s decisions regarding schools, including decisions to close a number of schools.

The D&C does a great disservice by presenting simplistic, less than accurate, uninformed, so-called analyses (based apparently on what they have heard from the well- oiled and well-financed Bloomberg-propaganda-machine, or what they have read in the New York Times and/or other such publications).

The facts are that thousands upon thousands of New York City students are continuing to experience deprivation regarding the lack of adequate and appropriate educational opportunities — just as they were prior to the so-called Bloomberg take-over. I repeat, for thousands upon thousands of New York City students — fundamentally, nothing has changed under Bloomberg. Therefore, we can safely conclude that if Michael Bloomberg’s efforts in New York City represent the model upon which Duffy will base his so-called educational reform ideas — then failure is probably imminent.

Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, we don’t necessarily need to be studying / borrowing ideas from other broken-down public education systems and models. Overall, there aren’t any really outstanding, full-fledged models of successful urban education systems in the entire nation. Common sense alone dictates that if such systems did exist, we (at least educators) would all be aware of them, and would be working night and day to understand their functioning. Even if such models did exist (mainly because of specific differences regarding political, demographic and other local elements and factors) — it is always very, very problematic and difficult to successfully transplant educational ideas and strategies (no matter how good they may be) form one system to another. I believe that the current Superintendent of Rochester Schools, as well as many before him, will attest to this fact. We have known for many years that one ingredient of successful educational reform is authenticity (based on local circumstances, conditions, and proper / efficient utilization of local resources). With regard to the latter point, this represents an area in which the Rochester City School District has failed miserably, that is, not effectively and/or efficiently tapping and utilizing the huge reservoir of human knowledge and expertise that exists locally. Instead, the general preference has been to go looking elsewhere for high-priced, generally ineffective “experts”, consultants and advisors of every hue and stripe.

Secondly, there is in some cases a subtle, and in other cases very pronounced, but also fundamentally flawed, erroneous and baffling, widespread belief that Robert Duffy is doing a great job of running the city. How could this possibly be — when double-digit unemployment in certain sectors of Rochester has remained constant for each of the last four years that he has been in office, and illegal drugs and weapons (the latter of which youth at younger and younger ages are using to annihilate each other, often on a daily basis) — flow through Rochester like water from High Falls? Also, while it doesn’t take a genus to understand that “graduation rates correlate directly to crime in the city” or anywhere else for that matter — thinking-people are aware of the fact that deep-seated, rampant, violent, crime cannot be solely explained by or ascribed totally to low graduation rates. There are much larger and deeper factors at play, which also represent underlying reasons for the low graduation rate. Even if this was not the case, the idea that Duffy “envisions a school district with more after-school programs and schools that are open on weekends for community use” — is far from a solution regarding low graduation and high crime rates. In fact, it would be interesting to see what types of enticements or incentives would be utilized to get huge numbers of students who routinely do not attend school during the regular school day — to attend after school programs, and if they do — it would be even more interesting and enlightening to see how after school programs would be structured differently than the regular school day — to the extent that it would result in significant, sustainable, academic, socioeconomic and cultural improvement for sizeable numbers of students, particularly those who are classified as hard-core. Don’t get me wrong — I believe that expanded access to public school facilities is a step in the right direction, but to view it or present it as a panacea is terribly misguided, and a sure-fire prescription for continued, entrenched, massive failure. Additionally, if the mayor “wants to work with businesses to get more jobs for teenagers” — what is he waiting for? Many of us have heard this song and dance for so long that we thought such efforts were well underway long ago. Keep in mind that we haven’t even asked the most critical question yet: Where will Duffy’s educational expertise come from? Managing a budget is one thing (although admittedly a very important task) — budgetary management alone does not automatically translate into quality and/or improved educational outcomes.

Lastly, whether in New York City, Rochester, or any other city — the idea of mayoral control of city schools is as undemocratic as it can possibly be, and would clearly move us in a direction of fascism (as opposed to so-called democracy). Who is Robert Duffy or Albany lawmakers for that matter — to dictate to the people of Rochester that he (Duffy) and/or the bumbling-fumbling, largely dysfunctional State Legislature are qualified to choose the people’s representatives at any level of government? If people in the suburbs and rural areas have a right to choose their representatives on Boards of Education, and they do — then there is no logical, acceptable explanation as to why tax-paying, Constitutionally-protected city residents shouldn’t enjoy the same rights and privileges — period.

In the final analysis, with regard to the idea of mayoral control of the Rochester City School District — it is my hope that “Duffy [does get] a chance to have his ideas debated” — so that we can put his and the all-wise, all-knowing D&C educational czars’ foolishness to rest (once and for all)!

Howard J. Eagle

Education Committee Chairperson

Activists Against Racism Movement (http://aarm.rocus.org; aarm@rocus.org)

High schools must improve, Brizard says (D&C)

Rochester School District high schools must improve quickly or risk being closed, Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard told a group of parents and others at a wide-ranging forum at the Freedom School in Rochester on Tuesday night.

Hosted by the Activists Against Racism Movement in conjunction with Freedom School, Brizard said his presence was part of a renewed effort to engage district parents.

Full Article

My Position On The Rochester City School District (RCSD) Busing issue

With regard to the D&C report, and the issue of providing transportation for all RCSD students who need it — I want the families and tax-paying citizens of Rochester to know that, if I was a sitting member of the Rochester Board of Education, not only would I have agreed with Senior Director of Operations James Fenton’s suggestion to “find out how students will fit on existing bus routes, which aren’t always filled to capacity,” but I would have also taken direction (based on Superintendent Brizard’s statement and question): “We can do that, [provide transportation to all students who need it] but the question is, what are we willing to subtract?” My response and recommendation would have been that we can and should begin by subtracting the following:

• telephone expenses - Currently, the RCSD provides large numbers of principals and other administrators cell phones. My position is that very few (other than the Superintendent) really need them, and if they do, then certainly we can reduce the number of land-lines.
• travel expenses - Far too many RCSD employees, including Board members, are traveling to and fro (far too frequently) on tax-payer- funded trips for reasons that have no direct correlation, nor direct impact on teaching and learning.
• reimbursement for costs of Doctorate degrees for RCSD administrators - This practice should simply be eliminated.
• consultants - The RCSD hires far too many consultants for purposes of performing tasks and duties, which (in many cases) can be, and should be performed by existing RCSD employees.

As a second step, I would sit down with a copy of the $700 million 2009 -10 RCSD Budget, and go through it line-by-line (in search of other sensible and reasonable efficiencies).

If necessary, I would propose the changes above via a formal Board Resolution, and if I was unable to secure the support of at least three other board members — then I would take my case directly to the parents, tax-payers and voters.

Howard J. Eagle
RCSD Parent, Social Studies Teacher
Community Activist, and The People’s Candidate
For Rochester Board of Education (2009 & beyond)

Hearing addresses Rochester school arrests

Nestor Ramos – Staff writer
Local News – November 9, 2009 - 3:00am

http://rocnow.com/article/local-news/2009911090329

Statement on the 2009 Elections

With regard to our Rochester Board of Education Campaign, and my continued journey as a public servant, first I thank God, and secondly my family (the latter of whom have endured great deprivation over the past 6 months). I thank my campaign manager and assistant manager (Minister Lawrance Evans and Mr. Dana Bratcher, respectively), and of course, I thank all of my friends, colleagues and associates for their material and other types of much-valued support, which will never be taken lightly.

The primary goal of our campaign (to win) was not accomplished (this time).

On the other hand, we did meet our secondary goal, which was to make history — by getting more votes (well over 3,000) than any other Working Families Party candidate that has campaigned for a seat on the Rochester Board of Education. It is very significant that (running on a third-Party-line, in a race that included three incumbents and a term-limited county legislator, the latter of whom was hand-picked by the incumbent mayor) — we were able to garner about 9% of the total votes.

Thus, although we were not totally successful — we are very proud of our solid, historic, accomplishment.

I remain convinced that I am thoroughly prepared to help provide the type of bold, knowledgeable, and committed leadership, which is so desperately needed on the Rochester Board of Education, and which our children and families deserve. This is why I will continue to pursue a seat on the board in the future.

Our campaign acknowledges and understands that one of the greatest tasks that we face is educating and convincing the 90% or more of uninvolved,inactive, eligible Rochester voters that many of our children’s lives literally (without exaggeration) hinge to a large degree on significantly, increased participation in local elections.

We will issue a more comprehensive statement regarding the outcome of the 2009 Board of Education election at a later date.

Sincerely,

(The People’s Candidate)

Howard J. Eagle

Dear Parents and Community Members:

I am appealing to you for your support of my campaign to win a seat on the Rochester Board of Education in 2009. I am thoroughly convinced that working cooperatively and collaboratively together, we can produce focused, constructive, systemic, change and improved academic achievement within the Rochester City School District — as measured by significantly increased basic skills development; higher graduation rates; decreased dropout rates; complete elimination of social (age) promotion, and implementation of effective alternative education programs.

I believe you will agree with me that it is definitely time for focused, constructive, systemic educational change and academic improvement within the Rochester City School District. I also believe you will agree that we must find new, creative ways of consistently and fully engaging and including parents and community members in general, as equal-partners in our efforts to produce focused, constructive, systemic, academic change and improvement.

I look forward to your support, help, suggestions, and ideas in our collaborative efforts to improve educational conditions and outcomes for our children, families, and community.

Sincerely,
Howard J. Eagle
Community Servant

PRESS STATEMENT

Dozens oppose Rochester school busing policy

To say that the event highlighted above represents political posturing and exploitive, manipulative behavior — designed to boost a particular, current, political campaign — represents a gross understatement. Rochester Board of Education Commissioners and Rochester City Councilmen and women have had detailed knowledge relative to the changes in enforcement of the RCSD’s Transportation Policy since the end of the 2008 - 09 school year. Indeed both groups had knowledge when they cast their respective votes to approve the RCSD Superintendent’s 2009 -10 Budget. So, for a couple of Board Commissioners and Council person to orchestrate a meeting of relatively few RCSD parents at this point and time (almost two months after the 2009 - 10 school year has begun, and less than 20 days before the November 3, 2009 General Election) — is hypocrisy at its finest.

I unequivocally support door-to-door bus service for every RCSD student who needs it (regardless of cost). With regard to taking all possible measures to assure the safety of our students — I believe that there is no price too high to pay, and that assurance of safety must always be a budgetary priority.

On the other hand, as a parent, teacher and candidate for Rochester Board of Education — I categorically reject the unprincipled practice of using (whether they are being used willingly or not) relatively small numbers of RCSD parents to advance the campaigns and agendas of incumbent politicians.

I recognize that RCSD’s Administration has taken an initial step (empowering a review panel) to address parent’s legitimate fears and concerns regarding the safe movement of their children to and from school. As it relates to the immediate need to expand the initial effort — I call on members of the Rochester Board of Education, RCSD Superintendent, Rochester City Council members, Rochester’s mayor, all other city, county, and state governmental officials and representatives, the citizens in general of Rochester and Monroe County, including the religious, business and philanthropic segments of the community — to pull together and produce (even in these economically trying times) the necessary resources to provide safe passage for our children to and from school. If we can’t work cooperatively and collaboratively to address / resolve this critically important issue, which really is representative of a basic human right — then in my humble view — we must all abandon the rhetoric that our children represent our most important and precious resource.

Contact: Howard J. Eagle: 752 -1426 or heagle@rochester.rr.com

UN-BOUGHT & UN-BOSSED

PERSONAL APPEAL

Dear Parents And Community Members,

As friends and hopefully as a supporters — I am appealing to you personally for a donation (in any amount that you can afford, and are willing to contribute) to help me win one of the three open seats on the Rochester Board of Education. In order to compete, I must raise funds to help with the expense of literature, advertising, mailings, etc… Any support that you are able and willing to provide would be very much valued and very much appreciated.

Checks and/or money orders should be made out to: Committee to Elect Howard J. Eagle, and mailed to PO Box 19442, Rochester, NY 14619 - 0442, or please feel free to use the secure, paypal system to make a donation online (see above).

THANK YOU

Sincerely, Howard