San Diego Unified Parent- Life At School

As parental blog-boy for my faithful readers, I try to attend as many BOE meetings as possible.  Frequently, I have to bring our son along.  It’s good he sees the process and we bring homework and reading materials to keep him amused, and I always have my iToy for my own gratification.

That’s important, because I certainly not gratified with the current and new-ish Bored of Education.

As mentioned a few bog posts back, control of the BOE was under threat from the teacher’s union.  The union funneled mega-bucks into the campaigns of Evans and Jackson, and Barrera was handed a seat because of Acle’s bungling. The threat has become a reality.

Union big-shot Camile Zombro took her victory lap at the podium, and her theme was (guess- it’s not terribly original) yes, Change! And “moving forward”.  While hardly original, it’s my belief that with her team- in which the union has heavily invested- will be expecting a return.  And first among those many returns will be the head of Superintendent Terry Grier on a spike.

Grier is focused on helping students and the district as a whole reach certain goals.  Some of his compensation is based on reaching certain goals, because he has the guts to do so.  Like most of us in the real world, performance is a requirement for advancement, job security and increased income. The teacher’s union hates that.  Sorry, ranting.

Looking at previous posts here makes it clear I don’t pull punches with Grier, either.  But while he has clearly made mistakes, I don’t doubt his dedication to the students of the district and the parents who pay the bills with the reasonable expectation that our schools use the money we provide to educate and help prepare our students for life as adults.

Camile Zombro, however, has other plans for that money. 

It’s not the union’s job the improve our schools.

It’s not the union’s job to educate children.

It’s not the unions job to promote solid management practices.

It’s not the union’s job to prepare our children for life as adults.

The union’s job is to promote teachers. Teacher’s salary, teacher’s benefits and teacher’s job security without regard to the quality (only quantity) of their job performance.  That’s why it’s called a Teacher’s union. 

History has (and continues) demonstrates, that the union will promote teachers at whatever cost to our children.  Grier’s dedication to the education and welfare of children in the district puts him at cross purposes with the union, and in the words of the union Borg, he must be assimilated.

Once the union newbies on the BOE assimilate or fire Grier, the union will then control both the BOE and the Superintendent’s office.  Our children’s goals will pale by comparison to those of the union- after all, education is not their job- promoting teachers is.  Our entire district management will exist for the primary goal of serving teachers- not students.

I believe teachers are the most valuable employees of the district, and should be treated with utmost respect and compensated fairly and to the best of our ability.  I am as pro-teacher as parents can be- as chairman of the Grant Community Foundation, it’s my task to support teachers and staff at our school.  But I also believe in management.  

I believe the union is “moving forward” with complete control of district management.  The San Diego Unified School District’s goals and those of the union will then be successfully aligned:

To promote teachers.

Ronald McDonald arrived at our school yesterday.  

Staff, teachers and parents lemminged up the children to hear the benevolent Clown (doubtless an authority in child education and psychology) talk about friendship and bullying. The branding exercise began with the giant truck in the office staff’s parking spot with giant corporate logos.  The McDooBots were there, in snappy black pants and matching red logoed shirts to set up and help present the program.  There were happy magic tricks and the Clown and children sang happy jingles. And linked that positive friendship message directly with the McDoo brand.  All during time that would have otherwise been wasted on classroom instruction.  It’s brilliant.

But I’m astonished and ashamed.

McDoo does a share of corporate giving- they are certainly to be lauded for their Ronald McDonald House program. San Diego’s Joan Kroc was a philanthropist beyond reproach.

But, according to Advertising Age, the Clown is the number two of the top ten advertising icons of the twentieth century.  Behind only the Marlboro Man.  Our school marched the children to the auditorium, sat them down in formation, focused their attention and encouraged the Clown to perform uninterrupted for the better part of an hour.  Our principal was thoughtfully provided and delivered an introduction script as well.

But the organizers claim:

“We made perfectly sure there was no direct advertisement, and there was not.”

These organizers are good people.  They are volunteers, and they want what they believe is good for our children.  But, really, on what planet is this not direct advertising?  I don’t care what the message was, advertiser salivate over opportunities like this- getting their brand delivered to a captive audience of their target market for an extended and intense period of time.  It simply does not get more direct than that. This type of advertising is stronger than any radio or TV spot.

Here’s what’s happening:  McDoo knows consumers, especially in upper-middle class areas, are trying to teach their children about healthy alternatives for nutrition. They know we’re teaching our kids the facts about fast foods- it’s tasty, but it’s contribution to the epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes is documented fact.  

So, McDoo hired Porter Novelli, a powerful and very talented publicity firm, to run their Ronald McDonald School Show Program.  This program circumvents caring parents, bringing the McDoo message straight to children in schools. Most of the parents with whom I spoke knew nothing about the assembly- had I not walked to school with our son, I’d have remained completely ignorant of the agenda that day.

And our school, with the blessing of the San Diego Unified School District, believes this is a positive use of instructional time.