Friday, November 22, 2013
WHAT DID WE DO?
What did the election accomplish? We have a Board of Education with members who have been called liars, spinners, worse than children, back room deal makers, puppets of the Apple Alliance.....and other assorted names. Have we elected folks who, as it has been said, are more polarized than ever? We have learned that the 5-4 split is at war. What will happen to our students? What will happen to the curriculum? What will this Board do when severe cuts are to be made? Where is Manny Rivera in all this? If I were in his shoes, I would be looking for another job. We have been told he wasn't even the first choice of the Apples. "History" has been mentioned in previous posts. Never in the history of Norwalk has there been a Board of Education as angry and hostile as this one.
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Manny Rivera is a professional, working to build a budget and write grants. I doubt he is losing any sleep over the BoE nonsense. Mosby, Rivas, and Murray are angry because Artie flipped and the coalition fell apart. Kassimis isn't angry he is #2 and everyone else is happy with the outcome. There will be severe cuts but we knew that a year ago.
ReplyDelete7:36 Yes, a few Rotton Apples ..... Murray, Rivas and Mosby are going to be in for a bumpy ride. My prediction is the reasonable will band together and make it a 6-3 vote. Artie may flip/flop and make it 5-4.
ReplyDeleteThe Rotten Apples are KEYES, LYONS, HARRIS, BARBIS, CHAIRAMONTE. They are also known as the Poison Apples or the Apple Alliance. Get your name calling straight!
ReplyDeleteBut I like Grannie Smith Apples.
ReplyDelete9:31 I thought everyone labeled Keyes, Lyons, Harris, Barbis, and Chairamonte the RED APPLES. Murray, Rivas, Mosby, and Kassimis should be the SOUR Apples after the vote. LOL
ReplyDeleteThe tree of knowledge between good and evil... Keyes, Lyons, Harris, Chiaramonte, and Barbis GOOD......Mosby, Rivas, Murray, Kassimis EVIL.
ReplyDelete7:36 Behind anger lies Shame, Fear and Hurt. Mosby - Shame, Murray and Rivas Hurt and Fear. They went into the meeting thinking they had the support of Kassimis and Harris.
ReplyDeleteI like apples! The crisp, juicy ones.
Lots of Apples fell from the tree to write here today! Welcome Red Apples! It wouldn't be fun without your comedy.....both here and at meetings. You are all jokers!
ReplyDeleteOver the past three years the standardized testing score for Norwalk overall have been flat to down. Perhaps instead of people spending all their energy blogging, tweeting, pissing and moaning they should mentor a kid. From my perspective your scorecard is the education of children and not how many points you score against your enemy on the other side aisle.
ReplyDeleteThe needle hasn't moved in years perhaps we need to get rid of everyone and bring in some people who can provide thought leadership and a forward thinking approach.
Your Dead Wrong... Check the score at the middle school level... Roton and Ponus are trending up and closing the gap...
DeleteThe test scores have been steadily rising. Don't state lies. It doesn't help your cause.
DeleteI couldn't agree more with the last post that just went up. Proof is in the results. On that basis you are all failing.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why people in Norwalk wont talk about results is because people then need to deal with the fact that they are so ineffective and that to create real change something radical needs to be done. The draconian educational system works great for everyone involved with it. You get a job for life no matter how bad you are. Start to measure teachers performance and pay based on how kids perform on tests. You would be surprise how much of an attitude change you will have. How about everyone across the board gets the same base salary and give them an end of year bonus measured by student aptitude. Never going to happen because somewhere along the way someone decided that the longer you stay the more money you should make. Longevity doesnt make for a great teacher. Perfomance does.
ReplyDeleteThe so-called adults on the Board of Ed who are fruits are all about laughing at the "losers" from the Board Chair election. Thank you so much, all you people who voted in a majority of Red Apples. We now have the worst Board of Education in this state. Now Artie K. has turned Apple too? Sell your houses, people. Norwalk is a living Hell with these spoiled rotten, nasty Apples in charge!
ReplyDeleteDo you even understand how ridiculous that sounds. If you are so above the fray why would you feed into this nonsense. It sounds to me you are hoping everyone fails. Really does it matter who is in charge. Everyone on BOE has something to contribute. Work together, support the superintendent and stop the complaining.
ReplyDeleteI am supporting the superintendent. That's why I voted the way I did. He needs a BoE who are adults and who don't go around laughing at the non-Apples because they did not get the Chair. You, 12:57, need to stop judging me. You don't have the right to say what I hope for. Your judgement is clouded by your love of Apples. So, in the end, you are not above the fray yourself!
ReplyDeleteNo labels please. Apples non apples it is all bs. Comments like that opens you up to criticism. My only point is the reasonable people need to band together and not get sucked into this nonsense. "sell your house, Norwalk is hell, rotton apples, poison apples, granny smith apples" really people. COME ON we are better then this. We have hard working, intelligent, fair minded people that supported all the candidates. Please let us focus on the POSITIVE and when we disagree be respectful!
ReplyDeleteThe Apples gave themselves a name. I didn't. It is a fact that there is an Apple Alliance. It is a fact that the Apple Alliance met secretively to be sure "one of theirs" got the Chairmanship. Sorry if you don't like the reality. We tell it like it is here. This is the place for transparency. If someone is trying to be secretive or nasty, it comes out here. I rather like it. The transparency causes people to think twice before saying or doing something. I think of this blog as a deterrent.
DeleteYou're right about this blog being a deterrent, but not in the way that you think. It's a deterrent to any familes considering sending their children to Norwalk schools. Here we have presumably grown adults calling the people's elected representatives on the BoE "fruits". Is that the sort of behavior you would teach my kids? If so, I'll look for education elsewhere.
DeleteI am in total agreement. We have esteemed members of the Board here calling fellow elected officials "ignorant." Did you vote for these BoE members? Did you vote at all? Shame on you if you voted for these people with such horrible behavior. I wouldn't blame you for looking elsewhere to educate your children. As for the people who write on this blog, at least they are interested in seeking truth. I believe that is an admirable quality. You, on the other hand, wish to shun truth and use the excuse that "people" on this blog might teach your kids the wrong behaviors. If that's the case, it isn't the school system, it's the community. Guess you will have to move out of Norwalk.
DeleteRE 5:51 PM, Did you read the Barbis tweets? Poor behavior is an understatement! Lady, you need to educate yourself about the members of the Board of Ed before complaining about comments on the blog.
DeleteNot one of the BOE members is a teacher or has ever been in a school. These last posts are a joke
DeleteUmmmmmmm.....that didn't make sense. Could you explain? I don't see where anyone said a BOE person was a teacher.
DeleteThose who are caught engaging in bad behavior often point to the bad behavior of others as a justification for their own reprehensible conduct. Two wrongs don't make a right. I hope nobody starts believing that the comments on this blog reflect the attitude and education of Norwalk's teachers.
DeleteMaybe we need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few truths.
Lisa Thompson is a liar. After the election, she wrote one of her publish-everywhere letters to the editor to claim that Artie Kassimis was "a Republican who, by all accounts, seems more aligned with far left BOE Dems than members of his own party". Look at his votes for BOE leadership over the years and you'd know that this is a lie.
The "RedApples" are tiresome with their constant spin. Last year, the Apple spin (which Mike Barbis repeated) was that over half of Norwalk's students were reading below grade below- the CMT results show how FALSE that claim was. The members of the RedApples have never told the public a single bit of reform that "reform minded Susan Marks" ever proposed. Collarossi called them out every time they spewed their lies about him. But guess what, they never answered with any proof.
The spin of Lyons, Chiaramonte, Barbis and Keyes has made us dizzy. We know that Rivera wasn't their fist choice. We know Chiaramonte should have resigned when he missed months of meetings this summer. We know Lyons should have passed the baton to Kassimis to rebuild trust on the BOE.
Lisa Thompson and her "group" cheated in the election. It didn't make a difference. But they still cheated. Connecticut law says that candidates (like Harris, Keyes, Haynie and Rosato) can't work with more than one campaign committee. The law says you can't take campaign help from anonymous sources (like free advertising). But if you saw the big posters at the polls, you'd see that they were working with some anonymous group that Lisa Thompson takes credit for.
The "civility" police are hypocrites. Supporting the superintendent is their mantra-- but "they" excused the constant attacks on Dadonna when he was interim. Anybody wondering where the outrage is over Mike Barbis' mean tweets?
We know Lisa Thompson is congenitally dishonest. We know her "grass roots reform movement" has few followers. We know that they are willing to lie, insult, distort history, twist facts and bury us with tweets, blog posts, etc. We don't trust them. So it's only natural that we don't trust the politicians "they" support.
Yes, the truth! Thank you for the truth, 4:30.
DeleteThree things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Buddha
The Truth??? Now that's Funny! So who wrote @ 4:30 really? Has to be Mellion or Ditrio, maybe even Steve Colarossi himself. Everything written above is Horse Bleep! Unions are very upset because they don't have a sympathetic Chairman or majority on the Board and both the NFT and administrators contracts will be dealt with this summer. Apples, Pineapples, bananas, who cares whatever fruit you want to label some board members. The fact of the matter is they are for reforming a failing school system. The unions don't want any change. The unions want more money, easier workload and more benefits. Period. And this majority of the board will not just roll over and give them whatever they want the way the old school boards did. The chairman appoints committee chairs and you know there won't be pushover running their negotiations and Mellion & Ditrio just hate that. Why do you think these two pathetic characters worked so hard for their slate? They lost again! The winners here are the children and the taxpayers. If Anyone needs to retire or resign, it's these two.
DeleteLisa Thompson a liar? Have you looked in the Mirror Bruce? Have you read your bogus Vanguard? Poor Bruce Mellion didn't get his way after all his sneeky and underhanded ways and means. Tsk tsk. Seems poor Brucie can't sleep either, having written his gibberish at 4:30 in the morning. Now, now Bruce, do try to get your rest....and do try to eat right and include a nice apple. Remember what they say "an apple a day keeps he doctor away".
DeleteWatch Bruce try to spin the election in the Vanguard for a good laugh. Watch him try to seem like they got rid of Sue Haney. Well Bruce, behind Sue we have other citizens to pick up where she left off. Fact is, you lost BIGTIME. No pushovers for you come contract time. Your face must of been priceless to Mike Lyons re-elected. Wish I could of saw your jaw hit the floor. Yes, let's all read the Vanguard this month for a good laugh as we watch Bruce try to spin his pile of $#/! into gold, and try to portray himself as the teachers savior! What a hoot!
DeleteLets look at @4:30's comments paragraph by paragraph
ReplyDelete.
So Lisa Thompsons a liar because she stated Kassimis was to far left. Kassimis was backed by Ditrio, Mellion and Lynn Moore. He was also nominated by Rosa Murray. Nuff Said? You are the liar @ 4:30
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Collarossi called them out as liars, huh? Well known fact that Steve Collarossi was so far up Ditrio and Mellion's back side that no one could tell where they ended and Steve Collarossi began. Yeah he was a real union mouthpiece. So well to be believed, that nether party would endorse him. You can't spin this @ 4:30
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"The spin of Lyons, Chiaramonte, Barbis and Keyes has made us dizzy". The only reason you're dizzy is you've been partying with the Mayor of Toronto. Rivera was a top choice how ever you look at it and he was endorsed by this board and recruited for the superintendent job. Period. Chiaramonte went away for a few months to work to help with his daughters education bills. Rivas has gone MIA from meetings more than anyone. You don't mention that though, do you? Why let facts get in the way? Lyons passing the baton to Kassimis? You'd like that to, wouldn't you? Not while he's endorsed by the three stooges, Ditrio, Mellion and Moore.
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So you claim Lisa Thompson Cheated during the election. LOL! Guess you missed the shenanigans of Ditrio and Mellion. My, my how preoccupied you are with Lisa Thompson, a mere citizen. She is a citizen who can support whoever the hell she likes. It just seems to piss you off because she backs the people who the voters care to elect and not your phonies. Take the binky out of your mouth and grow up already!
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Civility? Ha! Anyone ever watch the Steve Collarossi show? And after that meeting last week, you have the nerve to talk about civility? Civility....Got Some? In your case, Get Some!
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You say "We know Lisa Thompson is congenitally dishonest". Well we happen to know that you are just a dishonest genital (pick either one). You want to write nasty lies and pick on a woman who works for the betterment of our schools, then you'll be treated with vile remarks as well. It is you, along with Ditrio, Mellion and Moore who lie and bully. Yes, bully. Just as you all did to Shirelle Harris. We all know what you did to her. Shame on you! You are a bunch of hippocrites and you know it. All your spin, lies and bulling didn't get you anything. Do us all a favor, if you can't contribute to our children's education, dry up and blow away.
I am not Melion, Ditrio or Moore; just wanted to get that out of the way of my response. I am horrified by the bullying towards these educators by Apples. This is true bullying. I know for a fact there are lies in your arguments and lots of spin, Apples. As an outsider looking in, you have declared war against the staff. Not a great way to do business. In fact, it is usually if not always, counterproductive. Take a lesson from Manny and learn to work with the unions, not against them. Oh, I'm not Steve C. either. Anyone else you want to accuse? Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't care less who you are. How dare you accuse others of spinning , lying and bullying when that is exactly what you did in that ridiculous statement you made at 4:30 in the morning. Maybe you were sleep walking and wrote that rant of lies you posted. Do us all a favor and get your sleep. You obviously need it!
DeleteIf it walks like a Ditrio, talks like a Mellion, need I say Moore!
ReplyDeleteWrong. Try saying less and you might have credibility .
DeleteFACT: Rivera was not the first pick.
ReplyDeleteTruth does come out in the end. People are only human. Secrets can not be kept forever.
Who cares? He was one of the top picks. And he wasn't supported by either Murray or Rivas. Now there's the truth for ya! Hurts doesn't it?
DeleteActually, Murray and Rivas made it perfectly clear that their vote was against the process, not the man. Truth hurts YOU!
DeleteLOL! Yeah right! You are a bigger fool than I thought. One abstained and the other voted No. Process my @$$
DeleteAnd by the way, I'm not an apple, I'm kumquat!
ReplyDeleteYes, you are a short tree (definition of kumquat) and very short on intelligence. What else are you short on? LOL
DeleteOh Lord, help our poor school system. All of the above have nothing better to do than blast everyone. You all seem childish, selfish and angry. Get a grip!
ReplyDeleteThis is what is called free speech. It is called letting everyone know what transpires behind closed doors. It is called the taxpayers got what they voted for. Honey, you need to get a grip. It's happening all over the country. Norwalk is no different. We just have our own Tea Party.
DeleteFree speech is one thing... bashing people is another. And please, don't call me honey! It is what it is, so let's move forward and make Norwalk schools a great place to educate our kids.
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