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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Just When You Think It Doesn't Make A Damn Bit of Difference...

This blog is being read at a great rate...20,382 page views to date.  Yes, I know some will ask for proof that this number is not the result of psychotic Voltaire viewing the post 24/7...I can only assure you that I am far too busy watching back episodes of Doc Martin to do that.  In addition to the staggering number of reads, the comments left on the blog spot are, at once, informative and compelling.  Taken together, the popularity of this site and the spot on, expositive contributions by the readers, we have achieved much more than intellectual 'gum chewing.'
 WE HAVE ALERTED THE MEDIA TO OUR EXISTENCE AND OUR MESSAGE!  
And the media is responding.  The letters, emails, and phone calls have, if nothing else, turned the focus of both local and national publications' to this blog.  As a result, those who value free speech, specifically concerning our schools, our students, our children, will have some of their views entered into the realm of public discourse.
It is all to easy to feel like a voice in the wind when faced with intimidation, ignorance and inaction.  But, if we can believe the various media outlets who have contacted and interviewed Voltaire, our voices are about to be heard.  So don't despair...don't stop talking, texting and emailing and mailing.  Continue to reach out and educate Alexandrians.
Stay tuned...

16 comments:

  1. Speak the truth and let it spread like wildfire. Keep the message the focus, give the citizens the teachers' perspective, avoid rumor and conjecture, and let readers draw conclusions.

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  2. The Committee on Government Reform's "Citizen's Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request Government Records" includes this sample FOIA request letter in the appendix:

    Agency Head [or Freedom of Information Act Officer]
    Name of Agency
    Address of Agency
    City, State, Zip Code
    Re: Freedom of Information Act Request

    Dear ------ :
    This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I request that a copy of the following documents [or documents containing the following information] be provided to me: [identify the documents or information as specifically as possible].

    In order to help to determine my status for purposes of determining the applicability of any fees, you should know that I am [insert a suitable description of the requester and the purpose of the request. Sample requester descriptions: a representative of the news media affiliated with the ------ newspaper (magazine, television station, etc.), and this request is made as part of news gathering and not for a commercial use. affiliated with an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, and this request is made for a scholarly or scientific purpose and not for a commercial use. an individual seeking information for personal use and not for a commercial use. affiliated with a private corporation and am seeking information for use in the company's business.]

    [Optional] I am willing to pay fees for this request up to a maximum of $----. If you estimate that the fees will exceed this limit, please inform me first.

    [Optional] I request a waiver of all fees for this request. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest. [Include specific details, including how the requested information will be disseminated by the requester for public benefit.]

    [Optional] I request that the information I seek be provided in electronic format, and I would like to receive it on a personal computer disk [or a CD-ROM].

    [Optional] I ask that my request receive expedited processing because ------. [Include specific details concerning your ''compelling need,'' such as being someone ''primarily engaged in disseminating information'' and specifics concerning your ''urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity.'']

    [Optional] I also include a telephone number at which I can be contacted during the hours of -----, if necessary, to discuss any aspect of my request.

    Thank you for your consideration of this request.

    Sincerely,

    Name
    Address
    City, State, Zip Code
    Telephone number [Optional]

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why didn't I know about this???

    Short URL: http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbddc/2010/11/investigation-shows-upheaval-in-alexandria-public-schools-5015.html

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  4. Or this?

    http://virginia.watchdog.org/1512/alexandria-superintendent-talks-about-hiring-outside-consultants/

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  5. What message is the Underground seeking to get out to the media? The media and others will view this as nothing more than personal attacks directed by a small few with a grudge against the system.

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  6. Like the Times pointed out, there are many who will simply view this as a blog of rants and nothing more if there is not a concise message. So what is the message? You can delete this question again, which makes this blog nothing more than a cyberspace Shermanesque echo chamber.

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  7. Have been told that Mort revealed the Discovery Bridge Survey to the TAC committee yesterday. Has anyone seen or talked to their TAC rep today? Has anyone seen the results?

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  8. Did you talk to your TAC rep? If not, stop spreading rumor. Teachers want their views to be taken seriously yet continue to rely on rumor and conjecture as part of their information. Until the participants of the survey see the results promised to them or until ACPS makes the results public record, they are hidden from public view.

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  9. looks like the community still is in line with the feelings of teachers. Check out the poll on Alexandrianews.org Not as strong a showing as the opposition to the 30 minute teacher time proposal, but still shows that the big ideas from the Super are not sitting well with the public. Also, for the commenter who questioned the authenticity of the poll and the possible ability to cheat the system, just give the ACPS surveys and feedback a try, and then a try again, and a try again. Alexandria News has the ability to prevent a user from a single computer from skewing data, ACPS does not seem to share such concerns.

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  10. According to Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post, ACPS has the Hilburg survey results and presented them to the TAC yesterday. They are being readied for the parents / public.

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  11. Jay Mathews
    Class Struggle

    What's Right and Wrong With Our Schools

    Posted at 5:00 AM ET, 02/18/2011
    Smart people + big report = dreamy nonsense

    I had high hopes for the latest high-profile plan to save our schools. "Pathways To Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century" has 63 contributors, including some of the smartest people in education. The project that produced the report is based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and led by two of its brightest luminaries, academic dean Robert B. Schwartz and senior lecturer Ronald Ferguson. Those familiar with the sad history of similarly ambitious reports have already detected the signs of impending disappointment. The reference to 2lst century education is troubling. People who use that term tend to start talking gibberish, without intending to.

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  12. Readied for the public? Hmmmm.

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  13. Come on TAC reps, was this long lost survey presented? Enough of the "according to so and so" stuff.

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  14. I talked with my TAC rep and they were NOT given the survey. They were told that ACPS received the survey on the Friday before the meeting. The superintendent was NOT at the TAC meeting.

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  15. I keep reading that a lot of people were "told" about the existence of the survey results. Being told is one thing, seeing is another. Continue to press the media to dig around, get details, and make the public aware of how their money has been spent and what the results of this survey are. Contact Carla Branch at Alexandrianews.org (carla.branch@comcast.net), Derrick Perkins at Alexandria Times (dperkins@alextimes.com), Michael Pope at the Alexnadria Gazette Packet (mpope@connectionnews.com), and Kevin Sieff at the Washington Post (sieffk@washpost.com) and request that they follow up on this story of public interest.

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  16. Re: your Blog in general and the relevant article in the Alexandria Times, Feb 17:

    Oh Gad! You are right on!!! I can't believe someone is speaking out!!

    Our county down south of you is the same unconscionable mess. In your blog, finally, the TEACHERS in the trenches speak out. Let's have more about NCLB, useless and vastly overpaid boards, and I should hope: out-of-control students, weak, intimidated, and disconnected parents!

    As in any good mystery thriller, these problems revolve around a case of "follow the money;" follow the trail of the salaries, perks, and especially the PENSIONS of those we have put in power. They have a vested interest in keeping the problems, not fixing them. Take a look at Spotsy county, for instance. While teach takes a pay and step freeze, the school board members and retirees laugh all the way to the bank.

    And how's this knee slapper: when students blow off their homework, scoff at tests, watch TV and video games till midnight, and then fail to meet their SOL's, then it's the TEACHER's FAULT?!?!?! You've got to be kidding. Academia is becoming insane. How UNJUST to punish teachers for parent's incompetence!

    Take this blog national. It's time. There are more teachers than there are bureaucrats. Expose lies and fantasies. Make school a place for LEARNING, not a warehouse. Let's get serious about this instead of pretending low performance is all the teacher's fault. Einstein himself couldn't teach a significant percentage of these kids.

    I will stay Anonymous for now, as my spouse also fears for a teaching job and future, even in a different county. This is an insane way to live here in America.

    --Anonymous 01

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