TUSD Board hires lobbyist for $40,000
At the TUSD Governing Board meeting last night, the Master Plan to close schools was discussed. District administration hopes to close schools on the east and north sides of town and create big box warehouses for their declining student population on the south and west sides of town.
Dr. Stegeman questioned at what point the public would be engaged in the “Master Plan” decision making process in a meaningful way. He said he “was sympathetic” to those members of the public who expressed dissatisfaction with the less-than-interactive town halls the district conducted last month. The public had no public interaction with the Board at all during the town halls.
Bryant Nodine, the district’s planner, told the Board that the public hearing portion for school closures would be held only after the process to determine which schools to close would be nearly completed.
Curriculum adoption was at the center of a discussion between staff and board members. In the past, the district staff has not sought, as required by law, the approval of the Board for curriculum and reading materials. Just last night the Board was asked to adopt reading materials for AP History.
Dr. Stegeman questioned the fact that Assistant Superintendent of high schools, Abel Morado and his staff, did not make the textbooks readily and completely available to the board before their approval. Stegeman told Morado that the Board had decided to go through a more complete process of curriculum adoption, and it did not appear that the administration was following the adoption process.
Not only does the law required a review by the Board and the public of proposed curriculum, but it was ignoring that law that led to the evolution of Mexican American Studies from classes which taught history to ideological indoctrination. Arizona statutes ARS 15-721 and 15-722 were cited in the ADE’s ruling against the district’s MAS classes; “These sections of statute govern courses of study for elementary (15-721) and high schools (15-722). Both sections require school district governing boards to approve the course of study and the basic textbook for each course.
Morado conceded that they would follow the Board’s policy in the future. The book passed 5-0.
In a 4-1 vote the Board opted to retain the services of their own lobbyist. Sam Polito will receive $40,000 a year to lobby for the district. However, Polito, who has worked on contract with the district in the past, does not come before the Board to ascertain the district’s interests before he heads off to Phoenix to lobby for those interests. As a result he often lobbies on behalf of the teacher’s union and their interests.
Dr. Stegeman said of the expenditure, “It seems hard for TUSD to argue to the community that we are in a dire budget situation when we hire a lobbyist that most districts would consider a luxury.”
According to district insiders, the Board meetings are shorter this year, as administration has decided to keep the Board out of its agenda as much as possible. Just last week the district announced a hiring freeze and did not involve the Board in that decision.
“Sadly, this is just another business as usual meeting for TUSD. The administratioin spends more money TUSD does not have outside of the classroom,” said Rich Kronberg, retired teacher and long time education activist. “The administration treats the public and even the Governing Board like mushrooms by keeping them in the dark until it is time to vote, and the usual suspects line up to speak in favor a building ever-larger schools that have been shown time and again to stifle student academic achievement. The only way for this to change is for voters to elect candidates for Governing Board who will fight for transparency, more resources for the classroom, much less administration, and a commitment to student achievement.”
Pedicone insisted that the Board increase his bonus pay saying that district staff discovered a error in the calculation percentage of goals met. His bonus is based on that percentage.
The goals are: Academic achievement, enrollment, dropouts, transportation, customer service, grants, and the desegregation budget.
According to district insiders, the number used for student achievement was recalculated due to current negotiations with Special Master Hawley in the district’s desegregation case. In an effort to increase the performance levels of African American students, the district moved some of that group, into the “Mixed Race” category.
While the district has received over a billion dollars in desegregation money over the years, it has refused to make an effort to place highly skilled and qualified teachers in schools receiving Title 1 monies.
Board members were not informed of how the new calculation was made. They voted 4-1 for increasing Pedicone’s bonus. Stegeman was the lone “No” vote.
This month the district announced a hiring freeze.
Correction: Putnam Hidlago did say that if the students could not be funnelled into large schools like Marybell McCorkel, the district should retrofit the small schools to keep them open rather than funnelling more kids into other small schools.
Related article:
TUSD faces hiring freeze and instructional time questions (updated)