Behind the Kleckley ousting attempt, the explanation
for why the required report on it was 56 days late according to Brenda Romero is
(cue violins) “she misunderstood the filing requirements for filing the report….
She simply did not understand that she was obligated to file a report within 45
days of filing the recall petition…. she contacted the Campaign Finance
division for clarity. She spoke with staff, and was under the impression that
if small amounts were collected from individuals, then she was under no
obligation to report it at the moment. She maintains that staff answered all of
her questions and did everything to help her understand, however, she obviously
misunderstood. Ms. Romero maintains that it was not until when she saw a media
report that claimed she failed to report in a timely fashion, that she knew she
missed a deadline.”
And here’s the excuse
from the one behind the Jindal attempt, Angie Bonvillian (cue violins again): “the
group of four teachers that started the recall effort, did not know what they
were getting into. She further stated that the first letter they received about
the start of the recall had information that they did not know was important.
She states that she read the letter, but did not really understand it. She
maintains that they did not know that they were obligated to file a report
within 45 days of filing the recall petition. Ms. Bonvillian maintains that it
was not until when she read an article by a reporter that she understood the
filing requirements. She states that she then contacted the Campaign Finance
division for clarity. She spoke with staff, and asked more about the filing
deadlines. Ms. Bonvillain states that had she known and understood the
importance of filing the report, the 45 day report would have been filed.”
(As a public service to schoolchildren in Calcasieu Parish from where
this pair hails who may have them in class, I offer the following template for
those times when you all need a way to dodge your responsibilities, whether it
be for skipping class, not turning in homework, not studying for an exam, etc.,
as an excuse to proffer to them: “Dear Ms. Bonvillian/Romero: I misunderstood
the requirements for this assignment. I did not know I had to do it by the due
date. I did not know it was important. I read the requirements for it but did
not really understand it. It was not until other students told me about it that
I understood the requirements.” What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander ….)
Now, to have a teaching license, much less employment as a teacher in
Louisiana schools, you must have a bachelors degree, which in part means you
should be able to understand English, be able to read it, and at least be able
to reason at a fundamental level. So, let’s get this straight: we have two
teachers of long standing who have been tenured, to whom it never occurred, despite
their years of working in the public sector and obviously paying attention to
education policy and despite that they did take the time to learn of the recall
procedure, that they also might have some campaign finance regulations to deal
with? And who, despite an education background where the communication of ideas
is important, can’t understand simple written or spoken communications about a point of law it took me
all of 10 minutes to find and comprehend? And that somehow they never
encountered this information, or the urging to find it, from all the other
people associated with the efforts, including those at alleged training
sessions, rallies/signing parties, and at least one presumed operative of
previous recall efforts they once
crowed about utilizing?
If the reader thinks it’s unbelievable that people of such a background
could be so stupid, perhaps go with it, because such statements have little
credibility. They claim media reports finally alerted them to file 56 days
late. But in reality, the media reports started three weeks before they finally
filed, lawyers sympathetic to the state Republican party had
questioned the lack of such reports before that, the state itself sent
letters out reminding about reports, and this space only days after the reports
should have been due publicized that very fact. And also that the group so brazenly
declared themselves above the law when it came to releasing public records
and that the content of the reports that were filed, compared to their actual
activities, cast doubt upon the veracity of those reports, and it’s clear you
can’t trust anything with this pair.
So, take you pick, these educators of long term of our children either are
stupid or liars, perhaps both. Yet adding reprehensibility to the list, the
last thing the Louisiana Board of Ethics should do when it meets later this
week to hear their appeals of $1,000 fines each is to allow this duo to serve
as bad examples to students by changing the penalty in any way. Children need
to be taught to take responsibility for their actions, not to try to beg their
way out of the consequences of their actions. Instead, the role model they
present is it’s all right to be dumb, or mendacious, as long as you can find a
way to wiggle out of whatever problems acting like that can cause.
But should we expect any other kind of behavior when these and other
educators part of the recall attempts acted with such bluster and arrogance in
every other facet of it? When these attitudes no doubt were shaped by an
education profession in Louisiana for decades avoided any semblance of independent
accountability, declaring any forces outside of its cocoon as any or all of
incompetent or malicious in trying to do so? That watched generation after
generation of children being cheated out of a quality education because it didn’t
want to demand more quality out of its members because of laziness, insufficient
subject area knowledge, and politics? And resisted all too often attempts to
rectify these shortcomings?
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