So Michael DeChiara, the Shutesbury school committee chair who complained to the DA about public officials who blog--a thinly veiled attempt to censor Catherine Sanderson's School Committee blog--is now involved as technical consultant with a new blog promoting the schools.
A thinly veiled attempt to counter Catherine Sanderson's well established, popular blog that has a bad habit of calling them as she sees them.
No doubt this new blog--along with the "Vote yes for Amherst" yahoo listserve--will be used to hammer Ms. Sanderson in the School Committee election this spring. Fortunately, Ms. Sanderson has a bigger hammer.
Would this blog be better known as "The Maria Geryk Fan Club"?
ReplyDeleteYes you will see nothing but glowing positive stories about the schools.
ReplyDeleteA preaching-to-the-converted style that will quickly result in boredom.
And you will see Ms. Bertrand and Mr. Churchill.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the blog has the prescribed tone and the proper level of political correctness unlike Catherine's. Without the anonymous posters, you will probably see no teachers. But you will see the obligatory remarks nicely buried in the text that the current SC is working against teachers, not for them.
I see that Michael Jacques, with his unique combination of candor and deference, has wandered into this thicket of politeness. Let's see how long he stays.
Perhaps a SC candidate will emerge from all of this good feeling.
Oh I'm sure we will see lots of (teacher) Nina Koch as well.
ReplyDeleteYa see that person next to you on your right, you know, the one you think agrees with you on everything, well, take his or her hand. Now look to your left, you see that guy who is sending his kids to a private school out of town, but who remains a ferocious supporter of the public schools, now take his hand.
ReplyDeleteNow form a circle and let's start singing about how great our schools are! Really let yourself go and CELEBRATE OUR SCHOOLS, because heaven knows, brothers and sisters, those damned School Committee members have been running down our schools for too long! Who cares what's happening elsewhere? What matters is what WE think and especially HOW WE FEEL!
Fill in the blank: which Amherst residents are sending their kids to private schools?
ReplyDeleteWould this blog be better know as "The Prozac Sucking Anarchist's Spin Network For Conspiring To Continue Lining Its' Greedy Pockets With Tax Dollars While Maintaining Its' Hold Of Deception Over An Entire City Of Dysfunctional, Ego-Maniacal Morons Fan Club"?
ReplyDeleteWell is it???
Not sure if all of that would fit on the masthead.
ReplyDelete"Well is it???" change to: "Well would it???"
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed the public school personnel & committee members and admins who work for, establish policy etc. but then choose to send their children elsewhere...with salaries derived from the public sector.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you work for a system you can't trust to teach your own child?
HT
I want to know if Engage consulting was paid to develop the blog? if so, was it public $?
ReplyDeleteObviously, it doesn't seem like hypocrisy to them. They have reconciled themselves to it somehow.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, the school system is good enough for your child.
What is Engage consulting?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the owners of the new blog spent as much public funds as Catherine did for her blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're correct.
ReplyDeleteToo bad they did not install an open public sitemeter like Catherine did.
whats an open public site meter, Larry?
ReplyDeleteWell if you look over on the far right about half way down just under "Larry's required reading" you will see mine (and if I show you mine why shouldn't they show you theirs?)
ReplyDeleteCatherine's is all the way at the very bottom of her page dead center.
If you click on an open site meter you know how many folks are coming to the blog, where they originate from, how long they spend reading and, oftentimes, what Google search they did in order to end up on the blog.
With a "closed sitemeter" those stats are only available to the blogowner.
thsi site keeps getting more and more paranoid. but I do appreciate LK's comment about the masthead. Thanks for the chuckle.
ReplyDeleteOh, I think that there's plenty of paranoia in Amherst outside of this website.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Mary Streeter's Town Meeting Yahoo group.
"Paranoia" tends to be defined as "whatever I'm not concerned about". The rest are "legitimate concerns".
Ask library employees, or long-time library patrons, about paranoia.
So what happened to Mr. DeChiara's original ethical concerns about blogging by elected officials? Did they just vaporize?
ReplyDeleteYou can't really have a dialogue about public education without the involvement of employees in public education.
ReplyDeleteAnd, without the anonymous posting option, the educators have demonstrated that they won't participate. So this latest effort would appear to be DOA.
Pretty sagacious for an Anon
ReplyDeleteRest assured, Monsieur Kelley, that the (how do you call it?) "cheapshotting" of Professor Sanderson of Amherst College on our hallowed website will be, shall we say, very, very, oh so very,.... polite.
ReplyDeleteWe wish to keep it very, very, oh so very.......positive.
We wish to exist and dialogue with each other on a higher plane than, shall we say, you ruffians.
"Paranoia" tends to be defined as "whatever I'm not concerned about". The rest are "legitimate concerns".
ReplyDeleteAmherst period.
Fcking slum.
"Ask library employees, or long-time library patrons, about paranoia."
ReplyDeleteAsk school maintenance/transportation dept. employees about paranoia.
Anyone else?
you know, a site meter... the thing that shows you that the last 20 people who visited the site are from Springfield, Monson, New Brunswick, Middlefield CT, West Brookfield, West Haven CT, Waltham, Fairhaven CT, Haverhill, Coventry RI, Holyoke, Granby, Brockton, Boston... Hey! Where's all your local support?!?!
ReplyDeleteA reader is a reader is a reader.
ReplyDeleteto anonymous 11:21 a.m. - the site meter reads me as Springfield but I'm an Amherst resident. I expect the meter reads are based on something other than actual residency.
ReplyDeleteTrue enough. Where your provider is located.
ReplyDeleteOh, You'll see a lot of BS on this new bog site of theirs, the good news is: that more ppl living in Amherst are no longer drinking the water and are waking up and reading between the lines, AKA savvy to the shit!
ReplyDeleteCheck out the flood of commenters coming into the supposed "safe place" for discussion about education.
ReplyDeleteIn short, no flood, hardly a trickle, just a handful of the usual suspects complimenting each other.
No, our schools are not a "safe place" if you have any criticism or problems with the status quo. The new blog is not a "safe place" either.
Hey, catch the lively back-and-forth going on at www.communitysupportededucation.net!
ReplyDeleteThere is so much content there, it'll make your head spin.