CCSD's District 20 School Board Candidates

As the P & C has so carefully told us while it bashes Park Dougherty, a major force behind the success so far of the Charter School for Math and Science (CSMS), three candidates have submitted petitions for District 20's one seat on the CCSD School Board--the incumbent, Toya Hampton-Green; Marvin Stewart, who has been an active member of the District 20 constituent board; and Robert Russell, who has contributed to the formation of CSMS. Even though we're still in the dog days of summer, the educrats at 75 Calhoun and CCSD Board President Hillery Douglas have already made their choice clear: the incumbent. They've also made it clear that, proposals to the contrary, they intend to PLAY POLITICS in order to get Hampton-Green reelected.

Let me state that I do not know, nor have I ever met (as far as I know), any of the three candidates or their families, do not reside in District 20, have no children or relatives with children that are in the district schools, and do not have the time to participate actively in political campaigns. Nevertheless, I'm an interested resident of Charleston County who will be voting in November. My opinions of these candidates are based on watching taped CCSD Board meetings, reading P & C articles, and contemplating what I have found on both the Web and my blog's comments section. I do pay attention to what happens in CCSD.

With that caveat in mind, here's what I see so far concerning the three candidates.

Toya Hampton-Green (THG): has strong ties to the Democratic party in Charleston County. Her husband ran against state Sen. Robert Ford in the Democratic primary and lost with only 25% of the vote, even though he managed to raise and spend more money. Here's what I said about them in April:

"[. . .] the Greens have been enjoying the perks of being Charleston's young black 'power couple.' Toya's election to the school board after representing CCSD for a local law firm was well bankrolled by local Democrats, and she won despite lack of support from District 20, the constituent district she represents (oops, I mean the one she lives in, since she claims that she represents the WHOLE county). Strangely enough [sorry, the sarcasm just slipped through] the Greens' child was a winner in Buist Academy's "lottery." Readers of this blog will understand that we are using the word "lottery" loosely here."

Although her husband is a native of Charleston, THG is not. She has consistently supported the agenda of the Meyers-Douglas voting bloc and rarely speaks at its public session. The Greens live in a newly developed area of District 20, not in one of the old neighborhoods.

Marvin Stewart (MS): maybe the most vociferous chairman of the District 20 constituent board ever. Has been described as a "former teacher and downtown-schools activist." Stewart has watched the treatment of District 20 like a hawk and has not wavered in challenging the School Board in its decisions concerning Buist, Charleston Progressive, Fraser, etc. He has also supported the development of CSMS. I surmise that he is a graduate of Burke High and a native of Charleston (and District 20). Maybe some readers can supply further information.

Robert Russell (RR): a professor at the College of Charleston who has been involved in the development of CSMS (although I don't know the details). Has four children who may or may not be in CCSD schools now. Obviously an advocate of charter schools but his views on the rest of District 20 and CCSD School Board shenanigans remain veiled so far. Not a native Charlestonian as far as I can tell, but certainly his courses on architecture sound interesting. Students rate him as tough but brilliant. Here's the information from the CofC website:

Robert Russell
Professor, Architectural History/Urban Design
Director, Historic Preservation & Community Planning Program

Courses:

ARTH 245 Introduction to Architecture
ARTH 260 Addlestone Seminar on the Arts and Culture of the Lowcountry
ARTH 265 The City as a Work of Art
ARTH 335 History of American Architecture
ARTH 394 History of 18th and 19th Century Architecture
ARTH 395 History of 20th Century Architecture

BA, Southern Illinois
Ph.D. Princeton University

From these descriptions regular readers of this blog know already with whom I am muy simpatico so far. That would be Marvin, of course.

CCSD Parodies Itself Again

I thought about writing a satire of Monday night's CCSD School Board meeting, but it would have been too tame. I'd end up with the same problems as the New Yorker. You can't make this stuff up.

In its quixotic quest to banish profanity from the lips of school board members, a committee assigned the job of rewriting regulations for behavior proposed that "stated members would refuse to play politics."

[. . . ]

Sorry, I had to take a few minutes there to regain my composure.

It would be pathetic if CCSD students weren't suffering the consequences of attending among the worst schools in South Carolina, which means among the worst in the nation.

After adding in all sorts of other requirements to the policy, including the kitchen sink, Douglas and cronies couldn't manage to pass it.

Worth the loudest horse laugh is Superintendent Nancy McGinley's mental block that caused her to forget to bring up the variant policy in confirming student addresses at Buist Academy. Her problem is that so many lies concerning Buist have come from her quarter that even if she really did forget, no one's going to believe it!

What do you think? Can she manage to forget to bring it up at the next meeting? Can she drag it out until school has actually begun and then allow Principal Sally Ballard her usual delay, linger, and wait dead-slow process?

We all know about Douglas--he's a lame duck anyway. But now Superintendent McGinley has lost any credibility she may have once enjoyed with residents of District 20.

Wasn't Ravenel's original blow up about McGinley's forgetting to put CSMS's using the Rivers campus on the agenda?

CCSD: "It's Going To Be a Bumpy Ride"

What can I say: when I'm right, I'm right (see Sunday's posting).

Fasten your seat belts.

Monday's article (Math & Science Backer Under Fire], quotes only outgoing CCSD School Board President Hillery Douglas on Park Dougherty's shortcomings and supposed "lies." Does anyone (with the possible exception of Courrege) believe that Douglas supports CSMS? Then, in the most convoluted reasoning I've seen recently, the story also twists Dougherty's support of ANYONE BUT TOYA (ABT) into "playing the race card" by quoting Armand Derfner, whose successful suit nixed at-large representatives on the Charleston County Council. "A judge in that case found that people here, and elsewhere, tend to vote along racial lines, he said." Never mind that the Lowcountry just elected a black Republican to the state legislature.

By Derfner's Orwellian reasoning, Dougherty's saying he would support ABT--either Marvin Stewart (black) or Robert Russell (white)--for the District 20 seat now held by Toya Hampton-Green, makes him a racist. He's a racist because he supports candidates that he believes will vote to support charter schools! [Why do I hear Dot Scott's voice echoing in the background?]

Actually, I happen to believe that members of the CCSD School Board should be voted in by the residents of their districts. Then, Dot Scott and her cronies who reside outside of District 20 wouldn't be able to vote for Hampton-Green. Then District 20 wouldn't get a representative who claims that she doesn't represent District 20. Sounds good to me.

Douglas lauds Hampton-Green's support of charter schools in his absurd claim that Dougherty is a liar. Read the background on support of Sea Islands YouthBuild in previous postings on this blog. Hampton-Green supports charter schools THAT ARE SUGGESTED BY 75 CALHOUN, not by actual residents of individual constituent districts (that would be Dougherty and CSMS). Douglas claims that Dougherty is playing "lowdown dirty politics." Why didn't he attack Russell for attempting to take a "black" seat? Is this ranting simply a result of what happened to Douglas in the North Charleston mayoralty race?

Take the beam out of your own eye, Hillery.

P & C Plans Hatchet Job on Charter School Organizer

What are the chances that Monday's promised article on Park Dougherty will be balanced? Golly, maybe between slim and none? Even the article's teaser in today's on-line version [see Charter School Leader Spurs Controversy] trashes Dougherty by saying that "some [note, unnamed] say Dougherty has resorted to 'low down, dirty politics' and 'playing the race card' by pushing two candidates for one seat," the one now held by Toya Hampton-Green.

It's an opening volley from 75 Calhoun Street in the election of new board members. The Superintendent and Gregg Meyers know that many issues have been decided on a 5-4 vote from the present members of the board. No one, not even Toya Hampton-Green, would claim that her voiceless votes in lockstep with Meyers have supported Dougherty in his quest for CSMS to be a success.

What I can't figure out is how Dougherty's support of Marvin Stewart and Robert Russell is "playing the race card." All he's doing is saying, ANYONE but Toya. If both of these candidates were white, the statement would be justifiable (barely!), but they're not.

Wanna bet that the "some" are Dot Scott and her cronies? They can't attack the balanced racial makeup of the school, so they've gone to Plan B. The P & C is happy to oblige.

DNA & the Internet--Powerful Tools

As I read in Saturday's P & C of the burial after 56 years of a Korean War hero, the good that the discovery and application of DNA has rendered impressed me again. [See Burial Provides Closure for Family.] I can only surmise the heartache of having a loved one go missing, and that missing's lasting for 56 years. We should laud the perseverance of Capt. William K. Mauldin's family, as well as that of the Air Force, but without the magic of DNA, this father would never have come home again.

What DNA renders, of course, is information, information that 56 years ago was only a dream, if even that. It frees the innocent, convicts the guilty, and identifies the unknown. Why, DNA even empowered State Sen. Glenn McConnell to discover that he's of Norwegian ancestry (those Vikings raided Scotland, apparently).

And the Internet? Estimates say that 30 percent of the Web consists of pornography. That's not a pretty fact, but mitigating it is access to other information that was either unattainable or difficult to ferret out only a few years ago. Why, now even a politician can't get away with taking one position in Washington and another in his or her home state.

All that information to be exploited, if only the user knows what to do with it for good!

Can We Find It on a Map?

What makes the P & C shy away from using maps? Does it cost more? As I read about the extension of the Glenn McConnell Parkway in West Ashley in Friday's edition [ Council OKs Glenn McConnell Extension], I couldn't visualize where the road would end. I'm in that area fairly frequently. How about those who rarely travel there?

Bees Ferry Circle? Long Savannah and Village Green?

Wouldn't it be informative to readers to show all the impacted areas on a MAP? Maybe if more readers had maps to reference, they might even understand possible impacts of the new extensions.

Then again, maybe that's why there is no map!

CCSD School Board Election Choices

I'm on the road today, so I'll save my thoughts on the final list of candidates for another posting. Meanwhile, it would be great to hear some of yours.