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A Pennsylvania School Board Member's view on public education
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http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2013/04/east_penn_school_director_juli.html
This seems much worse than, say, any of Cathie Black's comments. Is it easier for rural school administrators than urban to get away with tone-deaf comments, is it matter of school-board versus superindentent/chancellor, or Democratic region versus Republican, or something else?
"On March 8, former South Carolina GOP head Todd Kincannon tweeted, "There is nothing more brain rotting than public schools. God, I pity the proletariat for having to send their inferior crotchfruit to them."
Stolz responded by tweeting, "As a school board director, I wish I could disagree. As a sentient being, I cannot."
Of course, while I doubt anyone on the SRC in Philly refers to public school students as "inferior crotchfruit," they too are (with 1 exception) not parents, teachers, or students, so I do think it may be fair to question some of their commitment to public education, even as--like Stoltz--they are responsible for it. Which is all the more reason that even if some of the school closings were justified, it's very hard to trust this group of leaders, and bothersome when individuals (like one of the people on the panel in our class seemed to) suggest frustration that students/communities can't just accept that the leaders are doing what is right for everyone.
Comments
thoughts
As disheartening as this post is, I'm glad you shared it. I was disappointed in the tone that Stolz took, and the flippant way that he handles his position--for example, pretending to resign as an April fool's joke. Also, Stolz "alternately showed no emotion or smiled" during parents' comments on his tweets at a meeting. "Stolz later said, 'If my demeanor seemed flippant or dismissive to some of those who spoke tonight and called for my resignation or censure, it's because I'm familiar with their backgrounds.'" I think that being a leader calls for a higher sense of respect for the people that you serve-- which in his case should include both parents and students.
I briefly googled him--found a wordpress blog questioning some of his behavior.Yikes.
In a system that doesn't encourage much trust to begin with, his behavior makes it all the more difficult to expect the best from people in positions of authority.