Exactly who are these ASPEN Group International folks that Terry Grier brought in to silence SDUSD board members?

SDUSD superintendent Terry Grier (photo) brought in consultants to design a gag rule for board members.

I looked up Aspen Group International and found this:

ASPEN Group International Inc. and American Association of School Administrators present:

"A timely seminar for superintendents who want to lead"

From School Administrator
June 2003

"...This conference will help you, as the district's CEO, and your board work together to form an authentic and respectful relationship characterized by a true trusteeship focused on increasing community support for and understanding of district efforts..

"WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT...

* If your school board members exercised collective self discipline to stay out of interpersonal game-playing, political intrigues and micromanagement?

[Blogger's note: Wonderful! Only administrators--not board members --would be involved in interpersonal game-playing and political intrigues.]

* ...If you could make administrative and operational decisions without seeking approval or being second-guessed and reversed by your board?

[How can voters and parents have any input at all, if board members are not accountable for administrative and operational decisions?]

* If your school board were focused more on student achievement and creating community support and less on operational "stuff"?

[Wait a minute. Isn't "operational stuff" precisely how student achievement is attained? What exactly would the board members focus on?]

...What a utopia! But in your lifetime?

As a matter of fact, YES!

[Public schools are NOT utopias designed for the comfort of the superintendent. They are public entities, and those who operate them must be open and accountable to voters. Conflicts should be resolved by discussion, not gagging board members and keeping voters out of the loop.]

"Many school boards and their CEOs already are experiencing all these benefits of Policy Governance[R], the governing model created by John Carver that has proven to be practical and successful in the public education world by helping superintendents and school board members understand their real roles and how to effectively execute them.

[Since when are board members merely cheerleaders for superintendents? They are bosses, not boosters!}

"This AASA/Aspen Group conference is your opportunity to learn more about Policy Governance[R], how it is being used by superintendents across the nation, and how it can produce results to match its promise in your district. Log on to www.aasa.org or www.aspengroup.org for details about Policy Governance[R] and this important conference.

"$400 for AASA members, $450 for non-members"

[Blogger's note: I agree with the commenter who said these shenanigans are a good reason to vote for John Lee Evans instead of Mitz Lee.]

Free speech now allowed by San Diego Unified board members

I'm wondering if the odd and short-lived plan to silence dissent was concocted by recently-hired SDUSD bigwigs Mark Bresee (chief counsel) and Terry Grier (superintendent). I know Mark Bresee is opposed to openness and honesty on school boards. I now suspect that Mark Bresee's hiring was done at the behest of Terry Grier, who apparently is in sync with Mr. Bresee on this issue. The two of them are apparently fans of Aspen Group International, LLC, which provided the consultants who "helped" the board write the rule.

School Board Reverses Public-Criticism Rule
Voice of San Diego

The San Diego Unified school board voted tonight to abolish a policy that barred its members from publicly making negative comments about their superintendent and staff after the policy received heavy criticism. The board also removed a policy that dissuades them from undermining board decisions when speaking publicly.

One member of the public, League of Women Voters of San Diego Co-President Norma Damashek, said tonight that the policies "short-circuit transparency and accountability in public meetings" and "deprive us of the opportunity to hear the views of our public representatives." The rule was earlier criticized by attorneys from the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the statewide open government group Californians Aware...

School board member Luis Acle was the only member to vote against removing the rule.


-- EMILY ALPERT
October 14, 2008

Schools mask problems instead of solving them

In times of crisis, schools hire consultants to calm everybody down instead of addressing the basic problem: teachers who can't think straight.

Helix High School in San Diego Unified School District has suffered from a rash of teacher-student sexual encounters. Since this makes the news, the school is doing something about it: hiring an ethics advisor.

Castle Park Elementary School in Chula Vista also hired an advisor, Peter Barron Stark, a few years back, in the mid-90s, when teachers were so hostile to bilingual education that they were using staff meetings as an emotional outlet to scream at their opponents.

Peter Barron Stark's advice didn't them help much. It seems that Castle Park Elementary teachers needed help with thinking skills and basic human decency. All they learned was how to conduct a meeting without yelling at each other. In other words, problems were covered up instead of being addressed.

According to Stark's website, the following educational institutions have hired Peter Barron Stark and Associates.

It's hard to miss MiraCosta College and others with legal problems on the list; many of these problem schools use Daniel Shinoff as their lawyer.

Is the failure of consultants caused by the fact that these institutions were asking for the wrong thing? They wanted to keep everything calm and quiet, when open, honest discussion was needed. Instead of hiring PBS consulting, they should have hired ethical lawyers, teachers, and administrators. Clearly, CVESD needs new board members.


PBS Consulting's education client list:

...Butte County Office of Education
Cal Poly Pomona
Chula Vista Elementary School District
Edison Charter Academy
KPBS
MiraCosta College
National School District
Poway Unified School District
Project Concern
San Diego County Office of Education
San Dieguito Union High School District
San Diego State University - College of Extended Studies
San Diego Community College District
Soquel Elementary School District
Southwestern College
Southwestern Christian School
University of Phoenix

Mr. Stark says, "I view each client I have the privilege of working with as the beginning of a lifelong relationship. I am committed to providing you with a customized presentation that begins long before I take the stage and doesn't end until your expectations have been exceeded."

I think you have some work left to do at Castle Park Elementary, Mr. Stark. And while you're at it, a visit to MiraCosta College might be in order.

John Carver on board governance

After reading a reference to him by Emily Alpert at Voice of San Diego, I took a peek at the website of John Carver, governance theorist.

I was left with two questions:

1. Since school boards so often "just do what their lawyers tell them," as a Vista Unified School District board member recently put it, why haven't you addressed the problem of how to deal with in-house and insurance company lawyers on your website?

2. Since you're a non-profit organization, who donates the money for your outfit to function?


http://www.carvergovernance.com/index.html

Here's Alpert's story:

Don't Knock the School Board

Governance theorist John Carver, who chatted with me about the roles of school boards and why they often overstep their bounds, made this interesting remark Tuesday during our interview: "Almost everybody who makes fun of the board (and its dysfunction) ... if you put them on the board, they'd be just as bad."

Carver attributes the problem to a lack of clarity about what boards are supposed to do, not the failures of individuals.

EMILY ALPERT
November 28 2007
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/11/28/this_just_in/698board112807.txt