Dear Mr. President… Chilmonik letter sparks walkout
Superintendent James Browder stormed out of Tuesday’s school board meeting after a heated exchange with member Bob Chilmonik, who sent a letter to President Obama apologizing for Lee County not airing his back-to-school address.
In the letter, Chilmonik blasts Browder’s decision as “a disservice to our children and community” while calling Lee’s academic performance “lackluster.” None of the other four board members commented, but Browder spoke up to defend teachers and principals.
It was just another episode in a board member-superintendent dynamic that’s been on a downward cycle for several years. Read on to see Chilmonik’s letter (in blue) to Obama, and the fallout.
September 21, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Robert Chilmonik, one of five elected School Board members in Lee County, Florida. Our School District, at the direction of the Superintendent, made a decision not to air your motivational school speech which, I believe, was a disservice to our children and community. Our School District suffers academically with some of the lowest SAT/ACT scores in the State and Nation, along with a lackluster performance on the Florida FCAT test. Students from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are performing below our peer Districts and the State of Florida.
Our teachers and support personnel are working hard to improve our reading, math, and science scores. If ever any District in the Nation needed a strong motivational message, it was right here in Lee County. I would like to apologize to you for our disrespectful treatment in response to your message of hope to all students across our great country. In your speech you stated that everyone makes mistakes and how one handles those mistakes is the most important lesson. The majority of the Board and the Superintendent made a decision for the wrong reasons and affected 80,000 students who were the real losers along with staff and parents whose hope and dreams depend on a good education.
Lee County is a wonderful community with an open heart and unbounded generosity. The unfortunate decision made by the Superintendent and the majority of School Board is not reflective of the community as a whole. God bless you and God Bless America.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Chilmonik
School Board District One
None of the other four board members commented about the letter, but Browder spoke up.
“I can’t let Mr. Chilmonik’s letter pass because, again, it is filled with inaccurate statements. It’s filled with things that make him look like he’s done something. On Fox4, he said the superintendent made the right decision, until the Democrats in town stood up, so now he’s going to err on that side. Mr. Chilmonik has again demonstrated his ability to say that our lackluster performance on the FCAT… he’s not looking at the same data any of the rest of us are looking at. This is a cheap political trick, and he has every right to do it, but I’ll tell you, I’m not going to sit here and allow him to continue to berate the Lee County school system and the teachers in it, and have folks come to the podium any time he gets a chance to berate us. The teachers in this system, the principals in this system, do an excellent job. And for us to week in and week out have to listen to that kind of foolishness, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Chilmonik then attempted to say that 65 percent of 10th graders don’t meet reading standards, but Browder cut him off.
“Don’t even talk to me,” Browder shouted as he packed up his belongings.
“Don’t you talk to me, sir,” Chilmonik replied as board chairwoman Jane Kuckel shouted for a recess. “It was the wrong decision to make and I will not take a personal attack. You made the wrong decision.”
After a short break, board members voted — with the microphones no longer on — to adjourn the meeting. Browder was long gone by that point.
The next school board meeting is set for Oct. 6.
Damned few school board members have this kind of integrity; they are typically hacks.
No comments:
Post a Comment