Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Our District role models at work.

People in power positions get to set the rules and name the players. That's why in political contests, the object of the game is to define your opponent in the negative before s/he can clearly define themselves in the positive. Thus you get "flip-flopper" or "third Bush term" or whatever seems to be necessary to paint the opponent as a bad choice.

In this case, you are getting "disgruntled employee." If administration can name you before you get a chance to tell your side of the story, they have won. No one wants a "disgruntled employee;" they are stereotypically anti-social, grumpy, not humorous, untruthful, and whatever other negative you want to lay on them.

But the "disgruntled employee" can actually be someone who is trying to look out for the many-students and employees alike. They see injustice, incompetence, or willful neglect and they are trying to bring some justice and fairness to the organization. The powerful do not want that because it is a threat to their status. They have resources (money) and the ear of the media and use it as a mouthpiece for their statements to justify their incompetence.

Do you fight this? Or do you just walk away in frustration? Here's something to consider. Administration has the responsibility for the education of the children of the school district. Children learn by example. Which example do you want them to follow? Do you want them to think that bullying is OK or do you want them to treat others as they wish to be treated?

If the answer is the latter, then you need to "screw your courage to the sticking place" (Macbeth) and let it be known that you will no longer allow the bullying to continue, that you insist on competent, fair management of the district's resources, primarily its human resources which it is squandering. Let it be known that you will expect that anyone who bullies others will be disciplined and fired if they don't stop.

Tell other parents, co-workers, newspaper reporters and editors that you expect better than you are getting. Picket the ESD. Pass out flyers.

If there is no pressure on the administration, nothing will change. You must create and maintain that pressure. Don't expect that Mark can do it himself. Don't sit back and think the blog will do the trick. It will take effort from each and every one of you to affect the change necessary to correct the mismanagement of the district.

Yeah, I'm sitting here 230 miles away; it's "easy" for me to say these things. We gave a combined 25+ years to the students and parents of the district. We are not the kind of people who can turn our backs and say, "that's not my problem anymore." Paraphrase Tom Joad in "Grapes of Wrath": "Where there's a teacher being bullied, I'll be there. Where there's an administrator abusing their power, I'll be there." This is not a case of being vindictive, but rather a case of seeking justice.

This is a much larger problem than just Edmonds. We are here to fight the good fight for everyone who is suffering under poor, bullying administrators. But we can't do it alone; we need your help as well. To change the culture at Edmonds will require input from the many. That's you-parents and employees. And if you don't want to stick your neck out or put out the effort, we can't help you.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a document in hand showing that the warehouse supervisor still slanders his employeees. This document on the heels of his termination. This is not looking good for him. The employees that he slanders with various names would be shocked, simply because he is using Edmonds School District resources to do his slandering. The union and district should act swiftly to ensure that he no longer posseses the ability to slander his employees. The Board would not tolerate knowledge of an employee continuing this kind of behavior, after multiple warnings.

Anonymous said...

Great words,
Well let me tell you a little story about a little email that fell in my lap.
He says that Boyd & Dave are trouble makers and their pleas have fallin on deaf ears.

We will be talking SOON .....
I won't be talk at all......

Anonymous said...

There is a supervisor in the district that made his own bed with the pornograghy on his computer. Stop blaming others for what you have created in the Edmonds School District, and take ownership for the horrible other choices you have made as well, like not filling out your HR 100's.( This is still being documented.) You were fired from Fluke for the same crap you are pulling here. Hey you even admitted in an Email that there are employees that stood up to your crap, and as a result, Adios Mother F ER. You have screwed with the wrong person in your short little career here. I am currently working on a free pass, based on what you have done to me and others in the district. You have cost the district a bundle. Employees will never be treated like this again, by a middle manager. From this point on, somebody else will be doing the dirty work so others can do their jobs. This would be a paid hire by me.

Anonymous said...

Supervisor for sale,

Hangs out in dark parking lots often.
Pornograghy on district hardrive for instant entertainment.
Can lie to any payroll supervisor with the best of them.
Well rehearsed in making up different excuses not to come in,at least weekly.
Can sneak out of any building in a flash.
Very good at taking deep breath and inflating chest to attract female snakes.
Hair going away, but XS tool to make up for it.
Wife qualified, and has worked in most districts in Snonomish county.

Anonymous said...

Why can't the District ban the Porn King from stepping foot on District property? The Warehouse, and the employees, have always had the respect of district employees; they work hard and "aim to please". Porn King has to go NOW! Please ask Stuart Lane to come in from retirement, for the interim period, to restore the "class" that the warehouse has always had until "Porn King" "weaseled" his way in.

Anonymous said...

To June 20th.

The reason they won't ban him from district property is because that is a clear sign that the warehouse supervisor might have been the problem all along. They will never put themselves in that position, thus Chuck gets to float for the remainder of his time.It is dirty play for sure, so there would have to be another angle taken. I'm sure SEIU is all over this one.

Anonymous said...

The U.S. Supreme Court made another ruling of note in favor of workers this week. This is from the NYTimes:

"Twenty-eight workers in a federal naval laboratory in upstate New York sued after losing their jobs. Of the 31 people laid off, 30 were over the age of 40. The employer claimed that the high percentage of older workers selected was because of factors other than age, a defense the law allows. The question for the court was: Does the employer have to prove that those reasonable nonage-related factors existed, or do the fired workers have to disprove it?

The court ruled, 7 to 1, that the burden is on the employer. The majority opinion, by Justice David Souter, explains in straightforward terms that when Congress allowed employers to make defenses based on “reasonable factors other than age,” it required the employers to come up with the proof to support them."

Unions should take note, especially EEA. When your members come to you with complaints that older workers seem to be targeted for bullying, there now seems to be a growing understanding in the courts that THIS BEHAVIOR ON THE PART OF EMPLOYERS IS WRONG and can be addressed in the courts.

To the District's administrators: can you explain why at MMS between 2003 and 2006 the staff members who were under the most pressure from bullying were over the age of 50? And remember, some of those being pushed around were teachers who were recognized as outstanding teachers by outside organizations.

And I don't think "it's what's best for kids" will fly as an explanation.

Anonymous said...

If the e-mail says "Boyd and Dave are troublemakers" this seems to be another example of name calling as exemplified by the superintendent. It seems that if he can do it, anybody who enjoys his support can as well. That's how it works.

Has anything happened in the case of the "reply to all" e-mail degrading a district employee from someone in HR? No? Big surprise (sarcasm)!

How many examples of this type of officially approved harassment will occur before anybody does anything?

Hey, you lawyers monitoring this blog: can't you control your clients?

Anonymous said...

The district Human Resources has ZERO class almost top to bottom. A bunch of rude mouth do nothings. They can't take care of their employees, because they can't take care of themselves.

Anonymous said...

What will the warehouse supervisor hide behind when he no longer has the Edmonds School District? Happy shopping!

Anonymous said...

I sure would like to know what kind of "deal" the District made with Warehouse Porn-King. Why is he still employed? Perhaps in their behind-closed-door negotiations, Porn King insisted on being employed until August so that he could qualify for benefits, or other similar factors. Does anyone know why he was given this time before he was asked to leave, or did he ask for the opportunity to resign by submitting a letter of his intentions. Sounds like he was handled with kid gloves. I just pray that the employees at the Warehouse can move on and continue to deliver their excellent services to District employees and Buildings.

Anonymous said...

Chuck never was part of that good service. Well unless you work at OEWH. Maybe Tracy would like to know a bit more about all the special favors to OEWH. No other site this past year was granted more favors than OEWH. Can you answer to that Chuck? Maybe you would like to explain this to your wife? Especially since you can't give your hard working employees a good explanation!

Anonymous said...

Bye! Bye! Bi-polar!

Anonymous said...

Question for last statement on this page: Can you tell me what OEWH stands for? I know that Porn-King was never a part of the "good service" provided from WH workers. I am retired and go way back, but know that when they finally did have a supervisor, Stuart Lane did a fine job, and all was well at the WH. How can one person make life so miserable for so many? (and get by with it to boot!)

Anonymous said...

Old Edmonds Woodway High. Who is head custodian over there?

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing: Old Edmonds-Woodway High?

They can get away with it because those in higher authority refuse to listen to the complaints of the rank and file workers because 1) the offending employee might be doing exactly what s/he has been told to do by those in higher authority (bully people until they leave) or 2) higher authority doesn't care to give credence to anything from the lower ranks (we are in their view, after all, just a bunch of "whinners" and "complainers") or 3) higher authority just doesn't know how to manage people and rather than have to fire someone because they are incompetent (that would mean that they made a mistake in hiring them in the first place) they just let things go to h___ in a handbasket and pretend that nothing is wrong.

Take your pick, the result is the same: good people leave; those staying have poor morale; and the students (who we are supposed to be all about) get less than they deserve.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for clarification of OEWH, and your comments, makes sense for sure!