Constructive Criticism

So, you all know I’m not well known for sugar and spice. I am a self admitted “Negative Nelly” and I freely nod to that title. The reason being? You can’t fix what you won't accept is broken.

This guy only tells you good things,
but that doesn't make him your friend.

Still, I am more than happy to admit that I don’t have all the answers. Seriously. I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING. And that's okay. I can admit it. I will gleefully shout it from the rooftops and beg your input on just about any subject. The reason being is that, as a human being, it's fairly normal not have all the answers. Not only do I not have all the answers, but I will never get them if I only listen to my own ideas.

This handsome guy may be dishing out bad news like crazy,
 but at least you can trust him.

When I think about my relationship with PSD, some might call it critical. I expect a lot from PSD. I admit it. In my defense, I have pretty good and numerous reasons why I expect a lot from my local school district. Around seventeen thousand reasons to be exact. 

Whatever my reasons, however, there are always going to be those who disagree with my methods, ideologies and purpose. Which is FINE! No, seriously! That is totally okay! We can agree to disagree sometimes. I will gladly accept criticism from you because I believe critical is by no means the opposite of constructive. In fact, I'm pretty sure the phrase Constructive Criticism is a rather well known term in the continental lexicon.

I don't like the way you breathe

I understand that some people have a difficult time accepting constructive criticism, and that’s also okay. I wouldn't expect the average person to walk around, listening to a litany of all the little things they’ve ever done wrong, delivered from the mouth of a sort of blue angry gnome creature that lives on their shoulder. That’s rude. And might be Scottish.

I DO, however, expect our elected officials and those running our public school to be able to handle a little bit of critical feedback. They do represent the public after all. So shouldn't they be interested in what the public has to say? Shouldn't they want to get their information from a broad cross section of their constituents? Even if that means having to listen to those that might have only critical things say, at least initially? "Constructive" is not the antonym of "critical." And it should never be a synonym for "complacent".  English teachers, show me some love, will ya?

We got yo' back girl! Constructive =/= complacent!

After the mess of the summer where an incredibly small minority of people sided with our district insisting everything was fine (six parents and five board members to be exact), but the overwhelming majority of teachers, parents and community members (thousands and thousands of parents and teachers and community members) disagreed, I expected our board and administration to stop and do a little rethinking. Wasn't that a major wake up call to them? Wouldn't you expect them to really be listening now? To consider voices other than the good ol’ boys, the faces of those consistently invited to participate and contribute. Because, you know, there was a strike. So things can’t be all roses and cheesecake, right?

I am absolutely drooling right now!

If your entire community put their lives on hold to band to together and tell you that they didn't like how you were doing your job, don't you think you'd listen? Even if it sounded like criticism, don't you think that would be something worth hearing?

Sadly, I’ve got a few reasons, lately, to think that this might not be the case. It seems like the majority of the board is still having a hard time accepting some things still need to change. And a number of our top level administrators are still having a hard time complying with the contract the community and teachers worked so hard to get. And a small number of community members still get unobstructed access to certain leaders, while the rest of us have to wait in line and cross our fingers hoping to be heard and that what we say will sink in.

On Wednesdays, we decide the educational fate of
seventeen thousand students.

What do you call it when a small, elite group of individuals gets to have all the clout and make all the important decisions for everyone else? Well, around Pasco, it looks like we call them The Constructive Parents of Pasco.

Many of you are members of Parents for Partnership with Pasco Schools. I am too. I love the community there. I love the work they do. It inspired me to... well... to become me! It has been an amazing place for parents and teachers to connect and talk about issues important to families in Pasco. Not all the issues are pretty, but they are conversations worth having.

This winter, after the strike settled and the new contract kicked into place, a few other community members got together and made their own Facebook page. They called themselves the Constructive Parents of Pasco. When I heard about them, I asked to join because, hey! I feel like a constructive person! I want what’s best for Pasco! I want us to improve, fix what’s broken and move onward and upward! I want to be part of the solution! The only way to move forward with better understanding and healing is to share ideas and experiences by communicating. So I asked to join.

I haven’t been admitted yet. Neither have any of my friends. Weird right? So who has been admitted to the group? As of the posting of this blog (and I have screenshots, to make sure I'm getting it right) ....

•  five of the six individuals who signed the injunction against our teachers last summer,  

• our Board President and his wife and the Vice President, 

• three former school board members,

• a building principal,

• the director of human resources for PSD ,

• the executive director of teaching and learning for PSD,

• the manager of assessment operations for PSD,

• a site coordinator for the ESD 123,

• Saundra Hill's husband,

• a former Pasco City council member

• and a smattering of other individuals who, by and large, have found themselves in positions of trust, power and influence over the years in Pasco, including close friends of the above.

I don't mean to imply that everyone in the group falls under one of these umbrellas, but the group by and large comprise a different make-up than Parents for Partnership. A large amount of admins, current and former school board members, and parents who believe (and signed a notarized document) that teachers irreparably harmed their children.

People LIKE the chance to voice there concerns
and give their opinions. ...get it? LIKE? 

But hey, you know what? That’s FINE! Not everyone likes Parents for Partnership with Pasco School’s style of allowing everyone to view their page and the discussion there, to be able to like and comment, contribute new ideas and expand our understanding of the community needs. Why not have another group to show a whole other perspective and a whole different kind of discussion to everyone? If the Old School thinkers want a page to share their ideas, they should go for it, right? In fact, I applaud them! There can never be too much dialogue! I can honestly say I respect them for wanting to highlight and have conversations about the positives in our schools. What an awesome idea!

But.... This group? 

I'd like to share this poem I wrote about midichlorians.
With my closed Facebook group.
So no one will ever mock it again. 

At first I couldn't find it by searching for it on Facebook. Now, if you happen to find them or get the link, like I did, you can request to join… but you’ll never know if they’re considering your application because it’s a closed group. Meaning only members can see any of the discussion and posts. Which is also fine. Hey, you can enjoy your closed Neil Diamond Fan Club page and I’ll enjoy my closed Star Wars Poetry Group. Right? I mean who cares if a bunch of admins and board members are talking privately to a very select few parents.

Neil thinks the best way to improve community
confidence is with sweet tunes, not closed
Facebook groups.

But..... when you have five individuals whose choices last summer make them polarizing and divisive in the community in a closed group with the School Board President, Vice President and top ranking district administrators… Well, let's just say if you're trying to inspire confidence in the community at large, joining a closed Facebook group started and administrated by the people who signed the injunction - you know, the injunction accusing teachers of irreparably harming children because the teachers were on strike for CURRICULUM AND PENCILS  -  might not be the best way to go about that.

Does that sound like the kind of group our school board president's wife should be an administrator of? Does that sound like the kind of closed group that PSD's HR director should be adding select parents to? I'm sorry to say it, but this secret group reeks of shadiness and underhandedness. Even if nothing untoward is going on, the appearance dreadful. So it appears like the power to control Pasco Schools is resting with a few, hand picked private citizens. I kinda hate to be that Negative Nelly all over again, but I was under the impression Public schools should be under public control.

Parents for Partnership	Constructive Parents
Membership granted to everyone with a vested interest who agrees to abide by the page’s guidelines Transparent public group: everyone can see the discussion Members are primarily teachers and parents Discussions exhibiting different points of view	Only open to select people Only accepted members can see discussion School board members and district admin are members Who knows?

I made a little chart to illustrate the differences between these two groups. Because charts are awesome.

It seems like the some of our Board and top administrators, and yes, even a small number of community members, want to continue surrounding themselves with yes-men. They don't want the truth. They want comforting lies. So they have created their own isolated little secret club where they can sit around and tell themselves everything is okay and things are all rainbows and gumdrops in Pascoland. Only what they want to hear.

Please do not bother the Steve. He is sensitive.

Sherry is trying to take a nap. SHHH.

Robin, is that you?

I get a very strong suspicion that this group seems to regard any and all questions or criticism of Pasco School District as destructive, so all those terrible, critical things MUST NOT BE HEARD BY THE TENDER EARS OF OUR OFFICIALS. The things they seem to overwhelmingly object to, that they find “Not Constructive” are honest and open questions and problems parents, teachers and students have had. Contrary opinions. Different perspectives. Basically, they are telling us all that if we don’t agree with everything said and done in PSD, we are not constructive. However, this is just my speculation. Since it's a closed group I don't know for sure. I only have the name of the group and the fact that it is closed to everyone but an elite few to make my assumptions. This leads me to believe that I am not, in their opinion "Constructive" simply because I have offered criticism. At all. In any way, shape or form.

That's really not a good precedent.

for having an opinion that PSD's popular crowd
doesn't already have!

• This means that, if you ever had a problem with a Pasco School District policy, according to the popular kids of Pasco, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever complained to a teacher or administrator about things affecting your child, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever wondered out loud why we didn’t have comprehensive and current curriculum, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever felt left out or out of place in any PTO, ATP or club meeting, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever brought up something that could be improved in Pasco, you are not being constructive.

• If you were ever bothered by the direction you saw a teacher, administrator or organization going in Pasco, and didn’t keep it to yourself, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever complained about the handling of a bullying situation, professional or otherwise, directed at you or your child, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever had to go to great lengths to make sure an IEP or 504 were correctly observed, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever complained about the lack of academically rigorous course offerings at any school, you are not being constructive.

• If you ever suggested there might be discipline problems at any of our schools, you are not being constructive.

• If you think it might be a conflict of interests for only a select group of pre-approved people have constant access to the Board President and Vice President, you are not being constructive.

• If you supported the teachers holding out for curriculum and school supplies during the strike, you are not being constructive.

• And, Weird Al forbid, if you ever brought in outside help to deal with any of the above situations, YOU ARE NOT BEING CONSTRUCTIVE.

I FORBID you from trying to get your concerns addressed!
I'm weird like that.

I personally don’t buy it. I don’t think it’s true. I think we can only improve if we accept that we’re not perfect and aspire to something better. If you cannot accept that fact you have a problem and there is very little chance you will be able to fix it. Similarly, if you surround yourself with Yes Men to insure you always feel warm and fuzzy about everything happening in your town, there’s very little chance you’re going to head off disastrous choices that damage our kids and their futures.

So which does our school district need right now? Yes men? Or those willing to give Constructive Criticism?

The strike should have been a wake up call. Instead it has scared them back into their little rabbit hole to hide. Fortunately rabbit holes are my specialty.

Well, Helloooooooo there PSD! I'll be right down to offer some Constructive Criticism.

Look for the Helpers

So some stuff happened.

Some rotten people said some rotten things. I'm not even going to dignify them by using their real names. They don't deserve any recognition.

But just for a quick summary....

The Tale of the Enchanted Pizza Rolls Or
The story of Mr. Big Pants
and Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets

    Once upon a time there was a land called Kennewickville. In this land was a king who surrounded himself with counselors. One of those counselors was a man named Mr. Big Pants. Now Mr. Big Pants thought he was pretty important, and he thought he was pretty funny. In fact he thought he was so important and so funny that he could say whatever he wanted, even if it was mean and not actually that funny, AND he thought people should laugh like it was a hilarious joke.

Pants possibly near as large as the pants
mentioned in this tale. 

       One day Mr. Big Pants told a joke about the people in the nearby land of Yakimaville.  Nobody thought it was funny. In fact it made a lot of people mad.  The people in Kennewickville had a lot of friends in Yakimaville, and they didn't think it was right at all for someone like Mr. Big Pants to be making fun of them.  The people of Kennewickville started talking about asking Mr. Big Pants to resign, and even asking the king of Kennewickville to banish him. Mr. Big Pants didn't like this one bit. In fact, just to show how sure he was of himself he started telling even more mean jokes about even more people.

   Meanwhile the people of  Pascoland had heard about the mean jokes Mr. Big Pants was telling. They didn't think they were funny one little bit. But the people of Pascoland were glad, since Mr. Big Pants didn't live in their kingdom. They really didn't like that kind of talk happening in their land.  

 One night the citizens of Pascoland were having a meeting to discuss the needs of the children of Pascoland. Lots of people were talking and sharing ideas about the good things that could be done. But then one woman got up and shared an idea that confused everyone. Her name was Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets. Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets was VERY angry at Mr. Big Pants. She thought the school board should help the children of Pascoland by telling Mr. Big Pants to stop being so mean to the children of Pascoland. Now, everyone was surprised by this idea, since they didn't know Mr. Big Pants had even said anything to the kids of Pascoland. That's when things got interesting.

Oooohhhh! So ruffly!
You'd think they would
make the owner happier... 

    It turns out Mr. Big Pants did say something mean about some of the kids of Pascoland, but it was said on a private Facebook page so no one knew about it. No one knew about it that is until Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets started sharing the post all over Facebook. People in Pascoland really started getting mad at Mr. Big Pants for being mean. People also started getting mad at Ms. Angry Ruffle Pockets for repeating Mr. Big Pants mean words all over the place. 

Well, lots of people wanted to help the children of Pascoland stand up against the mean words of Mr. Big Pants.  Some suggested the kingdom no longer trade with anyone in Kennewickville as long as Mr. Big Pants was still there. Others made formal statement condemning Mr. Big Pants' words. People started talking in general about how mean words can hurt and scare children. People talked in general about how people need to be sensitive and kind to others. People can actually be pretty cool some times, you know.

The news said the kids of Pascoland were saying What?
Yeah, that didn't happen.

Then the news got involved. Unfortunately, they led people to believe that lots of kids all over Pascoland were crying because other kids were copying people like Mr. Big Pants and saying mean things to each other at school. This wasn't actually the case. In the end a lot of people had hurt and angry feelings, and Mr. Big Pants became the most famous person in Kennewickville, Pascoland, and all the surrounding kingdoms.  Mr. Big Pants still thinks he is really important, and the people of Pascoland have spent a whole lot of time worrying about somebody who doesn't even live in their kingdom.

As I've watched the events of the past two weeks unfold, I have been very sad to see so many of my friends angry and deeply hurt. I've wondered what I could do to help.  Would standing up against Mr. Big Pants be helpful? Or would it just give him the attention that he is so desperately seeking?

While pondering what to do, I was reminded of a quote by my hero,  Mr. Rogers.

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

I would like to take Mr. Roger's advice and point out just a few of the helpers in this situation.

Our KIDS

At the community meeting where this topic was first brought to light as it relates to Pasco's kids, a principal there stated that children had come to school crying because they were concerned their families were going to be deported. They apparently either overheard things about immigration law enforcement either from their parents or from the news that scared them. The principal said that other students were comforting and encouraging the children to help them not to be afraid. Unlike what the news reported, students were not at all trying to hurt one another. They were trying their best to help.

Our TEACHERS

At the same meeting, a teacher confirmed that many students come to school scared and confused about issues surrounding racism and prejudice. She told of how she has regular conversations with her students about what racism looks and sounds like, the importance of tolerance, and how they can stand up for themselves while still treating others with respect.

Our SCHOOL BOARD

Although the school board as a whole chose not to fulfill one community member's request to formally go on record denouncing the words of "Mr. Big Pants," at least one board member did personally make a public and formal statement encouraging everyone to reach out to one another in respect, humility, and love.

These are the helpers. These are the people that matter. Not the Mr. Big Pants of the world. As my friend TayTay always says, "Haters gonna Hate."

Don't you even let Mr. Big Pants tell you what you gonna do.
You just go and be amazing like I totes know you can.

In Pasco we love. Every child. Every day.

That is why I love Pasco.