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I have let the readers write this blog with blogger comments interspersed. I have not censored the postings. However, lately there has been language that I find objectionable. One acronym was especially distasteful. Everyone has had a chance to vent. Now, let's be civil.
School employees need to be prepared for the reinstatement of Diaz. The Board, in all likelihood, will put her back to work next Wednesday. I believe the Board thinks this is simply a bump in the road and will blow over. The textbook and bilingual monies have been unfrozen, the contracts with her friends canceled and Dan Gomez is back at work. All is right in the world.
Sharon Wooden said that Diaz is doing exactly what they asked her to. That is a very clear statement. No one can misunderstand it. Diaz is doing as she is directed by the Board. Briseno also endorsed her actions in his comments. The legislators think Diaz needs more time.
LCPS employees were ready for a strong leader. But a good leader has to build trust with those she seeks to lead. Diaz did not take the time to learn about the people who worked for her. That is because she did not care about the people who worked for her. She made that very clear. She stated that her concern was the Board of Education, not the employees. All of us were ready for stability and someone to take the reins and share a vision of what we could be. Instead, we were demeaned, berated and our ideas dismissed. She made it clear that nothing that was being done or had been done at LCPS was worthy of consideration.
Diaz's disrespect for the people working for her is simply a reflection of the Board of Education's attitude. If the truth were known, I suspect she has very little respect for the Board and is secretly as disdainful of them as she is the rest of us.
posted by LCPS1 @ 5:58 PM
12 Comments:
Dan Gomez was the best thing to happen to Zia in 10 years. Mr. Gomez single-handedly gained control of the gang population. He was making great progress in turning the school around until Dr. Diaz put him on leave before even knowing the facts of what was going on over there. Mr. Gomez frequently worked on his own while other administrators were off having lunch. Mr. Gomez deserves better treatment and Dr. Diaz showed poor professionalism in the way she handled the whole situation. Glad to see you back in action Mr. Gomez and best of luck.
This is a response to those who are skeptical of comments made by "anonymous". My choice to remain anonymous in submitting comments to this blog is simply a practical matter. Currently I am an LCPS employee and fearful of the hostile work environment that I would face or even of losing my job if it were known that I submitted comments here. While I can understand your skepticism, please remember that the USA has a long history of anonymous commentary that has been effective as an agent of change. Remember Silence Dogood.......
Yeah Dan Gomez is back at work...at another school. Sierra Middle School has lost their best assistant principal in order to find another place for Mr. Gomez!! Is this fair??? Sierra is now sacrificing also.
Reinstatement! What would we as a community or district be thinking -- let us ponder what real leaders have had to say.
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." -LaoTzu and from Mother Theresa herself, "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."
Education is not an industry for sharks, it is an insitution which promotes civic responsibility, human kindness, and honesty, a truly honorable profession.
As a school employee in central office, I am relieved to know that Dr. Diaz has been placed on administrative leave. I do have hope that the board of education will do the right thing and terminate Dr. Diaz' contract. The board said that they were investigating claims of inappropriate personnel and fiscal decisions. The board's own actions today indicate that they found significant problems with Dr. Diaz' actions. By cancelling the text book order for elementary literacy (rumored to be in excess of $1,000,000), reinstating department budgets, cancelling lucrative contracts that Dr. Diaz initiated, and reinstating an assistant pricipal, the board has already acted upon and corrected several very serious personnel and fiscal issues that Dr. Diaz created! These actions clearly indicate that the board has already found Dr. Diaz to have failed her duties! Come on school board, do the right thing and fire her! Central Office, our schools, our children, and our community does not need more of Dr. Diaz' lies, fiscal mismanagement, and self-serving actions. It is time to cut our losses and move on!
If you want to know how most people at central office feel about Dr. Diaz being on adminstrative leave, think about the Chronicles of Narnia when the snow and ice have begun to melt when Asland returns! The white witch is not dead yet, but there is hope! In the last two days, people have actually been smiling and laughing and feeling free to talk with colleagues! The four months of winter, imposed by the white witch have broken! Let's hope the school board makes it perminent!!!
I hope that our high school will now be able to order needed text books! Just to clarify, our district has very high quality literacy textbooks and an ongoing plan to improve literacy in elementary schools. Dr. Diaz ordered new text books for her own reasons and not because the district was lacking appropriate text books. In other words, she decided to replace perfectly good text books with new ones without a good reason and at the cost of our high schools not having appropriate text books. Why did she do this? Was it because our teachers requested a text book chance? NO Was it because there is research that says the new text books are more effective? NO Could it be that Dr. Diaz has been employed by Houghton-Mifflin as paid consultant? Well, that's the rumor! Was she scheduled to get kick backs? Talk about fiscal issues! This could be fraud!
Yeah, Dan Gomez is back at work. But not a Zia. Sierra Middle School has lost their best assistant principal to Zia and Mr. Gomez has been "placed" at Sierra. Why our we punishing innocent bystanders?
Tuesday at 1 p.m. is the closed meeting... is anyone up for a protest? Let's get several thousand people to attend the meeting and flood the building with concerned people. I will be there that afternoon, will you? You don't have to be there exactly at 1 p.m. but should be there by 3 or so to make a statement. Join me.
I think there are documents out there that could prove certain board members have over-stepped their legal limits as to what they can and cannot do.
They are to set policy and Hire the superintendent. That is it.
This does not include hosting a BBQ for special interest groups, writing letters of reprimand to school employees or going into offices or schools and admonishing staff in a job threatening manner.
Let's investgate this!!!
Someone posted that teachers at Zia write letters to get their way. No one I know of (and since I work there I know a lot) ever wrote a letter to have any adminstrator moved. Even if one or two letters were written, it was not all the staff at Zia. Zia staff has put up with drastic changes in administration over the past few years, yet we still keep the children the focus. However, when our Constitutional Rights are violated, or when we feel NEA needs to get involved, we will call on NEA for help. That is why we pay dues. Are we wrong to want to be treated fairly? Is it wrong for us to expect to be treated like professional adults? Does working for a school mean we have to become sub-human? I think all of this chaos is the district is only going to drive away good teachers who want to teach instead of play politics!
It's clear that the board is selfserving and incompetent. I have researched publications from NY and Bridgeport. This boondogle is Ms. Diaz M.O. 1) Stir the pot to total turmoil. 2) Spend everything in the budget on perks and salaries for cronies.
3)Threaten litigation for contract payouts.
4) Blow town to the next group of dumb ass suckers who will to pay her six figures to screw up their world. This pattern of behavior was clearly evident before Diaz got to Cruces. If the board new of her past experience's with the previous districts she was employed in then it's clear their decision making skills are so remedial that the state should suspend all of them and take over. Another thing this district needs to wake up to. All the theorizing over what text books to use and which new academic programs to adopt won't matter a damn if the current crisis of dropout rates as they relate to absenteeism and safety as it relates to gang activity is not seriously addressed. Anyone who believes any different should just bury their head in the sand and wait for the next football game.
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