Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Scumbag Ed. Privatizers Michelle and K.J.

Ed Privatization's First Couple of Scumbaggery : Michelle Rhee and hubby Kevin Johnson

The mayor of Sacramento has some skeletons in his reform closet he'd rather none of us knows about. Oh well, here's a little clip and you can read the rest HERE.

"Despite your current, very positive image and persona," civil attorney Kent Turley wrote, "[the girl's] experience with you will cause us to use the theme in any litigation that you were in fact a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Turley described the prospective case against the 31-year-old Johnson in graphic detail. It involved, in his words, "sexual assault and battery" against his client, whom we'll call Kim Adams.The alleged sexual contacts, Turley wrote, had occurred in the summer of '95, when Kim was 16 and Johnson was 29. 

He quoted Kim Adams extensively in his demand letter, including this account:"He [Johnson] said I could sleep in his room or the guesthouse and I chose the guesthouse. . . . We got into the bed and he took all of my clothes off and all of his but his shirt. He was on top of me touching me all over--my breasts, butt, in between my legs, and stomach. Then he took off his shirt. I didn't really know what to do--I was very confused because I thought we were friends, but I didn't know what else to do than to go along with it. . . . 
He told me to pinky-promise not to say anything and when I asked why, he said I knew why."In an understatement, Turley concluded that public disclosure of the alleged revelations would be scandalous. 

The comment was an attorney's attempt to maneuver--some would say strong-arm--Johnson into agreeing to a rapid and secret disposition to the case. Neither Turley nor Kim Adams claims Johnson and the girl had sexual intercourse; she claims Johnson fondled her genitals on several occasions. If it was done without her consent, such acts could be considered felonies and can call for a prison term upon conviction.
Instead of running around in a prison tent wearing some of Sherriff Joe's pink undies, Johnson dodged the legal bullet when it was deemed to thin of a case to win a conviction. 

Remember this too when you read about how Mrs. KJ complained that both of her daughters play soccer "and they both suck" but their rooms are full of trophies and medals.“My two girls play soccer. They suck at soccer,” said Rhee, whose young daughters, the Commercial Appeal reported, sat “cringing” in the crowd. Not surprisingly the foundress of StudentsFirst didn't name her group KidsFirst since her career comes before her own kids who live with their father not their allegedly child loving mother. And if you haven't heard Rhee's "hilarious" first person narrative of taping students' mouths shut because she was too fucking inept to establish a respectful relationship with them and so terrified of a visiting Ed Boss that she injured kids' mouths and lips by taping them together. 

Between the two of them we have a couple who sexually abuse, physically abuse and verbally abuse children, their own and other people's yet we who go to work in public education every goddamned day killing ourselves to make a difference in kids' lives have to hear from them how we are greedy and self serving and we don't care about kids ? These two are the embodiment of what's wrong with this Privatization movement. I vote we strike the word "reform" from the record as many of the movie reviewers did who were forced to sit through Won't Flush Down, the second feature film from, Walden Media that promises not to get a single nomination for an Oscar this year. Unless of course ALEC now has Oscar nominating rights. The obvious is so to those of us who are paying attention. These scumbags need to be called out every time they show their disgusting faces or wag their lying filthy tongues. Yes, I do feel better now, thanks. 

I will not use the word reform.
I will not use the word reform.
I will not use the word reform. Damn, 47 to go....

It's a very simple, small detail but we really need to take this word away from them. They are not reformers. They are privatizers. Henceforth they shall be called privatizers. And so it is written. 

11 comments:

  1. This fellow is a mayor in Tennesse. I guess folks there don't vet the people they vote for...
    She married this child molester...and gave up custody of her two daughters... Ugh!

    What a pair!

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    1. Actually Mayor in Sacramento, CA.

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  2. 3rd grade in the burbsOctober 3, 2012 at 9:43 PM

    I don't get it. I must be naive. How is it that Michelle Rhee and her husband can be at the center of so many investigations for various forms of abuse and dishonesty and no one from the media is doing a thorough investigation to get the truth out? She admitted to taping students' mouths shut! She was involved in a cheating scandal in DC! Her husband is at the center of a sexual abuse scandal! Yet they (or at least she is)are the darlings of the education movement. Are they made of teflon? Money is the root of all evil. So many people are willing to ignore the ethical and moral defects these two display simply because of the money Rhee can give to them.
    I have tried to spread the word about this blog, Diane Ravitch, @thechalkface, and others at my school. A few colleagues actually listen but most are disinterested. Their comment is, "Education is cyclical. Remember whole language? This too shall pass." I have tried to spread the word about Waterfront and East High. No one believes Chameleon can just take these schools over. Today support staff who have children in one of my district's HS were complaining because they received letters notifying them of testing dates. The letter asked them to agree to send their children to school on these dates, sign the letter, and return it to school because the tests affect the teachers' evaluations. I had two words for them, "Opt out." They just changed the subject. Reactions as I have described make me feel like chicken little and the sky is falling. Some days it is disheartening. I admire the stamina and fortitude all of you are demonstrating. It isn't easy in the suburbs and it is even more difficult, I think, in the city.
    Sorry for the rant. Common sense seems to have failed an awful lot of supposedly smart people. I have become so much more informed about the assault on public education because of Sean, Peg, Chris, and all the people who post on this blog. I have also learned from your comments in the Buffalo News (when comments were allowed). Thanks for persevering.

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  3. California... my apology to the folks in Tennesee.

    How the hell does she get people to give her gobs of money? Does she have something on every one of them?

    Is it "Birds of a feather?... I guess the supporters of Students First have all drunk the kool-aid...

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  4. Let's not forget that Obama fired the the whistleblower, Gerald Walpin, an Inspector General who investigated Kevin Johnson's dirty dealing with Americorps funds. Here are a few snippets from a Huffington Post article (added below):

    "The inspector general found that Johnson, a former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities, run personal errands for Johnson and even wash his car."


    "Obama's move follows an investigation by Walpin finding misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group led by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star. Johnson and a nonprofit education academy he founded ultimately agreed to repay half of $847,000 in grants it had received from AmeriCorps.

    Here is the link:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/gerald-walpin-obama-remov_n_214715.html

    Some of the comments on this article state that Walpin was a jerk to begin with, a holdover from the Bush Administration, etc.. That may be true. However, I think the sleazy nature of Kevin Johnson's relationship to Americorps money in this case and also in the case of his non-profit St. Hope Academy bears scrutiny. It is how the money game is played by Johnson, Rhee, and other ed privatizers. Shortly after Walpin was fired, Michelle Obama installed her own chief of staff, Jackie Norris, as head of Americorps.

    All of this is quite an interesting tale and has been reported by the Wall Street Journal and other reputable news outlets. If you are new to ed privatization, this would be a good story to start looking at. It speaks volumes to the profit motive behind ed privatization. It speaks to political malfeasance of all kinds. It highlights Obama's cozy relationship to privatizers, and his penchant for allowing B-ball players to rise to their level of greed. Duncan, anyone?

    And I hope all of the readers here were watching Obama in the debates last night. Race To The Top will cure all education problems! I suggest a drinking challenge for the next debate. Each time Obama says RTTP you must drink your favorite poison. Then, report back here the next day!


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  5. You get it 3rd. Don't give up. Keep telling your colleagues they have to get engaged and the first step is getting informed. The media in general gives the rheeformers a free pass to spew all their policies without a moment of scrutiny. Keep following the blogs and checking the links to other sites and by all means keep telling others. You are right, this is not just a problem in Buffalo or Chicago or other urban districts. And it is NOT simply the cyclical nature of education. This pendulum destroys. These policies are going to dismantle public education. The out-of-control high stakes testing, "value added" models for evaluation, APPRs, SLOs, etc impact everyone in public education. Keep speaking up (I understand your frustration though.) Once your colleagues start to catch on, they'll appreciate it. I too am very grateful to Sean, Peg, Chris and others for providing so much information.

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  6. Amen to the rant 3rd. Too many teachers want to rant about parking spaces and paper towels in the faculty lounge, so and so getting an extra prep period and the grievance about the copier in the office. The reality that schmucks like Anschutz, Gates and Broad are eager and willing to fund widescale privatization of public schools is not even on many teachers' radar. Then we get a local spin like these caviar liberals from BuffaloPrivatizeEd and their little cherry licked claque of adoring fans sitting though one of the worst movies of the last decade plastered ear to ear with the dopey happy faces they were told to bring. Afterwards they hold a panel discussion of, you guessed it, MORE privatizers who continue the evening's theme of self fellation and nobody from the audience is allowed to speak up, against or in contrast to the cant, rant and bullshit they've all spewed in their Phillip Anschutz owned Regal theatre. Yeah the guy owns a huge share of Regal and cranks out movies about Tooth Fairies and these privatizing wannabees are trying to convince us he gives a flying fuck about urban kids getting a quality education ? Ninjas please.

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  7. Article about the "expert" educator "helping" the BPS. Ah, look at her resume'. Jumped from job to job every year or two. What does that tell you? Either incompetent or can't get along with others. She must be a great talker to get the next job.

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  8. She was selected by "The King" at State ED...'nuff said.

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  9. He is getting even with us because we stood up to him on the nonsensical evaluation process.
    He is so bereft of any ideas relating to his "job" as a leader employed by the government to properly run the public schools in New York,that the "Distinguished Educator" position was created after one of his nightmares.
    They happen often to folks who are "in" way over their heads.
    Pity!

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  10. http://edushyster.com/?p=851

    Check ou this blog post. Dr. "The KIng"'s charter, (that he founded), is first on the list at the left in blue print.
    Roxbury Prep is "his school".

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