DPCC frontman Bryon McIntyre has announced his candidacy for the Central District Board of Ed seat on Twitter. This is what he wrote:
Well some of we teacher types took a dim view of Bryon McIntyre not even bothering to spellcheck his announcement that he plans to sit on a school board. And in one social media post I saw teachers who'd had a few laughs at Bryon J McIntyre's expense being scolded by someone whose main objection to their snarkiness seemed to be that the guy is a parent. To which I say, that's nice. So am I but if I wanted to let everyone know I planned to sit on their school board I'd make sure I spelled all my words right before I hit the tweet button. He also has a college degree. And so do I. All the more reason to spell words correctly.
Beyond the hilarious gaffe of using alluded instead of eluded though I think I have a more serious objection to this man's candidacy in a school board race and his has to do with motive. From what we are told this candidate has run before and lost. People who've run for office will tell you it's a singular experience to be outvoted. Some will tell you it made them never want to try again. Some will tell you it was a setback but they came away focused on their real goals in life. Al Gore went and made An Inconvenient Truth after he lost in 2000. But the idea that Bryon J McIntyre is running again because he's been unable to win strikes me as something of a shallow self serving motive. It sounds as though he has a bucket list from which he's crossing off items and this one has floated to the top. Maybe because Mary Ruth Kapsiak is not going to run for another term Bryon J McIntyre has decided it must be a sign. As long she's not there to lose to he stands a better chance of winning.
I've read some of Mr. McIntyre's remarks over the years and the fact that he is one of the two faces behind the decidedly anti-teacher, anti-BTF "parent group" known as The District Parents Coordinating Council I have caught wind of his anti teacher rhetoric on more than one or two occasions. He seems to have some fascination with clowns and especially with the idea that they are interchangeable with teachers. In one context he says I don't care if Bozo the Clown is the teacher and in another it's I don't care if it's Ronald McDonald teaching the class.
"I don't care if it's Ronald McDonald that educates my child," said McIntyre. "This is not anti-anything. This is pro-children."
His roundabout claim is that he doesn't care who it teaching as long as the job gets done but I'd be lying if I said I didn't see something else going on in these odd little turns of phrase. The fact that he's quick to insert clowns into teacher shoes and vice versa gives us a pretty good sense of his feelings for teachers. He will also tell you he's worked as a substitute teacher in Buffalo and to that I say again : That's nice. But please don't confuse handing out worksheets and showing movies or covering the boy's lav during 7th period with being an actual teacher. Not the same thing or really even close so it doesn't confer any expertise or insight -- a lot of cops and firefighters pick up extra pocket cash subbing.
To return to the idea of written language and professionalism though I think parents and students and everyone else is within their rights to expect a Board of Education member should be able to compose a 20 word tweet without spelling anything wrong. I took a quick scan of his others and this popped up from the day the DPCC and Buffalo Reform Ed (DFER's local stooge satellite) showed up to encircle BTF headquarters and demand, well, demand something for darn sure. Once again he couldn't go for 20 words without a spelling mistake. Yet he thinks he belongs on a school board?
As it turned out April 23 at 5:30 was a downpour. So Phil Rumore invited them all inside to get out of the nasty weather. The result was rather comical as the Reform Ed crew and DPCC crew had to do their best to try and look mad and outraged with the guy who'd shown them civility and hospitality in a rainstorm. Seems to me a guy like Bryon McIntyre on the school board is setting the bar pretty low but what do I know? If there's a Board of Ed anywhere that won't even notice a guy who can't go for 20 words without a spelling error it's probably this one. Carl Paladino can unleash a storm of obscenities on a tv reporter before a board meeting. Diamond Jim Sampson can have speakers thrown out when they ask about his thefts from Gateway Longview. Larry Quinn can hire his lawyer pal that ran his Board of Ed campaign to work for the Board and Jay McCarthy showed us he has no idea how to spell "bestiality" when he complained about the mysterious anti Carl pamphlet that NYSUT operatives floated last election. Jay made fun of them for spelling it correctly if you recall. I can just imagine someone tapping his shoulder and whispering, No, Jay that's how it's spelled and the bartender saying Oh, never mind.
Now that I think about it, Enjoy your term on the Bored Mr. McIntyre, I think you'll fit write in.
Well some of we teacher types took a dim view of Bryon McIntyre not even bothering to spellcheck his announcement that he plans to sit on a school board. And in one social media post I saw teachers who'd had a few laughs at Bryon J McIntyre's expense being scolded by someone whose main objection to their snarkiness seemed to be that the guy is a parent. To which I say, that's nice. So am I but if I wanted to let everyone know I planned to sit on their school board I'd make sure I spelled all my words right before I hit the tweet button. He also has a college degree. And so do I. All the more reason to spell words correctly.
Beyond the hilarious gaffe of using alluded instead of eluded though I think I have a more serious objection to this man's candidacy in a school board race and his has to do with motive. From what we are told this candidate has run before and lost. People who've run for office will tell you it's a singular experience to be outvoted. Some will tell you it made them never want to try again. Some will tell you it was a setback but they came away focused on their real goals in life. Al Gore went and made An Inconvenient Truth after he lost in 2000. But the idea that Bryon J McIntyre is running again because he's been unable to win strikes me as something of a shallow self serving motive. It sounds as though he has a bucket list from which he's crossing off items and this one has floated to the top. Maybe because Mary Ruth Kapsiak is not going to run for another term Bryon J McIntyre has decided it must be a sign. As long she's not there to lose to he stands a better chance of winning.
I've read some of Mr. McIntyre's remarks over the years and the fact that he is one of the two faces behind the decidedly anti-teacher, anti-BTF "parent group" known as The District Parents Coordinating Council I have caught wind of his anti teacher rhetoric on more than one or two occasions. He seems to have some fascination with clowns and especially with the idea that they are interchangeable with teachers. In one context he says I don't care if Bozo the Clown is the teacher and in another it's I don't care if it's Ronald McDonald teaching the class.
"I don't care if it's Ronald McDonald that educates my child," said McIntyre. "This is not anti-anything. This is pro-children."
His roundabout claim is that he doesn't care who it teaching as long as the job gets done but I'd be lying if I said I didn't see something else going on in these odd little turns of phrase. The fact that he's quick to insert clowns into teacher shoes and vice versa gives us a pretty good sense of his feelings for teachers. He will also tell you he's worked as a substitute teacher in Buffalo and to that I say again : That's nice. But please don't confuse handing out worksheets and showing movies or covering the boy's lav during 7th period with being an actual teacher. Not the same thing or really even close so it doesn't confer any expertise or insight -- a lot of cops and firefighters pick up extra pocket cash subbing.
To return to the idea of written language and professionalism though I think parents and students and everyone else is within their rights to expect a Board of Education member should be able to compose a 20 word tweet without spelling anything wrong. I took a quick scan of his others and this popped up from the day the DPCC and Buffalo Reform Ed (DFER's local stooge satellite) showed up to encircle BTF headquarters and demand, well, demand something for darn sure. Once again he couldn't go for 20 words without a spelling mistake. Yet he thinks he belongs on a school board?
As it turned out April 23 at 5:30 was a downpour. So Phil Rumore invited them all inside to get out of the nasty weather. The result was rather comical as the Reform Ed crew and DPCC crew had to do their best to try and look mad and outraged with the guy who'd shown them civility and hospitality in a rainstorm. Seems to me a guy like Bryon McIntyre on the school board is setting the bar pretty low but what do I know? If there's a Board of Ed anywhere that won't even notice a guy who can't go for 20 words without a spelling error it's probably this one. Carl Paladino can unleash a storm of obscenities on a tv reporter before a board meeting. Diamond Jim Sampson can have speakers thrown out when they ask about his thefts from Gateway Longview. Larry Quinn can hire his lawyer pal that ran his Board of Ed campaign to work for the Board and Jay McCarthy showed us he has no idea how to spell "bestiality" when he complained about the mysterious anti Carl pamphlet that NYSUT operatives floated last election. Jay made fun of them for spelling it correctly if you recall. I can just imagine someone tapping his shoulder and whispering, No, Jay that's how it's spelled and the bartender saying Oh, never mind.
Now that I think about it, Enjoy your term on the Bored Mr. McIntyre, I think you'll fit write in.
In Newark, we have Board members who voted to give away twelve school buildings with the possibility of there being some sort of payment at a future date. Those ethically challenged individuals also work for the municipality so they reportedly thought it best to support Mayor Baraka.
ReplyDeleteAbigail Shure
Being ethically challenged seems part of the post modern Ed reformers toolkit.
DeleteNicely written
ReplyDeleteThank ewe.
DeleteWell done brother. Keep it up.
ReplyDelete