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Dear Dr. White

The following is an open letter to Dr. Eugene White, Superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools. I don’t think he’ll respond, but it’s worth a shot.

Dear Dr. White,

I know things are tough for you these days, nearly 16% of  your students don’t show up for the the first day of school.  Most of your high schools are under-performing so badly that the threat of a state takeover is looming over your head.   Your teachers are demoralized and your district has money problems.

With that kind of pressure, I can understand your need to lash out.  However, as a friendly suggestion you might want to focus that energy and effort on improving your schools and not going after yours truly.  It came to my attention that you had some not so flattering comments about me at Monday night’s public hearing on the budget.  They included the following…

  • I hate public schools.
  • I hate IPS.
  • I don’t like you.
  • I’m out “to get” IPS.
  • I published the salaries of IPS employees on my web blog and it was none of my business.

As I said, you are under a lot of pressure and may not have been thinking straight, so let me help you out on each of your points.

  • I hate public schools.  -  That would be odd, since I am a product of a public elementary, high school, university and graduate school.  I went to a private law school, but I think I got a great public education and it’s hard to hate something that’s treated you very well.
  • I hate IPS. – No, I have some major issues with IPS, but I don’t hate the school district.  Although I don’t think for the more than $15,625 it cost to educate a kid in your school district, the people who work for a living are getting the most for their money.
  • I don’t like you. – Well, now that one is true!  Just kidding.  To be honest, when I go down the list of things that run through my mind on a daily basis, you don;t show up on my radar screen.
  • I’m out to get IPS. – Now that is true.  As a political talking head I’m out to make the sure the taxpayers get their money’s worth from their institutions.
  • I published the salaries of IPS employees on my web blog and it was none of my business. – You’re half right on that one.  IPS employee salaries are paid for with tax dollars and anyone who pays taxes has a right to know that information, not just me.

And before you go down the charter school road, yes I am a big fan of charters, because when they don’t perform, they get shut down or are supposed to anyway.  And charters are public schools, I notice you tend to conveniently forget that from time to time.

A couple other items you may have forgotten are your own District policies that read…

“the citizens of the District are to be viewed as the OWNERSHIP and clients of IPS, to whom the Board is primarily responsible and for whom the Board acts”

and don’t forget the one that says budgets require

“CRITICAL analysis by EVERY member of the Board prior to approval” and the board is to  ”direct the Superintendent to present the budget to the Board, along with ALL available information associated with each Fund, in SUFFICIENT time for proper review and discussion and in compliance with Indiana Code.”

Like I said, I don’t take any of this personally because this probably isn’t you talking, just the stress of trying to keep your ship of state afloat.  I believe the Captain of the Titanic had that same problem.   If you need help, just call.  I’ll be more than willing to offer whatever expertise I can.  Hey, I couldn’t do any worse than the people you have working for you downtown, right?  Of course.

With All the Love and Respect You Deserve,

Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Esq.

Posted: 08|17|10 at 6:17 am by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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  • Think Again

    Excellent.

    Of course, you’re (partially) wrong on charter,s but you’re forgiven. Charters are the “hip” talking point for this decade, so I understand your being distracted by bright shiny objects.

    But you’ve bumped up against the top complaint of any school board member who’s got an independent mind and serves with a super built in the White mold. Which is, most supers.

    School board members are to be seen, and not heard…if they ask tough questions.

    Ditto the public.

    Now, if you’re a PTA president, and want to sit with the super once a month for tea and cookies, and sing from the super’s hymnal, you’re welcome at any event where White is present.

    Oh yeah, if you’re filming a White event in a public building, you’d better pass muster with Gene and Mary Louise. Otherwise, of course, you’re a terrorist.

    Tired of this “with-me-or-against-me” attitude? Too bad. It’s here to stay. Unless courageous school board members reign it in.

    This same attitude dominated DC too long…hell it may still reign there, too.

    Two new school board members don’t sing from the IPS Hymnal. Focus on them, folks. They’re listening. The others are just mouthing the words.

    33,000 kids lose in the process. Daily.

    Over-under on Gene being here in three years: 80% against. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad…IPS is hopelessly broken and it needs to be taken over. Now. If only Dr. Bennett had a better track record in districts he’s governed. (sigh)

  • Anonymous

    What is the percentage of students who didn’t show up for the 1st day in the townships or other districts. 16% seems like a lot but .. relatively? (I’m assuming it is still a lot)

    Is this an indicator of parents not paying attention to when school starts? Not caring? (I wonder if they manage to show up and vote for Democrats on time?) Is it the kids just playing hooky? Could concern over paying for clothes, supplies, books, lunches (even @ reduced rates) or other things cause parents to delay getting their kids in school? Do we know why it was 16%?

    Perhaps Dr. White should be pointing to Abdul as somebody who got themselves educated and a got a radio gig instead of trying to defend how bad things are by casting stones at others.

    And charters are an interesting entity; but, can we please attach the money to the students instead of buildings and let parents choose (up to and including even private options). It’s immoral to leave kids trapped in a system that diminishes the odds of their future success when additional options and hope could so easily be opened up to them. Rethink the system.

    Imagine if politicians and the law said that because you lived in a certain area of town, perhaps an area less economically advantaged, you could only buy laundry detergent that ruined your clothes, day old bread and cars that only worked 50% of the time. Or what if we put restrictions on welfare recipients like that because it was “taxpayer money” being used?? Maybe education shouldn’t be treated that way then.

  • Think Again

    Interesting thoughts, Sean.

    I noticed a heavily-pre-judged tone to your post. You assume that townships, whose minority makeup are predominantly “non-IPS” :

    **could have better turnout for first dya of school;
    **are more often economiclaly disadvantaged;
    **have more parents that “pay attention” ??
    **have the ability to pay the heavy costs associated with starting school.

    All of which is false.

    It costs a couple hundred to get the average kid started in school–I’m talking fees and textbook rental only. I know many famileis who didn’t have the money. This is a troubled economy.

    Perhaps Dr. White and the other Supers could have focused some of their pre-start PR on methods by which parents can get start-school-money help.

    Money following the kids. Funny one, Sean.

  • Anonymous

    TA – I think you’re reading too much into my comments so let me clarify a bit rather than let people just infer certain assumptions.

    I don’t know about turnout on the 1st day. So that is a legitimate question. What was Pike’s? Lawrence’s? IPS’s? Carmel’s? I don’t know.

    I do presume that IPS areas of Marion County are not as economically advantaged as say Carmel, Fishers, Zionsville. I think statements by elected officials and the frequent gripes of IPS itself relative to the “suburb schools” might influence that thought.

    Don’t know about the “pay attention” issue. It’s a legitimate question. I know if it were me, I would have been surprised to find out school had already started for some folks in early August and could have easily missed it.

    I am keenly aware of the costs for each child to start the school year and am genuinely concerned that those could be a challenge for some people and made even worse by the current economic climate.

  • Melyssa

    It’s $15k a kid now?

    I know some people who eat lunch with kids in an IPS school in one of the worst parts of the city. You know what the kids are fed for our $15,000?

    They are given a damned microwaved frozen burrito and told to face the wall and eat in silence.

    No fresh vegetables, no nutrition to speak of to get their mind working, not that it matters to Dr. White. He could care less that our children are being fed worse than prison food.

  • Anonymous

    Very well said, Abdul!

  • Taxpayer 834512

    Isn’t the only way IPS might get better is state takeover? How do you change the opinion of voters who elect candidates based on whether they’ll pepetuate the status quo or not? As long as voting is largely based on party, race, or dependency instead of the issues- you’re not going to. As long as we enable the subsidized conduit of new children (each year as needy as the last)- you’re not going to. As long as our Federal macro economics rewards irresponsibility and punishes the productive- you’re not going to.

    Come to think of it- “state” takeover is coming. Now whether it’s Indiana or the more totalitarian Eurasian model, I’m not sure.

  • Think Again

    Taxpayer” voting is often based solely on who works the hardest. I got elected by working hard, but it’s been awhile. No parties involved. It’s non-partisan.

    In many districts, the PTAs and teachers get involved with endorsements. That knife cuts both ways. PTA endorsements are usually Superintendent’s lapdogs. Teacher endorsements are all over the place, but more often, frankly, reliable. (They ARE, after all, on the front line every day)

    Melyssa: school lunches are paid by federla funds and student funds. No school funds are used. And yeah, the results aren’t very good most of the time.

    My son’s principal told his class on Day One of Middle School that they were to eat in silence. I paid the principal a visit and politely asked for justification for this decision. It turns out the lunchroom monitors didn’t like the noise, so they mandated strict silence. What they got was a dull roar.

    After a week of constant prodding, the principal realized his deicsion was ridiculous and he backed off. Kids need to let off steam…as long as they’re not shouting. A lunchroom full of 150 students talking moderately, is going to be loud. Someone needs to get over themselves.

    Squeeky whell got greased, I guess. Tht thing is, there are dozens of stupid decisions made by principals every day, and unless someone politely asks for justification, they go forward as firm policies.

    Get into your neighborhood school. Volunteer. Pay attention. You’d be stunned at some of the decisions made.

    That said, there are lots of examples of good things going on, too.

  • Taxpayer 834512

    No parties? Non-partisan? Puh-leez. Teacher and construction unions making sure their side can be better equipped with signs, meetings, working the polls, and sending out voting recommendations on official email lists (when of course they’re not suppossed to).

    I would not want an America devoid of the check and balance of unions. But, it’s one thing to be outworked or outfunded, it’s another when the unions ARE the dog and the superintendent is the lead flea.

  • Nick

    As entertaining it is to hear you take on IPS and it’s leadership, you do need to give them credit for going to a magnet schools model, introducing school uniforms, taking on parents for child behavior and tardiness.
    Much work needs to be done, with inter district funding/student competition, charter and private schools being part of
    the solution.

  • Melyssa Donaghy

    Regardless of where the money comes from, these lunches are of no good to our children. They are full of preservatives, are highly processed, and usually microwaved.

    Are we not allowed to use the federally received funds for food on any kind of food that we want for our children? Or is the federal government insisting that feed our children food that will not help their brains grow properly so that they have the best chance to learn?

  • Melyssa

    TA? Do they eat microwaved processed food in Carmel’s public school system?

  • Think Again

    Like it or not, most of the csfeteria food is bought from the same sources, and cooked in the same way.

    I think it’s gray. Tastes like chopped air. Void of taste.

    Some of the middle-high schools have good salad bars and some other ala carte choices. They’re becoming more popular. But the “Type A” tray lunch is usually, uh, inedible.

    To my knowledge, no, we’re not allowed to take that federal money and channel it into other food sources. . Besides, that is all put up for bid, a year in advance, and contracts are awarded.

  • Think Again

    Magnet schools aren’t necessarily the answer, Nick, but it is good to have in the mix of offerings.

  • Think Again

    I’ve run twice, Taxpayer, and it is non-partisan. The two political parties usually have enough to worry about their slates passing, than to pick a fight in a school district. Teacher unions and supers used to pick opposite candidates (supers through the PTA endorsement process). Lately, their slates are almost identical. Cart, meet horse….

    And who says e-mail lists are private? Which lists? Maybe I misunderstood.

    In fact, very few school board members are schooled in partisan politics. Maybe that’s bad–I don’t know, but the current crop of board members is more lapdog than ever before.

    Except Madamdes Roof and White on the IPS Board. You go, girls! Kick ass and take names. Kick a few of them so hard they squeel. That’s when you know you’ve hit a nerve.

    If we work hard and elect two more like-minded individuals in 2012, that will be a controlling force on the board. Majority rules. Woo-hoo!

    If I’m a board member, the day Dr. White tells me I can’t have a copy of the budget is the day I scream from the rooftops.

    Remember that post you did about city budgets a couple of weeks ago, Abdul? The IPS budget/hearing requirements are the same timelines.

    Prelim budgets had to be approved for advertisement by mid July, to be run in two weeks of successive legal adds prior to the budget hearing that happened last night. State law.

    So go back and knock some heads at the city–they yanked your chain. Theuy had their budget largely in-hand a month ago.

  • http://twitter.com/IndyStudent Matthew Stone

    I can speak from experience that, at my private Catholic school, school lunch wasn’t any better. In fact, I’m pretty certain I’ve had that same brand of frozen burrito before in my high-school days.

  • Anonymous

    I am sick to death hearing about the high terror that White seems to inflict on the Board and parents.

    What hold does this guy have? Does he threaten physical violence? Does he have ‘dirt’ on people?

    White works for the Board. The Board works for the People.

    What’s the problem?

  • Think Again

    Burritos aren’t that good when they’re fresh and original. I can’t imagine a school cafeteria version.

  • Pogden297

    I’m a Republican and even though TA is wrong about charter schools and is of the wrong partisan and ideological bent, I’d love to have him on a school board. I want independent thinkers, regardless of party…people who are smart and who will ask questions. Obviously TA, as someone who would do exactly that, does not have a future in Indy politics.

  • Think Again

    LOL Thanks Paul. And I’m not wrong about charters.

    But I did serve on a school board. And I asked a lot of questions. And not once–ever–did the Super tell me I couldn’t get a copy of something. If he did, he knew his ass was grass.

    We agreed on some things. We disagreed more often. A modern school system has thousands of moving parts. I wouldn’t have the Super’s job. But those who do have them, covet them. And they don’t like questions. They jealously guard their realm–I can think of a half-dozen business acquaintances who, with a 3-month school governance course, could be fantastic supers. But without that worthless license, they cannot become a Super.

    A closely-guarded cartel. Good intentions run amuk. Their lair demands scrutiny, and there are so few folks who want to do it. Pity.

  • Taxpayer 834512

    I’m associating partisanship for a particular ideology with the respective associated political party. I’m talking about getting a square deal in representation by the superintendent and the school board for ALL taxpayers. I’m talking about teachers and textbooks that strive for truth more than political correctness. That appears to be a tall order at times, but that’s the standard both ends of our citizenship deserve.

    You think Bush/Cheney was a pleasant experience, try watching the Journolist mentality take over the mainstream of information dissemination.

  • Ramon

    Eugene White’s refusal to show the two new board members a copy of the budget needs to be taken to court. Yes, he wins by intimidating board members, veiled threats, and invading the physical space of the board members so that his overly fat ass causes them to shut up. Their excellent questions never get answered. Why not a law suit? Why not a complaint of the Open Records law? Mary Busch and others are Eugene’s lapdog and would never think of asking a question about anything at anytime.

  • Dave

    Bravo Abdul!

    Why accept, a diluted, filtered definition or government program; for that which is “education?” Since when, was the purpose of government, to define us, educationally or otherwise?

    Allowing government a taxpayer fleecing technique in the name of “education” is other than enlightened. Educrats, regardless of title (Super-intentioned, etc.), will lighten wallets & enlighten no one.

    The Governor had it right when he described the system as one of domestic abuse.

  • Dave

    Bravo Abdul!

    Why accept, a diluted, filtered definition or government program; for that which is “education?” Since when, was the purpose of government, to define us, educationally or otherwise?

    Allowing government a taxpayer fleecing technique in the name of “education” is other than enlightened. Educrats, regardless of title (Super-intentioned, etc.), will lighten wallets & enlighten no one.

    The Governor had it right when he described the system as one of domestic abuse.

  • Dave

    Dejas vu is the feeling you’ve done something before…

  • Anonymous

    $15k a kid. That is 50% more than a lot of rally good private schools. So, we could send them all to Chatard (to use an extreme example even though the school would be overwhelmed) and save $5,000 a kid?? Or let them use their “voucher” at Trader’s Point Christian Acadamy and it’d be cheaper per student?

    (arguments about cost per student going up as the quantity of students trapped in a failing system understood – those arguments miss the point)

  • Anonymous

    I agree completely with the sentiment regarding TA.

  • American 1st

    Bravo Abdul! One if not the only media person with the cajones to speak up when attacked by the bully of IPS. White is a thug in a shirt and tie and despite his lisping pronunciations, claims and blame the victims for his failed drop out factory school district,he has yet to be held accountable.

    That he has singled you out as his most recent target speaks to a bully’s greatest fear of being exposed.

    Don’t back down Abdul,you’re leading the way in openibg folks eyes that the emporer of IPS has no clothes. Hang tough and don’t blink.

  • Think Again

    Yeah, you could, but you charter folks ignore one critical point; IF any of those kids needs special ed, neither Chatard, nor Cathedral, nor Park tudor, nor Trader’s Point, is equipped to handle that. Nor do they want to (in all probability)

    About all that’s left in IPS, in large numbers, are the kids who need special help, whether they’re “categorized” or not. Charters and private schools don’t want that student. If they did they’d have more of them…and under federal law, if those schools ask for help for those kids, the local school district-of-record must provide it, even at the private school. hose instances are rare in Indiana. Rarer than they should be.

  • Think Again

    I have watched it. Bush/Cheney was far worse. History already thinks so.

  • Taxpayer 834512

    I this amounts to agreeing on what the ugliest painting is in the museum. Next topic- just not smoking…

  • Anonymous

    In a more free market oriented system I’m sure you would see solutions to the special needs kids pop up. The challenge with the private schools might just be one of resources needed compared to size of addressable market. I doubt it’s that they “don’t want” that student so much as there is an investment associated with being equipped to handle it and an uncertain quantity of students likely to enroll at $10,000 a year compared to the “free” schools.

    But, we’ve kind of gone down the path here of talking about limitations for all people because some or a few may require something different.

  • Anonymous

    Short 6 minute video regarding New Orlean’s school voucher program and its success.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsEP_5axdLI&playnext=1&videos=ZI6_9PwMKJQ

    Strong Democratic area now has one of the most market based school systems in the country. How bad do things have to get with the status quo before change can happen? New Orleans found out and made the changes. Great story and proof that if we can get past partisanship and union resistance to new ways of doing things, great things can happen.

  • Jamest100

    Anyone can see the budget just like they did last year. Fall Creek Academy and other charters have worse test scores than ANY IPS high school. Dr. White offered Arlington to Bennett, the guy who has one years experience as a School superintendant, and he chickened out and didn’t want the school. He knew the state would only do worse. Jeff White’s kids STILL attend IPS so there goes that “crappy education” Abdrool says IPS kids receive. Why are we talking about this when drunk union cops run over and kill people??

  • pascal

    Uh, what drunk union cops are you talking about and just how can you prove your assertation? Doesn’t a .19 sound at all fishy to you? I’m thinking that were it you with a .19 you would be found out…maybe by tracking silly posts back to your url?