Sunday, March 16, 2008

MCEA Puppet Masters At Work In District 4!


The Montgomery County Teachers Union (MCEA) has a grand plan to complete its take over of the County Council. Having lost badly in the recent school board primary, the MCEA has come up with a plan to further entrench itself as puppet master in MoCo. Bonnie Cullison the unashamedly lesbian, take no prisoners, destroy the opposition leader of MCEA has put her stamp of approval on Nancy Navarro to replace Marilyn Praisner in District 4. Navarro is sure to rubber stamp a steady stream of ultra-liberal policies submitted by Cullison’s other subjects on the Board of Education. You know, unisex bathrooms, sexualized cucumbers, heavy sedation for boys, teacher assisted abortion without parental notification, the list goes on. By moving Navarro up to County Council, Cullison can replace her with her failed choice in the primary, Alies Muskin. Adding Navarro to the Council will give Cullison complete control over both the school board and the county council.

Cullison will send her army of union activists to the polls on their paid day off, thanks to we taxpayers, and push the so called Apple Ballot. Lets hope the Apple Ballot stays rotten this time.

Meanwhile the voters keep throwing money at the school system as it falls behind other Maryland counties (Howard now, Frederick next). Its seems funny how the “choice” crowd hate choice when it comes to schools. For about one-half what we spend now, we could institute charter schools with smaller classes, no lawsuits as parents could choose ultra liberal or conservative or something in between and boys will not be an endangered species at all these schools either. Allowing choice would get rid of the de facto segregation now in place and create a model for the rest of the country. A model to be proud of.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Media Ignore Major Story

Parents and taxpayers in Montgomery County collect over 30,000 valid petition signatures and the news media ignores the story. Recently formed Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) www.notmyshower.com <http://www.notmyshower.com/> were able to collect enough signatures to put the new transgender protection act on the November ballot. This was a major achievement as the group had to collect signatures during the Christmas holiday season and in the dead of winter. Led by Theresa Rickman and Dr. Ruth Jacobs, CRG was able to mobilize a large group of volunteers to get the required signatures. The effort is designed to overturn a bill passed with overwhelming support by Ike Leggett and the entire council.

The bill was pushed by Duchy Trachtenberg and her Senior Advisor, Dana Beyer (a transgender man who goes around dressed as a woman). The bill seems designed to cater to one person, namely Beyer. Beyer desperately wants to use the ladies room but knows under current law he could be arrested. He currently uses a unisex single bathroom at the council building.

During the collection process, Beyer was caught on video harassing a 69 year old grandmother who was collecting signatures. Rather than being fired, Beyer is praised by all the council members, especially Mike Knapp. (Knapp is finished politically unless he moves to Takoma Park. Further, Beyer has gotten outside money to PAY lawyers to find ways to stall or stop the referendum. So, Leggett and the council pass a law hidden in a taxi bill, allowing their star child, Wayne/Dana Beyer to use the ladies room, they get busted by moms, they lie about what the bill actually says, then the star child gets big gay bucks to stop the moms and there is even video of Beyer harassing the moms.

All this makes for some great media attention, right? Wrong! The media will not touch its sacred cow, the gay and transgender agenda. In fact, the only story I saw in the Gazette took the position that the law was changed so Beyer could not use the ladies room. Can they be that dumb at the Gazette? I don’t think so. Knapp and Leggett could be played for a fool by Trachtenberg, but the Gazette and the other media are not that stupid.

The hubris of the council and Leggett is causing widespread defection from the Democratic Party. MoCo liberals are finally getting fed up. This time Trachtenberg and company have gone too far.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Tranny Insanity!


Tranny insanity continues in Montgomery County. County citizens organized a petition drive to place the new transgender discrimination law on the ballot in November. This bill was supported by all the county council and Ike Leggett (former board member of PFLAGG). The bill allows a person to use public accommodations according to one’s “perceived”gender. In other words a man who “perceives” himself to be a woman, mayuse the public accommodations reserved for women.

Mike Knapp, Ike Leggett and the rest of the council when confronted with this law claimed that public accommodations don’t include bathrooms. The citizen groups responded stating that such an interpretation flies in the face virtually all court opinions and other laws. In other words, a business owner could have a “white’s only” bathroom and claim its not a public accommodation if Knapp and Leggett were believed.

In the meantime the gay rights crowd mobilized to intimidate the petition gatherers. Dana Beyer, Senior Advisor to Ducy Tractenberg and formerly known as Wayne Beyer led a team of gays around the county intimidating the citizens. Video of the action can be found on YouTube. http://youtube.com/results?search_query=dana+beyer+maryland&search_type=

Having failed to stop the petition the gay groups have now brought lawyers and out of town activists to look at the signatures and intimidate those who signed. Their plan is to call each person who signed and convince them to withdraw their signature. Using out of town money and talent and other unfair tactics the gays are doing everything they can to keep the bill out of the hands of the voters.

One 69 year old grandmother said of Mr. Beyer “a man dressed as woman came up to me and said he was here to ‘re-educate me’ about the bill.” The grandmother told Mr. Beyer that she was already educated.

Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Ho Chi Minh would be proud of Mr. Beyer’s “re-education” efforts and the joyous support of his bosses on the Montgomery County Council. As of today, Gender Identity Disorder is still a mental illness. Why is the council collaborating with madness?

Thursday, February 21, 2008

TANK



“Perceived” Disabled Man To File Lawsuit Against Montgomery County
Leggett Demands Hillary Step Aside


A 22 year high school football star is threatening a lawsuit against Montgomery County. Executive Ike Leggett will also be named a defendant. The suit will use the new anti-discrimination law protecting “perceived” transgendered individuals. Tank Thompson the former Churchill High School star fullback claims the county refuses to recognize his “perceived” disability. Tank who is a physical trainer and national black belt karate champion recently discovered that he has always been disabled and unable to walk.


Upon discovering his disability Tank purchased a wheelchair and quit working. “I always felt I was disabled, even when I was a young man.” Stated Tank. Tank found kind hearted doctors in San Francisco willing to amputate his legs so he can complete his transformation to disabled status. Tank is going to work for perceived disabled rights and plans to start a group called Parents and Friends of Perceived Disabled (PFPD). “I intend to get PFPD clubs into the schools as well” stated Tank.


County officials refuse to grant Tank disability status and therefore Tank is going to sue. “If a man can perceive he is a woman, surely a man can perceive he is disabled” Tank stated in a recent new conference.


Ike Leggett promised to set up a commission on “perceived” status to determine all the perceived states that would apply under the new anti-discrimination law. A small but vocal group of disabled citizens suggested that it is unfair to allow perfectly healthy individuals like Tank to declare “perceived” status. Leggett described the disabled group as intolerant and judgmental bigots. “We have whites perceiving themselves black, men perceiving themselves women, even children demanding to be parents,” said Leggett. Leggett says his commission will be able to sort this out and make recommendations. Leggett plans to increase taxes to pay for the commission which expects to meet monthly for 2 years. The commission will be comprised of mental health experts and community activists. Leggett said allowing religious groups on the commission would violate the separation of Church and state.


Leggett went further to state that he perceives himself to be Hillary Clinton and demanded that the other Hillary move aside so that he could be elected President.

Who knows what will happen next.

Monday, February 18, 2008

THE BROWSKIRTS ARE COMING!



School Sex Pushers Intimidate
Petition Collectors



Large numbers of Montgomery County citizens have been collecting petition signatures throughout the county asking the government to put the new transgender discrimination law on the ballot. The petition collection has been a resounding success as the citizen groups have collected over 20,000 signatures. It appears that the citizen groups will be successful in their efforts despite out right dishonesty by all the council members. The new transgender bill prohibits discrimination against so-called transgender people in public accommodations. All the council members when questioned about this, claim that public restrooms and showers are NOT public accommodations. Huh? That’s news to every lawyer in the country. You don’t have to go to law school to know that public rest rooms are EXACTLY public accommodations. A nonpublic accommodation would be the bathroom at your home. How much dishonesty will thepublic accept from the county council?

Seeing the enormous turnout of the public against this controversial bill and since the dishonesty campaign of the council failed, the gay and transgender community went into action. The gays and transgenders went to the petition collection sites and attacked the citizens involved. These attacks are said to be verbal and physical. Members of the Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) http://www.notmyshower.com/ are looking into a lawsuit to stop these Nazi brownshirt tactics.

These are same tactics Hitler used to gain power in 1930s Germany. Hopefully the MoCo citizens will not accept such intimidation tactics and vote out the ridiculous bill that violates several parts of the constitution.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

ROTTEN APPLE BALLOT



Alies Muskin, former PTA President failed in her attempt at election to
the Board of Education despite endorsement by the teachers union,
Apple Ballot.

Has the Apple Ballot gone rotten? Alies Muskin, the former PTA President and sweetheart ofthe teachers union got crushed by Phil Kauffman and Tommy Le in the primary race for the AtLarge seat on the Montgomery County Board of Education. MoCo voters almost always dowhat they are told by the teachers union and vote the Apple Ballot, especially regarding schoolboard positions. What is different this election? According to my unofficial survey, voters areturned off by the ultra liberal positions of the current board. Current events, lawsuits, statementsof board members and the arrogance of the board turned voters against the incumbents and thosewho put them there. Here are some of the current board problems, never ending litigation withparents over sex education, unfairness toward disabled children (does the term autism meananything to the board?), discipline, violence in schools (do murders at football games come tomind? Rapes in schools and on buses come to mind?) Outright hatred of parent groups (PatO’Neill telling parents to “get out of town,” the refusal to even meet with parent groups overissues like busing only for rich kids at magnet schools, administration manipulation of test scoresand outright cheating by those in charge at some schools, abrupt cancelling of Learning Centers,discrimination against ex-gays, and refusal to accept federal abstinence funding. Gee, no wondervoters are turned off by the powers in charge.

Let’s not forget the enormous salary and perks given to Jerry Dean Weast. How does the boardreward Weast with fortune 500 CEO compensation when SAT scores are declining? Plus, MoCoschools are no longer the best in the state. (Are you moving to Howard County yet?) Weastruns the school system like a sub-prime mortgage company. At some point truth starts to comeout.

And then there is the beat down of any parent who dares object to board action. The old boardallowed 15 speakers to address the board for 2 minutes on any subject during meetings. Now theboard will only listen to speakers who address “agenda” issues. Nancy Navarro, the perpetratorof this new “policy” said it is “to encourage discussion on the issues before the board.” In otherwords, you can’t talk to us unless it’s about what we want to talk about. Fidel Castro would beproud Nancy. Maybe she could hire Castro to replace Weast. Hey, that would be animprovement.

With the recession upon us, let’s hope the voters will realize that throwing money at the BOEwill not improve our schools. We need responsible leadership looking out for parents. Thecurrent board was put in place by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and their friends. It would benice to see ordinary parents elected, instead of those who want to perform social experiments onour children. Our kids are not guinea pigs and they don’t belong to the BOE.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Sore Winners

The Montgomery County Board of Education finally wins a lawsuit and its leader gloats and reacts pridefully. When asked about the ruling of a local judge favoring the school board in connectionwith the flawed sex ed curriculum, Pat O’Neill, the former President of the Board and currentleader said of the parents involved in the suit “I say [they] get out of town, shut up, quit costing Montgomery County taxpayers money for litigation, and we're right and parents believe we'reright." She said this to a reporter at the DC Examiner http://www.examiner.com/a-1196553~Montgomery_County_wins_long_battle_on_sex_ed.html hardly a tolerant statement from “Ms. Tolerance” herself. According to Ms. O’Neill she is tolerant and nonjudgmental,yet when asked about parents who disagree with her, she gleefully demands that they“get out of town.” Where is the tolerance in that? In fact the very sex ed program O’Neill and therest of the Board so disparetly desire to force on parents defines tolerance as “accepting those whoare different.” (Not at all the dictionary definition of tolerance but the BOE has never let truth getin its way) Why does O’Neill NOT accept those parents who disagree wtih her? Because she is a hypocrite and dishonest. Plain and simple. Other board members remained silent about the lawsuit but none denounced the intolerant statements of O’Neill.


So the truth is now known.. The MoCo Board of Education wants parents who disagree with them to “get out of town.” Contrast this with the statement of the lawyer who represented the parent groups in the original lawsuit against the BOE where the federal judge found that the BOE clearly violated the religious rights of parents and shut down the sex ed curriculum in a case that took 1 week for the parents to win. As part of the settlement, the BOE was forced to allow the lawyer to address the BOE. Did the lawyer demand the BOE “get out of town?” No, he said the parent groups “loved” the BOE and wanted to “work with them” toward a curriculum “acceptable to all the parties involved.” He requested the BOE to allow the parent groups to have their voices heard in the development of a new curriculum. Yet, O’Neill says it’s the parents who are intolerant. In this case words (and actions) speak loudly and reveal much.


Yes the “intolerant” parents told the BOE they “loved” them when they won their lawsuit and the “tolerant” BOE tells the parents to “get out of town” when they win. How long will the voters fall for the phony tolerance of the BOE and realize they believe in free speech only for themselves andnot for anyone who disagrees with them. How long will the voters tolerate such intolerant and hypocritical leaders at the BOE?

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Magruder High School Students Demand Casino, Weast Says YES!

Jerry Weast agreed to allow a group of Magruder High School students space in the school to build a sparkling new casino. Several students requested the right to build a casino when they discovered they were American Indians.

The students who are of English, Chinese, Ethiopian, Irish or Mexican decent each came to a sincere conclusion that they are actually American Indians. In their childhood each of them sided with the Indians in cowboy movies and each has a compelling desire to wear war paint and go on raiding parties in local malls. One young man named “Bill” said he always liked wearing feathers and only now realized that he is indeed an American Indian and has never been the Irishman he was born as. “I know it looks strange to see a red headed Indian with freckles” he said, but he is taking hormones to change his skin tone and lose his red beard. I shave off my chest hair he said and intends to dye his red hair black with money from a special fund set up by Weast to help cross heritage students. Each of the students also found that they could not drink alcohol without getting drunk and prefer a peace pipe.

Once the students discovered each other, they formed a new tribe known as the Abercrombies. For some reason, now that a few students have come out, many more are also discovering theirtrue heritage. Some students have learned they are not even human beings. A student who learned he is a bird was injured when he tried to fly out a second floor window.

The Abercrombies have convinced Jerry Weast (who has a sincere belief he is Napoleon) that they should be given space in the high school to build a casino. It’s great to see students discover their true gender, heritage or species said Weast at the announcement of the casino.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Trachtenberg, Ervin and Elrich Set Up Unisex Bathrooms at School!



The Montgomery County Council
Seated from left to right, bottom row: George L. Leventhal, Marilyn J. Praisner (President), Phil Andrews.
Top row: Marc Elrich, Valerie Ervin, Roger Berliner, Duchy Trachtenberg, Nancy Floreen, and Mike
Knapp (Vice-President).


Nancy Navarro and Jerry Weast must be tickled pink with the new law proposed by the MoCo County Council. Hidden in Bill 23-07 is a requirement that “…an employer must allow an employee to appear, groom, and dress consistent with the employee’s gender identity.” There is also a recommended amendment to let a person use facilities based on the person’s gender identity—not to be confused with a person’s DNA determined sex at birth.


This bill is not only supported by the far left nuts, Trachtenberg, Ervin and Elrich but the rest of the Council as well. Responding to a critic of the bill, Council member Leventhal stated that it would be rare that a man transitioning into a woman would actually use the ladies room, and therefore he supports the bill over objection of women who don’t want share restrooms and showers with men who have a sincere belief that they are women but still have male genitals.


This is no joke! When asked about this, most in the press and on the street, don’t believe its true. You can check this out for yourself at


http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/council/pdf/bill/2007/23-07.pdf.


This takes the pressure off Weast and Navarro in their quest for transgender kids in school to choose the bathroom they feel they belong in. In fact, under the bill, if a landlord, commercialbusiness and presumably a school deny a man who is transitioning to a woman from going into the ladies room, they will be sued and fined by the County Human Rights Commission.


Folks, I am NOT KIDDING! Men in bras, panties and dresses are coming to the ladies room in MoCo. And Weast. Navarro and the rest of the Board of Education are encouraging our sons to do just that. If you object, you are intolerant and bigoted. Political correctness triumphs again.


How long will the voters allow MoCo to be the laughing stock of the state. No wonder the rest of state bleeds MoCo tax dollars for themselves and then laugh at us behind our backs. I guess we got what we deserved when we put Trachtenberg and her (can I say her?) friends in office.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

A Churchill Student Speaks

Six years ago on Sept. 11, 2001, America faced devastation.
America faced sorrow. America faced conflict. And America faced despair.

A group of terrorists decided that they did not like our way of
life. They decided to commit an act that would alter thousands of lives.
They decided to kill.Today, as Americans, we are obligated to remember
those we lost and honor those who are fighting at this moment so that we can continue to live our lives in freedom, with liberty and justice for all.

On Sept. 11, 2007, at several high schools in Montgomery County,
administrations opted not to remember. Not to honor. They decided that
their intense academic curricula could not be put on hold to honor the
fallen heroes of our nation.Not just that, but there was not even a
moment of silence at any point in the day to remember those we have
lost. In fact, the school day went on just as any other would have.
There was no mention of those who perished. There was not a thought of
those who lost the ones they loved. And there was not a word spoken
about the heroes who lost their lives that day, and who continue to give
themselves up so that we may carry on with our lives the same way that
we have for over 230 years.It is not OK that thousands of students went
through the day without even casting a thought as to what our nation
experienced on 9/11. Kids just like them - high school students - lost
parents on Sept. 11, 2001. They lost friends. They lost brothers. They
lost sisters.The re is no honor in forgetting the dead, but rather there
is honor in remembering those we have lost, and those who perished so
that the rest of us may continue to live.

This is the one day of the entire year that we can come together
as a country and just realize how lucky we are to be free and live in
this great country. It is the one day that we should feel blessed that
we were not in those planes, or in those buildings, or amongst the
heroes on Flight 93.

Sept. 11 should be a day that we appreciate what we have and
appreciate the freedom we enjoy. We live in the United States of
America. We live in the greatest country in the entire world. There
isn't one country in the entire world that enjoys the freedom that we
do. There isn't one country in the entire world that rivals the quality
of life that we in America have.

Today, we fight on, supposedly as one. On Sept. 11, 2001,
President Bush promised that the terrorists would pay for their
misdeeds. He promised that America would find those responsible for the
deaths of their loved ones, their fellow citizens. Whether or not you
agree with how he handled the situation is irrelevant. I don't care if
you're an Elephant or a Donkey. I don't care if you're from Springfield,
Ky., or Springfield, Mass. All that matters today is that there are
people fighting at this very moment to ensure our freedom for
generations to come, so that our children will enjoy the same freedoms
of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of expression that we have
today.

The brave men and women fighting have made the ultimate
sacrifice for you and me, and without them, we are nothing. Without the
unity that we should have felt on a day like Sept. 11, we are nothing.
The moniker goes, ``United We Stand, Divided We Fall," and today, more
than ever, that should ring true.

I remember exactly where I was on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
I was playing saxophone. The music teacher wanted me to perform so new kids would want to join band. My mom even brought my instrument to school for me. I was 10 years old. I played, enjoying the nostalgic
elementary experience, not knowing what was going on right down the road from me to other Americans.

Throughout the rest of the school day, parents came in to pull
their kids out of school. I wanted to know what was going on, but no one
would tell me. As I rode on the bus to my house, thoughts raced through
my mind as to what had happened. Finally, I got home, and my mom had me sit down in the living room. She told me what happened. She told me that our way of life had been challenged by a group of men who had hatred in their hearts, running through their veins.

On the surface, it did not mean much to me. However, one month
later, I still could not accept that the Twin Towers were gone. I could
not accept that some people were so evil, and would go to such dire
means in order to get a message of hatred across to the world. I also
remember one other thing. On that day, that afternoon, in my living
room, my mother told me never to forget.

So I ask you, my fellow Americans, do we allow those courageous men and women who perished on Sept. 11, 2001, to be cast in the shadows of America? Do we allow ourselves to forget? Do we allow the enemy to be victorious in their quest to inflict a deep wound in the American psyche? No. We remember, and we carry on the memory of this great tragedy with us every day. We appreciate the great fortune we have to live in freedom and safety, and we thank those who have gotten us to
this point. We move on, but we never forget.

Sept. 11, 2001 - a chapter of sorrow that will be forever etched
into the storybook that is America. Today, we must stand united for the
cause of America and her values and glorious way of life. Today, we must
stand together, and stand as one. From sea to shining sea, we remember.
From sea to shining sea, we honor. From sea to shining sea, we carry on.
But we never forget. We never forget those we have lost in our quest to
live with liberty and justice for all, in the land of the free and the
home of the brave.

May God Bless America, and may He bless all those who protect it
every day with their lives. Amen.

Max is a 16-year-old junior at Winston Churchill High School in
Potomac.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

More Doublespeak From MCPS

Jerry Weast’s lawyers have filed an opposition to the Request for Stay filed of the Plaintiffs in the Sex Ed Curriculum case. The out of town lawyers say that the court should enforce the “status quo” and therefore allow the curriculum to go forward. They say that:

“A stay is intended to maintain the status quo as it existed prior to the agency decision under review in this Court. The County Board approved implementation of the Revised Lessons before the State Board ruled, and the State Board upheld the County Board. Therefore, a stay to maintain the status quo is unnecessary.”

We checked with a lawyer who looked up the term status quo in Black’s Law Dictionary. This is what status quo means:

. . . is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. Black’s Law Dictionary page 1264

Once again MCPS redefines a term to accomplish its goals. George Orwell would be proud. By the way, do they still teach from Animal Farm? I doubt it. Students may be informed about the doublespeak Jerry Weast and his Board of Education spew out every day. For example, the word “homophobia” in the dictionary means an “irrational fear of homosexuals.” The new doublespeak definition given to students in the curriculum is “any negative thought about homosexuality” is homophobia. How do parents let them get away with this?

It’s kind of like a bank robber telling the cops that since he HAS the money, it would breach the status quo to make him return the money. Let’s hope the Circuit Court Judge does not fall for this deception. Stay tuned.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Churchill Parents Oppose Military Recruiters

I am curious about why Churchill High School parents are so against the military. Don’t they realize that without the military the first place terrorists would go to kill Americans is Potomac? Terrorists hate decadent and rich Americans. If you want to kill rich Americans, Potomac would be excellent place to start. Terrorists usually want to kill the lawyers, business leaders, etc. Potomac is chock full of these types. Gee the world trade center was full of high income folks who lived in the Potomacs of Connecticut and New Jersey. Seems if I lived in Potomac and I would be thankful for the military. Why blame the military for foreign policy mistakes? The U.S. Military is one of the few that has never staged a government takeover. Let’s be nice to them.


Less than one per cent of Churchill grads even enter the military, so why the big concern? One of the protesters said they wanted to make a point to the school system, the military and the students. He also said he did not like “recruitment” in the schools. Funny, Churchill loves gay recruitment by its Gay Student Alliance Club, but is bitter against the military. At least you can go into and out of the Military. Once you change your sex (as touted by MCPS) its very hard to change back. Isn’t this a double standard? Where is the tolerance?


The protester also said that Churchill kids will go to Brown or Cornell and virtually none into the military. Churchill kids don’t need money to go to college so the military is not necessary to accomplish their goals.


This brings me to another story last week. Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) in partnership with the University Of Connecticut Department Of Public Policy (UConnDPP) administered a test of basic historical and civic knowledge to 14,000 students at 50 top schools, including Cornell and Brown. The survey found that students “were no better off than when they arrived in terms of acquiring the knowledge necessary for informed engagement in a democratic republic and global economy.” Ivy League students were found to know less as seniors than as freshmen.


“There was no relationship between the cost of attending college and the mastery of America’s history, politics, and economy,” according to the study. Ivy League students were among the worst performers. Maybe a different protest is in order. Like one for a refund by parents of students at Cornell and Brown.


Here are three of the questions posed. See if your child can answer them. No cheating please.


1. Which battle brought an end to the American Revolution? (a) Saratoga, (b) Gettysburg, © the Alamo, (d) Yorktown, (e) New Orleans?


2. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) was significant because it: (a) ended the war in Korea, (b) gave President Johnson the authority to expand the scope of the Vietnam War, © was an attempt to take foreign policy power away from the president, (d) allowed China to become a member of the United Nations, or (e) allowed for oil exploration in Southeast Asia.


3. Which of the following is the best measure of production or output of an economy (a) gross national product, (b) Consumer Price Index, © unemployment rate, (d) prime rate, (e) exchange rate?


These are not hard questions. Maybe we need to focus more on teaching our children information that will be useful than instilling our personal politics. I hope you think about this.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Maryland Court of Appeals Says No Gay Gene. Now What for Weast and Navarro?



Jerry Weast and Nancy Navarro must be sick about the landmark decision of the Maryland Court of Appeals. As reportedhere on June 14th, Weast, Navarro and the rest of the Board, except Steve Abrams voted to sneak into the unconstitutional sex ed curriculum a statement that homosexual conduct is “innate.” At the hearing, parents pointed out that there is no credible scientific evidence for the existence of a “gay gene.” Weast and the Board refused to listen to the parents and boldly proclaimed that the gay gene exists and homosexual conduct is most assuredly “innate.”

Unfortunately, the Maryland Court of Appeals has determined quite the opposite. The Court stated repeatedly that homosexual conduct is not immutable (the term lawyers use for innate, for example, skin color is immutable, sex was thought to be immutable, but the Board also tells kids to change their sex so the Court of Appeals would disagree with the Board on that as well). The Court quoted legal decisions from all over the country, even California, which have ruled likewise. The Court also quoted laws from every state in the union except Massachusetts to support its finding that no gay gene exists.

The Court went further and said that homosexuals are not a powerless minority but rather, wieldsubstantial power. Hey, they need only drive over to Hungerford Drive and see how 1% of thepopulation can control and entire school board, thereby trampling on the voters wishes.

The Court made the astute observation that marriage between one man and one woman goes all theway back to Genesis and has been government supported because it foster PROCREATION. The gay plaintiffs argued that marriage is not about children but about “loving someone.” To which the Court says, what about loving your sister, shall we allow sibling marriage?

The tired gay argument that 50% of heterosexual marriages end in divorce went no where. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Easy no fault divorce laws, a culture that worships “Desperate Housewives” and school system that produces men who are either momma’s boys or predators lead to high divorce rates. All of the phony gay arguments are disposed of by the Court in its well reasoned opinion. Furthermore, gays can get married in all states right now. All they need to do, is go over to the Episcopal Church and get married, take a honeymoon, buy a house together with right of survivorship, sign a nuptial agreement, etc. What they want is a government stamp of approval. But, the government only gets involved when children are involved, which as a rule and by nature only a man and a woman can produce. No one is stopping gays from “getting married.”

Weast and the Board have a chance right now to remove the “innate” teaching before another court rules against them. Don’t forget, the sex ed curriculum does not discuss families (although the curriculum is called Family Life) spends much time pushing the gay agenda and directs students to chop off body parts and change their gender. (A whole separate topic coming soon) Oh, if you have ANY negative feeling about homosexual conduct, you are labeled a “homophobe” according to the sex ed curriculum. Stay tuned, we expect the Rockville Circuit Court to send the curriculum back to the trash heap where it belongs. How much will this cost you and me?
________________________________

Friday, September 07, 2007

The lesbians are coming? The lesbians are coming!



Young man on left is led around by woman with chain at recent gay event.


Hayley Gorenberg of Lambda Legal a lesbian legal firm hired one of the largest law firms in the world, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP to fight on behalf Jerry Dean Weast, Nancy Navarro, Shirley Brandman and the rest of the Board of Education in connection with the lawsuit
filed by Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, www.mcpscurriculum.com, Family Leader Network and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX). Ryan P. Phair, Daniel H. Squire, Jonathan J. Frankel, Kenny A. Wright, Daniel J. Matheson, Brian M. Simmonds are the attorneys from Wilmer Cutler who will fight against the parents and ex-gays suing Weast and the Board.

When confronted with this development, a CRC representative stated that its not unusual for large world wide law firms to take both side of social issues, especially when the case is likely to end up at the Supreme Court. Usually two large law firms square off, so that its evenly matched. Judges prefer an even playing field. However, when CRC and PFOX have approached large law firms they have been quietly told that no large law firm will take on the gay agenda. The large firms are terrified of the bullying tactics of gays at Ivy League law schools when they attempt to recruit new attorneys.

Like the Nazis of 1930s Germany a small but vocal group of gays intimidate large law firms with bully tactics. Ex-gays describe the gay movement as a cult, that recruits, and then punishes anyone who tries to escape or resist them.

John Garza, the Rockville attorney for CRC, Family Leader Network and PFOX stated that he “knows who wins in the end,” that bully tactics, hate, intolerance of religious people, and spreading lies will keep the large law firm from future success. “Like Hitler and his thugs, the gay agenda will have its day and then, good will triumph over evil” Garza said.

At a recent gay protest, lesbians were heard chanting “We may not go down in history, but we will go down on your sister.” We think Misters Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr are turning in their grave. What power the lesbians have in MoCo.

Stay turned, its not getting pretty.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Teen USA Quiz - A Sad Commentary on Government Schools




Teen USA Quiz - A Sad Commentary on Government Schools

Lauren Caitlin Upton of Lexington, S.C. shown in this undated modeling photo.
The 18-year-old has become a national sensation after her gramatically challenged response to a question at the Miss Teen USA pageant in Pasadena, Calif., Aug. 24, 2007 (photo courtesy Locke Management) Lauren Caitlin Upton the Teen USA contestant who botched the quiz question about the inability of government school educated students to find the U.S.A. on a map is herself a product of government schools. She graduated with honors and a 3.5 GPA finishing near the top of her class. How is it that she could so utterly not understand a simple question about geography? It’s not due to a lack of maps or problems in South Africa or Iraq as mentioned by Ms. Upton.

No, it’s a crisis in the government schools. Don’t think that geography is being taught in Montgomery County Schools, its not. Not the way we baby boomers learned geography. Why? Because you can test geography, and Jerry Dean Weast and the current Board of Education hate tests. Especially tests that score knowledge. They prefer to show children “how to learn.” But under this paradigm, children don’t actually learn anything. SAT testing has been dumbed down and our students still fall behind the rest of the world. Each year our students attend government schools they fall farther behind their counterparts in the rest of the world on knowledge tests..

Until competition is injected into the system our tax money will continue to be wasted by Jerry Dean Weast, Nancy Navarro and the rest of the school board. Giving the school board more money is the same as throwing money out the window. It will do no good. Only a voucher system such as in Europe with true competition will cause a change in our education system.For example, Catholic schools in MoCo cost less than half the government school cost but do as good if not better job. With vouchers, parents who want their kids indoctrinated in the latest social fads can send their kids to the Shirley Brandman school of sex and recycling, while other parents can send their kids to schools that teach math, history and geography. Some schools will thrive and others will fold. It’s the American way. There will be no need for lawsuits as children and parents will have choice. Wake up friends, its only going to get worse, it’s your money and more importantly, it’s our future.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Navarro and Weast declared "Lawsuit Magnet"

Its official, Jerry Dean Weast, Nancy Navarro and the rest of the
Montgomery County Board of Education are "Lawsuit Magnets." It's
getting old talking about all the lawsuits filed against Weast and his
board.

Parents who live south and east of the Middle School Magnet Consortium
are upset with the busing provided their children. Why, because there
is no busing, that's why. If you live to the North or West (i.e. where
the rich white people live) your children are provided buses, which they
don't need. Accordingly, 190 parents sent a petition the Jerry Dean and
the Board requesting transportation. In response, Jerry Dean, Nancy
Navarro and the rest of the Board said nothing.

Instead they sent Erik J. Lang out to say that the parents were told
about the busing in advance so they should not be upset. They also
blamed the Bush administration for not providing more money for busing.
Huh? Jerry Dean and Nancy Navarro like to blame Bush for any problems,
seems to work with lots of the voters. Hey, as bad as Bush is, you
can't blame everything on him.

They also proudly proclaimed that parents were told early on that kids
would not get transportation, so it is alright? Of course this is the
BOE that likes to spring things on parents or implement "initiatives"
without parents knowing what they are up to. I guess that is an
improvement.

Stay tuned, the lawsuits on this one should be filed soon.

We're Shocked, Shocked that SAT Scores Drop by Double Digits!

Why are people surprised that County SAT scores dropped so much? Jerry
Dean Weast, Nancy Navarro and their band of merry board members have
abandoned the three Rs. Jerry Dean and Nancy Navarro prefer to teach
the facts of life. Like anal sex and changing ones gender. Wait a
minute, anal sex and chopping off body parts aren't part of the facts of
life. Actually, Navarro, Pat O'Neil, Shirley Brandman and the rest need
to pay back their political handlers and indoctrinate our kids with the
gay agenda.

In the meantime, the once highly regarded MoCo school system is falling
further behind other systems. Don't forget that the SAT was revised a
couple years ago to make it easier to pass. And our kids are still
falling behind their peers from the past and present. Our schools need
to get back to basics like math, English, geography, etc. When will
MoCo parents demand that Navarro and Brandman get rid of Weast, focus on the real facts of life, like having a family, instead of focusing on
queer politics. Exactly how many gay kids are there in MoCo schools?
No one knows.

We wonder why Jerry Dean and Navarro spend so much effort on the gay
agenda. In Massachusetts where some much effort went into "gay
marriage," only 57 gays have married this year. Exactly what is the
number of gays in our schools? Would you answer that Jerry?

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Lawsuits continue to pile up against BOE!

Someone pass me a calculator! We can’t keep up with all the lawsuits filed against Nancy “Che”Navarro and her merry band of school board members. Prominent lawyer, Steven Van Grack(former Mayor of Rockville) has filed suit against the BOE in connection with MCPS refusal totell a student’s parents that he was addicted to dangerous narcotics. This is no crackpot lawsuit!The child went to the health teacher and counselor for help, admitting he was addicted to harddrugs. The school did not call his parents in response. What they did do is unknown as MCPShas hired high priced out of town lawyers to dismiss the lawsuit.

Are you surprised? MCPS demands its teachers tell students who have questions about sexeducation to ask a “responsible adult.” Responsible adult being defined as someone over age 18.How about the local drug pusher? He’s over 18? Is that what they told the child who is thesubject of the lawsuit? Isn’t this the same group of board members who don’t want parents ofchildren as young as age 12 to know they getting an abortion? And have MCPS provide thepayment for the abortion as well as the ride to Planned Parenthood. They also think is wrong toturn in the adult who got the youngster pregnant as well. Why? Because it may cause her to notget the abortion. Wait, is Planned Parenthood a major financial supporter of their campaigns?Is this a conflict?

Anyway, stay tuned. As we mentioned previously, the lawsuits are only beginning. Get yourwallet out, the BOE is writing checks you will have to cash.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Navarro, O”Neill and Cox get Board Sued Again!

Citizens for Responsible Curriculum (CRC), Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) and Family Leader Network have filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County,Case Number 284980 as a result of the sex ed indoctrination curriculum passed by the BOE earlier this year. The parents groups are represented by the Thomas More Law Center a Catholic legal group. Sharon Cox and Pat O’ Neill must be joyous as they got what they wanted, another lawsuit against the BOE. Cox and O’Neill taunted the groups with statements like “bring it on” during BOE meetings. Win or lose this lawsuit will cost taxpayers big bucks which could be used to help special needs children or support other programs.


The lawsuit claims that the BOE has put students at risk with phony science about condoms being “safe” for anal sex, in spite of the fact the condom manufacturers themselves state on the condom box that they are not to be used for anal sex. (When will the parents start suing for children when they contract AIDS, and other stds? Hopefully, each of the board members and Weast will be sued personally by trial lawyers for tort claims) Also, the unproven claim that homosexual conduct is “innate” and that no one can change their orientation, despite all the exgays walking around including several who testified at the BOE. Also, the teaching that its wonderful to come out as a transgender, chop off body parts, take powerful drugs so that boys become girls and girls become boys. This despite the fact that Gender Identity Disorder is a condition found in the DSM-IV. How can the BOE encourage students to behave in a disordered fashion?

There are lots of other reasons in the lawsuit, but I don’t have room to put them all here.

By the way, if the BOE encourages a boy to become a girl, a heterosexual to become homosexual, then why not a homosexual to become heterosexual? Stay tuned.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

FREE SPEECH? ONLY IF YOU AGREE WITH MCPS

How long will Nancy Navarro and the BOE “tolerate” Joan Benz and Michael J. Doran, the principals at Churchill and Wootton? On July 16th the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) sent a lawsuit letter to Navarro outlining unconstitutional conduct by Benz and Doran.

A copy of the letter ADF attorneys sent can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/MontgomeryCountyLetter.pdf

ADF has a long and successful track record of suing public schools for discrimination. MCPS had provided them with another nice case violating free speech rights. How many times will the BOE allow Jerry Dean Weast and his administrators to break the law and get the BOE sued? Lets not forget that we tax payers provide the funding for both sides each time MCPS gets sued.

Furthermore, do we really want our high school students to witness the suppression of free speech by teachers and administrators? How could Benz stand by and encourage homosexual students to trash the flyers as described in the ADF letter? Navarro can’t deny the facts, the details were witnessed by hundreds of students and chronicled in student newspapers. Could it be that the BOE actually supports this conduct? Probably so.

We assume this will all come out when MCPS is sued and Navarro and the others have to testify about what they knew, when they knew it and why they did nothing to stop it.

Oh, by the way, Navarro and the BOE do tolerate Benz and Doran. Remember, to the BOE, to “tolerate” an idea means to “accept, affirm and celebrate” it. If you respectfully disagree with an idea that the BOE supports, you are “intolerant”and “bigoted.” When I was in school, we called that “doublespeak.” Stay tuned and watch your money get wasted.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Board Restricts Speech

Nancy “Che” Navarro and the BOE vote to limit public comment at future Meetings. Like Hugo Chavez, Nancy Navarro and the Board of Education have silenced their opposition. In a letter to Jane De Winter, President of the Montgomery Counsel of Parent Teacher Associations, Ms. Navarro stated that “the Board will reserve 10 of the 15 slots for public comments for speakers who wish to comment on issues that are on the agenda for that days board meetings.” This leaves only 5 slots for others to speak. She goes on to say “that the changes are to ensure that business meetings encourage input from the community on issues that are being specifically addressed by the board at its meetings and also permit the board to have more in-depth discussions.”

However, as is typical of the Board of Education, the new policy conflicts with other policies previously decreed. For example, when the BOE puts a policy out for public comment, regulation BFA-RA states that the comment period will be for a minium of 30 days. But during the 30 plus day period the item will not be on the “agenda.” Thus, the number slots available for public comment on a policy change is limited to 5 per meeting

Apparently the board has grown weary of citizens and taxpayers coming to meetings exposing Jerry Weast and the BOE on numerous issues, including, long stating racial tensions at Churchill High School as well as “spectacularly stupid memos” by the principal, the enormous salary and perks paid to Weast, the alleged racially motivated attack by Steve Abrams on Adol T. Owing-Williams, increasing violence (murders at football games come to mind), sexual abuse and rapes in the school system and on buses, gender discrimination against male students, discrimination against those with deeply held religious beliefs, incessant self congratulating by the board and especially by Weast, manipulation of grades and test scores by administration as well as out right cheating by school authorities, complete failure of the sex ed curricula including losing lawsuits, spending gigantic amounts of money on lawyers to pursue lawsuits against parents, a blatant refusal to accept federal abstinence funds or to teach abstinence to the students, closing of learning centers, minority student grades, discrimination against ex-gays and a failure to provide proper services to our special needs students.

By limiting the number of slots, the BOE and Weast think those opposed will simply go away. This head in the sand approach is also destined to failure. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

"John Garza responds to Allan Lichtman op ed"

Allan Lichtman wrote an op ed in the Gazette titled “Sex education, yes, ignorance, no.” Mr. Lichtman supports the “new” sex ed curriculum recently passed by the Montgomery County BOE. My question is, did he read the curriculum? For example, he complains that a sign held at recent protest by 50-75 parents said “NO UNISEX BATHROOMS.” Yet, this is exactly what the curriculum suggests. The curriculum presents the story of “Portia” the boy who becomes a girl. When Portia finally becomes a girl, “she” gets a key to the teachers’ unisex bathroom. When our children follow the curriculum and chop off body parts, take hormones and “reassign their gender,” won’t they expect the key to the bathroom like Portia?

Lichman wants to open the door to “sexual orientation.” But not all 30 orientations found in the DSM-IV-R such as Apotemnophilia - sexual arousal associated with the stump of an amputee; Coprophilia - sexual arousal associated with feces; Kleptophilia - obtaining sexual excitement from stealing; Sexual Sadism - the intentional infliction of pain or humiliation on another person in order to achieve sexual excitement; not to mention pedophila, necrophilia and many others are discussed, yet. When will we hear about these? We believe if you want to discuss orientation, put them all on the table. We don’t want our children to be ignorant. After all, Sexual Identity Disorder is celebrated in the curriculum by Portia.

The one orientation virtually absent from the curriculum is abstinence. Lichtman seems to hate abstinence because President Bush supports it. He is either ignorant of or ignores numerous studies showing abstinence at least delays the onset of sexual activity, thus saving many students from stds, unwanted pregnancies, and suicides.

He calls those opposed to the curriculum a small but vocal group showing their ignorance. Notwithstanding the fact that these groups, adduced a petition from 270 local physicians and 4000 parents and local citizens all opposed to the curriculum.

Lastly, Lichtman is very upset at the idea that students with unwanted homosexual desire should be told about ex-gays. He refuses to accept or tolerate the thousands of people leaving the gay lifestyle, some after as many as 20 years and having over 2000 sex partners. But, he is very much in favor of Gay Student Alliance Clubs already in the schools which promote homosexuality, telling students with heterosexual desires that they can change or are simply bisexual.

We believe its time to take politics out of the classroom, teach the truth, that anal sex IS more dangerous than vaginal sex, that gay men ARE at a much higher risk of stds and AIDS than heterosexuals, and that sex is not the same as playing basketball or swimming in a pool. Rather, sex is serious and emotional and physical consequences result from casual sex.

Lichtman’s solution to teen sex is condom distribution. But, for 30 years progressive sex education has pushed condom use and has failed our students. Std, abortion and suicide rates have only dropped as abstinence education has increased. There is no money in virtue, the big dollars flow to those who push a curriculum that leads to abortion, pornography, and the emotional trauma in the aftermath of teen sex.

Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum has appealed to the State Board of Education. Lets hope Nancy Grasmick and the State Board do good for the students and undo this tragedy.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Montgomery County, Md. School Board finds “gay gene,”

According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological cause for homosexuality. But now the Montgomery County Board of Education has done what science and medicine could not do by declaring in its newly approved curriculum that homosexuality is “innate” or inborn. The board could not produce any factual evidence for what it will now teach students -- only political “pledges” and payoffs for last year’s school board elections as claimed by gay rights activists. The BOE only need drive down Rockville Pike to talk with the head of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis Collins. Dr. Collins, like all mainstream medical professionals would tell the BOE that homosexuality is NOT hardwired.

The board further demonstrated its bias and arrogance by ignoring the March 7 Order of Maryland State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick which stated that the Maryland Board of Education will render its decision in July on the legal appeal of the curriculum. PFOX, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, and Family Leader Network filed an appeal of the proposed curriculum, citing factual inaccuracies and violations of state and federal law. The BOE gave no explanation on why it could not wait for Grasmick.

In her Order, Grasmick cites the curriculum’s attempt to address harassment problems relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. PFOX has documented how the curriculum fails to provide instruction on tolerance of ex-gays -- a group that is the object of harassment encouraged by Montgomery County public school staff and students, a fact which the Montgomery County Board of Education does not deny.

When PFOX distributed flyers to the high schools urging tolerance of the ex-gay community, the faculty at multiple schools cooperated with Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) student clubs to oppose the distribution. The PFOX flyer advocated tolerance toward ex-gays, but in MoCo tolerance does not apply to ex-gays.

For example, at Winston Churchill High School GSA students were encouraged to place trash cans in the school hallways and carry trash bags labeled “PFOX” to urge all students to trash their ex-gay flyers. The principal, Dr. Joan Benz, stood by the trash cans to support the gay students trashing the PFOX flyers.

At Wootten High School, a gay teacher and co-sponsor of the school’s GSA club warned PFOX to stay out of the public schools, compared sexual preference to African-Americans’ skin color, and also compared PFOX to the Ku Klux Klan.

This discriminatory treatment is not corrected by the curriculum on teaching tolerance for sexual orientation because former homosexuals are not included in the curriculum. Why did the Board approve a curriculum that is supposed to teach respect for diverse sexual orientations when it excludes former homosexuals -- the only sexual orientation that is subject to intolerance by both students and teachers?

Will the Maryland State Board of Education correct the failings of Jerry Weast and the BOE and protect the civil rights of all groups, and not just gays, bisexuals and cross-dressers? Stay tuned.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Schizophrenia same as cancer according to Weast and BOE

A child who heard voices, wet her pants, wears diapers, runs from class, has been HIV positive since age four months, lived her whole life with foster parents, makes hyper-sexual and violent writings, cuts her leg, puts pins in her ears, has been hospitalized many times and is suicidal, asked Jerry Weast and the BOE for a special program to help her learn. She was given a “flash pass” so she could leave the class whenever she heard voices telling her things and was only graded on the assignments she actually completed. Thus, her grades appeared satisfactory. When her foster parents sued for a special program, Weast and the BOE put their lawyers to work. They lost all the way to the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In court Weast and the BOE said the following quoting their own witness, “one would not “treat schizophrenia with special education any more than you would treat cancer with special education.’” See BOE Reply Brief at page 29. Yes, that is what they said. These are the same folks who told those who don’t agree with their sex education indoctrination program that “you don’t have to send your child to public school.” Needless to say the court disagreed and gave the young girl her program. You can read the courts opinion at http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/dailyopinions/opinion.pdf/061411.U.pdf <http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/dailyopinions/opinion.pdf/061411.U.pdf>

We have no idea how much the lawsuit and appeals cost us because Weast and the BOE hide these costs in the budget. We estimate about $500,000. How long will we give Weast and the BOE a blank check to spend on lawyers? We must bridle Weast; losing in court has no effect.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

MoCo BOE, Friends of Lawyers

Jerry Weast and the Montgomery County Board of Education are the great friends of D.C. and Howard County lawyers. Although most of the legal fees expended by Weast and his Board are hidden in the operating budget, we found some tidbits of information about some of the outside lawyers Weast uses to fight his legal battles.

As best we can tell, Weast paid two different law firms about $219,000 to lose a lawsuit about flyers in the schools. The BOE is about to pay about $250,000 to the lawyers who won the case as well. Was it worth a half-million dollars to keep 10 kids from sending out their flyer about a Bible study? Having lost the first flyer lawsuit the BOE changed their policy, dared the winner to sue them again and then lost again. Each time paying for both sides' legal fees. Sound familiar? Recently, Pat O'Neil and Sharon Cox told the Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX) and Citizens for Responsible Curriculum (CRC) to "bring it on" referring to another lawsuit over the failed sex education curriculum. This after they spent over $320,000 on legal fees on the sex education controversy. Not to mention the sum they paid the winning lawyers in that lawsuit. Oh, and they lost the last lawsuit in 5 days. How do you produce a curriculum so bad that you lose a federal lawsuit in 5 days? (BOE says they did not lose, but the court entered an injunction saying there was such a high likelihood that PFOX and CRC would win that he stopped the curriculum in its tracks causing Weast to throw it out, that friends is called losing a lawsuit) Did Weast or anyone on the Board actually read the prior curriculum before spending so much money on lawyers to try and defend it? And, I don't include all the consultants and private investigators paid for these cases.

Using Weast's own budget numbers we know he spends over $14,000 per student. (We think its much higher but can't prove it just yet) I checked with a local parochial school to find out how much they charge. You can send 2 kids to a nice school for under $10,000. Should we be thinking about a voucher program? (Adjustment for children with special needs of course) If you want your kids being indoctrinated in the pet issue of the day, you send them to Jerry Weast Academy. If not, you send them somewhere else. We all like choices and everyone knows competition is a good thing. Except in MoCo schools, where everyone has to be a winner, especially Jerry Weast his Board of Education.

Problem is, no matter how many millions Jerry spends on lawyers, he keeps losing.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Parents Not Trusted to Talk About Sex

The Montgomery County Board of Education voted unanimously against directing children to their parents with questions about sex. During the recent hearing about the new sex education curriculum embraced by the BOE, the question of how to deal with student questions was resolved against parents.

Teachers confronted with difficult questions about sex and religion or homosexuality and religion were told to direct students to a "Trusted Adult." The BOE defined "Trusted Adult" as anyone over age 18 whom the child trusts. Members of the parent group, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC) www.mcpscurriculum.com requested that "Trusted Adult" be defined as parents first and if no parent is available then a close family member or adult over the age of 21.

A CRC spokesman stated that it’s inappropriate to refer students to someone 18 years old to talk about religion, sex or both. The Maryland legislature will not allow a 18-year-old to drink alcohol, but the BOE wants them counseling students as young as 13 about homosexual conduct, religion and sexual variations.

The CRC requested the BOE and Jerry Weast reconsider the definition of "Trusted Adult" but so far the BOE has stood firm in its faith that local 18 year olds will be perfect sex counselors for our students as long as the child "trusts" the "adult." Stay tuned.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Propaganda campaign heralds Weast's coronation

Parents who signed up for the MCPS e-mail alerts about school closings and other urgent news were surprised to find Uzbekistan-style propaganda heralding the reappointment of the school superintendent.

Freezing rain closed the public schools early, but it didn't keep the Board of Education from unanimously appointing Jerry Weast to another four years as superintendent.

MCPS breathlessly related the news in an e-mail to busy parents at 11:29 a.m. on February 13:

"Greetings, [Name]

"The Board of Education unanimously voted Tuesday to extend the contract of Superintendent Jerry D. Weast for an additional four years."

Short and to the point, and certainly more than what we needed during a snow day, but it was only the preamble:

"'For the last eight years, Dr. Weast has provided outstanding leadership for Montgomery County Public Schools. Our students are performing at levels never before seen in our community, and I know that we are poised for even greater success with Dr. Weast at the helm,' said Nancy Navarro, president of the Board of Education. 'The board knows that there is much more work to do to close the achievement gap and to truly give every single child a world class education. We are confident that Dr. Weast is the right person to lead these efforts to ensure that every child succeeds.'"

That's not what Navarro told supporters when she was campaigning last fall, but that doesn't matter any more. The Weast propaganda mill was just getting warmed up:

"During Dr. Weast's tenure, students at all levels have achieved record success." Of course, that tenure coincides with the federal No Child Left Behind law, but it's too much to expect Weast to share credit with President George W. Bush. The MCPS propaganda blast continued:

"For example:

" * The Class of 2006 set numerous historic highs in participation and performance in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The Class of 2006 broke the previous AP record set by the Class of 2005, with 56 percent of the class taking at least one AP exam and 45 percent scoring well enough to earn college credit.

" * Performance by the Class of 2006 was three times higher than the national average for 2006 graduates and twice as high as the average for graduating seniors in Maryland.

" * Newsweek magazine once again ranked all 23 eligible high schools in the top 3 percent in the nation, including 5 in the top 100.

" * 88 percent of kindergartners are reading simple text and there is no achievement gap between White students and their African American and Hispanic peers.

" * 46 percent of fifth graders are taking sixth grade math, compared to 2 percent six years ago.

"Dr. Weast is only the second Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent since 1953 who will have served longer than eight years. The terms of Dr. Weast's new contract remain the same as the previous contract. He will be paid a salary of $239,754. The contract also provides for a retirement plan, life and health insurance, a flexible spending account and a car."

The announcement failed to state that Weast will continue to receive $100,000 a year, tax free, in his retirement plan.

Following all that breathless news is a copyright notice - a phony one, since government communications are not protected under federal copyright law.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Weast's latest phony excuse

Our superintendent says he decided to spend $125,000 to prevent high schools from holding graduations in churches, in part because he wants to avoid a lawsuit from fringe groups.

School board member and Weast loyalist Sharon Cox says the money - enough to pay two or three MCPS teachers for a year - is a good deal because it's cheaper than defending against a lawsuit.

"I absolutely believe that there would have been a lawsuit -- not if, it would have been when -- and we would have spent a lot more money on litigation than this $125,000," Cox says in the Washington Post.

That's a phony argument, and they know it.

Weast and Cox have no problem with suing people they don't like (which is why this blog has always been anonymous), or defending their politically correct policies.

When he was superintendent in Guilford, North Carolina, Weast threatened to sue a local newspaper that criticized him.

Weast reportedly budgeted $1,000,000 in 2005 just for litigation against parents of handicapped children.

School board candidates last year criticized MCPS for free-spending on litigation, and called for a "culture change" in the school system.

More recently, MCPS disregarded potential litigation about its new "sexual variations" curriculum. Gay activists praised Sharon Cox earlier this month when she defended the program. "I believe that regardless of what we put forward, we will be sued," Cox said in the Washington Blade. "That's fine. Bring it on."

“That was a good sign,” a gay education advocate said about Cox's comment. “The board is willing to stand up to these litigious whiners.”

Weast isn't trying to save MCPS any money with this move. He's trying to assert his authority over the Board of Education, which had countermanded his decision to bar public high schools from using church facilities for graduation ceremonies. The board ought to show him who's boss.

Test of wills: Weast asserting authority over school board

Superintendent Jerry Weast is already asserting his self-anointed authority over the new Board of Education.

Weast overruled the Montgomery Blair High School PTA, which voted to have this year's graduation ceremony at a huge church that can accommodate all the families, saying that somebody might get offended.

Then, the Board of Education voted to overrule Weast so that the PTA could use the church, which wasn't charging the school for use of its facilities.

Just to show who's boss, Weast effectively overruled the school board, raiding the education piggy bank of $125,000 to hold graduation ceremonies at the expensive Comcast Center.

This tit-for-tat stuff is just starting. The board hasn't even appointed Weast to his next four-year term yet. Just think of how it will be once it approves him on February 13?
The board ought to keep its integrity as an elected body, save the school system four more years of grief, and vote against renewing his contract.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

School board readies to cede its power to Weast

The new Board of Education is preparing to cede its political independence and authority to the iron-fisted bureaucrat who has run the school system like a personal fiefdom.

‘‘So far, I have not heard from any board member who did not want to renew his contract.” board President Nancy Navarro tells the Gazette.

Navarro received a lot of campaign help from people who want the school board not to renew Weast's contract.

Opponents cite a string of abuses of power, intimidation of MCPS teachers and personnel, bullying of critics, and shady real estate deals that included an aborted plot to turn Seven Locks Elementary School into a high-density development, and the turnover of another school to crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Friday, January 19, 2007

As contract deadline looms, Weast panders to parents

Right after asking the school board to appoint him to another four-year, $1.4 million term, Superintendent Jerry Weast yielded yet again to angry parents and ditched his plan to close programs for special ed kids.

The Washington Post reports that parents of special ed children benefit more in existing learning centers than in what the Post calls "regular classrooms."

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

How many 'sexual variations' will MCPS teach?

The Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously approved a new sex-ed curriculum that promotes teaching of "sexual variations" in middle and high school. The question now is, how many "variations" will MCPS teach our kids?

In a story headlined, "Wide Berth Allowed on Teaching About Homosexuality," the Washington Post reports that the new MCPS curriculum "goes deeper into sexual and gender identity than most other Washington area schools have dared."

According to the Washington Blade, a homosexual newspaper, "Students in 10th grade receive a more robust curriculum, including an examination of topics like coming out. It also asks students to consider the challenges a transgender student might face."

Patricia O'Neill, one of the few staunch Weast allies on the board, is taking the most extreme positions. The board defeated her attempt to include sexual advocacy language that was moderate in tone, but open to extremist interpretations.

Weast loyalist Sharon Cox, one of the unsuccessful lead advocates of the discredited cucumber sex curriculum that the board was forced to withdraw under court order, sarcastically invited traditional family groups to sue the school system over new sexual variations program. The last Weast ally on the board, Steve Abrams, tried to water down the language, fearing lawsuits.

In 2005 the Board of Education identified its own curriculum as "inappropriate content" that "surpassed the threshold set in the Adult Content dictionary."

“I believe that regardless of what we put forward, we will be sued,” Cox said. “That’s fine. Bring it on.”

MCPS: Medically correct or politically correct?

“I believe, though, that this is a wonderfully, medically correct lesson,” school board member Pat O'Neill says about the new "sexual variations" school curriculum. “It is the 21st century.”

But Dr. Ruth Jacobs, an infectious disease specialist affiliated with Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, told the board that the new curriculum is not medically correct but politically correct. Jacobs "said the curriculum was written not to advance healthy living but rather political correctness," according to the Washington Blade.

Jacobs told the school board that by mandating a biased, positive approach toward sexual variations, MCPS is preventing teachers from telling students about the Surgeon General's warning that "anal intercourse is too dangerous to practice."

Friday, January 12, 2007

Martin Luther King Weekend: A perfect time for Weast to rebuke Abrams' racism

Martin Luther King Weekend is the perfect time for Superintendent Jerry Weast to show that his professed intolerance for bigotry is real and not selective.

This weekend marks two months since Board of Education member Steve Abrams, a longtime Weast attack dog, allegedly assaulted an African-American man physically and abused him with racial slurs.

Weast has been silent about the matter, even though Abrams spoke to him about it shortly after the November 13 incident.

If the superintendent can't publicly distance himself from Abrams and rebuke him on Martin Luther King's holiday for racist conduct, then he's proving that his sudden concern for ethnic minorities is just cynical pandering to get officials to renew his $1.436 million contract.

Leggett hacks Weast budget request by 95 percent

New Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is doing just what he promised he would do, and is carefully scrutinizing the MCPS annual budget for waste, fraud and abuse.

He also fired a warning shot at freespending Superintendent Jerry Weast, recommending that Weast's $28 million budget to reduce "portable" classrooms be hacked nearly 95 percent to $1.8 million.

Leggett seems suspicious of the turf-possessive superintendent.

Not dependent on developers for his campaign funding, Leggett says he will move "more cautiously" rather than "full speed ahead" on capital construction projects, the Washington Post reports.

Weast announced a plan to slash the number of unpopular and often unhealthy unportable classrooms last October, with "considerable fanfare," just before the elections.

Marilyn Praisner, the new County Council president, agrees with Leggett. She says in the Post that "starting cautiously is a good idea."

Leggett's budget signal comes just days after the school board rebuffed Weast's attempt to railroad through a controversial set of middle school reforms before the board members could understand what they were all about.

Tension expected between Leggett and Weast

The superintendent is unlikely to enjoy the slap-happy days of the Doug Duncan era, when the county executive never interfered with MCPS spending unless it meant providing more money, and when the County Council and school board were in slavishly supportive hands.

Duncan's successor Ike Leggett has sent a signal that times have changed.

"Leggett's reaction to Weast's portable classrooms plan, which was announced with considerable fanfare in October, could foreshadow tension between the seven-year superintendent and the new county executive," the Washington Post reports.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Churchill PTA to MCPS: Support our principal

Following press reports that MCPS would punish Churchill High School Principal Joan Benz for expressing politically incorrect thoughts, the Churchill PTA Executive Board unanimously stated that Benz must not be fired and called on Superintendent Weast and others to support her.

The unanimous January 10 resolution stated, "The Executive Board supports the continued tenure of Dr. Joan Benz as Principal. Under Dr. Benz’s leadership, Winston Churchill High School has risen to o­ne of the top performing high schools in the United States, ranking 76th in the nation o­n the 2006 Challenge Index, has the second highest SAT scores in competitive Montgomery County, and is o­ne of two high schools in the state of Maryland to be honored with the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award for student performance."

The resolution also said, "The Executive Board accepts Dr. Benz’s apology contained in her letter of January 4, 2007. The Executive Board urges Superintendent Jerry Weast, Montgomery County Public School officials, and the Montgomery County Board of Education to support Dr. Joan Benz, a 33-year employee of the school system, who has dedicated her life to serving our students and our community."

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Post editorial: Weast ignored 'longstanding' racial tensions

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast and his administration have been too busy to pay attention to years of complaints from minorities, and were caught by surprise by the January 3 police incident at Churchill High School.

Weast immediately smacked down Churchill Principal Joan Benz, saying through an aide that she would be "disciplined," after she lamented in a note to parents that black kids were assaulting other black kids at her school.

The usually fawningly pro-Weast editorial page of the Washington Post tapped the superintendent on the wrist on January 10, gently chiding him for being clueless.

While trying to stick to its PC editorial policies by calling the Benz note a "spectacularly stupid memo," the Post said the principal actually clarioned a "needed wake-up call" for MCPS leaders:

"That [Dr. Benz] felt, as she has said, that she made the racial reference to rebut horrid, racist remarks from some Churchill parents and students gives powerful credence to the complaints of African-Americans about being marginalized. So, too, does the fact that Superintendent Jerry D. Weast and his administration were caught unawares by the tensions at the school even though, as The Post's Daniel de Vise and Lori Aratani reported, the complaints of the small African American community have been longstanding.

"Mr. Weast needs to grapple with this issue; it is encouraging that he is putting together a working group to study the situation at Churchill. As painful as this episode has been, it was a needed wake-up call for a county that prides itself on being inclusive."

Weast tells BoE he wants $1.436 million contract

The superintendent has made it official: He wants his four-year, $1.436 million contract renewed. Apparently he isn't seeking a raise after all.

The Gazette reports that Superintendent Weast has formally written the Board of Education asking for a four-year renewal of his existing $359,000-a-year salary and tax-sheltered perks.

"While I won’t stay forever, I would like to stay another contract term because I think there’s more work to be done," the 59 year-old Weast tells the Gazette. "I’m at a pivotal point in my life [where] I really want to make a difference, and I believe that we can do it here."

That four more years will put an extra $400,000 cash in his tax-sheltered retirement fund. Weast also gets a free automobile with the deal.

School Board President Nancy Navarro, who has sparred with Weast in the past and who won re-election from voters who don't want Weast contract renewed, says the contract must be "treated as a personnel matter."

The board intends to vote on whether or not to extend Weast's contract on February 13.

Weast sees blue skies ahead for himself. ‘‘I haven’t got any communications from my employer that they want me to go. I haven’t [gotten] any signals that . . .weren’t anything but positive,” Weast tells the Gazette. ‘‘I didn’t see that as a negative. I saw that as a positive, and I was told that it was coming, and I encouraged it.”

Dr. Jerry suddenly discovers racial problems

Oh, what an election can do to change a public official!

Superintendent Jerry Weast didn't care much for dealing with things like racial tensions, school security and other minority concerns, and enjoyed the support of the all-white majority on the board of education and a tight relationship with County Executive Doug Duncan.

Now, with his political power base completely gutted since the November elections, Weast is suddenly pandering to new political leaders.

New County Executive Ike Leggett has cast a skeptical eye on Weast's secretive school budget machinations, and didn't take kindly to Weast's hostility toward a county Inspector General probe of the superintendent's ill-fated Kendale scandal.

Weast hatchet-man Michael Subin was the only local incumbent Democrat whom Montgomery County residents kicked out of office; Weast nemesis Valerie Ervin replaced Subin on the County Council Education Committee.

Ervin's only ally on the school board who had challenged Weast, Nancy Navarro, is the new school board president. And two new African-American board members are also on the board - no thanks to Weast, who had unofficially favored only white candidates last year.

So it's no accident that he would highlight racial issues in pandering to the board to renew his $359,000-a-year contract.

According to the Gazette, Weast sent the board an official letter last week, seeking his contract renewal: "The letter . . . outlines several successes during his seven-year tenure, which includes raising test scores in elementary schools and narrowing the achievement gap for some black and Hispanic students.

"If his contract is renewed, Weast intends to focus on increasing school safety and addressing racial tension in schools."

Weast is walking quite a tightrope: He's still sphinxlike about the racist behavior of his diehard school board ally Steve Abrams.