By Mansfield Frazier
If you recall, in our rush to institute county reform, thoughtful or cautionary comments were brashly brushed aside by the framers of the document with the standardized answer of “we can always go back and fix any mistakes we make later.” It seems that “later” has finally arrived.
But now that the Council’s president, C. Ellen Connally (a judge for 24 years, university law professor, instructor and both the Ohio and national judicial colleges, published in the Journal of Supreme Court History and Akron Law Review, special prosecutor for the City of Cleveland, and a Ph.D. candidate in History at Akron University) raises a couple of very valid points in regards to the still fairly new charter, they’re summarily dismissed as “silly” by someone not qualified to even carry her very heavy law book bag.
For Martin Zanotti to characterize Connally’s concerns as “silly” is the height of sexism. He might as well have called her a “silly woman.”
“Silly” is a term that should be reserved for use when describing haute couture, or one of the plethora of TV reality shows, such as Honey Boo-Boo or the Desperate Housewives of Memphis or Atlanta … or other such nonsense.
Judge Connally raised a couple of legitimate questions: One had to do with the wisdom of the county executive having sole authority to hire and fire the county’s chief law enforcement officer … the sheriff. She wisely pointed out that the president of the United States cannot summarily fire the FBI director (who is appointed for 10 years) except for just cause. She suggests that perhaps a similar rule should be in place to shield future sheriffs from politics. What if, at some future point down the road and different people are in office, a sheriff is brought evidence of wrongdoing by the county executive. If he moves to initiate an investigation against his boss, as things stand now he could be fired with no reason given … similar to what happened with Bob Reid. This is exactly the kind of problem we said we’d go back and fix.
The other issue has to do with the legality of interim directors, say at the Treasurer’s Office, to sign checks and documents. In speaking with other law professors and judges this issue was raised to Connally as something that perhaps needs to be clarified. But Zanotti (who, by the way, has no law degree that I’m aware of) has the temerity to categorize Connally’s legitimate concerns as “silly.”
The interesting point is that Connally is not the first person to raise the issue. Similar questions were asked by attorney Eugene Kramer, and a member of the committee that drafted the charter. More than a year ago, Kramer raised questions as to the propriety of an “interim” fiscal officer, but evidently since the question was raised by a male, Zanotti didn’t find his query “silly” at that juncture.
Kramer also agrees with the issue of the independence of the sheriff. Obviously he has the brains and legal background to recognize the ability of intelligent people to raise legitimate issues without resorting to mindless absurdities reminiscent of the treatment of women in the 19th century.
One has to wonder on what legal authority Zanotti is basing his opinion, or maybe we should be wondering how he got on the committee to draft the original charter in the first place, given his propensity to denigrate reasonable queries. Who is he citing? Is it some dude that routinely occupies the last barstool at some Parma Heights watering hole? Of course Zanotti needs to apologize to Connally for his intemperate remark, but of course he won’t. It’s simply not in him to do so. Such is the complexion of power politics in Cuyahoga County.
Starting at the Beginning, Revisited
The article I posted a few weeks ago regarding the new initiative by the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) to improve outcomes by skillfully and wisely using the $63 million that will be generated by the new school levy drew a number of interesting and erudite comments I feel compelled to address.
But first, allow me to restate my original question: Other school districts across the country have embarked on (and some have completed) four- or five-year improvement plans that have resulted in virtually no change in students’ test scores in reading and math. My question was (and is) how will the CMSD plan succeed where the others have failed?
Now, allow me to restate my premise: Absent starting at the beginning (by assisting undereducated parents of newborns in providing their offspring with a stimulating educational environment from day one), the child will not be ready for kindergarten, and virtually no amount of good planning on the part of school administrators will overcome the deficiencies already inculcated in that child.
To make my point I cited the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), run by the dynamic Geoffrey Canada, as a example of what can be done when a program starts from day one and remains engaged with the family — tutoring, coaching and mentoring — throughout a child’s educational career. Again, HCZ simply teaches parents to do things they were not taught to do during their own formative years.
But, alas, Canada is not without his critics… some of them quite vocal.
One article I was sent made reference to the fact Canada earns in excess of $400,000 a year … which I admit is high, even by New York cost of living standards. I’ve also heard allegations of “cherry picking” the best students for his Promise Academy charter schools, which I find somewhat difficult to believe since students are admitted via a lottery. But even if the HCZ has flaws that need to be fixed, the overall premise of the program remains sound, and here’s the proof: all he is doing is what any educated, middleclass parent(s) do for their own progeny — indeed, what you would do for yours — get them off on the right foot in life.
Part of the problem is that Canada operates charter schools, and has not shied away from the political controversy surrounding them. I have to admit I originally was not a big fan of charters since they certainly cherry pick the better students and can divert efforts to strengthen and improve public schools. And in many cases test scores are no better among students of charter schools than they are among public school students.
Nonetheless, if you were the parent of a school-aged child in Cleveland, where would you want to send your offspring … to the orderly, disciplined and safer educational environment of a charter school, or to a public school where administrators and staff struggle to simply maintain order and provide a safe learning environment? You know the answer to that one.
One commentator obviously felt I was picking on public school teachers and unions when I mentioned the almost three months students get off over the summer, and teachers that beat students out the door at the end of the day. While I stand by my criticisms (some teachers burn out, and some never were suited for the profession in the first place), I’ve never felt teachers were the main cause of the problem when it comes to failing schools. No matter what metric is used to measure success, the primary responsibility for a child’s education rests with the parent(s) — period. Teachers should not be saddled with the additional burden of becoming surrogate parents; it’s not fair to them.
Programs like HCZ teach and assist parents in doing their job (which, in turn, helps teachers immensely), and I’ll continue to say it, unless we make similar efforts here in Cleveland to help struggling parents, all of the four-year plans in the world (no matter how well designed and executed) are bound to fail.
Methinks much of the criticism of Canada and the HCZ has more to do with the politics of education in America, and are offered up as an excuse to do nothing — after all, his program is so expensive. But it’s still far less expensive than incarceration, which, in far too many cases is the outcome of our current failed efforts.
So even if we forget Canada and his organization; that still leaves the question of how do we find a way to begin at the beginning of a child’s life and assist undereducated parents in getting them off to a good, solid start? This is the question that isn’t going to go away.
Vintage Trouble Music review
Cross Otis Redding with Sam Cooke, throw in a little Teddy Pendergrass, Joe Crocker, Rod Stewart and even a touch of Elvis, plus add in some James Brown-ish dance moves, and what do you come up with? A dynamite singer who says that, actually, his biggest musical influence was Tina Turner: If you don’t already know of him or have heard his voice, meet 44-year-old Ty Taylor, the lead singer for the LA-based soul/rock quartet Vintage Trouble.
The band’s first release, The Bomb Shelter Sessions, is an amazingly eclectic mix of socially-conscience bluesy ballads and hard-driving rock and roll, as typified by the song “Blues Hand Me Down,” which electrified the audience on Late Night with David Letterman back in December.
With Nalle Colt on lead guitar, Rick Barrio Dill on bass guitar, Richard Danielson on percussion, and Ty Taylor out front, the band is making some of the best music the genre has produced in the last few decades … and that’s no exaggeration. No singer in recent memory comes anywhere close to the talent, range and kick-ass showmanship of Ty Taylor. His signature song, “Nobody Told Me,” is destined to become a classic. Additionally, the group’s anthem “Not Alright By Me” has inspired a strong following of loyal fans known as Troublemakers.
It takes years for great blues singers to season, develop and hone their skills, and that’s what this talented artist has been doing ever since he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in music and drama. After knocking around the music industry for the last two decades, earning his stripes, Ty Taylor’s breakout time has finally come, and the future is his, all his. Just watch.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.
One Response to “MANSFIELD: Silly? Really?”
Anastasia P
I’d I were a parent, I’d send my kids to a public magnet schools, as some friends of mine are doing.
As for Zanotti, I have never been able to figure out how he weaseled his way inside the tight, closed little circle that decreed the new county charter from their secret hidey-hole, and I have never been able to figure out what the Plain Dealer has anointed him the #1 spokesman for everything county government. When I was at Scene, I pushed my colleague Damien Guevara, may he rest in piece, to investigate this. He turned out a really good cover story but never could find out what qualified Mr. Zanotti to be the Great Voice of Wisdom on county government, other than the fact that he echoed what the Plain Dealer wanted to push. And I think that may have been the whole story: Zanotti is a convenient mouthpiece. But he has no more standing to weigh in on what county government is doing than any person on the street — maybe less.