I need a question answered. Maybe I am being unreasonable. I asked that our survey indicate where the responder lives. Some think this aspect is unimportant. But whether you have DSL vs. high speed cable internet service is. Don’t get me wrong. “Do you have internet service?” is a good question. But is the type really going to help us any? I also am a little worried at the direction the survey is taking. Seems a few people think it should focus on the “Plan for Excellence”. I hate to be the realist once again but most residents of CF do not have a clue what the PFE is nor do they give a crap. BUT they do know how they want their money spent. And they DO have opinions on our schools and what is important. I want to know if athletics are a high or low priority here. I want to know what the people paying our bills want. Not what they think of committees they know nothing about and don’t understand.
I am disturbed by the happenings on Molly’s blog. Why any of this mattered to anyone anyway, I will never understand. And how was this a topic of discussion? I can’t even imagine how the subject came about. Let’s pretend.* We’re all sitting around sipping our cosmopolitans listening to each others rings clink the glasses.
MargaretKatherine: So Buffy did you hear Jane open enrolled her kid to our building?
Buffy: You’re kidding! Do you suppose she wanted $1500 per pupil more spent on her kid?
(Laughter)
MargaretKatherine: Maybe she wanted to benefit from the amplified sound system throughout the building, or the air conditioners, after all the schools in the city don’t have them.
Buffy: Well then her kid would just be costing the district more money then. After all we don’t get reduced electric rates like they do in the city.
Steph: Now ladies, everyone knows it had to be because of our low class sizes. Who wouldn’t want a student teacher ratio of 15:1? My child wouldn’t be so exceptionally gifted if the teacher had to spend her time with 25-30 kids!
(Gasps of horror and disbelief)
Buffy: Well if most if the city’s residents would send their kids to private schools like we do, they could have small class sizes too. It’s not our fault we don’t have an over crowded building.
MargaretKatherine: I heard if the district keeps pushing all open enrollment to our school we might have class sizes of 17:1 next year!
Buffy: Thank goodness we are the grand ring masters of the district wide reconfiguration! I hope our idea of making our school building the districts school for elementary aged geniuses goes over well. I mean who wouldn’t want that?
Everyone: Shhhhhh. Buffy!
MargaretKatherine: Buffy, you can’t talk about that! We haven’t figured out what to do with the rest of the district yet! There are a lot of kids in the city you know. We need to figure out a way to make ours a magnet school for talented kids and appease the city folk as well. It wont be easy. They actually think they deserve as much as we do!
Buffy: But they actually haul their own trash. To the curb!! I don’t understand how you can do this without getting some sort of debris on yourself. Besides my nail technician would die if she knew I was handling trash.
Steph: I hear they make their kids haul the cans back to the garage. Like my little Stanford is going to walk from the curb to the garage. It’s all he can do to ride his electric motor scooter to the lake and walk to the sand.
MargaretKatherine: I’m not sure why Jane didn’t enroll her kid here, I just thought I would bring it up. I really have no details or actual information just rumor and innuendo. I could ask Jane about it, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun as figuring it out for ourselves. After all we have all the answers to the districts problems.
Steph: Refills anyone? Oh and I made the stuffed pumpkin soufflé that was on Martha the other day.
Buffy: Steph you are so talented.
OK. I better stop there. I feel myself getting out of hand. If this much time was spent working on the problems that face us we might actually move forward. But petty BS keeps occupying otherwise smart and talented peoples minds. The work that the PFE sub committee is doing has already been done. By Mayor Robart’s KIDS committee and the CEO of our district as well. I have been assured that the reconfiguration is being handled fair and impartially. But I must question why it is headed by two people from SL. Is it wise to have people from a small outside wealthy community making the decisions for a much larger much poorer part of our district? Can you be objective when it would so adversely affect your child’s education? I sure hope so. But the gossip on my friends blog makes me wonder where peoples priorities are. Molly’s priorities are with the facts and inequities in our district. Where she enrolls her kids has nothing to do with what we need. So how does community get togethers sound once some preliminary plans have been proposed? Or will we once again be handed a plan that a few have been involved with and no feed back from the community affected?
I haven’t talked about tomorrow’s election because I am so burned out on politics I could puke. My recycle bin is stuffed full of smiling faces telling me why the other guy is a bad person. One thing I have noticed. The History Channel doesen't play poitical ads. Please get out and vote. If there is anyone who understands how one vote can make a difference it’s me! So please go and make a difference.
* The people and names depicted here are fictional characters and not meant to portray any actual characters you may know. The author apologizes for any similarities between these fictional characters and any people the reader may know to be real.
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9 comments:
Blacktigerrooter, I have addressed your questions and Leslie's from the previous post over on my blog.
I think Kellie would appreciate it if questions for me were posted on my blog.
Thank you,
Molly Benedum
Do you HONESTLY think that people in Cuyahoga Falls are overall any less self-absorbed and provincial than those of Silver Lake? Look at you. You're making yourself out to be some sort of tough-minded, condescending street-smart know-it-all-- on a board about a SUBURBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT. Does nobody else see the irony in this?
To: Our Kind People who Vote to solve problems,
Please vote your conscience today.
I try to vote for people who have the power of expertise. I am not interested in people who want the power to control or silence other people.
I try to vote for issues who will create a nurturing environment for creative problem solving at all levels of our community, state, and nation.
I am reminded that political leaders do not have the power to create wealth. They only have the power to transfer wealth from one group to another. Generally, this transfer of wealth creates only a short-term benefit for a group that may only know how to depend on continued benefits. The result is that opportunities to resolve long-term problems continue unabated.
I hope that the above criteria will cause you to think about how you think. So, please think and vote.
Lou Schott lschott@neo.rr.com
To: BlackTiger... and others who want to know how 'hypocritical and inconsistent' people solve problems,
Your statement/question is:
The words that come to mind are hypocritical, inconsistent, any others?
Please allow me to respond -- as follows:
When we become willing to look at the similarities & differences of our thoughts, feelings, and actions then we enable our growth. Growth (change) occurs at the personal, family, group, community, state, nation, and global levels.
Our ability to be inconsistent (change-able) means we are living. Find us a STABLE person, state, or nation and you will find a phsical system that is nearly dead.
We can say that addicts and co-addicts are highly consistent. They continue to repeat a pattern that has an immediate positive result for ONLY them. Meanwhile, if their surrounding environment is 'passively silent' then the addicts can continue without a 'reality leak'. In stark contrast, if their surrounding environment 'actively intervenes' then addicts must adjust to a 'new reality'. The addict can no longer lie to himself.
Under stress people revert to previous emotional levels of functioning. Thus, people who operate based on 'feelings only' are at higher risk of repeating patterns with a long-term negative result. And, people who operate based on 'thoughts only' are at higher risk of repeating patterns without the ability to do a mid-course correction.
In summary, we need problem solvers who can both feel and think. And, by using both we can change and grow in pursuit of our shared purpose.
This is real simple stuff -- once you get the hang of it.
Lou Schott
To: BlackTigerRooter and others interested in inconsistency vs. sabotage,
Thank you for your clarification.
I want to respond more completely on this concern. And, yet I do not want to respond in a manner that implies an attack on anyone.
So, please let me start by talking about my own inconsistencies. On Monday morning I have hopes of getting things done. By noon, I know that I am already tired and unable to get things done.
Our little people are inconsistent and when they have a tantrum then we can only hope that they will change their attitude.
The 'process of creative problem solving' massages thoughts and lets feelings marinate in a manner that will let people align (delete the inconsistencies) in themselves and align with their future action. If that is to happen in a quality manner then we must empower other people to give us useful feedback. This feedback can be negative or positive. If the feedback is to be useful then it identifies both the useless/useful actions or thoughts.
I see many instances on our blogs where people simply make a statement with a clear intent to sabotage. Sabotage slows down the 'problem solving process' without creating other options.
One way of handling sabotage is to clearly identify all of the possible ways of sabotaging the actions of the team. Thus, team members are able to see the sabotage happen and set limits on the sabotage -- ASAP.
People who use sabotage -- do it to create chaos and disorder. Thus, their 'positive immediate result' is to control the situation -- if for only a brief period of time. In many ways sabotage is a soft form of terrorism. Ultimately, the people who must get the job done via the task role and the facilitation role will find ways to set limits on the sabotage. If they don't then the job will never get done.
I trust this is helpful.
Lou
To: Kellie,
Thank you for talking with me on the phone. And, thank you for giving me permission to give you what I intend to be useful feedback via this public blog. Meaning, I hope to give you feedback designed to help (not hurt) you or anyone else in our community.
Some of my feedback might state negative useless actions/thoughts by you. And, some of my feedback will (I hope) state useful positive actions or thoughts that you might choose to take. Again, all of my feedback intends to be helpful and not harmful.
So, here it comes.
On your last blog I noticed the fictional scenario describing people in our community. And, I noticed that you feel both angered and frustrated around some alleged inequities in the services provided by our school to SLV. And, I noticed that you resent the power of the organization representing the interests of SLV. And, I notice that you feel discouraged about the ablity of the 'Plan for Excellence' providing a remedy for the 'balance of trade' from CFO to SLV.
My negative feedback is that I felt some discomfort around how you stated your case. I am concerned that you may be in-advertently 'shooting yourself in the foot'.
My positive feedback is -- as follows:
I do not want to tivialize the differences of SLV vs. CFO. If they are important to you then I can only assume that you speak for some and perhaps many of the people that voted for you.
So, as a representative for your constituency, I think that you might serve them better and at lower emotional cost to you -- if you were to simply accept that SLV is going to fight vigilantly to maintain a favorable 'balance of trade' in their favor. And, given their superior organizational skills I expect them to get what they want. And, I do not think that SLV is unusual in their quest to keep up with other communities like Hudson for 'good schools'. As a matter of fact, we should all be interested in emulating their successes. Or, at least I assume that many people operate based on this premise.
So, if CFO is to pay the bills for SLV with or without the consent of CFO then the question becomes -- what can CFO do to help itself? And, here is where your representation can be useful.
As a general statement, when two negotiating parties cannot agree on the CONTENT of their future contract then the default option is to negotiate for agreement on the PROCESS of developing their future contract. Thus, CFO can negotiate to measure the 'balance of trade'. This means CFO+SLV can measure all of the benefits each other receives by cooperating with each other. At the same time CFO+SLV can estimate their relative losses in areas where they currently do not cooperate with each other.
The result of focusing on the 'measurement process' is that everyone will end up with a better understanding of the in-equities. So, your negotiation tactics set the stage for a higher quality decision by SLV+CFO to correct the 'balance of trade' inequities -- at a later date. Thus, you are negotiating for better information to make better decisions and provide corrective action -- at a later date.
I hope this feedback is useful to you and the people who want to solve problems in our community.
How we, as big people, solve our problems will define the template for how our little people solve problems. And, here is the real kicker. You did not have to send your kids away to Harvard to teach them how to solve problems. You did it by setting an example.
Please let me know how I can help.
Lou
To: CFHSParent and all the other kind people who want to solve problems,
If I read your comments accurately then I am left to assume that you feel nothing can be done to solve the problem statements related to the 'balance of trade' between SLV+CFO.
And, if you feel nothing can be done and you also feel that you are being victimized in the process then we need to identify this as a problem statement.
I see you feeling that those who have power over you deny a problem exists in the 'balance of trade' issue. Thus, denial is part of the addiction process.
The next question that we might ask is -- how many community members share your feelings of being victimized? And, are these same feelings of 'being a victim' based on all of the facts? Or, are the feelings based on part of the facts?
Other questions must follow to define if our victims are in touch with the reality (as defined by the victims) or a different reality as defined by the 'collective genius'.
We cannot deny the feelings of our victims. When we deny the feelings of others (victims or otherwise) then we deny the existence of our fellow man and ultimately we deny our own feelings in the process. Our feelings act as our 'internal guidance system'. When we lose our ability to feel then we lose our ability to self-correct and adapt to our real surroundings.
If the reality is that SLV is victimizing members of CFO by demanding the 'balance of trade' favor only them then they will pay a heavy price in the loss of their ability to feel. This loss shows up in multiple ways. Meaning, SLV will have created a dependency that is ultimately not sustainable. The archtype for this relationship is the 'master-slave' relationship.
Thus, SLV+CFO must ask themselves some penetrating questions -- if they want to define the real problems.
Please tell me your thoughts and how you think that I can help.
Lou
Lou and Barry - I like the direction of this conversation. I would add a couple of my own questions.
Is the apparent long term feeling of victimization the reason behind the apathy?
What can we do to turn "victims" into "contributors" to a solution?
What can we do to reverse the apathy?
I am interested to see what the Family, Business and Community Involvement sub-committee comes up with on these issues. I also hope that the community takes the time to complete the survey. What happens to the district though if they choose to use their votes, say for/against a renewal levy, to express their feelings?
To: Molly,
I want to respond to your questions on your blog -- even if Barry thinks I am 'blogger bouncing'.
Please stay with us Barry.
Lou
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