Politics

Turtleboy Ticket Endorsement For Worcester School Committee

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The other day Turtleboy Sports release it’s official “Turtleboy Ticket” for the City Council. For at large candidates we enthusiastically endorsed Mike Gaffney, Konnie Lukes, and Rob Sargent. All of them need your vote in the primary on September 8, but particularly Rob Sargent, who is running for the first time. Gaffney and Lukes should cruise. We also endorse Cindy Nguyen (D1), Turtleboy (D2 and D3), Jackie Kostas (D4), and Gary Rosen (D5).

But today’s endorsement for School Committee is actually more important than the City Council endorsements. Because our schools are OUT OF CONTROL with Melinda Boone at the helm. Boone is a graduate of the Broad Institute, an ultra conservative group who wants to corporatize public schools by overanalzying data in order to get rid of experienced teachers and replace them with younger, cheaper teachers. They are trained to come into new cities and “clean house.”

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As a result of this obsession with data Boone has replaced experienced principals at several schools, particularly schools with the highest levels of poverty, and put in people who buy into the Broad Institute’s anti-teacher philosophy. Lisa Dyer and Carenza Jackson are two examples of this. In the past calendar year Vernon Hill Elementary lost 10 of it’s 19 teachers, while North High School lost 31 quality educators, driven out by these incompetent administrator’s focus on data.

Our children are suffering. This is a crisis. We are losing experienced, quality classroom teachers. Our children are trying to learn in environments that are both disruptive and unsafe, because of the school administration’s obsession with improving suspension and graduation rates. The situation at North High School in the past year was the biggest abortion in the history of public schools.

Boone is the number one problem plaguing the city of Worcester and she must go. But as citizens we have no say in the matter. The School Committee hires and fires superintendents. Recently the SC voted 5-2 to renew Boone’s contract. Joe Petty, Jack Foley, Tracy Novick, John Monfredo, and Hilda Ramirez not only rehired her, they also gave her a raise. Only Diana Biancheria and Brian O’Connell voted not to rehire her.

In order to replace Boone we must get rid of two of the the five who voted for her contract renewal, and replace them with candidates who favor getting rid of Boone. Luckily the bottom three of the bottom four vote getters (Monfredo, Ramirez, Novick) are all Boone supporters and are thus most vulnerable. All we need to do is replace two of those five. But getting rid of all five of them would be even better.

At Turtleboy Sports we are of the belief that the remainder of Boone’s contract should be bought out and she should be replaced by South High principal Maureen Binienda. South has essentially the same demographics as North, but with none of the headlines or headaches. And unlike Dyer, Binienda has dedicated her entire life to helping children. She has been a classroom teacher and an administrator at South since the beginning of time, but still carries herself with youthful exuberance. We need someone in charge of our schools who understands what it’s like to be on the ground level, not some Broad Institute grad from Virginia who is only concerned with data.

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On that note we sent the 10 candidates for School Committee (Foley, Novick, Monfredo, Ramirez, O’Connell, Biancheria, Nicola D’Andrea, Cotey Collins, Donna Colorio, and Molly McCullough) the following 18 questions. The correct answers we were looking for follow each in bold:

1. Do you approve of the job done by Melinda Boone? No. 

2.  Would you approve of a buyout of Melinda Boone’s remaining contract? Yes. 

3.  Do you agree with Chapter 222, which requires schools to cut down on disciplinary infractions for students?  No. 

4. Do you approve of the job done at North High School by Lisa Dyer? No. 

5. Do you agree with Lisa Dyer’s assessment that Janice Harvey was racially insensitive by using the term “color-blind” in her column in Worcester Magazine?  No. 

6. Do you believe that Lisa Dyer should have been disciplined for publicly humiliating Janice Harvey in her schoolwide email? Yes. 

7.  Do you believe the best interests of the students of Worcester were met by forcing Janice Harvey to leave North High School? No. 

8. Do you believe that Lisa Dyer’s contract should have been renewed? No. 

9. Do you believe that police should have been put into the high schools? Yes. 

10. Do you believe a police presence in the schools can strengthen the relationship between children and the police? Yes. 

11. Do you support a disciplinary policy at WPS that provides for the immediate suspension of students who display combative, assaultive, or violent behavior during school hours? Yes. 

12.  Are graduation rates, and other data something that you value as a school committee member? No. 

13. Do you believe that students of color find it more difficult to succeed with a faculty that does not represent the diversity of its students? No. 

14. Do you believe harsher discipline of students will contribute to the “school to prison pipeline?” Not my problem. 

15. Do you believe it is appropriate for Dr. Boone to have meetings in regards to school safety with people such Joyce McNickles and Keesha LaTulippe, who are not teachers and do not live in the city of Worcester? No.

16. Do you believe principals should discipline students who bully and make fun of their teachers on social media, as has happened recently at Forest Grove? Yes. 

17. Do you believe Superintendent Melinda Boone needs a “communications specialist” who is paid $50,000 per year? No. 

18.  Do you believe the grant money that pays for Jennifer Roy’s contract would be better spent by hiring a new teacher? Yes. 

We only heard back from three of the candidates (Colorio, Collins, D’Andrea), but the incumbent’s records speak for themselves. The only one we were actually interested in hearing from was Monfredo, because he is basically the Kate Toomey of the School Committee. A guy who says shit he thinks everyone wants to hear but basically stands for nothing. Here’s who we are endorsing:

 

Donna Colorio

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A lot of the problems we have now are a result of Colorio losing her seat to Ramirez. Donna got all 18 questions right on our questionnaire. She is also a huge opponent of common core, which basically slows down the pace of learning because it teaches kid long and convoluted ways to add instead of just telling them to carry the one. She is steadfast in her belief that Boone must go, she favors strong discipline and less hippie influence in schools, and she believes that police can be used as an asset in schools. That’s all you really need to know.

 

 

Nicola D’Andrea

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Nick is new on the political scene and really needs your support. His answer to the question about valuing graduation rates was perfect:

“A high graduation rate is a value that any School Committee member would covet.  However, we cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.  We can’t just push kids along to fudge the numbers, that benefits nobody.  That’s not educating.”

So was his answer about outside groups like the Circlejerk influencing school safety policy:

“A true safety plan needs to include input from the community which includes teachers, parents and students.  People with agendas should not be included.”

Likewise he was spot on about Jen Roy’s frivolous and wasteful position as Melinda Boone’s official cheerleader:

“The fact that this position was approved by the school committee is troubling.  Dr. Boone IS the spokesperson to the city in regards to the school department.”

This guy NEEDS your vote. He is new to politics, but he’s been a turtle rider for a long time now and was motivated to run because of all the crap he’s been reading about in the news. Imagine how much better our schools would be if he replaced Tracy Novick. Tell everyone you know to vote for this guy.

 

Brian O’Connell

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What’s not to like? The man responds to the public when they want something. He’s favored cops in the schools and buying out Boone’s contract. He has finished first in every election since the 90’s except for in 2011 when he lost to Foley. He should be the top vote getter by a landslide this time.

 

 

We’re just endorsing those three However, we would not be opposed to you voting for the following:

Dianna Biancheria

She’s not necessarily the most eloquent person in the world, but neither is Turtleboy. She also brought up the fact that there is still not a plan for police officers in the high schools, and was yelled at and shouted over by a clearly disgruntled lame duck mayor:

Anyone who pisses of Joe Petty and Boone is good shit as far as Turtleboy is concerned. Nevertheless, despite the fact that Petty disrespected her for being a woman, she goes to countless Petty campaign functions and we are not entirely convinced by her motives.

 

Cotey Collins

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We like what Cotey Collins stands for and would definitely like to see him get elected to office in the future. But for now he’s a young man who needs to hone his craft in college and emerge ready to do great things for the public. Most high school seniors out there were not writing safety plans for the school district this year. But Cotey isn’t like most high school seniors. Again, we really like what Cotey stands for, but we think he just needs more experience and polishing before he’s ready for the big time. But without a doubt he’d be a better school committee member than Tracy Novick, so we wouldn’t be opposed to a vote for him.

 

Molly McCullough

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We want to like Molly, we really do. She’s a young, Worcester girl, born and raised in the public schools. We need people like this running our schools, instead of strange old men who write columns about reading books in InCityTimes. However, we couldn’t endorse her fully because of two reasons. 1) We never heard back from her, and 2) We are concerned about her association with machine politics. She’s clearly running in some sort of organized campaign alongside city council candidate Matt Wally, a guy who said point blank that the DOJ meetings were a good thing for Worcester.

This combination is being pushed hard by Petty and Jim McGovern. There’s a lot of money and important people behind it. You can understand anyone’s skepticism in that regard, since this is the exact sort of thing we are trying to get away from. But Turtleboy just thinks deep down inside that Molly will do the right thing if elected. We wouldn’t be opposed to her replacing John Monfredo or Jack Foley, but we can’t outright endorse her until we know more about what she stands for.

 

Here’s the four you should never vote for under any circumstance:

Jack Foley

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How this guy does so well is beyond me. He’s 150% in bed with the hippies, and he’s employed by Clark. He’s pro-Boone and anti-cops in school. He kind of goes unnoticed because he’s not as ridiculous as the Tracy Novick’s of the world, but he’s still bad news either way.

 

John Monfredo

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First of all, the guy is just plain shady. There’s been a lot of accusations out there of inappropriate relationships he’s had with minors. But they are mere rumors and here at TBS we like to focus on facts. Here’s a fact – In 2009 his son John Jr., who was then teaching at Quabbin Regional High School – was banging a student in John Sr.’s house, and John Sr. claimed not to know about it. When Dianne Williamson broke this story in 2009 she uncovered an email in which John Jr. wrote this to the student:

“Sunday brunch with my parents and then we will go bowling or something with them.”

So obviously John Sr. was aware of this relationship, and he admitted that the two slept at his house together a lot. Logically then the whole thing was ignored since Williamson’s column was written, and Monfredo’s been elected three more times.

But besides the fact that he’s got one of the shadiest pasts possible, he’s also completely useless as a school committee member. He voted for Boone, and the only thing he ever proposes as items are resolutions to congratulate random elementary schools for reading books and having good attendance, and other stuff like this:

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Plus he writes for Josh Fenton at GoLocalWorcester, and probably has never been paid:

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Not that there’s anything wrong with books or attendance, but we need actual leadership, not some guy who hides behind catchphrases like “for the children.”

Hilda Ramirez

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Hilda is a member of the Latino Education Institute. They are yet another outside group that has influenced WPS and their discipline ability by forcing them to think about the race of the students they are suspending. This has had a DIRECT effect on schools like North High, that don’t suspend violent students because they know that Boone and Ramirez need charts with less students suspended of certain demographics. According to Ramirez we shouldn’t be suspending latino students as much because:

“I think that there’s a lot of cultural situations that happen with Latino students that are not well-understood.”

Obviously she needs to go. Which she’s probably cool with, because from what everyone around town is saying, she doesn’t really give a shit and doesn’t wanna be reelected anyway.

Tracy Novick

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Worst elected official in the history of Worcester by a lot. She got on the school committee only because she ran so many times before finally sneaking into sixth place. But everything she’s done since has been terrible. Where do we start? How bout the fact that she renewed Boone’s contract? Then there’s the fact that she sued the city so that panhandlers can block traffic. She also lives in a tax free house in West Tatnuck, doesn’t look at citizens during meetings because she’s too busy writing her blog that no one reads, and she’s 150% in bed with people like Deb Powers, Julius Jones, Kevin Ksen, Chris Robarge, and countless others who are ruining this town. Did I mention that she’s also a guest on Nathan Pickens radio show on 91.3 FM? Oh yea, and she is the reason your schools are gang and gun zones because she refuses to put cops in there and even called them “armed encampments.” Yup, she is the definition of suck city dodge. She must go now.

Here’s how the election results ended up in 2013:

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It’s just such a simple formula. In a city of 180,000 people, only 6,000 votes gets you elected. We want voter turnout to be at least double for this election. If people show up to vote the Turtleboy Ticket, we get our city back from Boone. Colorio’s 7th place finish was only 800 votes behind Monfredo’s 3rd place finish. You’re telling me she can’t pick up a couple thousand votes from the TBS Revolution alone? You’re telling me that 6,000 people are actually gonna vote for Novick or Ramirez?

Look, Foley might be here to stay. O’Connell will win and Biancheria will get second. Our prediction is that McCullough gets third and Colorio fourth. That leaves two spots for six candidates. Novick and Ramirez can’t possibly win, which means it’s basically a four person race between Collins, Foley, D’Andrea, and Monfredo. You know which two we’d pick.

Vote the Turtleboy Ticket at the City Council primary on September 8, and the November general election for both council and school committee.

Want to have your business advert seen by over 900,000 people per month? Email us at Turtleboysports@gmail.com for more information, and check out our website about types of advertising we offer.

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook

Turtleboy Sports bumper stickers

Click here to buy your I Am Turtleboy bumper stickers and decals.

Get your Turtleboy Sports Revolution tank tops before they're all gone. Click on the pic!!!

Get your Turtleboy Sports Revolution tank tops before they’re all gone. Click on the pic!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 Comment(s)
  • bird
    October 28, 2015 at 5:35 am

    At some point could you mention how Jason DeFalco, now Chief Academic Officer in New Bedford, did irreparable damage to Sullivan Middle School. He was another Boone appointee.

  • diddlin
    August 28, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    Whoa. OK, so Monfredo has a full on reputation of diddlin the minors? I questioned what I heard and the court case and such back when I was in elementary school because I was just so young. I remember being told by my parents not to let him touch me when he took over as my Schwartz softball coach and that my friend was accusing him of some things. BUT, hearing that the one case I heard about isn’t the only one really confirms shit with me. Luckily, the girl who got diddled turned out just fine. She’s married with her own cute kid now. Also, Monfredo’s wife has always looked like Tammy Faye-Bakker-Messner to me, especially back in the 90s when she had lighter hair. I googled her just now and holy crap, why that dark hair. WHY. And one more thing, pretty sure their daughter cut ties with the family like a decade ago. She was always pretty hard-ass but not a bad kid. Seems to have turned out OK keeping her distance from them. There’s no Facebook connection between any of them from what I can find.

  • MS
    August 28, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    I keep hearing about Novic’s tax free house. Can someone elaborate on this

    • Dan
      August 28, 2015 at 4:33 pm

      Her husband Colin, a graduate of the University of Chicago and the kind of guy who could be working a six figure job, essentially volunteers working for the Greater Worcester Land Trust. He works tirelessly to conserve our city’s natural resources, and as part of his compensation for working there lives on tax free land.

      • anon
        August 28, 2015 at 5:07 pm

        Thanks for the scoop, Tracy

  • Waaaaay back Wasdin
    August 28, 2015 at 3:03 pm

    Moe Bergman is what’s wrong with Worcester politics. Lazy lazy lazy. An empty I’ll fitting suit

    • Wow
      August 28, 2015 at 8:08 pm

      I’ve had situations handled by Mr. Bergman very quickly and very we’ll, and always heard positive things about him.

  • So Confused
    August 28, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    How about Moe Bergman for City Council? He’s got great ideas, helps people when asked and is a great candidate!

    • Brendan Rys
      Beej
      August 28, 2015 at 3:05 pm

      What blog are you reading? This is about the School Comittee, not the Council

      • So Confused
        August 28, 2015 at 8:04 pm

        Beej I think if you re- read the blog you’ll notice the first paragraph is about City Council candidates being endorsed by TB…

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