Imagine being fired as the result of being an incompetent and nonproductive employee, then having the audacity to sue your employer despite your ineptitude. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?
But that’s exactly what happened, two weeks ago, when the State Board of Education voted 8-0 to remove the elected District 189 school board (in East St Louis) and replace them with a state-appointed board.
The removal of the elected school board came after the underperforming district failed to meet academic standards as required by the federal “No Child Left Behind” law over the past nine years.
ESL’s now ex-school board members were President Lonzo Greenwood, Carl Officer, Irma Golliday, Kinnis Williams, Victoria Clay, George Mitchum and Lavondia Neely.
In the past, the troubled school district also developed a notorious reputation as a “hiring hall” for cronies, relatives and friends of District 189 school Board members, with Carl Officer being the only member without relatives on the district payroll.
And, as of late, the state appointed superintendent, Arthur Culver, had been at odds with certain board members who disagreed with the termination of a contract with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, the hiring of a risk manager and over employment contracts for six administrators, some being relatives of board members.
As a result, the state determined that the elected board was too difficult to work with; thus the ouster of the entire board.
Then, in an unexpected move, five of the seven board members sued the state of Illinois, one day after they were removed. However, Carl Officer and Irma Golliday were not involved in that legal action.
It should be noted, too, that ESL School Board members received no compensation (at least not legally) for their positions.
Carl Officer referred to their ouster as “a classic case of hypocrisy” and stated, further, that “This nation was founded on no taxation without representation. I am a taxpayer and voter in this district. I was elected by the taxpayers and voters of this district. I’ve done nothing wrong and, if I have, should be charged and prosecuted.”
Officer’s comrades are reaping exactly what they have sown. Only 65 percent of ESL students graduate from high school and only 11 percent of those students are meeting or exceeding state standards. That is a travesty.
And these aren’t opinions. They are facts; facts which will doom an entire generation of ESL students to substandard futures, limited options and frustration over their inability to compete in a global market which has become increasingly more competitive.
Instead of suing the state, these board members should apologize to the parents and students of ESL School District for their selfishness, greed and for crippling the lives of countless students who didn’t deserve the miseducation, mistreatment and malfeasance that resulted from their backroom “hook-ups”, wheeling and dealing and “poli-tricks” under the guise of education.
I say “good riddance” and thank you to the state of Illinois for FINALLY making the type of sea change that has been long overdue in “East Boogie.”
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
If you like my column, then you will love my radio show on WGNU-920am every Sunday from 4-5 pm and Tuesday from 5-6pm. Please tune-in and call-in. I love to hear from my St. Louis American readers.
