2002

Please note that this post is simply articles that I've found in The Toledo Blade archives, and are not my own words, unless said otherwise. All articles have do do with the TPS BOE and it's members. Some things are good, some things are bad, and some are simply ugly. When readers forum letters were used, I removed the writers name.


2002
BUSINESS LEADER CALLS FOR SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY
January 30, 2002

A local businessman urged the board of education to adopt better accountability for employees and more student assessment measures to make Toledo Public Schools run more like a business.


"We in the business community can't hire people that can't read," Ford Cauffiel, president of Cauffiel Industries of Toledo, said at the boards meeting last night. Mr. Cauffiel, a longtime education supporter, was one of about 55 educators, business people, university officials, and Toledo Public Schools administrators who visited Houston schools last year. Many of his recommendations are a result of that visit, he said.


Board President Peter Silverman invited Mr. Cauffiel to become involved with district initiatives. "We share your passion," he said. "We're doing many of the things you've recommended."


Board member Larry Sykes, who went on the Houston trip, said the Texas district achieved successes in the last 10 years but hasn't fixed everything, including its low graduation rate and high teacher turnover. "Houston has its problems also," he said. "What I'd like to ask you and everyone else is to help us."


INDUSTRIALIST FEELS SHUNNED BY TPS BOARD - CRITIC FROM SPRINGFIELD TWP. SAYS HE'S TRYING TO GET SYSTEM INTO THE DISTRICT
April 22, 2002

Toledo industrialist Ford Cauffiel doesn't understand why students in Toledo Public Schools can't read at grade level, and he doesn't understand why the district isn't letting him do something about it.


"Here's my problem: I don't want to be critical of the board. I don't want to be critical of the teachers. I don't want to be critical of the superintendent," he said. "I'm trying to get school reforms and a system into the schools."


But Mr. Cauffiel, owner of Cauffiel Industries and other businesses, has been critical in a series of meetings, correspondence, and public forums this year.


He's made demands of the district in letters, during private lunches, and at board meetings that the board adopt a resolution he wrote.


He wants the district to focus on improving the reading scores of its fourth-grade students - the youngest students assessed on state proficiency tests - through measures he outlined in a proposed resolution.


On the March, 2001, test, 29 percent of Toledo Public Schools fourth graders met the state standards for passing the test. That was down from 34 percent in 2000 and 38 percent in 1999.


"This is not acceptable," said Mr. Cauffiel, who lives in Springfield Township.


Is he a frustrated citizen who is answering the district's call for the community's help in getting out of academic emergency and improving education? Or is he an independent, wealthy businessman trying to impose his own vision on an elected board and a public school district where he does not reside?


"You must have people who think differently. Ford might be an example of that," said Brenda Lanclos, director of the Center of Reform for Education at the University of Toledo. "When he comes to the table, his voice is different from anybody else's. That ruffles people."


But Ms. Lanclos, who helped organize a December trip by Mr. Cauffiel and about 50 other district, university, and business people to the Houston Independent School District to learn about reform there, admitted she's not working with him anymore to foster improvement in Toledo's schools.


"My style is not his style," she said, declining to elaborate.


Released first to the media this year, Mr. Cauffiel's resolution would change how student performance is measured, adopt a district reading curriculum, offer financial rewards for high-performing schools and sanctions for low-performing schools, and change what authority and responsibility principals have.


He wants the district to change to a 41/2-day school week for students so teachers could have an afternoon of communication between each other or with parents. He also wants the district to give him half the elementary-level students slated for state-mandated summer reading programs for his own instructional program, which the district would fund.


"We're only trying to do some reform for reading at the fourth-grade level," he said. "I want things to happen fast."


At issue, he said, is the economic and social well-being of the community. He's enlisted the support of several businessmen who say they recognize the importance of a quality public school system in Toledo to the future of northwest Ohio.


"If a kid can't read, he's set for failure," said Keith Brown, owner of Brown Realty in Toledo. "We get a lot of our workers that work in the suburbs from Toledo city schools. And if you have an uneducated population out there, it's proven that you have higher crime rates. All that affects the ability for our community to grow and prosper."


The district agrees with the importance of early reading success.


"There's clearly a frustration, and it's a frustration on my part. I want to move faster and jump higher as well," Superintendent Eugene Sanders said. "Everybody wants the same thing."


But board members and administrators, while saying they welcome and invite public input and community involvement, are wondering why Mr. Cauffiel needs to be so heavy-handed in his approach.


"What he says about the school board people is insulting. He questions us, our ability, questions our knowledge, and insults our intelligence. He threatens us with starting a school, and then demands us to fund it?," said board member Larry Sykes. "He's looking for a fight."


Mr. Cauffiel said he's looking for answers. After attending three board meetings and last month's curriculum committee, he said he doesn't think district officials have them.


"The board needs to be educated," he said.


Mr. Cauffiel has criticized board members for publicly asking questions of district administrators - about program costs and state law, for example - that he thinks they already should know.


"I have seen a considerable amount of wasted time while [Board President] Pete[r] Silverman and other board members ask questions," he said.


But Mr. Silverman said Mr. Cauffiel's observations are wrong. Some of the questions are asked publicly for the benefit of the audience and others in attendances who haven’t been involved in work on issues prior to the monthly meetings, he said.


"There are a number of reasons to ask questions. One is you need to put things on the record so everybody understands what it means," he said.


Mr. Cauffiel also has bristled at the board's limiting him to the five-minute requirement for speaking at board meetings and not responding to his questions in the forums.


"Anybody can meet with us privately or telephone us," Mr. Silverman said. "Board meetings are a chance for people to make a public statement to all the board members and all the media present."


Many of the reforms Mr. Cauffiel is asking for are already under way, Dr. Sanders said.


"It would be inappropriate to say we aren't doing anything," he said. "I think many of the things that Mr. Cauffiel has proposed are things we are either doing, have done, or will be doing as part of our effort for reform and change."


Board Vice President David Welch said he hopes the district and Mr. Cauffiel will find a way to work together, despite their many differences of opinion.


"He's frustrated, just the same way as I am and the whole school community and labor - everybody. We're all trying to change this," he said. "He's just trying to do what he thinks is right."


REVOKED TRANSFERS AGGRAVATE PARENTS - LACK OF PORTABLE CLASSROOM BLAMED -
BEVERLY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
July 17, 2002

They thought they were all set.


Months ago, the Toledo Public School District approved transfers for 11 kindergartners to attend Beverly Elementary School this fall instead of their neighborhood schools. Older siblings of some of the students already attended Beverly on transfers.But after some Beverly parents objected to the increasing number of transfer students attending the school and the planned installation of a portable classroom, the Board of Education earlier this month rejected an administration recommendation to put the modular classroom there

The one member who opposed the decision, Larry Sykes, said it was bad policy - and worse - to disallow transfers months after they were approved.


"It's racial and it's going to remain racial," he said. "I voted against it because I think it's wrong."


Mr. Glazer disagreed.


"To raise race as an issue because parents don't want their kids sitting in a portable outside is the most ridiculous statement I've heard yet," he said.

2001

Please note that this post is simply articles that I've found in The Toledo Blade archives, and are not my own words, unless said otherwise. All articles have do do with the TPS BOE and it's members. Some things are good, some things are bad, and some are simply ugly. When readers forum letters were used, I removed the writers name.


2001


PUBLIC WANTS TO RETAIN 5-MINUTE SCHOOL INPUT
May 18, 2001

Members of three community groups and others last night urged the Toledo board of educations policy committee to keep a five-minute time limit for public participation at meetings.

Board members Larry Sykes and Terry Glazer heard demands from citizens to change the district’s policy of allowing only people who sign up before noon on the days of meetings to address the boards. More than half of the 40 people who attended the forum in the Thurgood Marshall Building, 420 East Manhattan Blvd., spoke against a board proposal to change the five-minute public participation time limit to three minutes.

Mr. Sykes said the pace of recent board meetings has been slowed by numerous people talking during the public participation period, causing the meetings to last late into the night.

About 13 members of ACOR – Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now – attended the forum. Some of the association’s members went into the meeting holding signs, which Mr. Sykes said they could not display.

Jamie Kaufman, who is co-chairman of the groups, said he believes the district should provide more opportunities for parents to participate in the decision-making process that affects their children’s education.

“I am wondering if school board members are limited to talking three minutes on a particular issue,” he said. “We don’t want to be shut out.”

Representatives of the Lagrange Village Council and the watchdog group Parents for Public Schools also spoke against reducing the time allotted for public participation.

Jennifer Blakemore was among the people who urged the committee to eliminate advance registrations to speak before board members at the meeting. “You would get more community involvement if you could sign in at the door,” Ms. Blakemore said.

Patricia Hurtado, a member of ACORN, suggested forming a task force of parents, teachers and administrators to address public participation at the meetings and issues in the district.

After listening to the comments, Mr. Glazer said he was willing to recommend to the board that it retain the five-minute limit and adopt two other suggestions offered during the forum.

He said he would recommend that the board discontinue the policy that people must sign up before noon on the day of the meeting.

He was willing to recommend that the board consider Ms. Hurtado’s suggestion to implement a task force.

Mr. Sykes said he was agreeable to keeping the five-minute time limit for public participation. However, he said he was not ready to commit himself to MR. Glazer’s recommendation for eliminating advance sign-up and forming the task force.

“I have a problem at this particular time with people walking through the door and the board not knowing the subject matter,” he said.


TOLEDO SCHOOL BOARD NAMES FORMER MEMBER TO VACANCY
August 16, 2001
Changing its own selection procedure - again - the Toledo board of education yesterday chose a former board member and former Democratic Party official to fill a four-month vacancy.


And the action immediately drew criticism from some of those who applied for the appointment.Keith Wilkowski, 45, a lawyer, will replace Patricia Kennedy, the board's only woman and only Republican. She resigned last month, citing health reasons. The seat is open in the November election.


Mr. Wilkowski served two four-year terms on the board, beginning in 1983. A former Toledo law director, he was Lucas County Democratic Party chairman for nearly four years, ending in 1997. He works as the Rossford law director and is legal counsel for the struggling Rossford Arena Amphitheater Authority. His two daughters graduated from Start High School; and his two sons attend private schools.


Republican candidate Jeffrey Greeno, who applied for the vacancy, called Mr. Wilkowski's selection "typical party politics: appoint someone they want to the position rather than somebody who applied."


Darlene Fisher, president of the district-wide organization, Parents for Public Schools, applied for the vacancy.


She said she was disappointed in the board changing the selection procedure as it went along.


"I feel like they wasted people's time. They should have been up front about what the process was going to be and stuck to it," she said.


In July, the board set an Aug. 12 deadline to receive applications for the vacancy, and eight people applied by that date. Then, the board accepted applications from two more people before its meeting Tuesday.


Mr. Wilkowski, who did not apply, said he agreed to serve after board President Peter Silverman called him Tuesday to ask if he would be interested in being appointed. Earlier that day, the board met to hear statements from the most of the nine applicants for the vacancy.


One applicant withdrew at the meeting.


Anita Lopez, general counsel and director of enforcement at the Toledo Fair Housing Center, is a candidate for the open seat in the November election. In July, she said the board should consider appointing a candidate for the vacancy, but Tuesday said the board should choose someone who wasn't running and withdrew from consideration.


Mr. Silverman said in July the board would consider candidates in the November election for the vacancy.


Yesterday, he said the board decided not to.


"We agreed it should be someone who is not running so as not to give them an unfair advantage in November," he said.


Mr. Silverman said he wanted board consensus on who would serve the remainder of Ms. Kennedy's term, but the four board members could not agree on any of the applicants. "We all had our candidates. We all debated about who we wanted. We didn't come to any consensus," board member David Welch said.


Board member Larry Sykes said he would have preferred a minority woman to fill the vacancy. "There's five with testosterone on the board now," he said.


Six candidates are running for three open seats on the board this fall, including Mr. Silverman and Mr. Welch, who are up for re-election.


In addition to Mr. Greeno and Ms. Lopez, Becky Berry, who like Mr. Greeno is endorsed by the Lucas County Republican Party, and Steven Steel, a Green Party candidate, are seeking a seat.


Board members elected in November begin their terms in January, but Mr. Wilkowski said he would resign immediately after the election to allow for the winner's immediate appointment.


Mr. Wilkowski said he would not run for the position.


KEST IRKS MEMBERS OF SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE REITERATES INTERVENTION IDEA
August 24, 2001

Mayoral hopeful Ray Kest yesterday reiterated the possibility of the city's intervention in Toledo Public Schools as board of education members spoke angrily about his criticism of the district during a candidates' debate Wednesday.


"What Toledo Public Schools needs is a helping hand and not political grandstanding," Peter Silverman, the president of the Toledo board of education, said. "Ray Kest should first try to pitch in and help before condemning the whole system just to score political points."Mr. Silverman, a Democrat, is seeking re-election to the school board in November. A former city councilman and mayoral candidate, Mr. Silverman is supporting Mr. Kest's opponent, House Minority Leader Jack Ford in this year's mayoral race.


During the debate, Mr. Kest, an unendorsed Democrat in the Sept. 11 primary, called Toledo's school system a "failure," charging that many of its graduates are unprepared for college or the workforce.


"We need the school system to improve. The mayor has to take that leadership. If it means some legislative changes to do that, that's what has to happen," Mr. Kest said. "We have a new superintendent; we're going to give him a chance. We're going to give the school board a chance, but the school board has to improve."


Mr. Ford said takeovers of districts in Chicago and Detroit offer some ideas for improvement for public schools, but he was not excited about a municipal takeover of Toledo's 38,000-student district.


"Dr. [Eugene] Sanders is in there. We've got to give him some time to do what he can," said Mr. Ford, who is endorsed in the mayoral election by the Lucas County Democratic Party.


Mr. Kest, Lucas County treasurer and a former city councilman and county commissioner, said yesterday he thinks the district should be given three years to show improvement. That would be an appropriate time, he said, to evaluate the efforts of Dr. Sanders, hired last year, and to reap the benefits of the passage last fall of the district's three-year, 6.5-mill levy.


"I think the superintendent and the school board should be given a chance to produce," he said. "I'm fully supportive of what they're trying to do. But I'm saying if they don't succeed, then some drastic measures have to be considered."


He refused to elaborate on details of such a plan, but said as mayor he would seek input from business and education leaders.


"We would sit down and we would come to a consensus of what needs to be done to improve the Toledo Public Schools system," Mr. Kest said.


School board member Larry Sykes called Mr. Kest's comments "inappropriate" and said he doesn't consider the district to be a failure. "The majority of our kids pass the proficiency tests. When [Mr. Kest] talks about failure, I have no idea what he's talking about, nor does he, obviously," Mr. Sykes, a Democrat and former school board president, said. Mr. Sykes is supporting Mr. Ford.


Mr. Ford said he considers Mr. Sykes a "good friend," speaking with him at least weekly about school issues.


Francine Lawrence, president of the Toledo Federal of Teachers union, with about 3,300 members, said she thought Mr. Kest made his comments because he did not receive the union's endorsement, which went to Mr. Ford. "We don't take his comments too seriously," she said.


The quality of public schools is considered integral for cities to attract and keep residents and businesses. Candidates and school board members have said Toledo's governmental agencies, businesses, and schools should form a partnership to improve education.


Dr. Sanders said public education and debates about how to improve it are on voters' minds.


"It makes sense to add education as a main concern for all the elected officials," he said.


Board member David Welch agreed that debate about school improvement is a necessary and important discussion in Toledo.


"It's good for the school board. It's bringing the school issue out front," Mr. Welch said. "The more attention we get, the more people get concerned."


Mr. Welch, a city employee and a Democrat, is seeking re-election in November to the nonpartisan school board. City employees are not allowed to engage in partisan politics. The two other board members, Terry Glazer and Keith Wilkowski, did not return calls.



(not sure what happened here, I can't find my other articles from 2001, sorry)

2000

Please note that this post is simply articles that I've found in The Toledo Blade archives, and are not my own words, unless said otherwise. All articles have do do with the TPS BOE and it's members. Some things are good, some things are bad, and some are simply ugly. When readers forum letters were used, I removed the writers name.


2000


KING DAY RIFT DEVELOPS MAYOR'S TALK AT SCHOOL DRAWS THE IRE OF BOARD PRESIDENT
January 8, 2000

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner told pupils at Martin Luther King, Jr., Elementary School yesterday that he will honor 12 people, eight posthumously, this month with the first MLK Distinguished Service Awards.

But the mayor's discussion of the award program upset Larry Sykes, president of the Toledo board of education.
"He used the school and the children there to promote his own program," Mr. Sykes said. "How unscrupulous can you get?

"I'm livid about this, and as long as I'm school board president, he will not be welcomed at any Toledo public school," he said.





READERS FORUM
January 11, 2000

Students get the wrong lesson

I read with wonder the quote by Larry Sykes of the Toledo Board of Education in regard to the mayor the other day. I wondered if he really meant to give the students of Toledo Public Schools such a great lesson in how to get along with people they don’t like.

Instead of trying to solve the problem reasonable and rationally, he said, “The mayor is not welcome in Toledo Public Schools.”

This is one lesson the students will probably learn … and it is one we don’t want them to.
(Name omitted by me)


WHOSE LETTERHEAD IS IT?
(Pages of Opinion)
February 7, 2000

Members of the suburban Akron school board were out of line when they censured it’s vice president, John Keim, for writing a letter to a newspaper in which he favored tax-supported vouchers for private school tuition. They didn’t think through the situation or the ramifications of their act. First, each school board member is independently elected by the public, and has a right to a separate view that can be expressed in an official capacity in a vote or a debate leading up to it; and in an unofficial capacity in expressing an opinion, orally or in writing.

The notion that board stationery, as a vehicle for such expression, belongs to the board collectively and is beyond the reach of independently elected members it wrong.

The issue of free speech by board members is sure to crop up here in Toledo as it has in Mr. Keim’s Copley-Fairlawn district. That’s because Toledo school board president, Larry Sykes, insists – in an inappropriately high-handed fashion – that only he can speak for the board.

Mr. Sykes may have garnered more votes that anyone else on the board, but he was not elected board dictator, only a board member, first among other equals whom voters also picked to represent them.

We agree with Mr. Keim, and with Toledo school board member Peter Silverman, that no speech restrictions should be laid on individual and independently elected school board members.

A school board member, or a city council member for that matter, is entitled to use official stationery to express opinions because he or she, and not a secret cabal, has been independently elected to the post.

For sure such individual opinions should not suggest that they are those held by other board members, alone or in aggregate. But an official elected to a board, council, or commission does not lost his or her independence in thinking or in speech as a result of his election.

“Other board members don’t want him (Mr. Keim) expressing his views, which they oppose, on school stationery lest he confuse the public. But if he (Mr. Keim) failed to do just what he was doing, he would short change the people who elected him because of his views. If Mr. Keim give the impression of speaking for the board, but isn’t really, it may be because the rest of the board members go along to get along.

Vibrant debate has always been fostered by people speaking feely. Getting elected to a school board or city council should not compromise that right.


READERS FORUM
April 21, 2000

“School board can’t be trusted”

After following the platitudes of Larry Sykes, it is easy to see that he and the rest of the Toledo school board have yet to take any responsibility for the financial situation of Toledo Public Schools. Mr. Sykes said on local talk radio that “this is what the voters gave to us.” As a voter who voted against the levy in March I have to say to Mr. Sykes, “Look what you and the board gave to us!”

It was the board’s lack of stewardship during the last few years that brought us to where we are now. Even the state auditor warned of a shortfall in 1998, and it fell upon deaf ears.

Mr. Sykes and the rest of the board need to take personal responsibility and admit they are the problem before any changes can take place. What makes things even more appalling is the conspiracy of silence that took place during the school board campaigns of 1999. Mr. Sykes and Mr. Glazer knew what was coming after Jan. 1, 2000. I think it’s time for the board to do the only honorable thing and step down. They cannot be trusted one day more. (Name omitted by me)


TPS PICKS PROFESSOR FOR TOP JOB BGSU’S SANDERS HIRED AFTER DOUGLAS REJECTED
July 25, 2000

Dr. Eugene Sanders, a Bowling Green State University education professor, was hired last night on a 4-1 vote to be the next superintendent of Toledo Public Shools.

Before the vote, Dr. Sanders said, “… I think the way we make change for children is by working together and not in an antagonistic manner.”

Board President Larry Sykes said he was disturbed by the lack of unanimous support for Dr. Sanders. But he predicted the full board will support Dr. Sanders’ work.

“He’ll have the support. I think anyone that has been elected for the school [board] will support the candidate that has been elected. These things happen,” Mr. Sykes said.


POP CONTRACTS PAY, BUT WHAT ABOUT HEATH? CRITICS SAY SCHOOLS EXCLUSIVE SUPPLIER DEALS IGNOR NUTRITION
December 24, 2000

Anna Brown’s job has gotten a lot tougher.

As director of child nutrition and food service for the Toledo Public Schools, she tried to make sure school children eat and drink healthy when they’re in school. But she says it’s a tough sell convincing children to choose milk or water over soft drinks. She said children are used ot drinking lots of soft drinks at home and outside of school. But she said she’s dismayed her own school district has made it so easy for children to drink pop in school.

In 1999 Toledo Public School officials signed an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola that guarantees the district $450,000 a year for 10 years. While soft drinks were available in the school district before the contract, Ms. Brown maintains the number of machines has increased since the contract was signed. More machines mean more children drinking pop, she reasons, and fewer children choosing milk.

Toledo school officials said students are only allowed to drink soft drinks between classes, during lunch, and before and after closes at school

Larry Sykes, president of the Toledo board of education, said he’s aware of concerns that Ms. Brown and others have about children’s consumption of soft drinks in school.

That’s one reason he said he plans to meet with a local group formed earlier this year by Toledo area dentists. It hopes to raise awareness about soft drink consumption in schools.

“I have not seen any hard documentation that says this is bad,” Mr. Sykes said. He added that he hasn’t received any parent complaints.

1999

Please note that this post is simply articles that I've found in The Toledo Blade archives, and are not my own words, unless said otherwise. All articles have do do with the TPS BOE and it's members. Some things are good, some things are bad, and some are simply ugly. When readers forum letters were used, I removed the writers name.

1999


SCHOOL BOARD PASSES ON ELIGIBILITY MEASURE
February 24, 1999

A plan to raise the academic bar for students to play sports in Toledo Public Schools was scrapped last night because it wasn’t tough enough.

In this article they talk about the discussion of raising the then current GPA necessary for playing sports at TPS from 0.08 to 1.2. Most members felt even raising it to 1.2 wasn’t enough, but felt that the raise in GPA necessary should be phased in slowly.

Board member Larry Sykes didn’t say what GPA level he would support but argues against a standard that would “punish” students. He served with Mr. Silverman on the committee that produced the 1.2 GPS plan.

“Don’t punish the children for something that’s not their fault,” Mr. Sykes said. “A lot of these households don’t have the parental support these children need.”


TEACHERS UNION ENDORSES GOP SCHOOL BOARD HOPEFUL
October 20, 1999

The 3,300 member TFT has decided to throw its political support in the Nov. 2 Toledo board of education race to Jeffrey Greeno, a South Toledo Republican.

The endorsement, to be formally announced toda, drew fire from the other two major candidates in the race for two seats on the Toledo school board, incumbents Terry Glazer and Larry Sykes, both endorsed Democrats. The TFT’s endorsement means Mr. Greeno will get volunteer help and likely campaign funding during the few days remaining before the election, TFT President Francine Lawrence said. “He stands for high standards in student learning and conduct. He very much emphasizes school safety and security issues, which is very important to our members,” she said.

Mr. Greeno has criticized the board for failing to find money to pay for ppolice for all 16 senior and junior high schools, a program previously funded entirely by the city. Eleven police officers now cover 16 schools, and the school board pays $200,000 of the $539,000 cost.

A defeat for Mr. Sykes, who is black, would make the board all white in a district that is 45 percent black. Mr. Sykes, 50, ran unsuccessfully in November, 1997, and was appointed a month later to fill a vacant seat. He said the union endorsement of a political unknown means the race will become “hardball”.

“I don’t know if he’s ever served on a board in his life,” Mr. Sykes said. “It says something about the mentality of the union people. Here’s a woman [Mrs. Lawrence] who has criticized this sitting board because she didn’t think they were competent to pick a superintendent.”



SCHOOL ENDORSEMENT DRAWS FIRE, SYKES AND GLAZER DECRY GREENO’S BACKGROUND, REMARK ABOUT VOTING
October 21, 1999

Two incumbent Democratic Toledo school board members yesterday criticized their Republican opponent’s ties to the Toledo teachers’ union, his lack of experience, and his advocacy of “bullet voting.”

Yesterday’s dueling news conferences exposed the still raw nerve endings from last year’s bitter contract negotiations that nearly ended in a teacher strike.

Mr. Glazer, 49, the board president, and Mr. Sykes, 50, the only African-American on the board, touted their experience in community organizations compared to what they called Mr. Greeno’s lack of public involvement.

And the committed themselves to continuing an “agenda of change.”

“We are about change. The union is about the status quo,” Mr. Glazer said. “The union leadership has a stake in the status quo.”

They criticized Mr. Greeno’s advice to his fellow Republicans to cast only one ballot – for him – so as to increase his odds of winning. That strategy is known as “bullet voting”.

Mr. Greeno acknowledged that he recommended bullet voting to fellow Republicans at a party meeting, but said he has not advocated it to the general public or to the TFT membership.

“How in the hell can you as a candidate with a conscience mention bullets with education?” Mr. Sykes asked. “Do you know how ludicrous that is?”

Union President Francine Lawrence said Mr. Greeno is someone who would support collaboration rather than confrontation. She said the TFT rejects bullet-voting, and is not advising its members to cast only one vote.

She rejected criticisms of Mr. Greeno’s inexperience, saying “everyone starts somewhere.” And she said the union has asked for no commitments in collective bargaining from MR. Greeno.

She pointed out that Mr. Glazer asked for the TFT’s endorsement, but did not get it. She said Mr. Sykes did not ask for an endorsement.

Of the two Democratic incumbents, Mr. Sykes is seen as the most vulnerable because he failed in an election bid two years ago and was appointed to the board while Mr. Glazer won election to the board four years ago.

Mr. Sykes acknowledged he could be in trouble, especially if voter turnout is low on Nov. 2. Mr. Sykes’s loss would leave the board with no nonwhite members.



GLAZER, SYKES FOR SCHOOL BOARD
October 28, 1999

After years of mediocrity, the Toledo public school district is finally showing signs of improvement, however gradual. Finally, TPS has a board and an administration willing to stand up for quality and positive change, even if that means taking on the teachers’ union.

That’s why, at this juncture, consistency is critical for the district’s immediate and distant future. This year, two seats are open for election, and both incumbents, school board President Terry Glazer and Larry Sykes, deserve to be re-elected.

Both Mr. Glazer and Mr. Sykes proved last year during negotiations between the district and the TFT that they were willing to hang tough with Superintendent Merrill Grant. The district came within a whisker of a strike, but it was for a noble cause – an attempt to regain basic management rights forfeited over the years to the union.

It was an effort that was only partially successful, and both men recognize that the fight is not over.

Both the incumbents are Democrats, and both have been outspoken about recapturing management rights sacrificed by weak school boards of the past. When push nearly came to shove in the last negotiations, they showed courage, patience and stamina. Those are qualities that Mr. Glazer, executive director of the Lagrange Development Corp., and Mr. Sykes, vice president and community affairs officer for the Fifth Third Bank of Northwestern Ohio, will no doubt be called upon to display again.



READERS FORUM
November 23, 1999

“Bullying won’t work in schools”

Here are some facts to temper your opinion that Terry Glazer and Larry Sykes should confront the teachers union to regain management rights.

When teachers took a stand in our last negotiations for higher academic and discipline standards and school safety, Mr. Glazer and Mr. Sykes voted against a settlement. Mr. Glazer, with Mr. Sykes’ support, stood against seniority in transfers and placements and called that “reform”.

Serious students of school reform do not equate management rights with the reformation of American educations. In fact, most often they cite the need to reform management.

Mr. Glazer has tried to revisit these issues since the contract settlement. Only once has he described his view of reform..He says he wants all teachers to be evaluated by principals, a process reformers are trying to abandon.

Reform her in Toledo is not about improving educations. It’s about retreating to the days when teachers were treated as second-class citizens. That history is why American teachers unionized in the first place.

Threats, bulling, and disrespectful treatment from school board members haven’t won the hearts of the nations teachers, and I doubt they will here either.

Francine Lawrence
President TFT


Losing candidate has reason for pride

Ever wondered why the rooster crows in the morning? Is it because he is happy that the sun is coming up? Or is it because he foolishly believes his raucous song actually raises the golden orb?

The rooster was brought to mind in the last few weeks with the boastful rhetoric of the two victorious contestants in the Toledo board of education race. Less than gracious winners, they have bragged and clucked about how their victory reflects the city’s agreement with their authoritarian approach to aducation.

With just under 18,000 votes each, the two were the obvious winners. But it raises questions: How many in the city of Toledo were eligible to vote? How many of those who voted on Nov. 2 did not cast a vote for the school board ract? (Certainly a much larger number than the received ones.)

It would be foolish for these two members of the Toledo board of education to believe the sun rises over their mandate. Nor is their victory much to crow about. (name omitted by me)



TEACHER CHIEF CALLS GLAZER HOSTILE PARTNER
November 24, 1999

Mr. Glazer challenged Mrs. Lawrence on seven questions relating to the union contract, including what he said was the unions refusal to allow teacher to be appointed to schools based on merit and interest in the school’s philosophy rather than seniority.

After his remarks, Mr. Glazer refused to recognize Mrs. Lawrence. And fellow Democratic board member Larry Sykes, who also was elected Nov. 2 without the endorsement of the union, tried to make a motion to adjourn the meeting as Mrs. Lawrence continued demanding to be hard.

She spoke only after board member David Welch accused Mr. Glazer of being the one to personalize the labor-management dispute.



READERS FORUM
December 10, 1999

Board member displays arrogance

As a parent of two TPS students, as well as being a TPS teacher, I am appalled at the arrogance, ignorance and “all talk, no actions” attitude of Terry Glazer.

At the last school board meeting, Mr. Glazer said that our union leadership hasn’t changed in the last 30 years and during that time half the students have left our district. So is the public supposed to believe that the students left because of Dal and Francine Lawrence? Or could the actual reason be businesses leaving Toledo and taking families with them, either to the suburbs or to other metropolitan areas?

Mr. Glazer and Larry Sykes have talked about reform for the betterment of the students in TPS, but neither has come up with any ideas on how to do this. All they do is drum up bad publicity and instigate controversy about teachers to get the public on their side.

Mr. Glazer claims that Mrs. Lawrence is more worried about the power of the union than the welfare of the students, but it seems he’s more worried about the unions power and how to break it than anything else, including the levy. Mwy Doesn’t Mr. Glazer step into the classroom and work as hard as my students and I, while facing the challenges of growing up in the 1990’s and beyond? (name omitted by me)

1998

Please note that this post is simply articles that I've found in The Toledo Blade archives, and are not my own words, unless said otherwise. All articles have do do with the TPS BOE and it's members. Some things are good, some things are bad, and some are simply ugly. When readers forum letters were used, I removed the writers name.
1998
YOUTH’S PLAYFUL NIGHT ENDED BY FATAL SHOTS
June 16, 1998

This article is about the tragic ending to a young mans life. Maurice Purifie had just finished the 7th grade. The following week, after a night of playing basketball and spending time with friends, he was shot to death in front of the school, 4 times in the head and once in the chest.

My reasoning for commenting on this article is to commend Mr. Sykes for proposing, and the school board unanimously passing, a reward of $2,000 for information leading ot the arrest of a suspect in Maurice’s slaying. It says a lot, not only about Mr. Sykes, but the entire board.


TEACHERS IN BIG CITY MAY HAVE LOANS (REIMBURSED)
August 7, 1998

Teachers who agree to work for Toledo Public Schools, or any other big-city districts in Ohio for at least six years could get their student loans reimbursed under a bill that state Rep. Jack Ford (D., Toledo) plans to introduce.

Later in the article it goes on to say:
Mr. Ford said he worked on the bill at the request of Larry Sykes, Toledo school board member. The idea fits in with an urban-education program that the University of Toledo and Toledo Public Schools have developed, he (Mr. Ford) said.


TOLEDO GIVES A COLD SHOULDER TO MALIGNED VOUCHER PROGRAM
November 25, 1998

The Toledo board of education last night took a stand against the expansion of tuition vouchers for private and parochial school students.

Board member Larry Sykes said the board’s first responsibility is to the city school system.

“If you want to send your children to private school, I think you should pay for it,” he said.





MANY TOLEDO NOTABLES SAY “NO” TO IMPEACHMENT
December 17, 1998

With President Clinton facing impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, a variety of prominent citizens in the Toledo area were asked these questions yesterday: Should the President be impeached and removed from office? Why or why not?

Mr. Sykes said No, with this comment “It’s unfortunate what this man has gotten himself into, but he doesn’t deserve that form of retribution from his political adversaries. I think they’ve lost focus. When we elected him we knew the baggage that he brought with him”.

1997

Please note that this post is simply articles that I've found in The Toledo Blade archives, and are not my own words. All articles have do do with the TPS BOE and it's members. Some things are good, some things are bad, and some are simply ugly. When readers forum letters were used, I removed the writers name.
1997
Toledo Blade
Poor Children Remain at risk as lead removal plan falters
August 4, 1997

Article talks about how in 1995 Toledo (with a role being played by future Toledo Mayor, then state Rep. Jack Ford) was awarded a $1.5 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove hazardous lead in 220 homes and that it has hardly been used (only in 3 homes at the date of the article, and those only in the previous 2 months). The city cited 2 reasons: a lack of licensed contractors to do the work and a lack of interest among the homeowners and landlords who qualify for the lead removal program.
Larry Sykes, member of the board of the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority and vice president at Fifth Third Bank had this to say “The fact that the federal gran money sat unused for so long is ridiculous, mismanagement and ludicrous”. “Why would you start a program if you’re not going to carry it out?” “You’re basically affecting peoples lives. All it would take is for one child to die, and that would give the ciry a real bad name”.

Toledo Blade
Candidate to receive party ok
August 20, 1997

Lucas County Democrats plan to endorse Larry Sykes, former chairman of the Lucas Metropolitan Haousing Authority, for a seat on the Toledo school board.

Party Chairman Keith Wilkowski, who was on the screening committee, said Mr. Sykes was selected because of his devotion to the Toledo community and education over the years.

“Mr. Sykes has a lot of community service in his background, including being instrumental in the turnaround from LMHA,” he said.

News of the impending endorsement surprised Me. Sykes, a vice president with Fifth Third Bank who said he decided to take out nominating petitions last week. This will be Mr. Sykes, second try at the office; he ran in 1981 as an independent.

Mr. Sykes said the biggest issues facting Toledo Public Schools include funding and facilitating corporate incolcement. Local companies need to come into Toledo schools and tell children about the real world, he said.

Mr. Sykes, the president of the Coalition of Quality of Education and a member of Toledo Area Metroparks board, also said he is against out-of-school suspensions. They give problem children exactly what they want by taking them out of school.

“By putting them in a program that’s in-school – having them clean graffiti off the walls, pick up papers, embarrassing them in front of their peers – they will get in line,” he said.


SYKES SEEKS SOME POWER IN ASSIGNMENT OF TEACHERS
Larry Sykes, candidate for the Toledo board of education, said yesterday that he supports Superintendent Merrill Grant’s drive to reclaim lost management rights from the teachers’ union.

“Our schools are broken. Dr. Grant has begun the process of fixing them,” Mr. Sykes said. “It is time for Toledo school board members to be pro-parent and pro-child as well as pro-teacher.”

Mr. Sykes defended his choice to send his two children, who are now grown, through private schools instead of the Toledo Public Schools. One child attended Robinson Junior High Schools. He said he has an interst as a taxpayer and Toledo resident in the operations of the school system.


CANDIDATES WOO SENIOR VOTES
October 7, 1997

Larry Sykes, candidate for a seat on the Toledo board of education, emphasized his care for local children by reciting a slightly reworked version of the lyrics to Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All”: “I believer the people are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way”.

FOR THE TOLEDO SCHOOL BOARD
October 29, 1997
Mr. Sykes has proven board savvy. He was chairman of the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority, and he is a member of the Toledo Area Metroparks board. A vice president at Fifth Third Bank, he is also president of the Coalition for Quality Education. This is the second time Mr. Sykes, a Semocrat, has tried for a board seat; he ran as an independent in 1981. He deserves to be elected now.

Mr. Sykes (and the others who were endorsed by the blade in said article) are unequivocal in their support for the superintendent’s efforts. They should be elected so that they can help the process of getting the Toledo Public Schools back on track.


SCHOOL HOPFULS SPEAK OUT TEACHER TALKS, EVALUATIONS FOCUS OF TOLEDO FORUM
October 30, 1997

This article is a typical campaign article with everyone saying what they’re going to do if you elect them. The only thing that hit me in the face in this article was one sentence
“Patrician Kennedy, an endorsed Republican seeking her thrird term, chided other candidates that the current board’s policies have resulted in a projected $8 million dollar surplus”


WHAT THE CANDIDATES HAVE TO SAY
November 2, 1997

Since the other candidates that answered these questions are no longer on the board, Mr. Sykes answers are the only ones I am going to give.

1). How would you improve student performance and proficiency test scores?
All schools are developing school improvement plans to improve test scores. The district is conducting a curriculum audit to identify areas which do not adequately address learning outcomes on proficiency tests.

2). Minority parents were offended by the alternative school idea. Is such a school necessary and if so, how would you allay parental concerns?
Properly implemented, a good alternative program cen be just what is needed to allay parents’ concerns that their child’s inappropriate behaviors may prevent him or her from doing well in school.

3). What do you think of Superintendent Merrill Grant’s attempt to retake management rights from the union?
I support him 115 percent. The present contract with the TPS (shouldn’t that be TFT?) is the worst contract in the nation. It’s time for a change.

4). What would you do to decrease the high suspension rate?
The district is asking for a change in contract language that will allow homework to be given while a student is suspended.


WHITES LEAD SCHOOL BOARD
November 6, 1997

Toledo schools, at that time, had an enrollment of 48% white, 44% black, and 8% Hispanic and other minorities. In that story, it went on to state that Mr. Sykes was considered the most likely successor to Ms. Brown, who was stepping down after just winning a seat on the city council.


WILMA BROWN RESIGNS FROM TOLEDO SCHOOL BOARD
November 19, 1997

After announcing that she would resign from the school board effective November 25, Ms. Brown went on to say this later in the article:

“My resignation at this time will allow the board to select a qualifies individual … who will not only represent the African-American community but the community as a whole,” she said. Ms. Brown is the only black on the five-member board.

Ms. Brown said she favors Larry Sykes, who is African-American, to succeed her. Mr. Sykes, a vice president of Fifth Third Bank and a member of the Lucan Metropolitan Housing Authority and the Toledo Area Metroparks boards, was narrowly defeated in the Nov. 4 elections.


LOCAL HOUSING AUTHORITY GETS PERFECT SCORE FROM U.S. AGENCY
December 4, 1997

The Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority, mired in difficulties six years ago, scored a perfect 100 percent in a recent assessment of its operations by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 1991, with about 1/3 of the housing authority’s more than 3,000 housing units vacant, HUD officials declared it a troubled housing authority.

Poor maintenance made some units unfit for living. High crime in the projects made it difficult to keep or attract tenants.

“Nobody wanted to be president of the board,” Larry Sykes, one of the authority’s five board members. “The reality is we were an embarrassment as a housing authority.”

Appointed to the board in 1990, he became president the following year as several new board members joined him and the executive director resigned.

“We had a meeting with staff,” Mr. Sykes said. “We said we weren’t here to get rid of people. We were here to build. We said we may make some decision you may not like, but we are here for the agency,” he said.


SCHOOL BOARD TO VOTE FRIDAY ON REPORT ABOUT TEACHER PACT
December 17, 1997
Last night, the board appointed Democrat Larry Sykes to serve the two years remaining in the term of Wilma Brown, who resigned from the board Nov. 25 to take a seat on Toledo Council.

The appointment of Larry Sykes returns Africa-American representation to the board in a district with a 44 percent black enrollment. Mr. Sykes was the top vote-getter among the losing candidates in the Nov 4 election.

A vice president of Fifth Thrird Bank, Mr. Sykes last night said his commitment will be to the entire community. But he said the board needs diverse viewpoints.

In this community, you have to have a broad base of representations,” Mr. Sykes said.

I don't even know where to start

I've sifted through more than 400 emails and printed out almost 500 pages over the past week or so. I had so many different takes on how I was going to do this and still wondered if what I was reading was even remotely possible.

I'll admit, in my years of being a TPS parent, I have never been as active and involved as I should be. For one reason or another, I just couldn't do it. After reading what I've read over the past week, I'm torn.

Part of me feels like "one person isn't going to make a difference", but I know that's not the truth, because one person has been the beginning of every thing that has ever been formed in this country. So feeling that one person isn't going to make a difference is as far from the truth as you can be.

I've read more about TPS just in this week that I ever have in my lifetime, and folks, I truly consider myself a news junkie! Mostly local news, but once I've read all that can be read locally, I start heading out into what's beyond here.

The fact of the matter is, there really is no way for me to "end" what I've been researching, because there hasn't been an end to this story, nor will there ever be as long as TPS exists.

So, with that being said, I've decided to simply put to "print" what I have. I thought of so many different ways to break it down, but the easiest way for me to do it is to do it by year. What I'm putting out is nothing more that what is in print. Nothing is my personal opinion or thoughts, I've simply cut and paste what I've found by searching through the archives of the Toledo Blade. After I've posted all I have, I will then do a wrap up with my own personal thoughts. Each year will have it's own post and I will start with 1997

Update

Hey all, I'm going to attempt to get things finished up this weekend on this "thing" I've been researching. I'm sorry that it's taken so long, but as you all know, real life can get in the way sometimes ;-), and this week has been a major week for the real life stuff, nothing bad, just more goings on than what I am used to.

Let me just say though, that it is an "article" about TPS and specifically the BOE. I'm both amazed and appalled by what all I have found, just going back 10 years. How we as a community can continue to support those who are responsible for what I've found is simply unconceivable! If we don't get something done VERY soon to make some changes, I fear for what lies ahead for both the children and the future of TPS!

Jo

Just so you know

I'm here, I really am, but I've been VERY busy lately and am working on a "series" of posts that I hope will enlighten you. I was really hoping to be done by tonight, but that simply isn't going to happen, so bear with me, if all goes well, I "might" be done in a couple of days, if not, this weekend at the latest! But I PROMISE it will be worth the wait!

Jo

This is just a bit scary!

My lovely youngest and I were talking this afternoon when she got home. It was a lovely afternoon and I was sitting on the porch when he got home so he joined me. We're talking away about his day and how things are going in school this year when he tells me something that made my heart leap out of my chest.

It appears that one day last week or the week before, on his way home from school, the brakes on the bus completely went out. They were travelling down a road and were coming up to a stop sign and when the driver hit the brakes, there weren't any there. Fortunately there was no traffic coming through the intersection. The bus continued to roll but would not stop. It ended up rolling through 2 intersections where oncoming traffic did not stop, one of which had a semi truck nearing them, but not close enough to hit them. It finally all ended when the bus approached another stop sign and the road ended and the bus simply rolled off the side of the road and managed to stop.

Am I wrong for being totally pissed off right now? I do understand that things happen to vehicles mechanically, and I do understand brakes going out. But isn't this something that should have been taken care of by preventative maintenance before it even happened? I mean, engine problems can and do happen with no notice, but brakes on school busses should be checked regularly!

This one has me miffed. I don't even know how to react to it or feel about it. How would you feel?