School Board is poorly managing public resources
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G. Robert Jones
Published: July 9, 2008
Whether from official comment or individual capacity, the apologists for David Cox’s termination as school superintendent are experts at “blowing smoke.”
In the thousands of words printed since the announcement of Dr. Cox’s “change in status,” no real justification for his removal has been offered other than perhaps his ability to negotiate a personally advantageous contract.
Such deflection as exhibited by School Board members is behavior usually reserved for children — not for responsible adults.
The real insult to the intelligence of the Culpeper community is that the excuses for such nonsense as the timing and lack of reason behind the termination are called “politics” or a “system which virtually guarantees community conflict. This is to place blame on no one.”
Blame can be placed, gentlemen and ladies, on the people elected to make judicious decisions on behalf of their constituents. Those same people are supposed to have the courage and intelligence to deal with “the system” and “politics,” or they have no business accepting their offices.
But the real victims here, as always, are those individuals and families who must pay with their taxes for their elected officials’ mistakes, and their children who will suffer the most from an un-forgivable mismanagement of public resources.
G. Robert Jones
Locust Grove
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( grjones ) on July 12, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Ms. Jenkins, point well taken. Obviously, no perjoratives as far as I’m concerned are intended for those who voted against Mr. Cox’s dismissal. Cox is above all blameless for the miscarriage.
As I’ve said, a great deal of obfuscation is going on here including discussion of drug testing. But that is the method of dishonest politicians - confuse the issue and draw attention away from the real problem so you can get away with it.
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Posted by ( Leanne Jenkins ) on July 12, 2008 at 10:35 am
WHAT A FIASCO! People ought to be outraged!
I’m interested in why my post from yesterday didn’t make it on here. Bet there’s no good answer for that either. I guess my viewpoint didn’t get a blessing from “on high”.
Mr. Jones raises some valid points.
I am fed up and hope others are as well.
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Posted by ( teacher713 ) on July 11, 2008 at 9:23 pm
he deserves every bit of that!
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Posted by ( Leanne Jenkins ) on July 11, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I speak only as an individual and certainly not for the school board.
As far as I know, no other options were given any true consideration although I am certain other options were presented because I was there!
Dr. Cox received a positive performance evaluation. I am not aware of any legitimate need for this agreement and it was not initiated by Dr. Cox.
I agree that it is inexcusable to spend this kind of money without good reason when we do not adequately compensate our employees. I know of absolutely no good reason for this move. If there was a good reason, why would this agreement have been made?
As for eyesis - it is absurd to blame David Cox for this fiasco! He worked to increase teachers pay and made enormous progress in the years he was here to rectify a horribly disfigured salary scale. Maybe that’s part of why he was really faced with this agreement - he kept trying to get money for the schools, truly cared and wouldn’t sacrifice his ethics!
The public does deserve an answer - and I am part of the public that deserves an answer.
I’m sure there’s more to this, but it had nothing to do with job performance. Maybe power? Maybe an unwillingness to bow to the “powers” that be - not the School Board. Maybe the School Board thinks if it gives up power over the schools it will gain some other magical power.
Vote me in or out. I am irrelevant. Better yet - run for office! What’s going on in Culpeper is a disgusting abomination of the American system of government.
But, please, please, don’t lump me in with anybody that thinks this move was in the best interests of our children or taxpayers.
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Posted by ( grjones ) on July 11, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Let’s get this straight: Cox didn’t enjoy an incresae in salary, nor is he receiving “severance”. He simply said if you fire me without reason, you have to maintain my salary until I find another job. So they fired him without reason and must keep paying him and someone else to do the job.
Don’t distort the issue.
Culpeper teacher salaries fall well below the average $50,633 in VA. And the 2008 increase barely covered the increase in tescher’s share of their health insurance. Where’s the raise?
That half million dollar mistake to assuage somebody’s ego would have gone a long way towards bringing teachers’ income to a liveable wage.
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Posted by ( eyesis ) on July 11, 2008 at 10:36 am
I am concerned that the parents aren’t raising Cain about Cox’s severance. If he is so altruistic and caring about our children’s educational welfare, then why did he accept such a high priced severance? Shouldn’t he asked that some of that(severance) money be slotted for teacher pay, and the issues that he brought up? Hope had the right idea when he drew Cox on the beach with a drink, soaking it up like a sponge. I see failure on all sides of this issue. How much do teachers get paid anyway? Have our teachers reached the thirty thousand a year mark yet? They are the ones deserving some of that half million severance pay. Teachers are on the forefront of your child’s life. A teacher’s influence does make a big difference. They should be drug and alchohol tested along with all of our elected officials; local, state, and federal. One last thing, usually there is more to a story than what is told. There must have been something else that caused this. If not, then when it is time to vote, Do Not Vote for the one’s that are in there now.
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Posted by ( grjones ) on July 10, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I really am not interested in “running” anything, and I represent no one’s opinion but my own. But I do have close family ties with Culpeper.
And I am deeply concerned when elected officials claiming “limited resources” can go years without raising staff salaries beyond what they have to pay for health insurance, can increase student-to-teacher ratios with reduced staff, and underfund new facilities, then blow a half million dollars without justification.
You may be foolish enough to believe board members would not have presented just cause if they had any, but don’t expect anyone with any sense to swallow it, regardless of where they live.
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Posted by ( omy1 ) on July 10, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Here, here cul_peper! It certainly interested me how much criticism has come from someone who has no vote in the issue since he lives outside the county.
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Posted by ( grjones ) on July 10, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I’m not overly eager to “run” anything, and even though my opinions are my own and should reflect on no one but myself, I have close personal and family ties to Culpeper.
But all of that has nothing to do with the fact that it’s always amusing when officials can casually dismiss failing to raise salaries of underpaid employees but for “what they believed was best” justifies flushing a half million dollars down the toilet.
Give me a break! Nothing short of child molestation or theft of public funds could have justified Cox’s termination given the existing contractual arrangements. When you waste that kind of money, you can’t possibly excuse failure to adequately compensate your staff. And you insult constituents and anyone interested in fairplay no matter where they live.
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Posted by ( password ) on July 10, 2008 at 1:13 pm
A valid reason would constitute “just cause” and that would have saved a lot of money.
I still wonder if any of the four members involved seek to work something out with Dr. Cox prior to calling in an attorney?
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