Return of the Fear Mongers

By Robert E. Jensen
The Desert Independent

January 23, 2010

BLYTHE, Calif – Fear Mongering is the process of instilling dread and unnatural anxiety by those in power in order to control a populace. A good example of fear mongering was George Bush’s claim of Saddam Hussein’s possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction in order to foment support for the war on Iraq. Another would be using the threat of another 9-11 event in order to push passage of the Patriot Act – a piece of legislation so anathematic to individual liberties that the FBI could bop by the local Palo Verde Library and demand the listing of books anyone in town has read.

The Fear Mongers were in their glory at the Special Meeting of the PVUSD Board of Trustees held last Thursday at 4:00 in the District Office.

The purpose of the meeting was to listen to the presentation delivered by Budget Tsarina Richardson regarding the current state of California financing and the effects it would have on the district in the coming year. The timing was suspicious. Only a week previous, Supt. Whitney had dismissed the financial need for the Race to the Top initiative as “innocuous” prior to it being tabled by members Wellman, Underwood and Carney. The next Thursday, Tsarina Richardson convened a Budget Advisory Committee meeting to reveal that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s promise to “protect” education this fiscal year was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. While not cutting the education budget directly by the expected 3%, there were other factors that would contribute to the continued downward spiral of funds available to schools – unless altered by the time of the May Revise of the proposed budget.

Without getting too detailed, the projected shortfall for the district has gone from $500,000 next year to three times that much.

“Please remember not to ‘shoot the messenger’”, asked Supt. Whitney of the audience as he introduced Tsarina Richardson to detail the devastation the cuts could cause and ideas brought forth from the recent Budget Advisory study session. It was soon becoming obvious that, while Supt. Alan Jensen has left the scene, the legacy of his “moral imperative” regarding a K-8 configuration lives on. The central focus of the presentation was – again – the savings to the District from the shuttering of Blythe Middle School and shipping the 7th and 8th graders back to the three elementary schools. BMS teachers, still recovering from being among the 31 educators “Pink-Slipped” last year, listened in renewed horror as Richardson noted that at least 15 positions could be eradicated.

Other suggestions that came out were: cutting out all sports programs, closing down the Childhood Development Center, sweeping the last of the Tier III categorical programs, losing the Outreach Consultants, looking at a 1% cut in pay across the board for everyone in the District, getting the board to approve the State Class Size Waiver, cut the number of bus drivers, putting a halt to all stipends and forms of extra-duty pay, et. al., ad nauseam.

Finally, Trustee Ulmer asked of Tsarina Richardson, “If you were Queen, what would you do?” With little hesitation, the Budget Queen replied, “Close the Middle School and the Childhood Development Center.” With that, it would appear that the administration made clear its recommendation.

While the administration did not officially make any recommendations on Thursday, there will be another Budget Advisory meeting on January 27th and yet another Special Board Meeting on Feb. 3d to come to grips with the situation.

Too often administrative types see budget cuts as opportunities to make the sweeping changes that would further entrench their power base. This is especially true in an administration and board that has never garnered the trust and respect of the educational community with persuasion or example; but rather controls through coercion and intimidation. Fear Mongering by openly considering raising class sizes, closing a school, laying off staff or slashing salaries stifles dissent. There is a serious need for open skepticism and the willingness to hold the feet of those in authority close to the fire, yet the fear of being targeted for being a “trouble-maker” and a victim of layoffs truly stifles overt criticism.

It is time for the educators and parents in the community to dwell on the integrity and honesty of the top administrators and the board members that would make such dire decisions and remember that there is anonymity behind the ballot curtain. To misquote Thomas Jefferson, “A little Recall now and then is a good thing.”