Re “The School Board’s Warning About the Threat of ‘Youth and Government”
When I read George Laase’s essay yesterday, I thought that he must have been at a different School Board meeting than I was. Only later did I learn that he actually was at a different meeting, and that Mr. Laase missed the whole 70-minute discussion regarding Youth and Government this past Tuesday.
As the replay of the meeting has not yet aired, Mr. Laase must be listening to others to find out what happened at the meeting. That can be dangerous.
Mr. Laase has recently proven to be less than responsible with his reporting. On Jan. 11, in an effort to sway the new and inexperienced members of the School Board, Mr. Laase wrote a story called “The $2400 a Day Question.” Mr. Laase based that column upon his belief that schools get paid for days that students miss when they travel to Youth and Government affairs. Mr. Laase apparently convinced one member, Karlo Silbiger, of this financial factoid.
The problem is that Mr. Laase is entirely wrong, and his column was entirely wrong. School Board vice president Scott Zeidman pointed out that Mr. Laase’s claim has never been the law, that the school gets as much money for a student going to Youth and Government as they do for a student who ditches class. I guess there is no reason for the truth to get into Mr. Laase’s way.
Now I read that Mr. Laase thinks that the School Board was dealing with an issue solely about Youth and Government. Had Mr. Laase attended the meeting, he might have learned that that wasn’t the issue. This was a much bigger issue than one student and one coach, and whether or not a student could go to Sacramento and still be on the soccer team. There was a reason that so many School District employees came to the meeting, and that reason wasn’t soccer or Youth and Government.
This was an issue as to what the School Board could do. This was an issue about what a teacher could and couldn’t do. This was an issue about what a coach could and couldn’t do. This was an issue about what a principal could and couldn’t do. This was an issue about what a janitor could and couldn’t do. Was the School Board going to put its nose into every decision that any employee made? Did this newly constituted School Board think that it had the right to question a coach’s decision, a teacher’s grades, or even the cleanliness of a bathroom?
As was explained at the meeting, not everything is consistent. Teachers’ grades are one example. A student cannot go to the School Board to argue about a grade. A student cannot go to the School Board to complain about the amount of homework or the nature of the homework. A student can’t complain if he wasn’t the first trumpeter in the band. Didn’t Mr. Laase get that? Oh, he wasn’t there.
Senior Maya Cohn is, by all accounts, a fine individual. John Cohn, her father, is, by all accounts, a fine individual. This wasn’t about Maya or John. Youth and Government is, by all accounts, a fine organization. This wasn’t about Youth and Government. It was mentioned that Youth and Government has similar rules to girls soccer: Miss an event, and you aren’t part of the program. Did Mr. Laase hear that? Oh, he wasn’t there.
The issue, as I saw and heard it, was whether the School Board could intervene on one student’s behalf in a dispute about a rule enacted by one school employee. The School Board explained that this was something that this Board could not and would not do. Mr. Laase might have learned that, if only he had gone to the meeting.
I suggest a new Surgeon General’s warning for Mr. Laase. “WARNING. Relying on innuendo and suggestions can be hazardous to your credibility.”
Ms. Maks may be contacted at opalmaks@yahoo.com
