Anonymous wrote:
A couple more things that I dislike about Grosso -

He opposes an independent investigation of the DCPS Central Office. Anyone who has any working knowledge of that office knows that it is needed.
Chancellor Wilson opposes it understandably because it will be a headache for him and more bad press as it is guaranteed that more absurd hidden news will come up.

He placed all blame for the current fiasco on DCPS repeatedly providing incorrect data. While there is truth to that, Grosso did not do his job. He never asked tough questions.
He accepted it all on face value. You have to really drill down into the details.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A couple more things that I dislike about Grosso -

He opposes an independent investigation of the DCPS Central Office. Anyone who has any working knowledge of that office knows that it is needed.
Chancellor Wilson opposes it understandably because it will be a headache for him and more bad press as it is guaranteed that more absurd hidden news will come up.

He placed all blame for the current fiasco on DCPS repeatedly providing incorrect data. While there is truth to that, Grosso did not do his job. He never asked tough questions.
He accepted it all on face value. You have to really drill down into the details.

Shorter answer: Grosso -- like Jennie Niles and the Chancellor -- was approached by the Ballou whistleblower teachers pre-graduation last year. He/his staff did nothing.

can you please contact news media and relay this information. Wilson keeps getting off the hook because the CW is he was only here since February and its somehow not his fault. But like you said he knew and did nothing

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A couple more things that I dislike about Grosso -

He opposes an independent investigation of the DCPS Central Office. Anyone who has any working knowledge of that office knows that it is needed.
Chancellor Wilson opposes it understandably because it will be a headache for him and more bad press as it is guaranteed that more absurd hidden news will come up.

He placed all blame for the current fiasco on DCPS repeatedly providing incorrect data. While there is truth to that, Grosso did not do his job. He never asked tough questions.
He accepted it all on face value. You have to really drill down into the details.

Shorter answer: Grosso -- like Jennie Niles and the Chancellor -- was approached by the Ballou whistleblower teachers pre-graduation last year. He/his staff did nothing.

Anonymous wrote:
A couple more things that I dislike about Grosso -

He opposes an independent investigation of the DCPS Central Office. Anyone who has any working knowledge of that office knows that it is needed.
Chancellor Wilson opposes it understandably because it will be a headache for him and more bad press as it is guaranteed that more absurd hidden news will come up.

He placed all blame for the current fiasco on DCPS repeatedly providing incorrect data. While there is truth to that, Grosso did not do his job. He never asked tough questions.
He accepted it all on face value. You have to really drill down into the details.

Anonymous wrote:White definitely did the best job on the hearing a few days ago. His opening statement was articulate and on point. Grosso was not impressive.
The problem with Grosso is the same as with many liberals. I am a progressive democrat but you also need to analyze and see what is working and what is not and adjust accordingly.
He doesn't do that which makes him the worst type of democrat. He doesn't understand that the best thing you can do for poor kids is to provide them structure and give them a good education. Set high standards for everyone and then find ways to build support for the poor kids who are coming from dysfunctional families. Eliminating suspensions is a knee jerk reaction rather than a sophisticated response. It will not help anyone. The kids who don't get suspended will cause major disruptions in class and everyone who wants to learn will not be able to. Is that his solution? Teachers already feel students have no accountability. Find creative ways to help these kids but it will take a lot of hard work and smart thinking and Grosso is either not up for that or perhaps incapable of doing that. Giving the kids a pass because they come from difficult backgrounds is the absolute worst thing you can do for them. You are not setting them up for life.

Anonymous wrote:White definitely did the best job on the hearing a few days ago. His opening statement was articulate and on point. Grosso was not impressive.
The problem with Grosso is the same as with many liberals. I am a progressive democrat but you also need to analyze and see what is working and what is not and adjust accordingly.
He doesn't do that which makes him the worst type of democrat. He doesn't understand that the best thing you can do for poor kids is to provide them structure and give them a good education. Set high standards for everyone and then find ways to build support for the poor kids who are coming from dysfunctional families. Eliminating suspensions is a knee jerk reaction rather than a sophisticated response. It will not help anyone. The kids who don't get suspended will cause major disruptions in class and everyone who wants to learn will not be able to. Is that his solution? Teachers already feel students have no accountability. Find creative ways to help these kids but it will take a lot of hard work and smart thinking and Grosso is either not up for that or perhaps incapable of doing that. Giving the kids a pass because they come from difficult backgrounds is the absolute worst thing you can do for them. You are not setting them up for life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert White is on the committee. Let him try. He can only do better, if only because the bar is already so low.

I like White. Agree.

Anonymous wrote:Robert White is on the committee. Let him try. He can only do better, if only because the bar is already so low.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people wish Catania were still there -- and he definitely knew how to chew people out at hearings and say things that made the DCUM audience nod their heads in agreement.

But it isn't like the schools were actually any better than they are now.

No they got worse under the council, who believes anything anyone tells them until the media points out otherwise. Everything that is coming to light in DCPS, has been known since the start of Ed Reform approx 2009!

Anonymous wrote:Some people wish Catania were still there -- and he definitely knew how to chew people out at hearings and say things that made the DCUM audience nod their heads in agreement.

But it isn't like the schools were actually any better than they are now.