Awards or Just More of Their Garbage?

"It is better to deserve honors and not have them, than to have them and not deserve them." Mark Twain.

On their 2001 stationery, Avoca School District #37, Wilmette, Illinois, still used the insignia for a National Excellence Award won in 1989, implying it was district wide even though only one of their two schools had won this award. They also displayed a large sign in front of the school, minus the date of the award. On their stationery, it stated, "Nationally Recognized for Excellence in Education;" they conveniently neglected to mention the more-than- a-decade old date, as well as the fact that only one of their two schools won the award. (The government turned down the other school for failing to meet the standards several years after the first school had won. That, of course, was not made public, nor did it stop them from implying that this was a district0wide award, even though the government clearly rejected the other school. They centered the insignia in-between the names of their two schools, as if both had won, using a public relations sleight of hand to fool the public.)

Incidentally, the principal responsible for winning that award left the district in 1993. The principal from 1993 through 2002 was responsible for at least three EEOC charges, a federal lawsuit, declining test scores, a librarian demoted to a floating substitute being paid over $70,000 for three years in a row, teacher abuse, including, but far from limited to, soliciting derogatory letters from parents to place in teachers' files, forcing several teachers to seek attorneys' help, and causing extreme teacher turnover, yet the insignia remained to mislead the public, with apparently no governmental oversight on its usage.

Learn all about how governmental honors are bestowed upon some of our most abusive schools, even while the very school is being reprimanded for violating the law.

In spring of 2002, Delaine Eastin, California Superintendent of Public Instruction, announced that she was accepting the nomination of Lomitas Elementary School, of the Victor Elementary School District for the California State Department of Education’s highest honor, the "California Distinguished School Award," even though the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had previously investigated, and then monitored, that school (and the entire school district) for a period of two years on charges of racism and discrimination against students with severe special needs addition, the (OCR Docket Number 09-96-1268). The district severely abused the teacher who advocated for these children, driving him out of the district and leaving him disabled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from their severe mistreatment. Neither the child nor teacher abuse caused Eastin any concern or hesitation in bestowing this award. Details of court actions mentioned above are available at ASEE from LINKS on the REFERENCES page.

The district continued to harass the teacher who reported these despicable deeds, so another complaint was filed with OCR (Docket Number 09-00-1234) and it was determined the district was in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights for retaliating against the teacher. All this occurred while the district was still being monitored. The governor permitted this to happen. He allowed Delaine Eastin to announce that Lomitas Elementary School was going to receive the award less than 24 hours before all Victor Elementary School District administrators (including Denise Edge, principal, Lomitas Elementary School) were to attend an all day class on how to not retaliate against teachers (and others) who lawfully report the district on purported civil rights violations. Even more disturbing is that Governor Davis was notified that the state was about to honor a school that was at the center of the retaliation complaint. Instead of using his power to demonstrate the unacceptable nature of this district's and Superintendent of Public Instruction's actions, the governor allowed the award to be granted on May 24, 2002, at a ceremony attended by his wife, Sharon Davis.

His actions spoke volumes, particularly since he leads a state allegedly concerned about their low test scores. He needs to know that schools rely on teacher abuse to carry on business as usual, and that abusing teachers results in failing schools both because it drives away good teachers, and because it is insulation for the underlying corruption. (Subsequently, Eastin was convicted of abusing a teacher. Story to follow.) Our schools are not about the welfare of our children. Children are merely portals through which funds flow into our administrators' pockets.

Check this site again to hear about more schools who discriminated against children, abused teachers, and were honored by the government simultaneously.

If your school was the recipient of one of these disgraceful awards, and you were in a position to know the truth, let us know so we can help the public understand that awards are just one more aspect of this package of pretense that manipulates public opinion.

E-mail NAPTA with your award information.

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