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Sweetwater Schools Board Aborts Meeting Agenda, Not Brand
Brand can no longer make money off the district so holding back his paycheck isn't a threat. He has reached the limit under the new state law of the maximum amount he can earn as a contractor. In order to continue to get paid by the district he needs to unretire but he is likely going to refuse to do that until he is guaranteed a contract. Brand likes to say that he's here only because Sweetwater is in his blood and he feels compelled to save us. Mercado and Canaris demonstrated last night what it means to have Sweetwater "in your blood". You VOLUNTEER to do what is BEST for the STUDENTS without demanding huge payouts. It is always students first under Mercado and that is a stand we have not seen in our district for way too long. I will say that last night is the longest the public has been allowed to speak at a meeting. Clearly without Brand to tell her to cut off the speakers Quinones was simply at a loss - much like the situation with the pledge. We have now "temporarily" promoted the MOST incompetent individual in the entire district into leading us. An individual who is is the exact opposite of trust, transparency, and competence that our district so desperately needs. We keep thinking things will get better and yet instead they somehow manage to go in the opposite direction. If only if only . . . Mercado, Canaris, Janney . . . someone who truly LOVES the students in our district and would do ANYTHING for them . . . but alas we are only left to dream as this board simply does not care to listen no matter what we as the public try to do.— September 11, 2012 5:07 p.m.
No Confidence Petition for Sweetwater's Ed Brand
Oh and I can also guarantee that those trustees kids are very carefully placed in classes just as when anyone is given a tour or offered open access to the campus they are taken only to specific classes.— September 8, 2012 6:03 p.m.
No Confidence Petition for Sweetwater's Ed Brand
bvagency things are far far from OK. Even when he visited us at SEA rep council he acknowledged that morale is at an all time low. Right after he told us that ELH's enrollment is actually DOWN by almost 200 this year. Sadly it is the students on the west side who truly are suffering as that is where most administrators who were brought in or promoted by Gandara continue to be employed. There are sites with more than a half dozen classes being taught by a different teacher than the teacher on the students' schedule. Sites where teachers were moved from their school because they were trying to stand up for what was right for students in communities where parents aren't as involved or as educated so they trust us as teachers to do what is best for kids. We try and feel the wrath. It is truly still a culture of fear and cronyism/nepotism widespread through our district, particularly on the west side.— September 8, 2012 5:10 p.m.
No Confidence Petition for Sweetwater's Ed Brand
As a colleague and I walked out of school on Friday after a two-day week we were discussing how exhausted we were and pondering if it was because we were in our 30's and 40's now instead of our 20's. However, I truly believe that it is not our age but our district that is the problem. It is hard to focus on our students, our curriculum and our almighty test scores when the corruption, game-playing, and blatant disregard for students is so pervasive at the top. It is exhausting to try to keep up with which administrator is currently breaking which part of our contract and getting away with it. It is exhausting to still be having class changes 7 weeks into the school year because of disastrous master schedules caused by Brand and his demand that they be created at a ratio of 34:1 and in some cases 40:1 even though that wasn't even being discussed in negotiations. It is exhausting to be hearing one thing from a DWAST "support" person about common core and another from the head of curriculum. It is exhausting to anticipate what ipads will bring in the higher grades as we hear from our colleagues what a massive disaster they are in 7th grade. It is exhausting for 7th grade teachers to try to teach while kids text away on their ipads. It is exhausting and even more importantly demoralizing to simply not be respected. The relationship of teachers to administration in this district is a dysfunctional and abusive one. And like in a family where abuse takes place, the kids ultimately suffer. Many wish so desperately they could escape but they are trapped by a lack of jobs and their safety with seniority. 10 years ago people used to fight to be teach in this district. Now when I mention that I teach in Sweetwater the response is almost always "I'm sorry" or "that must be miserable". This will only continue if we keep Brand and his hit men on the payroll. Can someone, anyone, please take control and save our students. Teachers are trying so hard but we fight for them all day long to no avail. Someone out there must care and have the power to do something . . . right?— September 8, 2012 4:06 p.m.
$10 Lunch: Noodles & Company
Buttered noodles, grilled chicken breast and extra seasoning is the way to go!— May 8, 2012 1:09 p.m.
Anger and Police at Sweetwater Union HS District Meeting
Having lived through the Gandara era and Brand's first era, last night was stunning. It was one of the most disgusting meetings I have ever attended. First, you plan to layoff close to 200 teachers, yet you will only let 10 people speak to the topic and even those ten have to be limited to 2 minutes each. This isn't a meeting that was even going toward midnight - we were done by 9. But even if it was going to midnight, doesn't the district, at the very least, owe those teachers the respect of letting them speak. Doesn't it owe the parents the respect of letting them speak? One of the speakers last night made a very good point - this board has never been a discussion board. It has been a - come in and vote board. Their purpose as a board is supposed to be to list the items to be considered, to listen to the public's view on these items, and then to take those views into consideration when they vote. That just doesn't happen. Brand was taking on all of the Gandara's mannerisms last night. He cut off speakers, he rocked back in his chair, he carried on conversations with Quinones while speakers were talking (and yet reprimanded audience members for talking). This is a man who was just given $120,000 to stick around for 6 more months while they consider whether or not they should START a search for a new superintendent. When Bertha Lopez tried to point out that the wording was implying that they needed more time to continue the search which wasn't correct since it hadn't been started Pearl Quinones just didn't get what her point was. The wording should have been - Ed Brand will continue as superintendent for the next six months at a pay rate of $20,000 per month. It should have never been written to imply that a search was already ongoing. But then again this is Sweetwater. When questioned about the fact that many of the 7th grade curriculum resources are not compatible with the iPads, Dr. Brands response was, that's a lie. And if they're not we'll just make PDF's of them. When an audience member shouted a question about the legality of that his response was, they want our business and they'll do what we tell them. Now who does that sound like? The argument that management is willing to take a pay cut "if necessary" makes no sense. It's clearly their point that they will take a pay cut IF the district isn't able to get the teachers to give up something instead. The argument that teacher jobs could be saved if SEA would just bargain completely ignores the fact that the money is there in reserves and in smarter spending of what we already have. They want others to sacrifice so that they can continue to spend unchecked and run their little pet projects (i.e. the charter school ($500,000 loan from general fun) and the iPad program ($4.2 million so far). The mood on campuses across the district today was horrendous. Do not ever forget that it is our STUDENTS who are feeling this pain. And the cause is NOT the teachers but the board & Dr. Brand.— May 8, 2012 12:32 p.m.
Sweetwater Union HS District Supe Ed Brand Addresses Problems with U-T Coverage
Just a quick response about the teacher meeting. The meetings purpose was to share our continuing frustrations with many aspects of the district especially the curriculum department. There was no focus on the media other than wishing that our district was not so corrupt so we wouldn't keep being in the media!— November 3, 2011 4:03 p.m.
Sweetwater teachers criticize too many tests
Step one, ignore anything Castilleja has to say. She was promoted under Gandara's reign. He promoted all forms of incompetence as long as they would do whatever he said and she is a shining example of that. The cleaning house needs to continue if there is any hope of regaining our district and Medina and Castilleja are at the top of the list who still need to go away! Testing is not the answer and no Maria NCLB is not a good thing. If we were to publish the tests that our district just gave as a quarterly assessment the district would be humiliated!— September 21, 2011 7:34 p.m.