Posch Spice's praise fest in Columbus has CHTU's ears burning
Heights schools are so awesome at fighting racism that the teachers and administration are now pointing fingers at each other.
James Posch, the now former president of the Board of Education, may have opened Pandora’s Box thanks to his reflexive urge to talk about how Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District is combatting “racist” behaviour by its teachers. In comments before the Ohio Board of Education on December 14, Posch made claims that black counselors at Heights High had steered black students away from Advanced Placement classes on the basis of their race and also that white students had objected to black students joining the AP classes. Later he clarified that he meant white teachers.
Yesterday Posch received a response from Cleveland Heights Teachers Union President Karen Rego in which she asserted that “You (Posch) have no specific examples that you can provide to make such a ridiculous claim” in response to Posch’s accusation against the AP class teachers. She also challenged another bold claim by Posch that the white AP teachers had been overloading black students with assignments not given to white students in order to “flush them out”.
Rego expanded on her objection by alleging that Posch was giving two conflicting images of Heights teachers who on the one hand are “great teachers” while also unconsciously discriminating against students on the basis of their race. She also addressed his characterization of the union as being a key factor in sustaining such racist behaviour, saying that such a problem had never been raised by the district in any of its dealings with CHTU.
Posch’s full remarks are available from the Ohio Channel.
Consult the membership, but not the residents
During this Tuesday’s meeting, the contents of this letter were not raised, yet it will be interesting to see whether Posch or new BoE President Malia Lewis can produce any proof to support the allegations as requested by Rego. In July the Board of Education of CHUH passed a resolution creating a “culturally responsive curriculum” in response to OH House bills 322 and 327 that restrict public schools from engaging in teaching of school personnel that:
“(1)One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; (2) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,” along with nine other items. In response to this, BoE member Dan Heintz said that “As an American history teacher, I take this very personally. If only every day in American history was a day we can be proud of. But every day gives us lessons that can help make us better if we’re willing to face our weaknesses and our mistakes.” Heintz said during Tuesday’s meeting that he is disappointed in the Ohio School Board Association for pulling out of the National School Board Association. During the meeting Heintz pleaded ignorance as to why the rupture had occurred apart from claiming that it had to do with a “far right-wing” agenda. As he would know if he did the simplest research on the story OSBA’s decision was due to its objection to NSBA’s request to the White House and US Justice Department encouraging federal agencies to monitor angry parents at school board meetings. Heintz also expressed frustration that the withdrawal from the NSBA had been taken without consulting its members. The irony of this is that he was speaking as part of the board discussing a motion to withdraw from OSBA without consulting the broader Heights community! Before tabling the discussion, Heintz and the other BoE members said that they would not proceed to withdraw the CHUH district from OSBA in protest of its decision because it “get[s] a lot out of” membership in it, including the OSBA’s Capital Conference.
More action to come. . .
Since starting the Miramar Scar I’ve had to balance writing new updates with difficult personal events, a day job, and an at times slow news cycle. Needless to say however that the first week of 2022 has been quite eventful. I think that amid all of the economic and health turmoil out there some might question why people like me focus on school district hi-jinks given I have nothing besides my tax dollars invested in the district. But having spoken directly on the phone or even in person to parents and residents involved in these issues, it puts a more grim perspective on these issues. There are children and parents beholden to this travesty of an administration until they can -or because they cannot- find a suitable alternative. If you the reader have an issue with CHUH Schools that you want covered feel free to comment below or email me and I will do my best to follow up.