A defense of Adrian Allison's Work as Superintendent
One of Canton's most activist/provocative citizens, The Stark County Political Report thinks, is Canton City Schools board member Eric Resnick.
SOURCE: CCS WEBSITE
The latest of which is his January 30, 2019 posting on his Facebook site this:
The furor at the surface level seems to be over the above-Resnick-posted-documents' use of explicit sexual language.
But the outrage expressed by some Cantonians may be more about race than about the document's language.
When one has one agenda, it is not unheard of for such a person to hide the primary agenda under the subterfuge of another.
And that is what some folks are saying that what really is at play here in the wake of African American Adrian Allison Canton City Schools (CCS) Board of Education's removal of Allison as CCS superintendent (six years as superintendent) in early January of this year.
See McIllwain in a link to The Repository's video of her appearing before the CCS BOE and in a Greater United Way of Stark County video in which she is being awarded United Way's Gold Key in 2013.
This is what McIllwain-Massey says about herself on a posting on Resnick's Facebook page:
Nadine Massey Jean Haidet Hershberger Just wanted you to know that I was a teacher for CCS for over 20 years at my beloved Timken HS. I served 12 years on the CCS board of Ed and I am a graduate of McKinley Senior HS. I love CCS school as much as anyone. And for the record, I was the first teacher in Stark County to receive the Millken Family Foundation National Teacher Award. What we said at that board meeting is true and needed to be said. Rinaldi was first to accuse us of racism because of our vote regarding the McKinley football coach. Everything we said at that meeting is supported by newspaper articles and video, which I will be happy to share with you.Resnick himself says he has a lot of regard for McIllwain.
- who has been a commenter on the Resnick Facebook page
- who disqualified today (Tuesday) by the Stark BOE as Democratic candidate for mayor of Canton, and
- who is a former president/CEO of The Greater Stark County Urban League
Vince Watts
Mr. Resnick, Not sure where this post came from or why you are chosing (sic) to repost it, but as a school board member there are several parts that are of a concern to parents, or in my case, grandparents of children in our school system, i.e. p**** in v***** deserve pity, f*** off, really?
Maybe you can put together a forum to discuss these issues so that we can build an understanding of what it is you are trying to address in this post in particular. There is support out here, but driving this wedge seems intentional and unnecessary. Just my thoughts.There may be yet another factor in Allison's departure as regards his handling of an incident at a McKinley High School football game on November 9, 2018 involving a gay (according to media reports) McKinley student.
Resnick has been openly gay for some time now.
Undoubtedly, there are those who think that Resnick was a key figure in Allison's being let go as the CCS superintendent owing to his handling of the November, 2018 incident reportedly involving a gay student.
These folks have to be questioning themselves in suggesting such given that January BOE vote to remove Allison was a 5 to 0 vote.
Reasons for why Allison was dismissed likely varies from member to member and The Report thinks it probably a mix of dissatisfactions that prompted the BOE to go in another direction.
And that is not all. Allison was superintendent of Canton schools when the CCS BOE made the decision on Allison's recommendation to merge Timken High School with McKinley back in 2015.
It is hard to tell whether or not anybody is capable of pulling the CCS out of its ODE overall "F" rating.
Just take a look at Canton's poverty rate.
From the SCPR's point of view, the primary reason should have been Allison's apparent inability to pull the CCS out of its "F" rating on a number of criteria presuming however that there is somebody who can successfully get the job done.
On the poverty factor, a SCPR reader (who requested non-attribution) has made (in a Tuesday, 02/19/2019 e-mail) this point:
I read with interest your recent posting.
Poverty is not the only issue with regard to school system failures.
I started life in poverty in Cleveland but the difference is that I had a mother and father who valued education. Eventually, we moved out of the projects in Cleveland, because my parents cared.
After graduating from College of Wooster having majored in Physics and Mathematics, I turned down a graduate program at Cornell University and went to Cleveland to teach. It was based upon my Catholic training that to whom much is given then much is expected.
When the Vietnamese kids came into the system, I learned that commitment by families to education was important.
I was privy to some studies that confirmed that family stability is a big factor.
Such factors as single parent household, and family mobility are very important factors.
Later after I left teaching and made it to Canton, I learned from Attorney Randy Snow, who was a member of the Canton School Board that mobility is a big factor on student success.
Poverty is a factor but not the sole factor.
Family emphasis on education, strong family units and mobility are more important factors.
I close examination of housing in Canton demonstrates that Canton has a high transient community. The housing stock has aged and there has been an increase in rentals.
Allison seemed to have done his best but he did not teach and therefore lacked some of the knowledge with respect to what was going on in the classroom.
It will be difficult for the Canton School System to turn the system around in the few years left before a state takeover. Unfortunately, a state takeover is not a solution. A close examination of the state takeovers in Lorain, and Youngstown illustrate this point.
Of course in a society which rewards and values its entertainers and athletes more than its teachers, we should not be surprised that we are getting what we pay for in large urban education systems across the nation.
We cannot expect one person to solve the problems. The solution lies in a greater commitment by the community as a whole.One should ask: Is Canton a realistic candidate for academic redemption? Take a look at this study.
Isn't the poor academic performance in Canton owing to the high poverty rate which indicates that it will take the entire Canton community to abate that factor?
Solving the link between poverty and poor school performance will not happen overnight no matter who the school superintendent is.
If only the likes of Repository publisher Jim Porter, Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce president Denny Saunier and C. David Baker of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (PFHOF) put the same effort in the finding ways and means to improve Canton schools academic, the timetable to recovering the schools to academic viability could happen sooner than later.
Baker a year or so ago bragged about the CCS "having the best damn high school football stadium in America at what he said was a $150 million price tag.
A stadium, the last the SCPR knew,
- (The Report has e-mailed board president J.R. Rinaldi about the exact status but he has not answered)
Talk about not having your priorities straight?
The Youngstown schools are currently under state of Ohio control.
A report indicates that the schools are still failing under state standards but improving.
Resnick last year (September 6, 2018) appeared at an Ohio Schools Board Association sponsored candidates forum (which had candidates for the Ohio General Assembly present).
One of Resnick's most provocative questions had to do with the passage and implementation of House Bill 70 (see this LINK for efforts to repeal it) which dealt with the state of Ohio takeover of the poverty-ridden/highly urban Youngstown School District and the bill's threat to districts like the Canton City Schools district.
These are not happy days in the CCS.
The question is: Is Resnick helping or hindering a turnaround with the Canton City Schools and the public perception of the district?
It is hard to believe that diversions like the Things Queer Culture Teacher Teach That Straight Culture Doesn't.
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