Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees and parents who are wary of the influence of The Broad Foundation have been grumbling about the district's decision to display a "Broad Prize for Urban Education" logo on electronic communications, and to ask employees to attach the logo to their CMS emails.
Those concerns ratcheted up this month, when the CMS communications office sent this follow-up:
"Thank you for spreading the good news about CMS winning the Broad Prize by changing your email signature. In order to be in compliance with Broad guidelines, we are asking all employees to use the revised CMS/Broad logo in their signature. We appreciate your cooperation."
Some people read that as a mandate from the Broad Foundation, which in September dubbed CMS the nation's top urban district and will hand out $550,000 in scholarships to the Class of 2012. "I don't work for the Broad Foundation! I work for the State of North Carolina and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools!" wrote a teacher who forwarded the CMS directive.
Departing board member Kaye McGarry said people are asking, "Since when did the Broad Foundation purchase naming rights to CMS?" Keith Hurley, a CMS parent who sought an at-large seat, has also objected: "Please, no more propaganda sent to my home for Eli Broad!"
LaTarzja Henry, head of CMS communications, said the decision to display the logo came from her, not the Broad Foundation. CMS could choose not to use it at all, but if the district does display the Broad logo, the foundation wants to make sure it's the official one. The November mandate was just an effort to make sure employees had the updated attachment, Henry said.
Henry said CMS has spent no money displaying the logo; it has only been added to electronic material. And the district must not be strictly enforcing its request for employees to use it. I scanned my inbox and found emails from half a dozen teachers sent from their CMS accounts this month. None included the Broad logo.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Broad didn't seek CMS "naming rights"
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35 comments:
Ann, you might add how many teachers deleted CMS as well from the lower location line. LaTarzja PR headache number 231 and counting.
LaTarzja Henry, head of CMS communications, said the decision to display the logo came from her, not the Broad Foundation.
I would think that decision should come from the superintendent or the BOE and not by one individual.
I guess the desire to shout out CMS winning the best mediocre school district in the land award was too great for the communications officer to keep silent about...
Teachers don't have it on their email because the OWA email they use makes it difficult to add graphics to a signature.
Really is this what we are worried about Ann... An electronic signature... You must have run out of stories to write about. You can write all day about the negativity in CMS but how about trying to use your voice to solve the issue. Who cares about electronic signutares when CMS and students have so many greater problems. GET REAL!!!!
Does CMS REALLY have to be in the news every single day?
The IT group within CMS should have the tools available to auto-add signatures to emails regardless of it being OWA (Outlook Web Access) or anything else. If they're using Active Directory to administer user accounts, adding a signature line is easier than making banana pudding.
Most organizations of that size utilize their IT departments to handle such things.
That aside, I've been told some schools employed a bit of oversight to encourage teachers to add the logo and other schools passed on the information and left it at that.
As for why something this small is an issue, one would be surprised. Conspiracy theorists are almost the norm these days. But like Wiley said, one would think a decision like this would originate higher up the ladder.
LaTarzja has essentially no background for her current position...don't quite know what she did to get hired. So, please discount by 50% anything that comes out of her office...
What percentage of U.S. students attend "urban" schools?
Does Providence Road Elementary have one of those giant orange Broad Foundation urban education banners displayed on the wall too?
This is such a non-story you should be embarrassed to have incited such a fictional controversy. Despite your insinuations, nobody was ever required to add the Broad logo to their emails. It was just suggested or encouraged as a sense of pride for CMS. (You can't tell me that over half a million dollars in scholarships isn't a huge deal to be proud of.)
And this latest email just asked people to use the correct Broad logo if they happen to be using the wrong logo. That part is not only understandable but necessary. Any organization has the right to make sure people aren't using their trademarked logos incorrectly. I don't know what the difference between the logos was but if my company partnered with Coke and we put a blue Coke logo on our emails, you don't think Coke would say stop ruining their brand?
A total non-story blown up by the Observer.
P.S. Why do people think that the BOE would make decisions about email signatures. They direct district policy regarding education, not the minutia of day to day operations.
8:11 AM--Your question addresses one of the major reasons we have so much angst over the school system in this community.
I work in marketing communications (albeit not at CMS), and this is pretty standard. No, no one can make you use their logo, but if you do, then you need to use the "official" (sanctioned and approved) logo--no funky colors, low-res images saved off the internet, etc. The fact that some CMS teachers didn't possess the basic reading comprehension needed to comprehend what the message was saying only reinforces my decision not to send my daughter to CMS.
Read the first paragraph.
I believe it sets the tone of the article.
For those of you who think the rest of us are too stupid to get the fact every company is protective of their logo and require proper usage, we do get it.
Also, many of us do not see the Broad Prize as a good thing in light of the fact CMS is now known as an "urban school system"....
The scholarships will be put to use, but the fact CMS' graduation and dropout rates as dismal, those scholarships will only help a select few while others stay mired in the garbage that is CMS and public education.
At least we got the logo usage issue straight.
I challenge someone to track every CMS grad who has gotten any type of Board Scholarship awarded by Scholarship America (CMS does not get the money or award the scholarships) and let's see just how many ever earn degrees. In other words, just how effective is this effort?
40-50 CMS grads, if they apply and win a scholarship from Scholarship America, might get partial scholarships for two and four year institutions of higher education, for two and four years.
The Board Award might affect 1% of CMS grads, or less.
Can't decide if that makes it a "big deal" or not....
How is it possible that everyone - Ms. Henry included - missed the point here, which, simply put, is that she worded her instructional email poorly?
"In order to be in compliance with Broad guidelines, we are asking all employees to use the revised CMS/Broad logo in their signature."
That implies that Broad required their logo be included as part of getting the grant. In fact, what she meant was that CMS wants to include the Broad logo with CMS's and the revised combination logo had to be changed to include the correct Broad logo.
There are plenty of things to be angry about in regards to CMS without artificially creating more...
I am hesitant to bash CMS and I don't think this is even newsworthy, but I agree with Anonymous 11:38 AM on this one. Ms. Henry's wording suggests that using the logo was a requirement of the grant/award.
Ann,
Thanks for the info. What chutzpah Ms. Henry has. But we knew taht already from other comments and behaviors.
We were bullied into adding it to our signature. I continue to refuse. I informed "them" that if "they" want it on there, then "they" could add it, but I had no intention of doing it.
As justice would have it, our machines and system won't allow the logo for whatever reason so there is a big blank square where it should be for those who added it.
The Broad Foundation is a proponent of a pay-for-performance model, which many CMS teachers (and parents...) have voiced strong doubts about. Having to add the Broad logo to your email signature makes it seem like CMS teachers and staff support Broad and their aims. Sending two emails about the logo made some teachers feel like CMS was saying, "OK, maybe we didn't say it strongly enough the first time: You WILL add this to your email signature." Teachers have enough to deal with. Will we be getting multiple emails letting us know when the state will decide to start paying our step increases again? Or multiple emails to let us know that several of our upcoming workdays have not in fact been hijacked for "training" for the Common Core Standards, that we can actually get some needed work done on those days? That if the state wants 5 extra days of school in the calendar they should add those days to the calendar, not try to take teacher workdays to accommodate 5 extra instructional days or try to weasel them in by adding 45 minutes to school days (CMS...). Those are multiple emails we would not mind receiving. Multiple emails about things which do not help teachers do their jobs, that are related to groups that do not have the best wishes to students and teachers in mind, are not appreciated.
In terms of college education, $500,000 is not a lot of money. It would pay for 4 years of college for about 10 students (of the thousands who graduate from CMS every year), and those would be students at a public college or university. If CMS were a NASCAR car, the Broad logo would be a small or medium size sticker on a fender, not the big logo on the hood of the car.
On newsworthiness: I agree this isn't a huge deal, which is why I didn't push aside anything else to pursue this the minute I heard about it. On the other hand, as evidenced by comments and page views, there's definitely some interest in what this means to CMS taxpayers and employees. That's what I like about this blog; it offers a way to air things that may not be worth a print headline but that spark good discussion among those who care the most about CMS and education.
Ms. Henry has no clue in what she compromised by allowing the tag logo to be added. If you want to sell out sell out big you fool. She must have had a directive from above to request the logo added. Its simple and looks like the rest of CMS a discombobulated gumbo ! This is a chain in the link wit Broad to Pay For Performance and the reduction of teacher pay. Its also a link in the chain for the overtesting of our children. Nobody adds a logo their corporate stationary and or emails without proper payment. Ms. Henry please do not act STUPID you sound like Eric Davis last week when he said " I was not in charge I was a invited guest " IDIOT !!
I don't think the story is really the "logo" but more the question...What kind of influence does the Broad Foundation REALLY have over CMS? The Broad business model appears to run the school system, not educators. If CMS actually runs on an education model instead of a business model will Broad takes its scholarships and go home? If teachers had personalities that were compatible with the corporate world, they would not be working in education, they would be out in the business world. Now there is a story worth investigating!
Since when does Latarzja Henry have the authority to authorize ordering all CMS employees to place the Broad Logo on all emails? This was not a request! Latarzja does not have that clout unless approved by someone else. Most people ignored the request due to the fact that "it simply wasn't that important to the people who really WORK in CMS." Ms. Henry is not in that group of real workers. She plays at communication...maybe that is why everything gets so BOTCHED up in CMS. No talent in that area...is it tested?
Broad didn't seek naming rights, they bought naming rights for a fraction of a penny on the budget dollar…why not use the county and state seals which represent over $1,000,000,000 of tax payer dollars funding CMS?
Local tax dollars should be the recognized leader of CMS direction, not a few token scholarships. This whole thing is a bit insulting to the community which takes a back seat to corporate slush.
When all Mecklenburg children are provided equal opportunity to learn, to eat and to develop values of good citizenship CMS will have something to shout about!
Does LaTarza use the same toilet paper CMS provides the students? It is awful, the worst! Just about as worthy as FRL numbers or extra tests that no one really knows what they mean, if anything.
Hornet's Nest or corporate guinea pig?
Latarzan Henry
Now that is leadership in action and money well spent for her performance.
No, I will not put the logo on my email and to my knowledge there is no law that can make me.
As a CMS parent who is AGAINST the overuse of standardized testing, I cringe every time I see the large banner proclaiming CMS as the "winner" of this year's Broad prize at my daughter's school. I can't help but to wonder who is paying for all of these banners, and at what cost. Just wondering.
The funds can only be used for scholarships for title one students as well. CMS is not up front about disclosing this as well. Maybe the PR folks should grab it and run ?? Maybe Latarzja can put out a press release? Doubt it she has to spin the 5th grader with a gun today on CMS property ! Happy Holidays to all !
As an unproud member of CMS I WILL NOT post the Broad Foundation propaganda on my emai!
Broad Prize
This is a lie wrapped in a riddle.It may and I say MAY help an extremely small fraction of CMS students.Spin it Latarja and CMesS.
Ann, keep up the good work! For better or worse many of your articles bring to light questionable activities and decisions by the board and its leadership. In a state that tends to lean toward hating public education, you are serving as an advocate for better public education.
How much does the Head of CMS communications make? She should get fired if CMS has to hire extra PR people along with the dufus cohort of Cobitz and Baxter.They fired the last HR director or should I day directors (2) Ambler and Mathews.If we need more of the spin peddlers then someone that is the head should be fired as well.
I still keep "forgetting" to add the Broad thing to my email. Oops. Maybe they should have used the money for the stupid flags we all have at our schools to pay for snacks for kids at Title I schools, or maybe to provide dictionaries to classrooms, or paper for copy machines. The Broad Prize is ridiculous. We were all expected to whoop and holler it up when the system won, but what did we really win? Looks like Broad bought themselves $500,000 of publicity.
CMS is a bunch of hypocrites and idiots. They have a chance to earn money from lots of other sources but wont take it.Remember Nike and the Indy / Butler situation. Now all hail to the BROAD. Why, because he is a billionare and pays off board members with lavish trips and kool aide. Why dont we just put the logo on all the buses and make some real money for the kids.Oh, its not about the students? IS IT
No one at my school has required it. Most emails I get from everyone besides the principal doesn't have the logo...to be honest...trying to get any logo in the teacher version of the email...any graphic, etc. is a pain in the rear...they don't "stick"...CMS has already outlawed the use of "quotes" in the signature, etc. It just makes my day easier to keep it simple...Maybe it is a dream, but the new Super may come in and abhor Broad principles...pipe dream...I know, but still...Every other week there's a new something or other to change from a previous something or other--I just keep it simple and keep going...I will be around LONG after all the LaTarzja Henrys, Eric Davis', etc. run away home... that's just the way it is...
Thanks, 6:07.
5:30, I'm not sure what you mean by Title I students; Title I is a federal program that provides extra money to schools with 75 percent or more students qualifying for lunch subsidies. The Broad program doesn't say winners have to come from those schools, or even that they have to be on lunch aid. It does say they must demonstrate financial need (as many, many other scholarships do, as I well recall from our days of applying). Here's the link to eligibility:
http://www.broadprize.org/scholarship_program/eligibility.html
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