If you've ever posted a comment about Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on this blog or any online forum, you're apparently among the "thousands of bloggers, journalists and correspondents" currently covering CMS, according to a pitch PR chief LaTarzja Henry made to the school board Tuesday.
Board member Tom Tate raised an eyebrow at the notion that those "thousands" are comparable to the "approximately 10 full-time reporters" Henry tallied as being on the beat in 2000. Posting a comment, or even creating a blog, is not the same as being a journalist who covers education, he said.
Tate is right, and no one appreciates his making the distinction more than I do. But Henry is also right in saying the 24-hour interactive nature of digital coverage and commentary changes the game for CMS (as well as those of us who do cover the beat for a living).
We got a perfect illustration just a few hours later. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, CMS hit send on an email from interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh to all employees outlining plans to discard controversial CMS end-of-year tests and value-added ratings in favor of similar measures being designed by the state. Hattabaugh planned to make that public in his report to the school board at the tail end of the meeting that started at 6.
At 6:12, someone posted anonymously on this blog: "CMS Teacher Effectiveness project will be disbanded and so will CMS created summative assessments (except fine arts and world languages) in favor of using state measures. Just emailed to CMS employees ahead of tonight's meeting."
That two-sentence post contained both a major inaccuracy -- the "talent effectiveness project" that involves teachers and other employees remains in place -- and enough solid, breaking news to help me produce a front-page story for Wednesday's paper (and Tuesday night's online report). While the school board meeting was in progress, Henry scrambled to get me a copy of the email and help me track down Hattabaugh in the back halls of the Government Center.
The next morning, broadcast news jumped on the story. By the time CMS sent out a news release shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday, it served mainly to elicit chuckles from reporters who were all over the story -- thanks to an anonymous "correspondent" who broke the news.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
You might be a journalist if ...
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34 comments:
Of course TEPid remains in place, no other way to justify the obscene growth in the Accountaibility Department within CMS.
Drastically reduce that department and return the money to classrooms where it belongs.
This piece proves that CMS does not need to spend any more money to spread news, they just need to be more savvy in handling, or perhaps driving, social media for a positive, accurate, timely and productive message. Perhaps if the culture was more open on the front end, they wouldn't feel blind-sided and in damage-control mode on the back end. Keep up the solid work, Anne, perhaps you can teach LaTarza a thing or two.
"thousands of bloggers, journalists and correspondents"
I guess that means I can claim that crate of baby chicks someone left on my porch as my "pullet surprise."
All I can do is just laugh....
Telegraph, Telephone.......
There have always been better ways for anything. Here's the old joke that makes that point.
"What is a the best way to get the word out quickly?....telephone or tell-a-woman.
Now it's tell-a-blogger. Just have to be aware of telling a whopper.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Want to solve this problem Ms. Henry? Why not start with just telling the truth. CMS spends way too many hours putting a positive spin on things rather than just simply shooting straight. I hope you are enjoying that new I-Pad I saw you playing with the other day at lunch. Not only do the Principals and APs have them, but you got one too! Must be all that hard work you are doing. And while I am thinking about it.... when is that Broad party going to happen? I know all my teacher friends are looking forward to the event.
There is value to the community having discourse on topics without CMS or journalist filters. It is also valuable for CMS employees to have the ability to speak without fear of retribution for expressing their insights freely.
CMS should not have to stay ahead of the game in that CMS is not going anywhere anyway. CMS is here to stay. Budget changes, personnel changes and the issues of the hour will come to pass. Public information should report accurate timely information. Leading the information stream is really more about ego than function.
For CMS there is no competition, no alternate candidate and no need to do more than share facts as a government entity is obliged to do.
So LaTarzan needs help doing what should be her job.What a bunch of smoke and mirrors that comes out of that department.Must be the months that have been spent on that Broad party.Are the invitations in the mail yet?
Come on Man!
So LaTarza Henry needs to hire 2 more for that department at over $100,000 each. GREAT
2 Comm.Dept.= 7Classroom Teachers
Funny that if our school gets a technology position, it's half-time and they teach classes most of the day for a forth of the party planning department gig. Great "work" if you can hang on there sister.
So they hired 2 PR speacialist to sell the PfP/TEF pile of dung that CMS knew would be dropped for DPI standards
Now the head PR person LaTarza Henry wants to hire 2 more PR staff that costs even more in salary than the other 2.
What in the hell does she do? Does she go to meetings and hear the outline of initiatives that CMS wants to do, then scramble to hire the staff because she doesnt have the knowledge or skills to do the job? We all have to do "more with less" out there in the real world today sister!
CMS Standardized Test
Question #1:
Who gets paid the most in CMS and has the least production?
A)Scott Muri
B)Cobitz
C)Andy Baxter
D)Latarza Henry
Cobitz........Poof!
accountability department....really?
Latarzan what a waste of our money who cares what spin she cannot put on bad news. Get rid of all 3 in the PR staff and hire 10 more teachers. The Whopper Bolyn is looking for was at Beverly Woods School last night his name is Bill Anderson ! MeckEd what a bunch of bull ! We should cut that PR firm as well. What else can a retired principal do to get $125k annually fluff up CMS and they pay.
Ann, simply what most of us want is just a simple analytical way to view the data that justifies the persistance of all these extra monies for extra programs given to CMS to do above and beyond what the state and feds send money for.
I have no problem with the county supplement for all the teachers. I have no problem with finding a fair way that justifies paying more to better teachers than others. I have not seen it yet.
The budget should be reconfigured to levelize per pupil spending in all schools and let the targeted funding follow the targeted kids like the Title 1 funding following the Title 1 kids.
For example, Bright Beginnings should be cut student count wise limited to the special needs students federal law identifies and to the preK funding the state targets. No more adding to the program that can not/will not/refuses to justify its existence.
I have seen nothing yet that doe snot make me believe what CMS wants for new progrmas/spending for next year, it can not reprioritze funding it already gets.
Hey, this new password thing at the bottom is a hoot. They must have discovered some limited vision person really ripping CMS so they contrived another obstacle.
Nah, they just thought too many people were responding and wanted to make it harder for us.
CMS public schools are us, or:
CMS the tests are not worth the money after all,
CMS research is the for big boys,
CMS think tanks are us, buy us,
CMS pilot project glutton
CMS pubic agency planner (Hmmmm)
CMS teacher training for you, not Johnny
CMS FRL number scruncher
CMS you need numbers, we make them
CMS those south end kids have enough anyway
CMS those north end kids have enough anyway
CMS social media simple for kids - not for us
CMS I-pads for everyone, but the kids.
CMS taxes build schools, we dump on them
CMS who needs schools when you have 1000 trailers
CMS accountability, that's the other guys
CMS principal exodus reflections on continuous improvement.
CMS as good neighbor: honest, trustworthy, there to help and well something to hope for anyway.
This should be enough work for the Public Information Office to hire a complete CMS makeover staff.
Took me 4 times to pass the last password quiz. I can't make out this post at all - with or without glasses. Here we go...
It took me 3 tries this time. Ann, you're going to loose blogger-ship. The new password format is awful. Let's see how many attempts this takes? What a nightmare.
Correspondents or coconspirators?
Brought to you by the Observer's new and improved covert password team. Because we never learned cursive writing either.
LaTarza might have a new I-Pad, but apparently she doesnt know how to use it. She needs to hire TWO more in the department. Doesnt anyone in that department know how to use technology? The tech is supposed to REDUCE the labor!
3:27 never heard of cms described as doe snot before. Very funny, even if it was just a typo.
The new sign is actually industry standard and a wy to analyze old docs. Look it up!
How about this late breaking news:
Hugh Hattabaugh, Ann Clark, Scott Muri and Andy Baxter are all in way over their heads and won't admit it. Where's the accountability department to hold them accountable???
ANN
Why dont you ever talk about the accountability department in charge of social media? They are being funded and are there to search the internet for negative comments made by CMS workers. This is no more than a "nazi" department looking for information to fire employees.Wonder why morale is low?
Sure they are all over their head.Just in, Latarzans statement:
"We are all smimming in sunshine."
Must be her CMS PR photo full of "sunshine."
Journalists report the story with no biasness, with no agenda, with "the facts ma'm, just the facts" (Joe Friday). Never fearing to challenge the status quo. Never fearing to insist on proof for the assertions public officals will make.
Funny how most social media posts are limited to just a few words. Seems like LaTarspin could sit around all day and enter meaningful little posts. But then again with CMS blocking access to Facebook to most of its own computers it seems kind of silly. Kind of like Muri math. More public information people to create more posts CMS people can't even access. Maybe this is the next step in the CMS path to accountability? Put out info internal CMS people will not see until the next news cycle. Note to Will Robinson: I am not a robot!
I assume the "password" comments are about the thing where you have to type in words that are in distorted type to prove you're not a computer generating spam? I don't know what to say, other than yeah, I hate it too. When I get back to work I'll see what I can figure out about whether there's any way to register a concern, but of course that's not something I'm personally setting up.
What does Bolyn think ? We need him to survive just like CMS does.
I WOULD REPLY BUT....
I can't get the passwords correct.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
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