No, I am not talking about the fashion faux pas of Texas Big Hair as demonstrated by the woman in the photo.
The woman in the photo is yet one more person in Fort Worth who clearly is not competent to do the job she has been hired to do.
The woman's name is Melody Johnson. She is the Superintendent of Fort Worth Schools.
As long as I have been in Fort Worth there have been tales of corruption in the Fort Worth school system.
Arlington Heights High School assistant principal, Joe Palazzolo, went to his superiors, including Superintendent Johnson, to report some serious wrongdoing occurring at Arlington Heights High School
The Whistleblower, Palazzolo, became the problem, in Ms. Johnson's and her fellow corrupt lackey's eyes. Palazzolo was gradually marginalized til he no longer had a job.
There are laws that protect whistleblowers from retaliation from those about whom the whistle was blown. Those laws are now in play. How well this works in Texas, I have no idea.
FW Weekly has once more performed extremely well in its role as Fort Worth's only actual legitimate newspaper, doing actual real investigative journalism. Unlike the Fort Worth Star-Telegram which pretty much acts as the mouthpiece for the local stoolies in various positions of power.
If you want a good dose of the extreme madness that passes for Fort Worth's adults in positions of power, read this week's Fort Worth Weekly article about the Joe Palazzolo Scandal.
If this was a town where sanity was in the majority, Ms. Melody Johnson would have been fired, by now, over this scandal. If this were a town were sanity was in the majority, someone with Ms. Melody Johnson's Big Hair would never have been hired as a school superintendent.
Does anyone know if Melody Johnson is another Kay Granger relative?
UPDATE: Reading Anonymous Comment #2 causes me to think this Joe Palazzolo Scandal may not be quite as black and white as I thought it to be from reading it described in FW Weekly.
Wish. You mean that's not Kay Granger there?
ReplyDeleteFW kiddos don't need too much of that dangerous edgeyoumakation stuff. They'll be working in the gas drilling sites, digging trenches for the hundreds of miles of gas pipelines criss crossing under the whole city, cleaning up the contaminated land for the TRV island development, and the tracks for the TRV's street cars. Oh yea, lots of strong backs needed to clean up the poisonous Trinity River so people don't die from ingesting the tainted water while tubing, wakeboarding, and such. Lots of strong bodies will be needed to clean up after the occasional well or pipeline explosions too. No need to read or think critically since the FW Way means not debating public policies or evaluating issues in elections since people don't need to vote or allowed to vote on decisions that affect their family's health and their tax burdens.
See, this lady is very much in tune with the FW Way and is conditioning our younguns for life under the rule of the POSITIVE FW WAY. She's worth more than her current $325K salary.
A good friend of mine was a teacher who was subbing long term at Heights and had the opportunity to get to know Mr. Palazzolo. She worked there about a year ago and we would meet for lunch so she could vent for an hour about this person. Her perception of Mr. Palazzolo was that he was a pig-headed tattle-tail ass hole-bully that liked to get in everybody's business and throw people under the bus. He consistantly caused trouble for her and made up lies about her kids skipping her class. I know it's easy to wonder who's telling the truth, but in my opinion, she really had no reason to make this stuff up. She eventually resigned because he made her life a living hell. It made me sad because she really loved working at Arlington Heights and finally broke down and got her teaching certificate. 9 months after she resigned--she recieved a call from the Fort Worth ISD saying they were doing an investigation on her. She was so freaked out and it turns out that Palazzolo turned her in for texting students or something weird. The whole thing was completely assinine and completely out of line. I get so angry when I think about it because she loved teaching so much and loved all of her students. We need more teachers that love what they do and can provide mentorship to teenagers. I have known this friend since we were kids and it makes me mad the way she was treated. I think Joe Palazzolo got everything he deserved even if some of his whistle blowing was true- someone needed to blow the whistle on him years ago. Anyhow, just my 2 cents...
ReplyDeleteObvious question: did this commenter's friend's experience make it into the investigation report? If true then it should be in that report since the Weekly said FWISD was digging up anything bad against the guy.
ReplyDeleteIf not, this commenter is likely a plant to attack any sign of support for him or the Weekly missed a big lead and was less than fair in their reporting.
What other possible reason is there for this stark discrepancy, detective Durango?
I. Wanna Noe, if that is your real name?
ReplyDeleteThe second anonymous, while commenting as Anonymous, is known to me, and is a credible source, to me. Which sort of confused me as to the discrepancy between what Anonymous was saying and what I read in FW Weekly.
That's interesting, detective Durango.
ReplyDeleteI 'm still wondering if this particular long-term substitute teacher's experience and complaint is in that so called investigative report.
On the other hand, this man might very well be a general jerk and even was a bully to certain people. However the core issue is whether this man violated district policies that rise to a firing. He can be an unpleasant person to work with and relate to, but he can still be a generally good Asst. Principal and was telling the truth about the rampant corruption at AHHS (where both Lee Harvey Oswald and John Denver graduated from, BTW).
Was he targeted and retaliated against for his exposure to wrong doings at the school? Even jerks can be professional and ethical. Just as very sweet people who do wrong or are unethical. No person is perfect and mesh with everyone they deal with in life.
Because of the extensive coverages devoted to this controversy the Weekly does seem to be bordering on taking a side and pushing a particular agenda. It's reasoable to serve its readership by provding follow up reports to express new or subsequent developements. I was bothered that the Weekly did not provide follow up to their cover story about that man on Carter St. and his fight against that ridiculous pipeline plan. The only way to satisfy my need for follow up development with that controversy, and it's hints of corruption and conspiracy on the part of city government under the rule of CHK's man as mayor, was in your blog after Googling. Without reading your blog I wouldn't have known about that prehearing rally, the hearing itself, and some other things that came after hearing. Didn't the Weekly know about that rally and hearing? It seems that a reporter for the S-T was there but as usual served as a mouthpiece for CHK 's propaganda.
After that Carter Street pipeline matter, I 'm more careful (and critical, in the logical sense not in the more popular meaning sense ) when reading their reports focusing on similar elements.
The post by anonymous is only the tip of the Joe Palazzolo is a manipulative monster iceburg. The Fort Worth Weekly never, repeat n-e-v-e-r even attempted to discover if there was another side to the Palazzolo story. Arlington Heights is not the first school that Palazzolo ripped apart. Check into his shenanigans at South Hills High School. He was NOT a whistleblower, he was NOT a positive force within the school, and he most certainly does NOT deserve to be held up as an icon for truth and justice.
ReplyDelete