“School administrators desperately want to silence us about their mistreatment of our children, families, educators, and community, which is the goal of all abusers, but we will not be silenced!”
Disclaimer: UGOTNERVE is not able to verify the accuracy of all of the stories submitted to us. UGOTNERVE can neither guaranty nor imply the correctness or validity of any part or all of the information that is contained in the entries that are submitted. As a child and family advocacy site whose goal is to promote accountability, excellence, and integrity in education, UGOTNERVE makes a “good faith” effort to obtain information from reliable resources and confirm the information received. We, therefore, disavow any responsibility whatsoever for the inaccurate content of any postings. The liability of UGOTNERVE for any or all loss or damages resulting out of the posting of inaccurate accounts shall be limited to the deletion of the account from the website. If anyone believes that they have been misrepresented, misquoted, maligned, or in any other manner been dealt with in an untruthful manner, UGOTNERVE welcomes an open dialogue with such a person regarding all issues in question. UGOTNERVE will responsibly and voluntarily remove any stories or any parts of stories that misrepresent the truth. We will also take reasonable measures to ensure that any confidential information not be disclosed. This disclaimer in no way compromises our commitment to expose the ugly injustices that are committed and condoned by school officials resulting in negative impacts on the lives of socially, educationally, and economically disadvantaged children and their families.
April 12, 2008
These past two weeks have been a world wind! God is awesome and will stand up for you if you stand up for Him and His purpose.
We have had to deal with haters, fakers, and perpetrators. We have even had to confront powers, positions, and politics whose sole mission is self-preservation at the expense of the futures of our children.
Now, as Martin said, not everybody has been willing to fight this fight with us. In fact, many that said they would fight went AWOL or defected to the enemy’s side. They valued their jobs, paychecks, man’s approval, and conformity over the real values in life. We do not blame them. They are weak, immature, and lost, mentally, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually. Not even God can help them because He will not do for you what you can do for yourself.
Inspite of the human obstacles, we have encountered some of the most inspiring and dedicated people within our communities. Those that did not have a voice are being heard at the highest levels, which include, the NAACP, EEOC, Virginia Department of Education, US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Congressman Bobby Scott’s office, and Senator Donald McEachin’s office. They have tasted the spirit of advocacy on behalf of our children and now have become formidable forces against those that thrived off of bullying them and their children.
They have began the legal process of filing charges against this school board for extending the contract of an individual that is clearly NOT what Henrico County’s children need. The question that will be asked is why the board did not solicit public comment and why they did this so quickly as one of their first acts in January. The board will also have to answer the question of what criteria was used to approve the extension of this contract. If the reason given was to permit Morton to “retire” from Henrico, then the board can expect to “retire” within months. They promised to represent us and have failed miserably within the first four months of their “service”, but we will hold them accountable and will remove them if they fall short. That is OUR promise to them and our OBLIGATION to our children.
While we have witnessed the extreme passion and love of our children throughout this struggle for equality, adequacy, and fairness; we have also witnessed the lowest forms of evil human behavior that originates directly from the pits of hell. We are referring to the words and actions of school officials like Morton, Armstrong, Rokenbrod, Jepson, Royal, Kinlaw, Roberts, Jordan, and Ellis. Make no mistake they are NOT our friends, and yes, their “smiling faces are lying to the races”. Under their leadership, they have created a horrific atmosphere where educators and parents live in constant fear of retaliation if they speak out, shame for the present state of our schools, and frustration due to the fact that the needs of our children continue to go ignored, denied, and unmet….sounds like the way that Saddam Hussein ran Iraq and was hung as a result.
You know what we speak of regarding them, central office officials that lie with every breath that they take. Public servants that have forgotten their oaths to be the voice of the people, not the force of politics. Instructional leaders that willingly sacrifice the well being of children and dedicated educators for the progression of their own selfish careers and agendas. We have even witnessed a superintendent that falsifies, misleads, purposefully misinterprets, and even ignores the truth just so his strategic plan to promote himself and his cronies is realized, even if it means death and suffering to our children.
Growing up, my mother and grandmother, who are both ministers, used to say that anything or anyone that kills, steals, and destroys is doing the “devil’s” work. My grandmother, “Madea”, whom I was raised by and who was an formidable social activist within her own rights throughout the most dangerous streets of the Southside of Chicago, constantly instilled in me the litmus test for identifying the “angels of death” posing as “angels of light”. She always told me and taught me to “judge their fruit”. As Madea would say, if the fruit looks rotten and smells rotten, then the tree is rotten, and you know that rotten fruit makes everyone sick.
Well, as we have fought the good fight, we have “judged the fruit” of the leaders of Henrico County Public Schools and Rolfe Middle School, and the fact is that your “fruit is rotten”, and you are fully engaged in the “devil’s work” by posing as “angels of light”, when you are really “angels of death”. The gig is up! You have been served! You been busted! It’s time for the bullies to leave our children’s playground of life!
Justice is about to run alright…..flow just right…..and it don’t matter what “they” do now because at this point, the judgement has been issued by the ulitmate judge, God. Those of us that have been sent on this assignment, to usher in justice, equality, and God’s culture into the lives of EVERY child, parent, and educator within Henrico County Public Schools, always knew that this era would come. We always knew that even if the board says that you are the boss….you don’t have the final word. Even if the superintendent says that you are appointed…it does not mean that you are approved. Even if school officials try to abuse, misuse, and prostitute the law to put you out and shut you up…they are finding out that all of their efforts are futile against the power of truth.
As Reverend Carolyn Showell so eloquently states, “ain’t nothin’ you gon’ do to stop what God has planned for HIS children that have prayed, fasted, fought, died, suffered, sacrificed, and endured.”
In the bible when the reign of an evil king and his cronies is coming to an end, the children of Israel would began singing, dancing, and laughing…just having an all out party of how God defeats the enemies of His people that have not compromised or sold out to the values of this earthly realm. UGOTNERVE is feeling very excited about what is coming, and believe us, the fall of this evil empire is coming quickly, not only because we have stood for justice and truth, but because the “wickedness of the wicked results in their own demise.”
Many have said that Morton and them have all the power and authority. This is not true. If Pharoh and his cronies from hell can be destroyed because they chose to “chase after God’s people in order to silence and destroy them,” then Morton and his group haven’t got a chance in prevailing against us. See, we are anointed to do this, and for those of you that do not believe in God or the anointing, just watch. Those of us that do know that we are sent on special assignments, like Navy Seals, to expose and conquer the enemy. We have done our part, now God is doing His.
What is so ironic is that EVERYTHING…EVERTHING…EVERYTHING that they do is only going to quicken their end! They have done far too much lying, stealing, manipulating, abusing, misusing, deceiving, depriving, violating, silencing, falsifying, fabricating, plotting, slipping, and sliding to get out of this now. What is even more ironic is that even if they tried to walk away now, God will not let it be. They were charged with educating, empowering, and encouraging our children for life, but have failed to accomplish their mission miserably.
The bible says that it would have been better for them to have had a rope tied around their necks and been thrown into the bottom of the ocean than to neglect, abuse, misuse, and prostitute children.
Hmmmmmm…..looks like “reaping what has been sown” ain’t going to be pretty for them. After all, like my grandmother always says, it is better to correct your own behavior than for God to have to do it!
KEEP UP THE NERVE!
March 31, 2008
“The only way to know where the lines are in life is to cross them. It is time for our society to be honest about who we really are and what we are really allowing to go on in this country.” We heard these words from comedian Dave Chapelle when he was asked by a white man if he ever felt that he went too far when confronting the issues of racism within our world. After hearing Chapelle’s response and encouragement to be truthful about the state of our communities, continuing the fight for equality for ALL children is no longer a choice, it is our God-given duty.
So many others, black and white, are upset about regarding the stance that UGOTNERVE and its readers are taking regarding Henrico County Public Schools. They scream,
“Why are you doing this to our schools?”,
“Why are you humiliating our county?”,
“Why are you airing out our dirty laundry in public?”
“Why don’t you just go along to get along?”
“Why are you attacking our principal when he is a nice guy?”
“What is wrong with a typical school like Rolfe?”
If you notice the common thread in all of these statements…..the common thread is that at no point, in no way, are our children or their welfare mentioned. That is where we are at in Henrico County Public Schools.
There is an appetite for mediocrity,
There is tolerance for incompetency,
There is a strong aversion to the truth,
Excellence is considered to be an option, not the standard,
Failure is the goal, not the enemy….all because Fred Morton, the top instructional leader for this county, has failed to put our children first. It is time for him to be removed immediately. He should resign immediately. It is not possible to change a heart, nor is it possible to make someone care for something that they do not. They can fake it for a while, but eventually, they end up neglecting our children again because they do not value our children. They do not comprehend the gift from God that they are. As a result, they can devalue them and treat them worse than animals with no remorse. They will even fight you for trying to stop them from hurting our children.
We had a great conversation with Dr. Vines of Henrico’s NAACP on this evening. The sounds of the war drums are getting louder and closer. It is time for a change in Henrico for our children. THEY MUST BE FIRST AT ALL COSTS. We must make it happen for them and remove those that refuse to make it happen for them NOW, not later, NOW!
We also need to ask this school board how they justify acting in the best interests of children when the only reason that is given for renewing a superintendent’s contract is “so he can retire from Henrico”.
What about the voice of those that elected you?
Did anyone ask why the previous school board failed to renew his contract or don’t you care?…
Oh, these are not YOUR children that are suffering under his leadership, so we know that you do not care, but we do!
Why were we not consulted? Why were our voices not heard?
This sounds like a nice, convenient, good ol’e boy hook up for the superintendent by the school board with absolutely no consideration for how this decision will impact our children.
WE CAN NO LONGER LIVE IN THE PAST WITH A SUPERINTENDENT OR SCHOOL BOARD THAT HAS NO VISION OF EXCELLENCE FOR ALL OF OUR CHILDREN AND ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS.
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?
KEEP UP THE NERVE!
March 30, 2008
We had the opportunity to interact with our parents, grandparents, educators, and students within the community this past weekend. When we take the time to “talk” to our communities by going person to person and door to door, face to face, we are able to touch and hear their hearts…that is IF, we care. One parent shared of how it is interesting that school board members like John Montgomery, can go door to door for votes to win a seat on the school board, but do not feel that the same effort is required to win a seat in the hearts of members of the community.
As we mingled, we heard, first hand, the frustrations of parents from elementary to high school within Henrico County Public Schools. One single parent with a highly gifted student asked what steps needed to be taken in order to remove not only the superintendent, but the principal of Varina High School. Another parent of Rolfe Middle School stated that the entire county needs an “enema” in order to get rid of all of the waste that is backed up in the schools and getting in the way of “healthy” schools for our children.
Parents went on to share how Henrico Schools have always been suspected of promoting and maintaining institutionalized racism and discrimination based on economic status, but they just did not know how blatant the officials had become in doing it. She expressed a great deal of concern about the fact that her African-American son has been labeled as a threat when his white friends do the same things but receive a visit to the school counselor instead a referral for expulsion.
Another parent shared how since Ms. Lucas was forced from her son’s class that he is not learning anytbing. She shared how the students are no longer challenged and that the teacher that replaced Ms. Lucas is not even trained to teach reading and it shows. The parent asked why Mr. Armstrong does not have high standards for the students.
Over the past week, we have distributed over 500 flyers and continue to refer our parents to the NAACP, ACLU, and OCR regarding their concerns. Many parents were very appreciative of the direction and knowledge that was shared due to the fact that they felt as though they were fighting a giant that continued to stomp on them and their children.
Well, we are helping you GET UR NERVE!
March 27, 2008
We have had a very busy week. After traveling to DC, North Carolina, and Portmouth as we continue to share our advocacy and YOUR stories with key people, for the past two days, we have been canvassing the neigborhoods all over the East End. We have distributed over 1,000 flyers for the CCIE (Community Council for Integrity in Education).
The response has been great. We have heard stories from everyone from business owners to grandparents regarding the struggles that they have had to endure battling Henrico County Public Schools in an effort to ensure that their children receive the education that they deserve.
While the horror stories continue to be reported regarding John Rolfe, Varina, Ward, and Montrose have been added to the list of pending complaints for the OCR. Many have shared how they made every effort to work through a system that does not work for them or their children. Others confirmed what we have known that they have received little or no response from Central Office or the School Board. One grandparent shared that when he requested to speak with the school board, he was redirected to Ms. Royal’s office, where she never returned his call. He shared how frustrated he is with the “brick wall” that is continually placed before him and how no one cares about his student.
That’s where CCIE and UGOTNERVE come in! Our goal is to educate our people about their rights, empower them to act, and encourage them to follow through and support others. It is working, one family at a time. Several parents from Rolfe have also began circulating a petition demanding that Ms. Lucas be returned back to Rolfe with her students. Parents shared that they will present it to the OCR team when they arrive next month during a press conference that is to be held outside the school board office. Our community is moving! The fact is that it does not take a large number of people to make a change, we just need a dedicated few.
Just like Henrico has a dedicated few that are destroying the educational opportunities of our children, we can have a dedicated few to bring “excellence” back! The members of CCIE are so motivated and determined to make a change on the East End that they have children handing out fliers and advocacy session information. We have hit most of the beauty salons and barber shops on the East End over the past two days, and now we will move to the churches and daycares.
One parent shared how John Montgomery had no problem going door-to-door to get our votes, but he has no desire to go door-to-door to get our voice. As we expected, there is a great frustration within the community regarding the lack of action and response of the school board members that were elected to bring a new voice and a new view to the schools in an effort to support our children, but have not.
When asked if the new school board members will hit the neighborhoods to reach those that cannot attend school board meetings, we responded, probably not. Any school board that shortens the public comment time from five to three minutes, when it was clear that five minutes was often not enough time for comments to be made, definitely is not going to organize to go into the communities to hear from our most needy groups for which they are charged with representing.
Unfortunately, we can no longer rely on those that we put in office and whose salaries we pay with our property taxes. We are on our own. The struggle for social, educational, civil, racial, economic, and overall justice for our children is a war that must be fought by us. We can no longer wait for someone else to do it, we must, one family at a time, on child at a time, one school at a time, one educator at a time. We must do it.
KEEP UP THE NERVE!
March 24, 2008
Thank you to sites like Technorati.com for taking our blog to readers all over the world! We feel blessed to know that you value what UGOTNERVE, its readers, and writers have to say, even if those that should do not!
We just finished meeting with other parents within the community. Many were very happy by Ms. Lucas’ standing up for their children, but did not understand why she was removed from the school when the principal and his cronies should have gotten the boot. One African-American father said that “that’s white folks for you, they will shut down an intelligent, bold, educated, attractive, and articulate sista’ in a minute if it means they have to do right. They are mad because she showed them up.”
We also met with our legal eagles again and found even more laws that were violated by Armstrong and Morton regarding Ms. Lucas and the others that have come to us for legal support. A class action suit is developing against Armstrong, Morton, Royal, Jepson, and many others. The extent to which they have violated district, state, and federal laws is unbelievable! The fact that the school board and their attorney have condoned it has only increased their own level of liability.
One thing is for sure, discrimination, retaliation, unethical, and illegal actions are going to cost the taxpayers of Henrico County a great deal of money as the public school officials fight and settle all of the cases that are coming….and there will be a great deal of settling going on!
The next step is to remove them all, Morton, Armstrong, Rokenbrod, Jordan, Ellis, Royal, Jepson…remove them all! Our legal eagles have helped to develop a plan for that as well. We are certain that the demands of parents to the OCR to remove them combined with our efforts will make sure that they never destroy the life of another child again!
Watch out for the next article to be published at www.ednews.org early next week. It is going to start a REVOLUTION for sure in Henrico County!
KEEP UP THE NERVE!
March 21, 2008
Well, it has been an awesome week! We went from Fred Morton completely denying that there was an issue at the last school board meeting to him being forced to tell the truth that many have been forced to live for years. Unity and the media are awesome tools that force the most relentless oppressors to bend! We are also in the process of investigating a strange report from Rolfe that involved an educator being removed from a field trip school bus and driven away from the school by an administrator. We will give you the details when we know.
This week, we will have two more community meetings for OCR complaint filing and meeting with our pro bono “legal eagles”. Come out and join us as we travel to DC. One of our parents suggested that we organize a protest while the OCR is in town, in order to get the board’s attention, and bring more media attention to the neglect and mistreatment of our children, and they STILL refuse to change the leadership. Email us for more information and for a flyer to share with your church, neighborhood, and family.
KEEP UP THE NERVE!
March 20, 2008
Henrico just keeps digging a deeper and deeper hole for themselves. Ms. Lucas shared with us that Dr. Kinlaw, Assistant Superintendent, sent a letter to her advising that it is NOT a common practice in Henrico or the Commonwealth at large, to offer a continuing contract to individuals that have transferred into Henrico after working three full years with another district, but not working the fourth year. This is the basis for Henrico revoking Ms. Lucas’ tenured status that was granted at the beginning of this year after completing her probationary period with Henrico.
Evidently, Dr. Kinlaw, Dr. Jepson, Mr. Morton, and Wendell Roberts (attorney) do not have access to the same list of educators that UGOTNERVE has who were granted continuing contract status under the same conditions as Ms. Lucas. The only difference between Ms. Lucas and the others is:
1) She is African-American.
2) Her continuing contract status is the ONLY one that has been revoked, despite claims from Dr. Kinlaw that the county is going to review contracts from the past two years and revoke any contracts that have earned tenure with only three years of probationary teaching in another school district.
What they do not realize is that another OCR complaint has been filed against Henrico County Public Schools for thinking that they can void valid contracts because they made an error. The request to the OCR is requesting that EVERY employee’s file in Henrico Schools be reviewed to determine if they have been awarded tenure properly and if their evaluations were completed properly. It is clear that Dr. Jepson and others have inconsistently applied the continuing contract guidelines to certain employees, which is just another example of discriminatory and unfair treatment of employees.
To know that there are individuals within this county, that have served children for five or more years, that are going to have their contracts VOIDED because Henrico County Public Schools states that they made an error is going to be a great injustice that is going to result in a major class action suit.
UGOTNERVE has already warned those educators that we know of that are facing potential action by Dr. Kinlaw’s office, so the word is spreading. Several educators have Henrico’s Educational Association on standby and ready to challenge the action.
One thing that this proves is that incompetence reaches the highest levels of Henrico County Public Schools, and as opposed to doing the ethical and humane thing by honoring the continuing contracts that were issued from 2007-2008 and prior, then correcting the policy, these leaders do not mind destroying the employment status of educators based on their own negligent actions.
Looks like yet another suit is pending. And no, Dr. Kinlaw, it is not “settled” that other school districts manipulate the law like Henrico, see: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/Div/Stafford/Regulations/Personnel/P5_49_1.pdf
Continuing Contracts (continued)(Section C, #2) “…A teacher who served successfully for three (3) full years in another Virginia School division, was reappointed and eligible to receive a continuing contract, but did not return for the fourth (4th) year shall be considered as having attained continuing contract status and will be eligible to receive a continuing contract after successfully serving one (1) year of probation...”
March 19, 2008
God is so AWESOME! Vindication is a wonderful thing! He will stand up for us if we stand up for what is right! See: http://www.nbc12.com/news/state/16790671.htmlSo much is going on now! We will be returning a call to Senator McEachin’s office this week, going to DC this weekend, as well as organizing a forum of parents and employees to have a roundtable with the media regarding Henrico and John Rolfe.KEEP UP THE NERVE!March 17, 2008See http://ednews.org/articles/23902/1/Office-of-Civil-Rights-OCR-Launches-Investigation-Into-Henrico-County-Public-Schools-For-Multiple-Civil-Rights-Violation-Allegations/Page1.html Now, Henrico, its bullies, and its illegal tactics against parents, students, and educators is being exposed to the world! Pass this on and encourage others that have concerns to file complaints with the OCR too. The federal government coming to Henrico validates all that we, (parents, students, educators), have been saying for the past year. It also discredits the administrators and central office staff that have repeatedly and ineffectively tried to silence and cover-up this horrible mess that is hurting our own children! FRED, YOUR ARMS ARE TO SHORT TO FIGHT WITH OCR!Keep Up The Nerve!…..Reinforcements Are Coming to Justify US and Save Rolfe’s Children!March 16, 2008Michelle Obama, wife of Barak Obama, made a very profound and relevant statement this past week regarding the struggle of those that have traditionally had no voice in our society. She said, “when power is confronted with change, it will say or do ANYTHING, to avoid change, whether it is change for the better or not. Power does not want change that evens the playing field or empowers the weak, or even rights an injustice. Change is hard, but we are the answers.”
In Henrico County, we have witnessed, first hand, that power will do any and everthing to hold its position, even it means destroying the most vulnerable and weakest among us, but the times are changing. Change is hard, but we are the answers, and they know that we are the answers to questions that they want to remain unanswered because if these questions are answered, then they will no longer be able to rule in a fog of confusion, fear, and distortion. The truth of answers makes the air clear for all, even those that have had absolute power to oppress absolutely. Times are changing because WE GOT NERVE! and God did not give it to us for us not to fight with all of our hearts, spirits, and souls for justice and equality for everyone’s children.
Our community meeting was awesome last night! We are working very hard to educate our community regarding their rights so that they can advocate effectively for all of us. We won’t fight the fight for you, but we will educate, empower, and encourage you to fight with us. Next weekend, we travel to Washington DC to participate in the legal and political training sessions. See you there!
March 14, 2007
UGOTNERVE is one month old this week, and has had nearly 3,500 hits, (almost a thousand hits a week), since we launched this advocacy website, whose sole purpose is to be the voice of those that are subjected to injustice, discrimination, retaliation, neglect, abuse, and other forms of mistreatment. We expose those that hide behind titles, positions, and incompetency.
Stay tuned for more information regarding our upcoming talk show appearances that were extended to us. If you are interested in appearing on the show to share your stories, and how you are fighting against injustice within education, email us, we feel honored to be able to give you a voice especially when those whose job it is to be your voice ignore, dismiss, and devalue you.
WOW! After Ms. Lucas’ speech and appearance on the news last night, the email and phones have been in full swing! Parents that did not make the meeting on last night (because they thought that the meeting for March was at the end of the month) have contacted us to file their OCR, NAACP, VADOE, and ACLU complaints against Henrico County Public Schools and John Rolfe Middle School. We helped to file an additional six this evening, which is a total of twenty-two to date in less than five months. We think that these agencies are starting to see the pattern of blatant civil rights violations that are going on in Henrico’s schools at an epidemic rate.
Thank you, to the Executive Director of the NAACP, for the words of encouragement to continue standing up and fighting for our children firmly. You are right, NOW is the time!
We also want to thank the JustChildren Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center for spreading the news of our story. We will get justice for our children!
During our community meeting on tomorrow evening, we will continue to assist in filing complaints online and faxing the required consent forms. (We would like to give a special thanks to the federal employee that donated a laptop AND fax machine for our effort!) Email us for more information or to obtain copies of the complaint forms.If we can’t make Fred Morton do the right thing, we can be assured that the federal and state governments will! Ain’t nobody mad but the devil!
March 10, 2008
PARENTS, EDUCATORS, AND RESIDENTS OF HENRICO; THINK THAT WE CAN’T MAKE A CHANGE IF WE UNITE, SEE THIS LINK: http://www.fulldisclosure.net/flash/452-3_CUSD_preview.php
AFTER VIEWING THIS, WE ARE POSITIVE THAT YOU WILL BE EMPOWERED TO ACT TO HOLD MR. MORTON, HIS STAFF, MR. ARMSTRONG, AND THE SCHOOL BOARD ACCCOUNTABLE FOR OUR CHILDREN.
Hmmmmm, we are feeling the urge to make our OWN internet video with FULL DISCLOSURE NETWORK for our children, then maybe Henrico Public Schools will know that we, too, are tired of being abused and ignored! If you are interested in sharing your story regarding Henrico County Public Schools with FULL DISCLOSURE, email us at ugotnerve1@gmail.com!
