Swimming in the Pensieve

Ever wonder why LBUSD works the way it does (like a bunch of drunk idiots, out for a joyride in a stolen car)? Stop wondering and take a good look at this analogy to the LBUSD culture. Any system wherein idiots are rewarded functions in this very way, and LBUSD is certainly the best example of an idiot-rewarding system that I can think of.

My son returned from his third day at Robert A. Millikan High School and, when asked how his day went, mentioned that his English teacher, Kevin Fielder, had brought him up in front of the class and used him as an example of Mandatory School Uniform non-compliance. My son was wearing black uniform pants instead of the very dark navy pants which look nearly black. Mr. Fielder also stated to the class that, any student not in perfect compliance with Millikan Uniform Policy would suffer the deduction of points from their class letter grade.

		Cloth colored the same as the right-hand side of this image, instead of the color of the left-hand side of this image, will get you a suspension or a lowered grade at LBUSD’s Millikan High School?(Unaltered color samples taken from the online catalogue of a popular retailer of women’s formal wear.)
		Ignore the shirt and tie combinations.Would you be terminated, or even reprimanded, if you came into work wearing the suit jacket on the right instead of the one on the left?Not even remotely likely!(Unaltered suit images taken from the online catalogue of a popular retailer of men’s suits.)

Upon learning of this, my wife decided to have a chat with somebody over at Millikan…but they didn’t answer the phone at all, around 14:00 this afternoon. She then called the office of Maggie Webster, the Assistant Superintendent of High Schools for LBUSD. Talk about getting the run-around!

Suffice it to say that, the uniform policy exists merely to be rammed down the collective throats of parents, and it really doesn’t matter how compliance is obtained. They will use legal means or illegal means to insure that orders are obeyed. (I’m getting the creepy feeling that we are living in Nazi Germany now-a-days.)

The end-game? Mr. Guillermo Jimenez told my wife that our son is not permitted to attend Millikan High School unless he is in compliance with Millikan’s uniform policy. How’s that for excellence in education? The pants are more important than the child; or thinking, it would seem.

Below, you’ll find the letter I sent as a ‘.pdf’ attachment to an email to the following LBUSD email addresses: mwebster@lbusd.k12.ca.us, csteinhauser@lbusd.k12.ca.us, jcornejo@lbusd.k12.ca.us, dkeller@lbusd.k12.ca.us, gjimenez@lbusd.k12.ca.us .

According to what Steinhauser told LBReport.com in January of 2003, none of this is supposed to be happening; but, from our understanding of everything Steihauser has told us, we just aren’t surprised anymore. The paperwork we received from Millikan, this summer, made absolutely no mention of an ‘Opt-Out’ provision; and went so far as to force parents to sign a statement that basically set-forth that, by having their child attend Millikan, the parent was agreeing to all aspects of a mandatory requirement of uniform. We, of course, signed and crossed out the pertinent illegal passages.

(UPDATE: I made a mistake on this one. It seems that I remembered intending to do exactly that, after signing it and discussing it with my wife. I got distracted and the form did make it out of the house without the intended modifications. This is not a problem insamuch as their piece of paper is in violation of law; therefore my signature thereupon binds our family to no specific performance with respect to the school uniform policy. Please refer to the Uniform Commercial Code and other legal references wherein a contract provision, or the similitude thereof, is rendered invalid when it is in conflict with a statute of the larger controlling jurisdictional entity–in this case, the sate of California–leaving the remainder of the contract binding upon the parties thereto.)

From what I read in Steinhauser’s communication with LBReport.com, #’s 1, 2, and 8 are blatantly false assertions. In our experience, #3 will probably be held-back as a future retalliatory bludgeon. The kind of choice implied by #6 is probably the same kind of “choice” Steinhauser had spoken directly to me about in the past; which is no choice except complete obedience to the district–anything else is described as a deliberate choice for something else, according to Steinhauser. Great training for participation in some sort of future fascist state, if you ask me.

At any rate, since it was my wife who actually spoke to people on the phone this afternoon, you might want to read her narrative of the exchange. From her own words, you will easily see that there are a host of people in LBUSD who keep their heads stored someplace safe from the sunlight.