Working together on the Lingering Issues resulting from the Homelessness Population Explosion in the County

 

District 1 constituents are frustrated with the exploding issue of the homeless
engaging in dysfunctional (often illegal) behavior in their neighborhoods.

I had the opportunity to meet with Sheriff Chip Simmons and his top leadership staff this week, in his office, on a topic that is on everyone's minds today.  What can we do about the homeless that are engaging in dysfunctional conduct in the county?  What can the county do, what can the Sheriff's office do, and what can the community do?

I was joined in this meeting by Tim Day, the head of code enforcement and Jesse Casey, the District 1 Field Representative.

We are receiving a lot of constituent complaints about the conduct of some of these homeless individuals who are engaging in theft and vandalism of property and other behavior including drug use and in some instances sex crimes.  Constituents want action and their frustration is palpable.

The meeting was productive and the Sheriff and his staff want to assist.  The attorneys for the ECSO have been working with the county attorney on updating our ordinance relating to panhandling in the roadways, code enforcement has been working in conjunction with ECSO on some particular areas in the  county where the problems associated with the homeless  have become acute and untenable.

Here is the thing though: nobody wants to vilify or stigmatize any citizen.  Some of these folks are legitimately down on their luck and need help.  The good news is we have resources and we all, collectively, want to help those that want help.  And we will continue to assist and support those in the community that are serving the homeless and assisting them with breaking free of being homeless.

But the others who are engaging in illegal activities, the ones who are trespassing and or dumping trash all over the place trashing some neighborhoods, walking in roadways banging on windows, aggressively bothering motorists and stealing from private property to finance their substance abuse addictions--these are the ones whose behaviors cannot be condoned.

So there are a specific set of strategies that we are going to be implementing going forward.  We will find ways to quickly identify owners of private properties where illegal trespassers are camping unlawfully in order to streamline the trespasser removal process.  I believe the issuance of civil citations will also be on the table for violators/trespassers--mandating these folks appear in court.  And I do believe we will work toward an enforcable county ordinance that will assist the ECSO's efforts to keep aggressive, rude and obnoxious panhandlers out of our roadways and intersections.  There will be other tools which will also be used that are still being explored.

Additionally, I am going to seek funding for dedicated law enforcement staff at the ECSO to directly engage the homeless in the county working closely with code enforcement.  The city has a couple of officers who are doing this currently utilizing CRA funding and I hear this is working well for them.  So I would like to do something similar in the county in the areas where the problem is becomming unbearable.

So much more to come on this---but meanwhile I just want folks to know it is being worked.

Business Owners want Action on the Homelessness Dysfunction Spreading in the County

A D1 Constituent sent me this picture, taken at the intersection of Beverly Parkway and W Street....Is this what we want our kids to see when driving around this district?

Folks in District 1 are getting fed up with the aggressive behavior of the homeless population that seems to be growing larger by the day.  The trash they are generating, the destruction of property, theft, the panhandling, the public nudity, drug use, camping on private property, and engaging in dysfunctional behavior.  Folks are fed up---and they want action.  I heard it at Monday's town hall, and I have heard it from constituents all over the district.  Yesterday, I received the below email of frustration from a local taxpaying business owner.  He's fed up--and he is saying what a lot of folks are thinking.

"The purpose of this email is to address a concern that I share with other business owners along Beverly Parkway. My office is located at the corner of Beverly Parkway and W Street. We have a serious problem with indigents and transients: trespassing ,aggressively  panhandling ,doing drugs, and destroying property at our places of business and in the surrounding residential area. We have contacted Sheriff Simmons about the problem and he has advised us the majority of the people causing harm are staying on a wooded property adjacent to us. Surprisingly, this land is county owned and even though these people are clearly trespassing and living on the property, the County Commissioners will not issue a trespassing complaint to remove them. Sheriff Simmons has made it clear his hands are tied and he cannot act until you all file a trespass complaint. Is this an accurate representation of the situation ,and if so why are the County Commissioners allowing this to happen? Secondly, why can we not pass an ordinance against camping  or trespassing on county owned property? They are not public property and we should not have to wait for the County Commissioners to trespass people from the county’s  own property before anything can be done. The homeless population in Escambia County continues to grow every year and it is no surprise why when these people can live for free and have sanctuary from the police on county owned property. Whatever needs to change be it a full-on sheriff’s homeless task force or better written ordinances, we would support the effort. What I and other tax payers would not support is keeping things the way they are and continuing to let county land to be used as a base of operations for the homeless. The bottom line is the tax payers in this area are starting to feel like their safety comes second to the rights of the homeless and that’s just not something we’re going to abide by. Please give this matter your utmost attention and provide a response."

TO WHICH I RESPONDED:

"Thank you for bringing the situation to my attention. Unfortunately, this situation is occurring on multiple parcels of land throughout the county not simply the ones owned by the county. I have no issue at all trespassing people who are on county property illegally. If you forward me the address of this parcel, I will give it to Code Enforcement immediately. I agree we should have an ordinance prohibiting this activity, I have on multiple occasions brought the solution of moving the homeless out of the area out to the woods in a campsite where services could be brought to them in order to keep them away from businesses and homes. Unfortunately, this initiative has gained no support from my counterparts. I am not giving up though. I want to be compassionate, but my primary compassion is for folks who want to help and will take help. My understanding of the problem is roughly half of those who are Homeless  are engaging in illegal behavior, and are addicted to drugs or alcohol and have no inclination to change this behavior. But I stand up for business owners and residents and I’m a rule follower so I will look at the situation carefully and again I have no problem proposing an ordinance, which would prohibit overnight camping on vacant county property. Thank you,  again, for  Bringing this to my attention. I am copying our county attorney, our county administrator and our Director of Code Enforcement on this email. Please reply all with the subject parcel that you believe is county owned where homeless folks are camping overnight. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeff Bergosh

Commissioner, District 1"

A D1 Constituent sent me this picture of a homeless encampment and trash pile that 
sprung up recently on Mobile Hwy in District 1

Multiple Phased Approach Needed to Curb Gun Violence Locally....

 

Yesterday evening, 11 locally elected representatives and one local pastor as well as the Pensacola Police Chief met at the Brownsville Community Center for the second Sheriff’s Roundtable on Gun Violence.  The event had about 50 citizens from the area in attendance, as well as multiple media outlets and various office staffers.

About a dozen speakers addressed the panel.  Various ideas/topics were broached.  The overall theme from the citizens was that areas of poverty produce the violence—so anything that the local governments can provide to such areas will help stem the tide of the gun violence we have seen.  Jobs, infrastructure, more programs for youth, and more police patrols were some suggested solutions.  In a nutshell—more services and money invested is what most of the speakers wanted to see.

After public forum concluded--each of the panelists spoke and described recent actions their respective organizations have taken to assist with this problem.  The group ended the discussion after about an hour and forty minutes, settling in on the idea that the entire panel would descend on one neighborhood and bring all the available services from each represented entity to this one area in a “blitz” of the neighborhood --for lack of a better term.  I fully support this, although we will see if such an initiative carries over and has staying power long term to help curb gun violence.  It will take events like this combined with much more, to turn the tide.

For my part, I offered specific, tangible ideas I would fund, and ideas for which I would advocate, built from the comments I made at the initial meeting where I described the current violence (as well as other social ills we see) as a symptom of a much larger issue—the complete breakdown of the American Family, acute in areas where we see extreme levels of violence and crime.  No families, no fathers, no religion, cultural acceptance of dysfunctional conduct, and NO guidance for too many youths growing up in the cesspool of a cultural meltdown with such children being “raised” by the entertainment industry’s products promoting the glorification of violence and antisocial behavior. 

I believe the issue is massive and will take a holistic, wide ranging set of  short-term, medium term, and long range approaches to turn.  It will take decades.  It takes families, and it takes fathers.

In Pensacola, as in other cities, we see a significant amount of gun violence that manifests from areas of generational social dysfunction and poverty.

Sheriff Chip Simmons has sponsored  community roundtables to allow us (local leaders) to brainstorm practical solutions.  At the first such roundtable meeting heldlate last year—a large and diverse group of community leaders, pastors, law enforcement personnel, school district leaders, and other elected officials got together to discuss the problem with an eye toward solutions.

And the sheriff was direct in asking for ideas and tangible solutions that could be implemented by each participant within his/her individual sphere of influence.

Yesterday as we met again, we interacted with one another and the members of the community that came to the event to have their voices heard.  I left my suggestions, below, with the Sheriff,----- and I described a few to the panel.

No easy, fast solutions exist short of martial law in some crime-ridden areas and the construction of more jail space—but if we have the courage to identify the real root causes and begin to work on these big issues that drive the dysfunction—we will see improvement over time.

But it takes decades to fix what has taken decades to unravel and devolve.   My proposed, initial list of suggestions below:

 

78th Coffee with the Commissioner this Wednesday--Talking Public Schools and the County with Kevin Adams

Join us this Wednesday, December 14th at 6:30 AM, for our 78th Coffee with the Commissioner event. We will hear updates on County Operations from County Administrator Wes Moreno, we will have Public Safety Updates from Director Eric Gilmore, and our special guest for the balance of the morning will be School Board Immediate past Chairman and District One representative Kevin Adams. We will discuss a lot of issues that the school board is working currently, including school choice, zoning, the issues at Warrington Middle School, enrollment challenges, community issues that drive low performance, teacher retention, the importance of parents and families to great school performance, generational poverty and it's impacts on education, and how the county and the school board can work together to improve the community and the schools. It will be a really good discussion that I am looking forward to having

We will start at 6:30 live on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/ ----and as is always the case--residents are encouraged to participate and send questions to via the comment feature during the livestream or by sending questions in advance to district1@myescambia.com or by calling the D1 office at 850-595-4910.

On "Real News with Rick Outzen" this Morning at 7:10

I'll be on the area's best and most highly rated morning drive news program, Real News with Rick Outzen, later this morning at 7:10

Rick Outzen, host of the area's best and highest rated, most informative and timely morning drive radio show,  "Real News with Rick Outzen" on AM 1370 wCOA, has asked me to come on later this morning at 7:10 to discuss the upcoming sheriff's roundtable on gun violence in the area.

We will talk about this post from my blog yesterday on the topic I am sure--- and we may also talk other topics like consolidation and/or charter government for the county and my feeling on these topics.

Should be in interesting conversation.

Tune in at 7:10 for the show, and I'll post the podcast here later today once Rick publishes it.

Thoughts on the Roundtable......

Needed:  Honest, courageous, and productive conversations at the roundtable on Tuesday....

Sheriff Chip Simmons has empaneled a group of community leaders to hold a round table discussion this Tuesday regarding a deadly double-shooting in District 1 two weeks back. I applaud his leadership in taking this bull by the horns.  The conversation will be about the levels of violence in the community as well--not just this particular shooting.  I am honored to have been invited to participate, and I look forward to Tuesday.

In the lead up to the event, I have given three media interviews on this topic, after having been asked my opinion on what, if anything, should be done to focus on the violence in our community that leads to these tragic events like the murder that happened in Bellview.  Two of the pieces have subsequently been published and I believe the third will be published this week in the lead up to the roundtable. 

The violence, the gun crimes, and the gangs+drugs issues we see growing in our community are symptoms of a bigger problem that few are willing to discuss: The loss of the family unit in growing pockets of our community.  This dissolution of the in-tact family unit leaves many young men with no strong role model and disciplinarian in the house to deal with issues that invariably arise in child rearing through formative years.

The single biggest predictor of whether or not a young man in America will become entangled in the criminal justice system is whether or not a father was/is in the home where such a young man is/was raised.  But to some, such discussions are verboten for political correctness' sake.

Imagine, as my friend Tom Danheisser posited in his hard-hitting, prescient op-ed on this topic last year, if we were trying to cure lung cancer but we could not talk about cigarette smoking?  He knows what I know and he has seen it in his courtroom as has my brother in his courtroom:  Fatherless families produce children who are at a much higher risk of committing crimes, being prosecuted, and ultimately ending up in prison.  (And lending creedence to the media's reticence to discuss root causes of the crimes, drugs, and gangs issues in Pensacola/Escambia County that produce the carnage we see locally--I'm told the Dannheisser op-ed was also sent to the PNJ last year in May of 2021--but their editorial team refused to print it.  Too much truth I suppose.....)

So this conversation Tuesday has to have a few guideposts if it is to be successful:

1.  We must realize the long term solution will take decades.

2.  We must realize the problem is not the police.

3.  We must have the courage to speak truth and use irreputable facts and figures to buffet our positions.

4.  We must realize no matter what we do we cannot and will not be able to save every young person from descending into a life of crime.

From my perspective, in order to actually accomplish a worthwhile outcome and trajectory toward

Pensacola's Faith-Based Community Comes through For Students and Families!

Many who come to Pensacola/Escambia County for the first time, or folks that move here from other places, marvel at the robust faith-based community here.  It is incredible.  And this community of faith does great things for the citizens---in a multitude of spaces including healthcare, mental health, family counseling, student support, and family support.  This community of faith also does much to assist those who find themselves down on their luck, homeless, or in despair.

A striking example of the generosity of the faith based community was on display this Saturday in District 1 at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds.

Pastor Tim Fox of Jubilee Church, Transformation Church, and literally hundreds of volunteers and community support groups descended upon the fairgrounds for one combined, important mission:  Supporting students and families as we prepare for the start of the next school year.

--More than 2-dozen area barbers donated their time and skill to provide free haircuts for students

--Feeding the Gulf Coast, with a generous gift from Healthcare Solutions, Inc. donated 35,000 pounds of food for families and students.

--Jubilee church provided more than 1,300 free backpacks for students

--multiple other entities teamed up to provide school supplies and other giveaways for the students and families that attended this 3-hour event Saturday morning.

Yes, our area has challenges and they are numerous (generational poverty, social dysfunction that is generational, crime, drug abuse, child abuse, high incarceration rates in some communities,  blight, apathy) ---but with the help of fantastic and dedicated community volunteers and faith-based organizations---there are weapons in the fight to make our community better.

I am thankful for the generous, giving spirit of our gracious and selfless community volunteers and specifically--the faith-based community.

Where would this community be without such entities and individuals?

Achieve Escambia Visits the BCC

Achieve Escambia is a local group working for positive changes in our community to foster greater achievement from “Cradle to Career” for Escambia County youth.  I listened with great interest as Jennifer McFerrin gave the BCC a presentation/update about this group at this past Thursday’s Committee of the whole.  When it was appropriate, I asked questions and chimed in with my view as a 10-year member of the local school board.  

I was cut-off at one point by my colleague Grover Robinson, and another counterpart disagreed with much of what I said.  But the fact of the matter is that much of what we are doing is not working and I strongly believe that we need to take a different approach. Once again we are loaded down with 5 “F” Elementary schools and a raft of “D” schools throughout our local public school district.  The point I desperately tried to make was that we must stop dumping money into the same programs over and over that do not work.  

We must stop demoralizing and beating up the teachers that are working themselves into early graves giving all they have in order to help students that have abysmal home-lives.  We must, in my opinion, take a different approach.  

Focus on Families.  Remove discipline nightmare students.  Apply for a school of hope grant for a public charter boarding school to help the students in our community that live in extreme social dysfunction. Eliminate social promotion. Focus on rigorous academic programs for reading in grades 1-3.  These are the priorities.  Because if we can get to the students who want to learn—we can make a difference.  But first we must have some difficult conversations…..

Social Dysfunction and Poor Choices Destroy Communities and Socially–Dysfunctional Communities Create Low-Performing Public School Districts

Whether we’re talking about facilitating neighborhood trash clean-ups, enabling neighborhood property improvements via low cost loans and grants, setting up summer work programs for community youth, building sidewalks and parks, or giving all students county library cards--a local government can do things to help make communities better.  Our County spends millions of dollars every year providing services that enhance our community.  But this, in and of itself, does not make a great community.

Our local public school district provides all students access to educational 

The Ugly Truth about Low Performing Schools....

Here is the ugly truth about low performing schools in parts of Escambia County….

We have a community problem and this is dragging down the performance of our local public schools.

I will say it again.  We have a community problem that is dragging down the performance of our local public schools.

Everybody knows it, nobody discusses it in depth, and we do not have the economic resources to extinguish this fire completely. We use half-measures and extreme political correctness to dance around touchy subjects.  This approach is getting us nowhere.

Think about this---What if someone made this comment to you straight-faced: “Doctors and Hospitals in Pensacola must be terrible, as we have the highest levels of obesity, smoking, early mortality, and disability claimants of just about any community in Florida. We need to fix these deficient Hospitals in Pensacola because Doctors and Hospitals in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Cambridge, Massachusetts are so much better!  Minneapolis and Cambridge have the healthiest populations in the country, year over year, so this illustrates the fact their Hospitals and Doctors are much more professional and better trained than our Doctors here!  Our doctors need to be more professional like those doctors up north so our community will be healthier!”

What about this one:

“These Cops around here are terrible!  Look at how high the crime rate is here compared to Beverly Hills.  I wish these cops around here had the same skill, training and professionalism as those cops in Beverly Hills, so we could have a peaceful, safe, low-crime community like Beverly Hills!”

Ridiculous, right?

Of course it is.

And it is just as ridiculous to hear rubes and simpletons claim we in Escambia County public education are abysmal failures, because we’re not as high-performing as Santa Rosa County or St. Johns County, or some other high performing district.

Judging all teachers and an entire school system by the outcomes and outputs of small dysfunctional populations they serve is no more ridiculous than the two previous examples about cops and doctors.  We need students and parents to buy-in!  Education requires participation.

Here are the real problems….

We have entire segments of the population that live in absolute, utter dysfunction.  In many areas it becomes multi-generational, the new normal.  We have poverty that is extreme-but that in and of itself is not the driver of the problems.  Poverty exacerbates the dysfunction.  We have people moving every six weeks to out-run landlords, gaming the entitlement system, having children out of wedlock to increase their welfare benefit checks, refusing to work, “shopping” with their EBT cards for “friends” taking $.50 cents on the dollar to buy liquor, cigarettes, or drugs,  Selling drugs for money, selling themselves for money, and mistreating their own children.  Crime rates soar in these communities, and entire neighborhoods fall into blight.  We have children being raised by relatives because BOTH parents are incarcerated; we had 6,000 child abuse reports last year in Escambia County, placing us in the top 5% of complaints state-wide.  We have children being raised in homes where violence is commonplace, caregivers are having intercourse in front of children, doing drugs in

Fixing Schools that Serve Communities with High Levels of Social Dysfunction

Pinellas County is attempting to "fix" 5 schools that have struggled chronically---and they are about to spend a lot of money to implement the reforms necessary to do it.  Significant pay increases (up to an additional $25K over base salary for teachers), longer school days, tests with real-time feedback, and additional staff are some of the components of this plan.

This is an interesting story that addresses a problem that many districts (including Escambia County) face in some isolated school locations:  Community dysfunction, generational poverty, and apathetic or absent parents leading to schools that are perennially under-performing---despite massive subsidies and despite Herculean efforts and the most well intended initiatives implemented by community non-profits, charitable organizations, volunteers, churches, and school districts themselves.

This will be an interesting strategy to watch.

It will be interesting to see whether or not this strategy is the right strategy that will work .  There are NO magic bullets. Short of creating government subsidized, exorbitantly priced boarding schools that serve some communities from birth to Kindergarten---in an effort to save these children from the dysfunctional households and the dysfunctional environments from where some of these unfortunate students come----the solution must entail massive infusions of incentive pay and massive infusions of additional staffing combined with strong site leadership.

Piecemealing it equals only a half-measure can-kick that I do not see working,

for what it's worth---I've tried in vain for years to implement a system here in Escambia County that provides a means for teachers that commit to and stay is schools with the highest levels of community dysfunction to earn pay increases that are significant, recurring and cumulative for the duration of the time such teachers stay in such schools. I know this would drive performance to help these schools, but if one doesn't do something, one can't see the results and reap the benefits.   I've been unable, thus far, to get my counterparts to see the value in doing this to keep such schools from churning out teachers left and right and remaining under-performing sites.  It may take a Pinellas-style action plan COMBINED WITH Boarding schools to break the cycle of social dysfunction in some locations....

I wish my counterparts would read the below linked editorial......


......from  the Tampa Bay Timespiece:

"The combination of good, stable school leadership and incentive pay that attracts proven veteran teachers can be far more potent than either alone. A big pay bump might initially attract great teachers, but only a schoolwide environment conducive to learning will keep them. Putting the two together might finally bring more top teachers to the underperforming schools where they are needed most After being left to languish for years, these five schools and their students deserve a better chance at success. These young students don't have time to wait for a bureaucracy to catch up with their need to learn. They require the help of great teachers and great principals — and the full support of the district and the broader community — now. This ambitious proposal reflects the urgency required to meet the challenge."

Read  Ambitious Proposal for Troubled Pinellas Schools 

How Ideologically Driven Social Engineering Usurps Local Control and Damages Public Schools Part III.....

Like some sort of a cholesterol-lowering Lipitor commercial, social justice engineers want lower numbers of suspensions of certain students for certain behaviors.   So, in order to achieve these lower numbers some states have actually “legislated” away some behavior categories that have previously resulted (rightfully so, IMHO) in student removal from classes.  

Willful defiance was legislated away as a discipline offense in California, and the effects have been devastating to classrooms and teachers in some districts, particularly in Los Angeles.  Teachers are reporting the change has had a devastatingly negative effect on classroom atmospheres.

(For a truly interesting insight, read the real teacher's facebook and article comments on the bottom of this ridiculous piece in the Huffington Post-- and this interesting piece in the LA Times---some of these comments had me laughing so hard I blew coffee through my right nostril!)

Educrats and other water-carriers and useful idiots say to the affected teachers “Talk to the Hand!” as they dance and take victory laps over how doggone effective these policies have become!

Of course these ideologues, most of whom are out of touch and have never stepped foot into a real inner-city classroom, think this policy is just dandy. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the bureaucrats are at it again, this time looking for higher numbers.  Specifically, they are looking for higher graduating numbers overall, percentage wise, for public school students overall and certain students specifically.  

Problem is, in order to meet this lofty goal, the rigor is being eviscerated, and the bar is being lowered in order to get these “higher numbers.”  The evidence of this is all around us:

Astronomically high numbers of  students in NYC cannot  pass the English/Math (or both) parts of their state exams--yet 90 % of these same students are receiving passing grades from their schools in these very subjects.

In Nevada, 58% of the entering college freshmen that are coming from the public school system require remedial coursework.  This, in turn, is leading to higher incidences of college dropouts.

The evidence is all around, hiding in plain sight.  It is not just New York, Nevada, and California. I see High School Juniors and Seniors who get in trouble in school and attempt to write out statements 

Getting Better Numbers, Part II

Everyone involved in schools wants fewer student expulsions and suspensions.

Everyone wants lower numbers, just like the cholesterol commercials.

But like the pharmaceutical statins that reduce cholesterol and also have significant side-effects like turning livers into shoe-leather---lowering numbers of suspensions just to get “lower numbers” has side-effects, trade-offs, and unintended consequences as well.

For example, in the Escambia County school district for the months of May and June 2015—there are only (4) students being expelled.  Considering we have just over 40,000 students—this 4 expulsion stat is a small number, right?

The reality—we had during the same period 87 “disciplinary changes of placement” which is the dandy new term we use for what used to be called expulsions just two short years ago. Drugs, weapons, fights, abusive conduct—yeah, now all of these infractions are handled with “disciplinary reassignments”

We get lower expulsions by changing what we call punishment, and everybody golf-claps—but in reality the discipline problems are getting worse but because we are expelling fewer students than ever, the illusion is that things are “better.”

But things are not better.

  Things are getting worse. 

I recently spoke to an administrator who showed me pictures of physical injuries she has sustained in

Getting Better Numbers, Part I

A common metric being used around the country to show that school districts are "taking misbehavior seriously" is the lowered number of suspensions and expulsions.

We do this locally as well.

At one school locally, those charged with managing the discipline are keenly aware that the numbers must be kept low, and these staff members know there is the potential for a lawsuit if too many students, particularly those of color, are suspended or expelled.

So different punishments are being utilized.  Teachers are told to re-direct misbehavior up to as many as four or five times and to "handle the misbehavior in your class, deal with it!"

In some cases this is appropriate--if the behavior is minor and can be corrected.

But what about students that bully and harass their classmates?

One middle school teacher I spoke with recently told me straight up he gets "cussed at all the time, the students get away with it and they know there is no meaningful consequence."  he continued "They know I have to fill out a behavior incident form, and even if I fill in all four parts in a day--it is still no guarantee the student will receive a written referral"

It is not just happening here.  Instead of having real "courageous conversations" about strict enforcement of discipline, many districts are weakening the ramifications of bad behavior to make "numbers better."

Tacoma, Washington is changing the way they handle discipline.  They are being pressurred into lowering their suspension and expulsion numbers.  They are also, apparently buying in to the flawed notion that in order for minority students to learn, they need to have minority teachers teaching them.  (I think that is garbage, good teachers come from all cultures and backgrounds, and are good whether they are White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or any nationality.  There should not be a racial quota system in hiring teachers.) 

From today's  News Tribune:

"If a student uses profanity, for example, she believes there are alternatives to suspension. In some cases, Santorno said, students might try to use that kind of language to goad a teacher into suspending them because they want to be out of school.  Another factor: While more than half of Tacoma students are students of color, 86 percent of its more than 2,000 faculty members are white, as are the vast majority of teachers statewide.  Last year, Tacoma began a new program called the Tacoma Whole Child Initiative which uses positive discipline techniques. Instead of telling kids what they can’t do, it spells out what they can and should do. The goal is to make sure schools meet the needs of students not just academically but also socially and emotionally. That often requires understanding a student’s cultural background.  If a student is disrespectful to an adult, Franklin staff use the episode as a “teachable moment.” Instead of sending the child immediately to the office, teachers instead review their expectation of how to behave respectfully."

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/06/07/3829049/new-state-data-on-student-discipline.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/06/07/3829049/new-state-data-on-student-discipline.html#storylink=cpy

Scapegoating the Wrong People Slowly Destroys Communities and Schools

I see disturbing parallel similarities in the way schools, teachers, and administrators are being blamed when students are subjected to punishment for incidents of misbehavior in public schools, and in the way police are being targeted when simply doing their jobs in challenging urban environments.  

 In both schools and society, generally speaking, what leads people into trouble is poor personal choices and the lack of a solid family foundation—not bigotry or poverty! 

As the genuine practice of religion has evaporated along with the nuclear family in parts of urban America today, there’s been a proportionate rise in violence, drug abuse, social decay, and failing schools in such communities. 

The Federal Government has exacerbated this problem; with ever-expanding entitlements that have disincentivized work and made fatherless households convenient and renumerative—what else did the social justice engineers that developed these “programs” expect?

The radical,so-called  social justice organizations that point fingers of blame will never acknowledge the real cause of all of these troubling symptoms:  There is a lack of functional, effective family structure in large swaths of America today. 

It remains much more salacious, newsworthy, and lucrative to instead portray teachers, cops, school districts, and police departments as “overzealousbigots.”

Police Departments are fully capable of doing their jobs if they are allowed to do so and if they’re supported by their respective cities and counties.  Policemen should be commended for doing the dangerous work they do!

Instead, the minute something tragic happens like in Baltimore or Ferguson---politicians of every stripe immediately pounce on LEOs. 

Before you know it, abracadabra, it is entirely the police’s fault that communities are dysfunctional and disproportionate numbers of minorities are incarcerated.

Next come the outlandish explanations from the ideologues that demonize police—the tactics are too aggressive, departments need re-training, they need more diverse workforces, etc. etc... 

Once these naïve rubes get exactly they want- crime rates soar.  Police back away from proactive

Is there an Epidemic of Bullying, Violence in our Schools?

In the lead up to the vote on the Newpoint closure, I received numerous emails, phone-calls, and other correspondence about that school.

But one recurring theme, particularly from the students who contacted me, was an intense fear, a worry over being bullied in traditional schools if Newpoint closed.

Bullying is a huge problem nationwide, with students around the country being subjected to a non-stop barrage in person, over the internet, and on social media.  Sadly—often these students end up depressed and they hurt themselves or become bullies themselves.

Bullying, harassment, abusive and oftentimes violent behavior is common at our traditional district schools too—according to many who wanted us to keep Newpoint open and also according to the frequent, almost semi- regular complaints I receive from parents whose students attend our traditional schools and are aware of these same issues.

I also read about the bullying that is a hallmark of the infractions committed by those students who end up on our "disciplinary reassignment" lists monthly....

Something has to change, we have got to get this dysfunctional violent and abusive behavior under control, no matter what. I don't think Kohlberg or Flip Flippen programs are fixing this huge problem.

 I brought the idea of mandatory student climate surveys—a method that has been successful at countering violence in other schools---where students can confidentially report bullying and force district staff into action.  I’m aggressively staying on this; I’m told staff is pursuing it

One parent at the Newpoint meeting stated her daughter was harassed and bullied so badly at Workman MS that she pulled her child out.  “One student was beaten down, his nose broken and his leg broken” was a claim made by this parent.  “Nobody investigated and the students who did it were not punished—nobody would listen and everybody at that school ignored the problem!”  (at that point in the meeting I interjected that I wanted to talk with her, I would follow up, I would not ignore her.  She and I have talked and emailed back and forth since the meeting)

One young student recently wrote this to me

“i want to keep this school open because it makes me feel very safe it's the only school that takes care of bullies really quick so please keep the school open”

Another wrote:

“dear school board members this school gives us great education.those other thing about alcohol and stuff were also at other schools like at ransoms dance. They listen to our ideas and we can work at our own pace. Some people come here to get away from bullying and if you take that away people will get bullied again like some people I know.”

Another wrote:

“I have a lot to gamble with the new school stuff we all go through, I went to Woodham Middle School and I was sadly bullied. I found Newpoint, I am no longer bullied”

A parent wrote:

“My name is XXXXXXXXXX and my son's name is XXXXXXXXXXX. He is a XXXXXXXXXXXX. XXXXX attended Holm Elementary for his entire elementary education. His grades were good until about fourth grade. He was being verbally bullied by his classmates. His teachers did what they could to stop it, but the bullying continued. By sixth grade, I put him in karate classes hoping to give him some self defense skills and boost his self esteem. Unfortunately, this did not work. During his sixth grade year, the verbal bullying escalated to physical bullying. XXXXXXXX was attacked more than once at school. He was so stressed about going to school that despite walking to and from school, taking p.e. everyday, and karate class twice a week, he gained over 20 lbs that year. Seventh grade did not improve either, I ended up taking legal action against another student who was caught attacking XXXXXXX. I was on the verge of putting him in counseling because he was becoming so depressed and withdrawn”

Another parent wrote:

“I live close enough to Bailey Middle School to see it from my house. But after the actions of their faculty and staff, it is more than worth it to commute [our daughter] to a school that is over thirty minutes away! Last year she was bullied by students AND a faculty member, who and I quote was heard by my daughter and two of her classmates as saying "Its not my fault you had a migraine and could not be here yesterday, you will get what you deserve, a zero..." myself, my wife, daughter and her two classmates approached the Principal with this information that same day we were told she would deal with it, when in fact we were later told by a fellow teacher (who is our neighbor) that the bulling teacher and the Principal both "Had a good laugh over it." When my wife and I approached the dean, we were told that kids would be kids and unless we had any other options we would be out of there and on to Escambia High the following year. Well, we weren't. And in fact, my daughter fell into a depression that not even the mental health professionals could rationalize. They continually told my daughter "I'm sorry for the way you were treated by people who were supposed to protect you."

Federal Discipline Schemes, Dictated Downward To States Through DOJ, ED, and OCR Increase Violent School Incidents Nationwide

I've talked about this problem for years.  I finally had enough so I wrote an honest viewpoint on the subject of the negative consequences of weak discipline----and I received massive support from people that work in schools!  I heard from teachers, parents, and yes, administrators that are frustrated with this situation.

Then I got beat up by ideologues that are detached from reality and have a flawed, incomplete understanding of the issue of violence, bullying, and harassment that is happening in our public schools.

Most rational thinkers see right through the flimsy, weak arguments these apologist partisans make; most correctly point out that these naive rubes would not last a week --or even a day-- in some of our district classrooms!

So Tuesday night while flipping channels-- the subject of weak discipline nationwide, being dictated downward from Eric Holder, Barack Obama, and Arne Duncan, appeared on one of the news programs I watched. The segment   was entitled "Chaos in our public schools".

violence in schools is demoralizing teachers and leading to more staff churn and student flight to private schools nationwide. Some liberal, feel good restorative justice models are exacerbating this problem.   Imagine that!?!  I've been saying this for years and nobody listens as we continue to acquiesce on this issue and water discipline down in our schools more and more while simultaneously "wondering" why enrollments are stagnant and staff churn is a constant problem at some schools.

Breitbart did a piece on this, describing the political correctness that drives many of these kinder, gentler programs that sound an awful lot like what we've implemented here in Escambia County over the last 6 years.....

From the article:

"The new “restorative” policies often suggest that teachers are to blame for the high rate of suspensions and discipline actions among black students.In Portland, Oregon, Sperry reports, where millions of dollars have been spent on restorative justice and “courageous conversations about race,” a black high school student repeatedly punched his white teacher in the face, sending her to the emergency room. Subsequently, the teacher was reportedly counseled by the assistant principal not to press charges against the student, and was “lectured … about how hard it is for young black men to overcome a criminal record.” Additionally, the teacher said, according to the Willamette Week, the administrator told her to examine what role she, “as a white woman” with white privilege bias, played in her 

Encouragement Continues for More Appropriately Addressing Chronic Misbehavior in our Schools

I'm once again receiving significant support for the DESPERATE NEED of a restructuring of discipline enforcement locally in our schools.  I've talked about it, blogged about it, and now appeared on TV locally.  This is a focus that I will continue, do to tremendous, widespread support for the idea that I'm continuing to receive from stakeholders.

Some district leaders condescendingly, deridingly,  attempt to marginalize my initiative on getting control of our discipline enforcement failures in the schools.  I won't take it personally, I'll stay positive and I'll stay persistent.  And I'll clear up the misconceptions they perpetuate about me.

I never give up on a kid in our schools who wants to learn and is not a predator and a chronic nightmare to everyone around him/her

and...

No, It's not that "I don't understand the issue"

No, It's not that "I'm over-reacting"

and no, it's not me catering to "disgruntled outliers"   Nope, it's none of this.



At a PTA function I attended yesterday,

 a High School teacher that was present made it a point to come over to my table and shake my hand stating:

"You are right-on about discipline-thank you, and  I have a lot of stories I could tell"  (I'm going to be meeting with him soon)

Another stakeholder, a parent,  came by my table, gave me a hug, and said: 

"Good job on bringing up the discipline problems" 

A former ALL STAR teacher that we lost to a neighbor county last year (in large part due to a deteriorating, dysfunctional discipline climate in one of our elementary schools) stated in a recent communication directed to me:

"I saw you on the news! praise God for the boldness in addressing this discipline problem!"

Another teacher wrote:

"Thank YOU, for continually speaking FOR teachers and issues that other members want to sweep under the carpet because they actually have NO IDEA what teachers go through on a daily basis............TRYING to teach students who want to learn, but constantly being disrupted by students with multiple referrals. Yes, you are correct, younger teachers do not want to speak up because they are no longer "tenured", so they endure things day in and out that should not be..........My heart aches for teacher friends I have in other schools who have to endure with NO SUPPORT. And these are ELEMENTARY schools!! I can't imagine what it's like in middle school and high school. Keep fighting the good fight!!"

Another teacher wrote:

"lack of discipline in the school district is a major reason teachers are leaving the system. Behavior is a big issue in the school district. I don't believe we are helping children when we are constantly allowing them to continue with negative behavior and no consequences are given to them for their negative behavior."

On the issue of the current leadership team's reaction to fixing this discipline issue, another teacher wrote:  

"They live in a dream world of ideology and too long out of the mainstream. The truth is, solving the problem would be difficult at first, but zero tolerance would be quickly embraced by everyone involved. It is truly the answer. The taxpayer, the student, the parents of those who do what they are supposed to do!!!"

Another Parent wrote me about his concerns:

Mr. Bergosh,



I wanted to take the time to say, Thank You, for your comments regarding the
need to begin the process of reclaiming a respectful standard of behavior
and compliance in Escambia County Schools and establishing a consequential
path to students continue an often As the father of a 7th grade XXXXXXXX at
XXXXXXXXXX and a XXXXXXXX in XXXXXXXXX grade at XXXXXXXXX,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXs,
 I sincerely believe the lack of definitive and escalating set of
consequences which students are savvy enough to be aware of lead to the lack
of courtesy, cooperation and at the very least, compliance with standards of
behavior. By the PNJ article on the 2-16-15, I am led to believe there is
not a limit to disciplinary events which force the parents or guardians to
act  or be notified further non-compliance will result in expulsion. Tell me
this is not the case. I just had the unfortunate conversation with a good
friend whose son will be attending  St. Paul's Catholic next year for 6th
grade because of the accounts of harassment, bullying, intimidation and lack
of consequences for offenders[in his district-ed school]. His outstanding son who simply was never
evaluated for XXXXXXXXXXX, wants to be able to experience the Workforce
Development department engineering robotics and energy courses and
participate in the new Technology Student Association club next year but
because he is not in the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX will face the disturbing accounts of
behavior during transition, lunch, and in several cases, classroom
occurrences. These accounts widely discussed by everyone in the feeder
patterns of XXXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXX overshadow the
outstanding education and educators which exist at Workman Middle. To put a
relevance to this comment, my XXXXXXXX relays the weekly accounts of behavior ,
language, and conduct which seem oddly familiar with my experiences in
1979-80 as a 6th grader there. The difference being that we had to face dean
XXXXXXXXXXX in the XXXXXXXXXX office. He was fair but did not mess around. 



I am concerned the school system will continue to lose outstanding families
to private and parochial schools until this school system makes the
difficult and possible unpopular decisions to reign in the purposeful
disruption of the academic environment and behavioral expectations
concerning the rights of students to attend an institution with realistic
expectations of respect and in harmony with education's primary functions
intellectual and personal development. 



I am basing these comments and directing this commendation to you towards
your fellow board members and my family's board member, XXXXXXXXXXXXX, 
from the PNJ article. I hope you and your fellow members find
these words encouraging and constructive. I look forward to hearing the
progress the Escambia County School Board makes in continuing this dialogue
to reach an equitable but effective set of policies regarding disciplinary
consequences.



Kind Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

These Two Articles Frame the Big Issues Destroying American Public Education.....

Two education stories got my attention over the last few days, and they both complement each other on the subject of modern public school climate. They also point to the two biggest issues that are destroying public education: 1.)  Apathy and failure to confront the real issues that are leading some schools to fail, and 2.) the disingenuous, hypocritical, insidious educrat mantra that proclaims education reform is bad --and all schools can be fixed if everybody will just get on the same page and howl for more taxpayer money.

The first article is in today’s Forbes.com, and it points out the blatant hypocrisy of education reform critics.  It’s a brief but interesting read- really thought provoking.  From “The Paradoxes of Education Reform Critics”

“Reform critics have embraced anti-democratic rhetoric to attack the Gates Foundation and other organizations that want to influence education. For example, Diane Ravitch has called them written before ”bastions of unaccountable power” that aren’t “subject to public oversight or review”, and who “have taken it upon themselves to reform public education, perhaps in ways that would never survive the scrutiny of voters in any district or state”.   That sounds a lot like unions to me, but education reform critics like Ravitch don’t seem to mind them one bit.  Likewise, Ravitch and other reform critics also praise the democratic nature of schools as something that is sacrosanct, but then insist these beacons of democracy shouldn’t be able to freely operate without negotating with unions. Which kind of sounds like we don’t trust these institutions very much at all.”

Walter Williams has a piece in today’s Pensacola News Journal that tackles the issue of social dysfunction impacting education.  Interestingly, this same piece (albeit longer and less sanitized) appeared on Townhall.com last Wednesday.  In this piece, Williams  cuts right to the heart of the issue in so many schools when he correctly points out that home-life conditions are what is driving poor performance in many public schools.  He takes it a step further when he also, aptly, states that demanding more and more taxpayer cash will not fix this problem---American families must step up.  I’m certain his correct viewpoint on this issue makes him a pariah in some circles…..From the article “Tragic School Stories”

“New York's schools are the most segregated in the nation, and the state needs remedies right away. That was Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch's message to New York's governor and Legislature. She said that minority children are disproportionately trapped in schools that lack teaching talent, course offerings and resources needed to prepare them for college and success.  Simply calling for more school resources will produce disappointing results. There are several minimum requirements that must be met for any child to do well in school. Someone must make the youngster do his homework, ensure that he gets eight to nine hours of sleep, feed him breakfast and make sure that he behaves in school and respects the teachers. None of these requirements can be satisfied by larger education budgets. They must be accomplished by families, or all else is for naught…The bottom line is that if nothing is done to affect the home life and cultural values that produce the non-learning attitudes and climate that are the subject of Linda Ball's "185 Days: School Stories," there's little that can be done to improve black education. The best that politicians can do is to give parents and children who are serious about education a mechanism to opt out of rotten schools. That option is something the education establishment fights tooth and nail against.”