By Ronda Watson Barber
OhioMBE Publisher
The Columbus City School Board of Education has a MAJOR problem. They have completely lost the trust and respect of the community. The community is again outraged. I have received messages saying, “They are lying,” “Playing us all for fools,” and “They are insulting our intelligence.” I don’t know how they recover from yet another issue that they caused for themselves. The revelation of a document to divide the community ,to “provide misinformation” and demonize opponents regarding the school closures is beyond troubling. It says a lot about a pattern of deception and lack of morals. Who raised they people. No integrity. The board president says that the document was solely Brandon Simmons’s doing. Brandon says a lot of people were involved in creating the document and he needs to name names. Who is telling the truth? Who is the community to believe? The community needs to see every version of the documents with attribution to each author.
The document is offensive. The tactics are offensive. It’s just a mess and more mess. There needs to be accountability. The community continues to ask for transparency and all they receive are blank stares and broken promises.
Columbus City Schools educates the largest group of Black children in the State of Ohio. They are failing the children and the community as a whole. The adults involved are more concerned with career climbing and cashing big paychecks while our children are being neglected and the Black community pimped.
The teacher’s union is mad but hey endorsed him. I don’t know how this board gets its reputation back. Once trust is broken it takes hard work to restore it.
Who is Brandon serving? His tactics and techniques are concerning. They are offensive and repulsive. This is not building community. This is not looking out for the best interest of the students. How can Brandon repair the damage he has done? Brandon Simmons is not ready to serve in public office. He needs to resign to help restore the trust of the community. The Columbus Board of Education needs to listen to the community. They need to understand their roles and positions. They are to represent the community, not dictate to it. This a a big task, I am not certain the present players involved are up to it.
just my thoughts…rwb
