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The Buck Stops Here: Anatomy of a Smear –
Part I
By Chuck
Muth
October 29,
2014
In the movie
The Dark Knight, there’s a scene
where Alfred Pennyworth is talking about the nature of The Joker with Bruce
Wayne/Batman. Wayne says, “Criminals
aren't complicated, Alfred. You just
have to figure out what he's after.”
To which
Alfred responds that “some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
That scene
came to my mind last night as I listened to a woman named Tiecha Ashcroft kvetching about recess at a meeting of the Pinecrest
Academy Charter School board in Henderson.
Of all those
who spoke before Ms. Ashcroft took the floor – teachers at the school and
parents of children who attend the school – every single one voiced support for
the school’s new principal, Dr. Carrie
Buck.
And by the
time Ms. Ashcroft got halfway through her lone diatribe of discouraging words,
it became abundantly clear…
She’s one of
those people who just wants to complain.
You can’t reason with her. You
can’t negotiate with her. Some people just want to b----.
But I’m
getting ahead of myself…
Why would I
be sitting in a board meeting for over 90 minutes listening to parents and
teachers (and one outstandingly articulate young lady who is a 5th-grader
there) talking about a petty school brouhaha over recess when I homeschool my
own kids and have no involvement with the school in question whatsoever?
Because like
the Caped Crusader I can’t just stand idly by and watch good people doing great
things for kids suffer the injustice of being unfairly and unethically
attacked. Especially when it comes from
a conservative who’s supposed to be a professional and certainly should know
better.
But before we
get to the molehill incident itself, let me first put this in some proper
perspective by telling you a little about the person who was attacked.
Principal Carrie
Buck is everything you and I would want in a public school administrator. She insists on school discipline, sets high but
achievable goals for both students and teachers, has an open-door policy for
parents, and doesn’t whine about not having enough money from taxpayers to get
the job done.
She got her
start 23 years ago in an elementary school classroom. She is an ELL (English Language Learner)
specialist, as well as a Teacher Mentor and Instructional Coach.
In 2006,
Buck was appointed principal at C.T. Sewall Elementary School in
Henderson. Sewall, at the time, was
described as being “in transition.”
That’s PC-speak for “in the crapper.”
The building
itself is the oldest in southern Nevada still in use. The student body is primarily low-income and
minority – many for whom English is their second language. The staff entrance figuratively consisted of
a revolving door. Morale stunk, as did
the students’ test scores.
What Buck’s
leadership was able to achieve over the next seven years was nothing short of
miraculous.
Test scores
soared. Math proficiency shot up from
36% to 89%, while English proficiency increased from 35% to 83%.
Sewall went
from one of the worst schools in the state to one of the absolute best.
Indeed, the
school’s reputation for academic excellence became so well know in the
community that a number of parents unlawfully established false residences with
friends and family in the neighborhood just so their kids could be zoned to
attend Sewell.
As such, the
student body swelled, straining the school's limited resources.
But rather
than kvetch about “under-funding” education, Buck went out into the community
and, in her time at Sewell, raised “over four million dollars in grants,
private funds and donations that provided basic needs for students and their
families, as well as instructional supplies, facility improvements, academic
enrichment, and technology for the school.”
While not
quite qualifying for sainthood (yet), Buck has received considerable
recognition for her talents and achievements…
A bona fide
expert in her field, Buck is a highly-sought after public speaker on education
reform and excellence. She and her
success at Sewell were featured in a March 2013 article for the National
After-School All-Stars Program. And in
2013, Sewell was chosen as a Model Highlight School.
In January
of this year, C.T. Sewell was designated as a State of Nevada Model School, as
well as a National Title I Distinguished School.
One month
later The Miracle Worker left Sewell and accepted the Principal position at
Pinecrest Academy after the school’s founding principal abruptly and
unexpectedly left the position under a cloud of circumstances not relevant to
this discussion.
Suffice it
to say, Buck took over Pinecrest under less than ideal circumstances eight
months ago.
And just to
prove the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished, Buck inherited Tiecha
Ashcroft.
More on that
in Part II of “The Buck Stops Here: Anatomy of a Smear.” Stay tuned Batfans...
You can read this column online, as well as access archives
of past Muth's Truths columns by clicking here... www.MuthsTruths.com
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