The Malfunction of Dysfunction

The Malfunction of Dysfunction

Many property tax payers of Cleveland agree that there can be no denying that the CMSD has and continues to mismanage the their taxpayer money. The legitimate media has reported on the promises of accountability as well as the failure and demise of the Building Accountability Commission. The legitimate media has reported on the progress of the renovations at the schools as well as the CMSD bulldozing some schools within a couple of years of spending the monies for the renovations. And that same media will deny the recent past and endorse the CMSD’s money campaigns, allowing the CMSD to continue it’s dysfunctional ways.

The CMSD along with some of its employees cannot and will not accept that the things that have happened in the recent past. When the property tax payers of Cleveland voted no on the 2004 tax levy, the taxpayers were accused of abandoning the children.

I have been posting my blogs hoping to remind people of the broken promises and irresponsibility of the CMSD administration. And at times my posts get deleted. I am attacked by one teacher in particular who refers to me as nothing more than a simple high school educated tax sucking city worker. (By the way, I received my high school diploma from the Cleveland public schools. Thank you teachers for helping me land my cushy, tax sucking job.)

Cleveland and its school system dwell in the world of Dysfunctional society. Here are some thoughts on Denial, Enabling and Codependency.

Denial:

Denial is a person's way of coping with a painful situation by refusing to accept it or believe it. It is a common defense mechanism used to shield and protect against something perceived as threatening. By denying the existence of a problem, a person doesn't have to deal with it or assume any responsibility for it. This is done by the mind automatically; the person is usually unaware that he/she is in denial. This is different from lying, where a person is aware of his actions but does not admit it. Someone who is in denial of his/her dependency is unable to see the logical connection between the use and the negative consequences of his/her use.

Rationalizing is a form of making excuses or justifying why something happened.
A person finds it difficult to accept facts as reality. For example, a person says the CMSD is not wasting tax dollars, yet you find the evidence. Ex: Harvey Rice Elementary was razed with all renovations and new windows ending up in the landfill. The person attempts to rationalize the waste:

Enabling:

en•abler : one that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior by providing excuses or by helping that individual avoid the consequences of such behavior

An enabler is a person who recognizes that a negative circumstance is occurring on a regular basis and yet inadvertently assists the person with the problem to persist with their detrimental behaviors.

Enabling is any action taken by a concerned person that stops or softens the effects of the harmful consequences of substance use upon the user.

Codependency:

Codependency is linked with enabling. The person who is codependent allows the user's behavior to affect him/her, is obsessed with controlling the user's behavior and enables the disease of chemical dependency to continue.

The codependent person attempts to control the user's behavior, rather than allowing the user to experience negative consequences so that he/she will stop and seek treatment on his/her own.

The denial that the CMSD is mismanaging taxpayer money works in much the same way as personal denial. The catch phrases in this instance might be: "It's not a problem here," or "We may have a small problem, but it's not as bad as in other communities," or "The taxpayers are at fault by abandoning the kids," “we have improved security by putting airport security measures in place.”

The history of recent past has been written. It is what it is and it cannot be changed, but it can be denied. The CMSD has failed the public trust. The CMSD has and continues to waste millions of dollars. The CMSD will be again coming to the voters asking to raise the taxes of the property owner.

Instead of admitting and taking responsibility for the fiscal mismanagement, excuses are given and the property tax payers of Westpark are accused of not supporting the schools and abandoning the children.

The CMSD really should really seek some counseling for its dysfunctional behavior.

Here are some comments by a teacher who posted on the Cleveland.com education forum. Do these comments speak of denial and enabling? You be the judge. (note that some of these posts have already been deleted on the Cleveland.com education forum by their moderator. I made sure that I copied the responses to my posts so I can show what was written.)

difficult situation by Cleveland Teacher:
“The first phase was, "warm, safe, and dry." that meant that schools with drafty/dysfunctional/broken windows, leaky roofs, and unsecured doors were first priority. These schools were open at the time. You can't refuse to keep children warm, safe, and dry because their school might close.” “It’s unfortunate that there was a short-term investment that had to be made that no longer benefits the district. “ “I would hardly call it fraud, waste, or abuse, however. Do you think that cutting funding MORE will fix the schools? Please explain how this works.”

try this, rick by Cleveland Teacher: This post was deleted by a cleveland.com moderator
“If you have complaints, propose solutions. Legal, practical, realistic solutions. Solutions that will improve the educational outcomes for Cleveland’s kids not punish the administration at the expense of kids.”

good info, by Cleveland Teacher:
“I don't know what the answer is, but abandoning the system (as some here have advocated) is not the answer.”

public schools are better, by Cleveland Teacher:
“It’s ironic that Westpark, where the schools are the best, is also where the least support for the schools is (as measured by willingness to pay for education).”