Attack of the Narcisse Clones

Hansen's Monday Column

I feel compelled to comment on Marc Hansen's column in Monday's Register even though Marc and the District's response to Narcisse's 10-point plan pretty much discreditedhim.  Shouldn't a school board member know that there is no forced busing in Des Moines anymore? 

It will be interesting to see if he tries a new set of bad ideas when he runs for re-election.

Most of the points of the plan his Clones used as their platform last fall.  The voters response was a resounding "No thanks."  And I critiqued his points extensively as well on this blog. 

So at this time I will only note that he doesn't put a cost on any of his proposals.  The most obvious one is the idea to return to K-6 elementary schools and 10-12 high schools.  All of the District's elementary school classrooms are in use.  To add another grade in these buildings would require 2 to 3 more  classrooms and expanded lunch room and other facilities.  Where does the money come from? 

The Truth about "Failing" Schools

Narcisse likes to make a big deal about the number of failing schools Des Moines has and how we didn't have them back when Witherspoon was the superintendent (and when I was on the Board and he wasn't, I might add).  But, Earth to Jon....the federal law, No Child Left Behind, that labels a school "failing" did not go into effect until 2001 and didn't start to have an impact until the last couple of years.  Typical distortion and half-truth by Narcisse.

Now for a little NCLB 101.  In a nutshell, the rules for a school in need of assistance (SINA) or "failed" in Narcisse parlance is as follows:

If a school does not meet the annual AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) (predetermined target which ratchets up) goals in reading or math in all subgroups for two consecutive years, it is designated as a school in need of assistance.  There are several subgroups in each grade typically divided by ethnic designations.  So, a fourth grade subgroup might fail reading and a fifth grade subgroup might fail math in one year and the next year a third grade subgroup might fail reading and a fourth grade subgroup might fail math.  Bingo, according to NCLB we have a failing school.

Also, keep in mind that by 2014 all schools are expected to have all, and that means 100%, no exceptions, students meet proficiency goals.  Think back to your days in school and your classmates and decide whether your class would hit 100%.

If a district does not meet the annual AYP goals in reading and math in all subgroups within the required grade spans (3-8, 11 both in reading and math) for two consecutive years, the district is designated “in need of assistance” (DINA). 

You can readily see that these are absurd and unrealistic requirements that favor suburban and rural school districts that don't have subgroups (i.e. they have homogeneous study bodies).

Hope this helps. 

The DSM Misinformation Times Exposed

Jon Narcisse promised to resign from the School Board if anything in the DSM Misinformation Times turned out to be untrue (KCCI interview July 2008).  Well, in case you missed it, in today’s Des Moines Register the Des Moines Police Department had this to say about the East High police calls and arrests as reported in the Misinformation Times:

“The figures are misleading any way you look at it, whether it’s the first semester, the second semester, or a combination of both,” Police Sgt. Vince Valdez said. “It’s just totally off. If that were the case, we’d look at it as a very serious situation and we’d have to totally revisit how we do things there. Obviously, the officers would be in danger if there was that much criminal activity at East."

I would call for his resignation, but what is the point?

The Register article is a fascinating read anyway.  Look at what Neiderbach and Narcisse have to say about their own tabloid:

“Neiderbach acknowledged to The Des Moines Register last week that the statistics he used did not come from police. They were based, he said, on a conversation someone involved with the publication had with school officials. He could not immediately recall who was involved in the discussion or when it took place."

Translation: “It’s all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago.” (With apologies to Phil Lesh.)

“Narcisse, meanwhile, said: ‘I want to stress, this was not as much a story about the district as the failure of the media to investigate these stories."

Translation:  He doesn’t understand why the media doesn’t investigate stories he makes up.  It is all a conspiracy, of course.

And these two actually want to be in charge of the education of our students.

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Narcisse: Wrong Again! So When Will He Resign?

Wanna-be school board president Jon Narcisse was on Mac's World radio show last week. (Does this guy ever work?) While appearing on the show, he attacked Superintendent Nancy Sebring for putting the school district $20 million in debt. Say what?!?

Apparently, Narcisse doesn't know how to read the school district's budget OR a calendar. The $20 million in debt service he apparently is referring to are revenue bonds the school district issued in 2006 - before Nancy Sebring became Superintendent. 

The bonds were issued to pay for school renovation projects and repaid with sales tax revenues.  Now this gets complicated, Jon, so quit doodling "9-9-08" on your note pad and pay attention:  the decision to issue the bonds was the result of a financial analysis of the cost of borrowing compared to the rate of inflation in the construction industry and the value of having funds available sooner to complete school renovation projects.  Because the bonds issued by the school district are tax exempt the interest rate is lower than commercial bonds and the rate of inflation in construction costs.  More important, the interest payments on the bonds were paid from the future flow of funds from sales tax revenues, not general school funds and, in fact, helped the school district get revenue up front to beat rising construction and fuel costs. It is exactly the kind of approach a prudent and fiscally responsible School Board should take.

A couple of weeks ago, Narcisse boasted on TV 8 that he would resign if anything he said were proven false. In an earlier post, several items in the DSM Misinformation Times were shown to be false. Here's one more example.

Jon, we're waiting for your resignation.

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The Facts Don't Support Narcisse's Allegations

Last week on the TV 8 News Jon Narcisse promised to resign from the school board if any of allegations in the DSM Misinformation Times proved to be untrue.  Well, Jon, here is the proof.

Astute readers will recognize that in some cases the allegation and the truth don't match completely.  That is because I use data from identified sources like the Iowa Department of Education and Narcisse uses data from undisclosed "reports."  Frankly, until he produces the reports I am going to assume he makes up his information.

Narcisse/Neiderbach Allegation:  "The Des Moines School District enrolls just more than six percent of Iowa's K-12 students yet nearly 20% of the students removed from school in the state for violence and weapons attend the Des Moines District."

The Truth:  According to the Iowa Department of Education, Des Moines enrolled 6.5% of Iowa students during the 2006-2007 school year.  During the same time, Des Moines accounted for 6.6% of student expulsions and suspensions.

Narcisse/Neiderbach Allegation: "More violence takes place on Des Moines School District property than any institution in Iowa."

The Truth: Among the 8 largest school districts in Iowa, Des Moines had the fourth lowest proportion of student suspensions and expulsions.  Des Moines is less violent, to use his word, than Waterloo, Davenport, Council Bluffs, and Iowa City.  Information again from the Iowa Department of Education.

Narcisse/Neiderbach Allegation: "It was reported (he doesn't say by whom) 1,100 police calls and 150 arrests were attributed to East by semester's end."

The Truth:  According to the Des Moines Police Department reports, there were 124 police calls during the school day at East in the first semester of 2007-2008 and a total of 11 arrests (only one was for a weapon, two were for firecrackers).  This is in a school of about 2,200 students.  The Iowa football team has a worse arrest record than East High.

Narcisse Allegation:  "...the Board's vote to pay $4.5 million for the Wallace Homestead Building in December 2007 despite the property having an assessed market value just under $2.5 million."

The Truth:   Now anybody who owns real estate knows that the assessed value does not reflect market value and the insertion of the word "market" is disingenuous at best.  As the law requires before a school board can buy real estate, the Des Moines school board retained an independent appraiser to appraise the market value of the property.  The appraisal found a market value of $4.5 million.

There will be more truthiness in future posts.

I know it is too much to wish for but I hope to some day post his resignation on this site.

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Jon Narcisse and the "Facts"

In the Narcisse/Neiderbach newsletter, The DSM Misinformation Times, Jon Narcisse wrote an "article" called The Untold Story.  It is full of references to "reports" about the academic decline in the district.  Of course, he does not name a single one of these "reports" or tell the reader where to find them.

But there is something far worse in this article.

Narcisse claims that a Hoover student fears going to the bathroom because it is unsafe and that a Roosevelt student was beat up with brass knuckles and a baseball bat, but Narcisse never reported these incidents to the police or the school board.  (Last year I had two kids at Roosevelt and this is the first time I have heard this latter "story.")

His stories are either unsubstantiated rumor that he is passing on as fact or he is once again shirking his duties as a school board member by not notifying school authorities so appropriate action could be taken.

You are known by the company you keep.  Don't vote for the Narcisse Clones.

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The Gun Story

Narcisse/Neiderbach are trying to create a sense panic, a crisis atmosphere in Des Moines Schools in order to entice voters to vote for the Narcisse Clones.

There is no crisis, just bogus allegations not supported by the facts.  Take the recent edition of the Narcisse/Neiderbach DSM Misinformation Times and its lead story about guns in schools.

Let's start with the picture.  If Narcisse/Neiderbach were students they would have been expelled for arranging the picture so the guns point at the pictures of the three school board incumbents up for re-election.  Such intimidation is simply disgusting and not appropriate for any respectable periodical but especially one produced by current and former school board members. They should be setting a positive example for students.  They should be ashamed.

The picture is from a 1999 Des Moines Register and the guns were not taken from Des Moines school students.

The statistic in the story, that 20% of the students removed from Iowa schools for weapons or violence are Des Moines students, is more indicative of the socio-economic status of the city of Des Moines than the safety of our schools.  The key point is that such students are removed from school.  As a parent of a recent graduate and a current high school student, safety has never been a concern. Our schools are safe.  Ask any parent or student.  (I have no reason to believe the Narcisse/Neiderbach statistics, but I will accept them since they are not relevant to the central question of safety of our schools.)