Four Freedoms

I have been calling our current superintendent names for a long time.  I've also been calling her out on her managerial skills, which I find lacking, for a long time.  Two avid readers and followers of the goings-on at the McDevitt, who post anonymously, are implying that I don't have any right to call the Superintendent names or to have an opinion on the leadership skills of the principal at the McDevitt.

So, let me back up a minute here and remind anyone reading that a blog is an opinion piece.  I started blogging back in its infancy, and I had a blog on Salon.com (when that e-zine was in its infancy), which was more like an online journal.  I picked up blogging again in the Waltham Patch a few years ago, when I was stunned by decisions that were being made by members of the School Committee.  The Patch changed its format, and I tired of the trolls, so I moved the blog here, where I post my opinions, to which I am entitled and with which you, Gentle Reader, are entitled to disagree.

Since a blog is an opinion piece, you can bet your bippy that telling me that I am wrong because you say that I am is not likely to change my mind.  Especially when you post anonymously.  And then try to change my mind by telling me that some middle schoolers don't like the principal because her niece is in the National Honor Society and gets some perqs that other NHS kids get.  Or that incidents in the school are 'common knowledge' among middle schoolers, because middle schoolers are very reliable and give very objective and reasoned information except when they are rattled by hormones and homework, which is always.

I would encourage @fedup and @wvet to start their own blogs.  Perhaps @wvet could have her son do it as part of a homeschooling project: call it "The Truth About the McDevitt, According to Students in 6th-8th Grades."

One last thing: I don't edit my blog posts and perhaps I should.  If I did, I probably would have called the Superintendent 'wicked' instead of 'evil' and I never, ever, ever again will use the word 'alleged' lest someone who has watched too much CSI come back and tell me that its use was incorrect.  Or gives me a gag order.

Anyhoo, I have a conference call now to prepare for and I am leaving tomorrow for 5 days, so you'll all just have to get on without me for a bit. Suggested reading: School Committee meeting minutes, posted on the city Web site and articles in the News Tribune, which does have an editorial board.  Be sure to watch the School Committee meeting tomorrow night on the teevee.  And be sure to show up in support of the Superintendent's decision to not renew Gavin's contract, if that's what you think is the right thing to do.

Finally, the Four Freedoms are that of Speech, Religion, Assembly, and the Press.  I exercise mine regularly and support anyone else who does so and especially those who don't hide behind a cloak of anonymity when doing so.  It's easy to be angry when you can't be seen: just look at Twitter.