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liepa; his actions
Topic Started: May 11 2007, 08:03 AM (3,801 Views)
LPS Reformer
Member Avatar
The schools exist to educate, not employ.
The board wants to forget that their customers have options.

There are charter schools, private schools, and school of choice. You don't have to give up on Livonia, to get a good education for your children.

You don't have to depend on LPS.
“Child Abuse” means different things to different people....
----Randy Liepa 8/9/12
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Deleted User
Deleted User

Micki - I do not watch survivor, but I still understand your attempted analogy.

LPS Reformer - The "right" direction would be that the adults of the community -

parents, teachers, BOE, etc act "right". I think that at the core of our passion

is what is right for the children of LPS. However, I also think there will be

individuals who will resent the outcome of the election and that will impede

the district in moving in the "right" direction. The "right" direction would be to

be considerate and polite, articulate adults when discussing issues that impact

our children. I am not saying everyone has to agree. That would be absurb!

I am saying that if someone posts on this forum, it should be based on fact, not

rumor, nastiness, or hearsay. Like my mom taught me, not everyone has to be

your friend, but you have to be kind and polite to everyone. THAT is what

would be the right direction.
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Major Card Player
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UglyBetty
May 13 2007, 09:11 AM
Micki - I do not watch survivor, but I still understand your attempted analogy.

LPS Reformer - The "right" direction would be that the adults of the community -

parents, teachers, BOE, etc act "right". I think that at the core of our passion

is what is right for the children of LPS. However, I also think there will be

individuals who will resent the outcome of the election and that will impede

the district in moving in the "right" direction. The "right" direction would be to

be considerate and polite, articulate adults when discussing issues that impact

our children. I am not saying everyone has to agree. That would be absurb!

I am saying that if someone posts on this forum, it should be based on fact, not

rumor, nastiness, or hearsay. Like my mom taught me, not everyone has to be

your friend, but you have to be kind and polite to everyone. THAT is what

would be the right direction.

Hey Ugly,

What does this mean "at the core of our passion is what is right for the children of LPS."?

At the 'core of my passion' I know that the LI and most of it's features were not right for LPS children, and are definately wrong for my kids.

I can be very considerate and polite and articulate--but I will always resent the outcome of the election.

Does that mean I am an individual who will 'impede the district and our community in moving forward"?

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LPS Reformer
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
Dear Betty,

I agree we should be polite. If, however, you mean we should respect the admin and the board, I counldn't disagree more. Respect is earned, not owed.

Also, it is not bad to point out the mistakes our admin and board are making.
“Child Abuse” means different things to different people....
----Randy Liepa 8/9/12
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goodheart
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Advanced Member
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:unsure: Birmingham district is searching for a new Superintendant ... their's is leaving at the end of July ...
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LPS Reformer
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
goodheart
May 13 2007, 06:32 PM
:unsure: Birmingham district is searching for a new Superintendant ... their's is leaving at the end of July ...

Maybe he could become a consultant. You know, sort of a traveling Legacy road show. ;)
“Child Abuse” means different things to different people....
----Randy Liepa 8/9/12
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Serendipity
Member
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If Liepa left, that would be a great start to healing our district. He is the one ultimately in charge and has failed all of us. It's time for him to go, not ask for a contract extension and raise.
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Al Beabak
Advanced Member
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"The "right" direction would be to be considerate and polite, articulate adults when discussing issues that impact our children."

Yes, one could only hope that the Board of Education would exercise this "direction" and have open honest discussions with everyone regarding these issues. One would also hope the Board members would embrace the knowledge and information from all parties, especially those who have obtained a wealth of information from the last 18 months. Yes, I am talking about all of the knowledge and information that individual members of the community as well as CFLF have gained since the implementation of the Legacy Initiative. Much of this knowledge and information seems to be what is necessary for the Board members to have asked for, know of, interpret, and gain a full understanding of.
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dontgiveup
Member
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Al

You wouldn't believe what they (BOE) pulled a few weeks ago. There was a behind the scenes meeting to discuss Liepa's demand for a raise and extension scheduled for 7:00 pm. Most of the board members did not want some of the current board members involved and you can guess who they didn't want there. Guess what they did, they changed the meeting to 6:00 pm and did not notify some of the current board members and again you can figure out who wasn't notified. Things like this is why the current board cannot be trusted and why I an pulling my kids out of the district next year. This current board just disgusts me.
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Al Beabak
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That would be something the board members need to resolve amongst themselves, or if not able to resolve, the board members facing the exclusions you have mentioned need to take that to the governing body for the Michigan Department of Education or the Michigan School Board Association. I am sure there are some laws surrounding that type of behavoir and actions, either at the Association level in regards to Bylaws or at the state level in regards to the Open Meeting Act. In any case, I would hope that not all of the current Board members are openly disregarding this / making excuses for this practice, or they are not at least making their objections to these actions part of public record to protect themselves from possible repercussions.
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SAVE OUR DISTRICT
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dontgiveup
May 11 2007, 07:03 AM
It has been brought to the attention of a few people that Liepa has not asked for but demanded a raise and contract extension before the beginning of July. My question is will the board do it and does he deserve it. I say no way until he gets the LI improved and heals this community. By the way if we are truly 4.5 million in debt then nobody deserves a raise in central office. But I have a feeling the board is going to cave in to Liepa's demands and that will piss me off even more.

Hmmmmm! Demanding a raise before July? Could it be that our illustrious superintendent does not trust the budgeting talents of Ms. Levesque either and wants his raise locked in in anticipation of another budget screwup from Levesque in the new fiscal year and before the audit is complete? Oh wait, I forgot. The audit is done by his buddies at Plante and Moran. Doesn't Liepa already have a contract through 2009?
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LPS Reformer
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The schools exist to educate, not employ.
In any case, I would hope that not all of the current Board members are openly disregarding this / making excuses for this practice, or they are not at least making their objections to these actions part of public record to protect themselves from possible repercussions.

Well, your right. Steve King is not disregarding it. Which is why they go around him at every turn.
“Child Abuse” means different things to different people....
----Randy Liepa 8/9/12
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SAVE OUR DISTRICT
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LPS Reformer
May 15 2007, 06:51 PM
In any case, I would hope that not all of the current Board members are openly disregarding this / making excuses for this practice, or they are not at least making their objections to these actions part of public record to protect themselves from possible repercussions.

Well, your right.  Steve King is not disregarding it.  Which is why they go around him at every turn.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THE BOE HAS CHANGED MEETING TIMES WITHOUT NOTIFYING ALL BOE MEMBERS. SOME OF THE MEMBERS MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT THE TACTIC IS STILL THE SAME. IF THEY ARE UP TO THOSE TRICKS AGAIN THEY SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE STATE. IF STEVE KING AND/OR OTHERS WERE LEFT OUT, I HOPE HE/THEY WILL CONTACT THE STATE.
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Nikki
Veteran
Should a District Superintendent Be Paid Like a CEO?
by Dave Ziffer


Recently, we've been reading a lot of articles in which somebody (usually a school board member) expresses the opinion that school superintendents are underpaid corporate executive officers (CEOs). Usually such statements are made within local news articles that are actually thinly disguised components of publicity campaigns designed to prepare communities for tax-hike referenda.

The "underpaid CEO" notion is based upon a grossly inaccurate view of what CEOs do and why they are so highly paid.

CEOs do not simply sit at the top of their respective management chains and direct operations. The primary function of a CEO is to increase share value for a corporation's shareholders. The primary method of doing this is to increase the corporation's market share by establishing markets for new products, or by winning customers away from competitors in an established market, or both. This is a brutally difficult job, comparable to being a general in a war, and in fact successful CEOs must employ military-like strategies in order to succeed.

The amount of creativity and intelligence required to perform this task in a competitive marketplace is extraordinary -- so much so that very few individuals can master it. Even seasoned professionals fail at this task quite frequently. That, and only that, is why the people who succeed at it consistently are so highly paid. It's a matter of supply and demand, and the supply of such people is very short.

Superintendents do not do anything even remotely akin to the primary function of a CEO. Superintendents do not operate in a competitive environment. They do not establish new markets for anything. They have no competition and so do not have to steal others' market share. They do not have to employ military strategy, or in fact any strategy at all, to win or hold market share. Actually, superintendents' "markets" are pretty much handed to them on a platter by the state, through the use of forced taxation and compulsory school attendance laws.

The idea that a superintendent is some sort of CEO undoubtedly derives from the fact that he seems to be at the top of his local management chain. This does not make him a CEO. If we look at his job function rather than his apparent position at the top of the heap, we see that the typical superintendent performs nothing more than the relatively mundane tasks that a typical corporate middle-level manager performs.

Considering that the typical suburban school district management chain is only two levels deep, a suburban district superintendent is best imagined as a second-level manager. When contemplating what to pay such people, we should keep in mind that CEO salaries have nothing much to do with second-level manager salaries. And in any event, school districts should use the law of supply and demand - that is, pay only what is required to retain a person who can do the job.

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BoaterDan
Veteran
SAVE OUR DISTRICT
May 16 2007, 06:43 AM
LPS Reformer
May 15 2007, 06:51 PM
In any case, I would hope that not all of the current Board members are openly disregarding this / making excuses for this practice, or they are not at least making their objections to these actions part of public record to protect themselves from possible repercussions.

Well, your right.  Steve King is not disregarding it.  Which is why they go around him at every turn.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THE BOE HAS CHANGED MEETING TIMES WITHOUT NOTIFYING ALL BOE MEMBERS. SOME OF THE MEMBERS MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT THE TACTIC IS STILL THE SAME. IF THEY ARE UP TO THOSE TRICKS AGAIN THEY SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE STATE. IF STEVE KING AND/OR OTHERS WERE LEFT OUT, I HOPE HE/THEY WILL CONTACT THE STATE.

Good grief I hate this rumormill stuff. Anybody that has evidence of this, particularly Steve King himself, needs to publicly state what happened.

Until then, in my opinion this "I can't tell you how I know or what exactly I know, but I know something really bad about the board" stuff is as destructive as anything else going on.

Whatever happened, I doubt it was anything technically illegal like an OMA violation, if for no other reason than these people have demonstrated they're way too shrewd to do something that stupid.
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dontgiveup
Member
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Boater I would love to reveal my source but then she/he would not be a source anymore. But when Liepa gets his raise and this board continues to do their real business in secret then you will realize of what type of people we are dealing with.
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BoaterDan
Veteran
Frankly, I couldn't care less about the "demand" part of it. That's a matter of interpretation, at best.

But, did the board in fact change the time of the meeting? Did they in fact do that without contact all the members? What attempts were made to contact all members?

If one or more of the members were "skipped", then they should come out publicly and clearly state what happened, and the president should make it clear what happened from her perspective.

Were voice messages left? Were emails sent? How long in advance was the time change decided?

These are all questions of fact which have to do with public knowledge (or what should be) and don't "out" any secret agents.
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