My Take on John Q. Porter

Dr. John Porter in happier times


I've noticed that I have had quite a few "hits" on my blog since my school district's controversy over district superintendent John Q. Porter. Several have come from Porter's previous school district back in Maryland. I wish someone from back there would either post a comment on the blog or send me an e-mail to let me know what your opinion of Dr. Porter is. If you want to keep it confidential, I will be glad to accomodate you.

For what it's worth, here's my take. I wish we could get beyond this, but I'm afraid it's gone too far already to do so. There are many claims and counter claims. The School Board believes that Dr. Porter has misused district funds. Dr. Porter claims that he has made errors and is willing to reimburse the district for any expenses not allowed by district policy. The Board is also upset that Dr. Porter has refused to discuss these problems prior to their being made public. Dr. Porter claims that he was unable to respond in a timely manner because he was involved in family matters during the holidays. The Board claims that Dr. Porter has created a hostiliies with employees and principals. He claims that he has just be doing his job in regards to incompetent administrators.

I wish that we could say, "We've all learned a valuable lesson here, and we will do better together in the future." That only works in sitcoms. Perhaps the board could allow Dr. Porter the opportunity to state how he would change his procedures to comply with board policy. I think he could become a good community leader. But I fear he has been weakened too much to do the job he was hired to do.

Students Back In School Today

Pride and Prejudice 2005

Today was the first day back for the students after the Christmas break. I'm going to have the Seniors read Pride and Prejudice while my regular Junior class will read Red Badge of Courage. My Honors English Juniors will be reading Huckleberry Finn.

The Red Badge of Courage starring Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin

The Juniors will also be competing in an essay contest Oklahoma sponsors each year on Abraham Lincoln. I'm going to give an in-school prize and submit the best entry for the state contest.

Illustration from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

As if I weren't busy enough, I'm going to try to start a Young Democrats club. Our school is about 80% African American, and with Barack Obama doing so well in the race for the White House, I think this would be an opportune time to get the school's students interested in the political process.



This should be an interesting New Year

Dr. Porter Suspended by the School Board

The Oklahoman has reported that Dr. Porter has been "suspended" by the board. I don't know if this is simply a first step to firing him. I hope not.

OKC Public Schools Superintendent in Trouble

Dr. John Q. Porter

The Oklahoma City Public School Board will meet Monday to decide the future, if any, John Q. Porter has as superintendent of the district. My information tells me that unless something big happens in his favor, he will be fired.

As far as I can tell, this has been brewing for some time. I have heard rumors from several sources that there has been a sleath campaign going on to discredit Porter. Some of the people involved are supposed to be former members of the last Superintendent's group, the so-called "Texas Mafia" who thought that they were going to be in power after former Superintenent Bob Moore left the district.

Another group involved in this are some principals who Porter has singled out for their incompetence. Porter has been critical of teachers and pricipals who don't do their jobs. In spite of his desire to clean house among the district's teaching ranks, Dr. Porter has been fairly cordial with the AFT, our teachers' union so far. [Open disclosure: I am an AFT member and on our local's executive board.] But it's been rumored that some principals have joined in the campaign against him.

Added to this is that Dr. Porter has rubbed the powers that be the wrong way, particularly Cliff Hudson. Critics call him arrougant. Defenders say that he doesn't suffer fools gladly. He has made several statements indicating that he feels that the school board is part of the problem with the district and not part of the solution.

I have heard that Hudson has gotten Thelma Parks on his side, but that's only a rumor to me.

I've only met Dr. Porter once when he attended our schools celebration of the Oklahoma centennial. I know that he has met with several community leaders and pastors, something Bob Moore never really did prefering to hobnob with the Chamber of Commerce types.

I have no reason to want Dr. Porter to stay other than the fact that we could use a little stability in our district at this time. However, I am sure that I don't have all the facts in the matter, ao rhere is likely more to it that I can report.

Our Chef Carrie in the news

Chef Carrie

Chef Carrie is our culinary arts teacher at Oklahoma Centennial High School where I teach. She is a real dynamo. She was interviewed as a part of a program launched by our mayor to try to rid Oklahoma City of it's "America's Fattest City" label.

OKC Mayor puts city on a diet

Obama and Huckabee win in Iowa

Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate who I have heard in person. My friend Andrew Rice, who is running for the U.S. Senate, brought him to OKC. He would be a good candidate and a very good president. Obama and I share something else. We are both members of the United Church of Christ. I know him to be a man of deep faith which forms part of his committment to the work of Justice.

Mike Huckabee

Huckabee also is a man of faith. Like my father, he is an ordained minister. I am impressed with Gov. Huckabee's spirited campaigning. His politics is far from mine, but he represents real change, and I think that's his appeal.

An Obama v. Huckabee race would be very interesting. A former governor from a Confederate state which once gave its vote to George Wallace running against an African American from one of the Free States. As Abe Lincoln once said, "We cannot escape history."

Dog Sitting

We looked after a friend and fellow teacher's dog, named Oscar, for him while he visited family in the East during the Winter Break.

Oscar

Our dog Tutor had the usual "territorial issues" in the beginning, but at the end they would occasionally play with one another.

Last Day of Vacation

Parents Rejoice!

Tomorrow we report back to school, teachers and staff only. This is our "Records Day" when we record the students' grades from the previous semester and do some planning for next semester.

All good things come to an end.

Our Trip to Pete's Place

Pete's Place

Today, we decided to take one of our mini-road trips. We went to the town of Krebs in southeastern Oklahoma near MacAlester to visit a restaurant called "Peter's Placw." It's an Italian style eatery that goes back to 1919. Pete worked in the mines that were around that part of Oklahoma till a mining accident crushed his legs. He started the restaurant and also started brewing "Choc Beer". Choc Beer at Pete's Place That created a problem.
Cat and I at Pete's Place

Oklahoma was the only state to come into the union with Prohibition as a part of its Constitution. Not till 1959 was alcohol legal in the state. So Pete's brewery was a bootleg orperation. The "Choc" in the beer's brand name comes from "Choctaw" the Indidn tribe who is supposed to have given Pete the receipe for his brew. With no government regulating its production, Pete was free to brew as he wished as long as the local authorities didn't step in. Choc Beer became famous for its strength as much as its quality.

Inside a Pete's Place

We very much enjoyed our meal there. Everyone at the eatery gets an individual dining room. The food is served family style. And Choc is a very good, and now legal, beverage to go along with it.

Display at Pete's Place

On our way there we stopped at The Grape Ranch near OkemahThe Grape Ranch They had a very good selection, we carried home a couple of bottles of their Country Rose.
They also make a "Festivus" wine though they had taken down their aluminum pole when we visited.

Inside The Grape Ranch

Cat and I tout Oklahoma wines. There are several quite good ones in our state. We serve Oklahoma wines at our parties and give them away as gifts. Oklahoma still has several archaic holdover laws that make being a vinter or brewer more of a challenge that it ought to be. For one, you still cannot buy wine in the supermarket and the only beer than can be bought has to be 3.2% alcohol or lower. But if you know how to find them, Oklahoma wine and beer is a real treat (used in moderation, of course).

Cat and I at The Grape Ranch

"Stealing" the Sonics?

Will They Be Moving?

In my previous post endorsing the extension of the sales tax to do improvements to the Ford Center, I deliberately left out my thoughts on the prospect of moving the Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma City. This is even more problematic than voting to fund an NBA team in the first place.

First, let me say that I really, really like the city of Seattle. Forget the fact that part of my family lives there. Seattle, for me, is the most beautiful city in America. I love the region's politics. If I could live anywhere else in America, I would probably choose to live there.

Second, like most of my fellow citizens, if we get a team from another city, I wish it would the Hornets. We all fell in love with Chris Paul. New Orleans doesn't seem to be able to support the team, and didn't really do so before Katrina. That's not likely to happen for a variety of reasons though.

So how do I feel about taking a franchise away from its original home, away from a city that has supported it for over 40 years because it's home arena has been deemed inadequate? I feel about it probably the same way someone might have felt about Los Angeles stealing the Brooklyn Dodgers: bad for them, good for us. If Oklahoma City is ever to get a major league franchise, then we will certainly get it at the expense of another city. The NBA, NHL, MLB or anyone this side of Arena Football will not expand their league just to get at the coveted Southern Plains market. The US market is pretty much at the saturation point, and if any new teams are created, they are going to be placed outside the US. This is particularly true of the NBA which openly covets an opportunity to establish itself in South America, Europe and Asia.

Prior to Katrina, Oklahoma City had already been turned down by the NBA and the NHL. We became a player in the NBA because we had prepared ourselves for the opportunity which is the best definition of luck I know. [Senaca's Definition of Luck] Baring any new change of events in the present situation, I feel that Oklahoma City will probably get the Sonics. For us, this will be the culmination of a long time of planning, work and patience. For Seattle and others, we are mere opportunists, but that only looks at one side of the formula.

However, when I go to visit Seattle, I probably will tell anyone who asks that I live in The Village.

Debbe Leftwich's New Year's Day Party

Oklahoma State Senstor Debbe Leftwich

Cat and I attended a New Year's Day tradition that was started by the late Sen. Keith Leftwich, Debbe's husband. It has become a tradition for Oklahoma County Democrats. Debbe is a great senator who is following her husband's legacy of service in the state senate.

Happy 2008!

Happy 2008

Happy New Year to Everyone!

The best thing about this year for me is that together with my wonderful wife, we have overcome the problems I had with my eye surgery and the problems we had with the ice storm.

Other than that it was a pretty good year. I'm in a new/old school. Next year we will be in a new building. However, I have the priviledge of being involved in the most important job in the world.

Boren and Bloomberg Meeting at OU

University of Oklahoma President David Boren

University of Oklahoma President David Boren is hosting a bipartisan political meeting that includes former Democratic U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former Republican Senator Bill Brock, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The expressed purpose is to "challenge" the present presidential candidates of both parties "to foucs on serious issues" and talk about "national unity" (Greiner The Oklahman 12/31/07).

Bloomberg has been touted as a possible independent candidate for president although Boren has denied that this is an attempt to launch Bloomberg or anyone else (such as himself) into the presidential race. Yeah, right.

Forgive me, but there is something very Passive/Agressive about this whole arrangement. "You'd better start behaving, or you're gonna make me run for president." It seems that Bloomberg wants to claim that he was forced into running for the nation's highest office to save the country from it's politicians. Since he is a politician, I hardly see how he can claim any particular virtue over the rest in the field. As far as I can tell, New York City is hardly a haven for political harmony.

Just what assurances would Boren and the rest want from the current presidential candidates? Every politician, including the highly divisive figurehead we have in the White House now claims that s/he is a "Uniter" and the only reason we don't have more unity in this country is because certain "special interests" just don't get the message.

Third party cannidates seldom do much good in a race. Usually, they end up denying the country the opportunity to have a majority candidate who can at least have some kind of a mandate to lead the country. Thus it was with Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party, on to George Wallace, Ross Perot, and, most of all, Ralph Nader.

We have an opportunity to have a true majority candidate in this election. I hope s/he is a Democrat. But what we don't need is someone like Boren, Bloomberg, et al to muddy up the electorate's decision.

Will a new candidate emerge at OU?

The Clothes Knows

Global Warming

Despite the harsh weather we have had it has not gotten all that cold this year so far. We have had a week lost at school this year and last year. I wonder if we are going to have to get used to this.

OKC Schedules NBA Vote

NBA Logo


On March 4th, voters in Oklahoma City are set to vote on extending a "temporary" one cent sales tax. The sales tax was approved by voters to fund the highly successful MAPS project that revitalized downtown. Part of that process was used to build the Ford Center which housed the New Orleans Hornets for two years when that team was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The hope is that a Yes vote will convince the NBA that OKC is a legitimate location for an NBA franchise. Clay Bennett, the owner of the Seattle Supersonics and the WNBA team Seattle Storm, wants to bring the Sonics to OKC. Bennett, who heads a group of local investors in the Sonics, will make his proposal to the NBA owners group in April, a month after the vote.

Personally, I am ambiguous, but mostly in favor of this proposal. I do not like the fact that Clay, a rich man with deep ties to right wing politics, wants the citizens to build a facility for him so he can make more money. Here is someone who believes that government should leave his business affairs alone wanting the government to provide a home for his business. This is nothing but Corporate Welfare.

However, I also know that having an major league franchise would provide a big psychologial boost to the city and the state. Oklahoma has long had an inferiority complex. We have no major tourist destinations sites (possibly excepting Rt. 66). We had the experience of the Dust Bowl which still identifies us to some degree. Having an NBA team would to some degree put us on par with other major cities in America.

Besides, this, I feel that a legitimate role for government is to provide for the general welfare. Having an NBA team won't solve our problems of poverty, poor health statistics, and dysfunctional social services. At best, it will be a cosmetic improvement, but one should not discount entirely how much putting on makeup and new clothes improve how one looks and feels. In some cases, it can even make a body do something that goes beyond the dressings.

George Lynn Cross, president of the University of Oklahoma during the Bud Wilkinson era, was famous for saying that he wanted to create a "university his football team could be proud of". If we feel we can accomplish something as noteworthy as attracting a permanent NBA franchise, then we may also feel we can accomplish real change in how we live and act as Oklahomans.

I cannot vote for this since technically I live in The Village, a separate town within OKC, but I hope those who can will pass this proposal on March 4th.

The Tween Days

Stressed
Right now Cat and I are in what I call the "Tween Days" of our annual winter break. These are the days between Christmas and New Years. We have a few days before Christmas and after New Years before we report back to school (this year January 4th for us and January 7th for our students).

I never quite know what to do with these days. Should I be trying to do all the stuff around the house that I've been putting off like clean out the junk room? Should I be preparing my lesson plans for the coming semester? Should I try to read that book I've been meaning to read since the Clinton administration? Should I try to prepare for the upcoming election year? After all, the Oklahoma presidential primary is coming up February 5th. Or should I just "veg out" and recover from the stress of what has been a very disrupted semester?

Usually I try to do a combination of everything which, as a result, means that I go back to school really not feeling as if I got what I needed out of the break. Oh well, I do the best I know how to do.

My brother Rick.

by Rick Green
Above is one of the many cartoons my brother has drawn for his blog "Organized Doodles". You ought to visit it because he's really talented. Just don't tell him I said so. BTW, despite the obvious political message of this print, my Rick is definately "right of center" on social issues. I'm doing my best to show him the light of justice in economic matters though.

The Green Flame

Green Flame
I have a site meter which keeps account of the one or two people who visit my blog each day. The number one search tag used to get to the blog has something to do with making a green flame. Actually, I don't really know much about this, sorry. I do know that if you are doing a flame test on a substance and you get a green flame, you probably have barium in it. Here are some pictures of a green flame just to keep you happy. Enjoy the rest of my blog while you are at it.
Green Flame again

A Few Pictures from My Christmas

Cat with her son John, his wife Stephanie, and their children Skylar and Devin
My niece Serenity
Cat and our nephew Tristan
My granddaughter Skyler

My Eye Operation

Detached Retina
I haven't posted in nearly 6 months. Part of the problem has been the fact that, for a while, I was facing the prospect of going blind due to a detached retina. Back in August, I had an operation to deal with cataracts in my left eye. Some days after the operation, I noticed that I was having trouble seeing out of the that eye. I called the surgeon who performed the operation, and he said that it likely was some "floaters" caused by the operation which would settle down eventually.

However, what I was seeing never "settled" and in fact, grew to block about half the vision in that eye. Then I noticed that my right eye was getting worse. It looked as though I was looking out of a dirty window pane. Then I couldn't see out of it altogether. I called the doctor again, and he told me to get in to see him right away. He took one look and my eye and exclaimed, "Wow!" This is not the sort of thing you want to hear from your doctor during an exam. Then he told me that I had detached retinas in both eyes. He sent me on to a retina specialist.

The specialist, Dr. Lawrence, confirmed the diagnosis. He told me that my right eye's retina was completely detached and the left eye was partially detached. "That's something fairly rare," he explained. "Sometimes patients will come in with one detachment and the other getting ready to detach, but seldom do I see both retinas affecting vision in both eyes at the same time."

He scheduled me for surgery the next day to reattach the left eye first using a scleral buckle procedure. This operation involves the placement of a silicone rubber band around the eye together with wider pieces of material positioned to close the hole in the retina which is caused when the retina detaches. That night after the operation, I spent throwing up into a bucket my wife kept by my side. I was completely blind since I didn't any vision in my right eye. The next day when the bandages came off I could seek, very blurry shapes, but I could see. I was reminded of the blind man in the Gospels who said he saw "men looking like tree walking."

The next operation was on the right eye. In addition to the buckle, the doctor used a procedure called pneumatic retinopexy which involves the injection of air or gas into the eye to help seal the hole in the back of my eye. Once again, I spent a night throwing up, but I also had to spend several nights sitting up in a chair. Cat and I arranged to have a chair wedged in a corner with pillows around me so I could at least lean to one side and get some rest.

The doctor thought I would have to spend 3 months at home, but I only had to be there 3 weeks. Thank the Lord for a good union contract that gave me the sick leave time to do this without loss of salary. During that time I couldn't read anything. I could, however, watch all the television I wanted to watch. Thank God for The History Channel and recorded books.

Since then, I have had to go through a time of wearing a patch on my right eye (just in time for "Talk Like a Pirate Day"!). And a time of sleeping on my stomach to let the air bubble press on the back of my eye. I had my last check up on Dec. 11th. Dr. Lawrence was very happy with my progress. He told me that 20 years ago, I would have had to accept blindness as my fate. He believes that my condition was caused by the fact that I was extremely near sighted for a long period of time. (I know that at one time, my vision was 20-200.) Myopia is caused by an elongated eye ball, and this acts like an balloon overfilled with water. At some point, the balloon begins to tear and this causes the retina to tear.

I am thankful for Dr. Lawrence and his excellent staff at Retinal Associates of Oklahoma. Vision is a precious gift, and they have given me a great Christmas present.