A special TUSD Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 21, with only one agenda item: a discussion of the possible firing of Superintendent H.T. Sanchez and General Counsel Todd Jaeger. It's a bit more complicated than that—you can read the agenda here—but that's the gist of it.

The same item was on the February 14 agenda, submitted at the last minute by newly elected board member Rachael Sedgwick, but it was pulled before it was discussed in the open meeting. On Feb. 21, it is the agenda, period, unless other items are submitted. And Mark Stegeman has joined Rachael Sedgwick in requesting it.

After the last board meeting, I wrote that I wasn't sure if Sedgwick put in the earlier item on her own, but I suspected she did. This time, however, it's clear she has Stegeman with her, an experienced, thoughtful, strategic board member who knows how to dot his "i's" and cross his "t's." I expect the item will be discussed and voted on.

We'll see what happens. We could get a drip, drip, drip of information over the next few days, or not. I certainly wouldn't lay odds that Sanchez will have his job after the meeting; then again, I'm not a betting man. But you never know. These things have a habit of taking odd, unpredictable turns.

Stay tuned. I know I will.

The TUSD Superintendent’s job is still at risk, although discussion of it was absent from Tuesday night’s board meeting.

The crowd of more than a hundred people cheered at the beginning of Tucson Unified School District’s regular board meeting when the controversial item was removed from the agenda. For an hour and a half, one after the other, community members stood at the podium to thank Superintendent H.T. Sánchez and commend the work he’s doing with the district.

Nonetheless, a special meeting has been called for Tuesday, Feb. 21, where the question of Sánchez’s job will be back on the agenda, according to Rachael Sedgwick, the board’s newest member.

At the Feb. 14 meeting, 20 people spoke in support of the superintendent and three in opposition.
Community member Brian Flagg said Sánchez is present at school events and people like him.

“He brings his family, he hangs out, and he talks to people until the last person leaves—and he does it in Spanish,” he said. “I think the guy’s got real popular support.”

On Tuesday, the board received more than 75 emails in support of the superintendent and two in opposition, according to Board members Adelita Grijalva and Kristel Foster. Supporters of Sánchez include Michael Varney, President of the Tucson Metro Chamber, and Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.
Sedgwick, who put the item on the agenda, would like to see Sánchez make some changes but says it’s apparent he’s not open to working with her.

“It’s really not about firing H.T.,” she said. “It's really is about exploring the different opportunities and giving him a choice.”

She would like to see the board create a performance plan to assess progress the superintendent makes with the district. In particular, Sedgwick is concerned with enrollment numbers, standardized testing scores, AP scores, graduation rates and drop-out rates.

Sedgwick also thinks Sánchez spends too much time at the Arizona Legislature.

“The superintendent’s job is really not to be lobbying the legislators in Phoenix,” she said. “I believe the superintendent does not visit the schools very often and that it means that we, as a district, have sort of lost sight about the reasons that TUSD exists.”

Sánchez could not be reached for a response.

Sedgwick says she has the backing of Board member Mark Stegeman and that Board President Michael Hicks is open to discussion.

Other board members think bringing the superintendent’s job into question right now distracts the board from more important things and opens them up to possible legal problems.

“What we’re doing here is a side-show circus,” Grijalva said. “If I’m a parent of a kindergartner or someone who’s coming from a charter school and looking for a middle or high school for my child, why would I pick TUSD? Because all I see in the headlines is this drama.”

Foster says terminating the superintendent with no backup plan is a dangerous decision, and putting that option suddenly on the agenda is not the way to solve a problem.

“We’re, right now, in the middle of a legislative session, trying to advocate on behalf of public education,” Foster said. “This shows absolutely no understanding of what we do as public officials that represent a school district.”

Writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s (A Separation) latest involves Ermad (Shahab Hosseni), a teacher and part time actor in Iran forced to leave his home when it becomes uninhabitable. He moves to a new place on short notice with his wife, Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti), while they are both in the middle of a run for Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

Things go badly when Rana leaves the door to their new apartment open and is attacked after someone thinking they were visiting the previous tenant enters. The film then becomes a slow burn mystery as Ermad, a normally mild-mannered man, unravels a bit (but only a bit) as he tries to figure out who the attacker is. Perhaps the most unnerving aspect of this film is Ermad’s relative coldness towards his wife in the aftermath of the attack, a move that makes her even more of a victim. It’s hard, and painful, to watch, but Hosseni and Alidoosti make it very compelling and real. It’s also a story that is far from predictable.

The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2017 Oscars. It stands a very good chance of winning.

The agenda for TUSD's Tuesday board meeting included an action item to look at firing Superintendent H.T. Sanchez and General Counsel Todd Jaeger. The item was pulled from the agenda. No action. Nothing to see here folks. But this isn't the last time we'll witness an attempt to oust Sanchez. It was a preview of coming events.

I'm only going to indulge in a general discussion of the situation. There's so much heat and so little light on both sides of this battle, it's impossible for me to sort out fact from fiction or determine the difference between cause-and-effect and random incidents. The fighting is fierce, filled with leaks, rumors, accusations and strange bedfellows.

So, just a few comments.

I think Sanchez should stay. [Open The Comments Floodgates!] He's done a decent job as superintendent—admirable in some instances, less admirable in others. Based on my 30 year-plus career as a public school teacher and a student of education around the country, I have no reason to think another superintendent will do a significantly better job steering this difficult district filled with the kinds of problems facing most large, ethnically diverse urban areas. More likely, the district's loss of continuity would do more harm than good.

R&B/pop band Small Faces still leave there impression on history that they were a lot more than a mod combo. Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenny Jones and Ian "Mac" McLagan, four young hungry musicians who looked to break the business wide open. And they did. And then everybody sort of forgot. (There were the best band ever not to hit the American bigtime and then they became the Faces with Rod, Marriott went off to lead Humble Pie, but those are other yarns.)

Yes, Don Arden was a bus y manager too, working on The Small Faces recordings and shows, and having a pretty aggressive go at whatever money was earned. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of rock 'n' roll history knows The Small Faces were a million stories in one—too many to name—not the least of which is a we-got-fucked cautionary tale. (Arden was extra special at robbing the band piggy bank.)

Marriott, playing the electric guitar, moving on the right of Ronnie Lane, two artists who were bursting with cool, a peerless creative duo. They were East Londoners and had a huge following with the kids who shared a love for fashion and love of bands who could do bold live show that excited absolutely. The Small Faces troubled the waters with a passion for loud, raucous vocals (Marriott!) while psychedelically treating each new single—with knobsman Glyn Johns at the helm—with rock-challenging ideas and a sort of irony or self-deprecation.

In '67, Marriott penned "Tin Soldier " for P.P. Arnold, herself an R&B belter and star who
they respected and worked with on their records. (I'd guess Marriott felt too close to the song and decided to keep it for the band, instead cutting it with P.P. sharing the chorus.)

Keyboards kick it off, then the drumstick-on-rim to make the entrance perfect, guitar and bass warming up as Marriott yells "C'mon!" then delivers the sparse first verse which quickly rocks with full-on American R&B power and muscle, the whole outfit just kicking full tilt, loud, heavy, then back to that intro one last time. Each performer plain in the pocket, obviously thrilled to be putting their stamp on this historic single. It's all them, and it has been covered but seldom well. "Tin Soldier" is included nicely as a bonus in reissues of Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, which remains a imperfect masterpiece—from the circular tin cover art to the very British narrator.

Sometimes when I want to know why I still love rock 'n' roll I play "Tin Soldier" and wait for the magic they made. Young, sure and alive.
 

Writer James Baldwin’s unfinished book Remember This House gets a documentary three decades after his death, and it’s a powerful one.

Baldwin is seen in speeches he gave in the sixties, one of them on The Dick Cavett Show, and the civil right’s leader’s words prove absolutely prophetic in retrospect.

Director Raoul Peck’s Oscar nominated film uses Baldwin’s narration (effectively voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) to recount the stories and missions of Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcolm X, and how each man worked to overcome segregation and racial bigotry in the sixties. The historic Baldwin appearances, along with Jackson’s delivery of his words, make for a film that feels all too present. And that’s unfortunate, given that these words of hope for a better world were often delivered near fifty years ago.

Peck utilizes footage and photos of Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and more to illustrate that the struggle continues, and has entered a new era of difficulty. Hearing Baldwin’s words today makes it seem unfathomable that he died so long ago.

Given the current state of things, you would think these were the recitations of a man who just watched the latest news reports on CNN.

The agenda for Tuesday night's TUSD Board meeting includes this "Action Item" requested by new board member Rachael Sedgwick:

Discussion/Consideration/Action re Employment, Assignment, Appointment, Promotion, Demotion, Dismissal, Salaries, Disciplining or Resignation of a Public Officer:
- Superintendent
- General Counsel

The Superintendent is H.T. Sanchez. The General Counsel is Todd Jaeger.

Consider this post a heads up, not a discussion, because there too many questions and moving parts here for me to address them at this point. There could be far more to talk about Wednesday. If you recall, one of the major questions raised during the 2016 board election campaign was whether or not H.T. Sanchez was doing a competent job running the district, and if not, whether he should be fired. Sedgwick's action item addresses the question head on.

The public part of the meeting will begin around 5:30pm in the Multipurpose Room, Duffy Community Center, 5145 E. 5th Street, though Sedgwick's action item may be taken up considerably later in the meeting. You can watch a livestream of the meeting here.

Lost in the uproar over our new Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is another education-related appointment that needs no Senate confirmation. Trump plans to make Jerry Falwell Jr. head of his task force to deregulate higher education.

The Obama administration made some significant advances in draining the for-profit university swamp. Think Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech, both of which went into bankruptcy when the Feds exposed them for the educational scams they were. Think University of Phoenix, which lost students and profitability when it was forced to mend its predatory recruiting practices. Trump and Falwell hope to fill the swamp back up, using federal dollars to fatten the alligators who profit by putting students into debt while giving them little in the way of education in return. "The goal," Falwell said, "is to pare [Obama-administration initiatives] back and give colleges and their accrediting agencies more leeway in governing their affairs."

Falwell is president of Liberty University. It's a nonprofit educational institution with a 14,000 student enrollment, so the brick-and-mortar university wasn't affected by Obama's crackdown on for-profits. But Liberty U. also has 65,000 online students, making it the second largest online college after University of Phoenix. Its online education is very profitable.

Most colleges now have a mix of residential and online students, but it’s almost unheard-of to have four times as many online students as residential students.

Because internet courses are cheap to deliver at scale, the online division is a big revenue driver for Liberty, which brought in $591 million in tuition in 2013, against $470 million in expenses. Liberty is essentially a medium-size nonprofit college that owns a huge for-profit college.

Putting Falwell in charge of deregulating the for-profit college sector is kind of like, oh, say, putting Goldman Sachs executives in charge of deregulating the financial sector. Meaning Trump deserves some credit, for being consistent. Henhouse, meet fox.

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I get along well with other dogs and love meeting new people! If you're looking to rescue a sweet dog to join your home I might be the perfect fit.

I need a home, but if you aren't looking to adopt you can still help homeless pets like me by donating to HSSA's fund to build a new home!

They are asking people like you to help them raise 3 million dollars! Click here for more information about the new shelter and how you can help today!

If you want to give me a home give HSSA a call at 520-327-6088 ext. 173 for more information!

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Rita (837954)

A whole lot of people get shot in the face during this worthy sequel to the 2015 breakout hit John Wick.

Keanu Reeves—totally bummed out Keanu Reeves—returns as the lone assassin, originally brought out of retirement after somebody killed his dog and stole his car. Many deaths later, Wick is back in his stylish home, with a new no-named dog, intent upon burying his guns and taking a long break. No such luck. A man from the past shows up with a marker, giving him a killing assignment that will take him to Italy and have him facing off with the likes of Common (It turns out Common is built like The Terminator and makes for a good villain. Oh, wait…he’s sort of the good guy. Wick is actually a villain). Balletic violence begins and never ends.

This time out, Wick is wearing some sort of bullet proof lining under his suit. He was unstoppable before, but now he can take a bullet! Reeves is the perfect guy for this role, physically believable as an aging, unstoppable assassin, and pretty great with the stoic line deliveries. He’s in one mode for this movie, and that mode is badass. You really only need one movie like this every couple of years, and trying to copy the grandeur of the Wick films with other characters or stories seems pointless.

Reeves has himself a brand new franchise, and this one is very ripe for the next story. It also has another Reeves franchise guy, Laurence Fishburne a.k.a. Morpheus, from The Matrix. Thankfully, this sequel is much better than The Matrix sequels.