Berman devours the nectar in ugly, wasteful gulps. One day it will become his poison (if there is justice on earth).

As far as ESR? I think you’re wasting your time. I couldn’t give two blips about what someone thinks about a supe’s politics.

Try VHS, though. An organization I caught him admitting to funneling money toward (his reason for remaining on the board). That’s corrupt and unethical.

On the same note, we (parents) very much appreciate this site. A lot of information can be gleened from it. That being said, please look into the stories the others are afraid/kept from digging into.

Thanks…

I know for a fact that several Courier-Journal reporters have tried to do stories on JCPS. And they always get shot down by their bosses.

Also, when is someone going to FINALLY going to shed some light on Mr. Berman’s time spent with ESR (Educator’s for Social Responsibility)? ESR is an social justice organization (Cambridge/Boston) started in the 80′s to fight for the reduction of nuclear arms. These days, it works to implement “social justice” in the classroom. Mr. Berman still sits on the board and the advisory council. Just a parent here, who has wandered off of the reservation. But some of the downloadable teacher’s materials from the site (esrnational.org) would set your hair on fire if you belong to the conservative set.

Do your job people!

The restaurant meals would be understandable if he were recruiting some high level employee to JCPS from another city (but who would that be?), and NOT forgivable if he had been entertaining Ms. Stiglitz.
Is there a legitimate way to find out the name of his dinner partner/s? (It seems that would be the key and should be in his record keeping, since these were “work” dinners and he should be required to explain before reimbursement or bills paid through JCPS).
And did Dr. Berman have a travel partner on most of these trips? Again, who was it?
Since the trips, meals and who knows what else were purchased by the taxpayers or with grant money (from donor/donors intended for EDUCATION), the public has a right to know.
It seems there is a multitude of educators with histories of high level jobs making the circuit of big bucks and high livin’ on the public dole–being passed around from University to Public Education to Colleges…and rarely challenged, even where criminal acts (Felner and others–not implying Berman is a criminal) are concerned. It is not right to pass people on to another unsuspecting system. It would be wise to check with Berman’s previous employers and read between the lines, because they obviously will not be forthcoming.

Right now, my favorite mental image: the scene from Frankenstein when the villagers gather in a mob with their pitchforks and flaming torches and drive the ‘monster/s’ out of town.

Oh, wait…didn’t that just happen in New Jersey?

Do job applicants really choose their place of employment by going with the one that serves them the nicest dinner? How is he getting grants for all of this travel so he can go get more grants? And what are those grants paying for?

He touts the fact that he works 260 days a year and didn’t want to miss his vacation? Really? Try working in the real world where leaders and managers making far less than Berman work more 60 to 80 hour weeks and often have to miss vacation or cut it short.

As for him giving up a raise. Wow. There are many of his constituents who got a pink slip this year. And many who didn’t saw their wages stagnant or cut.

If Berman thinks his job is to put JCPS in the national spotlight and increase its prominence, I’d like to point out two things.

1) The only people who care that we have quality schools are the people who live here or who might move or work here. Impressing anyone else is nice, but completely unnecessary.

2) National prominence is most easily gained by having great schools. Why not visit a few of them each day instead of seeing how polar bears live?