Takeover Briefing
Think about this. Some racist folks are upset that an African American is playing the role of a mermaid in the live action Disney The Little Mermaid flick. Last I checked, mermaids don’t even exist. They are a product of folklore. They don’t turn up in the nets of fishing trawlers. They are not in aquariums. They are not in museums. You can find them in books, TV, and movies.
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You may want to check Off the Kuff before you see my take on yesterday’s TEA briefing. Here is Off the Kuff: A look at how the TEA trains Board of Managers wannabes – Off the Kuff.
I watched online the TEA briefing for the HISD School Trustees yesterday. Here is what I heard.
The Board of Managers and new superintendent will be announced on or around Thursday, June 1.
What role will the current trustees play once the Board of Managers is announced and sworn in?
- Be a liaison to the community for the Board of Managers. There will be a 90-day community engagement period.
- Be a partner with the Board of Managers. Share institutional memory as well as vision and values.
- Be involved in assisting the Board of Managers establish community values and new goals.
One of the HISD trustees asked TEA if any of the new Board of Managers were present in the board room. The TEA representative looked around the board room and responded with a nope.
Trustees will still be allowed to attend 2023 high school graduations even if they are held after June 1.
There will be a process for HISD trustees to continue to attend certain trustee training sessions.
Current trustees will not be allowed to use their current HISD email addresses after June 1.
Once a decision is made to transition back to an elected board, it will be handled in three annual phases. In the first phase, three elected board members will be transitioned back for a six Board of Managers and three elected trustee governing body. The second phase will have another three elected trustee transition back with a six trustee and three Board of Managers governing body. In the third phase, all nine elected trustees will be in place.
Got it?
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Stuff happens. See this from AP:
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development.
The decision follows a year of attacks from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature because the company opposed a state law that bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis and other officials last month.
Disney had planned to build the campus about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the giant Walt Disney World theme park resort, but Josh D’Amaro, chairman of the parks, experiences and products division, said in a memo to employees that “new leadership and changing business conditions” prompted the company to abandon those plans.
“I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” D’Amaro said. “We have plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 jobs over the next ten years. I hope we’re able to do so.”
And this:
Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, who represents the Orlando area in the Florida House, released a statement blaming the governor for the lost jobs.
“Governor Ron DeSantis is a job killing moron who cares more about his own political ambitions and culture wars than Florida and our future,” Eskamani said. “According to him, ‘woke makes you go broke’ but this is another example of how it’s actually the complete opposite. DeSantis is not who you want for President — ever.”
Rep. Eskamani is way too funny. Moron is spot on. I am sure the Disney employees from California were not too keen on moving to Florida.
Here is the entire AP read: Disney scraps plans for $1 billion Florida campus as fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis continues | AP News.
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I saw this from Variety yesterday:
Headline:
Christiane Amanpour Slams CNN Donald Trump Town Hall: ‘I Would Have Dropped the Mic at ‘Nasty Person”
Story by Naman Ramachandran
Christiane Amanpour has spoken out against Donald Trump’s recent CNN town hall, where he described moderator Kaitlan Collins as a “nasty person.”
“We know Trump and his tendencies, everyone does, he just seizes the stage and dominates. No matter how much flack the moderator tries to aim at the incoming, it doesn’t often work. I would have dropped the mic at ‘nasty person,’ but then that’s me,” Amanpour said on Wednesday to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Amanpour was accepting the Columbia Journalism Award and delivering the school’s commencement speech.
Amanpour, who is CNN’s chief international anchor, said she had met with CNN chair and CEO Chris Licht earlier this week and they “had a very robust exchange of views” about the town hall. Licht “welcomed” the exchange but stood by his decision to hold the event, according to Amanpour.
“I still respectfully disagree with allowing Donald Trump to appear in that particular format,” Amanpour said, adding, “For me, of course, the fact that the American people voted three times against Trump and Trumpism — 2018, 2020, 2022 — also speaks volumes.”
On how editors should deal with Trump’s various claims, Amanpour offered, “Maybe we should revert back to the newspaper editors and TV chiefs of the 1950s, who in the end refused to allow McCarthyism onto their pages. Unless his foul lies, his witch hunts and his rants reached the basic evidence level required in a court of law. His influence gradually decreased with all but his fervent colleagues and cults.”
“So maybe less is more. Maybe live is not always right,” Amanpour said.
Christiane is probably CNN’s most respected journalist.
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The A’s are in town for the weekend.
Let’s hope that Jose Altuve is in this evening’s starting lineup.
