No one can accuse Phoebe Harris of holding back, sometimes she even uses a microphone. Such was the case over the weekend at a convention for her fellow Pa. school directors. She commandeered the microphone and lambasted the organization because no black person ever received the award that is named in honor of a black person.
Comments on social media have ranged from accusing her of reverse racism to calling for her resignation from the school board.
I believe that the board has been somewhat preoccupied with race and diversity issues. Perhaps energies would be better spent concerned with improving the quality of education.
Thanks as always for bringing this to our attention, and naturally I have some questions/comments:
ReplyDelete1) The conference she attended was at nearby Kalahari resort, not exactly a long-distance trip. I'm not sure over how many days the conference was held, but what (if anything) did the school district pay for food, lodging, travel, etc. for Ms. Harris to attend the event? Were there other school board members attending from Allentown? It would be interesting to know what ASD taxpayers shelled out for the trip.
2) According to the WFMZ article on the incident, after the award was given out this year Harris walked to the podium and tried to shame those in attendance for not giving the award to a black person. After she left the podium, the school board association banned her from the convention center.
Then, "A couple of members of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley... rushed to the Poconos in support." PNLV's outreach supervisor is quoted in the article as saying "We're supposed to be disruptive." I have to wonder if PNLV's involvement wasn't pre-planned.
3) Readers of this blog know that Promise Neighborhoods is heavily funded by the taxpayers of the City of Allentown. I'd like to thank both Mayor Tuerk and City Council for that travesty. Perhaps some on council will wake up and remove PNLV's funding from the new budget proposal that's coming to them.
4) I find it telling that Harris' outburst is about a little-known award by a little-known school board association. This is undoubtedly a publicity stunt to get her name out before next year's Mayor and City Council elections. For improvement to come to ASD or City Hall, voters need to elect people who will serve the public, not themselves. Voters should remember this incident, and not in a positive light.
5) Out of all the real problems that ASD has, like student test scores that are the lowest in the region, this is what Harris is focused on? An award? Her own political future? SHE should be ashamed, and she should resign in disgrace.
Anon@4:42: Promise Neighborhoods said "We're supposed to be disruptive," I thought that they were supposed to be constructive.
ReplyDeleteOf course an award named after a black person doesn't have to go to a black person, and likewise awards named after white people can go to a black person.
Students who are disruptive in class are made to leave...Harris crossed the line in acceptable decorum and mistakenly (IMO) thinks that this is a racial issue.
I'm interested to see how the remaining school board reacts or doesn't react.
Ms Phoebe is getting into good trouble , she's an icon for those who want equity in public education and standing up for the marginalized is divine, Go P. H!
ReplyDelete"TROUBLE" in education is never good. Anon 6:05 is a well known troll.
DeleteThe only error made was Harris's assertion that the snub was a micro aggression, it was actually a macro aggression and possible hate crime she spoke her truth and set the record straight we are proud of Ms Phoebe!
DeleteThe outburst simply lacked class. It was an embarrassment to Allentown.
ReplyDeleteQuite disenchanted with the Phoebe persona. Hopefully these posts will focus on her actions and the relationship to behavior befitting of a school board member and not get off track with PNLV.
DeleteIs she representing herself at this conference of the residents of Allentown who elected her and pay school taxes? We most likely paid all of her expenses to attend this conference. She should resign immediately as she has embarrassed herself and brought shame to those who she is supposed to be representing.
ReplyDeletePhoebe Harris is one of the engines of the train wreck that is the ASD board. People should be concerned by the sorry state of this vital board, after all it has a huge impact on the quality of education ASD students receive. Are they? Is anyone paying attention? The media only bothers to caste an eye in that direction when a director acts out in public. If one wonders why the ASD students are falling further and further behind the answer is plain to see. But does anyone want to?
ReplyDeleteArmstrong is a former school board member.
DeleteMy primary memory of this ASD Board member is her unwavering and enduring support for Mayor Pawlowski.
ReplyDeleteActing out by a bully should not be tolerated, let alone rewarded. This type of inappropriate, impulsive bad behavior by an adult cast in the role of a leader is not the behavior a member of a deliberative board as essential as the Allentown School Board should display. Apparently Allentown is still suffers from a lack of professional, mature, intelligent leadership.
ReplyDeleteThere is no room or need for decorum when the history of disenfranchisement extends back centuries via Jim Crow and chattel slavery, much like when Beyoncé was robbed of a rightful Grammy award by lily white Taylor Swift brother Kanye West stormed the stage and grabbed the microphone to speak truth to power this is a tradition in the black community Phoebe Harris executed the maneuver expertly shining light is a disinfectant, Bravo Queen!
ReplyDeleteJustan - I agree with you that "...shining light is a disinfectant."
DeleteBefore Phoebe did this, I thought she was a fool.
Now, I am certain of it.
Your POV is the last time for this post, regardless of what name or anon you choose. I only printed this repetitive troll patter as an opportunity to point out that there appears to be only one white board member in Allentown, and a black superintendent. I believe that there remains only two issues: Will the school board or administration have a reaction, and will the city administration have a reaction to the Promise Neighborhoods involvement?
DeleteMy comment at 9:36 pertains to Justan post at 8:50.
Deleteanon@9:33: I feel that Harris's comment at the convention was inappropriate as a school board member, but she is no fool. She has been an active member of the community for a decade.
IF Harris is such an effective superintendent, WHY does ASD stink??? It's simple to witness the failure when class ends and the students just waltz out into traffic... I will preface that the students aren't the greatest, but aren't those same students that require the MOST effort from ASD, not the least??? I am an ASD alumni... ASD was one of, if not the highest, ranked district in the state when I graduated. I understand the honors and advanced courses and programs have been defunct for many years... SMH!!!
ReplyDeletePoor performance should equate to less taxes IMHO. We highly overpay most ASD employees for apparently piss poor results. Change my mind.
Harris is not the superintendent, but one of nine board members or directors. Carol Birks is the superintendent. There will be a school board meeting Thursday Oct. 10.
Delete12:55 - There was a time, as recently as the 1970’s, where out-of-district parents actually PAID to have their children attend ASD schools. My how times have changed.
DeleteWhat we have today is the effect of 50 years of bad policy and bad management, at both the city and school district level, to make ASD the mess it is today.
Could it rebound? Yes, but not with racist board members like Harris leading the way. Unless the Board focuses the district and its employees on educating the kids (instead of things like what Harris is focused on) it won’t change
ASD was essentially as described by 2:01, but it’s way more complicated than any blog post, let alone short bits in the comment section, can depict. Somehow, there needs to be a discovery of what’s going on in the classrooms and hallways; what the actual performance of the students is; what the philosophical objectives of the administration and board are; what the expectations of the taxpayers/parents are for the district; and what the taxpayers/parents are willing to invest in terms of funding, child preparation for school and development of social/family values. Efforts to determine these, whether done previously or in the future, are likely compromised to some degree by hidden agendas, psychological denial, demands that others do the work, and just downright arrogance and orneriness [Don’t recall that word on the SAT.].
ReplyDeleteI accept what several other commenters have said about past ASD excellence, especially since I knew several paying WAHS students from Salisbury. My assigned admissions staffer, at a premier national institution, said Allen High had a good reputation for its graduates.
However, trouble signs can be found back in the 1940’s. An elder citizen shared some interesting experiences at Harrison Morton that tell me social promotion predates liberal flower child philosophy.
Also, read the first chapter of Lee Iacocca’s autobiography [If you live in Allentown and don’t know who he is, look him up!]. I do not know of any causality, but based on that writing, I could appreciate if his school experience played a role in why, only speculating, Bethlehem got the academic building (Lehigh’s Iacocca Hall), and Allentown kept the hot dogs.
Does anyone recall the district’s loss of money in the millions in the 1980’s? That problem, when I was at school out-of-state, set back the district for years.
Ms. Harris’ choice to create this current controversy may have catalyzed a discussion, but it does not inspire confidence in the board’s ability to manage Allentown children’s future development, or to perceive the best course of action for educating them.
Local news and blogs like yours created the monster and Phoebe has been a follower all along. Pay attention, the main problem with Promise Neighborhoods is that they are the only local nonprofit that does not receive much local funding or have local donors. Batts often brags of his large liberal donors from outside of the Valley that pay every time his name is mentioned.
ReplyDelete