Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good morning saints sniped and the rest of y' all still lying in the group chat.
Welcome to Morning Tea and Allegations.
Where the devil gets no mic and the truth gets the final say.
Just a good time. Hey, hey.
She don't run on rumors, she run on receipts.
Sanctified shade with the screenshots to preach this ain't just got it's gospel flow you pray, she claps back and lets the spirit go.
Bible in one hand, the doc's in the other she speak with fire, can't silence our truth.
I did my Bianca to snitch with a mixer calling it out cause our children deserve better.
Quantity and allegations poor and truth with no hesitation. Accountability and rotation this is gospel education. Transparency is our foundation. Integrity lead the conversation. No rumor, no regulation Facts receipts and revelations where faith walking bold through shady temptation no fake comes no false relations.
Just truth, conviction and contradiction and allocations.
Good morning.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Good morning. Let me get the sound effect right, cuz. Oh, child who child? A new country, new setup. Changing things up and I am rusty, but here we are. Good morning, happy Wednesday and welcome to morning Teen Allegations. Yes, indeed. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'm so glad that you are here, that you are in formation. If you're watching on the Replay ministry, I'm so glad that you're here. And if you're live, I'm glad that you're here too. Please make sure that you are in the comments telling me who you are, where you watching from. It is important to me also, since you're here, make sure you like the video. Make sure you are subscribed to the Teaching for the Culture Network. There are so many things that we're doing, things that are on the way, and I'm really excited that you are here as we're on this journey. Amen.
Amen. Okay, we have an action packed show today. So the title of today's episode is Optics Over Outcomes. Amen. Amen. And I am so thankful that we're able to go through this show together because who? Child, the block is hot. There's so many things that are happening and trending in the news and ultimately I ask, how are the children?
Are the children all right? Because I would share fight videos. And it's the third week of school and they are literally swinging and educators are having to break up fights and they don't get paid enough for that. So let's go ahead and get started with our church announcements. Amen. Amen. Okay, so the Sunshine Education Coalition, they are kicking off their series and let me share my screen so that you can have access to this because their event is today. Okay. It is tonight at 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time. This topic relates to discipline policies. One on one.
This is an opportunity for you to learn about school discipline and for you to learn about your rights and how to support your child during the process. So I'm going to post the link so that you can have access to this workshop. But it is a free workshop that is tonight at 6:30pm Amen. Amen. So please make sure that your information that you are in the building because it's really, really important. Okay?
So let's keep moving on with what we have going on.
So I want to uplift that tomorrow at 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time, I will be having a free workshop that is titled the pressure to sext. If you didn't know sex torsion is running rampant and we need to have intentional conversations about that. So I wanted to just make sure that I uplift that because our children deserve better. And unfortunately, they are becoming compromised in some very dangerous situations by themselves sending pictures to one another. And so we want to have a very transparent, vulnerable conversation about things to look out for and some guardrails that you can put into place and conversations that you can have with your children about the matter because it is a very serious issue that is happening and taking place. Okay? So see you tomorrow at 8pm on a teaching for the Culture network for that free workshop. Okay.
Now, as many of you know, I'm going to always rep and support Canva. Canva has been the tool that I've been able, able to create a lot of the assets that you see today. And I just want to thank them for their support in this. I'm going to post my partner link in the comments. So if you want to have a free trial, go ahead and get it. Okay.
Please go ahead and get with Canva. It's a powerful tool. I love it. I use it for business and personal and you should too. And for my educators out there, you should be able to have access to have a free account. So please make sure that you empower yourself so that you can have access to these tech tools because it's really, really important. Okay? All right.
Before we get on the docket today, I just want to thank my Patreon members, the folks that are my equalizers and my digital guardians. Thank you for investing in this work. Thank you for being in the space. I posted a video to them yesterday just highlighting my move to a different country and just the transitions that I've been going through. And I just want to uplift that as life is life in and people are people and continue to move forward. Okay? You have a vision, you have a purpose, you have a reason. And even when life be life in and people be peopling, there's only one you. You are worthy. You are enough. And I am here in my teddy bear outfit in my snitch cave, as you can see, home of the snitch behind me with my petty bee honeypot.
I'm unapologetically showing up the way that God has me to. And you might not agree, you might not like it, but the question that I'm always going to ask is, did I lie because people I receipt stole and I'm always going to bring the receipts.
Speaking of that, let's go ahead and roll these disclaimers because that's really, really important for today's episode because I don't want no smoke. All right? And you shouldn't want no smoke either. So let's go ahead and roll the disclaimers. Roll the clip.
Thank you, church members, as we have additional announcements and disclaimers that require your full attention. I am a certified snitch and whistleblower that reports on what is happening in our community.
Like I always say, people lie. Receipts don't. With that stated, the content used in this programming is protected under fair use.
In addition, the views and opinions on this programming belong to me. I hold myself accountable and prioritize accuracy and truthfulness in my communications.
So unless you have receipts, don't start with me. God is still working on me. I love the block button to protect my peace and I desire to snitch on everybody, including me. Thank you for your attention and govern yourselves accordingly. Amen.
Yes, indeed. Amen. And good morning. Good morning. I'm so proud to have you here in the comments. I was just talking about the Sunshine Education Coalition in the event tonight. So again, if y' all missed that update in the church announcements, the link is should be in the chat for you to go ahead and be involved because that event is tonight at 6:30pm Amen. All right, so there are grown folks here, all right, that are arguing about paint and branding, and our babies are fighting in the hallways, at bus stops and are falling behind in reading.
So this morning, I want us to choose outcomes over optics and solutions over spectacles.
So let's go ahead and talk about some important education news that you need to know because there's a lot of things that are going on. So we have the Department of Education, their Office for Civil Rights. Some of these employees will be returning back starting in September. A federal court is forcing the US Department of Education to bring back more than 260 the Office of Civil Rights Investigators that it tried to lay off this spring. The department says that the staff will return in waves starting around September 8th and will be continuing through November. That means that stall discrimination cases should start moving again.
And I do want to put this article in the chat so that you have access to it and that you can see it, because what's really sad and is this dismantling of not only the Department of Education, but in the state that I often advocate for, Florida, we are seeing the privatization of education, thus the dismantling of public education.
And our children deserve better. And this is something that I have been on this platform since 2019, talking about this very issue. And we're now in 2025, and we are seeing that the sit are becoming worse.
And unfortunately, I don't see it becoming better.
Now. I want to just take a moment to just pause to say it is important that you vote yes.
It is important that you know the people down the ballot.
Yes.
But as I often say, you also need to follow the money.
As I often say, the failure in education is big business.
And so when we are talking about what is happening to our children, what is happening to the state of education, it is big business, unfortunately. And failure is driving the machine. And it has opened the platform and gateway to so many things and legislation that really holds the district at harm.
And it's not right.
In fact, I'm currently dealing with a situation at a local charter school in Tampa where they're not providing the records to a parent. And that parent has been fighting to get their child in school for three weeks as this charter school is providing insufficient records to the transferring school.
And I've heard that the records process with charter schools is a bit different than public schools. And even in those type of situations and scenarios, it's not right, y'. All. It's not right. So these are things that we need to talk about that we need to amplify because ultimately, our kids didn't ask for this. Let me say it. Let me say it again just so that you can hear. Our kids didn't ask for this.
Speaking of what the kids didn't ask for, the kids did not ask for this debate as it relates to logos and crosswalks. So this is something that has had people all in a frenzy, crackle barrel, to the point where the President of the United States went to the Internet on Truth Social to talk about the logo, to say that he wants to make Crackle Barrel.
What he say Crackle Barrel a winner again? That's what he said.
Our kids asked for this. Ok?
We have had so much controversy over the optics of it. And I just think about the outcome. Are y' all still go make pancakes? Are y' all still go make biscuits and gravy? Are y' all still.
Let me not go there because I'm hungry. But what I am tired of seeing is the back and forth on social media about this.
And one lawmaker took Donald Trump's post and was like, so get this.
You're struggling to make ends meet, to put food on the table, to afford basic health care.
And Donald Trump is focused on Crackle Barrel's new logo. It's ridiculous and insulting. He is not thinking about your needs.
And I mean, hello, you are fake news. I don't understand why there's so much controversy. But you know what? What is something that we need to talk about.
Speaking of new logos, I'm gonna go back to Leon county for a moment because Leon county had rolled out a new logo last year.
And you know how much they spent on that logo.
Leon county spent over $100,000 for the new branding of their logo. And there are children in Leon County, Tallahassee, Florida, that do not have working AC and safe environments for children right now.
So the selective outrage of participation is beyond me, baby. I don't, I don't listen, I don't. I don't understand it. And I want to know what your thoughts are, because it is wild what is happening out here in these streets and what people are getting upset about. Let me give you another example of again why I don't understand why we are having this outrage. So to the left, you have crosswalks that the Florida Department of Transportation gave an award for the city of Tampa. The project was called Crosswalks to Classrooms.
And it was painted crosswalks near 21 schools. And it was awarded in 2020 planning innovation of the Year.
That same department is now saying that we need to have uniform safety and that we need to remove all asphalt art.
So now the 21 crosswalks near the schools that was celebrated to keep kids safe is no longer safe. It's a problem. And then you have even the black, the blue street art, which. Let me tell you about that one for a moment. Okay? I don't know if y' all remember, but I do because people I receipts don't. And I'm gonna have my receipts. So the back, the blue art that is in the city of Tampa did not go through its proper permitting process.
Hello, Y' all hear me?
So I have questions about why people are upset that the back to blue street art is going away, but there's not the same energy for these beautiful crosswalks that were put into place in front of our elementary schools.
That is just really sad to me.
To my right in Orlando, there's a rainbow crosswalk to honor the victims of Pulse.
And it was repainted twice.
Once it was removed, the community came together and they added chalk to the crosswalk.
And then guess what? It was repainted again by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Now on next Thursday, September 4, there are many cities that are required to comply with the removal of street art, asphalt art, whatever term that you want to use here. And if they don't comply, the Florida Department of Transportation says that they will remove it and build the city.
Now, what I do find interesting about all of this, though, is that we have some children that are having a hard time getting to school on time with their school's transportation department.
Oh, my God. So I don't understand why there's a lot of high stakes back and forth about the matter when you have some children that can't get to their first period on time due to the transportation obstacles and the lack of folks that are able to transport our children back and forth to school.
So there are a list of articles that talk about this, and I'm going to link it in my Patreon so. So that you're able to read it and see it. Because it is important that you are informed on the things that people are talking about and what your politicians are doing. Because it is a lot. It is a lot.
Now I want to shift because I want to talk about Sammy's Law. You might not know what Sammy's Law is, and I want to tell you about it because it's something that is very, very important. And I look forward to talking about more regulations as it relates to social media and Internet safety. That is my zone of geni. This is my work. I've been doing this for quite some time before any type of lawmakers wanted to talk about it. We have been in the trenches talking about social media safety, Internet safety for our children because our children have access to so much online, and again, ultimately, they deserve better. Okay, so let's talk about Sammy's Law. And to tell you what it is so that you know, okay, so let me go ahead and share my screen. And so Sammy's law is a narrow bipartisan bill in the House that would force big social apps to open the door to vetted third party safety tools so that parents can actually get alerts about serious risks in real time.
The Florida lawmaker, Representative Debbie Wasserman, which is pictured to the left, introduced this bill. And you can read more by visiting congress.gov I'm going to link it so that you can go see it yourself, yourself. And I'm also wondering how many people have actually visited congress.gov to see the bills that have been filed as it relates to our administration.
Platforms like Snapchat and TikTok will have to provide real time API access so that parent approved safety apps registered with the FTC can read certain signals and send alerts about things like drug dealing, suicide risk weapons, severe bullying. And it makes monitoring possible with the consent without forcing the platform to build the tool itself.
Now, there are some concerns about this particular law. Privacy advocates warn that monitoring regime can hurt vulnerable kids, especially LGBTQ youth, if it's used in hostile homes and that the FTC approves tools must have strict data and security.
Now you might be wondering, well, who is Sammy?
Well, on September 7, 2021, a drug dealer reached out to Sammy on Snapchat. We're going to talk about Snapchat in just a moment.
And this drug dealer delivered drugs to him at home.
He snuck out his parents house while they were asleep to meet the drug dealer who turned out to give him a lethal dose of fentanyl. And as a result, Sammy lost his life and he's no longer here with us.
So I want to share this clip with you of them talking about this legislation so that you can hear a different voice in the matter because I do think it's important that we uplift this and also hold people accountable to the things that they're doing to our children online. So let's go ahead and get it queued up.
[00:22:52] Speaker C: Very emotional, Alex. Our Hal Eisner has been profiling the parents of Sammy Chapman since their beloved teenage son died. Fentanyl poisoning today was a major milestone in their fight to protect other families from enduring their same pain.
[00:23:08] Speaker A: As I walk through the halls of.
[00:23:10] Speaker D: Congress with his ashes around my neck.
[00:23:14] Speaker C: Almost three years after losing their son Sammy Chapman, at 16 years old, Dr. Laura Berman and her husband Sam Chapman are still very much reeling with heartache.
[00:23:25] Speaker D: We parents have been saying no more.
[00:23:27] Speaker C: For a long time, but Tuesday, that pain flourished in purpose On Capitol Hill as they witnessed a bipartisan group of House members unveil a resolution dubbed Sammy's Law. Named after their son.
[00:23:39] Speaker B: Hope that Sammy's Law will be the start of Congress's work to make sure no other family has to go through the pain of losing a child to online dangers.
[00:23:47] Speaker C: It was February 2021 when a drug dealer on Snapchat sold Sammy Chapman a prescription pill laced with fentanyl. Sammy died of fentanyl poisoning. Chapman and Berman have been fighting ever since for more digital protections and online parental controls. They talked to Hal Eisner soon after their tragic loss.
[00:24:07] Speaker D: When this first happened to us, we spoke with you and you put us on tv. And when we were done, you said.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: To me, you've got to get out there and do more.
[00:24:15] Speaker C: Sammy's Law would require social media platforms to allow third party software providers access to a child's account so parents can monitor online interactions and content. Critics argue third party monitoring is a violation of privacy, even for minors.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: We're not trying to spy on anyone here.
We're not trying to invade anyone's privacy.
[00:24:37] Speaker C: Sammy's parents say they simply want to preserve lives.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: We're doing this to save other children from Sammy's fate.
[00:24:46] Speaker C: Now it is up to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to take up the the bill. If voted out of committee, it would then go to the full House. If approved there, it's on the Senate. Chapman and Berman tell our hell Eisner they're not stopping until that bill makes its way to the President's desk to be signed into law.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: And it wasn't just Sammy's parents there today, right? No.
[00:25:07] Speaker C: There was another set of parents we hear from. They lost their son to suicide after being bullied online. And they had the very same message that had we had these parental controls, our son could very well still be alive today.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: There are many parents that do not know how to check their child's device, don't know what to even look for, or even the apps that children are on. Which is why I do want to talk about Snapchat for a moment because Snapchat is a very dangerous app to the point where that has been a playground for bad actors because of the feature of the disappearing messages. This is not something that is impacting children in the States, but also impacting children internationally. And because I have access to international news and the things that are happening globally.
As a global digital safety expert, I do want to take you over to Canada with me. Okay.
In Canada, a parent is sounding the alarm about Snapchat, which is what I want to task y' all with, is to find out if your child has Snapchat and what type of content they're posting on Snapchat and what type of interactions they are having with other humans on Snapchat. So let me go ahead and share my screen so that I can share this information with you, because this parents plea is very, very important for everyone to hear about the dangers of Snapchat and the things that are going on on that platform.
[00:26:50] Speaker E: It's an app known for its fun filters. But one Ontario parent warns Snapchat is also where illicit drugs are sold.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: I'm trying to keep my son safe.
[00:27:00] Speaker D: While these drug dealers are manipulating him because they're reaching out.
[00:27:04] Speaker E: We're not identifying Roger to protect his son's identity. He says his 15 year old has been buying drugs on Snapchat. But tracking that has been difficult for one main reason. Messages on Snapchat are deleted once they're viewed by the recipient. It's a unique feature of the app that makes it nearly impossible, say some parents, to monitor illegal activity.
Getting access to drugs on Snapchat isn't just a problem Here in Canada in the U.S. relatives of more than 60 young people who've overdosed on drugs allegedly purchased on the app have filed a lawsuit that claims Snapchat's role in illicit drug sales to teens was the foreseeable result of the designs, structures and policies Snap chose to implement to increase its revenues.
[00:27:50] Speaker D: I think that Snapchat's executives belong in prison.
[00:27:54] Speaker E: Sam Chapman is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. His 16 year old son Sammy died in 2021 after overdosing on a pill he purchased on Snapchat. Chapman says his son didn't know it was fentanyl.
[00:28:08] Speaker D: The ghost that killed him was delivered to our front yard like a pizza after we were asleep and we found Sammy dead on the floor.
[00:28:16] Speaker E: Family Center Snapchat says their parental control features allow parents to see who their child is talking to on the app and to report any concern.
The company also says it uses artificial intelligence to shut down the accounts of drug dealers. But this youth activist says it's not enough.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: All of your messages and the photos.
[00:28:35] Speaker D: You send, the stories you post disappear after 24 hours.
[00:28:39] Speaker B: It creates this black box of social.
[00:28:42] Speaker D: Media where you don't have any record.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Of what you sent and that has.
[00:28:46] Speaker E: Roger in constant fear that his 15 year old son will overdose.
[00:28:51] Speaker D: I cried driving past a cemetery because I started thinking about, okay, if my son dies, how are we going to.
[00:29:00] Speaker E: Do this, Roger says his focus now is keeping his son safe. And with Snapchat, it continues to be a challenge. Idol Moose says. CBC News, Toronto.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: It's really sad and a really big issue with particularly drug sales that are happening on the platform and sexting. Which is why the event tomorrow is really, really important that you come and tune in because inappropriate pictures are being sent via Snapchat because of the feature of it disappearing. And unfortunately, I've seen cases where students will take a screenshot of things that are posted on Snapchat and it can be airdropped across the entire campus and even different campuses in a county or worse, post it on social media and it takes so long for that content to be removed.
So there are different emojis that are out here that are common uses. And this is according to the dea. So they have popular emojis that they've seen where people will post these type of emojis to mean different type of drugs. And so I just want to uplift that. The DEA is trying to do its best to let people know that these are what these emojis have been meaning when they've been doing their investigation.
And again, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been trying to uplift this information. And I'm going to share this with you, too, because it is a very serious thing out here. You have children that are vaping in school and they're taking pills and they are smelling like a pound of marijuana before they get on the bus. It's a lot of things that are happening. And I want us to be very intentional with what our children have access to. So I'm going to say, parents, hello, parents, Please check the cell phone.
Hello, parents.
I'm gonna say it again.
Please check the cell phone.
Also, when you check the cell phone, also check the backpack, too, because it's really interesting to me the things that are being brought to school, brought from home to and from, and no one knows what's going on. I'm still stunned about the case at a local middle school where a child was buying stun guns on Amazon and was selling it at school. And the parent act like they have no idea what was going on. And I'm trying to figure out, well, what credit card did she use?
How did this get delivered? And you not know. There are so many questions. But these are real life cases, folks.
Children are being harmed out here. And it is my life's work and my mission to protect children online and to amplify these stories because it is important.
Okay?
It's important.
So let's go ahead and shift and talk about the state of Florida for a moment because I've made a series of posts for the past couple of days and I tell you, my inbox has been hot. Okay? Just the messages that are coming in. I'm just like, whoa, all right, relax. And some people coming in loud and wrong. And it's like, because why are you coming in my inbox or responding back loud and wrong? And I am receipts focused. I'm receipts based. But hey, go off.
So I made a post and I said, if only Governor Ron DeSantis fought for teachers paychecks the way that he fights for headlines, Florida would not be ranked 50th in the nation for teacher pay.
Meanwhile, Florida now leads the nation in homeschooling. Make that make sense.
And I don't think that we're ever going to make sense of that.
Truly, I don't. Other than the notion that clearly our education system is set for privatization and we got to follow the money.
If we follow the money, we see that there are so many different alternative pathways to education.
That's not public education that are receiving more benefits than public education.
So what can you elude with that information?
And I feel really bad for the educators that are clearly needing help, needing support. And you have parents that go on apps, apps like Tick Tock or Facebook to say that they're not buying school supplies. They wish that, you know, the school was decked out and where's the decor? Where's the, you know, cute rugs? Meanwhile, there are so many content creators that are teachers out here that are showing what their classroom looked like before pouring money into it. Teachers and educators are pouring their own money to provide a experience for children. And it is so sad, the conversation and the disregard to education which I go back to, where are our priorities?
Well, it appears that Governor Ron DeSantis priorities is to go back and forth with headlines because it clearly shows that he wants to be in the media talking about things that have nothing to do with the state of Florida. But here we are again. Our educators are in the trenches. They need help. And Ron DeSantis is on the media, on the news, on podcasts, on shows, talking about everything but the state of what's happening. And this is why, again, the topic and the title of the show is Optics Over Outcome.
You can tell a narrative and say the things and all of that. But again, I asked where are the receipts?
Because the the Florida Department of Education posted and said that teacher vacancies are down 17%.
And I'm like, where?
Where?
And when you have media headlines such as the Florida Phoenix, reach out and ask for the data.
[00:35:55] Speaker D: You are fake news.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: No receipts were produced.
So we can't even trust the people in office to provide factual information or the data. And again, I say our children didn't ask for this.
It's exhausting. The Education Law center gave Florida an F for funding, distribution and effort.
The Education Law center gave Florida an F for funding, distribution and effort.
So the problem isn't colorful crosswalks for safety. It's the hazard that the state continues to ignore the literacy crisis and a generation of children that are growing up unable to read, while Florida has the third largest highest percentage of adults lacking basic literacy skills.
And then we lead the nation in homeschoolers. So do you hear how all of this is just don't make sense?
Florida has the third highest percentage of adults lacking basic literacy skills and it leads the nation in homeschooling children.
Oh, hell no.
So let's move forward because it's this is going to make me very, very sad because I feel like we've been saying the same thing over and over and over again and it seems like nobody wants to hear that has power to do something.
And when I say note that has power to do something.
There are people that are in public office that are literally just placeholders. Folks, I'm not trying to be funny. I'm being very sincere when I say they are just placeholders. Why? Because they don't have power. When you have a super majority in the state of Florida and the super majority is for Republicans, regardless of what side of the aisle that you're on. Again, I've been very transparent about where I stand.
However, comma, when we talk about a super majority where you literally have Democrats, where most of them, all of they're doing is pushing a button. Because regardless of what button they push, the things are going to move forward anyway. So I'm talking about the people who actually have power, not the people that are running for office to say that. Vote for me, because I'm going to work on affordable housing. Meanwhile, the state of Florida has had several special sessions about property taxes, about property insurance, and it's still sky high. Today you have people posting on the Internet talking about their electricity bill and their water bill and how it's gone sky high and continues to rise.
But again, the profit is in the problem, folks. The big business is the failure of education.
So let's not just hear what I got to say. I want to actually share these educational confessionals because I've been getting messages that people like them and I want to amplify what our educators are saying because it's really, really important. So let me go ahead and share my screen and this is something that I want to read to you verbatim.
This post said, teachers, I need to talk this out.
When a teacher calls out in an ESC center classroom, a sub is placed. But the problem is they aren't doing anything.
They're told they can't touch the kids, which means they refuse to assist at all.
How is that realistic in our type of setting?
This leaves paras carrying double, sometimes triple the load while subs sit back making 20 to $25 an hour. Meanwhile, the kids are running out of class, throwing things and even putting themselves and others in danger.
Just today I had one student stripping another in the trash and instead of stepping in, the subs just called me over.
I can't be the para, the teacher and the bodyguard for two mannequins in the room. It is unsafe, it's exhausting and it shows the lack of care for both employees and students.
So my question is, is this happening across all ESC classrooms and centers or just ours? Because if not, then this is a much bigger problem. Either way, something has to change.
I just want to sit and pause for a moment.
One of the comments said I'm a sub and have subbed at centers and access classrooms in the past.
What's true is that we cannot touch children and that's not Kelly policy. But a secondly communication with paras is key.
Anytime I find myself in an ESC classroom, I always ask about the kids and how I can assist.
Sometimes the paras have had me execute the plans left by the teachers and other times they have executed the plans with me providing extra academic support.
Also, we don't make 20 to 25 dollars an hour.
It's actually less even with a BA or BS which stands for Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science.
Another comment says, yes, it is very unfair to the para, to the paraprofessionals.
I just want to take a moment to uplift the paras that are working so hard in our classrooms and are doing everything that they can for our children, particularly our most vulnerable population of children.
It is so difficult to witness and to read some of the things that are posted about these matters because where's the money going?
How is the funding being used? How are we protecting our children?
And while I understand that due to legalities and, you know, responsibilities, there are there are things that are put into place to protect contractors that are coming into the classrooms. But ultimately, something does have to change, which is why I'm looking to the lawmakers that make policy, that put their name on a ballot to say, hey, vote for me.
I'm going to be your voice.
I'm going to advocate for the children. I'm going to make sure that schools are safe. And then once they get into the position, poof.
It's all about titles and what events I could go to and what headlines I could be featured on. And it's not all. It's some. However, it is a problem.
I have witnessed it and have seen it firsthand. How politics can change people, and Florida politics in particular.
There are so many lies, there are so many secrets, and there are so many things that are happening at that capitol.
Our children deserve better and our parents deserve better. So I just want to take a moment to give a round of applause to the person that posted this, but also to the paraprofessionals that are in the field that are doing the work because they deserve all the praise and to be properly compensated for the work that they do now. Yesterday, Hillsborough County Public Schools had a school board meeting, and it was their first school board meeting since the debacles. Going back and forth with these book bands, which I'm not going to tackle today because that would make this episode longer than what it needs to be. I'm trying to honor time.
However, there are some educators that went to the school board meeting to speak out, and I want to amplify their voices today because of the things that were shared, I talk about optics over outcome. And while we have the media to say, oh my gosh, look at how great these things are happening and how great these things look, the reality is our teachers are continuing to ask for help.
So let's go ahead and start with Rebecca and what they had to say at the school board meeting. Let's roll the cl.
[00:45:53] Speaker F: Rebecca Bore I am a teacher at Riverview High School. I teach reading to mostly 9th and 10th, occasionally 11th and 12th.
I'm here today to urge the board to accept HCTA's proposals and to speak about my experience as a teacher in our county.
Every day I come to work. First thing I do is I check focus for the new students who have been added to my roster because I have new students added every single day. So I have to adjust seating charts and squeeze in more desks and figure out how maybe making new printing copies of things so that I can accommodate all of My new students. As my classes continue to grow every day I hear from my students complaints about how they have classes with no teacher in them because there are vacancies and we're now three weeks into school and they don't have a teacher and we don't know if and when they're going to get a real teacher who is qualified and knows their subject matter and loves their subject matter the way I love teaching reading.
It's really hard to go to work and deal with all of these things, especially when we aren't getting paid appropriately. We are into contract negotiations and we're three weeks into school. It's four weeks that I've been back at work with pre planning and we're still negotiating our salaries for this year.
[00:47:20] Speaker B: That's crazy to me.
[00:47:22] Speaker F: What other job do you have? Negotiations and you're deciding what we're going to do and we're expected to continue to work and to expect to put up with these conditions.
I don't understand how I'm expected to keep doing more and more.
But I have less. When I look at my paycheck, I can't pay for all the things. My mortgage keeps going up because of housing insurance and I've got my car payment, I've got my daughter's lessons. I've got different things that I have to take care of. And I need the board to support us teachers and other staff members through salary.
I listened to all of the things being presented before. It was our opportunity to speak tonight and I heard about other programs that you're spending money on. And I know that there's different buckets and the money comes from different places and you're allowed to spend it on different things.
But we need the money.
We need the support.
So I'm asking you please, to support your teachers and staff members and accept HCTA's proposals.
[00:48:31] Speaker B: Thank you.
Thank you.
[00:48:38] Speaker G: And thank you for coming to speak tonight.
[00:48:45] Speaker B: It is really brave of educators to come out to the school board meeting to speak.
It can be very nerve wracking going up there speaking to school board members, knowing that there is a possibility that the things that you might say you'll get retaliated against or having a talking to that's going to circle back in just a moment with someone that was speaking to the board yesterday.
As someone who has been very active in going to school board meetings to advocate for our teachers deserving better and our children deserving better, we need more voices.
We need more people showing up also.
Not just showing up, but also recognizing that if we follow the money and we see what's happening, that we have to hold the people accountable, who is profiting from the failure in this?
And ultimately, this whole system is going to need a radical shift in order for it to be better for our children, particularly our most vulnerable ones.
So let's shift to Patrick, because Patrick had a lot to say about what was happening in his world.
[00:50:13] Speaker D: Good evening. My name is Patrick Lewicki. I am an economics teacher at Hillsborough High School. I come to you today concerned about the budget and concerned about negotiations.
But let's start out on a positive note. I am grateful to wake up each and every morning to work for a school board that understands the needs of teachers. I don't think there's a single member here who feels negatively about the impact that we as teachers are having in the classroom.
And for that, I am immensely grateful at your compassion.
But when I look at this budget, which, you know, I do, because economics teacher, you know, it's kind of. Kind of in the curriculum a little bit.
I.
I don't see the most compassionate budget. I see a budget that's a little bit thin. Not. Not because we're uncompassionate, but because we're scared.
Because we are scared that funding is going to get cut in the future, because we're scared that we don't know if we're going to make it as far as funding from the federal government.
But, folks, we're scared because the buildings that are our public education, that are our institutions, that our democracy, are on fire.
And who wouldn't be scared of a fire?
It's natural to be scared, to run away from the fire, to make yourself as safe as possible.
But the fact is, if nobody stops the fire, the building keeps burning.
I wouldn't know what it's like to be a firefighter, but I have to imagine it requires a decent bit of bravery going in, risking their lives day in, day and day out to save innocent people and to save those buildings. Our teachers are doing the best we can to be brave in these classrooms, to fight these fires of ignorance. And public education funding is the water that can help put out these fires.
What the district is doing with this budget is effectively holding back water that we need to fight the fire in hopes that the hydrant will be back up to full tomorrow.
I am begging the school board to make the difficult and brave decision. Please do not run away from the fire. Get on your fire gear, join us, turn on the water, and let us fight these fires as hard as we can. While we still have water, because we cannot let these fires continue uncontained. West, our public schools, our institutions, and our democracy burn up in flames.
Thank you very much.
[00:53:07] Speaker B: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
It makes me think of this gift that I post often. You're literally.
Let me loop it. Okay, It.
It's fine. Everything is fine. But everything is on fire and it's not fine. Everything is not okay.
And to Patrick's point, we're going to have to do something different because what is happening is not sustainable and hasn't been sustainable for some time.
But this is a graphic that I used back in 2020 talking about our education system and how things are not fine and we are almost six years later and look at what is happening.
So I just thank again the educators that are in the fight that talk about this because it's really, really important.
So let's shift to Leslie because Leslie had some things to say, too.
[00:54:25] Speaker H: Good evening. My name is Leslie Adams. I'm a speech language pathologist, and I've been with Hillsborough county now for a little more than 24 years.
Our employees are struggling. I mean, this is not new. We're all coming here to talk to you about this. While progress has been made, and we do thank you for that.
We're still short of inflation. Significantly, every single one of us is paying more.
More for housing, more for utilities, more for car insurance, more for groceries.
The last district proposal, which was not yesterday, again, actually cuts pay for some of our staff by as much as $3,000. And that was emailed to you with reduction and elimination of previously provided supplements.
In addition, the small amount that was offered to add to each step does not even cover the increase many have experienced in one month's electric bill.
Think about that. In a time where costs are skyrocketing, the district is offering a plan that would leave employees with less compensation than last year.
Our employees cannot be asked to do more with less, especially when we're already struggling to recruit and retain qualified professionals.
Pay cuts and inadequate raises harm morale, strain families, force qualified teachers, student services, and staff members to leave for private or contract positions and ultimately impact students.
What about the referendum? The word no one wants to say that was sold to us as a supplement to our below average incomes.
We were promised that it would not impact the district's willingness to continue to improve payments.
We're seeing that as a whole different thing. As part of the bargaining team board members, we need a proposal that moves us forward, not backwards.
Our employees deserve wages that reflect their value, their dedication and the realities they face every day.
We ask you to do better for them and for our students. Thank you.
[00:56:37] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:56:37] Speaker H: Good evening. My name is Leslie Adams. I'm speechless.
[00:56:43] Speaker B: I forgot the looping. Sorry.
So I just again want to applaud these educators for showing up and doing what needs to be done because this is very serious.
When we talk about these negotiations that's happening, a lot of educators are really upset about the process.
And during negotiations, you have one educator that speaks out, talking about how they had to prepare and to make all of these different arrangements for the district to come not prepared.
So let's go ahead and share this clip because this just speaks volumes to how the district is not really doing this in good faith.
[00:57:41] Speaker G: Hi, Carissa Denneka from Gaither High School, and I'm a member of the HCTA bargaining team. I wanted to speak about focus training today, but I feel like I need to address the, frankly, the audacity of the district's bargaining team at our session yesterday. First, when instructional members are released to bargaining, it's just. It's not. I'm just not just going to a meeting. I can't just step away from my classroom.
I had to create plans. I had to make sure that everything was ready to go. And I teach AP calculus and AP stats. There's no quick worksheets that I can just throw at them that they're ready to go. I can't ask copilot to go and make me some plans either because it doesn't do math.
[00:58:28] Speaker C: Well.
[00:58:31] Speaker G: I missed another early release Monday and my extra planning time with that.
On top of that, I had to arrange arrange childcare because my husband's out of town. I planned everything ahead, even down to making sure that dinner would be ready be taken care of if bargaining went late into the evening.
And why would I do that?
I did it because I thought we were going to bargain. I arrived at 11 when I was supposed to where the support professional bargaining was still occurring.
Instructional was supposed to start at noon. It didn't. At 12:30, the teams broke for lunch in caucus and when they came back around 1:30, the HCTA instructional offer was given to the district.
At 2:40, the district came back and said they weren't able to give an offer and left.
Just to clarify, my school was out at 2:30, so they left basically at the same time when I should have been saying goodbye to my students for the day.
I made the plans. I rearranged my life and the district came with nothing.
This is not just a waste of time. It's a sign of disrespect for the educators who make the efforts to even be at the table.
I hope that on Wednesday when we meet again, our time and efforts will not be ignored. I hope that our time and commitment will be honored.
To be clear, not tomorrow, next Wednesday.
[01:00:07] Speaker B: Right.
[01:00:10] Speaker G: Because I have 30 seconds. Focus training. On August 15, I sent an email to Mr. Ayers asking about what directions were given to principals about in person training for Focus.
Right now we have Canvas course that's optional and annual training model that's not due until October 10th.
I was just trying to seek clarification. Instead, that email got sent to Matt in charge of Focus, and that got sent to my principal. And then that made me get a talking to after I did not get in trouble. But the point is I was trying to get information and that information was taken from me.
[01:00:45] Speaker B: Thank you again. I want to thank all the educators that use their voice, that talk to the school board, that writes online, that sends me things, that share things with me, because it is a lot going on. And you can see in Karissa's face and demeanor that they were very frustrated, rightly so, that their time was not honored and that the district came into negotiations not prepared. And that is very unfortunate, the shifting that they had to do to prepare and the district wasn't prepared.
Another thing that I noted was when questions are asked for clarification, somehow, some way, people will then try to send correspondence to that educator's principal to tell the principal that they need to control their staff members, that they need to make sure that they're going through the appropriate channels. And I'm not sure when we talk about these appropriate channels what we really mean. And I'm only speaking by experience because I was told when I was blowing the whistle about the things that were going on that there was a chain of command and that if you break the chain of command, it's going to be a problem and that you shouldn't put things in writing because it makes it permanent. These are the things that I was told and this was back in.
I don't want to go that far.
What I do know is that there's a problem with retaliation in climate and culture that needs to be addressed because that is unacceptable.
Unacceptable.
So to Chris Farkas, I still don't have an update as it relates to the ac and I said that I was going to play this song on repeat until we get answers. So we're gonna go ahead and shift to the song for Chris.
Fix the air Cause where you at?
[01:03:08] Speaker A: Fix the air, Chris don't play with the kids Fix the air crisp don't play with the teachers Lord, it knows we don't deserve this Fix the air, Chris Fix the air we can teach in a sauna we can learn in the heat Teachers and children deserve better so fix the air, Chris Please Chris Far cuz we are talking to you Our children are too hot to learn Our teachers are too hot to teach and the AC been broke too long don't play with the kids Fix the air don't play with the teacher we too hot, we too tight we too God knows we don't deserve this Fix the air, Chris Fix the receipts don't lie but your words repeat Ears in the sea still bringing heat we don't want flawless we just want fair air Cold air blowing in every chair we can't teach in a sauna we can learn in the heat.
[01:04:32] Speaker B: Chris, Chris, Chris. Chris Farkas. Hello, sir. Hello, sir. Hello, Chris Farkas, we are talking to you. Okay, we have questions, sir, we have questions. And we've been having questions for many, many years about your state of employment with Hillsborough County Public Schools. But let's go ahead and move forward and let me close you with this.
All in all, I just want to amplify the voices of our educators because it seems as though people are just disregarding the people that are working with our children every single day. Again, I have amplified these stats and these results that we keep talking about. And again, optics versus outcomes. Optics over outcomes. So let me just share the screen again so that you can see it in black and white so that you can see it written out, because maybe that will help. Okay, we have educators, 50th in the nation, for teachers pay, and we have the third highest percentage of adults lacking basic literacy skills with the highest homeschooling data in the nation.
If that's not wild work, I don't know what else to say. The privatization of education is in full force, and it's something that we've been talking about for quite some time.
So I hope that you get involved with the educators that are out doing the work. I hope that you get involved with organizations that are out here doing the work. I just want to continue to uplift that. There is an event tonight with the Sunshine Education Coalition, and they're kicking off their parent code workshops talking about discipline policies. Please make sure that you are involved, that you are intentional. That event is at 6:30pm Eastern Standard tonight.
Okay? Tonight, be in the room. Be there so that you can learn more about the discipline policies because we are seeing that that cell phone policy is not being fully enforced. Okay. At the beginning of the show, I shared that. I was shared fight videos and things that were happening on campus. And I am not going to use my platform to amplify that. What I will say is that the video content is out there. Folks, you have children that are fighting and harming each other. Folks. Folks, there are some dangerous situations that are happening on campus and children have their cell phone out recording the harm that is happening.
Enough is enough. Our children deserve better. And I hope that you take this message to be intentional with our education system, to be intentional with the people that are out here doing the work, that are actually doing the work, that are focused on the outcomes and not just focus on optics.
Because while we have conversations about logos and crosswalks and all of that, ultimately our children can't read. Our teachers are struggling and we need to make sure that we fix the system because it's not sustainable. And we've been saying this for way too long now. Okay.
I hope that you have an amazing day. Thank you for tuning in. For some reason, the comments weren't pulling up, so I'll have to check those comments. If you're live. And for those that are watching on the Replay Ministry, I can't wait to interact with you. And thank you again for supporting Morning Teen Allegations. It means so much to be in this work, in this fight, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow as we talk about sex, torsion and sexting, because that is a major problem that's impacting our kids. And I'll see you at 8pm Eastern Standard Time on the Teaching for the Culture Network with that information.
So, yeah, that's all I have to say on that. And I'm gonna sign you out with the song that I just love.
I love the theme music for Morning Tea and Allegations. So y' all have a blessed day, PE.
[01:08:40] Speaker A: And it.
