I Would Defend You, McKeelers

by Billy Townsend on Dec 22, 2011 in commentary | 2 comments

This is not a McKeel classroom.

McKeel’s response to my series of articles, as I predicted, has been silence.

When I first wrote about McKeel’s kid-dumping more than a year ago, pro-McKeel commenters swarmed me. We mixed it up. Views were exchanged. It was fun. And that was just about enrollment cheating and team-stacking, not the more emotional issue of underachieving upperclass children and their teachers.

So, I suspect the word has gone out not to respond to me. Believe me, at a time when Maready and company are seeing dollar signs in expansion to other communities, it does them no good to publicly discuss data that highlights their underperformance.

Thus, McKeel teachers, parents, and students, if you won’t talk to me, I want to take a second to talk to you. Look at what your “leaders” have given me — a free fire zone to write. I can call you self-regarding underachievers to your cyber faces and produce data to back it up. And the people who employ you, the people who make you pay those ridiculous uniform kickbacks, errrr, uniform prices, to Fontaine Apparel can’t even be bothered to challenge the numbers.

Think about that. To them, you’re not even worth a rebuttal.

Say what you want about me, but do any of you doubt I’d be fighting for you right now if you worked or studied in my school? If some yahoo off the street armed with a spreadsheet and a reasonably well-read platform made a case that you’re pretty mediocre, don’t you think I’d make a countercase with everything I had or apologize to you for my own underperformance? If you were pouring your heart and soul into shaping mediocre future Leadership Lakeland class members, wouldn’t I honor that? What do you think?

Look, I hear you. I’m no longer a professional journalist. I don’t own an SUV. I don’t get business leads from my mommy and daddy. Who cares what I think or assert? I’m just a gnat on the great hairy elephant that is our beloved city–and its politics. I have no influence. I’m not a leader. You’re right on all counts.

But take a look at the comments on last McKeel post. 30 of ‘em. Even allowing for the whackiness that is “Skeptical Enlightenment,” that’s not nothing. They include a long, serious comment from Chris McLaughlin, real estate-tycoon-about town, and near as I can tell, Seth McKeel’s boss in their “Maximize Social Media” business venture. Yeah, no one takes this seriously.

And that’s just who will put their names or pseudonyms on Lakeland Local. Many people, at reasonably “important” levels of Lakeland and Polk County government and society, are talking about you. Some of them talk to me. Some of them talk to others, and it gets back to me. I hope this talk has also given teachers at traditional schools some ammunition for the next time Harold Maready or Larry Ross slags off on them. From my point-of-view, that’s not a bad months’s volunteer work. What do you think?

Because I am a gnat, I have very limited goals. I have no illusions that I can stop predatory charters specifically or enrollment stacking generally. Ya’ll will flock together and shake your heads at the poor traditional schools that get more out of themselves than you do. I know I can’t change that. And I’m not sure I want to. It’s too much fun to mock. It’s enough for me to generate whispers among your peers. I want disclaimers included in conversations at dinner parties. “Now, I know what people say about McKeel, but…” That’s all I want. And I’m not going anywhere. So you might as well step up to defend your work and reputations. I can’t do it for you.

Believe me, I know you guys work hard at McKeel. I think the numbers show you don’t work particularly well. But I think you’re trying. I respect effort, and effort can be channeled into success with a little better focus and strategy. You deserve better leaders.

image credit: Ken Fager