Ever hear of Dr.Fadhilika Atiba-Weza?  I really hadn't thought much about his name since I saw him listed as one of Dr. Dallemand's Dream Team members back in June of last year....Funny how Google works for me and it doesn't seem to for people that are hiring these high dollar folks.

It seems that Dr. Atiba-Weza comes from us from Troy, New York where he served as the school districts superintendent from 2007 until he was hired as the interim Director of Operations for the Bibb County School System.  It seems as though when Dr. Atiba-Weza was employed there he employed Freddie Smith, an interim Director of Personnel Services who was being paid about $400 per day.

It appears that Mr. Smith earned a degree from the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education a fact that was supposed to be verified by Dr. Atiba-Weza.  The problem was, Mr. Smith's degree had been revoked by the University of Virginia for plagarism.  According to a 2010 story from te Troy Times Union,

"When Troy school officials discovered the allegations against Smith, he claimed to have documentation from the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education that he had been cleared, Atiba-Weza said.

"He said 'I have a letter here' and read it," Atiba-Weza said. "I didn't think anything of it."

Earlier, Smith had stepped down as a Superintendent of the Pocantico Hills School System in Westchester, NY where he was making over $200,000 per year.   

Now remember, according to Dr. Dallemand's description of Dr. Atiba-Weza's duties he says that Dr. Atiba-Weza will,

"ensure the Districts’ compliance with applicable laws, regulations, program guidelines and reporting requirements."

Really?  This guy can't even follow due dillegence in hiring procedures.  Dr. Dallemand's Dream Team is more like a nightmare waiting to happen.

Last Wednesday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich officially suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.  It was definitely a wild ride with lots of twists and turns.  

Somehow, it is appropriate that the end of this chapter comes during the week of the Kentucky Derby.  Working as a Senior Adviser to Speaker Gingrich during the Presidential race was a little like having a horse in the Kentucky Derby – a horse that led twice, and looked at times as though he would actually win the Derby.

Over the course of his career, Speaker Gingrich has always been a long shot who accomplished unimaginable things.  In 1974 (during the Watergate Scandal), he ran for Congress for the first time as a Republican in a heavily rural Democratic Congressional District in West Georgia.  No one gave him much of a shot, and indeed he lost.  

In 1976, (with Democratic Georgia native son Jimmy Carter at the head of the ticket), he ran for Congress in the same district again.  He lost.  It was not until his third try in 1978 that he was elected.  

In May 1988, Congressman Newt Gingrich took one of the greatest risks of his political life.  He filed charges against the sitting and powerful Democratic Speaker Jim Wright.  Speaker Jim Wright subsequently resigned as Speaker based on the charges.

Congressman Gingrich did not stop there.  In 1989, President George Bush named then House Minority Whip Dick Cheney to his cabinet as Secretary of Defense.  This left open the number 2 position in the House Leadership – the House Minority Whip.  Only the House Minority Leader was a higher position. Even though he had held no position in the House Leadership, Congressman Gingrich ran for the open position. 

Again, few gave him much of a chance.  Certainly, he was not the favorite of either the House Leadership or the GOP Establishment.  Yet, by a single vote, Congressman Gingrich was elected to the Leadership as the House Minority Whip.

As part of the Leadership, Whip Gingrich had a different role.  However, he remained an outsider when it came to issues on which he differed with the Leadership.  Probably one of the most significant was his decision to leave the White House rather than appear at the White House press conference in support of President George H.W. Bush’s proposed tax increases.

Whip Gingrich continued his quest to elect a Republican majority in the United States House of Representatives.  Interestingly, Democrats had firmly controlled the House for over 4 decades.  No one – except Gingrich – thought that Republicans could actually capture control in a single election.  Yet, he set out to lead a Republican Revolution and capture control of the House.  And, with the Contract with America, he did.

In the 1994 election, Republicans gained a whopping 54 seats to capture control and propel Newt Gingrich to Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Immediately, he led the House to vote on the items contained within the Contract With America during the first 100 days.  At the same time, Democrats launched an all-out series of attacks with the House Ethics Committee.  With the single exception of letters drafted by his then lawyers, Gingrich was eventually exonerated of all charges.

Meanwhile, Speaker Gingrich continued to tackle issues no one thought were possible to solve – like reforming welfare and actually balancing the federal budget. But it came with a price. Gingrich was the subject of tens of millions of dollars of relentless negative attack advertisements.  

While Republicans retained control of the House in both the 1996 and 1998 elections, the election results in 1998 were less than expected or hoped for. Although the ethics issues were now behind him, and Republicans retained control, Speaker Gingrich decided to step down.  Many thought his political career was over.  Indeed, at the time, most insiders considered any suggestion that he might one day be a serious candidate for President as laughable.  

Of course, these same political insiders had thought the same thing when he ran for Congress in rural Democratic Georgia in 1974, 1976, and 1978; filed charges against the powerful sitting Democratic Speaker Jim Wright; ran for House Minority Whip in 1989 without any prior Leadership position; led a plan to capture Republican control of the House in 1994 after 4 decades of Democratic rule; reformed welfare; and balanced the budget for four years.

In 2008, Speaker Gingrich considered the possibility of a run for President, but decided to wait.  And so, it was 2012 when the Gentleman From Georgia (using the title of historian Mel Steely’s book about Newt Gingrich) decided to run for the Republican nomination for President.  He competed, and led, and at times looked like he might actually win.  What a ride!  Who knows what is next?

I reported this morning that I had complained to Deputy School Superintendent Edward Judie about the fact that basic supplies in the schools are going unmet.  True to his words, he as taken action. 

I sent a complaint from a concerned parent from Rutland Middle School to him and I received a response within an hour.  The email he sent me read:

"I will immediately check into this within the next hour.  I will also send correspondence to you regarding information forwarded to building principals requesting any logistical support needed in their building.
 
I, too, am notifying the Zone Superintendent and either she or I will make a personal visit to Rutland Middle School for clarity.
 
You will find in the attachment the letter sent to the principals regarding custodial supplies.
 
Edward Judie"

He also forwarded to me this directive from Ron Collier, the District's financial officer.  We should not have to beg for the necessities needed for our children, but I am glad to see that he has taken these steps.

When I started pouring over the over 1000 pages of documents that were released by the Bibb County School District a couple of months ago, I became very familiar with a name that I had never really paid any attention to:  Edward Judie, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Bibb County.

At first I only thought Mr. Judie was following very closely with Dr. Dallemand as he was a party to several different high dollars meals with Dr. Dallemand.  I found a little bit more....


I discovered that Mr. Judie is working on his online Doctorate program with City University of Seattle.  The way I found that is that he purchased several of his textbooks with Bibb County taxpayers money.  I was highly upset at first, but have since been informed by sources that he has an allotment given to him that allows him to charge the school district for his textbooks.  I'm still not happy, but fair enough....Although I still don't think it's right.


I then received a tip that a consultant by the name of Veta Coger was hired by the school system to help write some special reports for the Taj Mahal also known as The Welcome Center and that she was also helping Mr. Judie with his homework.  (Mr. Judie has stated that it was in fact a review of his assignments.)...All the while as a paid consultant for the Bibb County Board of Education.  Here's a timeline of some VERY interesting emails that I have recieved via an open records request:

Payments for Ms. Coger were made by the Bibb County BOE on 1/13 for $3500.13 and 1/27 for $6000.00 and personally approved by Ed Judie for consulting on a report for the Welcome Center.  Coger at this time was still employed at Virginia College.  

1/10 - Judie emails Coger and tells her he has a temporary opportunity to discuss with her.

 1/10 Coger confirms a meeting with Judie for the afternoon of 1/10.

 1/11 Using his School District email, Judie sends Coger an email that reads:  "I have your contract signed and will request funding up front. :-)"

 1/13 Using his school email, Judie sends Coger an email that reads:  "Hi Veta:  Please review the attachment below.  Friends to the end :-)".


Judie apparently forgot to include the attachment, because a couple of minutes later he sends Coger another email from his school district email that reads:  "Veta:  Please review the attachment."  The attachment is "Theories of Leadership LDRD 559.docx."  The document which appears is a paper for one of Judie's classes at City University of Seattle.
 


1/15 Coger sends Judie a paper for his class at City University.  The file is labeled "EJJ-Theories of Leadership"
 

1/16 Judie tells Coger in a return email, "Great job!" refering to the 'review' that she completed for him.  The subject of the email is "Leadership Theories Editing."

 
1/17  Judie tells Coger "Great news! An additional 10K is being approved for her and 60K will be approved when ARRA funding arrives."  He then wants her to call him to determine the "scope" of her responsibilities.
 
1/17 Coger responds to Judie "Excellent Mr. Judie!  I am excited at the opportunity to continue working with you."
 

1/17 Judie asks Coger in an email asking her to help him with "Question #3" about an article.  The only conclusion I can draw is that Judie is again asking Coger to help him with his assigned school work.  She responds "Please let me know what time you need this by."

 
1/24 Coger sends Judie homework paper titled "Judie-Research Paper Measure and Validity Assessment."
 
1/24 Judie responds, "I want to thank you.  Let me know  when you want to talk about the job."  Coger responds, "You're very welcome!"
 
2/1 Judie sends Coger email stating "Please review and make recommendations.  You are the best consultant in World :-)"  and sends her a paper called "Decern.doc".
 
2/1 Coger sends back his homework for Judie's leadership class LDRD619 from City University of Seattle.
 
Many more references to homework appear over the next couple weeks.
 
2/22 Coger sends Judie "Quantitative Research" which appears to either be written by Judie or Coger.  She also sends it to Judie's private email account at black****@yahoo.com
 
2/25 Judie sends Coger an email titled "EMERGENCY!" saying, "Veta-I did not read my assessments and did not do week 1 and 2.  Please review I will send references. Tonight.  The college is City University of Seattle, Course Quantitative Research, Professor is Fenn."
 
2/25 Coger responds that she needs clarification on exactly what Judie wants her to do.  It's followed by Judie sending her more of his homework and papers to proofread.

I've included a sampling of some of the best emails below....

Now keep in mind, Ms. Coger is now making a tidy sum of $70,000 per year at the Welcome Center as a "Parent Academic Instructor"....And this is the same position that Pamela Richardson, wife of Macon Telegraph opinion editor Charles Richardson, was just hired for, both approved by none other than Edward Judie.  (It's no wonder why The Telegraph is not reporting this.) This is much more than most of the teachers who are the ones who make a real difference in the Bibb County School System....And especially ones who are just starting into the system....

In the interest of fairness to Mr. Judie, I sent him a copy of this article and received an email back from his assistant within an hour requesting a meeting to discuss my opinions.  I just got off of the phone with him after about a half-hour conversation.  His tone was cordial throughout the call as he defended himself, though he did admit that Ms. Coger did review his assignments for his Doctorate program, while being paid as a consultant by the Bibb County School System.  Mr. Judie adamantly denied to me that there was any quid pro quo as suggested by the appearance of these emails, although he also did admit how someone who looked at the emails on face value, could conclude this fact.  He states in no uncertain terms that anyone who knows him and his character would determine that these are taken out of context.   

I asked Mr. Judie a few other questions as to where the funding actually came from for the original $9500 paid to Ms. Coger.  His answer was that he had some funds at his discretion but needed to clarify the exact source of the funds.  I'll be happy to tell you that when he gets it to me.

On a sidenote before I concluded, I told Mr. Judie in no uncertain terms how it appears to the taxpayers of Bibb County that he is paying counselors at The Welcome Center these high salaries yet our students don't even have their basic needs being met such as toilet paper.  I told him that my sources tell me that the budget allocates about enough for basic needs to be met until about March.  He has given me his word as an Officer and a Gentleman (Judie was a Major in the US Army) that this garbage will not happen again.  To his credit, Mr. Judies'  assistant called me the next morning and told me that steps are immediately being taken to combat this.  Readers, you need to let me know if your child is complaining about their basic needs not being met.  I assured Mr. Judie I would hold him responsible, something he welcomed.

The bottom line is that the Bibb County taxpayers have a right to know that these emails were sent at their expense and that Ms. Coger's role in reviewing Mr. Judie's papers, also at the taxpayers expense.   Draw your own conclusions as to what you think.

 CORRECTION:  Mr. Judie just contacted me and asked me to correct one item in my article:  He was a Commissioned Sargent Major E9 (CSM).  I apologize for any confusion!

 The Office of the President of the United States is the most powerful in the world. It is is also one of transcendent majesty. We may not always like the occupant but we always revere the Office he holds. We expect the occupant to revere it too.

Our greatest presidents exuded the majesty of and reverence for that Office.

I want a president who understands the awesome nature of his Office.

 I want a president who wraps himself in the grandeur of his Office, not demeans it.

I want a president who inspires the dignity and respect his Office demands.

I want a president who never apologizes for America to foreigners or bows to their potentates.

I want a president who speaks to and with the American people, not lectures at them.

I want a president who brims with confidence, not arrogance.

I want a president who is, um, a president, not a celebrity.

I want a president who has no need to politicize the killing of a bad guy.

I want a president who has no need to be seen or heard each day, every day.

I want a president who has no need to appear on late night TV talk or comedy shows.

Finally, I want a president who epitomizes his great Office and the traditions and values of the American people.

The White House belongs to the American people: they lease it to a tenant and renew the lease for another four years if they chose. The people are sovereign; the tenant but a servant of the people.

President Barack Obama, the current tenant in the White House, is asking for another four year lease.

To that tenant, I say:

“Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”*

And the lease will not be renewed.

*Daniel 5:27 KJV.

I just received the following email from Bibb BOE attorney Randy Howard:

"I am writing you in response to your email  seeking certain documents and information relating to the Belgium trip.  It is my understanding that Dr. Romain Dallemand, Susanne Griffin-Ziebart and Judy Godfrey are the individuals who traveled to Belgium from the Bibb County School District.  Dr. Dallemand has paid for his entire trip, including reimbursing the District for the registration fee to attend the conference.  Dr. Dallemand has not presented in receipts to the District for reimbursement.  With the exception of the registration fee and advanced per diem checks, Ms. Griffin- Ziebart and Ms. Godfrey have not presented any receipts to the District for reimbursement."

I wonder if he would have been so generous if he hadn't got his hand caught in the cookie jar??? 

This will be released in The 11th Hour this week:

Yesterday may have marked a very crucial turning point for the Bibb County Board of Education with the visit of Georgia Assistant Attorney General Stefan Ritter, as Big Brother in Atlanta is starting to pay attention to the ridiculousness called the Bibb County Board of Education.  Contrary to what District 5 Board Member Tom Hudson said when he introduced Mr. Ritter, Mr. Ritter's presence was welcomed by the administration of the BOE much like a policeman is welcomed at a drug deal.  In his opening remarks. Hudson tried to set the tone of the meeting by saying that Mr. Ritter's appearance in Macon was by the administration's request , “quite contrary to what may have been said in the media.”  In the eloquent word of Board President Tommy Barnes...."Bullshit!"  (Yep....Barnes was so frustrated that someone dare question Dr. Dallemand's decision to go to Belgium at the last board meeting he apparently thought he was at a manure sale.)

I want to set the record straight and make this crystal clear:  Stefan Ritter's meeting yesterday explaining the Open Records Act was a shot across the bow of a ship that is about to be attacked and boarded.  This was an educational meeting for the administration of the Bibb County Board of Education that just didn't happen.  Ritter told the Telegraph yesterday, “After hearing a series of complaints, we decided the easiest way to address”  Read carefully gang....."WE DECIDED"...Not the Board....Not The Administration....Not Dr. Dallemand....But "WE decided", as in Attorney General Sam Olens department.  I was sitting very close to the front of the presentation, and I can tell you that EVERY single time Mr. Ritter spoke about fines and penalties, he turned his back to the crowd and looked directly at Dr. Dallemand.  If Papa Doc didn't get the message that Big Brother is watching he's living in Never Never Land. 

As you know, I have sent numerous requests to Randy Howard, the BOE attorney.  To his credit, he has been responsive to me in most cases, but I had also contacted Mr. Ritter back in March and the AG's office acted as a mediator for me already.  This is not the case with most of the requests.  I know for a fact of one request that went completely unanswered from last October.  The Telegraph has been stonewalled many times and complained to the AG's office.  WMAZ is reporting that they too have had requests that were returned incomplete or unanswered.  I think that the local media has finally gotten fed up with the acts of our Superintendent's dictatorial ways.  Tom Hudson didn't help matters yesterday as he basically called The Telegraph liars.  Barrister Howard didn't help much either as he claimed that WMAZ's request for travel documents for Dallemand were an 'invasion of privacy.' 

In the past I have referred to Dr. Dallemand as Papa Doc, just as many in the Bibb County School System do, the people of Rochester did before us and probably the citizens of Hartford prior to Rochester.  In the past I did it with tongue firmly planted in my cheek.  I can't say that now as the similarities between Dr. Dallemand and the late former President of Haiti François Duvalier are becoming more real every day.  As I reported in The 11th Hour last time, Dallemand has a "Let them eat cake" attitude that every 'good' dictator has.  He rules his kingdom by intimidation and surrounds himself with toadies looking for his favor.  His subjects, the educators, are afraid to openly disagree with him in fear of termination.  The similarity that is most startling to me hasn't actually happened yet, but is coming very quickly and that is the phenomenon known as "brain drain".

Brain drain occurred in Haiti after Duvalier took power, and is defined as "the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another usually for better pay or living conditions".  There is no better definition of what will be happening in the Bibb County School System as a result of The Macon Miracle and of Dr. Dallemand.  The only hope that our children have to get a good education and a return to normalcy will be a coup d'etat at the ballot box this year as all of the board members except for the two At-Large posts currently held by Lynn Farmer and Wanda West are up for election,  in hopes that a new board that would be comprised of a majority of sanity would prevail instead of the five individuals who are rubber stamping the Dallemand Dynasty of Destruction.

It was just confirmed to me that there is in fact a brand new Macon Miracle plan that is already being implemented within the Bibb County School System.  The first day of implementation was yesterday during the "Teacher's Planning Day".  The details are very sketchy at this point, but I can confirm that on page 27 of the plan it states:

Action Step 2:

"Provide opportunites for teachers and administrators to conduct informal peer observations of classrooms using data recording devices." (Emphasis added.)

Read between the lines people!  This flatly states that teachers and administrators will have the authority to SPY on their peers, and it is sanctioned by the Superintendent of Schools! 

In the past I have with tongue firmly planted on cheek, called Dr. Dallemand "Papa Doc", as a lot of people do in the system as well as they did in Rochester, but now the comparisons to former Haitian President François Duvalier are becoming more and more real if you compare his dictatorial powers.  (Duvalier was elected in a rigged election and kept his power intact by intimidation and changing the Constitution of Haiti to make him 'President For Life', a title he kept until his death in 1971.)  Our friend Dr. Dallemand is now running our school system in much of the same way. 

I'm very glad to see that the Macon Telegraph is reporting on the failure to comply with Open Records requests made by numerous citizens of Bibb C0unty, myself included, by the Bibb County Board of Education.

I have reported to you on several occassions of misinformation and no information given to me by the Boards' attorney Randy Howard.  As you can see by the letter I have posted below, Mr. Howard hasn't been given much choice but to comply with my requests.  In fairness to him, I know he's been overwhelmed by Open Records requests...In fairness to him, he's answered most all of my questions and requests, sometimes with fact; but as you will see, the facts are in the eye of the beholder. 

1.  On February 9th, I was told that the Bibb County BOE had NO contract or affiliation with the Pacific Education Group.

While it may be technically correct that there was no contract, it is very obvious that there was an affiliation between the director of PEG Glenn Richardson and Dr. Dallemand as the good doctor referred to them in the Macon Miracle plan.

2.  The Telegraph correctly reported that I had seven different Open Records Requests at the time of my complaint to the Attorney General's office.  Only after the letter was recieved below, did all of these first requests get honored.

3.  On April 11th I recieved the following email from Randy Howard in response to my Open Records Request regarding the famous Ghent, Belgium fiasco:

 "There are no documents in the possession of Bibb County School District regarding a trip by Dr. Dallemand and Susanne Griffin-Ziebart to Ghent, Belgium.  There has been a discussion about taking a trip to Belgium.  Furthermore, there is no email communication between Dr. Dallemand and Ms. Griffin-Ziebart regarding a trip to Ghent, Belgium.  As to email communication with Kathy Becker and Dr. Dallemand, I will produce any and all email communication between Ms. Becker and Dr. Dallemand by Friday, April 13, 2012 along with proof of payments to the Center for Appreciative Inquiry."

I highlighted the fact that this was just a downright lie as I recieved the following email a few days later:

"After speaking to our accounting dept, accounting has paid the registration fee for a trip to Ghent, Belgium.  I am getting the proof of payment for the registration cost and will send to you.  The purpose of the trip is for educational purposes and to share and discuss "The Macon Miracle" with educators worldwide.  There are no documents pertaining to travel expenses and transportation in the possession of Bibb County School District."

It sure is amazing how quickly a whole bunch of documents quickly appeared that didn't exist just a few days earlier, isn't it?

I will tell you that I still have numerous Open Records requests that are still pending as I am trying to get to the bottom of various other things that have been brought to my attention by concerned citizens.  One thing that I can in fact confirm without a doubt is that Macon Telegraph Opinion Editor Charles Richardson's wife Pamela has been hired by the Bibb County BOE at the Welcome Center.  Please keep this in mind whenever Charles comments about what a great idea "The Macon Miracle" is and what a grand fellow Dr. Dalllemand is.  He has over 70,000 reasons to think so,

I have absloutely no reservations saying that there is something going on at the Bibb BOE that the administration just does not want you to know.  PLEASE attend the 'forum' being held by the Attorney General on May 2nd at 1030AM, especially if you have evidence that the BOE has been less than transparent to you.  You have a right to these documents!

As a result of several complaints, WeArePolitics being the first, to Attorney General Sam Olens' office about late and missing Open Records requests, the Macon Telegraph is reporting that on May 2nd the Attorney General's office will have representatives in Macon to hold a forum to discuss the to go over the Open Records laws.

As I have shown on several occassions, the last being information withheld about Dr. Dallemand's trip to Belgium, the Bibb BOE has done just about everything possible to stonewall Open Records requests.  In fairness to Randy H0ward, the attorney for the Bibb BOE, he has been a lot more responsive to my requests since he received a letter from the Attorney General saying that they would act as mediators in my behalf.   Folks, this is a monumental first step in getting this entire school system investigated!

Please read the Telegraph story here and PLEASE show up at the May 2nd event:
http://www.macon.com/2012/04/27/2005839/complaints-about-bibb-county-school.html#storylink=rss#wgt=rss