Will OPS hire another token? Probably.

“It’s time to go home; you know, my family and . . . has been waiting and
it felt like the right time . . . and I am particularly home sick.”

Cheryl Logan, Ed.D., Superintendent of Omaha Public Schools,
after announcing her resignation at Buena Vista High School in Omaha on Tuesday, December 13, 2022

In 2018, Dr. Cheryl Logan became Omaha Public Schools' first woman and Black Superintendent. And as quickly as she arrived, she's gone! In her own words, Logan is "particularly home sick," which she clearly did not establish in Omaha.

So, what is the tangible return-on-investment (ROI) minority students received with the hiring of the latest OPS Superintendent? Did the educational performance of minority students finally equal or exceed the educational performance of White students? What's the really "big" accomplishment that merits national or international recognition? Or, perhaps, OPS' senior leadership delivered the same mediocrity as past leadership; kinda like the socio-economic status of Black people before, during and after President Obama's tenure of POTUS, huh?

As reported by Public School Review, for the 2023 school year, there are 111 public schools serving 51,914 students in Omaha Public Schools School District. This district's average testing ranking is 1/10, which is in the bottom 50% of public schools in Nebraska.

Public Schools in Omaha Public Schools School District have an average math proficiency score of only 30% (versus the Nebraska public school average of 52%), and reading proficiency score of 33% (versus the 52% statewide average).

Minority enrollment is 76% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is more than the Nebraska public school average of 35% (majority Hispanic).

Did you know, when assessing the public school districts of the six-(6) cities immediately larger than Omaha and the public school districts of the six-(6) cities immediately smaller than Omaha the average length of employment for the Superintendent is only three-(3) years?  It's true. Here are the facts:

Did you know, when assessing the public school districts of the six-(6) cities immediately larger than Omaha and the public school districts of the six-(6) cities immediately smaller than Omaha the average length of employment for the Superintendent is only three-(3) years?  It's true. Here are the facts:

RANK	2021 POPULATION	CITY	STATE	% GRADUATION	NAME OF SUPERINTENDENT	HIRED AS SUPT	YEARS AS SUPT
33	544,510	Fresno	CA	85.10	Robert G. Nelson	2017	5
34	543,242	Tucson	AZ	86.00	Dr. Gabriel Trujillo	2017	5
35	525,041	Sacramento	CA	85.00	Jorge A. Aguilar	2017	5
36	509,475	Mesa	AZ	82.00	Dr. Andi Fourlis	2020	2
37	508,394	Kansas City	MO	74.90	Dr. Jennifer Collier	2022	0
38	496,461	Atlanta	GA	84.20	Dr. Lisa Herring	2020	2
39	487,300	Omaha	NE	77.00	Cheryl Logan, Ed.D.	2018	4
40	483,956	Colorado Springs	CO	71.00	Michael Gaal	2022	0
41	469,124	Raleigh	VA	90.50	Catty Moore	2018	4
42	457,672	Virginia Beach	CA	94.20	Dr. Aaron C. Spence	2014	8
43	456,062	Long Beach	CA	87.00	Jill Baker, Ed.D.	2020	2
44	439,890	Miami	FL	86.00	Dr. Jose L. Dotres	2022	0
45	433,823	Oakland	CA	72.00	Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell	2016	6
			AVG	82.68			3

Sources: Wikipedia.com, census.gov, usnews.com, publicschoolreview.com, nces.ed.gov, and individual web sites of each school district.

Did you know, of the school districts listed above, five-(5) of the school districts, which includes OPS, do not have a position hierarchy that supports an internal “management succession” (career development) program to create a “feeder group” for a pool of potential candidates to promote from Assistant Superintendent to Superintendent?  Yes, it matters!  

FACT: As defined by OPSBOE policies 8110, 8120, and 2100, the BOE has a fiduciary responsibility and legal obligation to assess before and during employment the Superintendent’s “ability to perform” all essential job functions, including all short-term and long-term aspects of defined leadership.

So, without regard to the "perception" held by many that Logan was primarily hired as a highly compensated "token" (first Black, first women) seat warmer, and given the perpetual mediocrity of student achievement at OPS, perhaps there's absolutely no ROI for minority students. Instead of actually conducting a recruitment and selection campaign that validates a candidate's proficiency to strategically and measurably improve the district-wide educational performance of all students, OPS will begin another merry-go-round search to hire a highly compensated but mediocre seat warmer. Token?

token (noun) - a person chosen by way of tokenism as a nominal representative of a minority or underrepresented group.

Chosen? By whom? Is someone a "token" if the opportunity is strategically "engineered" to limit eligibility and access? For example, in Nebraska, for approximately forty-(40) years Senator Ernie Chambers was the only Black person elected to the Nebraska Legislature, because the State of Nebraska, which is perpetually controlled by politically powerful White people and their wealthy peers, strategically designed voting districts that would only allow the absolute smallest number of people of color to run for political office. Politically powerful White people and their wealthy peers made/make the rules (laws) and define all exceptions to the rules (laws). Get it? And no, the aforementioned is not a racist assessment, its factual because people of color never passed any laws to create and sustain their own oppression. Playing the "token" race card is an entrenched practice for White-owned and controlled media.

Four nearly four-(4) decades Senator Ernie Chambers was perceived by and referred to as a "token," and local White-owned and White-controlled print and broadcast media constantly referred to him as such in their reporting using the same introduction for nearly every story about Senator Chambers:

"Today, Nebraska state Senator Ernie Chambers, (age), the only Black member of the state legislature, said . . . "

Conversely, the local White-owned and White-controlled print and broadcast media NEVER referred to State Senator Mike Groene and his White peers with the following language:

"Today, Nebraska state Senator Mike Groene, (age), one of forty-eight White members of the state legislature, said . . . "

With regard to OPS, as usual, the White-owned and White-controlled local media reported:

"Cheryl Logan, first woman and Black person to lead OPS, is guided by decades of success and challenges . . ."

Oops, well golly gee whiz, it must have been an error, because the Omaha World-Herald labeled Logan as a Black person, not African-American. As established and defined by White people, given how trendy the social construct for "people of color" has ranged back and forth from Nig*** to Negro to Colored to Black, etc., perhaps the OWH was confused of how to accurately label Logan. Nevertheless, whenever White-owned and White-controlled media talk about "people of color," there must be a label. If "race" is not an issue, why do White-owned and White-controlled print and broadcast media perpetually make is so? Clearly, race was and remains an issue. Get it?

Throughout U.S. history White-owned and/or White-controlled political and business entities intentionally limited the access of minorities and women to the electoral process, and if elected, the character and scope of their ability-to-perform has always been confined or manipulated. Senator Chambers changed the "rules" on tokenism when he authored legislation establishing district elections for Nebraska city councils of cities of the metropolitan class, Class V school districts, and county boards in counties with over three-hundred thousand inhabitants. This change enabled more people of color to have access to the political process, including being elected to serve on the Omaha Public Schools Board of Education, which is a good thing! Clearly, being a smart "token" constantly annoyed politically powerful White people and their wealthy peers, which is why they successfully orchestrated term limits to remove Senator Chambers from the Nebraska Legislature.

Being a "token" minority or "token" woman elected or anointed to political office or high level positions in the public sector doesn't mean the incumbent is stupid, although many minorities and women has been "picked" by White-controlled political and business entities for political office or high level positions in the public sector because they are "perceived" to be stupid (Herschel Walker) and/or "perceived" to be easily controlled (i.e., Barack Obama, Uncle Toms). Get it?

FACT 1: The overwhelming majority of OPS Superintendent's have been White and male.

FACT 2: After 151 years, in 2018, Dr. Cheryl Logan became Omaha Public Schools' first woman and Black Superintendent.

QUESTION: President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10928 of March 6, 1961 to create "Affirmative Action." So, what has OPS been doing for the past fifty-seven-(57) years to validate its alleged compliance to AA/EEO? Keep reading.

If you truly believe OPS is concerned about the education of students, and in particular students of color, consider this: Given that White people have consistently been in complete control of the formal education of Black students and that NEVER in the history of the United States of America (247 years) or the history of the State of Nebraska (156 years) has the educational performance of Black students ever equaled or exceeded the educational performance of White students; so what justification is there that White controlled school districts are truly capable of or committed to educating Black students? Keep in mind, given the aforementioned, this is not a history lesson, but the current state of affairs, as represented by the following:

1. As engineered by politically powerful White people and their wealthy White peers (including Legislature, city and government, churches, Chamber of Commerce, real estate, etc.), the overwhelming majority of White citizens have been removing their children from OPS for decades. Consequently, the majority of OPS students are people of color, while the majority of teachers and administrators are White. Simply put, as represented by the graphic below, "urban education" mirrors the plantations of the Antebellum South.

2. Conversely, politically powerful White people and their wealthy White peers unilaterally abandoned OPS assigning it to function as the urban cesspool to educate the overwhelming largest number of minorities in metro Omaha, and the most children and young people who are poverty stricken, the most juveniles with behavioral problems and criminal histories, and even the poorest White people. For example, as represented below, OPS' perpetual failure to graduate Black male students has routinely been recognized nationally among the worst in the United States. Notably, data on Black male graduation rates is absent from recent OPS public reporting.

Don't forget . . .

As reported by Public School Review, for the 2023 school year, there are 111 public schools serving 51,914 students in Omaha Public Schools School District. This district's average testing ranking is 1/10, which is in the bottom 50% of public schools in Nebraska.

Public Schools in Omaha Public Schools School District have an average math proficiency score of only 30% (versus the Nebraska public school average of 52%), and reading proficiency score of 33% (versus the 52% statewide average).

Minority enrollment is 76% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is more than the Nebraska public school average of 35% (majority Hispanic).

Portions of the Omaha city limits are in the following school districts: Omaha Public Schools, Westside Community Schools, Ralston Public Schools, Millard Public Schools, and Elkhorn Public Schools. Most importantly, as citizens of the City of Omaha the majority of these resident vote for the position of Mayor of Omaha, because their townships or villages were annexed by the City of Omaha. The "Big Picture" objective successfully achieved and sustained by politically powerful White people and their wealthy White peers remains: (1) keep the cesspool of "undesirables" from contaminating their districts; (2) prevent minorities from creating their own school districts (LB 1024); and (3) maintain sovereignty of their own school districts.

School Districts Located in Omaha City Limits				Assigned Political Subdivision (Voting) via Douglas County Election Commission
Omaha Public Schools		Omaha Public Schools (OPS) is the largest, the most segregated, and with regard to student performnace, it's the worst public school district in the state of Nebraska, United States. This public school district serves a diverse community of about 52,000 students at over 80 elementary and secondary schools in Omaha. Its district offices are located in the former Tech High at 30th and Cuming Streets. Within Douglas County the district includes much of Omaha. The district extends into parts of Sarpy County, where it includes portions of Bellevue. As detailed below, both White and Black teachers have been leaving the "urban cesspool" of OPS and with no end in sight.		Mayor of Omaha
CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Westside Community Schools		Westside Community Schools, also known locally as District 66, is the third largest school district in Omaha, Nebraska. The district has one high school, one middle school, ten elementary schools, and one alternative high school. The district is in the center-west part of Omaha, between the Omaha Public Schools district and the Millard Public Schools district. Westside also has over 2,000 "opt-in" students, with most coming from OPS.		Mayor of Omaha
Ralston Public Schools		Despite a population of only 6,462 (U.S. Census, July 1, 2022) Omaha officials have never expressed a desire to annex Ralston; an agreement had been signed with Ralston's then-mayor, Wendell Kronberg, in the late 1960s whereby Omaha would leave Ralston alone.		Mayor of Ralston
Millard Public Schools		The town of Millard was annexed by the city of Omaha in 1971, but maintains sovereignty over its public schools.		Mayor of Omaha
Elkhorn Public Schools		Elkhorn was once an independent city in Douglas County, Nebraska until it was annexed by Omaha in 2007, but it maintains sovereignty over its public schools. Elkhorn, Nebraska had a population of 8,192 in 2005, larger than Ralston. In an attempt to prevent its annexation, Elkhorn almost simultaneously annexed several surrounding subdivisions in an attempt to bring the city's population above 10,000 citizens. Under state law, that would have prevented the city's forcible annexation by Omaha. On January 12, 2007, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in favor of Omaha, saying "…we conclude that Elkhorn ceased to exist as a separate municipality on March 24, 2005, the date that Omaha's annexation ordinance became effective.		Mayor of Omaha
LB 1024		The Nebraska Legislature created permanent boundaries for school districts in metro Omaha who, prior to this law, would have been absorbed by OPS as the city itself grew. The law guarantees that all the districts in the fastest growing and wealthiest parts of Omaha have permanent boundaries. These districts are over 90% White, as compared to the whole district of Omaha, which is over 50% minority. LB 1024 created racially isolated districts throughout the city - minority districts in the former OPS and White districts everywhere else. Source: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, September 8, 2006. Although LB 1024 was eventually repealed and superseded by LB 641, nevertheless, the "elephant" of racially-defined school districts for metro Omaha remains intact.		For transcript, click here.
LB 753		LB 753 is currently proposed in concert with "separate but equal," to siphon taxpayer money from public schools to (encourage enrollment in) private schools, which are overwhelmingly owned and controlled by politically powerful and/or affluent White people. As usual a few people will object, but ultimately, it won't matter. In 1968 the overwhelming majority of Black children attended segregated schools. Firty-five-(55) years later, in 2023, the overwhelming majority of Black children still attend segregated schools. Omaha, just like the overwhelming majority of "urban" school districts, continues to adhere to the "separate but equal" doctrine by maintaining segregated schools.
LB 21		This bill is blatantly obvious. As Omaha becomes more diverse (especially with an increased population of Latinos and middle-east Asians), the intent is to create more districts, more political and economic "zones" and/or to maintain control by Omaha's affluent and politically elite White people (especially control over judiciary and law enforcement). Omaha's affluent and politically elite White people will NOT tolerate a city council where White people do not hold the majority of elected seats (votes). For example, as usual, the "boundaries" will ultimately be determined by Omaha's affluent and politically elite White people, so expect the "new" districts to come out of Elkhorn; far southwest Omaha; far northeast Omaha; etc. Conversely, North Omaha will be further diluted and split-up. This is basic gerrymandering, nothing more, nothing less. It's Omaha at its finest! The only alternative is for Black people and Latino people to band together and create a socio-political and legal barrier to prohibit this act of "planned racism," but as detailed here, that'll never happen. The aforementioned is not a negative assessment; it does represent a pragmatic, linear assessment of facts.

Hiring an "ethnic minority" has absolutely no value if doing so only maintains the pathetic educational performance of minority students. Mediocrity is not defined or categorized by a leader's age, race, sex, sexual preference, pregnancy, religion, philosophical beliefs, politics, creed, national origin, disability, military status, or any other factors. Logan was not hired to be a woman or Black, or to be home sick for he family; she was hired to provide OPS with executive "leadership" in the delivery and achievement of student educational performance. So, again, without regard to DEI, what ROI did minority students receive with the hiring of the latest OPS Superintendent?

Equally important, why will OPS begin another merry-go-round national search to hire a highly compensated but mediocre seat warmer? Is OPS incapable of developing its own senior leadership team???

ASSESSMENT			VALIDATION
1.	FAILURE TO CONDUCT DUE DILIGENCE		OPSBOE policy 8110 established the educational welfare of all students attending the Omaha Public Schools comes first, but OPSBOE hired a Superintendent who never intended to make Omaha her home; someone who never truly wanted to “invest” in a long-term professional and personal commitment to benefit the lives of Omaha’s K-12 students and the greater Omaha community. Lesson learned? The previous OPS Superintendent, Mark Evans was hired in 2013. Is the pre-determined life expectancy of an OPS Superintendent five years or less?
2.	NO CONFIDENCE		If OPSBOE had confidence to promote an existing senior executive into the role of Superintendent, which would be far more cost efficient (cheaper) and not require any on-the-job training or orientation, there wouldn't’t be a need to hire a consultant to conduct yet another national “dog and pony” personality contest search for a Superintendent; and hiring a consultant does not establish the OPSBOE with Teflon-like non-stick, no-responsibility for the character and scope of the selection process, because OPSBOE retains ultimate responsibility for the selection of the Superintendent.
3.	NO EXPERTISE		If the OPSBOE truly valued the “expertise” of the OPS Human Resources staff with pretentious SHRM certifications to conduct a robust and objective recruitment and selection campaign for the next Superintendent, one based on validated performance (in compliance with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection) instead of a “dog and pony” personality contest, they would have done so. OPSBOE has absolutely no faith in the expertise of its own HR Department.
4.	NO RETURN ON INVESTMENT		Did you know, when assessing the public school districts of the six-(6) cities with populations immediately larger than Omaha and the public school districts of the six-(6) cities with populations immediately smaller than Omaha the average graduation rate is 82.68 percent, and that OPS is below this average with a graduation rate of only 77% for 2019 (which actually dropped to 73.46% for 2020), with OPS ranked 10th among the 13 per school districts? Given this documented underperformance, why did the OPSBOE (reward) increase the Superintendent’s salary by $15,223.67 (4.85%) from $313,890 to $329,113? As reported in local news, OPS teachers received the same percent increase for similarly underperforming. This is Pay-for-Performance?   US POPULATION RANK SCHOOL DIST % GRAD % GRAD RANK 33 Fresno 85.10 6 34 Tucson 86.00 5 35 Sacramento 85.00 7 36 Mesa 82.00 9 37 Kansas City 74.90 11 38 Atlanta 84.20 8 39 Omaha 77.00 10 40 Colorado Springs 71.00 13 41 Raleigh 90.50 2 42 Virginia Beach 94.20 1 43 Long Beach 87.00 3 44 Miami 86.00 4 45 Oakland 72.00 12           AVG 82.68
	Plus, if the educational welfare of all students attending the Omaha Public Schools comes first, why has the educational performance of Black and Latino students in OPS never equaled or surpassed the educational performance of White students? This disparity is particularly problematic because White politicians, administrators, teachers, and other academicians have always and unilaterally controlled all aspects of funding, curriculum and instruction during Nebraska’s entire 156 years of "educational" history! Are White controlled school districts, like OPS, perpetually unable or unwilling to commit to the strategic, progressive and sustained improvement in educational performance of minority students?
	If OPSBOE truly valued the educational "performance" of students, the compensation of the Superintendent would be indexed to empirical evidence that minority student achievement has become equal to and/or greater than non-minority educational achievement, but it is not and never has been; and despite the increase in population of minority K-12 students. Instead, OPSBOE hired yet another token minority along with previous non-minorities who continued the status quo of mediocrity in educational performance.
	POPULATION RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT # STUDENTS % WHITE STUDENTS % BLACK STUDENTS % LATINO STUDENTS % ASIAN STUDENTS % NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS 33 Fresno 70,088 8.40 8.00 69.00 11.10 0.40 34 Tucson 41,898 19.50 6.30 64.50 2.10 3.60 35 Sacramento 40,711 18.00 14.00 40.00 17.00   36 Mesa 57,956 40.00 5.00 46.00 1.00 4.00 37 Kansas City 14,128 11.00 54.00 27.00     38 Atlanta 51,012 16.30 72.20 7.60 1.10 0.20 39 Omaha 51,674 25.60 24.50 36.80 6.60 0.80 40 Colorado Springs 23,500 49.00 8.00 33.00 2.00 1.00 41 Raleigh 158,761 43.70 22.30 18.90 10.90   42 Virginia Beach 65,612 46.30 23.30 12.80 6.40 0.20 43 Long Beach 68,379 12.00 13.00 58.00 11.00   44 Miami 333,955 6.00 19.00 73.00 1.00   45 Oakland 35,352 11.00 22.00 44.00 13.00 1.00                   Average 77,917 23.60 22.43 40.82 6.93 1.40 Some people want you to believe "people of color" are inherently not as intelligent as non-minorities, which is not only wrong and stupid, but racist. Click here. Some people want you to believe teaching is incredibly difficult, that there's a complex correlation between the educational achievement of students versus the educational credentials and degrees held by academicians and teachers, which is not true; as historically and repeatedly validated by: (1) students who are home schooled by parents who hold no degrees perform as well as students attending public schools - if not, this practice would have been abolished by state governments over a hundred years ago; and (2) the self-serving refusal of academicians, and their incestuous local and national bargaining units, to base teacher compensation (pay-for-performance) on student educational achievement. Click here.
5.	FAILURE TO LEAD		If OPSBOE leadership and OPS Human Resources staff with pretentious SHRM certifications actually held subject matter expertise in designing, building, and successfully executing a vibrant management succession program, which would be less expensive than going “outside” to engage recruitment consultants, HR surely would have done so at its own initiative, or been directed to do so by the Board of Education.
6.	NO CONTINUITY / LOUSY ROLE MODEL		As represented by frequent turnover, high compensation, and golden parachute severance packages for OPS Superintendents, OPSBOE established a pattern of “short-attention-span-theater,” that the “role model” of executive leadership in public education for Omaha’s students and parents is not earmarked by elevating student achievement via a long-term commitment to its own management succession plan, performance management, and team building programs, but by hiring short-term academicians defined by a fast-buck and a quick trip out of town.
7.	FINANCIAL NEGLIGENCE		OPSBOE policy 7000 and 8231 established BOE with authority and responsibility to appropriate funds to procure all goods and services, which includes all responsibility for real and/or perceived financial negligence as represented by frequent turnover, high compensation, and golden parachute severance packages for OPS Superintendents. Rule of thumb, it generally takes about eighteen-(18) months for the new incumbent in an "executive leadership role" to become fully immersed with enough political savvy to effectively direct internal audience ("managing-up" to member of the Board of Education and directing department heads, teachers, unions, etc.) and to manipulate (i.e., influence) external audience (politicians, employers, vendors, parents, media, etc.). The current Superintendent, Cheryl Logan, Ed.D., is terminating her employment just as internal and external audiences aligned themselves to her business practices, which is a blatant disservice to the OPSBOE, OPS senior management, teachers, staff, students, parents, employers, vendors, etc. Most importantly, the failure of the search firm and OPSBOE to properly conduct due diligence to assess past performance, and more importantly, to accurately project planned performance typically results in mediocrity or worse. For example, as represented by former UNL football coach Scott Frost, in the wake of legendary coach Tom Osborne the perpetual underperformance of UNL football mirrors the perpetual underperformance of OPS graduation rates.

As reported by the Omaha World-Herald on March 2, 2017, the OPSBOE voted 8-0 to issue a new request for proposals for search firms to fill the vacancy caused by former OPS Superintendent, Mark Evans. As detailed in assessments #1 through #7 above, this reoccurring practice to recruit yet another Superintendent is not only an inefficient use of tax dollars, but does not serve any short-term or long-term benefit to OPS students.

The Bottom Line: For 156 years OPS has consistently failed to elevate the educational performance of people of color to mirror comparable educational achievement of non-minorities. For 156 years, ultimately, all aspects of OPS have been controlled by politically powerful White people and their wealthy White peers, and they created and sustain the urban educational cesspool known by other schools districts in metro Omaha as OPS! If the academicians hired by OPS to provide executive leadership and teach are not systemically stupid, or systemically racist why are they unable or unwilling to elevate the educational performance of minority students?

Most importantly . . .

Please, don't make excuses to explain away OPS' ineptness.

Don't accuse me of playing the race card. Clearly, not all White people are racist, and to even think so is both racist and stupid. Here's the problem: For 156 years, with every "transition of power" from generation to generation, decade after decade, as governed by OPS and politically powerful White people and their wealthy White peers, OPS consistently produces the same lousy educational performance for people of color. Albert Einstein said it so clearly, “Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Despite the creation of Affirmative Action in 1961 and its Johnny-come-lately update as DEI, nevertheless, OPS wants you to believe the robust evolution in "educational principles" achieved between 1961 and 2023 in science, math, health, film, photography, agriculture, ecology, law, culture, human sexuality, etc., which propelled the evolution of the Chevy Corvette during this same time period, could not be applied to elevate the educational performance of minority students? Really?

1961 Chevy Corvette Omaha Public Schools		2023 Chevy Corvette Westside Community Schools, Ralston Public Schools, Millard Public Schools, and Elkhorn Public Schools

I previously asked, "So, what has OPS been doing for the past fifty-seven-(57) years to validate its alleged compliance to AA/EEO?" Also, will another "token" be hired as Superintendent for OPS?

Answer:

OPS has never: (1) hired a driving force of executive leadership specifically charged to elevate the educational performance of minority students; (2) established a well-defined, measurable and achievable strategy and timetable to elevate the educational performance of minority students; and (3) acquired and/or reallocated funding, curriculum and instruction to achieve its commitment to elevate the educational performance of minority students.

It doesn't matter who's picked as the next superintendent as long as OPS continues the same ole business-as-usual practice of hiring academicians who lack business acumen, and who lack a commitment to elevate the educational performance of minority students. OPS will continue to drive a beat-up 1961 Corvette in the cesspool of educational potholes throughout metro Omaha. Conversely, Westside Community Schools, Ralston Public Schools, Millard Public Schools, and Elkhorn Public Schools will continue to look pretty driving around town with the top down in their spiffy 2023 Chevy Corvette.

Again, it's my practice to produce editorials because "ethnic media" and mainstream print and broadcast media refuse to conduct basic research and analysis to objectively enlighten the public. Yes, I sent a letter to every OPS Board Member that conveyed the above data and offering to help, and OPS elected not to respond.


Token?

With regard to the Greater Omaha Chamber's recent hiring of Veta Jeffrey, the White-owned and White-controlled local media (Omaha-Herald, KETV-TV, etc.) reported:

"Jeffrey is the first woman and the first person of color to serve as chamber president."

Given the Greater Omaha Chamber's continuous history of racism since its beginning in 1893, hopefully, politically powerful White people and their wealthy White peers will perceive Jeffrey as more than just another token minority; and hopefully, Jeffrey will do something never accomplished by the Greater Omaha Chamber - to increase business, employment and investment opportunities for minorities with the same zest it applies to non-minorities.

I welcome your feedback.

Trip Reynolds
trip.reynolds@yahoo.com

Reynolds' Rap January 17, 2023 © 2017-2023 Tripoetry. All Rights Reserved. First Amendment to the United States Constitution - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.