"FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS

and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and evidence”

 John Adams, 1770, as defense attorney for the accused British Soldiers of the Boston Massacre. 

Adams successfully convinced a jury of Bostonian colonists to disregard the propaganda of their peers and aquit the British soldiers based on evidence.

 

 

Propaganda made in campaign literature of the John Hill campaign.     

 

FALSE CLAIM #1   (SEE DOCUMENTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE)

I defaulted on a mortgage as an investor in the 1990s.

I was a renter in Deltona during the summer of 1995 (just a struggling second year teacher in Volusia County).  My landlord was a real estate investor/rental agent.  He defaulted on his mortgage.  I am not listed as the primary party, but as a secondary party because I was renting the foreclosed home.  The bank informed me they would be selling the home upon foreclosure.  After moving out in the summer of 1995, I put this out of my mind until the John Hill flyer.  

 

FALSE CLAIM #2

I was not employed, or was not in education, from 1998-2001

I was an educational sales representative for Nystrom, a social studies publisher for the entire period in question (1998-2001).   My wife and I were both educators having our first child.  We decided we wanted Rachel to stay home with Katie when she was born in December of 1997.  I met the folks at Nystrom in the fall of 1997 at the state social studies conference.  A job opened up in early 1998.  Rachel was able to stay home; I was able to remain in the educational sector.

 

FALSE CLAIM #3   (SEE DOCUMENTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE)

I have had poor evaluations as a teacher (or even worse, consistently poor evaluations).

I have had exceptional evaluations my entire career.  Yet, the honest truth is I am still growing and learning as a teacher.  I don't feel you ever fully evolve into a perfect teacher, you always are trying to get better.

 

 

FALSE CLAIM #4  (SEE DOCUMENTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE)

I was not qualified for two district jobs in 2012.

In both cases, more than 30 applicants formally filed for each position.  I was fortunate to be a finalist on two occasions for district positions.  The district chose people with different talent sets than I brought to the table.  Yet, all the final applicants were more than qualified--they were highly distinguished.   Note that my ranking was 3 of the five applicants for the Social Studies position, and 4 of the five applicants for the Assessment position.  

 

 

FALSE CLAIM #5

I did not like working at Deltona Middle in the 1990s, Galaxy Middle in the early 2000s, or my current school River Springs.

I have been so fortunate to have chosen a career in education. 

 

My formative years at Deltona Middle were amazing; when I teach today I can remember certain teachers and certain workshops that to this day are a part of my daily practice.  My leaving Deltona Middle was largely an income based decision, taking a higher paying position to support my family.

 

My time at Galaxy was no less important than any other in my career.   Galaxy allowed me to begin to be involved as a leader in the district by conducting different types of professional development for my school and the district.   My leaving Galaxy was based again on a family decision to work at a school right next to my wife; Rachel was based out of Manatee Cove, so moving to River Springs when the school opened just made sense for our family. 

 

My time at River Springs has been important to me as well.  I created with the past District Social Studies Specialist a course in American Studies/Humanities to compliment U.S. History and in lieau of taking Reading.   I also was able to gain another masters degree in leadership and do a great deal of educational research on behavioral leadership.   These have been the most rewarding years of my teaching career as I taught AVID, Gifted, History, Humanities and Civics. 

 

FALSE CLAIM #6

I hop from job to job.

I have had three employers in 22 years, and made six position changes.