FT. BEND COUNTY, TX --
On Monday,
we told you about the massive cuts and layoffs
Fort Bend ISD school board trustees approved,
including eliminating 400 jobs. Well now, an
unusual video criticizing the superintendent and
the cuts is getting a lot of attention.
Fourteen-year-old Desiree Pleasant has heard about
the cost-cutting at her school. "They're talking
about cutting off summer school, like HISD did,
and cutting off some of the broadcasting in our
electives," Pleasant said. But she's never thought
about it in relation to the salary of Fort Bend
ISD's superintendent, Dr. Timothy Jenney. A video
on YouTube puts the two together. The video, a
takeoff on the song "It's Hard Out Here for a
Pimp," shows a man with Dr. Jenney's picture
superimposed over his face. He's decked out in
gold chains, drives a Cadillac and is loaded with
cash. The video focuses on Dr. Jenney's salary,
allowances and bonuses totaling well over $300,000
at the same time teachers are getting pink slips.
Cut to reality. On Monday night, the Fort Bend ISD
school board cut 68 teachers. More than 300 have
taken incentives to resign in an effort to slash
$40 to 50 million from the district's budget. The
video is less than two minutes, but Fort Bend
Employee Federation President Karrie Washenfelder
believes it says a lot. "It speaks to the
frustration of a lot of teachers and educators and
voters who feel that we're spending too much on
our administration and not putting more dollars in
the classroom," Washenfelder said. Dr. Jenney
declined an on-camera interview. His first
response was that the video is humorous.
"Superintendents have pretty big bulls-eyes on
their backs. It doesn't bother me. I don't plan to
address it. It is what it is," he said. But it was
eye-opening when we showed it to Rochelle
Pleasant, Desiree's mother. "I'm shocked. I didn't
know that he was making such money," Rochelle
Pleasant said. Now it's making the rounds. "We
were on YouTube. It was like the first things that
popped up," Desiree Pleasant said. Whether you
agree with it or not, many say they understood its
purpose. "I'm not a big fan of them slicing and
dicing somebody who's trying to make things work
but I got the message from that," Rochelle
Pleasant said. No one has claimed responsibility
for that video so far. Dr. Jenney's salary isn't
even in the top 20 of superintendents across the
state. According to the Texas Education Agency, he
comes in at 37th, with Beaumont ISD's
superintendent Carroll Thomas coming in at the No.
1 spot with $346, 778 in base pay. Teachers unions
across the state, including the one in Fort Bend,
are challenging administrators to also make
sacrifices in these lean times.
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8055170
This link doesn't go to the parody. I
imagine Ft Bend attorneys got it taken down.
I saw it and it was pretty funny.