I realize that there are many people who think that Jason Glass is the next best thing since sliced bread. I’m not one of them. Actually, I think he is a fraud.
Let me start with his record of academic growth and achievement in Eagle. After 4 years under Glass Eagle’s growth and achievement scores were still no better than Jeffco’s. How do we expect him to move the academic needle in Jeffco when he couldn’t do it at a district 12 times smaller? To make matters worse, there are no academic performance incentives in his contract similar to Cindy’s and Dan’s. Since removing these incentives doesn’t seem like something a “reasonable” Board would do, I’m only left to wonder who suggested that change to the contract and why.
Glass recently wrote: “As a public servant, I’m prohibited from encouraging any vote for or against any issue or person on the ballot.”
But within the last 2 weeks Glass has been writing “On the Issues” blog posts that were obviously aimed at supporting the incumbents. Couldn’t he have waited until after the election to avoid ANY perception of partiality? Why was this so urgent? People would have been outraged if Dan pulled a stunt like this. In a twitter exchange I asked Glass if he was going to write a post regarding Brad Rupert’s repeated and unproveable claims that teacher compensation increases slowed teacher churn. He told me to stay tuned. Teacher turnover can be attributed to any number of factors such as spouse relocation, pregnancy, career change, changing positions within the district, firing and yes, sometimes finding a position with more money. Therefore, saying compensation increases reduced teacher turnover is wrong, because the District doesn’t perform exit surveys to actually find out why teachers leaves.
The biggest myth though is that Glass will listen to anyone. He came to the District with great fanfare as a listener and unifier. I’ve already debunked the “unifier” myth with his election related writing, as he has clearly taken a side. However, Glass’s claim of wanting to listen is also not true. I have personally engaged with Glass on twitter, email and his blog since May with allegations that a member of his Cabinet has repeatedly lied – something a reasonable leader would want to know. No response.
In addition, the District’s web site clearly states that Glass wants to engage the community on twitter:
Jeffco students, parents, families, staff, and community members may engage with Dr. Glass via Twitter @COJasonGlass
Unfortunately, that offer to engage appears to only mean those people who shower accolades on the District and Glass. He has blocked me, and other dissenters on Twitter. I understand blocking. I’ve blocked racists and people who send explicit photos. However, I’ve never done that with Glass. Twitter is after all, supposed to be about dialogue. I’ve advocated for 100% College and Career Readiness, I’ve compared the mediocre Jeffco academic growth and achievement scores with the even worse growth and achievement scores in Eagle County. I’ve questioned his ability to find $300k for an assistant and consulting company when only a few short months ago a school was closed in an effort to save only twice that amount. I’ve questioned his ethics in getting involved in the campaign. I questioned why he doesn’t have pay based on performance in his contract. For that I was blocked. And, I’m not the only person that’s been blocked as Glass attempts to project an image of “listening” while also attempting to protect his personal brand and avoid listening to all views. If he’s going to say he is willing to engage, then he should engage, with everyone, particularly if he promises that opportunity on a District web site and uses business time to tweet.
Jason Glass is a fraud. He wants everyone to think one thing, that he listens to everyone, but his actions, toward people that have differing perspectives, are quite the opposite.