Mr. D.'s termination explained to parents last night at A&M
At last night's Arts and Mind's parents meeting, apparently the administration calmed things down (in the parents' minds anyway). Most parents seemed to be pleased with the explanation that was given about the termination on November 26 of music director Alfredo de la Rosa (Mr.D.). The parents did not really question school owner Manuel Alonso Poch or the administration.
As you know, the students have been protesting every afternoon after school due to the unexplained firing of their favorite band teacher. They feel it was a conspiracy due to his plans to open a competing school.
The students expected the parents to back Mr. D. on the firing issue, but they didn't. It was a calm meeting, not what was expected.
There are such fiery, threatening comments here, yet when it came to action, the parents were quiet. There are two sides to the story and the parents are trying to understand both sides, but they didn't seem like that when they left all of those nasty comments. In person, they seemed to understand the situation better and they left their animosity at the door.
Mr. D. wrote a statement for the parents and students to read in his absence since he felt he was the only one who would stand up for himself. You may read the statement here.
While the parents are satisfied with the outcome, the students still are not. While they respect and like their new band teacher, they still will not accept the firing of Mr. D. for what they say is no reason at all. They still have not explained what they want done, other than let their voices be known that they are upset. It isn't clear that they want Mr. D. to return to the school and it doesn't seem as if Mr. D. even wants to.
Students feel that Mr. Alonso is covering up many things at the school, also.
One of the students told me, "Unfortunately, adults brush them off with ease [the back room goings on at the school], but they don't realize how much these kids understand."
The students feel this is not a school they recognize anymore and many parents expressed the same concern. It might speak volumes if they picked up and left the school for good. This is not a required public school, it's a public magnet school; they all have the ability to go elsewhere on Monday morning (maybe Gables High). If they want to teach Mr. Alonso and staff a lesson, that may be the way to do it. Pick up and leave.
The silence will do more than the loud protests ever will.
As you know, the students have been protesting every afternoon after school due to the unexplained firing of their favorite band teacher. They feel it was a conspiracy due to his plans to open a competing school.
The students expected the parents to back Mr. D. on the firing issue, but they didn't. It was a calm meeting, not what was expected.
There are such fiery, threatening comments here, yet when it came to action, the parents were quiet. There are two sides to the story and the parents are trying to understand both sides, but they didn't seem like that when they left all of those nasty comments. In person, they seemed to understand the situation better and they left their animosity at the door.
Mr. D. wrote a statement for the parents and students to read in his absence since he felt he was the only one who would stand up for himself. You may read the statement here.
While the parents are satisfied with the outcome, the students still are not. While they respect and like their new band teacher, they still will not accept the firing of Mr. D. for what they say is no reason at all. They still have not explained what they want done, other than let their voices be known that they are upset. It isn't clear that they want Mr. D. to return to the school and it doesn't seem as if Mr. D. even wants to.
Students feel that Mr. Alonso is covering up many things at the school, also.
One of the students told me, "Unfortunately, adults brush them off with ease [the back room goings on at the school], but they don't realize how much these kids understand."
The students feel this is not a school they recognize anymore and many parents expressed the same concern. It might speak volumes if they picked up and left the school for good. This is not a required public school, it's a public magnet school; they all have the ability to go elsewhere on Monday morning (maybe Gables High). If they want to teach Mr. Alonso and staff a lesson, that may be the way to do it. Pick up and leave.
The silence will do more than the loud protests ever will.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:30 AM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
34 Comments:
I was one of the parents present at the meeting last night and I wish to clear up some asumptions made by the Grapevine blog.
For me personally, it is not so much that I was satisfied with the explanations given. But my child is still a student at the school and I think I speak for most parents when I say that we are not at all happy about this. I agree that Mr. de la Rosa was a WONDERFUL teacher who should never have been fired. I for one am very concerned to see what this has done to my child and I did not want to further the damage should I speak and risk that she be singled out later. I attended the meeting in order to try and understand what was going on. Obviously, there are really serious problems at this school and my silence at the meeting does not mean that I am OK with it. For me, the meeting was just one additional way to try and understand where the problem is. What I will say now is that there seems to be a bitterness and an overall negative atmosphere in the school that cannot possibly have been created by this one problem with the music teacher simply wanting to leave. And because I am not there every day I cannot quickly come to a conclusion, yet I want to be fair. Obviously there is more going on here than any parent seems to know about, but it has become very difficult to discern where. My daughter tells me she now wants to leave A&M. At this point, it may just be the best thing. I am sorry nevertheless and very disappointed. I regret that I should have been more involved sooner and I was not.
Parents, your silence spoke volumes.
Not to mention, the silence of the school's governing board... Something tells me this is the calm before the storm.
Yeah, I suppose the silence of parents afraid for their kids is something that does say alot. they won't silence the students though. We are not scared of you.
And we know what your about.
I agree. The board should have been there. Ultimately, they are the ones responsible for this school and I surprised that they have been totally missing in action.
i attend A&M.
i am there everyday. i see what goes on every day.
many teachers were trying too shoot us down and tell us that our protest was useless and nothing was going to come of this. some other teachers were on our side but they don't want to voice there opinion because they are scared that they will receive the same fate as Mr.D.
Mr.D was my teacher...
i heard about what went on the meeting last night because my father attended. he says that many of the parents that once back D up back stabbed him and pretty much were just saving there asses. i agree with everyone that says that if you the possibility to leave you should do it. i will no longer attend A&M after winter break i will be going to another school along with many of my fellow peers.
A&M has always been like a home to me. and this year the school has really disappointed me, not only with the firing of Mr.D but also they constant situations that they make US the students face, such as lack of necessary materials, necessary class rooms and many more things.
i am very thankful to the people who support me and my peers in our effort. but i agree with the grapevine. If we Just up and leave it will do them more damage.
I miss Mr.D very much. and the stuff he wrote on His website ( learnmusicmiami.com) was touching and even made me cry. everyday when i am there playing my instrument i look up and i cant help but sped a tear because the person I'm staring at that is conducting me is not Mr.D...
Why is Mr. Alonso-Poch presiding and answering questions in place of the school's board? He may be the founder but he is not a board member. Machado is insignificant here. I wonder how many students, teachers or parents actually know any of these people. This may be a well-kept secret that Alonso does not want you to know, but he has no governing authority over the school. That power lies with the board. I have never seen any one of those people visit the school or a classroom even once. Nor have they ever addressed any problem that I know of. From time to time however, they have been known to come over and "circle the wagon" to save Alonso's ass. Sooner or later, he's going to go too far, and the board may just throw him and the wagon out altogether. Let's hope it is soon. These people are losing their personal credibility by being his pawns.
ANYONE WHO THINKS FOR ONE MINUTE THAT PARENTS ARE SATISFIED WITH THESE FOOLS IS CRAZY. THESE PARENTS LOVE THEIR KIDS. HOW THE HELL CAN THEY BE SATISFIED WITH THIS??!! I THINK THEY KNOW THE SITUATION IS HOPELESS AND JUST DON'T WANT TO BOTHER WITH IT. GIVE IT SOME TIME. LET'S JUDGE PARENT SATISFACTION NEXT YEAR WHEN THEY VOTE WITH THEIR FEET AND WALK!!
fellow students: I am a senior and have seen it all at A&M almost from the beginning. Here is a riddle for you- what do Mr. D, Ms. Marcos, Ms. Monzon, Mr. Tamargo and Ms. Martin (Leony) all have in common?
Wow, A&M keeps hiring all these terrible people to come to our school. Good thing we have Mr. Alonso to look over us and protect us. It is nice to know he'll fire them quickly to save us.
Thank you, Manuelito!!!.
I was one of the parents present in last night's meeting. I admire Mr. D he is a great teacher and a great communicator that has the ability to establish a unique and magical rapport with the kid He undoubtedly feels a true passion for teaching music. But we have to be realistic - there are five month to finish this semester - and in these five month we should support the school and the teachers so our kids can finish the semester succesfuly. Comes May 31 2009 then we all can make our own decisions. I was well impressed with Mr. Jacobs - I am sure that he will do his best to help our kids in the transition. I did not appreciate Mr.Machado's autocratic demeanor; he was imposing his views without accepting the parent's points of view. I found however the teachers present and Mr.Alonso to be polite and they seemed to care about the students. Let us support our kids for the next five months - then we can all decide once the academic year is over.
One item was not clarified last night - my spoken English is poor so i prefer to write it. who is this lady Lili Renteria? why was she at the meeting? what is her official affiliation with the school? what is exactly the nature of her relation with Alonso? why was she allowed to get up and in a very loud tone of voice critizice in Spanish Mr. De La Rosa? She should have been considered of those present who do not understand Spanish.
In response to the comment above. This lady Lili Renteria was a third class TV actress from Cuba - she was sort of famous within Cuba for her then good looks on T.V. She arrived in the USA penniless in 1997. That is all I know about her background; however, I do share your same concerns: What is her exact affiliation was the school? Is she licensed in the U.S to operate a theater company? What is her offical (and/or unofficial) relationship with the founder of the school (Alonso). Let me tell you; as a parent I feel uncomfortable with all these shady stuff that goes on at A&M. And I fully agree with you; it was very rude of her to get up and in a very loud voice and in Spanish shout her dislike of Mr. D. What does that tell you about her? Where is the professionalism and respect for others?
To completely answer the questions in the comments above, your background is correct about Lili Renteria. As far as A & M is concerned, she is Manny Alonso's partner not only in life, but as "founders" of A & M. She is always speaking out that way, so her antics last night were nothing new. She has this idea that you can give a high-school orchestra music two days before a performance and expect them to play well enough for opening night. All of this while they are preparing for their own concert. She is infamous for that request, and it's true the orchestra never came through, because her request was always impossible to comply with. Again, she is someone, who like Manny,should not be in the picture when it comes tom answering parent's questions. She is constantly interfering with the theater program's performance space for her own crazy plays ans presentations. That was always the battle between her and the previous Drama teacher, and possibly the reason why she, too, was fired. I'm appalled that still parents have not asked about the Governing Board, because instead of Manny, or even Machado giving explanations, the board, whom Mr. D had been pleading to speak with weeks prior to his dismissal, should be the ones standing up in front of us parents and giving everyone an explanation.
But I'll agree with the blog, everyone should just pick their kid up and leave. Those "tickets" Mr. Machado was speaking about that are only for students who WANT to be there are a joke, because no one would want to be in a place where administrators talk down to adults.
Well, after all this, I'm glad that my daughter chose to go to DASH instead of A&M. It sounds like the patients are running the asylum.
Guajiro; you seem to be a fast learner. That is correct, that is exactly what goes on at A&M; due to Lili's domestic relationship with the school founder she seem to have an overwhelming power over the decisions that sre made at the school. Do not be afraid to express yourself in English; you seem to write very well.
I regret that I was unable to attend the meeting on Thursday night (I had a flight scheduled to Dallas, and I was unable to get a fellow pilot to cover for me). Anyways, one of the Mom's present gave me a synopsis of what was said at the meeting; and for the sake of honesty and truthfullness I would like to clarify. Principal Machado said that Mr. D was the highest paid teacher at the school. That is a blatant disregard for the truth. The highest paid employee at A&M (other than Machado himself) is Ms. Lili Renteria; who is collecting a $50,000.00 yearly paycheck basically for doing nothing and/or minimal effort. This is one more "shady item" (to quote the person who wrote above)that should be investigated by the State of Florida so they can see how our tax dollars are being arbitrarily allocated at A&M.
Absolutely, Renteria is a washed up actress passed her Cuban glory days- if there is such a thing. She has no license to teach in this country. Alonso pays her "out of his pocket" because he is such a benevolent man, to run "El Teatro", which is truly "Una Mierda" paid for by our education tax dollars. Our school system has had to cut $124 Million dollars this year but we have people that manipulate the system to hire do-nothings like her. She has a lot of nerve to say anything about Mr. D. She's not even close to his league.
I love how little by little all of Alonso's scams are coming to light. I am certain that my children will not be continuing at A&M after the new year. I am not willing to wait for the next five months and have to deal with anymore crap from the administration. I feel sorry for "some" of the teachers. Not all because there are a few who deserve whatever they have coming to them. The reason for this is that most, if not all the teachers are working without contracts. They were promised contracts before Thanksgiving and I don't think they have seen any contracts yet.
Why do you think so many people left over the summer? No contracts? You could smell Alonso from a mile away? People knew it was going downhill? Look at all of the administration and teachers that did not return this school year. That should tell you enough right there.....the teachers that stayed were idiots.
Ladies and gentleman: I think that for the sake of protecting our fist ammendment rights it is healthy for everybody to express their opinions/frustrations/concerns; however, realistically this will not solve the problem. I do not know any lawyers; however, if any of you are lawyers or if any of you work for a law firm in any capacity, I would like to ask a concrete question: Do the students and/or the parents have a viable legal recourse to go after the administration of A&M? This is the real question where we should all be focusing in. Please advice.
At the risk of sounding unpopular - please those of you who are thinking of taking your kids out of the school right after winter break I urge you to reconsider. I remember (many moons back) how traumatic it was for me to change high schools during a semester (when my parents moved from New Jersey to Florida). I think it makes more sense to wait until Mr.D's school is up and running. Just a thought - I respect everyone's decision.
It came to my attention last night, as I was having a drink with a friend and former Coral Park Senior High student the following allegation: She claims that circa 1995-1996, while Machado was the Principal of Coral Park Senior High, he was involved in a grade fixing scam for some of the schools' most prominent athletes. Since I know some of you are educators or have access to Dade County Schools records: Is there a way to verify the veracity of this allegation?
I found out he was relocated downtown and never became a Principal again-well, until he was hired by A & M. I am a parent and was not able to attend the meeting. I am shocked that no one questioned all the going-ons at A & M or asked where the governing board was. I heard that Mr. Alonso (the owner of the buidling) and this person named Lily Renteria (what does she do?) was present. How could no one have used that opportunity to finally get answers. I wish I would have been able to be there. I have extreme respest for the students for voicing their concerns. And to the comment above, if the students don't walk out this will only enpower the people in charge and think they can get away with anything. This whole thing needs to be investigated once and for all..
Since I am not of Cuban descent I am not familiar with the work Ms. Renteria did/does on Cuban/local T.V; and therefore decided to browse the web for any relevant information on her. What I found in www.youtube.com is hillarious. Here is this lady, obviously past her prime, on prime time at 8:00pm on local channel 41, reciting an ackward poem with sexual overtones. The poem starts like this: "Te toco con la punta de mis pechos" which can be translated as "I touch you with the tips of my breasts". What an expectacle. Go to you-tube and check it out yourselves.
I forgot to ad; once you log into youtube - type Lili Renteria - the peom she is reciting is called "Me desordeno". I can not stop laughing.
The story regarding the grade fixing scam is absolutely true. It is the reason Machado had been transferred to out of Coral Park to the district office downtown. The story was covered in the Miami Herald and other local media. because A&M was in such a dismal state over this past summer, Alonso had no other choice than to hire Machado. There are teachers at Coral Park today who will tell you that in the Machado days he kept blacklists of employees he disliked and harrassed them. He was also known to not always be sober during the school day. I know this is pretty steep, but it is out there and merits looking into.
Anonymous of Dec 06 asks is there any legal recourse. Well, I'm sure there are people looking into this already. These are public monies, intended to help our students, and they have been used in an abusive manner and without public scrutiny. I'm sure this is going to backfire on Alonso. He acts and speaks as if he is invincible. Let's hope the system works and gets to the bottom of it all. There's nothing like a governmental audit to humble even the most powerful bandits.
Could A&M's problem in part be that it competes (for students and funding) with two longer-established magnet schools - New World and DASH?
As to legal action, I think you would need to talk to someone with experience in government / administrative law. I can think of a couple of possible approaches, but no attorney is going to give legal advice in a blog posting.
Thank you Swlip for your reply. Yes; you are correct. As soon as the administration of A&M found out that Mr. D's school was approved; they immediately fear the competition because they new Mr. D's students will follow him. Basically what Alonso and Machado did with Mr. D was a political vendetta, which was common in the Soviet Union of Stalin, and it it common in Fidel's Cuba. But it will be a sad shame that this political vendetta, against an outstanding teacher like Mr. D, is allowed to go unpunished. In God's name this is the land of the free and with justice for all. I assume any lawyer would want to charge a retainer fee or an initial consultation fee; it will be up to the parents to fund this initial fee.
GRAPEVINE: Our gratitude to you for helping us bring all these issues to the public light. How sad that a High School that is funded by the State of Florida is allowed to function like a mini-banana republic. Yes we agree with you that the best thing is to pick up and leave; but we can not make a decision based on anger/frustration. We need to safeguard our children; since many of them will be sent to their home schools. This will be traumatic for many of them. I agree with the person who wrote the comment above; the best alternative for now seems to be to stay put until Mr. D's new school is fully operational.
Machado tries to instill respect by his big persona walking the room with his hands behind his back and his deep voice - but how is he expecting to be respected when he knows he has all this "dirt" in his backpack from his Coral Park days?. Wearing nail polish certainly does not inspire respect either!
Little by little things are coming to the light. Apparently Alonso has connections with prominent local politicians (including the City Hall of the City of Miami); hence his false sense of security and his believe that he can basically get away with anything.
Who said this lady Lili Renteria was past her prime? I watched the video on you-tube. Personally, I have always liked older women; especially if they have a couple of extra pounds on them. Lili, baby, Desordename!. Anytime!
I am shocked by the comment dated 12/8 at 11:33am. I never noticed before that Machado uses nail polish. Shoot, where I come from only women and "closet guys" use nail polish.
Post a Comment
<< Home