BRIZARDWATCH: Brizard's bizarre views come straight from the Broad Foundation, which trained him
There is a great deal about Jean Claude Brizard available on line, much of it reported in the Rochester press. Foremost in reporting the Brizard story as it unfolded following the hiring of Brizard there was the Rochester 'City Newspaper' — in articles like the lengthy report from August 2010 "Jean Claude Brizard, the first three years."
[For those who can't access the hotlink, the URL is: http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/articles/2010/08/Jean-Claude-Brizard-the-first-three-years/]
One of the most extensive assessments of Brizard comes from John Pavone, 1st vice president of the Rochester Teachers Association. He comments as follows on Brizard, making it clear that Brizard's kind of unionism is what has traditionally been called "company unionism". (Note that Brizard — following his mentor billionaire Eli Broad — also hates democracy when people get to elect school boards. Company unionism is a system where a union collects dues from members and supposedly "represents" them but in reality is working for the boss. Mayoral control is the current example of abolishing democracy in bit cities by destroying the ability of the people to elect their school boards.
According to Pavone:
Brizard's opinion of unions has always been a question because of his connection to the Broad Foundation. Eli Broad, the organization's founder, had no use for unions or school boards. But Brizard insists he isn't anti-union. He does, however, believe the district was long overdue for a conversation about teacher effectiveness.
"Ineffective teachers have learned they can outlast superintendents," he says. "They wait you out because they know that the process of ousting ineffective teachers takes so long."
The drama involved in getting rid of ineffective teachers discourages principals from doing it, Brizard says.
"Then the teacher gets tenure," he says. "And once that happens it takes three years, sometimes longer to get rid of them."
Pavone doesn't agree. He says Brizard wants to neutralize the unions.
"Let his record speak for itself," Pavone says. "He's gone to Albany and talked about the elimination of tenure. He wants to be able to hire and fire without due process. Tenure is not a guarantee of a job for life like some of these guys like to suggest; it's a guarantee of due process."
from
Jean-Claude Brizard: the first three years
By Tim Louis Macaluso on August 18, 2010 http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/articles/2010/08/Jean-Claude-Brizard-the-first-three-years/
