Just an Update: Dr. Bragen removes his '@edisonsupt' Twitter account from the District Website

 Just received an answer from Dr. Bragen about the use of his '@edisonsupt' Twitter account:

Dr. Bragen,

Thank you for removing it from the website and, if I may in the same vain, please change your Twitter handle ‘@edisonsupt' below your signature on your correspondence.

Bucco

On Sep 29, 2020, at 8:19 AM, Bernard F. Bragen, Jr. Ed.D. <bernard.bragen@edison.k12.nj.us> wrote:

Dear Mr. Bucco,

That twitter account should not have been featured on the website and has since been removed.  My official district twitter account is @edisonpublicsc1.  I would love to have you as a follower on that account.  Be well and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Bernard F. Bragen, Jr.

Bernard F. Bragen, Jr. Ed.D.

Superintendent of School

Edison Public Schools

312 Pierson Avenue

Edison, NJ 08837

732-452-4900

(f) 732-452-4994

Twitter:@edisonsupt

Anyhoo, let's hope the Board addresses the use of social networking for the School District.

 

Edison Super Dr. Bernie 'ShiReferenDUMB-er' Bragen Still Blocking Opposing Views on his @edisonsuper twitter account?!?

Well, thought this thing was resolved earlier in the year (see Post dated February 24, 2020 for description of the issue with Bragen's use of his @edisonsupt twitter handle).

In summary, he's using his official title (@edisonsupt) makes comments about the district and links his @edisonsupt account to the school district's website but blocks any opposing or differing opinions

Apparently, I was wrong. When I went to check out the school district's in-school plan on their website, I found another tweet from @edisonsupt. And when I clicked on it, a screen came up indicating I was blocked from his @edisonsupt account.

So, I sent an email to the Board President asking what the Board's position was (once and for all) on Bragen's use of his @edisonsupt twitter account.

Seems there should be some policy on district employees, as well as board members use of social networking websites. If there is one, somebody please tell me where it is.

Just a tad bit unfair and it's certainly not a good idea for the school district or its leadership to Block any comments from the People of Edison just because they may not agree with or offer a different opinion about the school district or its leadership than what Bragen is putting out in the public.

Not exactly what you call school district transparency and you have to wonder why the school board would want any differing or opposing views from the public about the school district or it's leadership from being heard.

So, let's hope we can resolve this once and for all.

Anyhoo, but hey - what do I know? I still can't figure out why free speech isn't important anymore. 

Wow - Shi team wants your children to reach new heights in education - tough to do when you don't even have enough classrooms!?!

 Well, this is interesting from Jerry 'ReferenDUMB' Shi's Edison First ticket for the Education Board of Education on November 3rd. 

Just as an aside, kind of found it humorous that Shi thinks being tucked behind Ginny White on their Local Dem-party ticket 'White, Shi and Patel' will help him hide from his dubious record. Everybody loves Ginny White and so do I but it can't hide his dubious performance and inept leadership of the board.

But I digress, so let's move on. 

So, I saw this campaign ad put up by Ginny on one of the local social networking pages:

I'm glad to see they support the STEM Program and they want your children to reach new heights in education.

But Seriously?

Not for nothing but it's hard to reach new heights in education with this team when under Shi's inept leadership they wasted two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars and we don't even have enough classrooms for them now.

Good luck with that fairytale while ignoring the elephant in the room.

Here's my STEM acronym:

STEM

Shi

Team

Enormous

Mistake

Anyhoo, remember to bypass this Local Dem-party ticket when you vote (whether you recognize it or not, just like Shi's Ridiculous $189.5m twice-failed Bond Referendum) this team will result in 

                           Too Much of Financial Burden for Too Little a Solution.

Good to see Jerry 'ReferenDUMB' Shi is committed to a Resident-Friendly School District in this election cycle!?!

Well, it is campaign time for the November 3rd BoE elections and after you Stop Laughing about him being Resident-friendly, guess he's entitled to his own opinion.

But just for the heck of it, here's another opinion on that subject from one of the residents from the June 18, 2018 Board of Ed meeting:

You should check out that meeting in it's entirety and you'll get a good feel about what resident-friendly means to Señor Shi.

Oh yeah, let's not forget about being open and honest. Do you think they were trying to give the impression that the Edison School District was endorsing their ticket over all others in the race when they used the School District Logo on one of their campaign flyers? 

That's a Tad Bit Not Nice.

Remember that as you start to vote early.

Anyhoo, at least we're comforted in the knowledge that wasting two years and failing to address and fix the Overcrowding problem hasn't hurt us with this Pandemic.

Top 10 Bumper Stickers for Shi's Re-election Campaign - Paid for by 'Vote 4 Me for Forced Retirement'

10. Vote 4 Me I'm Jerry Shi - that's all I got!

9. Vote 4 Shi - he put the 'DUMB' in Referendum!

8. Vote 4 Shi - his School District Logo underwear is waiting approval!

7. Vote 4 Shi - he will continue to ignore you!

6. Vote 4 Shi - he's working on his Shi-shed 3.0!

5. Vote 4 Shi - he'll continue to Save you Millions - even if you can't see it!

4. Vote 4 Shi - he'll let the Local Dem-party pick your teachers!

3. Vote 4 Shi - he'll respect any opinion as long as it's his!

2. Vote 4 Shi - he will always put the 'i' in Team!

1. Run Shi Run! (on Shi's rear bumper, on Moroney's front bumper)

Bet you're glad there's no Campaigning at the Board of Ed Meetings

If you watched last night's Board of Ed Meeting, you just had to get a kick out of Jerry 'ReferenDUMB' Shi's last minute amateur political performance. Can this guy be anymore desperate in his attempt to garner support for his 'Vote 4 Me for Forced Retirement' ticket?

Apparently, he now wants to take some $6 million out of the Capital Reserve earmarked for Lincoln School and give it back to the taxpayers if it can't be used by June 30th.

Wow..what a Guy - a guy who never gave anything back to the taxpayers under his inept leadership, tried to triple your current year's school tax increase for the next 30 years with that idiotic twice rejected school bond referendum a few months ago - and let's not forget what a dismal failure he was wasting two years mishandling the Overcrowding - further complicating the ability for the school district to deal with the Pandemic.

Yeah, he wants to give back to the poor Edison Residents. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it.

But wait, it gets better. Seems Mr. Shi-shed got called out by one of the resident parents (also a current BoE candidate) for trying to take money away from Lincoln School when the place is a disaster in waiting and has been for a long time. 

Clearly, she nailed it and called him out on his audacity - a purely amateur and futile attempt by Mr. Shi to try and pander to the Edison Residents with a short time left before the election. 

Acknowledging that you're not supposed to campaign in the Board Meeting, Mr. Shi said that since it was brought up, he could respond. 

And his response, he reiterated his 0% tax increase pledge and said he has the team to do it and he'll fix Lincoln School first.

Well, ok - here's his Dem-party ticket team making the same promise that the Local Dems did on the Muni-side of town - and you can see how that worked out:

And let's not forget his "Edison First' team:

Yeah, he's gonna fix things he didn't fix when he had the chance to but he promises to fix them next time. That's a Hoot!

Anyhoo, kudos to Maria Wise for stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run.

Yeah, what you want to hear from any Edison School Board Member - much less the Board President!?!

Well, seems Jerry 'ReferenDUMB' Shi is using snippets from old past Board Meetings in his campaign literature seeking re-election in the November School Board elections. 

Saw this one from the June 18, 2018 School Board Action Meeting. It's a snippet of one of his responses, in this case, on his plan to hire a permanent superintendent.

I encourage you to watch that meeting in it's entirety to see how Mr. Shi deals with other Board Members and the Public at that meeting.

Anyhoo, it's good to see how Mr. Shi deals with differing opinions on a 9-Member Board.

Really, with the Stench Still Hanging over this town - they want to pretend Nothing Happened?!?!

After 3 years and the 'Committee of the Hole' still in search of themselves with the 2017 Racist Flyer, they must think you forgot - since they got this 'Edison First Team' for the Edison BoE. 

A team led by, none other than, Jerry 'Referen-DUMB' Shi whose Inept Leadership of the Board (that wasted two years and failed miserably to address and correct the Overcrowding) makes him a perfect tool for the Local Dem-Party's attempt to control the Board.

Don't be fooled again. They're counting on you to forget what happened last time. 

You know, the Means justify the End - and they're hoping you forgot the Means.

And you thought moving the School Board elections to November and giving up your right to vote on Bloated and Out-of-Control School $pending Budgets was a good thing.

Anyhoo, Remember on November 3rd to Vote Shi and his Dem-Party buddies into Forced Retirement.

Edison First Team's Jerry 'ShiReferen-DUMB' Shi and his futile attempt at self aggrandizing!?!

Well, Watched this Edison First Team video on their website here video.mp4. 

It's a clip that comes from a Board of Ed Action Meeting on March 19, 2018. Seems it's a snippet of Jerry Shi talking about vendors and special interests. 

That's nice but, but like anything else, context is important. Here's the March 19, 2018 Action Meeting starting from 1:39:35. 

See if the context makes his snippet of himself a tad bit self-serving and a little too one-sided.

Of course, you should watch that whole meeting since you'll get a better feel about Mr. Shi's ability to work with the public and other Board Members. 

And to think he's concerned with special interests:

If his stated purpose was to save taxpayers money - don't forget to check and see where all that savings he claims went to - it certainly didn't show up as a reduction in your school tax bill, which is the only way you would of had a savings.

Anyhoo, make sure you Vote 4 Jerry Shi for Forced Retirement on November 3rd.

Christo Makropoulos - Edison Board of Education Candidate - November 2020

In response to the 3 simple questions I asked of the Edison Board of Ed Candidates (who wish to respond) - here's Christo Makropoulos: 

You're Kidding me, Right? Super Dr. Bernie 'ShiReferen-DUMB-er' Bragen wants a Contract Extension?!?

Geez, I always thought the Board of Mythomania, over there on Mythomania Lane at the junction of Delusional & Dysfunctional Streets was out of control but now this? A contract extension now for someone who has only been there less than 10 months?

They called a Public Meeting on October 15, 2020. They want to extend Bragen's contract from 3 1/2 year's to 5 years when the guy hasn't been there long enough to find all the bathrooms.

His contract (you can see it in the November 26, 2019 post in this blog) runs from December 9, 2019 to June 30, 2023. It includes a salary of $245,000 plus minimum 2% annual salary increases and the other usual perks.

Seriously, haven't we learned our lessons with their inept handling of Superintendents' contracts with O'Malley & Toth (see September 4, 2017 post or just search O'Malley Contracts)?

And, what's the rush to do this. They guy's been there less than 10 months and it is yet to determined if he isn't just another mistake by the Board. 

Further, with an election in a couple of months, shouldn't we wait for the new Board (with possibly 3 new members) to have a say in any such change. It's not like he's at the end of his 3 1/2 years and is looking for an extension. It seems more like Shi trying to protect his ShiReferenDUMB-er buddy in case he's goes the way of Forced Retirement on November 3rd.

Good to see though that they have the time for this nonsense of committing us further for a yet to be proven Superintendent but still haven't put out the Contracts for the ETEA & EFMMA and the numbers which show what they already committed us to for the next 3 and 5 years, respectively.

Anyhoo, Barf!! Wake-up people, that place is totally out of control.

It's the 'Silly Season' here in 'Downtown Edison' and what better way to start off than with Something Silly?!?

Well, it's that time of year again - otherwise known as the Silly Season. You know, where all the campaign flyers and literature start showing up with all their grandiose statements of accomplishments and promises for more of the same, if re-elected.

Of particular note today, the 'Edison First Team' for the BoE this November lead by none other than Jerry 'Referen-DUMB' Shi. You remember him - the guy who couldn't be bothered engaging in dialogue about what he's doing with people who don't agree with him.

Well, let's start with his claim of $aving the Edison Taxpayers Millions:

Apparently, he doesn't understand how a Taxpayer Savings is calculated or more likely, hoping you don't understand. 

But hey, he doesn't understand a lot of things.

But wait it gets funnier. Next up will be their promise of '0% School tax increase', if elected. Something he never did under his inept leadership but hey, he promises to do it next time.

Now, not to be skeptical but do you really think he voted No for the last Bloated & Out-of-Control $pending School Budget (approaching $300 million) because he was concerned about the high tax increase on the poor Edison taxpayers during a Pandemic? Just look at what he tried to do with your taxes with the $189.5 million Shi-Shed a few months ago.

Better guess, he voted No because he was up for re-election and it didn't matter anyway. They had the votes to pass it.

Anyhoo, Silence is accepting the unacceptable - and another term for Mr. Shi on the Edison BoE is unacceptable.

Shi's 'Edison First Team's' 0% tax increase v. EDO's 0% tax increase - See what's going on here?

Wow..what a coincidence. The Local Dems want a 0% tax increase and so does Jerry 'Referen-DUMB-er' Shi. Gee, i wonder where he's taking advice from these days?!?

Sure looks like it's deja vu all over again!

Seriously, I'm only showing the EDO's ticket for the School Board in November here since Shi's team put their 0% Campaign flyer above on one of the town's social networking pages.

I guess they didn't like the comparison  made above or the other citizen's comments, and wouldn't you know it, their 0% Campaign flyer mysteriously disappeared from that page.

Guess they'll only be a 0% tax increase as long as no one challenges what they're saying or points out the obvious elephant in the room.

Something how that works, isn't it? I guess it's the Shi way.

Anyhoo, this guy was a dismal failure on the Board and Wasted 2 years with his Inept Leadership and now we're all dealing with his inability to properly address and fix the Overcrowding. 

The only Vote you should give this guy on November 3rd is a Vote into FORCED RETIREMENT.

Well, Edison Super Dr. Bernie 'ShiReferen-DUMB-er' Bragen finally got around to Shi's use of the District Logo

Seems 'the flyer in question has been altered to not include the Edison School District Logo. Consequently, the question is moot.'

Seriously, the question is moot?!?

This guy's unreal but at least as far as he knows it was taken off.

Here, read all the correspondence on this including his sophomoric response. You wonder why I think this guy was a $245k Mistake?

Anyhoo, it's important that everyone pay attention to what goes on over there on Mythomania Lane - because somebody needs to.

Geez, is it really such a difficult question?

While I await a response from the Edison School District Administration about Jerry Shi and his 'Edison First Teams' use of the School District Logo in a campaign flyer, ask yourself this question; 

Should the Edison School District allow the appearance that it supports one candidate or team over another candidate or team in the upcoming BoE election on November 3rd? 

I don't think so but would be nice to know where the School District stands on this.

Anyhoo, let's hope we find out where they stand, one way or the other, before the November 3rd BoE election. 

Edison's '7 Processing Clerks' Amended Senor Lankey Muni Budget - 5.3% Muni tax Hike - Barf!

What the heck, it's only a Pandemic - so what's another 5.3% increase in your Property taxes from the Oligarchy over there at 100 Oligarchy Blvd.? 

The vote was 4 to 3 in favor of this amended budget. Really doesn't matter - a 4 to 3 Vote is just as good a a 7 to 0 one. For the record, Ship-Freeman, Brescher, Diehl and Gomez were the 4 in favor and Coyle, Patil and 'Big-boy' pants were the 3 opposed. You can tell all the Mayor-Wannabe's with this vote.     

Lankey's original budget came with a 9.9-cent or 7.28% tax increase and their amendment reduces the increase by 2.6-cents to 7.3-cents or 5.3%.

Here's there amendment:

 

You can see all they did was to increase the revenue. Appropriations stayed the same.

Here's the changes in the tax rates:

Normally, this is just business as usual for me in this one-party cesspool but it is worth noting that the reduction of 2.6-cents coincides nicely with the 2.9-cent understatement of the Muni tax in the 3rd Qtr estimated tax bills. At least you won't get hammered like you did last year with your 4th Qtr tax bill.

Anyhoo, you get the type of government you deserve here in the 'DemBadLands' of Downtown Edison and you just got some more of it. Enjoy.

Well, isn't this Special - Jerry 'ReferenDUMB-er' Shi using the School District Logo in his 'Edison First Team' Campaign ad!?!

 Well, a heads-up to the other 10 candidates running for the Edison Board of Education this November. Seems Jerry Shi and his 'Edison First Team' are using the School District's Logo on their campaign ad.

That seems a Tad Bit Not Right - is the School District now endorsing the 'Edison First Team?' 

Let's hope not.

Didn't know the School District Logo was up for rent. Go figure.

And now this from the guy who wasted two years and led the most dismal failure in the history of the School District:

Anyhoo, be good to know what Super Dr. Bernie 'ShiReferenDUMB-ER' Bragen thinks about this going forward.

Wait, I gotta Stop Laughing - Jerry 'Needs to Step-down' Shi wants to be Rewarded for his inept leadership!?!

Wow, there's something you don't see everyday. Jerry the 'Referen-DUMB-er' Shi is running again for the Edison Board of Mythomania. With a record as ineffective as his including a grossly ineffective and twice failed attempt to fix the overcrowding that wasted years, along with all the millions he's claimed to have Saved for the taxpayers (in his own mind), you'd think he'd just go away quietly with his head down.

Nah. He's running on a ticket 'Edison First Team for Board of Eduction' and unless you've been out of town for the last couple years, he's the Last Guy you'd want to let stay on a now Dysfunctional Board that he gets credit for creating.

And let's not forget who he brings along with him to this Dem-party infested Board of Dysfunction:

Yeah, that's what you want to continue with - a Stench that Still Lingers over this town.

Anyhoo, time to clean house over there on Mythomania Lane and what better way to start than to send Jerry 'Needs to Go Away" Shi into retirement.

Edison Board of Mythomania's Revised School Aid - Cut by $2,966,942

Well, looks like the Board of 'Taxpayer Un-friendlies' just got a Wake-up call. Seems their original State aid of $27,319,478 was revised down to $24,352,526. 

Instead of a $4,348,992 or 18.9% increase over last year's $22,970,486, they'll have to settle for an increase $1,382,050 or 6.0%.

Boo hoo..boo hoo - that's less money they'll have to waste, and that's one way to cut out the Bloat and Over$pending in that Ridiculously High Pandemic Budget they put out this year.

But have no fear, they're sure to find a way to add it back to your school taxes - one way or the other.

Here's the Revised School State Aid Numbers:

Anyhoo, it's bad enough we're all having to deal with the financial and health concerns with this virus and Ridiculously high property tax increases to boot here in 'Downtown Edison' - but it's another to know we have to deal with the fact that the Board of Mythomania wasted two years and failed to fix the overcrowding while hiring, an arguably, $245K Mistake in Super Dr. Bernie 'ShiReferen-Dumber' Bragen.