This now is the THIRD time this school year that I have found something out about Edison that SHOULD have come from the schools themselves instead of through students or message boards! So we now have had a bomb threat, a hit list, and a death threat against an entire class...NONE of which the school informed parents about UNLESS the parents called to SPECIFICALLY ask about these situations!

Apparently, this past Friday, a Junior at Edison High School threatened to KILL the entire 11th grade class stemming from a break up with his girlfriend! From what I am learning, the student who made the threat is the son of an administrative secretary at Edison Local and this student has also previously been suspended for violence! HOW can you not take this seriously and HOW can you NOT inform EVERY parent who has a child in this school??

When kids are threatening other students and I have a child in that same building and NO ONE bothers to tell me about it, I honestly can't put into words what that makes me feel like! I don't give a damn WHO the parents of the kid making the threats are, there should be ZERO TOLERANCE for ANYONE making threats on the lives of other peoples children!

Several months back I posted about a Hit list being discovered at Edison Local High School. When this was found out a source close to me called WTOV to find out WHY it had never been mentioned on there station at ALL. There response was basically they did not want to report on such things and give area students the "Wrong IDEA or Impression". At the time I knew this was complete bullshit. Edison Local School District was TRYING desperately to pass a levy at the time and I am sure that was the political reasoning behind WTOV9 NOT reporting on it. But lets go with their reason for a minute and look at some of the recent events that have occurred at Harrison Junior High and Follansbee Middle School.

At Harrison Junior High a student was suspended for 10 days for making a "List", basically a hit list, and at Follansbee Middle School a student was suspended for threatening to bring a gun to school and shoot another student. If WTOV9 was truly concerned about "giving the wrong impression or giving student the wrong idea" why would they report on these two incidents?

Granted I am probably beating a dead horse here with most of the readers that come to this blog. The comments I have posted in the past pertaining to this particular event have not gained a lot of attention, which is fine, but I would think that parents in the Edison Local School District would care enough about this. I for one am very irritated with WTOV9 for failing to report a worthy news story for political reasons. The Edison Local School District Levy failed anyhow and EVERYBODY knew this was going to happen anyhow. I think the well being of our children far outweighs a levy.

Here we are back on the subject of the Edison School District, not over the teacher strike, which is finally over and students and teachers are back in the classroom where they belong, but over funding for improvements and a new school. I have read several "groups" lately with ideas that mainly center on the raising of taxes in one form or another. Democrats are notorious for raising taxes to fund projects or fill their coffers, but for a group of citizens/democrats to suggest raising taxes in a district that can not even pass a levy is absurd.

One of these suggestions would be to tax the power plant in the district which means taxing the citizens in the district. LOL They, the citizens of the Edison Local School District, won't pass a levy but taxes will fly here?? I think NOT. Levies have failed and taxes will never even be a consideration to be voted on mainly for one big reason. Regardless of how bad the public may want a new school and new resources in the District, the one fact that remains consistent is that the Edison School Board is still in place which is the same school board that put the district on financial watch by the State Of Ohio. It's great that the initiative is being taken to "talk" about a solution, but think realistically before offering these suggestions. The problem stems form mismanagement of funds first of all, granted they did not mismanage the amount of money required to build a new school, but while on fiscal watch the chance of getting something like a new school to come to fruition is nearly impossible.

There is no painless solution to this problem, but step number one is obviously removing the existing board. Once a new board is in place and have proven to have the citizens of the districts best interest then other option can be researched. My personal opinion is that taxes will never work, if a levy can not pass, new taxes would never pass. Everybody hates getting taxed so those democratic ideas can just get tucked away.

Another interesting solution brought up was Municipal/Capital Lease Options. This is a great idea in theory, but again is there a private party/organization willing to even undertake such am endeavor especially with all the controversy that has plague this district? Who in their right mind would even consider this? Being on fiscal watch would be the first red flag. If the interested party ignored this for whatever reason the next hurdle would be the board. If the board is the current board then once they had met with Lisa Carmichael the deal would be a bust.

So as you can see the root of this problem is not the amount of money the district receives nor is the problem with the solutions that have been bounced around. The one factor working against the citizens living in the Edison Local School District is time. If a new school was ever to be built, the school board has to be replaced with knowledgeable, hard working elected officials and then given the time to get out of the current dilemma and show that they are worthy enough to have more money thrown their way. Hmmm "knowledgeable, hard working elected officials" ever heard of one of them? NOPE! Of course the other "time" factor so to speak is the fact that the Edison School District has not passed a levy in how many years? 30 or so? Not a good track record if you ask me. Seems to me if the board was anywhere near useful and the public actually passed a levy then all this would be a non issue. The solution lies with the board and the people plain and simple.

Well Almost, the Teachers still have to vote and agree on the tentative contract and if all goes well they will back to school on Monday. Job well done!

It's about time, although I am very surprised. Maybe it's because Lisa Carmichael is not really going to MRDD and needs to protect her job now, or maybe the teachers are just tired of striking and need the money quickly for the fast approaching Holidays. It's apparent the Lisa Carmichael really doesn't care otherwise she would have never attempted to leave the negotiations 3 times. Luckily there was a higher power in the negotiations in the form of a judge who told her exactly how it was – SIT DOWN. No matter what the case is its good to see them come to an agreement to the best of their ability and end this strike.

Through the entire ordeal, the best and worst came out in teachers, subs, students and parents. Some of the events that transpired on both sides of the picket line were embarrassing. Do I understand their actions, certainly? I do, but nonetheless many people do not and those that committed some of these actions will be remembered for a long time to come because of them rather than being remembered for why it was done. I hope the school board has learned their lesson as well as Lisa Carmichael, I seriously doubt this is the case but it never hurts to hope. There are a few things that I truly believe should get done regardless of the fact that this strike is over. I still think that the Unfair Labor Practice Charge Filed Against Edison School Board should be followed through with and I still think the State of Ohio Board of Education should come in and take over the district. This incident may be over but lets not forget the levy did not pass. What underhanded tricks does Lisa Carmichael and the School Board have up there sleeve? Time will only tell, but I am sure we have not heard the last of this lair of snakes.

Times like these can be stressful for all and I am glad that we offered a place like OhioValleyBlog.com to help vent some of that stress and frustration. We have had some heated comments here and we have had supportive comments here but it was all in an effort to show the rest of the public the real story going on over what the biased local media was reporting.

This is a ltter from a student in the Edison Local School District. They have given us permission to share this with you.

First off Lisa is sending a letter to all of your parents on FRIDAY stating that as of Monday, any day of school that you miss will be counted against you. Also, it says that for every day you miss that you will receive an F for the day. SOOOO I feel it is my responsibility to get word out about the TRUTH of the matter. Mrs. Carmichael's plan is that as of Monday most students will return to school because they are scared of the consequences they will face if they don't. I am well connected with the teachers for obvious reasons so let me explain to you what my reliable sources have explained to me. When the teachers go to negotiate their contract they will not be totally negotiating for themselves...they will be protecting us in the process. When the teachers finally decide on a contract that is not IMPOSED on them they will not settle until a clause is added to the contract that excuses all the absences that anyone has had during the time of the strike. This clause will also state that any type of grade that is taken during the strike period will not be used. Don't you guys understand? If we go to school things are going to just get WORSE!!!! We are the leverage...that's what we are. Right now, our support for the teachers has us working against the school board. Mrs. Carmichael's goal is to get us back in school and ultimately back on her side. We are the pawns in this game of chess and right now we need to bond together. WE as students can END this strike and the best way to do it is to refrain from going to school, eventually forcing Lisa to negotiate. Do not worry about the threats that you hear, if you take care of the teachers then they will take care of you too! We will not be punished for this. Don't freak out about it! You have to trust me on this one!

STAY STRONG!!!THE STUDENTS NOW CONTROL THIS. DON'T BOW DOWN TO A TRYANT. TIMES LIKE THESE TEST THE STRENGTH

OF WHAT ONE IS MADE OF. STAY STRONG.

A letter sent home with students that attended school today has taken away excused absences for the students during this strike. Previously it had been decided that all students that did not attend school during this strike caused by the Edison District School Board would be excused. Now Lisa Carmichael, in here true to form back stabbing actions, as revoked this decision. It simply amazes me that this woman and the Edison School Board continue to just do as they please without any type of reprimand. It is absolutely ridiculous and unprofessional for this type of behavior to exist in our school system and for nothing to come of it is just absurd all the way around.

Why would I continue to send my children to school when Lisa Carmichael can not even give an accurate count of subs currently in the schools? Why would I send my children to school when Lisa Carmichael denies access to the subs BCI background checks? Why would I send my children to school when the subs leave at 2:15 and leaving the children with the aides? Why would I send my child to school when no school nurse? With only 51 eligible subs on a list to take the place of 140 teachers, I highly doubt this is neither a safe environment nor an educational environment. Speaking of safe, it has come to our attention that one of the subs currently on the list as a sub for the Edison Local School District just happens to be one of the subs let go from during the Harrison Strike for touching an 8th grade girl!

If the intention of Lisa, the Weasel, Carmichael was truly to keep our children safe then she would actually try and negotiate a fair contact with the teachers instead of turning this event into finger pointing contest. She thinks she has the upper hand right now due to the ruling from Judge Henderson to limit picketers and their actions. Taking excused absences away form the students right now is just in response to the charges filed against her for Unfair Labor practices. She is like a two year old that didn't get her way – she is throwing a temper tantrum directed at our children. Rumor has it she will be leaving her position as superintendent and moving onto the MRDD. Either she is intentionally trying to get fired from her current position so the Board has to honor her contract OR she is trying to prove to the MRDD that she can act like the people she will be handling.

No wonder the Edison School District is in such peril. She and the board make a decision and then can't make up their minds afterwards and turn around and reverse that decision. More than likely this is how they appropriated the funds left over after giving themselves hefty raises and giving OAPSE a real contract that OAPSE was allowed to accept. One minute they figure they would not give it away and stuff it in their own pockets and the next decide they feel generous to a select few, including themselves still and decide on sharing a bit. Of course this is all just speculation and our own opinions, but if you really think about it, it does make sense. I think before The Weasel leaves her current position a FULL audit should be done by the state and for all the discrepancies that are found she should be held accountable. Maybe fraud and misappropriations of funds would look good on her resume, but then again who around is actually taking a real stance against her and knocking her off her little perceived pedestal?

As far as I am concerned, children should stay at home under the "Act of God" bullet listed in the letter sent home. What Act of God am I referring too? If there is a god it has to be by his/her own mercy that he allows such a despicable serpent like Lisa Carmichael be the superintendent in charge our children and their young impressionable minds.

Protect your children and do NOT send them. We have rights as parents to stage our own strike and picket against this....what say yee?

It's about time! Now the Edison Local School Board of Education is going to get a taste of their medicine. The Edison Local Education Association has filed an unfair labor practice against the Edison School Board and According to the State Employment Relations Board (SERB), they have found enough evidence to go ahead with an expedited hearing. What does this mean? It means within 10 days there will be a hearing to determine the facts and just what will be done about it. The only fear I have hear is that the venomous snake Carmichael is slippery enough to somehow slither her way out of this.

The statement surrounding this latest round of legal volleys was issued in the form of a memo as the Edison School Board offered up their LAST version of a "fair" contract, an di use the term fair VERY loosely. The statement read "Please be advised all certified staff members are required to report to work, Failure to report to work may result in termination of employment.". This statement alone, without any other stunts performed by the amazing Carmichael, is proof of her character and unwillingness to observe the rights of the union teachers.

This comes amid the plea form Carmichael to get back to contact talks possibly as early as Wednesday. The Chances of this happening, I am afraid, is slim to none. After all the stunts Carmichael has pulled, if I were a teacher I would certainly not sit down in the same room with her and attempt to negotiate. If any type of negotiation is to be done it should be done with the other members of the board and a federal mediator. Carmichael should be left out in the cold just like she did to the teachers.

I applaud the union and their representatives for taking this stand and filing the appropriate paperwork to get this the attention it deserves form the State Employment Relations Board.

You would think with all the turmoil going in the Edison Local School District the elected officials would not cower in corner and actually face the public on their mistakes, but that is exactly what they are doing. The Board Meeting scheduled for Thursday November 15th was cancelled. Of course we do not have a solid reason for this yet, but I am sure Lisa Carmichael and her band of Merry Men will concoct a story worthy of debate.

These are elected official, meaning they are elected by the public to serve the public and when the public wants answers they are to provide them. PERIOD! This does not mean do what you want, when you want with out any regard for the people who elected you. I think it's time for Lisa Carmichael and the Edison Board to get that through there thick skulls. They have repeatedly done what they wanted in their own interest, such as raises for themselves, ratifying contacts that they wanted in place, changing health care insurance providers and the list goes on. These are just a few of the incidents we are aware of and I am sure there are plenty more. If you know of any please feel free to let us know in your comments. Oh and don't forget the fact that they managed to negotiate a nice contract for OAPSE members? How many members of OAPSE are related in some way to Lisa Carmichael and the board members? I'll let you answer that question :-).

Politics is Politics is Politics just about everywhere you go, but it seems to me that this school board has taken that meaning to a whole new height of ignorance. The American public is use to elected officials lining their own pockets whenever they choose to do so. The members of the Edison Local School District seem to think they are above the ridicule of the public, they believe they can just do as they please with no repercussions whatsoever, they believe they can line their own pockets whenever they choose to and leave our teachers hang out to dry. What is being done about this seriously? There are plenty of groups out there that have voiced their opinion, there are several people out there that talk a good game but are not producing results. It's time to take serious action against the Edison Local School Board.

One group that we have found to be very resourceful and full of energy to get things done is a group of people who have organized a Yahoo Group to discuss and organize a plan of action. If you would like to be involved in this group please visit the yahoo Group Unite for Our Kids here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UniteForOurKids/

The Unite For Our Kids Group is a group of concerned parents, teachers, students and taxpayers that are committed to taking back control of the Edison Local School District from a divided school board. This Community Action Group started from the actions and inactions of the Board and Superintendent that have put the District into a downward spiral. Their ongoing disregard for board by-laws and state laws, as well as the flippant waste of taxpayer's dollars must be opposed in an effort to regain control of Edison Local School District. They are determined to bring together all parents, teachers, students and taxpayers to right the wrongs that have taken place in this District for so long. For only then may we move on, and only then can the trust resurface which has so long been forgotten.

We are committed to helping their cause and believe they have the fortitude to go the distance in making a difference. OhioValleyBlog.com is Part of the OhioValleyNow.com network and we intend on using our extensive membership base and steady stream of visitors top gain support for their cause. Please visit their group and stand up for the children and teachers in the Edison School Board District.

The morning started out a little chilly but quickly warmed up as teachers, joined by students and parents, rallied in support of the Edison Local District Teacher strike at Stanton Junior High School today. The parents and students are behind the teachers 100% and they want this resolved quickly. One local student wrote in as saying

"I think I speak for a large portion of the student body when I say, we love our teachers at EHS. They have taught us a lot and are very understanding. They have been working under bad conditions. Unfair contracts. I for one, don't like the school board. Our school is in such a bad financial problem, this was bound to happen. Then, scabs coming in to watch us? This isn't fair to us. Just give the teachers a fair contract. Our teachers getting injured because of these scabs, and students being late because of everyone holding up the buses is just not right. Please give us back our teachers!"

Before the rally even got started though, mishaps were already taking place. Mr. Nate Moses, a teacher at Stanton was reportedly struck by a van, but eye witness accounts paint a much different story. This van driven by an IMAC employee, knocked Mr. Moses down, pinned his leg under a tire and as people were screaming to let the driver know to back up he instead accelerated. Interestingly enough this hardly went reported by what some claim to be a BIAS news Station. These types of actions are exactly why parents are choosing not to send their children to school. The latest estimates have the total attendance of the school district at about 3%. According to reports it's apparent that the puppet of the board, Lisa Carmichael, has used these incidents to gain a court order limiting the amount of picketers. It seems her belief is that with the court order in place parents will send their children back to school. Well let me say this then to Mrs. Wonderful. IT'S NOT GOING TO HELP. Last time I checked parents were pretty fed up with Lisa Carmichael and now she is trying to stifle the very building block of what made this country and that is Freedom of Speech and the Freedom to Assemble. Oh in case you don't know where that came from, it's called the BILL OF RIGHTS. It's very obvious that Carmichael cares very little for peoples rights anyhow, just look how her and the "Board" put in place a contract that was not even voted on by the Union. If memory serves me correctly, unions exist to protect the workers from EXACTLY that type of action. I think our next research should be on Lisa Carmichael herself and find out what deep dark skeleton she has lurking in her closet, because from what I have heard, it could be VERY interesting.

The support for these teachers is overwhelming ranging from students and parents to our good old Bill of Rights and the next form of support maybe straight from Washington. We have recently learned that a union member has been contacted by the Washington Post out of D.C. It seems that journalists there are looking into media biasness and the implications that bias news creates. The truth will always come out in the end and the clear truth here is this; if the teachers had been given a chance to even look at this contract, they might have agreed to the terms for no other reason than they do understand the dilemma the district is facing and they do truly care about the students.

So with that said, make sure you get out there and support your teachers in the Edison Local School District, we all know that the psycho, weed smoking, voodoo midgets from corporate America (Also Known as the Edison Local School Board) sure in the hell didn't.

The teachers strike at the Edison School district is stressful for everybody. So far everything has revolved around the teachers and the school board administration. So I am going to give you a break on the teachers and school board and give you a small glimpse into how one parent feels.

I haven't been able to sleep much since all this talk of a strike began and I am up and down most nights hoping like everyone that when I turn my TV on that I will hear that Edison teachers were asked to the table to settle the strike! I am not a teacher but a parent who has been able to stay home and volunteer in the schools. I want parents to know that even though it has only been one day that EVERYTHING we do to support the teachers and one another is appreciated! I read were someone was going to take hot chocolate to the teachers at Stanton. Great idea!! It was so cold at Gregg and Springfield and I only got there at 10am by 12pm I was ready for a nice hot drink and I am not a coffee drinker! Someone else said hand warmers! Also a great idea! I had THICK gloves on and my hands were froze in a matter of hours! The biggest to the smallest thing is appreciated even blowing the horn when you pass them by the schools in support is wonderful!

I hope that more parents and caregivers show up at the schools today and see first hand exactly what is going on! I will not lie to you it is not a TEA PARTY. I said before NO STRIKE is a pretty strike. These teachers are out here because their way of living is on the line. Please Please Please UNITE together! All it would take is for EDISON to UNITE for one day and that would get the message across that this is "OUR" district with "OUR" kids and we want this strike settled and we want it settled yesterday!!! Together we can as a community makes a difference! These students are so worth it. I can only tell you that I am suppose to do Ohio Reads today and I cried like a baby because the kids, (Mrs. Robsons) class in particular give the best hugs. Un-conditional love I like to call it that only a kid can give. I heard so many stories about the kids and how they have touched each teacher yesterday just walking in a circle and not one teacher didn't refer to them as NOTHING but "our" kids in there or "our" babies in there. I know just by those words alone in the tears in their eyes and mine when the bus pulled away with "our" kids, "their" kids faces pressed against the glass of the school bus it was so touching and so sad all at the same time. The teachers don't want to be holding picket signs at 5am. I as a parent don't want to be standing there in the cold for hours (even though I am proud to say we did keep a guy with Illinois plates away who work for the security company IMAC away!) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come to the schools and check out the building and the re-placement teachers who are in your child's building! I will not send my child Monday or the following Monday with the people I do not know. Who are not your neighbors? Trust me I saw some of them! Please don't send your child in before you check it out and the school HAS to give you ALL the Subs names and how they check out! If they do. IMAC seems to have let some people slip through the crack with criminal checks who work as their security and those security people are walking around INSIDE the building where the students are as well! May God bless us all and I pray the end of the strike is near. My children I couldn't imagine living one single day without and I know that people who have never spoke to me before let alone don't live within 100 miles of me are going to treat my kids the same way "our" teachers who are also in our community would. Remember most of them have children too! Please if anything is on the news today and it scares you and you have a car come to your child's school and check it out! Don't fill this site full of speculation on what may or may not have happened! Bus drivers will be yelled at if they cross, I am certain that other personnel will be! The teachers know if we as parents don't support them then there out there for nothing and I for one think that is what this board and administration is counting on!!! Thank you and God Bless the kids most of all!!