Hamway: Stegeman Has Been the Only Board Member to Pay Attention
I would like to thank the Tucson Weekly staff, especially Mari Herreras, for the extremely diligent, professional and informative articles written on the recent Office of Civil Rights findings regarding the retaliation, and civil-rights violations that took place while I was employed within the Tucson Unified School District (“Finding Hope,” Currents, Sept. 27).
Superintendent John Pedicone and most members of the board, both past and present, appear to continue to deflect and avoid any responsibility for their actions, even in light of all of the evidence and my repeated attempts to address this matter with civility and dignity. My case involves not only children with special needs, but all children who attend TUSD, and staff members who try, albeit in silence, to meet each child’s needs with dignity and compassion, according to law and funding statutes.
In light of the actions of the many, I must draw attention to the one board member, Mark Stegeman, who has returned my phone calls and, according to his word, actively requested the documents and evidence regarding my case and those of the 14-plus students and families he is entrusted to represent. While Stegeman avoided drawing any conclusions or bias regarding my case, he expressed concern and a desire to seek the truth. In my experience and opinion, Stegeman has been the only TUSD representative to base decisions on fact, not opinion, and for this reason, I must clarify his role in relation to my case and the OCR cases of the current and future children attending TUSD.
Rose Hamway
Correction
In the Best of Tucson® (Sept. 27), we put an incorrect address and wrong contact information for a second-place finisher in the Best Café Hangout category. Café Passe is at 415 N. Fourth Ave., and can be reached at 624-4411, or cafepasse.com. We apologize for the mistake.
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2012.
Hope you don’t mind me taking a moment of your time to share a thought or two I have had regarding the upcoming elections that are now right around the corner. Don’t worry, where I do have an opinion on why I’m choosing who I’m going to vote for, I’m not going to try and convince you as to why I think I’m right or who it is you should vote for because oddly enough, that is not what this is about. Not directly anyway.
I know, I know… at this stage of the political season we’re all about sick of the whole process, especially the ads that seem to dominate the commercials. By the way, if you the candidate are the one speaking in the commercial there’s no reason to assume we’re all dumb shits by having to announce that you endorse the commercial. As expensive as on-air time is, that little useless tidbit probably costs something like ten grand. If there is some kind of law stating you have to say it then maybe that should be the first thing you should fix if you should happen to win!
As I watch the people who I’ve never even met try and get my vote I notice that there are a certain percentage of these people running on the platform of what they are going to do for me. What’s even more curious is the fact that there is even a bigger percentage of voters looking for the candidate who offers the most. This doesn’t mean I don’t want us to be a compassionate nation who doesn’t help those who are in need or unable to help themselves for one reason or another but sometimes I look back and think about my grandfather, ( who happened to be one of the ORIGINAL Screaming Eagles so a special shout out to all the Airborne in respects to him ), that fought in the Second World War and was among those willing to give his life to sustain the freedom to be able to live that very same life however he deemed fit if he managed to live through it.
I look at my life and at the lives at those around me now and I can’t help but ask myself if we’re all doing everything we can to live up to the promise and premise of what that freedom really means and how hard fought it was to obtain. We are the core of America and I wonder that if instead of looking up to the MittBamas and wonder what it is that either of them can do to help us along life’s journey even if it’s just get out of our way and just let us live it, that maybe we can look towards ourselves a little more and ask that very same question. Maybe, just maybe we can ALL take a step back and take a good look at our lives and decide if we’re surpassing the standards and remain committed to that freedom that so many gave their lives so we are able to be given a fair shot at obtaining a happy life, or if we’re just sensitized cowards hiding behind a hollow idea that’s long gone in order to cater to our selfish lives.