Since December 22, 2004

Unruly News & Updates
December 2005 - January 2006

Cirque du Stupide: An Unruly Advocate Special Edition

The quiet hum of the light rail train is felt ever so slightly by a group of children playing at a nearby field one calm Thursday afternoon. “It’s coming!” exclaims one boy. With insatiable anticipation they leave their gloves and bats to await the arrival. They gather at the light rail station near 830 North Capitol Avenue and commence speculating on what the train might bring.

“Elephants?” one guesses.

“Tigers,” the other responds with a cool hint of knowing haughtiness.

The train pulls into the station, its cars a festive cacophony of colors celebrating the arrival of its comical cargo. Scattered haphazardly atop each car rests a cartoonish effigy of the stars of this show. There are no elephants or tigers.

Only clowns.

“Look!” says a shocked fourteen-year old girl, “It’s the greatest show of managerial incompetence on Earth!”

The doors open to reveal three of the most infamous harlequins to ever perform acts of hysterical chicanery under the three-ring school board big top.

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, prepare yourself for the most unique event of the season. This issue, The Unruly Advocate takes aim at the district that inspired our formation with three spectacular tales of profound charlatanism drawn from the recent annals of the East Side Board of Trustees, the gaggle of clowns who, at this very moment, are attempting to take away health benefits and cost of living adjustments from teachers because of the plethora of failures resulting from their fiscal irresponsibility. The Cirque du Stupide has arrived!

SITE MORE UNRULY THAN US: THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF TEACHER ABUSE

What happens when you disgruntle a workforce so much that they can no longer focus on the job they were hired to do? What happens when the noblest of professions turns into a cesspool for overreaching, power hungry machiavels who don’t mind swimming in turd to fulfill their political ambitions?

The people strike back.

We wanted to find out if there were any other unruly-type websites out there. We stumbled across NAPTA because they stumbled across us. Their mission is to expose corruption, greed, and administrative idiocy to the world.

On a couple of minor points we don’t agree. These folks are disgruntled — and not just with school districts and evil board members. They hate unions, some parents, and the overwhelming dysfunction found in nearly every public school system in the country. We just like making fun of Craig Mann and Patty Roach.

We do share the same overall mission: expose the corruption in school boards and empower teachers to fight back hard when their rights are violated.

Team Unruly encourages you to check them out!

JANUARY/FEBRUARY PREVIEW—AND A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

Did you miss us? The unruly folk at the advocate have been busy catching up on all the work put on hold after last year’s perpetual Zendejas roast-a-thon. We’ve run the roasting fork through the satire sharpener, and we’re ready to continue sticking it to corrupted education officials here and abroad.

In early February, we’ll turn our sights on Southern California’s Grossmont Unified High School District with a series of stories about the stalled contract negotiations and management failures that eerily parallel what’s currently happening in East Side.

But that’s not all! In early January, our “secret undisclosed location” goes public! Want to see it now? Just type /forum into our web address, or for you lazy technology types, just click here: and discover for yourself the humble beginnings of The Unruly Advocate. Now that we’ve grown into a district-wide underground community, it’s time to let the masses in. It will also help justify our winning “Best Blog” by the Metro because then, you know, we’d actually be a blog. We’re going to redesign the forum in the next couple of weeks to give educators and community members — from East Side and elsewhere in Santa Clara County — a place to talk, laugh, cry, gripe, and stay informed.

But wait! That’s not all! A couple of unruly readers who ain’t much into writin’ want to start posting education-related podcasts. Look for the first podcast of “Unruly Radio” or “Radio Free East Side” or whatever they choose to name it in February.

And yes, part two of the unauthorized Zendejas biography is coming. Eventually. Keep up the pressure by joining the forum or dropping us an email at Teamunruly@unrulyrus.com (we think we’ve fixed the email problem, so give it a try).

OTHER ISSUES
October 2007
February 2007
December 2006
September 2006
Summer 2006
December 2005 - January 2006
October 2005
August-September 2005
June-July 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005

December 2005
January 2006
Other Articles

A Long December: A New York Transit Strike Becomes Labor's Morality Play?

The Kiko Award

DID YOU KNOW? THE WINTER EDITION!

Did you know Esperanza Zendejas attempted to become a superintendent in Riverside? Did you know she was passed over for the job? Did you know a whole gaggle of folks in Riverside spent a weekend in October reading the back issues and archives of The Unruly Advocate? Did you know she then applied for a K-6 principalship in the northern part of the Central Valley? Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Did you know she landed a job? Sources tell us she is now the migrant education coordinator for a district in Salinas. Did you know she will probably lay low for a year or two, like she did in Atlanta, before she lands another job with the power to issue pink slips? Until then, she’ll be at a desk job running Salinas’ migrant education program into the ground. And when she does pack Kiko back into the carpetbag, we’ll tell you all about it right here, because we know you’ll want to know!

THE KIKO AWARD

If you are an avid reader of The Unruly Advocate, you can probably surmise our political leanings from the inherent bias of our pungent prose. In the spirit of full disclosure, we publicly admit that we are shills for the Republican Party, with deep ties to the RNC. Our funding comes from a variety of sources—perhaps you’ve seen our ad in James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” newsletter? We also receive healthy stipends from The Heritage Foundation, The Hoover Institution, and The Pacific Research Institute (you should see the pictures we took of Lance Izumi at our Christmas Party—Lance, you’re an animal!). And a mad shout out to Jack Abramoff, who closed and reopened many an Indian Casino to keep our website alive and solvent. You the man, Jack!