48 hours ago, Jacksonville citizens watched a farce unfold in the chambers of the City Council. A few people were unruly; therefore, the chair (Scott Wilson) threw a temper tantrum by engaging in the unprecedented act of clearing the entire council room of all audience members.

The issue at hand was the school board’s request for a referendum on a half-cent sales tax to fund the replacement or renovation of school buildings that are literally falling apart.

Too many council representatives parroted the talking points they received from the Civic Council (a/k/a the business/wealthy elite in the city); among them, that the proposed rebuilding of schools to state standards for school buildings was unnecessary. Charter schools are not burdened by these requirements and they advocated for construction on the cheap.

“Gimme the deed to the ranch …” LOL, a bonus to the song that livens up the post. Isn’t that the position of the Civic Council, the City Council, and all others supporting privatization of our public schools?

Back to Grumpy Old Teacher’s (GOT) point. Right after council member after council member questioned the school board’s desire for strong buildings, a hurricane took aim at Florida.

It’s coming, oh yes, it’s coming. Go beyond the official forecast and look at the model predictions. The two best ones are the red (European) and the yellow (U.S.)

Sorry, City Council, but the oncoming storm rebukes you. If you had bothered to pay attention to what the Duval County School Board had said, you would have learned that they said they would meet with the City to discuss what shelters are needed and those locations would be built to shelter standards. As for the rest, well, where do we want to be in a storm?

Even Richard Corcoran, Florida’s current Commissioner of Education, must be taken aback. After his sneers about building Taj Mahals, the question now must be asked:

Commissioner, where do you want to be in the storm? In a Taj Mahal or a under that tree where you said Plato could be taught?

Dorian rebukes you.

Remember that in the aftermath when you want to return to your talking points.