Konnie Krislock, who has been teaching journalism and yearbook at the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana for the past four years, was dismissed in June via a curt letter from the school that read, in part, “Your services are no longer needed,” according to the O.C. Register.
We covered the scandal that led up to this firing in our sister blog, the Orange Juice, back in September of last year. Click here to read that post. A student reporter at OCSHA wrote an article about a food vendor, Alegre, questioning why they got the cafeteria contract when they are known for pushing their religious views on their customers. Krislock stood up for that student.
The student’s article posed a good question given that OCHSA is a charter school that is publicly funded and runs under the auspices of the Santa Ana Unified School District.
We also looked into Allegre’s safety record and found numerous citations by the Orange County Health Department.
Click here to read the rest of this post.
Glad to see a school with a spine willing to toss out a teacher or two. Well done!
Wow, what an idiot this first commenter is. There are actually people who hate teachers so much that they’ll cheer when a very popular and successful teacher gets canned as punishment for sticking up for her student’s solid journalism?
That reminds me, I need to get on the CAPO situation. These teacher haters are as sick, evil, and retarded as the Mexican haters.
Unfortunately, good reporting seems to be falling by the wayside in traditional newspapers as well as in the blogs with an emphasis on sensationalism instead of accuracy. Having read this blog, related entries, the OC Register article and scanning the web for more information I am frustrated that I cannot find ANY discussion about whether the prior restraint was warranted in any way. I have reviewed the company materials from Alegre Foods(not Allegre) and while they do have a bible verse on their front page, they certainly do not describe themselves as a “company pushing its religious beliefs.” If the school district was making the determination that the story was libelous, then refusal to publish would have been appropriate. However, I cannot tell from any of the reporting whether this analysis took place, whether the comments were libelous (I would think not because the company was created to market to private Christian schools – but hey, maybe they view “pushing” their views as impacting their professional reputation – again we just can’t tell from the facts presented) or whether less drastic steps to censorship were considered (placing the story in the opinion section instead of the news section – as reported, I cannot tell what “news” the story was telling).
First Amendment protections are of paramount importance. Unfortunately, the US Supreme Court has ruled that students “enjoy” a lower level of First Amendment protections than other citizens. In this case it appears that the school district handled things about as poorly as you could, but it is pretty hard to tell from the facts presented.
Geoff,
The student reporter did a good job of investigating the claims. Her mom is a journalism teacher at UCI, if I recall correctly.
This entire episode was a disaster for OCHSA but they are too proud, or too stupid, to acknowledge their mistakes.
And, as I referenced, I did look up Alegre on hte OC Health Dept website. Their record on food safety is no bueno…
Read about it here: http://foodinspections.ocgov.com/foodinspections/results.aspx?businessname=alegre&businessstreet=&city=&zip=&sort=FACILITY_NAME&offset=0&agency=OCH&violsortfield=TB_CORE_INSPECTION_VIOL.ENTERED_BY&violsortorder=DESC
Geoff. Good reporting?
As you only started reading the Juice this year let me provide some history for you.
For starters. Although we have scooped local print media on a few stories we never advertised the Orange Juice as a newspaper. We are a broad spectrum of non paid volunteers who devote our personal time researching and reporting on events to inform and educate members of the public. These posts include our own varied opinions, and not that of any political party.
Sensationalism comes with the territory. I previously shared our few policy restrictions. However the admin permits us to be rigid or creative as individual contributors.
While we thank you for your patronage, if you are troubled and find our posts offensive we will regret losing you as a contributor. Hopefully you can set that criticism aside and add to the debate.
Geoff. One item of housekeeping I overlooked. As of July 1st we have logged over 70,000 comments on our posts. In addition to that figure we have logged over 1.5 million views on our web site. That tells me the general public not only enjoys reading our posts but they take time to add their comments.
Good for the school!
Now you know why it is the only school in Santa Ana with a 10 API score. It puts idiot students in their place and fires idiots teacher’s that encourage idiot behavior!
I did not hear any other student protest against the food vendors, except the idiot liberal prodigy in the making!
Can resist responding now and then to political correct rubbish!
Do they even have school newpapers at the non-charter schools in Santa Ana anymore? How about re-printing a copy of one or two if they do.
The point of my earlier post is that it seems like “getting the facts” and not just “the opinion or argument” has become harder not easier in today’s world of instant communication.
@Art – while Alegre may have had health dept. issues, it appeared that those were discovered AFTER the student’s story on Alegre’s religious stands not as part of the story. Second, context is always nice (such as Alegre has far more citations that competitors – otherwise it is not much of a story if all competitors have frequent run-ins with the health dept).
@Larry – not quite sure your point since I expressed frustration with all reporting on this issue and not just the Juice. Not quite sure whether you are saying that you are a reporter, journalist or blogger and whether you are subject to different standards.
In any event, Larry is right that this publication is interesting and raises both news and commentary that you don’t find elsewhere.
Geoff.
For the purpose of the Orange Juice I am a blogger. In addition I do a have a press credential from the OC sheriff as an investigative reporter for the Cutting Edge a talk show and have had White House press credentials from our current and former presidents. And lastly I have been compensated by the Orange County Register for articles written by me that were published in their Commentary Section.
To summarize. In answer to your question I guess, depending on what day it is, I could be all or any of the above.
As to my standards it doesn’t matter what hat I may be wearing. Hopefully I place my integrity above everything else. We all have our favorites. In 2002 I was Trish Kelley’s campaign manager. Our activist team took a PTSA president with no political experience or contacts and carried her across the finish line.
In 2010 I will be working with others to remove her from office. While I have not changed, sadly she has.
Geoff,
If you read my entire post, at the New Santa Ana blog, you will see that I cited no less than THREE other media sources. And you will note that no less than our State Legislature is now looking at what OCHSA did – and considering legislation to stop them from doing this again.