TYCGIDDINGS

Last shift was only remarkable in that the same crap went on:

1. JCO 5 left me on the dorm by myself, before relief staff coverage was certain, with 17 kids.  Nothing new there.
2. Fellow JCO was left with holding the other side of the dorm with way over quota of kids.
3. It was a 12 hour shift; another one tomorrow.  I'm burning out to a frazzle this week.
4. Got drafted to work on another dorm for a while, where one kid went apeshit and destroyed the vacuum cleaner, poured bottles of chemicals/cleaners on the carpet, tore up the back and front area, kicked and beat and threw stuff all around him before finally getting restrained by 3 Security staff... then the REST of the kids (except maybe two, who just laughed and egged the others on) engaged in a mass running screaming pillow AND mattress fight.  Kids were swinging as hard as they could and were knocking each other over.  That went on for a while till Security bust in -- again -- and looked menacing with their spray cans out, and things SORT OF settled down.  The other visiting staff who was with me graded all those guys with all 2's... go figure.  They were CAT 1 ASSAULTING each other!
5. Back on my own dorm, some kids didn't get up till 5:38 or so.  What was I supposed to do?  For the guys that weren't up by 5:20, they mostly got four 0's and one 1 for a total of .20 for the shift.  They were told, 4 times to get up.  They KNOW the expectation.  Everyone else that pretty much did what they needed to do without any feedback or hassle got all 4's.
6. We still don't have any paper towels, deodorant, or toothbrushes for the kids... and who knows what else?  Who's responsible?  There seems to be shortages of supplies ALL OVER CAMPUS.

There was a buzz going around about the visit from the mysterious fellow who came around and Asked Questions.  We seem to have missed each other, but no problem.  Everything is FINE here, isn't it?  Guess it depends on who you ask...

If anyone asks me questions, before I answer, I want to have SOME idea of how things can be made/changed for the better.  Just griping to someone from Austin may FEEL GOOD, but if the guy asked you questions and DIDN'T TAKE NOTES, I would definately question his sincerity and effectiveness.  In one ear, out the other syndrome... and it won't help anyone here one bit.  If I didn't have suggestions for how to improve some of the problems I (and others) see here, then I'd want to have a list of KEY WORDS and PHRASES for them to jot down.  I want to discuss CONCEPTS, THEORIES, and think OUT OF THE BOX -- 'cause if we don't we'll be trying to treat a sucking chest wound with a band-aid.  Our sicknesses are deep and pervasive here, and it may well take some Major Surgery to save our agency and the future of the kids we're trying to rehabilitate, or whatever it is we're supposed to be doing.

One of those KEY WORDS would be DISCIPLINE.  Others that also might work for staff AND kids would be fairness, accountability, respect, consequences, etc etc -- what do those words MEAN?  What do WE mean when we use them?  A KEY PHASE to cuss and discuss could be ZERO TOLERANCE.  Trust me -- if given a proactive, reasonable, meaningful consequence for poor behavior, EVERY TIME, the kids will re-learn for the better.  All we have to do is agree on what we ALL CAN enforce, no if's and's or but's.  Out of dress code?  Sleeping on your topsheet?  Slow to respond?  Contraband?  Didn't stand at Parade Rest?  Well, sorry sonny -- yer gettin' ALL ONE'S for that shift.  You asked for it, and you get it BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT.

Thinking Out Of The Box mode might involve something like setting up an Honor Dorm... the kids would all have to have GED's or HS diplomas, and it could be a showcase for behaviors we are trying to instill here.  They would be kicked out if they couldn't keep the bar high enough to deserve the privileges they could have.  Let them get a tasted of real-world expectations and benefits -- and they'll WANT to work to succeed. 

And why not save LOTS of $$ and cut out competitive sports with other "schools"??!  Losing 51-zip is hardly competitive, and think of all the overtime costs we could save.  MAYBE even have enough left over to re-institute MERIT RAISES for staff as was done in the past? 

Who's afraid to dream?  NOT ME!

It can't be easy.

Imagine you're 19 years old, and have spent a few years locked up in TYC.  Say you CAN go back to the family home you came from, if you came from one... everything you owned back in the crib has probably been stolen, pawned, or broken by now.  The adults have gotten on with their lives... other family members may have moved in or out of the house.  You're an interloper or a stranger, at best.  You've changed.  You're a "grown man" now.

Uh-huh.  We've all heard THAT line.

What did you learn at TYC?  Well, you didn't learn a whole lot that will help you now that you're back in The Free, as it's ironicly referred to... and whatever knowledge you did get doesn't go far and won't do you much good.  Most likely you did NOT get a GED or high school education or develop any marketable skills or any kind of work ethic since no one really expected much from you.  You let yourself be led around by a 16 hour schedule -- and have become lazy and self-indulgent.  The notion of actually having to EARN ANYTHING -- especially a living -- is a totally alien concept.

So you spend a couple/few weeks hanging out on the couch in the living room, playing video games that belong to your siblings, sleeping till noon.  You stay home to eat and eat and eat, and in the evening try to hook up with your old homies... maybe do a little drinking and doping, too, while trying to convince your new peers how tough you are and what a Big Man you were while locked up.  They probably don't much believe it, and as soon as they get tired of turning you on to their drugs you find yourself with no one left willing to get you high.

Maybe you tap the till in a convenience store or rifle through Grandma's purse to get some money to buy your own dope. Maybe you get away some other crimes, maybe not, but situations on the home scene get tense, real quick.  Most kids at 19 would be happy to get an entry level job just to get out of the house, I would think, but oh, no -- you don't wanna flip burgers.  Besides, those teardrop tattoos under your eye don't impress potential employers... so you give up even looking for HONESTwork.  Screw 'em.  Tine for another hit.

Pretty soon you're kicked out of the house, because Grandma is too old to be putting up with your bratty man-child behavior and feels threatened by the gangbangers you've been hanging out with.  You might do some couch surfing around the 'hood for a while, but that never lasts long since you have nothing worthwhile to offer in return.  Back under the bridge.  Another hit.  Another hold up.

Sounds grim, eh?  But it doesn't HAVE to be that way.  What we need to do to help TYC youth to succeed is not rocket science.  It's simply a matter helping them see the value of PROSOCIAL ADULT BEHAVIOR before they pass through the gatehouse once their sentence is served.  This would include getting an education, with all the college credits they can get.  Teaching them to be self-reliant by challanging them to reach out and learn the limits of what they are capable of... instead of giving them a free pass to act however they choose without consequence.  Patience is a virtue -- make them wait for "the good stuff" and it'll mirror the reality of The Real World instead of the La La Land atmosphere of the State School.  Make the kids WORK -- at ANYTHING.  Make them SWEAT.  Make them see the advantage of using self control instead of being out of control, and how this behavior will help them get along with others -- and make SURE they understand that out in the Real World there's no time outs, 225's, thinking reports, or frivolous grievances.  Bottom line?  The more we make their TYC experience mirror Real World realities, the better off everyone will be.  Failing to do so will almost inevitably result in swift recidivism -- surprise, surprise!! 



But no, no, that would be so very cruel to these "troubled" youth... NOT!!  We baby them, we spoil them, we coddle them, we snow them under with psychotropic drugs.  WE don't have any expectation that they'll succeed, other than staying behind the fence for their alloted sentence.  That isn't enough!!

For youth who are compliant/willing to work with us, we need to give them as normal as a life as possible while locked up.  They need to have the opportunity to make meaningful choices and decisions and we need to back them up with whatever resources available.  For the kids who do NOT try to comply, do NOT care to take advantage of the benefits of expected behavior, or do nothing but be violent, disruptive, and STOOPID -- the best we can do is prepare them for an institutionalized life spent in TDCJ. 

A harsh choice, perhaps, but a realistic one.  They deserve that much.  If they want enough rope to hang themselves, GIVE it to them --  it's THEIR CHOICE!!  

So what's new?

Kids are regularly getting up on top of the buildings again -- nothing new there.  STILL no one has had the will to put enough barb wire up around these places to keep the kids off; don't wanna hurt 'em, right?  But just wait till one falls off!!  Oh, the lawsuits that'll follow.

I hear a long-standing reading teacher at the school just up and resigned... said she wasn't willing to work in such a dangerous (and presumably deranged) environment.  What does the Admin think about that, I wonder... do they CARE?  Guess not.  Yes, we ALL KNOW this is a dangerous place to work, but NO ONE should have to put up with the unnecessary ADDITIONAL dangers we're exposed to due an illegal lack of employees and adherence to policies that can make it safer, if nothing else.  So nothing new there, either.

What else?  Oh -- I was told a veteran JCO 5 -- one that I used to work with and actually respect -- is saying she's gonna be bailing out soon for the same reason  ~~ it's just too dangerous, too unpredictable, too much too much too much BULLSHIT, to put it plainly.  This staff is one of the nicest folks on campus, and has a great rapport with the youth, but like so many others recently she can't justify staying due to the meltdown that's been occuring here.  I'll be sad to see her go.  The good ones are getting out while the getting is good, it seems.  The rest are still out on FMLA.  No surprise.  Ohhh, well.

Been hearing and seeing evidence of increased dissention in the rank and file, and that for SURE is no surprise!  NO WONDER the kids are out of control -- the line staff are discouraged, feels unappreciated, frightened for their safety/lives, and have lost hope that what they are doing CAN or will have any positive impact on the lives of the kids we work with.  The kids are going to get away with what ever they can, which is pretty much ANYTHING anymore, eh?  Didn't USED to be that way.  It's the same old story now, though.  Nothing new.

Y'all keep your fingers crossed -- it may the best and only defense we have! 

How obvious should it be that leaving a single staff -- male OR female -- to hold a dorm for ?? hours -- no matter which shift -- is a BAD IDEA?  Gosh.  It was obvious to ME on my last shift that when I'm working with a 18:1 ratio, well shucks... durn near ANYTHING can happen.  Guess it's STILL OK for a single female to hold the dorm with over 12 kids, 'cause that was the situation.  Guess we just lucked out, huh?  No blood on the floor is always an indication of a good shift around here nowdays!  WHOO HOO!  Score one for US!

Even though I don't appreciate the chronic understaffing -- I myself am not scared of the kids, particularly; we all do what we have to do when things get physical in a violent way.  Am I supposed daintily to hold off all 18 kids should they decide to whack me?  I THINK NOT.  If I'm up against a whole dorm intent on doing me great bodily harm I'll most certainly "do what I have to do" (the new TYC catchphrase) to keep myself as uninjured as possible.  Fair enough?  I mean, how quickly can Security get there to help save me?  Sometimes it's in a flash, sometimes an hour or more... so... I can't positively depend on having the cavalry riding in to the rescue.  With another staff present, I'd only have to tussle with a maximum of 9 kids.  Hey, no problem!!

If they ever get around to changing "Handle With Care" (ahhh, excuse me, but WHY would I want to handle someone with CARE who's trying to choke the life out me?) they might want to consider training us with methods that have actually proven effective and reduced staff injuries ~~ not that I'd even remotely suggest it, but who knows... the video below looks EXCITING, at least.  There's LOTS of even more thrilling titles on the site, so check 'em out (link below).



Maybe someday the State will get serious about our safety.  Maybe not.  If NOT, then everything is JUST FINE here in La La Land!  Just be sure to swallow all the nonsense of why we're getting shafted, as if it's OUR FAULT??!



Rather not live in La La Land?You can order the video HERE for only $24.95. Hmmmm.  Too bad they don't use the photo above as a cover illustration for the new employee's training manual ~ at least they'd be forewarned of what to expect.

This same-old-story is getting reeeeal depressing... anyone who's worked as a guest staff has the opportunity to see how other dorms work and talk to their peers, and everyone -I- am scheduled to work with has been saying the same things:

"I used to care, but now I don't anymore."
I'm just here for the paycheck."
"CoNextions SUCKS."
"We are pampering the kids."
"No one seems to be in charge."
"I hate this job."

Call me a liar, but like I say, that's what I'VE been hearing.  Anyone giving kudos to the chaos and violence that's getting worse and worse is just plain NUTS in my book, but no one I can frankly talk to on campus is saying ANYTHING good.  So I guess we're not nuts.  OVERALL, my co-worker line JCO's ARE frustrated, angry, fed up, tired, and plain ol' PISSED OFF about our working conditions as far as I can tell... and impatient since there's no real progress being made (or shared, IF there is) to offer us much hope for the future.  The word on the street I hear from my co-workers is that changes/JCO feedback will ONLY be implemented AFTER a major incident occurs that CAN'T BE COVERED UP.  Of course, by then we'll be in the same boat as an Agency that we were in 2007, and heaven help us (pardon me) when the shit hits the fan.  I just hope I don't end up as a statistic... 

OUCH!

Guess it depends on a lot of factors, if one is to be part of the "in" group here on campus (or not) .  What are these factors?  Hell, I sure don't know, but I DO have some general ideas.  I also know I'm not part of this group, never will be and wouldn't want to be... as odd as that may seem.

I think it helps to have been here many many years, like double digits numbers of years.  It probably helps if you're a JCO 5 or 6.  Might be real handy to have relatives/kin that work here, too, and to live in the local area.  Other factors may include your age, gender, and race -- I really don't know -- but it seems likely somehow they all figure in somehow.  Having a tobacco habit probably helps as it gives folks something to do while hanging out in the parking lot... and liking to drink may be a necessary trait for fitting in to those after-hours get togethers at Bernie's.  That counts me out right there, as I've NEVER been to Bernie's, and honestly don't care to ever go there to get intoxicated with my co-workers.  Guess I'm doomed to remain a grunt on campus... sigh.

But if I WAS in the clique', oh, the benefits I'd have!!  Come to work when/if ever I wanted... not have to hold the dorm/deal with the kids... get to spend hours "making copies" on The Hill... hang out in the Cafeteria all day... leave early... be reprimanded again and again and again for any on-and-off-campus peccidillos (sexual, drug, money etc) and never have to worry about being outed or REALLY disciplined after even multiple infractions... stuff like that.  Must be nice to have such a secure job that no one will question what you do, or, hold you accountable since you're in The Clique', huh? 

I guess.

If you're not in The Clique', your only option is to do what you're told and shake your head yes -- and do it.  No one in The Clique' claims they're trying to be FAIR or anything, oh, no -- they'll shift and shaft people from dorm to dorm however they like, repeatedly change the schedule at the last moment, assign 12 hour shifts to who they don't like and let their friends off the hook when they call in or come in late.  MUST BE NICE!!  Kissing ass seems to be THE surest way to get ahead around here for those who can stand to do it.  I can't -- and therefore am not going to get anywhere in this agency further than I already have.  I know this.  And I know those in The Clique' will continue to treat me like a second class employee, no matter how long I work here.  Ohhh, well.

If only ALL JCO's were held to the same expectations, what a great place this would be!!  No, wait... I remember reading online that Official TYC Policy line is that supervisory JCO's are held to a HIGHER expectation of competence and performance because of their positions.  Anyone seen that happening?  I haven't, and would be surprised if any line JCO's has seen evidence of that either. 

So what's going on here?  Who's in charge?  Not Admin, who has their collective heads in the sand.  Not the supervisor JCO's or program managers or case workers -- they're never on the job enough to find out what's going on.  Not the 1-4 JCO's; we're left without clear mandates on what we can do, are given no real power or authority to manage negative behaviors, and are constantly thwarted by the Higher Up's attempts to bribe and placate and play paddycake with the kids into compliance... so... THAT'S why we've got the problem that the KIDS run the show and dictate policy around here.  Can I get an AMEN on that???!

All I want to do at work is not waste my time, or to fail the State of Texas' right to expect the kids are helped by my efforts during their stay here.  Just let me feel like what I'm doing is MEANINGFUL and WORTHWHILE and that my efforts will help result in safer neighborhoods, happier citizens, and less recidivism.  I don't need or want to be in any damn Clique' -- I just want to do the job I'm expected to do with the full and honest support of Admin, my supervisors, and fellow co-workers.  Is that TOO MUCH to ask for from someone who's NOT in The Clique'?  

Otherwise, I'm just coming in to do my time and get the paycheck, no more and no less.  The kids deserve more, though, and we all know it -- but why should I go out of my way for THEM if no one is willing to go out of their way to look after and listen to ME??    

   

Y'all know about the boring Bulletin Board on the main Gateway page, where you can ask questions of head TYC folk?  Well... here's my experience with it.

Last question I left was "It's been 4 months since you updated any answers to questions asked.  Why don't you provide more timely feedback or just get rid of it?"  Not an unfair question, eh?  I've asked a number of other topical questions there and somehow no one has ever addressed any of them.  Hmmm.  Gotta wonder why.  

Never mind.  The questions they DO answer online from others are softballs, which are replied to with platitudes and pat answers.  OK, but WHAT IF we really hit Central Orifi... ahhh, Office...   with some real doozies like:

"Why are we not now, and when CAN we expect to be fully staffed?"
""Why isn't a youth charged with a sex crime if he openly masturbates in front of staff?"
"Can we work out a requirement to have ALL steff on a dorm meet once a month to hash out concerns?"
"Are there any options other than the CoNextions program that might work better for kids and staff?"
"Can the 110 form be changed for notation of when 5/6 staff are on/off the dorm during a scheduled shift?"

It's important to keep in mind that agency-wrenching changes generally won't come about with a wave of the hand ~ ~ but if we have to work within The System, we have to work with what we have.  It sucks, I know, that there seems to be no admission of accountability from the Higher Up's that maybe, just MAYBE CoNextions is even PARTLY the reason we're having more problems on campus.  Sorry they can't acknowledge that it was/has been the PROGRAM -- not just THEM -- that has let us ALL down; the kids especially.   The youth are not being re-connected or re-programmed into acting like nice little children when they leave TYC nowdays as much as when we used the old Resocialization program... am I wrong?  Does the paperwork prove me wrong?  If so, I'll sit down and shut up.

Methinks we don't have another 4 months to wait for some straight answers and significant changes being made in "the way we do business".  Otherwise, the outlook is for more chaos -- and we can't deal with much more before the whole System collapses.  So ASK THE BOSS and see if you get a timely answer, say, within a week.  In light of the recent avoidable incident on campus, time IS of the essence at this point.  

Speak out!!

Here's some handy links...

TYC CONTACT NAMES/NUMBERS/EMAIL:
http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/contacts.html

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM BREEDS ADULT CRIMINALS (ARTICLE)
http://www.livescience.com/5581-juvenile-justice-system-breeds-adult-criminals.html

TYC - IN THE TRENCHES (BLOG)
http://z11.invisionfree.com/Texas_Ed_Advocacy/index.php?s=8d4a79e628a78b9d09618d50915c8b52&act=idx

TYC ON FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-Youth-Commision-TYC/246915865324483


Well, at least the first few links have some useful stuff -- but as of yet, there's nothing on the Facebook page.  No real surprise there, huh? 

GOOD NEWS is that if you Google "tycgiddings" (in quotations) you'll see links to this site, which will make it easier if you want to share it with others and can't remember the long URL.  Try it!

If there were any good news to share here with y'all, I'd do it.  But since there's not, there's not much more to write today.  I'm sure to come up with SOMETHING shortly, as every shift is full of drama nowdays. 

Sigh. 

The more I research, the more I read about how everyone "in the know" from the Governor on down did all they could to cover up the Pyote scandal, how people got fired for telling the truth, for doing what they thought was best to help our "troubled" youth... and it just makes me SAD.  No one seems to care for us JCO's, let alone the kids.

Oh, sure, the kids get snow cones and off-the-books goodies, but that's not CARING for/about them.  The ugly truth and the ugly operative word here is BRIBERY.  The extent that us JCO's are being cared for is to be told to look for other employment if we try to offer unsolicited feedback.  That's sad, too.  The only thing the Higher Up's seem to care for is COVER UP'S -- and THAT'S what caused all the problems back in the first place!

So is that where we're headed -- again?  Another major meltdown?  I only know what I see and hear on my own and what my co-workers tell me... WHO KNOWS how deep the conspiracies/lies/deceit/facts-fudging goes?  I shudder to think.  No one seems interested in any reforms until the horses have all run out of the corral and someone comes up with the bright idea to close the gate.  That's no way to run an organization where OUR LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS and the KID'S FUTURES are concerned!  That I DO know.  Probably would be no worse off to just mind my own business and have the bile-tinged satisfaction of being able to say "I told you so" once the shit hits the fan the next time -- and we all know it will, eventually.  Very sad, indeed.

Who will be responsible and take the blame when the whole house of cards comes tumbling down?

Keep posted.

We have to understand one thing -- this is a serious place we work.

Or it's not.

But I am.
  
THE WAY things are going, all I can do is wish the best for everyone connected with the "recent event" on campus. I know you know what I'm refering to, without even having to say more than that.  IF you're not a 1-4 JCO and spend your R-Daze with your head in the sand,  you may not know what/who I'm referring to.  Allow me to offer help myself and other fellow co-workers find some closure?  Thanks.

You haven't missed a damn thing worth wanting to know. In short, welcome to LA LA LAND.  Here you will find 2 +2 does NOT ALWAYS  EQUAL 4 ~~ IF you're a supervisor or admin type.  IF SO... 

You can skew the books, pad the totals, do what you like as long as it leaves a rosy paper trail.  Whoo hoo.

You don't have to SEE or FEEL or HEAR the elements of OUR job reality, those of us lower JCO's, that is.  No, you're either not on the dorm, or, hiding out in the office or "running errands" of some sort, attending meetings etc I suppose.  Not ALL the 5's and 6's are scrubs, as the kids say, but SOME SURE ARE -- are you with me?  This is not a blanket accusation by any means, just a fact.

So if some can get away with it or don't get any hassle for it, they create their own reality.  A reality that is similar to what the kids are expected to "get" when they begin their offense cycle... and the Higher Up's do the same thing.  And so it's OK to change official paperwork.  OK to come to work late, take all the FMLA available, bribe the kids with toys and games and candy... yadda yadda yadda.  It's the it's OK because it's OK because I WANNA DO IT syndrome.  Sigh.  What role models!!?

Here's the payoff -- either our job is REAL serious, or it's NOT.  If it's not, then it's OK to leave female staff alone with 17 kids to be assaulted on a sex offender dorm, and to make folks work unexpected/undesired 12 hour shifts at a whim,  and to not have a system that WORKS to help protect staff from out of control youth.  It's OK.  It's OK to ignore and deny that NO ONE -- not ONE of my peers -- nor myself -- has had ANYTHING positive to say about ConNyuckNyuckNyuckshuns since it's implimentation... and it's OK to play Let's Pretend as long as it's not YOUR BLOOD on the floor.  Yep, everything's peachy, just like the half baked crap we get from Central HeadlessQtrs on down the pike to whatever it is they paste up (or not) on the gatehouse doors, etc.  Yeah, gimmie some more, bread, please.  I deserve it.

I do NOT deserve to live in a Country I LOVE and remain silent about the obvious problems anyone can see, if they care to look.  I do NOT live in La La Land.   It's my right as an American, State of Texas employee, taxpayer and VOTING CITIZEN to express my viewpoint on who I want to see running things.  I want to see some changes.  I want to see them before more people are hurt, or killed.  I am not willing to be fed shit or intimidated by those in public/politcal offices and services whose only concern is paperwork that  they can wag at their Higher Up's and say "Look -- it shows right here.  We're doing a good job."

Look at it this way -- it's NOT "about the paperwork" any more.  It's about people's LIVES... REAL PAIN... EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL SCARS FOR LIFE... THE FEAR... DEGRADATION... POTENTIAL LOSS OF INTAMACY... NIGHTMARES and oh yeah, the financial cost.  No problem.  Great State jobs like this have super insurance.

 But since the handwriting on the wall was studiously ignored, we end up with what we knew was coming.  Blood on the floor.  And remember, those of you who DON'T LIKE all those things mentioned above probably don't like Connnnnextings, either, do ya?  If so, just get another job!  It's OK!  Fill out the application form and we'll send you this back ---
  c

Happy TJJD Day!

Let's all make a special effort to work with those who set policy and those who follow it here at TYC Giddings... and by that I mean we need to make the best of a bad situation.

Those who make policy, say, regarding CoNextions -- THEY  don't have to fill out the paperwork.  THEY don't have to deal with the kids who don't give a rip if they get 1's OR 5's, and can't be consequenced enough, on a daily basis, to make them modify their behavior.  If they want to call the current system "evidence-based", they can.  I prefer the term "surreal".  But then again, if it generates enough smiley-faced paperwork to have it LOOK like it's working, then everyone from the supervisors on up are gonna say everygthing is just GRAND.  Sure they are.  See?  Look at the paperwork!   All we have to do is Pull Together, they tell us.

Heave ho, Mateys!

Happy TJJD Day!

Let's all make a special effort to work with those who set policy and those who follow it here at TYC Giddings... and by that I mean we need to make the best of a bad situation.

Those who make policy, say, regarding CoNextions -- THEY  don't have to fill out the paperwork.  THEY don't have to deal with the kids who don't give a rip if they get 1's OR 5's, and can't be consequenced enough, on a daily basis, to make them modify their behavior.  If they want to call the current system "evidence-based", they can.  I prefer the term "surreal".  But then again, if it generates enough smiley-faced paperwork to have it LOOK like it's working, then everyone from the supervisors on up are gonna say everygthing is just GRAND.  Sure they are.  See?  Look at the paperwork!