Roy Exum: Evaluators Earn $11.70

  • Sunday, February 14, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

A number of curious job notices, under the heading of ‘General Labor,’ have appeared on various Craigslists, that free Internet portal where you can find everything from a used lawn tractor, guitar lessons or even a saucy Saturday night date. This week on the Charlotte, N.C., Craigslist, for example, there appeared an offer to become a “reader/evaluator” for a company known as Measurement Incorporated with a starting pay of $11.70 per hour.

To put that in context, next week Walmart will up its average pay to $13.38 and Amazon is paying a warehouse “picker” a comparative wage but Measurement Incorporated is where I want your focus. You see, these Craigslist offers in Charlotte and other cities are seeking the people who read and evaluate the standardized tests that the Tennessee Department of Education forces on approximately one million public education children each year. Does that seem strange, weird or even bozo to you?

The Craigslist ad states, “If you qualify…you will be eligible to work on a number of projects. Many projects require readers to score essays for content, organization, grammatical convention and/or the student’s ability to communicate a respond to a specific directive.” In fairness, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree but, in the name of Mother Pearl, is Craigslist where you would go to have your child’s academic progress rated? By somebody who is making $11.70?

Earlier this week Candice McQueen, the state’s education commissioner, said she had lost confidence in the TNReady vendor after computer glitches forced officials to halt the exam across the state. But Measurement Inc. president Henry Scherich, whose company has a five-year contract with the state, said the goal remains “to provide the students and educators of Tennessee with an outstanding assessment program.”

Currently America’s poverty level is a family-of-four with less than $24,000 a year in income. If you work 40 hours a week for $11.70, that’s $468 before taxes. Do it for 50 weeks during the year and – yes sir – someone living in poverty is measuring your child’s success. Sounds like a lot more than a computer glitch to me …

* * *

TODAY’S HERO has to be a guy named Hayden Godfrey of Smithfield, Utah. When Hayden was in middle school, he noticed some girls didn’t get a valentine “and it broke his heart,” his mom explained earlier this week.

But by juggling part-time jobs like washing dishes at a Mexican restaurant, coking at McDonald’s and bagging groceries, he was able to set aside over $450 so he could buy 900 carnations – in six different colors – so that every girl who attends Sky View High School would have a flower on this, Valentine’s Day.

He enlisted 20 of his friends to help, got the school to shorten the last class of the day on Thursday and then sprung his surprise. “It was totally worth it … I don’t think anything can compare to seeing every girl in your life holding a flower as they walk through the halls,” he told reporters as his act-of-kindness went viral. “I got a lot of ‘thank you’s’ but the biggest thing – by far – was seeing that every girl was smiling … I just wanted everyone to feel joy.”

The school’s assistant principal Curt Hanks sure got the feeling. “Hayden is an amazing kid and if you could have watched it unfold, you would be just like I am and our faculty – totally speechless.”

* * *

I CAN NAME seven other educators who wish they could be “totally speechless” tomorrow morning in Hamilton County’s Juvenile Court but the truth is a throng of reporters will be hanging on to every word. Three Ooltewah High coaches have been charged with “failure to report sexual abuse to a juvenile” and four other members of the Department of Education have been served with subpoenas in connection with the rape of four basketball players by their teammates on a Dec. 22 trip.

Vice principal and athletic director Jesse Nayadley, head coach ‘Tank’ Montgomery and assistant coach Karl Williams will appear at a hearing to determine if their cases should proceed to the Grand Jury or General Sessions Court. Last month all three were suspended without pay and tomorrow it is expected they will testify under oath.

Four others, including Superintendent Rick Smith, will appear under subpoenas at the hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. Assistant Superintendent Lee McDade, Secondary Operations Director Steve Holmes, and Ooltewah High Principal Jim Jarvis are also expected to be called for testimony.

The gruesome case has attracted national attention and Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw has denied CNN’s request to televise it live in his courtroom.

* * *

GOOD PEOPLE BREWING Company, the oldest brewery in Alabama, will begin selling its beers in the Chattanooga area on March 7. Brands of the small-batch company include India Pale Ale, Bearded Lady, Coffee Oatmeal Stout, Snake Handler, Mumbai Rye IPA, Pale Ale and Brown Ale.

* * *

A WONDERFUL STORY comes out of Chambersburg, Pa., where the high school wrestling team just won the state duals title. In the last match of the day, Chambersburg took on Conestoga Valley and, in the 152-pound class, Lucas Ortiz won by forfeit.

What makes it special is that Ortiz wrecked his knee (ACL, meniscus) just before the season began and, coming into his now-bashed senior year, he had 99 victories. The kids at Chambersburg knew about it and also knew he was a great guy so they told him he’d get his ‘century’ if he just walked onto the mat in the 152 slot.

No Chambersburg wrestler stepped forth, Ortiz was declared the winner and you could have heard the crowd all the way to Gettysburg. That’s class.

* * *

AND WHAT ABOUT this? A pushy guy at a downtown bar hands his newest friend his cell phone so she can put in her number. Instead, Miss Cute texts RED CROSS to 90999 and, handing the phone back, politely tells Romeo he has just donated $10 to hurricane relief. I love ‘happily ever after.’

royexum@aol.com

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