Have you heard? District 2 school board candidate David Jones, Jr., is just a regular guy who’s no different from you or me.
From Jones’ campaign website:
As a teacher from a family of teachers, he is passionate about education and wants to use his experience to help make positive change happen within JCPS.
Clarification time. According to two staff members at U of L, he’s an adjunct professor at the University of Louisville’s School of Business which means spending a few hours a week in front of students who have paid $1500-2000 to learn the ins and outs of health sector marketing. Teacher? Technically, yes. Teacher for a class of 28 fidgety kids? Hardly.
About that “family of teachers” stuff. His dad, David, Sr. founded Humana. No need to ramble about Humana’s financial muscle but – come on! – Junior saying he’s from a family of teachers is like Chelsea Clinton saying she’s from a family of government employees.
While it may be true that Jones has teachers in his family, what the heck is going on with the homespun tales on his campaign website?
Well, when marketing a product, you need to know your audience. Jones is simply marketing his product, which is David Jones. We have one version of Jones on his campaign website and we have a completely different version on his bio on Chrysalis Ventures’ website. (Chrysalis is his venture capital firm.) On the one hand, he’s just a regular guy who wants to be on the school board, on the other he’s a venture capitalist who acquires and spins off companies faster than you can buy an El Nopal Groupon with your PayPal account.
From the Chrysalis website:
At Chrysalis, David has worked over the years with some of the most exciting growth companies in the Midwest and South, including Appriss (sold to Bain Capital), Advanced Academics (sold to Devry), Tritel (merged with Telecorp and sold to AT&T Wireless), Regent Communications (sold to Jacor Communications which was sold to Clear Channel Communications), ActaMed (merged with Healtheon and then with WebMD), Tech Republic (sold to Gartner Group) and High Speed Access Corp (IPO and later sold to Charter Communications).
In addition, David has served on the Board of Directors of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) since 1993, serving as Vice Chairman from 1996 to 2005 and as Chairman from 2005 to 2010.
He sure does seem like a super busy guy. Does he really have time to be a thoughtful member of the school board? We haven’t even talked about all of the boards on which he serves. And there are plenty!
According to Forbes, David, Jr., still owns over 175,000 shares of Humana stock worth $74.55 each. Total value: $13,000,000+.
Do you have any idea why a zillionaire wants an unpaid position on the Jefferson County Board of Education? I do.
But I’ll let you connect the dots. Have fun!
Here’s JCPS’ recent cheerful announcement about HealthTeacher, the health and nutrition website. I mentioned this in the previous post.
Guess who invests in HealthTeacher?
Uh, Chrysalis.
Just click on the screenshot below to read HealthTeacher’s company news. The folks are almost giddy at the thought of being in so many schools and forming partnerships with healthcare companies, which Jones knows like the back of his hand.
aaa
This is also from HealthTeacher’s website:
“As child obesity rates reach epidemic proportions, it’s more important than ever to have engaging and interactive health and wellness programs in place to help children and adolescents make healthy choices,” said Koleman Karleski, Managing Director with Chrysalis Ventures. “HealthTeacher is responding to this critical national health problem by providing children and their families with engaging and interactive health content. We’re very excited about HealthTeacher’s tremendous growth and we see great opportunity for the company in the coming years.”
aaa
And here’s more! This is also from Mr. Karleski who’s with Chrysalis and HealthTeacher:
Here’s even more news about growth, growth and more growth! It’s sooo exciting!
aaa
Do you get the picture? This guy makes former JCPS superintendent Sheldon Berman look like a lightweight shakedown artist after all of the doo-dads he sold JCPS.
Before you get all huffy about a future or present school board member whose company is selling stuff to JCPS, think again. JCPS isn’t paying for HealthTeacher but Kosair and the Humana Foundation are. LOOPHOLE, SUCKERS!
I’m almost done.
Just ask yourselves if you want a school board member who sees our children as business opportunities. I sure as hell don’t. If you honestly believe that a vulture capital firm cares about health and nutrition for children, think again. They purchase or fund companies to make money. Lots of money. These people are thrilled to find creative ways to generate profits from childhood obesity, poor nutrition, and even from – get this – bullying. It’s all about profits. It’s all about getting access to our kids.
And I have a lot more for you about Chrysalis and HealthTeacher. We’ll discuss later.
Yes, folks, the teachers’ union endorsed another doozy for the school board election.
Warning! Warning! Important correction of trivial detail! Important correction of trivial detail!!! The school board pays a whopping $250.00 $75.00 per meeting! Serving on the school board is not an unpaid position and I apologize profusely for getting that TRIVIAL detail wrong!
VooDoo, On target as usual.Sometimes, I find myself very depressed when the actual truth comes to surface.Although, I still want to know the REAL reason for so much of this garbage.I knew he had a motive, just not the one he was sharing with public. Beautiful! Now, cracking open the busing for federal dollars in such a way that JOHN Q. PUBLIC exclaims.” Wait a minute, is that legal?” “Where’s Teddy Gordon?”
Why, oh why do I continue to read this blog???? Head…desk! I only hope Mandy sees this and covers it on her show…
So much corruption, so little time! But it sounds like this HeathTeacher is already a done deal. Although there is no cost to JCPS, I wonder what is the real profit to be made here (the $149 subscription? But many kids are on that free and reduced lunch as it is…) I’m still not sure what other motives there are from Mr. Jones (not that they are actually going to be for the betterment of children – there’s not much money to be made there!)
It’s pretty depressing that all this big, global, standards of core curriculum only means that some conglomerate media corp. and a bunch of sneaky pseudo educators come together to make more money off of teaching children. Politicians and businesses are getting together and lots of scratching of backs.
Yeah, let’s hope Mandy and other media outlets catches this. I’ll be looking forward to hear how Mr. Jones explains those dots that connect to him and his bank accounts.
Mandy said Jones and Brady, two of the JCTA-endorsed candidates, refuse to come on her show. So, he definitely won’t explain anything to Mandy. Boo! Hiss!
And she is talking about it after the break…
PATHETIC. So abt 60% of jcps students are on free or reduced lunch and this guy wants to cash in on them. DISGUSTING. everybody at jcps knows he makes money on this deal. none of them care. that’s the worst part.
There is always a cost to the taxpayer, student and parent. All of this and like-minded people like the Deweys and Manns of the last century and the NEA are not interested in the children learning but interested in teaching them to be social robots.
This country is falling behind the rest of the civilized and some of the uncivilized world as well in Education, Here in Kentucky we are falling at a faster rate and Jefferson County which used to be at the top is falling to the bottom of the rest of the counties due to the busing and unworkable social programs.
We have been teaching people how to read for over 3,000 years in this World and now we can’t. “BULL”
We need to make all elementary schools equal, neighborhood schools teaching the proven basic reading (with phonics) writing and arithmatic. Testing on a regular basis encouraging studying and competition. Happy children are learning children and proud of their achievements.
We need to curtail the unions, require the teachers to be tested when hired and no tenure until proven after a good period of time. (EARNED)
I believe that Tom is right about David as well.
Mr. Jones may just be testing the waters to run for a more prominent political position.
The point isn’t whether Mr. Jones makes money. With big grants from Humana and Kosair going to HealthTeacher, you can bet that company makes money — a company in which Jones and his firm have not only a vested interest, but a No. 2 man (Koleman) who is on the board of directors.
The bigger point is this — it’s not what those kids need. I fail to see where any online initiative is going to make kids significantly healthier. It might make the Chyrsalis investment portfolio healthier, but kids?
Voodoo keeps telling us that there’s big money in failing schools. There’s big money in busing. There’s big money in the status quo. Why else would so many of these people be fighting so HARD for a status quo in which test scores are abysmal and still falling?
The last thing this board needs is another distraction. And the next-to-last thing it needs is another person in authority who views this school system as some kind of test market for ineffectual (and “for-profit”) initiatives that don’t move the needle on the serious problems these schools face so much as they move money from one source to another. Especially after the last superintendent we had, we don’t want to go back there.
How about we delay this HealthTeacher deal, and just let the kids spend a half hour a week with EducationVoodoo?
From Sec. Of State
http://www.sos.ky.gov/elections/qualifications/
Under Qualifications for school board:
…nor at the time of election is directly or indirectly interested in the sale to the board of services, supplies, or equipment purchased with school funds…
Doesn’t this raise any eyebrows?
Tricky, tricky! No school funds were used. Kosair and Humana Foundation ponied up the money for HealthTeacher. Those are sure are some smart lawyers at Chrysalis!
Mandy,
I’ve never listened to your show (and, never will). I don’t know why anything written or spoken by someone who hosts a show on a Clear Channel station should surprise me, considering that WHAS (owned by Clear Channel) is also home to the most repugnant people who prosper by selling hatred, lies racism and sexism over the public airwaves. I am surprised though because I know David. He is the exact opposite of the person you attempt to demean in your post. If you had bothered to do any real research, you would know that David’s mother and other relatives important to him were teachers; that David also taught, under extreme conditions when he first graduated college; that his children did indeed attend school at JCPS; that public service has always been a part of his life; that he is a thoughtful, intelligent and sincere person who is concerned about our educational system, and will work diligently to improve it.
I realize the truth matters little to hosts of shows on Clear Channel radio. It seems all of you are competing to play to the lowest common denominator in today’s society and don’t care whose character you diminish in so doing. And, that’s a shame. Shame on you for not using your platform to raise the level of discourse on our local radio station…a station that used to be respected for the real and valuable service it provided to our community. Shame on your radio station for allowing you a platform to attack a person of David’s true character.
Mandy Connell should be commended for doing what nobody in this town has the courage to do – and that’s to tell the truth about David Jones, Jr. and this school board election. She’s telling the truth about what the teachers’ union is doing to our schools. She’s telling this entire community the truth about how JCPS is really running things. She’s the first one to really dive in and put everything on blast. Tom Mitchell is another one. But there aren’t many people in this town who are willing to do that. Nice to know which side you’re on.
Shame on you for defending someone who is cashing is on our kids. Why doesn’t Jones just give JCPS a freebie? Will that angle be in the next song and dance?
The real reason HealthTeacher wasn’t a freebie for JCPS is because this is all about building synergy between healthcare organizations and the largest school districts in the nation. HealthTeacher’s company news boasts about bagging 11 of the biggest 15 school districts in the nation. What a great sales angle! Sign on enough school districts and healthcare sponsors and Chrysalis will spin off their stake in HealthTeacher and a bunch of folks will make a load of money. Public school students are a largely untapped market by for-profit organizations, HealthTeacher is quick to point out. Nice to know you think that’s an acceptable idea – that is what you’re saying, isn’t it?
Yes, Jones’ kids attended Manual. His daughter graduated valedictorian. In 2010, Manual graduated over 80 valedictorians so it’s not like we’re not talking about anything really distinctive. Jones’ children are not the products of forced busing. They are not the products of 13 years of public school because he would be quick to point that out for all of us as part of his campaign sales pitch. We all know that. Jones’ children are like so many of the children that Manual likes to cherry-pick – K-8 products of parochial and private schools who can generate the test scores that make Manual the #1 high school in Kentucky. Which is like saying it’s the #1 high school in Mississippi. Or #1 in West Virginia. But that’s another story.
Where is the attack, by the way? Everything in the post comes from a JCPS press release, Jones’ campaign website and company news/publications from Chrysalis and HealthTeacher. Jones very well may have worked in a tough teaching situation. Good for him. The problem is, everyone hates to hear about people using public office to cash in. Especially on kids. And that’s what Chrysalis and HealthTeacher are doing. You can’t defend that no matter how hard you try.
Jones may have had a noble past but all of that has been completely cancelled out by this – and I mean completely. People despise this kind of stuff. You even have to wonder if his interest in 55,000 Degrees was just a big, fat networking opportunity that helped him get another company that’s in Chrysalis’ portfolio called StraighterLine into Jefferson Community Technical College. Here’s what Business First had to say when JCTC hooked up with StraigherLine:
The article is punctuated with a cheerful mention of 55,000 Degrees. Heartwarming.
Keep up the indignation, Rowland. You’re on the wrong team.
P.S. I have some great posts about 55,000 Degrees and StraighterLine coming up, too! Stay tuned!
David Jones is as much an educator as I am Einstein. He is a business man, and a shrewd one. A business mind will only care about the bottom line before his board of directors kick him to the curb. He needs to rake the dole in and watch for opportunities to increase revenue stream.
And this is Voodoos PERSONAL BLOG, not associated with any radio station. But I don’t suppose some people notice that, and mistakes an identity for someone else, much like they mistook David Jones to be as great, caring man he claims to be.
George “Stop The Buses” Tolhurst can and will beat David Jones in this race. He ran for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1979 and 1983. In 79 he carried Jefferson and Oldham Counties by huge numbers but lost down state due to lack of monies and name recognition. He is retired and can take the time to do the research and be in the schools.
Jones wins, schools and kids LOSE.
George Tolhurst wins, eveyrone wins.
We phase out most of the buses and start traditional teaching in neighborhood schools again. Keep in mind we need 2 other wins with like minded candidates to work and acquire the help of the other board members to make real change.
I’m going to put this up as a stand-alone post. Thank you for your comment and your commitment to kids and education.
Your understanding of business is so feeble that it’s laughable. You don’t present a single argument as to why a for-profit corporation (like HealthTeacher) can’t effect positive change while at the same time making money. This is probably because you’ve never put the effort or energy into considering that possibility. So instead, it’s all whargarbl – corporations! money! profits! evil! – without any real substance. Here’s one to think about – if Chrysalis wanted to profit from childhood obesity, why would it want to invest in a company that seeks to reduce it?
Stewart, your understanding of the sad state of education in Louisville is so feeble that it’s laughable! LOL!
You don’t present a single argument as to why a for-profit corporation (like HealthTeacher) can affect positive change while shaking down local sponsors with ties to our school district. This is probably because you’ve never put the effort or energy into considering that decades of diet books, diet videos and hundreds of other nutrition-related websites have had no effect on childhood obesity. Not one significant effect – look for the data. I dare you. So instead, it’s all – Let’s defend the shakedown artist! Here’s one to think about – if David Jones really gave a shit about these kids, he’s donate this worthless product to the local school district. Everyone is figuring out what this guy seems to be about – the school board is going to be a huge networking opportunity for Jones to work the system to sell more useless technology mumbo-jumbo that benefits Chrysalis.
Congratulations for defending, Jones. I’m sure he appreciates your loyalty and friendship as the first Jones Goon to really speak up! Thanks for writing!