Apparently Pam Schau managed to oversee hiring a new Director of Transportation before being axed.Anthony Mendoza is the new Director of Transportation for District 150 Schools. Mr. Mendoza was previously the Director of Transportation for a school district in Arizona.
What is this, the 12th person that District 150 has brought to Peoria? I find this highly positive considering the state of community affairs (crime, infrastructure, lack of cluture, etc...).
12 comments:
Just asking--can we say for sure that hiring someone from outside is a good thing? Wasn't Pam Schau just fired? Wasn't she from out of town (and she chose Mendoza)? Honestly, I don't know the answer to the question. I'm just saying that being from outside this system doesn't necessarily spell success. Every new hire can be a treasure or a risk--we have no way of knowing until we see them perform. Nowadays there are blogs all over the country--just go to local newspapers from cities from which the new hires are coming. Goggle their names--and you will see some of the same kinds of complaints that appear on our blogs about 150 administrators, etc. However, 150 is hiring a good many people who have absolutely no loyalty to Peoria/District 150 or any reason to be invested in its success or failure.
It was my assertion that Schau over saw the hiring of Mendoza because "overseeing the budget, Buildings and Grounds and Transportation Departments" was listed as her responsibility.
Who exactly is 150 hiring that has absolutely no loyalty to Peoria/District 150 or any reason to be invested in its success or failure?
Might this mean that District 150 might start calling parents if the bus driver fails to show up for work, meaning there will be no bus?
Jon, I stand semi-corrected--I can't say they won't be loyal or invested, but certainly they have no personal reasons (other than job security) that we can count on. The same people who questioned whether or not teachers who live in the Peoria area but not within District 150 boundaries are invested in the schools are the same people who now do not question if people from North Carolina, Arizona, etc., can be invested.
No personal reasons other than job security? Really, no other? Why? Does the same type of philosophy go for Laura Petelle, for example? After all, she comes from the Chicago area, no? What is the rationale/criteria for whom you can count on at D150?
Who are the "same people" you are referring to in your last sentence? Why does it matter where you come from, where you live, work, etc?
Sharon, you earlier made statements, under other blogpost, that teachers can live outside of the district and still remain loyal to the district and care about the kids (and if I need to go back and post it up here I can), but when the district hires administrators who lived in another area and now works for 150 (but they live in the district though) they all of the sudden can't have any loyalty to or be invested in the district.
Is it only teachers who can come from other areas and live outside the district who can have loyalty to the district?
Why can't they be only interested in job security as you suggest these new hires in administration are?
Why do you have such a double standard? It can't be both ways. If you believe the worker needs to be from here to be loyal and invested, then I suggest you start by asking teachers to move into the district (new hires that is) or retract what you said above about about these administrative new hires. At least they live in the city (to my knowledge thus far) and are more invested in and loyal to this district than those who do not.
Jon, remind me and we can finish that conversation in a year or two. In educational circles those who move to new cities to take on administrative positions are often working themselves up the ladder--which usually means making moves to better paying jobs in other places. They usually don't stay too long in one place--therefore, loyalty and personal investment no so much. There is, also, a good possibility that they still can make a good contribution while they are here. This is all new territory to me and to District 150. This is the first time in my 43-year career that a new superintendent has brought in so many "middle management types" in the first three months (and so many that have personal connections to her). It might turn out extremely well--but caution is the better part of valor. My fear is that this school board (on the whole) has not been known for caution--no preparing for the worst just full steam ahead. I guess today's news should be example enough--buying out yet another contract for someone granted a contract before she had time to prove herself. Now 150 is offering 3-year contracts to people they only know about on paper. Did you notice that "in-house" principals were given one-year contracts but the two from North Carolina were offered 3-year contracts?
Jon, remind me and we can finish that conversation in a year or two. In educational circles those who move to new cities to take on administrative positions are often working themselves up the ladder--which usually means making moves to better paying jobs in other places. They usually don't stay too long in one place--therefore, loyalty and personal investment no so much. There is, also, a good possibility that they still can make a good contribution while they are here. This is all new territory to me and to District 150. This is the first time in my 43-year career that a new superintendent has brought in so many "middle management types" in the first three months (and so many that have personal connections to her). It might turn out extremely well--but caution is the better part of valor. My fear is that this school board (on the whole) has not been known for caution--no preparing for the worst just full steam ahead. I guess today's news should be example enough--buying out yet another contract for someone granted a contract before she had time to prove herself. Now 150 is offering 3-year contracts to people they only know about on paper. Did you notice that "in-house" principals were given one-year contracts but the two from North Carolina were offered 3-year contracts?
Sharon, perhaps you should use that adage - "caution is the better part of valor", before you make negative generalizations and stereotypes - especially about people you have probably never met?
Anonymous--living in some area surrounding Peoria to be a teacher(driving distance from District 150 schools)is a bit different than coming from another state to become an administrator. I think it would be great if any number of teachers came to Peoria from North Carolina or any place else. As I just mentioned on C.J.'s blog, non-tenured teachers who don't work out can be let go with no cost to the district (up to 4 years). Administrators with contracts (as we just witnessed with Schau) have to be bought out with considerable cost to the district. Jon, you and I both should find something better to do than spar about that which we can't control. I probably won't take my own advice. It's true--I'm jaded. I've seen too many crazy things happen in District 150 to be blindly positive--I wish I were still 20 or even 30 when I was totally optimistic
Sharon, I don't want you to be blindly positive - I'm just hoping you won't be blindly negative.
Why do you comment on the blogs and at board meetings about certain aspects of D150? Why do I often comment about certain things you say?
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