The glee of acting out

Much discussion has been had on this blog lately about the suspension rate of African-American children. After some medium level heated discussion, it appears we all agree, District 150 has an "acting out" problem.

The attitude appears to be, that while one could go to great lengths to empathize with the children who act out, probably because they have a crappy home life, ultimately we can't condone that behavior. No excuses.

At the same time, when it comes to teachers who act out by berating children, we appear to rather look for an excuse. Thus far, teachers and staffers who are posting the most, typically blame the parents and the administrators.

Are we to condone the teachers behavior, provided it occurs only once in a while?

Many feel that a teacher who consistently berates children, probably shouldn't be a teacher. However, we should compare the two situations of "acting out" - those by students and those by teachers.

Perhaps the questions should be do we have most of these problems from a small group of students and teachers who consistently act out, or do we just have a higher percentage of people today than we did 20 years ago, that are likely to "act out" once in awhile?

If it's the former, that's pretty easy to know what to do - fire the teacher and remove the child from the class.

If it's the latter, which is that we just have so many more students from broken homes and the like - then we have to stop this blame game - simply acknowledge that we ALL have something to do with the problem, and then each work on what we can most affect.

There are no easy answers, but it requires a true group effort. Hopefully, when the City Council meets with the School District on June 1, they will be prepared to start the discussion about "acting out" on this level.

Report: Percentage of high-poverty schools rises

The percentage of public schools where more than three quarters of students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch--a key indicator of poverty--has increased in the past decade, and children at these schools are less likely to attend college or be taught by teachers with advanced degrees.

The findings come from a special report on high poverty schools included in the 2010 Condition of Education study, which reports on a broad range of academic indicators across K-12 and higher education.

The U.S. Department of Education report released Thursday found that the percent of high poverty schools rose from 12 to 17 percent between the 1999-2000 and 2007-2008 school years, even before the current recession was fully felt. By comparison, the overall poverty rate for children increased from 17 to 18 percent, leading researchers to believe that that a higher percentage of poor kids were signing up for the meal program.

Read the entire article here.

Glen Oak Principal on administrative leave

The Principal of Glen Oak School has been put on administrative leave. The reason why Shipp was put on leave has not been confirmed, however, Tuesday of this week a child was reportedly pushed down by a teacher at the school.

You may recall a previous post done here on Valda Shipp, entitled "Will the real Valda Ship please stand up", which followed an article done by DeWayne Bartles of the Times Observer entitled "Shipp leads school from 'zoo' to 'pocket of excellence'". The Bartles article piqued my interest, because it received a large number of comments from people who alleged to be present and/or former co-workers of Shipp and they considered her an absolute tyrant.

Since the Bartles article, staff at Glen Oak have made constant efforts to illustrate that Shipp's management style was counter productive to what the school should stand for.

It is said that today Shipp was put on leave because she was insubordinate. Interesting that the leave was not as a result of mistreating her staff and letting children run wild, since that is what has been alleged to date.

Redefining “discrimination” in District 150

It’s true when you speak of “minority” students in District 150 these days, you are referring to any race other than African-American. As Mahkno so succinctly puts it, "At 61.1% of the student body, the African-American students are not a minority."

So, today when we speak in terms of “inequality in education”, let’s make it clear what categories we are referring to: African-American, Hispanic and/or all folks below a certain income level (or street).

When I saw in the pjstar that a retired District 150 teacher was quoted as saying "not allowing Richwoods students the ability to attend [summer school] was "discriminatory" and "unfair."" I had to laugh, because Title 1 is specifically for disadvantaged children and typically when you think of your average student at Richwoods, disadvantaged does not come to mind.

The retired teacher raised a good point that the Title 1 students, who are bused from RiverWest to Richwoods, would miss out on attending summer school, because there are only 120 slots for students from Title 1 high schools. Alas, Richwoods is fortunate enough not to be a Title 1 high school.

Should the Title 1 monies be sent back and none of the children have a chance for summer school? Some may consider it a tough call, but I don’t.

On the surface, I can see how it appears to some as unfair, but from what I have been told, at the early summer school planning meetings at Richwoods, efforts to develop a plan for having summer school without any funds were futile. There were simply not any realistic options and at first it seemed that none of the Richwoods students were going to be able to take the summer school option.

There was some discussion to have students pay for summer school, but the costs to each student would have been prohibitive to a significant portion of the school’s population. Unfortunately many in that population are exactly the students that need summer school.

School districts all around the state are canceling summer school, due to funding problems. This issue is not unique to Peoria or District 150. I guess we are fortunate that Title 1 will allow some students to get summer school classes. So, the question isn't "is it unfair that RHS students can't attend".

The focus should be on if the District can develop a plan during these tough economic times; are they going to deny the plan because the plan can not be applied for all students? I think and many would agree, that not using the funds to help whatever students we can would be a horrible thing. The funds are there. Title 1 is what it is and what it has been.

The term discrimination implies that someone has options and chooses an option that discriminates. In this situation, there are not any options. That is the crux of this dilemma. Discrimination would be to choose that only certain people get into the boat when you have a choice to pick.

I bet if you were to ask Steve Ptacek, the Richwoods Principal, what he thought, he wouldn’t see a huge issue with this. At Richwoods, they have about 30% low income students that might be listed as Title 1 students if they were at the other schools. But Richwoods being RICHwoods, their low income students are scoring better than the other schools and have a very high graduation rate.

You see, Richwoods has tried and true achievement networks that their students are privy to. As a result, even without summer school, Richwoods will be able to work with their students and develop a plan so they can overcome some lost credits. If they need to be creative with a student's schedule, I’m thinking they can make it work.

So, note to retired teacher, don’t worry about the Richwoods students – they are going to be just fine.

Did a teacher push a student at Glen Oak School?

A reliable source tells me that the Peoria Police Department was called by a parent of a seven year old Glen Oak School student who was allegedly pushed to the ground by a teacher. However, just because the police was called does not make it a fact. Perhaps the pjstar will pick up on this story in a couple of days and give us more info.

Glen Oak is already undergoing an investigation around the children that where allegedly told to make like Little Red Riding Hood and walk to grandma's house in Pekin and now this?

It would appear that the closer Glen Oak gets to their new school coming to fruition, the further away they are getting from being the trustworthy stewards of our children that we need them to be.

District 150's Black Student Suspension Rate

Recently, Pastor Harvey Burnett and the Peoria Assn. Of Pastors For Community & Spiritual Renewal sent the District 150 Board of Education a letter stating that they hold the BOE accountable for the results of the educational experience of the black and minority community and requested that they meet with them to address the fact that black students tend to be suspended at much higher rates than students of other races or ethnicity's.

Peoria Dist. 150 Board Members,

The minority suspension rate is far too high within Peoria School Dist. 150. I believe that we must open public debate over this issue. There is no one solution fix to this problem, but there are solutions as have been demonstrated around the country in various education and discipline models, that successfully address and have lowered minority suspension rates within public schools.

I believe that we must seek to create a much better education experience for all children and not continue to be tricked into affirming that "the home" is the only problem with many of our children. In many cases the educational system itself has failed to reach our children.

Testing arguably displays what the child has learned, but the opportunities to learn is what we want to increase. As the number bear out Out Of School Suspensions (OSS) and it's little brother In School Suspensions (ISS) have disproportionately effected Black students in District 150 for quite some time. We can change that if we try. I call on each of you to help facilitate that change.

I would like to meet with you to discuss our current findings and create a sustainable action plan that will address this highly important issue.

Pastor Harvey Burnett

The questions must be asked:

1. Has Peoria District 150 failed the Black and minority community? By not fulfilling the educational opportunities of ALL children it would seem that District 150 has failed a significant segment of its students, families and ultimately the community in general.

2. By suspending nearly 30% of Black students, is District 150 serving the educational needs of the Peoria Black population? One would say that Black education is important, but that does not hold true to the numbers. Is it possible that 2,567 students are not bad enough to expel, but yet bad enough to suspend and in some cases allow the disruption of the education of willing students?

3. Since the problem can be so easily and readily identified, what steps is District 150 taking to solve this crisis and is there a sustainable plan or effort in place to correct the problem? If not, WHY NOT? This problem is systemic in nature and cannot be addressed with a fix addressed to either parents only, teachers only, administration only or any individual segment. The part that is baffling is that there is NO plan in place to address the issue as we write this article.

Can I get a couple of those Magnums?

In D.C. high school students and college-age adults have been complaining to District officials that the free condoms the city has been offering are not of good enough quality and are too small and that getting them from school nurses is "just like asking grandma or auntie."

Read entire article here.

While they are at it, perhaps they should also hand out these?

Has Peoria "officially entered backwater status"?

Like most professionals who attend training sessions to further their career, I do my research on the cities and the lecture/training series before signing up. If I looked in my continuing education brochure and saw the Peoria downtown convention center offered as a place to attend a training series, I would take one look and immediately choose someplace else.

I love games - play this one with me... No, it's not called "Bait and Switch, it's called "Give Me Five". Find five differences in the original photo on the top and the altered photo on the bottom...

Original Photo

Altered Photo

PJstar poster, Busy Bee says it best:

If the state of architecture in a community is a benchmark of the condition of its culture, then Peoria has officially entered backwater status. EM Properties should be ashamed to present this to a downtown that needs all the help it can get...

Click here to see the answers and read the rest of Busy Bee's post.

A bunch of parents take a gamble

We didn't have a plan, but all of a sudden late in the afternoon, just as it was time to pick the kids up, we decided to go to the Lottery as a group.

It was interesting to see people who were nonchalant about putting in an application, along with people who knew very little about the school, mixed with people who had all the details. We all ended up reacting the same: nervous with anticipation (some with sweaty palms and a lot of leg crossing); tyring to keep track of the names of any children we might know; catching potential duplicates in names as they were announced; kind of subdued if our child's name wasn't called; and actual excitement and lots of smiling if our child's name was called.

After the Lottery, many of the parents who had their child's name drawn stayed for questions. Just the basic stuff like: "What are the school colors?" "Will you be double checking the names on that list before sealing the envelope?" "Will there be uniforms?" "How do you know that all of these people are actually siblings?"

It was surprising to see how many people brought their children along. It was difficult to see the look of actual anguish on some of the faces as the Lottery wound down. As alternate number 30 was called, I heard one concerned Mom say sadly, "I was really hoping to get my boys out of that school".

Before the Lottery started, I was talking to one of the parents who was there with her child. She told me her husband took off work to come down, but he was running late. She went on to tell me that they weren't even sure if they wanted their child to go to the school. She said she couldn't get anybody on the phone to answer any of her questions when she called; and they never returned her calls. She said that extra-curriculars were important to her children and she couldn't even get an answer on that. When they called her daughter's name (and a sibling) - she was ecstatic.

Can I still say I don't gamble if I participate in the charter school lottery?

I am not a gambler. I have only been on the Paradice one time - that was when it was setting sail in the evenings. I remember it well... It was a beautiful evening, we ordered drinks and just hung out on the upper deck. I feel asleep in my husbands arms before the boat docked...

As a parent looking to give my children every advantage within my means, I will not hesitate to seek out the services of a charter school or a choice school to meet that goal. Although I care about all children and believe they too are entitled to a decent education, my first priority is my child.

I fully understand the implication of privatization of public schools. However, if in the meantime, investors get paid, I can't control that and won't feel guilty because of it.

I would prefer a good fit with a neighborhood school, or having a choice with a specific school that would suit the needs of my student. However, the bottom line is, myself and many parents like me can't wait any longer for public schools to get it right.

There is no denying that charter schools are big business. No doubt that is why chambers of commerce feel comfortable endorsing them and that is certainly why hedge fund managers are "cheerleaders" for them.

Like it or not, privatization of public schools is upon us. As teacher's unions struggle to find some way to remain relevant (and so they should), I suggest they consider this: invest some of that pension fund in charter schools. Now wouldn't that be ironic?

Charter Schools’ New Cheerleaders: Financiers
Wall Street has always put its money where its interests and beliefs lie. But it is far less common that so many financial heavyweights would adopt a social cause like charter schools and advance it with a laser like focus in the political realm.

Hedge fund executives are thus emerging as perhaps the first significant political counterweight to the powerful teachers unions, which strongly oppose expanding charter schools in their current form.

Read entire article here...

Not only was she giving - he was receiving

Being the responsible parent that I am, only on rare occasions has my pre-tween been able to watch the Hannha Montana show. There are many reasons why I don't let her watch: the bad acting; the semi-nude photos; the worse acting; the stripper pole incident; the worst acting; and the fast azz starlet named Miley Cyrus.

The video posted above is of little Miley in the club giving a Champagne Room style lap dance to 45-year-old producer Adam Shankman. The photo above is Shankman and Miley in her dressing room, on the set of The Last Song (which he produced).

“The video was taken about seven months ago at a wrap party for The Last Song,” RadarOnline reported May 11 about a video in its possession. “The worst part is that there were little kids at the party and the dancing between Miley and Adam was so dirty that some of the parents actually left the party and took their kids home.”

Source

Not cute to the nth degree
As if the Miley video was not bad enough, I came across this mess and it gave me the chills to watch it. MOTHERS: If your child's dance class has your children wearing costumes like this - this is not a child's dance class. FATHERS: If you show up at the recital and your little angel is on the stage carrying on like a little savage, while wearing lingerie, it's time for you to take matters into your own hands and shut down the dance classes.

Is this even legal to have children performing like this? This over sexualization of our girls, of our children, has got to stop. Can you imagine how many hours these children had to practice shaking their behinds to put together such a fierce performance? Insane.

Booty in the bag, $19.95

It's official, the big booty is the new black.

For those who can't afford the silicone injections in the buttocks, we give you the...

Do you think that memberships in Gold's Gym will be hurt because now body concious chicks are being encouraged to buy a big booty?

Hey Jack, what do you think about that?

Happy Mother's Day

It's a little embarrasing how commercial it has become, but you won't hear me turning down breakfast in bed and gifts.

Grossly underpaid clerical workers at District 150

According to a person who currently sits on the County Board, the Executive Secretary over at the County makes $58,000 per year. How does that salary compare with the salary executive secretaries receive at District 150?

The salary information shown in the pjstar indicates that salaries in payroll and human resources average at $25,000 per year for secretaries. Unfortunately many of the secretaries who have been at the District for the longest periods of time and who have always been under the union contract are averaging $17,000 per year, with those at the highest levels (and ready to retire) capping out at $20,000 per year (and less).

Average Salaries of Administrative Professionals
According the job search engine Simply Hired, www.simplyhired.com, jobs with the title of Executive Secretary currently command an average national salary of $52,000. A comparison to average salaries of other job titles in the same general category yields the following figures:

◦Secretary -- $33,000
◦Executive Assistant -- $43,000
◦Executive Assistant to the President -- $54,000

Variables that Affect Executive Secretary Salary (IMO these variables cannot effectively be negotiated by a union not specific to clerical workers)
Salaries for Executive Secretaries cover a wide range and are controlled by a number of common variables. Average salary figures are not accessible for every variable, let alone every combination of variables; however, available statistics suggest some broad patterns. The following outlines some of these common variables:

◦Experience
◦Seniority
◦Education, Training and Certification
◦Industry or sector of the economy
◦Size of organization
◦Geographic location
◦Benefits package

Employer
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, combines Executive Secretaries with administrative assistants and provides mean salaries. Broken down by employer type, their figures for that combined category are as follows:

◦Colleges and universities -- $39,760
◦Local governments -- $41,740
◦Businesses -- $45,280
◦Financial firms -- $49, 610
◦Federal government -- $52,970

Size of Company
Executive Secretaries working for larger companies usually earn more. Median salary figures provided by Salary.Com show the following when broken down by number of employees in the business:

◦25-100 employees -- $45,100
◦100-500 employees -- $47,300
◦over 15,000 employees -- $52,600

Dr. Lathan issues the District's "clarion call"

Many of you know that I have spoken about “change” many times from the moment I expressed my desire to serve as Superintendent of Peoria Public Schools. I vividly recall asking our board members and other individuals more than once, “Are you sure you are ready for change?” I do not profess to have a one-size-fits-all solution for change. What I do promise is that we will work together through changes and challenges in the best interest of the students of our district. Also, this promise of change is based—in part—on maintaining the right team to provide the best leadership to promote unparalleled achievement for all students.

Student achievement is our priority and it will be part of every discussion held within our district. I promise to keep student achievement as the driving force behind every decision we make as we work for the students of Peoria. My expectation is that we will establish and maintain a culture of no-excuses, high expectations,and student-achievement-focused decisions. I am confident that I will see this same driving force behind conversations when I visit schools, classrooms, and programs within our district, whether such conversations are among teachers, clerical staff, cafeteria workers, or volunteers.

As your superintendent, I commit to leading efforts to provide exceptional service to our students and their families with an unprecedented focus on student achievement. Our students are counting on us to provide them with opportunities to receive a great education and skills to succeed once they are graduates of our district. This is our clarion call and our sacred covenant.

In closing, it is amazing how fast our year has unfolded. Just a few weeks of school remain, and we have many challenges ahead throughout the summer and the upcoming academic year. Together we will make a difference. I look forward to meeting and working with each of you as we take student achievement in Peoria to new heights!

-Dr. Grenita Lathan, Superintendent

PPS Staff News Weekly

May 5, 2010

A plea from the invisible consumer

For a long time now I have been tired of seeing commercials showing white folks dancing to RnB tunes and parody rapping. It was funny at first, but now, not so much. Be honest, if the people shown in the video above were black, would this video be funny?

These commercials feel a little exploitative to me, because the ad companies always seem to find the most poignant RnB tunes, tunes that sometimes actually conjure up memories of my very African-American childhood.

Problem is - I just don't think I am the customer the ad companies are going for. After all, I am the happily married, 30+ stay-at-home, college educated, African-American, mother of 2.5 children, with big ticket buying power (the invisible consumer). If I did not tell you there were people out there like me - you probably wouldn't know.

Anyhow, this Toyota commercial makes it a little difficult to be mad about one more rap parody showing white folks. But please, can this be the last one?

Are school vouchers coming to Illinois?

We have been receiving robo-calls informing us that TODAY the Illinois House of Representatives is considering a key vote on public education.

Senate Bill 2494 is being touted as THE thing that will save thousands of children from Chicago’s worst schools by giving them a voucher and allowing them to attend the school of their choice.

My cousins in Ohio attend wonderful schools thanks to vouchers. Their parents can’t say enough good things about the program. Personally, I think it is unfortunate that public education has come to this [vouchers]. However, for some it is the only way to insure the possibility of getting a decent education.

The existing voucher states are Florida, Maine, Ohio (Cleveland only), Vermont, Utah, and Wisconsin (Milwaukee only) and the District of Columbia. If Senate Bill 2494 passes, the voucher program would be instituted in Chicago only.

As of April 29, 2010, the following local legislators are undecided:

David R. Leitch (R) Peoria
Donald L. Moffitt(R) Galesburg
Dan Brady (R) Bloomington
Richard P. Myers (R) Macomb
Keith P. Sommer (R) Morton

Should the bill make vouchers available to all of Illinois and not just Chicago? Would you like to see the voucher program come to Peoria?

Consider the possibilities of Dr. Lathan finding her niche here in Peoria

Her original start date was early July. Had she waited until July, perhaps the dust would have settled on the Mary Davis case; she would have missed most of the p.r. around end of the year pink slips; and maybe even the most recent fiasco - reclassificationofclericalworkersgate.

As of today, Dr. Grenita Lathan is officially in the office as the Superintendent of District 150.

Approximately seven days ago, locals were ridiculing her for not having the foresight to have her ISBE paperwork in order. Yet, here she is in Peoria, two months early, ready to face the cynics and take on the challenge of a school District best described as a hot mess.

I look forward to watching her work. She comes across as a professional who is willing to put in the work, a real go getter who is capable of hitting the ground running.

This should be interesting.

A bunch of jealous women clowning themselves. How sad.

Last week ten District 150 clerical workers who got a raise were publicly vilified by their union and the pjstar.

The Local 6099 union representatives went on record spitting all kinds of nonsense. Namely that the union dues had not been adjusted for these ten cheaters, these clerical workers who dared to take a raise.

NOW here we are days later and the Local 6099 union representative admits that these ten cheating clerical workers really did nothing wrong in relation to paying their union dues. NOW he admits dues are recalculated only once annually at the end of a school year. So, the 10 workers weren't supposed to pay extra dues yet.

From what I have heard from a few sources (e.g. this is a rumor) a former union representative, who herself is a low paid secretary knew of the raises and couldn't finagle one for herself (after all, these are all her friends who buy make-up products from her, so surely they can break her off). After they didn’t break her off a piece THEN she went to the union.

Offices full of secretaries are known for their bitch fights. This one looks really bad on all concerned – thanks to the Local 6099. It is unfortunate that people pay dues for this petty, backbiting type of representation.

Now that's what I call criminal.

Code Red notification

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 3, 2010
Notification to area residents:

The Peoria Police Department is in the process of sending a notification to area residents regarding a weapon possibly discarded on private property. The department is utilizing the “Code Red” notification system.

The area of notification is the area bounded by University Street to Sheridan Road and War Memorial Drive to Lake Street. This notification is being made due to information developed following a foot pursuit of armed subjects in the area.

One of the suspects evaded capture, but possibly discarded a handgun while being pursued. Residents are cautioned not to handle any found firearms or contraband. They are urged to make certain no children can access any such property and contact the police immediately.

Additionally, officers are still seeking one of two suspects who fled a vehicle crash at University and War Memorial.

This suspect is described as a black male with shoulder length hair in a pony tail, wearing a brown shirt with cream colored writing. This subject is possibly armed and should be considered dangerous.

Anyone with further information should contact the Peoria Police Department at 673-4521 or call 911 in case of emergency.

Source

For More Information: Contact Officer Doug Burgess – PIO – 309-494-8319

The "Story of Jocko" the jockey statue

Have you ever been offended by lantern-holding jockeys found situated on lawns throughout the suburbs, thinking they’re racist? Most have lumped the statue, known as Jocko, in with the mammy caricature and feel insulted when they encounter one.

"We used to kick them over and try to knock the heads off, run over them" said Michael McBride of Too Black, Too Fast, who has taken up the cause of drawing attention to the history of black jockeys through his artwork.

He went on to tell the story of what the statue really means:

"We're gonna help you dispel the myth of the jockey statue. It's called the 'Story of Jocko.' Jocko was George Washington's stable boy. When George Washington went across the Delaware River, when it was very cold, he along with his soldiers, he had Jocko to stand there with a lantern and hold the horses till they returned.

They ended up staying longer than they thought they were gonna be. They came back and Jocko was still standing there, frozen, still holding the horses and still holding the lantern. George Wahsington was so moved, he had the artist to do a concrete sculpture of Jocko and he had his friends all have these things done, too.

Then, if you fast forward to during the underground railroad, when you went to a house that had this jockey there and the lantern was on, it was the safe houses for the underground railroad. Lack of knowledge made us think it was a degrading thing, but it's not.

It's looking kind of shady over on Wisconsin

Things happening at District 150 are so sketchy these days I have nothing but shade for the group over on Wisconsin.

As if pay hikes to ten clerical workers on the down low didn’t sound bad enough for District 150, now we learn of a pay raise to a Human Resources Administrator that was signed off on by the District’s Treasurer but the Treasurer is saying she did not sign any document authorizing a raise? Add to that, the Interim Superintendent was unaware of the raise to the Administrator, and the School Board was unaware of everything.

Adding fuel to the fire, we now have the District’s Human Resource Department in the position of defending a document that they allegedly have showing the Treasurer’s signature approving the Human Resource Administrator’s raise? A raise which is in direct violation of School Board policy.

This is enough to make even the staunchest District 150 supporter throw up both their hands. What the hell is going on with this group over on Wisconsin? I mean really, who’s really hood up in this piece?

Durflinger has admitted that he “knew of and approved “three to four people” being reclassified but no others”; and there was no violation of Board policy. In my opinion, the raises for those “three to four people” should stand. However, the raise received by the Human Resource Administrator violated board policy by not going before the school Board and it should most definitely be rescinded, along with the raises to the other six to seven people Durflinger didn't approve.

If Durflinger felt he was justified to reclassify “three to four people” in the first place, why is he now justified in rescinding that? If there was an inequity in the way these people were paid in November – the rescinding of these salaries means there is an inequity in the way these “three to four people” are paid now.

The pjstar reports that Durflinger said the that the matter is being investigated. My question is, "being investigated by who?" It is becoming evident that overseeing this Administration is more than this Board can handle. Perhaps this is something a group of citizens should be convened to look into.

Open up the Board to more citizen sub-committees. It is the only way to bring more oversight and transparency to this District. I'll blog about that later...