"CHOICE" options at Peoria Public Schools?

A lot of us have been talking about wanting "choice" in District 150 for some time now. The District has CHOICE school info posted on their website, I have reposted some of it below. Is this what we were talking about when we asked for school choice?

School Choice - OverviewCHOICE Schools and Programs allow students to opt-out or opt-in to select schools throughout the District. Schools that are considered CHOICE, are designated for a variety of reasons. A school might be a Magnet program, Academy, may follow a different schedule than the traditional schools at PPS or may be designated as a school in restructuring, as outline in the No Child Left Behind Act. Here is a list of CHOICE options at Peoria Public Schools:

Specialized Programs (SP)
•Northmoor Primary, Franklin Primary and Rolling Acres Middle - Each of these schools follows a different, longer schedule than the rest of the District. The day begins at 7:30 a.m. for each of these buildings and ends at 2:45 p.m. The longer school day equates to 45 minutes additional contact time than a student at other schools in the District would receive. The additional minutes also allows extra time for teacher team planning and professional development, and more “extras” for students, such as foreign language, art, and/or music.
•Roosevelt Magnet School - While also housing a traditional primary and middle school, Roosevelt Magnet also accepts students that wish to focus on the fine arts during their middle school years.
•Manual 7th and 8th Grade Academy OR 9th Grade Academy and High School Career Academies - The academy structure for Manual middle and high school students uses a block schedule. These academies follow a curriculum based on the recommendations of Johns Hopkins University.

Boundary Waivers (BW)
Boundary Waiver (BW) requests are received for a short window each fall, prior to the start of school. Applications for boundary waivers must be approved by Central Office Administration, the Principal of both the receiving and exiting school, illustrate a specific concern with the student's “home” school and space (and resources) must be available in the receiving school. Transportation is not provided by the District for approved Boundary Waiver requests.

School Improvement (NCLB-SI) (Separate Form Provided by the Illinois State Board of Education)
This program is available for district students attending a Title I school that has not met one or more of its identified academic targets known as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for at least two years in a row. These schools are identified as School Improvement (SI) schools. Authorized in the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), Peoria Public Schools provides parents of all students enrolled in a School Improvement (SI) school up to two designated non-SI receiving school choice options. The School Improvement School Choice (SISC) Pattern for each school year is based on the test results received in the spring prior to the start of each school year. The District is mandated to send a letter and form approved by the Illinois State Board of Education to families residing in NCLB-SI boundary areas each spring.

Charter Schools (Application available through Charter School)
One Charter School is authorized by the PPS Board of Education. However, they do not use the CHOICE Schools/Programs Application, as it is not a district run school. Visit the Quest Charter Academy website (www.questpeoria.org) to learn more about enrollment procedures for this Charter School. (Yeah, they actually mentioned Quest.)

To find out who is eligible to opt-in; should students re-apply each year; what to do if you don't like the school that was selected; or if your child will receive District-provided transportation, click here.

Who wore it best?

State Representative, Jehan Gordon wore the look first in her January 2011 engagement photos. Socialite, Kim Kardiashian wore the look this past week in Monaco. Who do you think wore the look best?

The Illinois House Representative from the 92nd District making huge impact in education reform

He won a school board seat at the age of 19. After two years, his fellow board members elected him vice president of the board, and one year later, they unanimously elected him school board president, making him, at 23, the youngest school board president in Illinois history.

When he went on to win a seat as the Representative from the 92nd District in the Illinois House, many thought school reform would be the perfect platform for him. He dabbled a little bit, but now at the age of 30 he is a career politician, a member of Congress and the only platform that he appears to be interested in is probably the Nordic Track V7 Vibration Platform. His constituents have instead been left Schock(ed) by what appears to be his aspiration to use his platform to become a model.

It has been Jehan Gordon who has been consistently using her seat as the Representative from the 92nd District to further the experience she gained while serving on the Pleasant Hill School District #69 School Board. She is a member of the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee; Senate's Special Committee on Education Reform; and she is taking part in the hearings on the Performance Counts Act of 2012. Recently she introduced legislation setting guidelines for assistant principals, where there currently are none.

Legislation To Bolster Assistant Principal Requirements
House Bill 3171, sponsored by Jehan Gordon, gives assistant principals the same responsibilities as principals and creates a method for evaluating their performance.

The evaluations would look at the duties and measure the performance of the assistant principal, comment on the strengths and weakness to offer improvements, and align them with the Illinois Professional Standards for school leaders.

Additionally, after 2012 assistant principal evaluations will include data and indicators of student growth as part of the evaluation.

House Bill 3171 passed the House at the end of March, and passed the Senate on May 12th. The legislation now moves to the Governor for further consideration.

District 150 Assistant Principal Assignments for 2011-2012:

Synopsis of House Bill 3171 as introduced
Amends the School Code. Provides for the employment of assistant principals. Includes provisions concerning (1) their duties, (2) their contracts, (3) their reclassification, and (4) their evaluation. Removes language that provides that if a principal is absent due to extended illness or leave of absence, then an assistant principal may be assigned as acting principal for a period not to exceed 60 school days. Provides that no principal (rather than no principal who has completed 2 or more years of administrative service in the school district) may be reclassified by demotion or reduction in rank from one position within a school district to another for which a lower salary is paid without written notice from the board of the proposed reclassification by April 1 of the year in which the contract expires. Effective immediately.

"We will not remain silent... at least I won't and ain't no doubt about that."

*sigh*, Dr. Cornell West. However, it is true that LaTisha, Jamal and baby bru and RayRay are catching hell on the streets everyday.

Send the entire BOE to Washington

Perhaps the timing of that trip to Washington DC is worth it.

How's this for pressure... the only way the trip to DC by the two BOE members will be worth it, is if they can prove instrumental in securing for Illinois (and Peoria) a win in the Race to the Top competition. This, of course, would require networking their arses off and making a heck of a impression on the powers that be during the week on June 12 - 17.

Illinois Races to the Top
Illinois has been named a finalist in a Department of Education nationwide competition.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin said Illinois is among nine finalists in the Race to the Top competition, which encourages bold education innovation and reform.

"Maintaining the status quo in our schools is simply not acceptable," said Durbin. "We need to elevate the quality of our schools, improve instruction and boost college graduation rates. We owe it to our children to give them stronger skills to compete in the global economy."

In addition to Illinois, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and South Carolina all are eligible to compete for the $200 million prize.

As a part of the application process, Illinois was asked to document past successes in education reform as well as outline plans of continuing improvements for school districts.

Durbin says Illinois is eligible to receive up to $50 million in funding through the Race to the Top education reform competition. Source

Suggested itinerary should you find yourself in Washington DC, the week of June 12 - 17 without one after completing a couple of meet and greets

DC Jazz Festival
June 1-13, 2011. Enjoy more than 100 jazz performances at concert venues and clubs throughout Washington, DC.

La Dolce DC
Through July 31, 2011. Washington, DC will celebrate all things Italian this spring a citywide festival that coincides with the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. The event showcases Italian culture through architecture, art, dance, design, fashion, music, theatre, film, food and wine.

The Source Theater Festival
June 10–July 3, 2011. Source Theatre, 1835 14th Street, NW Washington, DC. See new works in theater, dance, music, visual art, film, puppetry, spoken word, poetry and hip-hop. Performances include eighteen 10-Minute Plays, four one act plays, eight “Mash-Ups,” Project 24/7, three staged readings and a one-of-a-kind opening night event.

U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club
June 13-19, 2011. The U.S. Open, which was first conducted in 1895, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association. Apparently this is sold out - perhaps the good Congressman Schock could get you in.

Should you find yourself near or on the National Mall you must visit Jefferson Pier the Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II Memorial at the east end of the Reflecting Pool, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Located directly south of the mall, is the Tidal Basin featuring rows of Japanese cherry blossom trees that were presented as gifts from the nation of Japan. The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, George Mason Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and the District of Columbia War Memorial are located around the Tidal Basin.

When you get to the Smithsonian Institution go directly to the Sackler and Freer galleries, which both focus on Asian art and culture; but make sure you save time to spend hours in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The National Gallery of Art is located on the National Mall near the Capitol, but is not a part of the Smithsonian Institution. The East Building of the National Gallery of Art houses the modern art collection. Allow yourself plenty of time to just roam.

D150 Board split on D.C. trip
Two Peoria District 150 School Board members and the superintendent will travel next month to Washington, D.C.

But approval for travel to the nation's capital, when the school district will again finish out the year in the red and is looking ahead to yet further cuts next year, only narrowly gained support Monday night. Afterward, one board member said the $7,500 cost out of the Education Fund "comes on the backs of students."
The vote was 4-3.

Board President Debbie Wolfmeyer and board Vice President Linda Butler will travel to Washington, D.C., between June 12 and June 17. Superintendent Grenita Lathan will go from June 12 to June 16.

There was no discussion or comment during the meeting regarding the travel and nearly split vote.

"It's an opportunity to meet with legislators and hopefully Department of Education personnel to voice concerns we have and also to get information from them on the future of what's going to happen with schools," Wolfmeyer said after the board meeting.

Wolfmeyer said there currently is no itinerary.

The trip is being sponsored by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria. The entire School Board was invited, in addition to area union leaders, business leaders and heads of social service agencies.

Dissenting votes were cast by Jim Stowell, Laura Petelle and Martha Ross. Approving the measure were Wolfmeyer, Butler and board members Chris Crawford and M. Lynne Costic.

Petelle said she would have liked more discussion on the matter.

"What I hope to get is some information on where the government is headed with helping school districts - it's also an opportunity in small group settings ... to share some concerns we have in our district," Wolfmeyer said, adding that she believed having more of the district's leadership represented could be beneficial.

But the approved travel also comes less than one month before the School Board will hold its annual reorganization meeting, which could mean a change in leadership on the board.

Two School Board members, Ross and Costic, traveled to the National School Board Association's national conference in San Francisco in April. The cost of that trip was unknown Monday night.

Crews' FOIAs shine some light on discipline and suspensions

I know there are serious discipline problems in our schools, I see them every single day I am in a District 150 school. There is rampant bullying, fighting and disrespect of fellow students and adults - there is no denying it. It won't stop until somebody begins to force the schools to discipline the students who continue to disrupt our schools. If the schools don't do it, the parents of the children who are being bullied and assaulted need to take matters into their own hands and form parent advisory groups on discipline within their schools (as set out by IL law), contact DCFS to make sure the schools are making the required reports and/or press charges - even against the schools, if necessary.

From the comments sections...

..., my FOIA and 20 some pages of data that took me probably 20 plus hours to compile--to learn the following:

From September to March 21, 4,736 District 150 students were suspended and 77 were expelled. Hopefully, many of these were repeat offenders. The suspensions for only the 1,768 suspensions for aggressive behaviors that encompass fighting, threats, bullying, reckless conduct, and battery to school personnel.

About 1400 suspensions were for fighting and/or physical conduct where injury may occur. For these categories there were 39 expulsions. Manual had 276 suspensions in these categories but only 7 expulsions. Peoria High, with the much larger population, had 255 suspensions but 22 expulsions. Richwoods had 95 suspensions and 3 expulsions. Forty-nine students were suspended for physical battery to school personnel and 9 were expelled.

Workman’s Comp payments totaling $27,403 have been paid out for 44 District 150 employees for injuries sustained during these incidents. The constant rumors of fights turned out to be fact. There were only 7 out of 121 days with no suspensions in the district for fighting.

For the following numbers, I am using only the figures in the Physical Activity Fighting category. There were 94 suspensions for fighting at Glen Oak Primary compared to only 81 at Peoria High. Lincoln had 82 suspensions. Both Roosevelt and Trewyn had 67 for the PAF category.

For the other schools, Manual had 110 suspensions, Richwoods 63, Franklin 33, Irving 9, Thomas Jefferson 20, Mark Bills 15, Calvin Coolidge 32, Columbia 22, Lindbergh 16, Rolling Acres 43, Sterling 39, Von Steuben 20, Valeska 1, Day Treatment 9, and 42 at the 3 alternative sites and Adult Ed.

Many suspensions were for 2, 3, or 4 students on a given day. However, there were 13 days when from 5 to 8 students were suspended for fighting at a particular school.

There were two days of these multiple suspensions at Manual, two at Peoria High, two at Glen Oak, and one each at Roosevelt, Trewyn, and Columbia. In addition, there were 515 suspensions for the Physical Activity Aggression category, which involves physical contact where injury may occur—that sounds like fighting to me.

Happy Friday!

Coupé décalé gwada yall!

Illinois Fathers Rally Against Child Visitation Interference

DEMONSTRATION FOR HOUSE BILL 1604 AT ILLINOIS STATE CAPITAL
Location: Illinois State Capital Building, Springfield, Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, IL MAY 10, 2011/---IllinoisFathers.org, a non-custodial parents rights organization, along with the Alliance for Domestically Abused Men (ADAM International) and several other organizations plan to make their message heard on May 10th, 2011, at the “Third Annual Fatherless Day Rally” at the Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield. More than three hundred bikers interested in family law reform are also expected to roar into Springfield for the rally.

The demonstration is designed to call attention to…and garner support for House Bill 1604. HB 1604 seeks to give children greater access to both parents after divorce or separation. HB 1604, known as the Steven Watkins Memorial Bill, in honor of Steven Watkins who was murdered at the home of his ex-wife’s grandmother while trying to exercise his court-ordered visitation rights. The bill has strong bi-partisan support in the Illinois House and will be voted on in the Illinois Senate.

Rally Coordinator and Illinoisfathers.org spokesperson, General Parker says, “consistently, in our Illinois family law courts, children are unjustly separated from good parents for no good reason.”

The rally is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM. Visit www.illinoisfathers.org for more information.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED... OBAMA CAPTURES OSAMA

... and the irony of it all is that is exactly eight (8) years ago to the date that Bush prematurely ejaculated about the mission being accomplished.

What ever will the Republicans do now? First the President shows his papers and proves he was born in Amerryca and now he captures Bin Laden.

Interesting reads

A little extra time on my hands today led me to look at some sites I usually ignore. I found a few interesting reads I thought I would link here (in case you didn't see them).

Feel free to come back here to discuss...

District 150 assistant superintendent finalist for job in York, Penn.
District 150 Assistant Superintendent Michelle Ungurait, who has been on paid administrative leave since mid-March and expected to be placed as a classroom teacher next week, is one of three finalists for a superintendent spot in York, Pennsylvania, according to the York Dispatch...

Peoria occurrence cause for second look in East St. Louis?
Whether what happened here in Peoria this year with General Parker as a potential candidate for Peoria District 150 appears may taking place in East St. Louis...

Fallout from principal changes
It appears Peoria District 150 will be losing probably one of its best principals from changes the School Board has approved...