Jumping to conclusions: Where does it get you?

An anonymous commenter has posted a couple of times hinting at a situation over at PHS involving a teacher, Terry Knapp and Wisconsin Avenenue (knowing how intriguing such a tidbit would be). Let's try and put two and two together.

Anonymous said on Emerge Peoria...
"What's going on with the teacher @PHS that Terry is writing letters and delivering them to Wisc ave? Is he doing this because it's what's good for the students and district? Or is it about tenure? C'mon fess up. "

Sharon Crews said on Emerge Peoria...
"I am taking a wild guess that this particular Anonymous is someone who received a letter. Anyway Terry will be happy to explain it all to you--call him at 370-5523 (number given with Terry's permission). Terry doesn't blog. My two cents is that a system that is unfair to teachers will be unfair to students, also. It's all about doing what is right and in the right way.

By the way, Terry didn't write any letters, but he did take them to Wisconsin Avenue."

PHS Parent keeps dropping lugs like this over on Peoria Chronicle...
PHS parent December 3, 2010 at 9:14 pm
"Sharon – how can I FOIA info on a teacher and see if they are doing the job we pay them for? Why does my child have to suffer for bad teaching? How do I FOIA and deal with that?" "...Mr. Simmons is a great principal. He has some teachers who can’t teach. Why should my baby suffer? Just lookin for help and direction..."

I found this on Peoria Story...
"Activist Terry Knapp talked about bullying at all levels including administrators recently bullying three teachers trying to get them to resign. At least one of these teachers is highly experienced and has tenure, but was placed in a different school with an overcrowded classroom, Knapp has said.

The teachers union contract forbids outright firing and instead offers remediation.

"It's incredible," Knapp said. Bullying "should never occur administration to teacher.""

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Okay, let's jump to some conclusions from what we have above... Sounds like there is a teacher(s) at PHS that some seem to think is/are not up to par. That/those teacher(s) may have been asked to resign. One teacher apparently has tenure and has called in Terry Knapp for assistance because they are being bullied?

Hmmmmmm...so where does that leave us? The question shown above, which was asked by the first Anonymous poster on Emerge Peoria, appears to be a good one, yes? I guess that leaves us right back where we were when Anonymous left the first hint about a situation at PHS.

Teacher-on-teacher bullying

I once saw a teacher leave the school and children she loved because of a group of over bearing teachers. It didn’t occur to me at that time that teacher-on-teacher bullying was a regular occurance in schools.

The USA Today article excerpted below, leads me to wonder, just how prevalent is teacher-on-teacher bullying? How well does the teacher's union support their members in cases of bullying and stress?

Schools tackle teacher-on-teacher bullying
Most schools have policies that target bullying, but they are usually aimed at students. Now, school districts in Iowa and California are developing rules to prevent teachers from bullying teachers.

The Sioux City, Iowa, community school district approved its policy last April. Desert Sands Unified School District of La Quinta, Calif., is awaiting final passage later this month. The two school districts are believed to be the only ones nationwide developing anti-bullying policies for their adult employees.

Nationwide, 41 states have anti-bullying laws affecting schools, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. A few states, such as North Carolina, Florida and Utah, include school employees with students in their measures, a USA TODAY review of those policies showed.

Matt Spencer, the Sioux City district's director of non-teaching employees, said the economic impact of bullying in absenteeism and lost productivity provides an overall financial benefit "that can be used to go about the business of educating children."

Costs for the district's policy were covered by a local philanthropic organization, human resources director Steve Crary said. Approved last April, Sioux City schools' anti-bullying policy is already paying dividends, he said.

"We've had a number of situations come forward," Crary said. "I think it's doing what it was supposed to do. It created a heightened sense of awareness. People who for whatever reason didn't feel comfortable coming forward before are coming forward and telling us about things."

The Illinois state Senate last month passed the Abusive Work Environment Act, which would provide protections from workplace bullying for public workers. Workplace abuse "pushes people into a shell of silence," said Democratic Illinois Rep. Eddie Washington, who is co-sponsoring the House bill. "This is a good way to get in front of it," he said.