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.
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.
20 comments:
Emerge, why don't you call Terry--you have his phone number. He will not blog, so personal contact is the only way to get information from Terry.
Secondly, Terry absolutely did not write any letters. Yes, he delivered them because the teacher had been ordered to leave the building and not to be on school property for 10 days. That, in itself, was a very, very unusual order because it isn't like she had done something criminal--not the case at all.
Therefore, Terry advised her not to deliver the letters herself because that could be interpreted as insubordination by those who had made such a strange request. She had just been asked to resign of her own accord. Nobody fired her; she was just asked to resign.
The letter changed things considerably. All orders were reversed, etc. The rest of the story hasn't transpired yet, so there is really no more story to tell yet. Others besides Terry are now involved--I believe, the current union leaders, for instance. There is always a chance that lack of attention to the legal rules as they stand (which were violated) might lead to yet another lawsuit in District 150.
Thanks for the explanation Sharon.
I'm curious though, why didn't the teacher work this through the Union leader in the first place?
I hesitate to reveal all that I have heard because it might be hearsay--but I believe she tried and her original pleas were ignored or put on hold. However, that, I believe, is no longer the case.
I think I may as well add what I wrote on the Peoria Chronicle:
Please remember that Randy Simmons has not had an opportunity to evaluate any of his new teachers yet. (Also, Randy did not necessarily have final say on appointments. I hope you all realize that a teacher isn't always one-size fits all and that many placements were made in a rush and without fully evaluating good fit, etc.). Evaluations are usually done in the spring. Any teachers entering PHS from other locations were evaluated by some other administrator last spring. Many factors are at play here, so hasty uniformed judgments should be avoided.
I might add, however, that when the plans were made for merging the two high schools, Jeannie Williamson, who was paid to see to it that the merger was successful, did promise that all teachers new to the building would be provided a mentor. I believe there is every possibility that that promise was not kept. No one has had an easy time during this period of adjustment to a plan that was less than well-thought out–PHS administrators, teachers, and students have been under considerable strain.
Let me add this: The Admin is telling PHS that they are suspending too many students. They are losing money from the State because these students aren't in school. There are fights every single day, mostly in the morning outside the cafeteria. The police force is over whelmed and can not keep up. The school (PHS) has an in school suspension room with about 20+ kids. These kids aren't even allowed to go to lunch and get a special box lunch sent. The Admin has directed PHS to open another room and stop suspending kids. The teachers are mad because a lot of the kids are rude, disrespectful, and cause trouble in the classroom and no teacher wants to be regulated to watch the suspension room. Now there is going to be two of these rooms and maybe yet another involving over 60 trouble makers. The school is a war zone inside. Teachers feel threatened and the police can't keep up with the fights and threats. They brought in dogs from the Peoria Police last Friday and had a lock down after another big fight in the hallway. The Police found pot in several lockers and other counter-band they aren't talking about. The problem isn't the teachers but rather the thugs that seem to be running the school, the lack of any backbone from the Administration. What's going to happen is that a teacher is going to be seriously hurt and many are on the verge of walking out. Try this story on Terry Knapp. The real problem is the lack of any parent responsibility, kids who think because they are in a gang they own the place, and generations of this crap going on unchecked. If someone is complaining "my baby isn't learning" then it is because teachers spend a lot of time dealing with disrespectful, cussing, and rude kids and I will say that just maybe, the teachers are growing tired of the codling the Admin seems to be doing to these thugs by allowing them back in the building for a buck. Teachers are human and I am sure being called whore, bitch, and several others I won't list here, everyday wears on them. Out of almost 1000 students, it seems about 100 thugs are running the place.
Sharon, you need to ask more questions because you are way off base about your favorite principal's, Simmons, part in all of this mess.
Randall, define thug please.
General, unless you have taught in a public high school in Peoria, you are arguing semantics....in this case, thug=continual trouble-maker, who knows EXACTLY "how far" he/she can push before getting any real consequence. Since everyday is a "new day" for these darlings, they NEVER see any real consequence other than an in schoo suspension or sitting in the Dean's office most of the day, or the WORST....calling Mamma, who screams at the teacher for "singling out" her baby and "picking on him". Yes, that is a real scenario going on EVERY day at PHS. I am told even worse at Manual. Make these "students" their parents problem and I bet their behavior will turn around in a heartbeat.
General, anonymous pretty much sum up the definition of "thug" There are other names but "thug" is the nicest, politically correct one. Thugs come in many forms and many colors although from your question to me, you were expecting only black, right? Sadly, at PHS, all the thugs are black. Fights, mostly between girls (believe it or not), the disrespect to any teacher or staff, the cussing and name calling, the threats, the after school violence all at PHS, is well, it's a black thing. That is the simple fact. That is what Peoriains are thinking, especially as they pack to move out of town. That is the 500lb gorilla in the room no one wants to look at. That is the trouble, generation after generation of kids raising kids and passing the buck and blame on to society in general. To me, the fix is education and opportunities but it's hard to get either when your class is interrupted by armed police every day or you fear for your life in a school hallway. I know that many teachers, good quality teachers at PHS are fed up with the violence and lack of action by the Admin Office. Another case of; "These children are simply mis directed and need guidance" crap. Yes, most kids fall into that but the small percentage of kids (thugs) that simply don't give a rat's ass about anyone's property or rights are the ones that need to be removed. If you are 16 or 17 and think that shooting someone dead with a gun is the answer to getting even, then you are beyond any special school help. When I went to high school, we had gangs and that is when PHS was mostly white. We had after school fights but no one thought of guns and killing people and no one dared start a fight in the school less you were dealt with swiftly.
Now, if I may ask....What sir, what do you think a thug is?
Definition of a thug - hood: an aggressive and violent young criminal.
There is no denying that the race of the vast majority of crime and criminals are in Peoria's predominately black neighborhoods and schools. Does acknowledging those facts make one a racist? Does being frustrated by those facts make one a racist?
I'm frustrated too; I acknowledge that. I want better for the black community, my community. I am not racist.
I want people, especially black people to stop with all the crime. I want all girls, especially black girls to value their selves and stop with all the fighting over men and boys and out of wedlock babies. I want trouble makers in the school, especially black trouble makers to value education and grab it.
I am saddened by all of the children who appear to have no home training.
You should be more than "saddened". You should be outraged.
What is the difference in the distinctions saddened vs. outrage, Anonymous? Are you outraged? What does that mean for you?
Randall, you are certainly right about what is happening at PHS. Terry is already well aware of many of the incidents that are being swept under the proverbial rug(s). All of our warnings about what would happen if Woodruff was closed fell on deaf ears--and the ears are still deaf.
Anonymous, I am aware of those who have had a role in the current situation with the teacher at PHS. I think everyone involved has handled the situation poorly. Randy was never my principal--just my student--so he can't be my favorite principal. However, on his worst days he is far more responsive to teachers than were the administrators at Manual--sorry to say.
Right now I can't think of anyone that could do any better at PHS than Randy is doing--and he can only be as capable as those above him allow him to be.
I think Randy Simmons has his hands full. He is a good educator and I am afraid this mess is going to drive him out of the business. Another resource lost.
The six million dollar man should be able to handle this. If he couldn't he should have stepped back and let the district take the six million dollars and turn the school over for reorganization.
So Sharon, he was never your principal so how
do you know what kind of principal he is or isn't.
How often are you and anti pundit at Peoria High
to see how well the six million dollar man runs his
building. It is easy to always blame the top admin
for everything. I say...they should have gone for the
money.
I have read much discussion regarding Mr. Simmons and PHS. Seriously, he is not the only administrator in the building. You all act as if he were the 2nd coming or something. He is a guy who does a relatively good job in a relatively difficult school. I have been in far worse schools/areas than PHS with far more gang and "thug" problems. If what you say is correct, that administration is saying to keep kids in school due to the loss of ADA funds, let's talk facts. ADA is not based on every single day of the school year. ADA is based on the 2-3 best months attendance that a district has. Yes, suspending kids means they are not in attendance and that could count against ADA, but don't you think it is more plausible that the administration is trying to make sure that students receive as many alternative consequences BEFORE they are suspended out of school?
Here is a novel idea, since you are saying there are only about 100 "problems" at PHS, let's take them all out and place them in a district run alternative program (keeps ADA from being the problem) and give them very strict guidelines to follow (i.e. uniforms, daily point schedules, etc) while making sure there is a strong police presence to insure civility and provide daily counseling/group sessions to actually "teach" civility. Maybe then they could earn their way back to PHS or simply graduate from this alternative school. I nominate Carl Cannon to be the CEO of this place.
I'm at PHS daily. In fact leaving for there in about an hour. I know exactly what goes on there and if I decided to write about all the problems there, I would really stir up at nest. Simmons is a nice guy, which I think is overpaid, and he does exactly what the Admin tells him to do. Period. The problem at PHS is not the teachers, not Simmons, it's the select "convicts" that have no respect for others and the laws by which we live by. Yes, it's that simple. The other 800 kids just want to get through high school.
Saddened begets passive indifference. Outrage demands action.
Yes outrage is the word. The public is deeply uncomfortable with outrage. Americans don't do outrage well. They would rather spend thousands of dollars to move out of town or go to private schools than confront the problems before them.
Amen
Quite honestly, I am not so sure that money is the reason the administration shies away from suspensions. I do agree that suspensions and expulsions (which are really only temporary) solve any problems. However, until there is an alternative school, there is no other semi-viable consequence. An alternative school is a long overdue necessity.
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