The District 150 Board of Education again listened to parents express their grievances about the decision to shorten the school day by 45 minutes. The school board should get used to hearing these comments; they can expect to hear them at every meeting until this ill-advised decision is rescinded.

Superintendent Ken Hinton had the first word as he informed the board he would be meeting with parents to talk about alternatives:

[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/05192008-Hinton.mp3]

That meeting will take place Thursday. Ideally, this would be all it takes to get the district to reverse the decision. If this does the trick, I’ll be ecstatic, presuming the shock doesn’t kill me.

Hinton is hanging his hat on the idea of providing a common prep period for teachers. The thing is, he never explains how or why that is tied to shortening the school day. It’s a red herring. I thought it was funny when he talked about the “highest producing countries” (presumably producing well-educated students) having “three important aspects” of their success. He only mentioned one: common prep time. What are the other two? Something tells me one of them is longer academic learning time.

Notable quotes from Hinton’s speech: “My mind is always open.” “I’m more than open.”

Here are some other comments from concerned parents and teachers:

Mimi McDonald:
[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/05192008-McDonald.mp3]

Diane Vespa:
[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/05192008-Vespa.mp3]

Terry Knapp:
[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/05192008-Knapp.mp3]

Bill Luthy:
[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/05192008-Luthy.mp3]

Hedy Elliott-Gardner:
[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/05192008-Elliott-Gardner.mp3]

My favorite quote of the night was from Elliott-Gardner, who is a teacher at Garfield school. After Superintendent Hinton’s big speech about the research-supported importance of common prep time for teachers, Elliott-Gardner reminded the board that Loucks-Edison has had common prep time for teachers for the past ten years, and the school board voted to close it.

As far as research goes, I’d like to submit this 2007 report from the American Educational Research Association for your consideration. Citing peer-reviewed, published studies, it has this to say:

Research on instructional time has consistently found that extended time has the most powerful impact on learning in schools serving low-performing students.

Don’t be fooled. Cutting the day by 45 minutes does not simply remove dead allocated time. It removes academic learning time. It reduces fine arts education. It’s a bad decision and needs to be reversed.

Just a reminder about the school board meeting tonight from an e-mail from Diane Vespa:

Dear Friends,

There will be a meeting of the District 150 School Board [Monday] evening. At this meeting we will make an official request that they place on the agenda for the next board meeting of June 2 a vote to RESCIND the shortened school day and the reduction of specialty teachers.

Please join us and show your support for the parents, teachers and members of the community who have OPPOSED this harmful decision. This board meeting will once again take place at 6:30 pm at the District office located at 3202 N. Wisconsin Ave, Peoria.

We invite you to say a few words to the board, or simply support us through your presence.

We will also be handing out petitions. We invite all parents & concerned members of the community to secure a copy, reproduce it as needed, and start collecting signatures and phone numbers from members of the community that join with us in OPPOSING this decision. The phone numbers will be a great asset should a peaceful demonstration become necessary.

Please forward or cut and paste this e-mail to anyone who can help.

As you know, our children’s primary school education is the cornerstone of their entire educational future. I thank you in advance for your continued support and willingness to take up this cause on behalf of the area’s children.

Sincerely,
Diane Vespa

City-School-Board liaison Bill Collier is an optimist. When he met with parents and educators this past Monday, he gave everyone hope:

Mr. Collier insisted that we “had the Admins attention” and that they were willing to put options on the table.

Things were looking up when it was announced that District 150 Administration was willing to meet with parents and other concerned parties later this month. But that hope was dampened today with the publication of this article from the Journal Star:

“I will tell you up front it is all contingent upon the teachers using that time effectively,” Hinton said, noting there are no plans for the district to backpedal on the issue. Whether Hinton could sway any opponents remains to be seen.

So, this meeting isn’t about any kind of negotiation or placing options on the table. It’s about Hinton trying to persuade opponents of the benefits of cutting 45 minutes off of each school day.

His argument, as explained in the paper, goes like this: Every teacher has to receive a 45-minute “preparation period” because that’s required in their contract. Currently, “during this time, scattered throughout the day, students are shuttled to another classroom, usually for art, science, music or physical education. Those classes could see some minutes shaved.”

More “arts integration” also would take place, meaning different courses would be blended. Schools would have the equivalent of two full-time “specialists” and decide on their own what to maintain and where to cut.

Those specialized teachers – except P.E. – will go to the classroom and all teachers will get their prep time before school begins.

Hinton said that’s where the big gains come, with common planning time in the morning, the professional development and teacher collaboration at all grades – virtually impossible now. Contact time with teachers will not change, he said.

See, this is semantics. He’s distinguishing between “specialists” and “teachers.” The “specialist” time will be cut, but “contact time with teachers will not change.” I’m sorry, but if the “specialist” is teaching my child art, music, and physical education, I call that person a “teacher.” It doesn’t matter to me whether they are contractually or legally considered a “teacher” by District 150 standards. They’re teaching my children, and their contact time is most assuredly being cut.

It shouldn’t be. Art, music, and P. E. are not things that should be relegated to extra-curricular activities. These are an important part of a child’s education. They should be retained.

I think it’s fair to wonder what good this meeting is going to do between Hinton and the newly-formed District 150 Watch group, but it will be good for the group to meet with him anyway so they can say they tried. Call me pessimistic, but I’ve seen this song and dance before. I predict the parents will be rebuffed once again, and then things will really start to get ugly.

Diane Vespa has been getting quite a bit of press lately regarding the effort to reverse District 150’s decision to shorten the school day for 12 primary schools. I’ve heard her interviewed on WMBD radio news and WCBU news. Today, she sent me an audio clip of her interview on the Markley and Luciano Show on 1470 WMBD:

[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/diane-vespa.mp3]

The audio clip includes Andy King of the Dream Center and his concerns about the shorter schedule and the problems it will create for children and families. Markley said it best about the shorter day: “This is a bunch of crap!”

Way to go, Diane! Keep up the good work. Staying in the news and keeping this issue high-profile keeps the heat on District 150. The decision must change.