I got a chance to talk with Diane Vespa regarding Ken Hinton’s announcement today. She had gone to the district’s offices at 10:30 to attend the press conference, and I wanted to hear what she thought of Ken Hinton’s latest plan. Imagine my surprise when she told me she wasn’t allowed into the press conference.
“You can’t go in,” she was told. “This is for press only.”
So Diane didn’t know any more about Hinton’s plan than I did — that is, she only knew what had been reported so far in the press. I suppose there’s nothing unusual, per se, about a press conference being restricted to press only. But here Diane was the only private citizen at the press conference, she’s the leader of the District 150 Watch group that has been trying to work with board members and administrators to find an alternative to the 45-minute school-day cut that was approved back on May 5, and she’s a parent of two District 150 primary school students. What purpose did denying her access to the press conference serve? Were they afraid she would be belligerent and disruptive or something? And why wouldn’t parents be welcomed by the school administrator when he’s announcing a new proposal that is supposed to be so beneficial to their children?
This episode illustrates all too well the school administration’s insulary nature. They don’t include the parents in making important educational decisions. They simply make decisions in isolation and then take a defensive posture toward anyone that would question them. It’s kind of ironic that they see the value of collaboration when it comes to teacher preparation, but they see no value in collaborating with parents on issues affecting their own children’s education.
One thing that concerns Diane is a comment she heard repeated by several members of the press. Evidently, Hinton made a point of saying he’s recommending this change because he recognizes “it’s been hard on people’s schedules” and on the schedules of “working parents.” Vespa wonders if Hinton is missing the point.
“When they [District 150] try to reduce it down to a babysitting issue, it shows a clear lack of understanding of the parents’ concerns,” Vespa said. “If they think parents are upset about this simply because it interferes with their work schedules, that’s offensive. We’re engaged in this because we care about the quality of education that our children are getting.”
Hinton apparently presented the new plan predominantly from a scheduling perspective, without addressing how this plan will help improve student achievement. Yet student achievement is the primary concern. Hinton can’t just write this protest off as being about child care and scheduling. He needs to show how cutting instructional time at schools that are already failing to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) is going to help those children achieve more. Or to put it another way, how will adding common prep time more than compensate for the corresponding loss of instructional time each week?
It’s easy to hide from parents by kicking them out of press conferences, but they can’t hide from the issues.
“When they [District 150] try to reduce it down to a babysitting issue, it shows a clear lack of understanding of the parents’ concerns,”
Sadly, that IS what it boils down too and what a lot of parents are concerned with. Just because they didn’t march in the protest doesn’t mean they didn’t make their thoughts known.
You make it sound like no parent can give input. They can, but you just can’t barge in where ever you like. Maybe she could schedule a meeting with Mr. Hinton?
And yes protesters make people nervous. Why do you think the police were all over the place at the last protest???
Traffic control? Doubt it.
The bottom line is our children’s educational development. It must be primary in the minds of our educators and their bosses. Nothing less will do. We should not give an inch in this fight. In this case it is all or nothing at all. It is our children and their future, nothing is too good for that. And nothing less than the very best will do.
What did you expect him to say?
“Excuse me while I eat crow.”
I wouldn’t imagine Hinton would jump on the live grenade when it came to this issue.
Em- you are blogging more now that you are not blogging than you blogged when you were blogging.
BUMP!!! And did you notice how Uncle Em doesn’t come up with his own Blog topics he just rips off everyone else’s? He reads your blog, Diane, and this one and then writes about how they couldn’t possibly be right…. what is that? Oh, and then he leaves sarcastic remarks so everyone will be so excited about his blog they will want to go visit…. NOT!!! He is getting creative about his screen names however… gotta give him credit for that!
Of course the administration would see it as a babysitting issue. (That is what they think they are doing for the other 5 1/2 hours of the day)
They just want the parents to do their own fair share of babysitting their own kids, and take them off the school district’s and teachers’ backs.
Oh.. yeah… why were the police there? To intimidate anyone who might speak out against the administration, of course.
What does the city police have to do with District 150 anyway? They have no business there. Let the district hire their own thugs.
Have you met Diane? She’s pretty scary! 🙂
The sad thing is that this decision should have never been made (by Hinton) or approved (by the board) in the first place. The correct and ethical thing to do would be to table it until all systems are in place, a compatible teachers contract on the table and the community on board. I just don’t think that is too much to ask or expect.
BOO!
Where is the money coming from to repay the Title I funds that the auditors disallowed?
Where is the written plan?
Diane: “I just don’t think that is too much to ask or expect.” That is what the neighbors thought and felt about building a school in Glen Oak Park and Hinton did not reverse course the Park District Trustees voted to stop that runaway train.
Get a copy of the plan — even then it is still subject to change which parents, students, and staff may not know has changed even after approval. It is usually a horse of a different color depending on the day of the week.
ImaSwede : Your remark against me could apply to almost all the local bloggers here. Almost all have this topic on their blogs. Besides it appears you haven’t read mine vey close. Yeah I’m a big rip-off. And I’m not your Uncle.
BUMP!!!!!
[…] been leading the opposition to the reduction. When she showed up to the press conference, she was denied entry on the grounds that she’s not a reporter. In fact, she is. She’s a citizen journalist, […]
Left by Peoria Pundit » Media: D-150 combines ignorance and arrogance at Friday’s press conference on June 14th, 2008
From #150s web site:
District Goals
“We will promote a culture that ensures customer service at all levels”
***************************************
What has #150 dont to promote this? Piss off more and more people.
One good thing about the media is the interested public has again seen the arrogant King Hinton thumbing his nose at them. He feels it’s his school system and he is all knowing! So since he feels that way and now the BOE will be extending his and court jester Cahill’s contracts the public and even the BOE needs to know some more things they have been doing.
Cutting back on bus purchases to offset the Title I audit:
For years prior to Hinton and Cahill the optimum turnover of the bus fleet was five years. In other words 1/5 of the fleet was turned over every year so the oldest buses were only 5 years old. Major maintenance thresholds and trade-in values played a significant role in that justification. So now it has been revealed that “nearly broke District 150” had shortened the turnover to just 4 years under King Hinton! I see the Transportation Budget for such was over $1 million this year. The AYP hasn’t done squat but by jolly the kids are riding in newer buses!
Purchasing Department:
Under Hinton and Cahill the time honored management structure of a centralized purchasing department has been eliminated! So instead of buying most everything in bulk through one central point for better pricing and CONTROL every department just does their own thing. Can you spell “waste and potential abuse”? They claim the numerous department heads have to sign off on the purchases, but the task is delegated to clerks and secretaries or after the fact approvals in a cursory manner. Oh they do still have a central warehouse where huge quantity purchases such as paper purchased by the truckloads are handled but that’s not the bulk of the expenditures not even buses! On the other hand you would be surprised how many district employees – especially in Buildings & Grounds merely traipse off to the hardware store or big box stores like Menard’s to buy this and that.
Internal accounting controls:
This term essentially means “checks and balances” so errors and wrong doings can be caught in the normal course of business. It can cover systems, personnel, approval paths as well as procedures which must be followed. Since Hinton/Cahill implemented the Skyward computer programs the ISBE audit as well as the independent auditor’s reports have been critical in regard to internal control problems. Remember, the ANNUAL budget of this district is nearly $150 million dollars! This is no mom and pop grocery store – you NEED good internal controls.
Management Letter:
Upon the completion of an annual audit by the independent auditors – Clifton Gunderson – there is an option that a Management Letter be issued which states any major concerns, internal control weaknesses and other problems that they feel need to be raised so the Audit Committee of the BOE will be aware and take “management” to task. Since Hinton and Cahill have the authority to squelch such Management Letter then they have! I even wonder how much the BOE was really told about the nitty-gritty content of disallowed purchases and expenditures revealed in the Title I audit.
So Peoria taxpayers, I hope you have a better understanding of the things going on at the skunk works also known as 3202 N. Wisconsin Ave. where King Hinton and court jester Cahill will again be awarded the top two paying jobs in district 150.
^oo^~
Makes a person wonder what they are really doing with their vendor contracts, doesn’t it?
I doubt if anyone expected Hinton to say, “Excuse me while I eat crow.” However, there are four little magic words that he could have used that would have gone a long way in improving his public relations. Those words are: I made a mistake. But then again, anyone who has watched these BOE proceedings since 2004 or who knows Hinton, also knows those words will never come out of his mouth. Haven’t you noticed, he doesn’t takes responsibility for his actions – it’s always someone’s elses responsibility.