Here are some news items from the Journal Star that caught my interest:
- Pat Nichting is going to give up his fifth district seat and run for treasurer. I found that surprising.
- Mayor Ardis is hoping to vote on the “wonderful development” (hotel) project before the end of the year. Interim city manager Henry Holling is trying to “[make] sure this thing is fast-tracked.”
- In less than three months, without making any changes to the budget, District 150 went from predicting a $200,000 surplus to a $2.8 million deficit. “Revenues will not come in like we originally anticipated,” Treasurer Guy Cahill explained.
Because the board knows nothing about education and defers all their decisions to the “experts”, who also happen to be the administration of District 150, and they defer their decisions to their “experts”, who just happen to be the consultants.
Does the district have contract with these consultants? If so, for what time period… because to the public who is paying their fee, they are like contract workers and it is time for them to go. I cannot believe the board is not taking care of this situation. No money for teachers, but thousands and thousands for consultants. This is an outrage. It is so obvious the board and admin are pulling this stunt to screw the teachers in negotiations. As for the hours teachers need to put in to earn their pay, God bless them! I have never met a teacher that did not put in extra hours practically every night of their life grading papers and working on things for their class. Not only do they put in hours on their own time, they spend half their paychecks on items for the classroom. There isn’t enough money to pay district 150 teachers for what they do, because they do what few others would even attempt, and that is to walk into a classroom full of low income children who often do not have support from home and believe they can make a difference, even with an administration and school board that more often than not, fights against them by shortening days and changing grades. (whew! that was a long sentence!)
ImaSwede: Thanks–especially for throwing in the money teachers spend. Most of us could never have taught effectively without buying materials with our own money. If teachers would just stop working “overtime” and spending their own money, the results would truly be noticeable. I doubt that even a strong union “suggestion” would cause teachers to stop doing both–because teaching would be impossible.
I understand that Terry and the union have done a lot for teachers, but why? Why is there an administration controlling the purse strings and setting curriculum? Who are these people that they think they can tell teachers what and how to teach and students what and how to learn? Put teachers in charge of their own schools and their own curriculum. OR… rotate teachers every 6 years or so through the administration positions.
Administration should not be a reward and fat check to sit around and look pretty, but just another duty like supervising recess or the lunch room, or being a union rep.
Serenity: if you analyze Hinton’s consultant appointments carefully, it appears that those retirees so appointed are all “F.O.K.” (friends of Ken). It doesn’t appear that he has appointed anyone whose opinion differs from his. Although that is not particularly surprising, it certainly diminishes the elements of critical thinking and dissent which can be good for an organization. As it is, the administration and BOE seem to have developed a good case of “organizational group think” with no one left to challenge their “vision.” Given their declining test scores, poor academic achievement, student discipline problems, employee morale concerns, and ongoing financial issues, their “vision” certainly needs to be challenged!
Of course, Terry is no longer president of the union–he has been retired for three years. The present union president seems to focus mainly on monetary issues–at least, he hasn’t spoken out at BOE meetings on very many issues affecting teachers and students. He didn’t attend most of the summer BOE meetings and wasn’t at the last one–has missed others, also. He was silent on the Wacky Wednesday issue. Terry would never have let so many issues to unchallenged. Terry still gets up at every BOE meeting to call some problem to their attention–as does Jeff Adkins-Dutro (PHS teacher) who regularly calls attention to specific discipline or academic problems in the district. Jeff definitely is calling on the district to treat teachers as professionals–that they are the ones to consult about classroom.
Retired administrators (usually chosen as consultants) have been out of the classroom for so long that they have no sense of the real problems that require real solutions.
Serenity: Your assessment is very accurate–150 administrators and board members do seem to be exposed to only one side of every issue. Most do not seem to have that “advantages vs. disadvantages” mentality–they just look on the bright side of every new proposal or program. I’m anxious to hear their opinions on the Edison Cyber education proposal–to see if they consider the negatives.
Prairie Celt: I though I was responding to Serenity–it was actually yours.
Is it still the Manual History teacher? $75,000 a year and he is focused on money issues? Great.
Yes, Scott is still the Manual history teacher–he was quoted in the paper recently as being a bit aggressive for teachers with regard to the budgetary problems, etc., but I think he should be much more visible and interested in teacher issues–and educational issues.
I know Scott is buddies with HR director, Tom Broderick and the forever troubled SPED director, Mary O’Brian. There have been many troubling situations in the SPED dept., some involving teachers, and Scott sides with his two buddies. Of course Tom and Mary are connected at the hip, she can’t run a meeting without him. I’ve never seen such incompetence. The Board needs to investigate the SPED dept. and don’t let quiet little voices fool them.
I guess that’s always been my impression of Scott (and he was my colleague). In our building when he was just a union rep, I often felt he sided (or kept quiet) with building administrators (also friends) when he should have sided with teacher(s). The “new” Manual has even more such issues that should be getting the union’s attention. I just object to the union addressing primarily bargaining (for salary and benefits) and ignoring working conditions and academic issues that affect teachers–and students.
Sharon: these working conditions and the focus being on bargaining is much to do with the HR director. The culture and working conditions have gone down the tubes partially because of the director’s inability to handle the HR dept. However, ultimately, Hinton has allowed the deterioration of the district’s culture.
How many people have quit the HR dept. this school year?
Serenity, perhaps the better question to pose is how many people left the HR dept. since Hinton took over as “superintendent” in 2004 and why did they leave?
Rumor has it that the SPED department at MHS is seriously out of compliance and that the state audited the MHS SPED dept – as well as other Dist. #150 schools – last week. Wonder if someone blew the whistle?
Question – has Hinton allowed the deterioration of the district’s culture or has he facilitated the deterioration of the district’s culture? I suspect the latter. Any other thoughts?
I agree that they may have gotten worse, but things weren’t that grand before. I really believe that most problems that teachers encounter on a daily basis are discipline problems–and the lack of support from in building and central administration. And that didn’t start with Hinton’s administration. It has just grown worse naturally because of inattention by previous superintendents (and continuing “head in the sand” attitudes). I taught 7 years at Roosevelt and 36 at Manual. For the first 25+ years of my career, I felt very supported, etc. I rarely sent referrals and had few complaints. By the 1990s things really took a turn for the worst. Because I didn’t have too much to worry about in terms of repercussions because of seniority, etc., I decided it was time that I started speaking out about problems to help younger teachers out because they weren’t being backed in the same way that I was. I can’t in good conscience lay it all at Hinton’s feet. However, I don’t think he is addressing the problems effectively–some drastic measures are needed now, and I don’t know when a superintendent will be willing to take those steps. The fault I find with Hinton are all those we have discussed here–mostly too many irons in the fire and too may innovations that really don’t solve any problems; in fact, his “solutions” may just be creating even more problems. Uniforms are one (but not the only) good example; what problems will really be solved because all students will be forced to wear uniforms? It’s one of the “feel good” measures with no real value.
PrairieCelt: how right you are. They hired Broderick because he is a lawyer and he could halt lawsuits etc. There are more lawsuits now because every communication with Broderick turns into a dispute, alls he does is tick people off.
I believe Hinton has facilitated the deterioration of the district’s culture. No doubt. They can Pacific Institue people to death and it won’t help because no one trusts Hinton and most of his central office staff.
O’Brian should be investigated. She has made horrible decisions and came in not even knowing SPED law. She yells and screams and crys in meetings. She has even been asked to leave a meeting until she could pull herself together. Again, why would they hire someone like her? The buck stops with Hinton.
Serenity, I agree – the buck stops with Hinton (or should).
Sharon – you believe Hinton is not successful because he has too many irons in the fire, etc. But where we differ is that it is my opinion that he does not possess the knowledge, skills or ability to identify, let alone solve, the problems. No one in his administration does. Not one of them has been trained to be successful. We do agree on one point – this problem just didn’t arise, the district has been gradually declining since the late 1960s or 1970s. Who led the district in those days – Whitaker, Griffith and Garrett for the most part. And which individuals were working their way through the district career path during those days – Hinton, Sanfilip, Simpson, Hannah and Fischer.
I’m not letting Hinton off the hook–didn’t mean to be too simplistic about his administration’s faults. However, I think other things were at work in the 70s and 80s. Harry was a strong superintendent–but all was not well then either–the problems actually began in Harry’s era (not at all implying that he was the cause). In my opinion, two bad things happened under Harry’s regime: high schools went to a 6 hour day and eventually industrial arts and home ec and many electives were dropped; K-8 schools were replaced with middle schools. The other two superintendents weren’t especially strong. However, things ran relatively smoothly–they were pretty much status quo superintendents; nothing new really happened in that era. Discipline was eroding, however–many causes and I don’t know exactly who or what circumstances to blame, but nobody was ready for what happened. Recalling board members of that era–few of them really new anything about educational issues either. Then came NCLB–and I believe that has created many of the problems while at the same time calling attention to academic problems that had been ignored. But NCLB hasn’t provided any solutions–it just shines the light on the problem. And now everyone is playing the blame game because no one knows how to solve the problem.
Broderick the cause of problems?? I guess that depends on your perspective. Broderick is an employment and labor relations attorney with years of experience in the corporate setting. Perhaps there is more trouble a brew since he arrived because he is holding more employees feet to the fire than previous HR administrators. My impression from years before he began working for the District is that the unions were running the school, not the administrators. As PrairieCelt states, in part that is because many of the principals and administrators are not leadership material and are unable to make decisions or create a vision for their staff. I am not certain if Hinton has everything it takes to be Superintendent of such a troubled institution but, for sure he is spread thin because some of his direct reports offer so little to the mix. The Board should give Hinton an ultimatum just like Congress intends to give to the Big 3 Automakers – find a sense of urgency, cut executive staff, reduce executive pay, gain concession from your unions or else we will appoint an “education czar” to do it for you. Like the Big 3 Automakers, the District has been in a slow decline for 20 years but continues to operate with a mindset “business as usual.”
So, Broderick’s job is to intimidate? Why else would he have to be in practically every meeting Mary O’Brian has with her underlings? Or is she simply too incompetent to handle these meetings on her own? Since when does a “company” have to have HR in every meeting that supervisors have with their employees unless they are trying to intimidate them? HR used to be a place where employees felt free to go if there were problems at work. This is certainly not the case any longer, and especially with District 150.
I am not familiar with Ms. O’Brian or the circumstances to which you refer, however, I think it is definitely typical that an HR representative be present at a dept. meeting if there are “issues” involving personnel. It appears from post by Serenity that there are “issues.” Broderick served as a lawyer for the District prior to assuming the HR position and would be able to assist Ms. O’Brian with the interpretation of spec. edu law and it sounds like she made need some help.
I was in the district for 43 years and I never, never remember a time when employees felt that HR was the place to go if they were having problems with administrators, etc. In the 1960s & 1970s all sorts of horror stories related to the HR (Personnel Dept at the time) method of handling disgruntled employees. Personally, I believe HR (Personnel) has always been the right arm of the superintendent, not support for employees.
I hate to open this topic but here goes–since you have brought up Mary O’Brian. Does anyone know how Special Ed is being handled at Manual. I have heard that all or most special ed students are in regular classrooms–and that special ed teachers are serving only as “mentors,” going from classroom to classroom to sit beside high school special ed students (not exactly what I would call good for self-esteem). The parent who spoke at last week’s BOE meeting seemed to be complaining about this situation–but I’m not sure of that. I’m not sure of any of this. I would like to know if the special ed students actually meet in classrooms with special ed teachers any time during the day: how often, what subject matter? Then, of course, I want to know if special ed kids are receiving the services mandated by school law.
Frustrated – your idea of an “education czar” is intriguing. Paul Vallas, perhaps? The District was given the opportunity to work with him by the Mayor and rejected the idea out of hand. I believe Hinton’s comment was something like they were already doing what Vallas proposed so why bother with him? Based on the BOE’s & Hinton’s administrative track record, if that statement wasn’t so sad it would be funny.
Although Broderick worked for KSSWF, the main attorneys representing the district were Cannell, Walvoord, Lenzini, and before he became a judge, Dubicki. Broderick didn’t get much play with KSSWF and the district.
Many meetings Broderick sits in with O’Brian are not that serious. She just does not know what she is doing. My understanding is the HR dept. is a disaster, that’s why all of their clerical quit except one. Broderick has zero knowledge of a school and the culture of the students in Dist. 150. I also ask, just how successful was Broderick while working for corporations, such as CILCO?
As far as SPED at Manual, I am uncertain, but I know O’Brian wants to run it and she is in a personal conflict with the SPED administrator there. I know the SPED administrator is very good but O’Brian won’t let her breathe unless she says she can. O’Brian’s traumatic brain injuries are revealing themselves again. She is not rational and is not familiar with inner city schools except to read a journal article about them.
Prairiecelt – As you pointed out David Walvoord is the point man for the District but Tom Broderick and another associate at KSSWF did the labor & employment work for the District after Cannell retired. This I know for sure. But . . . you certainly have much information regarding KSSWF & the District . . . makes me wonder exactly who you are.
Serenity, I believe Broderick has quite a bit of knowledge relating to education but in any event, I know he has knowledge of employment and labor law and many of the HR issues and practices that needed addressing were (are) not unique to an educational setting.
All I can say if you have ever taken a HR class (educational administration) the district’s HR dept. is not run appropriately at all. Broderick may have background knowledge but he sure does not now how to apply it correctly. He has mishandled situations therefore causing pending lawsuits. That is all I am going to say about that.
A recurring theme one hears about Broderick is more about his style – he is alleged to be very confrontational with an almost prosecutorial mentality. The HR classes in my background were part of the School of Business, and those classes emphasized one critical point about HR; that is, the main function of HR is to keep the employer out of trouble. If Broderick does not have effective people skills or is not skilled at problem solving and conflict resolution, grievances will escalate. That appears to be what is happening at the district.
However, to give him some benefit of the doubt, he does not set the administrative tone – that is established by Hinton, Cahill and the BOE. Broderick takes his orders from them. Cahill was rumored to be tough with unions before he ever joined #150 and he doesn’t appear to have changed.
Broderick also was dealing with some unusual issues within his office that could have affected office morale and turnover. His assistant was Hinton’s son-in-law, Charles Davis, who recently made a hasty departure. Whether real or perceived, people could be uncomfortable working in that environment – it would be easy to develop an attitude of mistrust when one of your supervisors is the son-in-law of the superintendent.