Uncategorized

Posting will be light

62 Comments

I’m going to be spending some quality time with my family away from work and away from blogging for the next few days, so you won’t see much activity here at the Chronicle for a little while. I’m not so naive as to say there will be no activity because, obviously, I’m a blog addict and will no doubt feel compelled to post something at some point. But I’m going to try to do as little blogging as possible for the next few days. I’m sure there will be much rejoicing at the sound of that news among many people in and around Peoria. 🙂

I’ll schedule some open threads in advance so they should pop up automatically. Feel free to continue discussing the issues of the day.

62 thoughts on “Posting will be light”

  2. CJ please go and enjoy your family and have a great time. Remember all the little things that you enjoy with them. You put your heart and soul into your blogs and you do tremendous research for the benefit of us all. Its time for you to do some family research and enjoy. Good luck and God Bless.

  6. gang violence seems to be a real problem at Peoria events lately, yet the establishment media and the City seem to be largely ignoring it. WHY? As I recall the Mayor was elected on an anti-crime platform. Is the council too busy making under-the-table deals to be concerned with violence?

  7. Someone told me that they had to shut down Steamboat Days early due to multiple fights breaking out. How scary is that? We usually bring our kids to that but didn’t this year.

  9. CJ…. posts with links don’t show…

    “Recent market research indicates that up to 40 percent of households surveyed in selected metropolitan areas want to live in walkable urban areas, said Leinberger. The desire is also substantiated by real estate prices for urban residential space, which are 40 to 200 percent higher than in traditional suburban neighborhoods — this price variation can be found both in cities and small communities equipped with walkable infrastructure, he said.”

    Of course Peoria seems to be out of touch as usual.

  10. You are just imagining things Mouse… crime is down… we have enough police officers… *** waves hand in Jedi fashion ***

  12. Nice try, Mahkno, but not everyone is as weak-minded as the politicians would like us to be. Besides, I’m not sure that it’s a shortage of police officers as much as a problem with priorities, training, policing policy and the court system. Item 1: When police officers were taken off the beat and put in cars, they seem to have lost the ability to talk to people. That’s the only way they can learn anything. At the same time, too much emphasis was put on traffic violations, because that brings in revenue. Arresting violent criminals isn’t profitable. Admittedly, the problem goes way beyond just the City, but the City should be pushing the state for changes in the court and “corrections” system (using the word “corrections” very loosely).

  13. Both the Holy Family Heritage days and the Steamboat Classic were shut down early due to young people fighting and causing serious sisturbances. Something needs to be done, any ideas?

  14. I heard there was a shooting and a stabbing at Steamboat… never saw anything in the paper however. If they don’t get the gang problem under control families won’t be able to go anywhere! Maybe if you let the kids out at 1:45 on Wednesdays they can target practice then and get it out of their systems!

  15. a shooting and a stabbing at Steamboat and nothing in the paper? Suppose there was a discussion about that between One Propaganda Plaza and City Hall along the lines of JAWS?? Ignore the problem and it will go away, won’t it?

  17. RE Diane Vespa

    WOW, Diane, you’re just full of the snappy comebacks! LOL Hey, if D150 can teach lessons in Asian languages (I forget what one it was), why not go for the gold and go for a shooting class. The NRA could sponsor it and then we’ll have a nice, safe city. THEN we could fire all of the police force because we’ll be patrolled by the students! See, look, it’s a savings all the way around.

    (Don’t mind me… I get a little punch drunk before lunch)

  18. Cheap Trick will perform at Riverfront on July 3 [along with Diamond Rio…..Diamond Who?]. Cost is $30.00. I saw Cheap Trick and a butt-kicking fireworks display in St. Louis last year…it was free! Took the wife and kids and had a ball. Just another Saturday down on the river in St. Louis.

    I know Peoria is not St. Louis and does not have the big-city bucks. Problem is…I have not felt safe bringing my kids to the Riverfront at night for a long time now. The St. L riverfront area was fenced off and patrolled by private security and city police. So was the area outside of the fence.

    I have never really noticed a stepped-up police presence in Peoria during major events [except for traffic control]. Does the Peoria Police Dept. work for the city of Peoria? Just wondering.

  20. I never heard anything about a stabbing. I think you just started a rumor.

    This is a problem that is pretty isolated to Steamboat Festival and the carnival. I think the riverfront has outgrown the carnival. PACE who puts on the event and rents space from the park distict has been approached in the past about doing away with the carnival and focusing on more family events. They don’t want to give it or the beer tents up because it’s a cash cow and it goes to help pay for other events like the Santa Parade. The carnival just brings the wrong crowd and it should be given up before it scares people away to an otherwise pretty safe area (the riverfront). Check police records and you will find grocery store and mall parkings lots have a lot more crime than the riverfront.

  21. It may be a rumor, but I heard it from a pretty reliable source who was working there at the time.

  22. “peoriafan” seems to agree that ignoring the problem will make it go away. Wake up! “pretty isolated to Steamboat Festival and the carnival?” Sure.
    On my map those areas are pretty far apart. And this “its an isolated incident” argument has been used over and over again to explain away the problem. Face it, these incidents can and do happen throughout the City.

  23. These things (violence) have been happening inside district 150 schools for years. If you don’t have your kids in private schools, think about it or move to a small town outside of Peoria. Someone said to me “District 150 is a sinking ship”, and from what the current administration is doing and how they are acting, I am beginning to believe it. Sad but true.

  24. lovekids, I hate to hear you say that. Even with all of this going on, I still care about this city and want to see improvements. You cannot find great houses like the ones on Columbia Terrace, Parkside, The Knolls, and Moss Ave any where else around this area. Plus, I really like the convenience of living in the city. This is why I really want to see District 150 get its act together. Great schools bring great people. I truly would like to see people moving back in to the city instead of out, so this problem needs to be resolved and soon. District 150 teachers, for the most part, are great. They deal with alot of issues besides education.

    I also believe the BOE and Admin are not out to sabotage the schools, but they are going about the wrong way. And the violence is not just a school issue, it is a citywide issue. Parents of all race, color and creed need to be involved, as well as city officials. Everyone needs to get involved! Parents should not be rejected in the planning process!

  25. ImaSwede

    You’re right. My point was the violence has been in the schools for a long time and more recently the whole city is seeing it. People who work in business etc. have been removed from the violence in the schools. I love Peoria too, but with this current admin. should people risk their children’s safety and education? I won’t.

  26. Lovekids- Bullsh*t! If you think your kids are safe by sending them to a small town school or a private school you are fooling yourself. 150 has their share of problems but I have yet to hear of another school that is perfect and without incidents. Hell, most of the deadly tragic school shootings have happened at white, suburban “safe” schools and colleges through out the country. How many mass shootings by disturbed students do you hear of at urban schools? I would never send my kids to a school like Morton, I hear they have a huge drug and alcohol problem. Teen sex is an epidemic at schools like Dunlap and don’t even get me started on the issues that go on in the private schools.

  27. Getreal, I’m with you. I think all schools have their fair share of social problems, and that is why I am not willing to give up on 150. Unfortunately it seems the community has become increasingly apathetic towards the District and the results of that neglect are now becoming too obvious to ignore. My hope is that it has reached its lowest low and with renewed community interest and involvement we can begin an uphill climb. Unfortunately, after being a participant in this latest fiasco, I don’t see that happening with Hinton at the helm.

  28. I do agree all schools have their share of concerns. No matter where you send your kids there is reason to worry. I suppose I am just at my tipping point with all of this. There must be some reason that over the past several years the population in District 150 is half of what it used to be.

    I know several families that moved out of Peoria because of the schools and when their children completed school, they moved back to the city. Maybe when they left they were at their tipping point also. Truly, I am sad for District 150. I know other schools/districts have their problems, but I don’t believe all of them have to have police there on a daily basis. How sad is that? But I suppose maybe its better to have to call the police on a regular basis, then have to call them once because someone in the school has just gone on a shooting spree. So I know what you are saying, I am just disheartened by some of the recent decisions or maybe I have just seen too much.

  29. GETREAL,
    Your argument has a few holes. First The crime rate is significantly higher in inner-city schools than in ‘suburban’ schools. True, several high-profile shootings have occurred in middle/upper class suburban schools, but this is the exception…not the rule. This is why such occurrances are high profile, receiving more media attention than usual.

    INNER-CITY SCHOOL STATS
    ? In 1999, 1,492 school-age children were killed by firearms (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000).
    ? In 1998, students ages 12 through 18 were victims of more than 2.7 million total crimes at school. In that same year, these students were victims of about 253,000 serious violent crimes at school (that is rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault). There were also 60 school- associated violent deaths in the United States between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998-including homicides (Kaufman et al., 2000).
    ? Fifteen percent of violent crimes and almost nineteen percent of simple assaults occurred inside school buildings or on school property in 1999 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001).
    ? Twenty-five percent of inner-city school students report carrying a weapon in school, and 44 percent report carrying weapons out of school (Sheley, McGee, & Wright, 1995).
    ? Seventeen percent of all persons arrested in 1999 were under the age of 18 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2000).
    ? While only four percent of inner-city school students report use of hard drugs, 13 percent report either dealing drugs or working for a drug dealer (Sheley, McGee, & Wright, 1995).
    ? Fifty-seven percent of violent crimes committed by juveniles occur on school days, even though only about half of the days in a year are school days. In fact, 1 in 5 violent crimes committed by juveniles occur in the four hours after school (Sickmund, Snyder, & Poe-Yamagata, 1997).

  30. True, I believe that much of what is ailing Dist 150 has little to do with the teachers. The Admin and Board is supposed to take care of the details. Unfortunately, Adminstrations, Public Boards and Trustees almost always come up short, causing more harm than good – which is why they still make the big bucks.

  31. New Voice’s stats prove that kids are not “safer in school” as the proponents of expanded school day/year/ages claim.
    Also, it would be VERY interesting to see those same stats from 50 years ago. How much has changed vs. how much is just a matter of media hype?

  32. These two pieces of information will shed some light on how serious the behavior issues are in District 150: First semester of the 2006-2007 school year District 150 had 3,340 suspensions ands over half of these suspensions were for 5 to 10 days. Second semester of 2006-07 had 4926 students suspended for at least three days. For the first semester of 2007-08 school year, there were 2,871 suspensions.

    Additionally, there is a report in conjunction with the Illinois State police that shows the number of incidents in District 150 broken down by attacks against school personnel, those involving drugs, and those involving weapons. We are not as troubled as Rockford- but we are a close second. Here is the link: http://webapps.isbe.net/sirs/webreports.aspx click the view report button when the site opens up.

  33. When considering this data, one must also realize that the advent of “Zero Tolerance” policies have drastically increased disciplinary measures. Also, the nature of the offense isn’t readily known. Students are expelled/suspended at alarming rates for minor offenses, so the numbers don’t necessarily reflect what’s happening in the building. For example, if one student offers another student an ibuprofen, expulsion can happen. When I compare the offenses that result in expulsion these days to what my high school experience was like 20 years ago, I’m grateful that zero tolerance policies were not in effect. I’m sure that if it was, my graduating class would have been much, much smaller.

    And just because protests and board meetings aren’t well attended does not mean that a community is apathetic. There are a great number of individuals who support teachers, administrators and board members; those individuals might not speak as loudly as others, but their input is just as valuable.

  34. True, Rixblix, “zero tolerance” has led to minor infractions being blown out of proportion, but I also know, for a fact, that there is a lot of pressure at some schools to ignore even serious misbehavior because administrators don’t want any more suspensions.

  35. Not sure what you mean, Rixblix, although I can take a wild assed guess that you are once again slamming Peoria Parents and our efforts to improve OUR schools. I will say this again, Jill Lathrop – why don’t you focus the considerable effort you put forth in following me around and slamming me and channel it towards the East Peoria Schools that you yourself have found so despicable?

  36. Diane, it’s time you get over yourself. Educators stick together, regardless of where or who we teach. What happens in one district affects all districts within the area. I’m tired of your notion that YOUR way is the only way. There are clearly many people who disagree with you. I’m sorry that you feel victimized by someone who has an opposing opinion. I’m looking forward to your run for the school board since you think you can do a better job than the individuals elected. My advice is to spend less time threatening your detractors with lawsuits, restraining orders and other scare tactics and work on keeping your side of the street spiffy clean.

  37. I don’t think Peoria Teachers would appreciate you comparing their qualities to yours. And don’t even think of calling me multiple times at home again tonight. That is harassment, and YES, I will assert my rights against your huge fat ass.

  40. There are far more than 1300 people whose children attend school in District 150. But I’ll bet those 1300 would be thrilled to see how Ms. Vespa responds to criticism.

  42. Sorry, Billy you’re sorely misinformed. And the phone records would prove it.

  43. Riblix: Who are those people who disagree with Diane’s stance on this issue? The only ones I know sit around a horseshoe every other Monday night–now even three (two recently) of them have opposed the shortened day idea. I sat at a table collecting about 500 of the 1300 signatures and did not hear any of these opposing voices. None in opposition have shown up at District #150 board meetings either. As a retired #150 teacher of 43 years, I was very happy that Diane accepted the challenge to lead this group opposing the shortened day plan. I think this group represents the best of parent-teacher cooperation that I’ve witnessed in a long time. Together I believe we can hold District #150 accountable in ways that seemed impossible before.

  44. As I understand, there was one person at Monday’s school board meeting who did support this measure. There have also been a number of individuals who have expressed support for the BOE’s move via “blogs” such as this. The District 150 parent’s group was able to bring attention deliberation to the issue at hand. However, as you know, the depth and breadth of the issues facing many of the districts in this area are great. As a parent AND educator, I am offended that ssomeone assumes that because a parent can’t go to a board meeting or attend a protest, their voice doesn’t count. Or worse, they are viewed as apathetic.

    I know for a fact that there are individuals who choose not to speak up because they fear the repercussions. As you’ve seen above, opposing views often result in some pretty odd confrontations.

  45. Riblix:

    Greetings — in the interest of civility and seeking to understand — most everyone has a fear of one item or another and public speaking is more fear provoking than death for most people.

    Nevertheless, everyone has their agency to stand up and be counted. Although some people are more vocal, their knees still knock together and voice quivers as they overcome their fear to speak out for what they believe in. I have been there and done — I have been harrassed, threatened, bullied, property vandalized, reputation smeared and slammed and so on … you just have to decide what is more important. Remember that leaders can get out of control when no one stands up because of fear, just look at history and think of Hitler and others to truly understand what I am talking about.

    For anyone to state that one group is a vocal minority or the majority believes one way when the majority is silent — no one is a mindreader. Just using muscle and namecalling to marginalize the group’s opinion you do not want to deal with at that point in time.

    The problem is that we need to invite and engage all stakeholders to the messy process of public debate for as long as it takes rather than shoving half-baked ideas down citizens’ and parents’ throats. Very few people like the throat shoving method which tends to encourage people to man the ramparts to stop the attack.

    Liz Allen is reported to have been in support of the idea — because something has to change, not that it was necessarily the best change which could have been made, it was the substitute change presented.

    Please ask yourself as an educator if this makes sense. Superintendent presents a plan and then keeps rewriting the benefits of the new plan like someone rewriting history in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. And now, we are saving zippo $ and no plan in the place for effective implementation and we still vote for it? Unbelievable.

    Mr. Hinton has promised and it was a part of his contract to develop a communication plan to involve the community — have you seen that plan? If so, please look me up and I will gladly pay for a copy.

    After the Propsect property purchases, the Title I audits and now the shortened primary school day, to name just three of the larger poor decisions made within D150, citizens, taxpayers and parents and teachers are fed up.

    Everyone’s voices counts if they express it — crying and whining over your soda will not cut it anymore — we are in serious trouble as a nation and Peoria is in serious trouble. The decisions being made by the COP, D150 and the PPD will mark our future for the next several decades or perhaps even an hundred years — plan well for we will reap what we sow and my deepest concern is that we are headed in the direction of new East St. Louis.

  46. Karrie- what a wonderful piece of writing and I completely agree with you!

  47. Ms. Alms,

    That was very well said. And you didn’t even have to bring the size of my derriere into the conversation. And certainly the decision made on the West side of the river will affect the entire area. Many large, urban districts are in deep trouble. NCLB has ravaged many of the most impoverished districts in this nation. Administrators are left making difficult and unpopular choices amid public scorn. Perhaps Ms. Allen is correct in assuming that some change is needed in this current climate.

    I came from a school district in Wisconsin where each school had a “school improvement committee” that consisted of the building principal, teacher(s), parents and residents; the district itself had a district-wide improvement committee. I was fortunate to sit on my chidrens’ school committee, the district’s committee and the board of directors of the Charter School my oldest attended. I was privy to information that wasn’t disseminated district wide because of the feasibility and nature of the material.

    What I learned is that compromise is vital to any process. I also learned that there are individuals, by the nature of their education, training and knowledge of the issues at hand who are better equipped to make difficult decisions. I also learned that a school district cannot be run using traditional business models. It just doesn’t work.

    What troubles me is the assumption that one side is completely wrong and the other side is totally correct in any given situation. There are many shades of grey.

    These are challenging times for public education. Many would like to vilify the entire establishment. The vast majority of us are products of public education; it works.

    My behind and I thank you, Ms. Alms, for your voice of reason.

  48. Educators must stick together? I have an education degree and I used to teach for Dist. 150. From what I have heard the educators in Dist. 150 are sticking together. We have heard several of them at board meetings saying shorter days will only puts these kids on the street and do them no good. I am also a parent and a Peoria tax payer and I commend Diane for putting herself out there for the sake of saving our schools and our city. If you think for one moment that things go down in Peoria schools that we never hear about, think again!!

    In fact, I believe there are many teachers who are afraid to speak out in fear of losing their jobs or other repercussions. This stems from the way the schools are being run out of fear and intimidation since this administration took over.

    I can’t believe you don’t have better things to do than calling Diane and harassing her. WTF??? That is stalking. I don’t see any constructive criticism here, instead I see you attacking Diane. That is why you came to the blog, so you could continue harassing her.

    What is it exactly that you are upset about? Or do you just not like cute blonds who happen to be intelligent at the same time? You must be very threatened by her for you to come on here and speak this way. Get over yourself! You won’t find any support here.

  49. Rixblix,

    I’m not sure any of us – Diane, Karrie, me – have ever said we are completely right and they are completely wrong. If you read anything we offered, we said (and believed) that the District should offer more time for collaboration, but not at the expense of education minutes. What about that don’t you understand?

    I know you’ve got a problem with Diane, but I wish you’d really keep it private. My guess is that Diane had had enough of you and lost her temper.

    For the record, I don’t doubt that some administrators, board members, principals and even parents supported the plan(s) as proposed. A greater many were simply indifferent (worse, in my opinion than being for a bad plan). But as the incoming president of Whittier’s PTO, I have access to about 50-60 parent emails. I have kept them all informed in a balanced way (especially at the beginning) and have asked them for feedback. Not one has expressed support for a shorter school day. Now, maybe they are somehow scared of me, but if you met me, you’d know I’m one of Peoria’s least fearsome individuals. In taking the petition up and down Elmwood, one mom said that only one person was in favor of the plan — One! That doesn’t mean he isn’t entitled to his idea, but it is hardly a wave of support.

    Tell me, do your kids go to District 150 schools? If not, what is the length of the day in your school?

  50. Riblix,
    I think you are mistaken about NCLB and the presumed special abilities of those in the private meetings. Do yourself a favor and read the NCLB document. for many reasons the NCLB is the best thing that has come down the public education pike in a very long time. When you are finished reading attend a few district 150 board meetings or committee of the whole meetings or sub committee meetings and come back with a report about how much “knowledge of the issues” you witness. You will discover not much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.