I find it really interesting that, as a City Council candidate, I regularly get asked about what the City can do (or what I can/will do as a City Council person) to help District 150. Oftentimes, the questions go beyond the support areas over which the City has control, and gets into school board policy — concerns over school closures, returning schools to a K-8 configuration, and similar things. In fact, from the questions I get asked at forums and in personal interactions, it looks to me like the state of District 150 is, if not number one, at least the number two priority of Peoria residents.
And yet…
Not a single person circulated petitions for the third ward school board seat. As a result, all the candidates there are write-in candidates. The third ward school board member vacating his seat this year is running for City Council instead. In the second ward, there’s only one challenger to sitting school board president Debbie Wolfmeyer. The last time Martha Ross was up for reelection, she ran unopposed. If I were to judge the public’s concern for District 150 by their efforts to change policy by getting on the board and challenging the status quo, I’d have to say it’s not a very high priority at all.
How are we to explain this strange phenomenon?
Perhaps, many folks don’t really understand that the City Council and the school district are two entirely separate political, nearly sovereign entities. The same applies to the park district. Maybe too, the public feels that this separateness should not exist.
Illinois has too many political layers.
In a similar vein, I am puzzled how a city can establish a TIF, taking tax dollars away from another equally sovereign tax district (District 150) without their voting on it.
Google the theory of learned helplessness. If every time the rats try to escape they get shocked, at some point they won’t try to escape even after you remove the shock. I think concerned citizens and parents at this point feel they can’t fight the entrenched status quo – that is, that the district exists by the chosen for the chosen, gives little regard to what parents want, and so parents take the path of least resistance and vote with their feet.
Mahnko.
district 150 reps did vote in it at the joint review board meeting.
Maybe no one wants to run for school board because they are not up for the punishment. I think it is worse than the grief the city council receives. Schools needed to be closed in the past and likely more will be closed and/or rearranged in the future along with other tough changes. I think the vocal minority in this community can be pretty brutal. I think Stowell did a good job and asked a lot of questions regarding $$ and challenged the status quo and all he got was push back.
Additionally, I think much of the voting public from 3 ward have mentally abandoned District 150. Many in the area send their children to private school.
Agree Frustratated. Unpaid, volunteer school board members get pummeled all the time by those not willing to jump in the fray and be part of the solution.
Frustrated, have you ever been to a school board meeting with the current board in place? They rarely if ever discuss any issue thoroughly–with several board members not even making any comments. I think the public deserves to the reasons for their votes–but I rarely hear any. I often get the impression that some of the board members have not done their homework–and, therefore, don’t want us to know how little they know about a particular issue. Even worse, I would expect board members to ask many more questions–to seek out answers to the hard questions but they are usually mum. I expect them to be something more than “yes” men/women to all the superintendent’s wishes–and that just doesn’t happen. Maybe it happens behind closed doors or at meetings other than the regulard BOE meetings–but I think their discussions should be much more public.
150 “father knows best” mentality—-it’s gotten old! Very OLD! Listen to the taxpayers and parents for a change
Mortified comment is on spot. #150 has a P/R problem. cares less about the taxpayers and parents,and people in general, The BOE is like a dictatorship. They know best and don’t listen to the public.
I hope all of you read Jeff Adkins-Dutro’s editorial (Spotlight) in today’s PJS. I hope someone can stop District 150 from turning PHS over to yet another outside company. I am having a hard time understanding why some of the very people who scream about federal control are so willing to turn our schools over to these federal whims–money-makers for friends in high places.
I don’t see this as District 150 turning over Peoria High to the Feds, but giving the school new leadership. This appears to be happening to many of the schools in the district on Monday night. Good for Lathan and Company! This needed to happen a long time ago. Simmons is not a strong leader and the article (Simmons calling the Journal Star) was a very good example of his politician type style. Intelligent people were very capable of reading behind the lines. Not everyone fell for his political tactic. There is another high school principalship open in the district if Simmons is that good send him there. Stick with it Lathan and Company! And the way I read the article….Simmons resigned his position in the district publicly.
Oops–you forget to give us your name so that we would know whether or not to consider you any kind of authority on the subject. I have difficulty believing in the credibility of unnamed people. Perhaps you have a suggestion for your pick of a strong leader for Peoria High. Maybe you could, also, share your description of a strong leader for Peoria HIgh. Please, intelligent person, read between the lines for us–I read between the lines (based on what I already know) and came up with a much different scenario.
Like everyone else on the blogs…I am John Q. Taxpayer. I didn’t know using your name made you an authority.
Time for the mayor to take over. The current 150 leadership model is antiquated, inefficient, and horribly ineffective. Anyway, I was thinking today . . . One qualification for running for school board should be that each candidate must be able to meet or exceed on the PSAE. If we expect high school juniors to do it, then why shouldn’t school board members (at the very least) be expected to do so.
Interesting take on this subject by “Frustrated”. Forgive me for not paying attention, “Frustrated”, but do you have children in 150?
Oops, of course, you have a right to express your opinions without using your name. However, when you make statements such as you did stating that Mr. Simmons is not a strong leader and imputing political motives for his statement to the PJS, then I believe your anonymous comments don’t carry much weight. A person’s good name gives credence to their words. Questioning the intelligence of those who don’t agree with you seems a bit absurd. Intelligent people should not trust the words of someone who is not willing to stand behind his/her words.
People don’t want to be the school board because they have a realistic sense of what can and can not be done there… why waste one’s time trying to fix this inane broken system? Anyone who has every looked at this objectively and honestly knows it must be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up.
It is a giant sucking hole taking children, money, public trust, and property values with it in to the black hole of bureaucracy.
As far as Oops is concerned, Sharon, you have an administration apologist there… either one of the board members or someone from Manual.
“Unpaid, volunteer school board members get pummeled”
or…
Incompetent, lying, administration “yes men”, school board members get pummeled…
I have to laugh. CJ posts on how everyone it seems, has a cross to bear against District 150, how everyone it seems looks to the City Council to fix the school board, how no one seems to want to step up and run for a school board seat. Look at the comments here already.
First, Simmons is an excellent Principal at PHS and he is doing what he can to provide a learning environment there. Here is where he is screwed. Because of the many thugs and disrespectful student population at PHS and because these students don’t show any respect towards the teachers or Staff, because these students think nothing about fighting in the streets during and after school, because there is no parent involvement because the parent is usually high, collecting their free cell phone, or having their nails done or all 3 and are absent until their “child” is arrested by the police, Randy Simmons has had no choice but to suspend numerous students in order to maintain an atmosphere conductive for a learning environment. A losing battle IMO. This pisses off the Admin on Wisconsin because Lathan and Company feels we simply can’t have these suspensions. These are just misguided children. It must be a staff problem because we never ever blame the children or parents or even think of holding either responsible. Heavens forbid! So, the District applies for a Grant, changes up the whole structure of the school, brings in people of color to run it, and the same crap happens and after the money runs out in 3 years, we the people are stuck with inept people like Mrs. Jenkins at Manual. Like painting a rusty wall. Looks good for awhile, still rusty.
Second, really, who would want a seat on the school board when you got organized groups who meet weekly at a pizza joint to discus every thing the Board is doing or isn’t doing to their liking. Sometimes with facts and sometimes with hearsay. Sure it’s good for parents to be involved but these people dump a lot of pressure on Board members. These people are elected to their seats and serve without pay and yet they take the heat from people who’s children are passing through. After their kids are through, they are gone and another set shows up. I don’t think anyone would want to be put under that bright public spotlight.
Just how I see it.
Em, I truly have hoped that you would join “that” group which meets “twice” a month to discuss District 150 issues over pizza. We do try our best through FOIAs to deal more in facts (when 150 deems to give them to us) than in hearsay. Frankly, I think your observations about 150 seem to agree considerably with our group. See you tonight!
Well said Emtronics
For instance, Em, do you remember the big fight at PHS at the beginning of the year? From the podium at a BOE meeting, I asked what consequences were meted out to these students for their behaviors. Dr. Lathan’s words were something (if not exactly stated) to the effect that was information that we would never receive. I happen to believe the public, taxpayers, parents, etc., deserve to know what is happening in 150 schools and what the district is doing to curb that behavior. I have recently FOIAd that info–so we will soon find out whether or not that is information about which there should be transparency.
Slightly off topic but D150 related anyway…I thought I read here a month or so ago that Mary Davis had two court appearances during March. I have neither seen nor heard any follow up. Since the JS counts mostly on stringers to seek out animal abuse news items rather than reporting local news of interest then we may never know the outcome. Way to go JS!
Mary Davis has another appointment with the court tomorrow….
Question for Frustrated – Am I to infer you believe my impressions are off base?
My children attended some grade and middle school at District 150 but presently we live out of the area but are moving back this Summer. I continue to read blogs and other news dealing with the District to determine whether to return my children to the District when we move back.
I know of a number of families moving to the Peoria area in the next several months and I can tell you most do not want to move here and it is not just because of District 150 — because that is not even on their radar.
The Peoria area has lots to fix and it is not limited to the District.
Tomorrow night’s BOE meeting is at Richwoods. What’s up with the admn paid leave item on the agenda? Is the assoc. supt. going to finish the school year out as a teacher at her current salary? Or is there a different admn on paid leave? The authoritarian leadership style is not conducive to learning and in the past has cost the taxpayers plenty in legal settlements/lawsuits. I wonder how many more lawsuits will be filed before the Mary Davis case is decided.
1. The Established Class in Peoria, abused and ultimately ran out of town a number of people who advocated and worked very hard to prevent the direction things have gone.
2. Criminals also abused and contributed to the departure of a number of advocates who were frankly, prophetic about the direction Peoria was going.
I understand it is small consolation, but I think it provides a degree of hope, because I personally have and believe many of you who write or comment on blogs, would be able to find a great deal of success with far less effort than you have applied in Peoria, in other communities where you are not having to fight both the Established Class and Criminal Class.
Why would anyone circulate petitions to be a passenger on a sinking ship? Especially one that is being run by a Board of Fools.
“Question for Frustrated – Am I to infer you believe my impressions are off base? ”
It is just hard to imagine any parent criticizing parents from another school district who are trying to improve the educational environment for their kids. Not sure where your kids go to school but I can pretty much guarantee that I won’t be sticking my nose in to your business that involves your children and your local public schools. You should give Peoria parents the same respect.
Wow! Bitter feedback, Question for Frustrated. I do consider myself a “Peoria parent,” why else would I care?? I have not criticized parents of the District? I am typically one of the bloggers that is supportive of the District and its attempts to improve.
Frustrated is definitely a supporter of the district–sometimes I think a bit too much so. 🙂 However, she does maintain an interest in what is happening in the district. Personally, I feel she is too gullible about believe the district’s PR about the effectiveness of programs such as Johns Hopkins at Manual and with regard to accepting all of Dr. Lathan’s decisions as good for the district. By the way, Frustrated, you never have responded to the 378 students on MHS’s honor roll. Do you believe that such a high percentage of MHS students are earning A’s and B’s?
Perhaps the four candidates just woke up one morning and said “Hey, I have nothing else to do, so why not run for the School Board!” To tell you the truth, C. J., that was my question before Jody Pitcher, one of those candidates, decided to pull the plug on the 9/12 forum. I still haven’t gotten a decent answer, and am hesitant to support any of them.
However, if the Journal Star is right this morning, we need to be telling our friends and neighbors to get out and vote this election. Otherwise, we’ll have more of the same at the City Council, and the School Board.
Hey Sharon – thanks for coming to my defense.
I really have no intelligence about the MHS program other than what I read in the PJS or comments on the blogs. I would think the students earning As and Bs are demonstrating mastery of 80 to 100% of the material being presented at that school. It is doubtful, however, given its past low performance that it means the material is in anyway college prep. But Sharon, the District is not marketing it as such. If student ability levels are far below what they should be, doesn’t the curriculum, to some extent, have to be geared to where the students are at?? I think it is much more important for students to stay in school and feel hopeful about their ability to learn then be overwhelmed and discourage and eventually drop out.
Frustrated, I am keeping up the discussion, not to argue with you, but to try to set the record straight. You say the district isn’t billing MHS as college prep. That just isn’t true. To my knowledge, I am the only person at any board meeting to ever point out (from JH own advertising of the program) that this program is for at-risk students. Students and their parents are not informed of that fact. MHS brags that its students are college-bound, etc. Remember that Woodruff students were assigned to MHS, not on the basis of ability but based on geography. None of those students were warned that MHS curriculum is for at-risk students.
I personally know the families of several students who started as freshmen under the old regime and then spent their junior and senior years under Johns Hopkins. The parents of these young people are college graduates; their children were college-bound. And I can guarantee you that they felt cheated by the JH program–and were never told that JH wasn’t geared to college prep–and they were disappointed and even angry.
Also, I think you are making an assumption that simply isn’t true–that MHS students are all below grade level, etc. I think you have made that assumption about the past and the present–you are very wrong. Granted by now, many of the parents who have caught on have found a way to get their children out of MHS–but District 150 isn’t encouraging it–there is much deception going on and it hurts the above average students.
Jan Deissler is the only qualified candidate to sit on the board, and Mike Mitchell, innocent that he is, is a MUCH BETTER choice than Wolfmeyer.
Too bad, you can’t vote “Leave the seat empty”.
Kcdad, RIGHT ON!!!!
Frustrated if your idea of “supporting the school district” is defending administrators accused of embezzling pto funds, an incompetant superintendent and their equally incompetant advisors, (not referring to present) and random, knee-jerk decisions by a majority of the members on the Board of Ed, then thanks but no thanks for your “support”. I stand by my initial assessment that you have no skin in the game and suggest a gentlemans agreement that we both respect the fact that parents have a right in America to fight for what they believe is in the best interests of their public schools. I have a hunch you have your own fair share of demands at your own kids’ schools, and I promise not to interfere.
Frustrated said: Maybe no one wants to run for school board because they are not up for the punishment. I think it is worse than the grief the city council receives. Schools needed to be closed in the past and likely more will be closed and/or rearranged in the future along with other tough changes. I think the vocal minority in this community can be pretty brutal. I think Stowell did a good job and asked a lot of questions regarding $$ and challenged the status quo and all he got was push back.