PeoriaStory

Keep Quest? The Debate

PEORIA, IL -- The debate goes on over whether the Peoria School District 150 Board should fund the public charter school Quest for another five years. 

At the August 26 meeting the board heard the arguments in the public comment section of the agenda. Activist Terry Knapp said that contrary to what the board has been told Quest is not a STEM school, teaching science and technology. It's not teaching calculus or advanced chemistry and physics, he said, while all three Peoria high schools offer these classes.

He has been researching Quest, and found board members living out of the school district. And other materials have not been provided to him. "I want a copy of a curriculum guide and a financial statement," he said.

It's teacher retention rate is only 44 percent, while the Peoria high schools have nearly double that rate, he said.

Polly Barton, widow of the late Glen Barton, a former CEO of Caterpillar, Inc. and a founder of Quest, said "I support both schools," meaning Quest and the Peoria schools. "Peoria needs choid because students learn differently."

Activist Sharon Crews spoke about discipline, with her remarks posted below.  She was followed by three Von Steuben staff members who said the opening of the school has gone "beyond excellent."

"I'm really proud of you and I believe in you," Supt. Sharon Kherat responded.

Here is a recording of the public comments.

Download PsD150 aUG 26 19

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Here are the remarks of Sharon Crews:

Before resolving our district’s discipline problems, the history that led to this mess must be studied.  Online articles have convinced me that the issues that spawned discipline problems all over the country are the same that we have and are experiencing.

 I taught before these problems started and was still teaching when this difficult period began.  Only now have I realized the root cause.  For over twenty-five years,  I seldom had discipline problems I could not handle.  I wasn’t a super teacher, but the central and building administrations supported teachers with policies that actually scared students into behaving.

Today’s superintendents are being fed the lie that exciting online curricula, not consequences, will revolutionize student behaviors.

Two groups are punished by current policies:  teachers and the students who come to school prepared to be taught but can’t be taught because teachers spend all their time disciplining.  It’s time to help those neglected students.  Ask them what to do with misbehaving students; seriously, they will have some very good ideas.

In the 1960’s, state and federal courts passed laws that said schools could not censor students’ First Amendment Rights unless the educational process was disrupted. Where there are laws, there are lawyers. School superintendents and building administrators ran scared and that’s where discipline problems began—out of fear.

All across the nation teachers were told to ignore discipline problems to avoid lawsuits. Some administrators’ policies were based on their pet peeves or prejudices, not on behaviors that caused discipline problems. Those had to end.

For instance, a 1969 Supreme Court decision gave students the right to wear armbands protesting the Vietnam War. In District 150 Whitaker refused to allow a Bradley professor’s son to enroll at Peoria High because he refused to cut his long hair. The student came to Manual and his father sued Whitaker. The district lost because the student’s First Amendment Rights were violated.

There was no reason to change discipline policies in these and other such cases because public school should already have ended policies or practices that violated those rights and did not disrupt teaching. As you know, Terry Knapp also won a case accusing Whitaker of violating his First Amendment rights.

Whitaker had many pet peeves. Of course, the most momentous national case was Brown vs Board of Education, which has spawned many needed laws and changes in how black students were and are treated. I was, also, involved in one of these issues when a student who had just moved here from the South was coerced into participating in one of the riots that were typical of the era. I did not believe he should be up for expulsion, so I contacted Mary McDade. As a result, from then on all students up for expulsion had a right to a hearing with representation to reach a fair decision.

Our district handled that one correctly. There are instances of students exercising their First Amendment Rights that do disrupt classes and must be dealt with. However, administrators have called for unnecessary leniency, and chaos has reigned.

Next time I will discuss the discipline issues spawned by IDEA, the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. I challenge this administration to help find a solution that can be sold to other schools instead of buying miracle cures being used ineffectively all over the country. - 30 -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Shaft coming soon?

PEORIA, IL - The 1866 Civil War monument The Shaft is still slated for Springdale Cemetery, though its board of directors has not yet approved it.

The board received a report from monument restoration team leader Bruce Brown on August 20, then set a special meeting on September 3, at 4 pm, to vote on  the proposal.  It's likely to pass, as the board members expressed support for the project.

The monument, said to be the oldest Civil War monument in Illinois, was discovered in pieces along the Peoria riverfront, where it was stashed after the courthouse was rebuilt in the  1960s.  Brown led a very complicated effort to raise the funds to restore it.

"This is the most complex operation I've been involved with yet,"  Brown told the board."

The quarry that produced the original monument is still in business, and supplied the missing pieces of The Shaft. Then heavy equipment was needed to transport the pieces and will be required to erect it. 

Springdale Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places, with a burial section of war veterans, including the more than 600 from Peoria County who died in the Civil War. "The eagle on top looks at Soldier Hill where they are buried," Brown said. 

In a press release Brown wrote: "The Team has raised and exceeded  its Fundraising Goals.

 

"*  All the monument pieces (original and replacement for those lost) are 'On Site' at Springdale Cemetery.

*  The City of Peoria has approved the entire project, and a Building Permit will be presented to the Board.

*  The 1866 Team assisted (IL) Senator David Koehler (at his request), securing a state grant of $100,000 to support efforts to restore the 1866 monument, and assist the cemetery with other needs.

*  The 1866 Team has developed several "Landscape Concepts" for Springdale Cemetery to consider as they decide final landscaping to possibly commence in the Spring of 2020 (to be approved by the City Historic Preservation Commission when their plans are final).

*  The 1866 Team will present a list of Supporting Groups, likely the most diverse and inclusive "Partners for Preservation"   the Central Illinois Community has ever seen.

 

"It is the intention to have the 1866 Monument erected and finished (except for landscaping) by October 11, 2019, 153 years to the day of the original dedication.

 

"WHAT HAS BEEN LOST AND FORGOTTEN HAS BEEN FOUND, RENEWED, AND IS COMING HOME TO US AGAIN."

 

Construction is expected to take 30 to 45 days, Brown said.

 

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China talk

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

Speaker to Explore Impact of Burgeoning U.S.-China Trade War on Central Illinois

The uncertain U.S.-China economic relationship and its impact on Central Illinois businesses will be discussed when a China expert speaks on the Bradley University campus Monday, September 16, at 7 p.m. in the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center.

Steve Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations and a China observer for more than 40 years, will speak at an event sponsored by the Peoria Area World Affairs Council, Bradley’s Institute of International Studies, the Illinois SBDC (Small Business Development Center) International Trade Center, the International Affairs Organization, and the East Peoria Chamber of Commerce.

Orlins remarks are especially timely because of the ongoing trade negotiations between China and the Trump Administration. In recent days President Trump said he’d expand tariffs on Chinese goods and then he decided to postpone imposition of many of those tariffs until later in the year.

From the burgeoning trade war to currency manipulation to agriculture exports to artificial intelligence, what happens in the developing policies between the U.S. and China directly impacts the local economy, particularly since Caterpillar Inc. does millions of business in China and has several manufacturing plants there.

Local companies with markets in China and those who want to expand into the Chinese marketplace are invited to attend. Community members are welcome as well.

Before taking his current position in 2005, Orlins was managing director of Carlyle Asia and chairman of the board of Taiwan Broadband Communications, one of Taiwan's largest cable television and high-speed internet providers. He’s also served as a senior advisor to AEA Investors Inc., a New York based leveraged buyout firm that does business throughout Asia; managing director of Lehman Brothers and president of Lehman Brothers Asia; and as a practicing attorney in New York City.

From 1976 to 1979, Orlins worked in the Office of the Legal Advisor of the U.S. Department of State, where he was on the legal team that helped establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

Orlins received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, and also earned his law degree from Harvard. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Cost to attend the presentation and dinner is $40 for the general public and $35 for PAWAC members. To attend only the presentation: public $10, PAWAC members $5, and no charge for students. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. with a reception at 5 p.m.

The Peoria Area World Affairs Council is a community-based volunteer organization that brings the world to Central Illinois by holding a variety of forums on international history, culture and current events. Along with expert speakers, PAWAC offers guided travel opportunities, book club meetings and public discussion forums. In an era of increasing communication and globalization, the organization provides an interactive and engaging international perspective to our local community. The Peoria Area World Affairs Council held its first conference in 1970. PAWAC is affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America.

 

Quest Questions

PEORIA, IL -- As students from the Quest charter school filled the Peoria School District 150 board room on Aug. 12, attending the board meeting, activist Terry Knapp continued his quest to find out more about the school.

He recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out more about the Quest board members.  Quest is a charter school, a public school and part of District 150, but with its own board.  "Somebody picked them," Knapp said during the public comment session. "I don't know how they are selected."

The answer is that the board, like all non-profit boards, picks its own members, as Knapp knows.

Of nine people on the current board, three don't live in the city," Knapp said. "One lives in Tazewell County." Others have addresses that are unknown, as they used their work addresses on the list Knapp acquired."Nobody will give me their addresses," he said, adding one lives in Dunlap but he's not sure of the address.

Peoria school board members are elected, and live in their districts, a difference that's obvious.

The District 150 board will soon vote on sending another $6 million yearly to Quest, on a five year contract. "Thirty million in five years. Find out where these people live," Knapp said. The former board members, also listed, will likely lobby the board to approve the money, he predicted.

In a response, board member Martha Ross responded that the $6 million is from the state, and is awarded based on the number of children.

Knapp reminded the board of the 4-3 vote to close Woodruff High School.  He believes it occurred so Quest could open, and Peoria would not have a fifth high school.

Three Quest High School students also spoke to the board praising their school.

Activist Sharon Crews discussed her unsuccessful effort to find out more about a survey at Washington Gifted School, on Summit Learning. See her comments below.

Here is a recording of the comments.

Download D150 Aug 12 19

A parent who also works at Richwoods High School told of receiving a collections notice for a book her son used and perhaps never turned in, six years ago. She was embarrassed, she said, and asked for an apology.  The superintendent Sharon Kherat said she received the same letter, and steps were being taken to clear up the situation.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

Here are the comments of Sharon Crews:

After the district’s meeting with Washington Gifted parents to discuss Summit Learning, Dr. Kherat requested that the parents respond to a yes or no survey as to their approval or disapproval of Summit learning. She then sent an email to Peoria School District recipients, stating that the results of the survey were a near 50-50 split. I assume the parents received this email addressed to “recipients.”

I certainly wondered why the parents could not be given an exact count, so I wrote a FOIA request, asking for the exact number of the survey’s “yeses” and “nos.” I stated that I expected names to be redacted. I subsequently received the kind of absurd refusal that I have come to expect from the district lawyer.

The lawyer informed me that Springfield supports withholding survey results, using a Chicago case as a precedent. That court case, the Chicago Alliance for Neighborhood Safety v the City of Chicago, states that the result of a survey should be withheld because the results reveal what private citizens are up to.”

Please explain how providing a “yes” or “no” answer on this survey would reveal what Washington parents are up to or put them in danger if their vote were revealed. The state needs more data from me before they can rule on my appeal about the Peoria survey results. I believe the board could require the administration to give the parents the exact results of the survey.

At the last board meeting, Dr. Kherat stated that she wants to institute a workable discipline policy, but said something to the effect that she is waiting to find an academic program so pleasing to students that they willingly behave because they like the curriculum. I have no doubt that Summit is her program of choice.

I fear that Washington Gifted was her choice to test the pilot program because those students would not have to be convinced to behave. However, their success with the program would, in no way, prove that Summit could be expected to influence students in all other schools.

I have given you a handout about the personalized learning craze that companies like Summit are hawking all over the country. Two quotes from page 6 scare me the most. “Finally, many critics are worried that ‘personalized learning’ is cover for an aggressive push by the tech industry to turn K-12 education into a giant data-mining enterprise. We're sacrificing our children's privacy and allowing corporations to make potentially life-changing decisions about our kids, all for technology that doesn't actually help them.… When Zuckerberg promises personalization through Summit, it’s really about massive data collection.”

Do you see the irony of your lawyers withholding the results of a yes or no survey compared to more than 15 years of buying programs from companies that then have your permission to share our students’ data with the world to make millions of dollars? And these companies target Title I Schools to get federal money

-- Sharon Crews

Concert Aug. 25

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

The Heart of the Artist Concert Series 2019 is back!            
Join us for a deLIGHTful evening  of strings and songs,

On Sunday,  August 25,  2019 at 6 -7pm 

at the University United Methodist Church
(2818 N. University Street ·
Peoria, IL 61604 · Show Map)

A free will offering will be taken to compensate the artists.

Presenting SUNG WITH STRINGS ATTACHED performed by Ronald Hedlund, Bass-baritone, Barbara Hedlund, Violoncello, & Andrea Molina, Piano.

Enjoy beloved melodies by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, George Gershwin, Irving Gordon, Franz Lehár, Kurt Weill, Rudolf Sieczyński, Oley Speaks, Piotr I. Tchaikovsky, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, Sammy Fain, & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Professor, UPAC Commissioner, Mrs. Barbara Hedlund
www.barbarahedlund.com
Multi-award winning Cellist, Teacher, Orchestra Personnel & Operations Manager,
In School Concerts Coordinator /Performer, Music Publisher, Urbana Public Arts Commissioner CEO/1st Choice Music Services Artist Management & Musician Contracting  &  VCello Music Publications for solo cello, cello ensembles, cello/voice/piano Studio: 505 Eliot Drive, Urbana, IL 61801 | Tel. 217-384-0874 | [email protected]

Find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, & YouTube - 30 -

Concert Aug. 25

PEORIA, IL -- From a news release:

The Heart of the Artist Concert Series 2019 is back!            
Join us for a deLIGHTful evening  of strings and songs,

On Sunday,  August 25,  2019 at 6 -7pm 

at the University United Methodist Church
(2818 N. University Street ·
Peoria, IL 61604 · Show Map)

A free will offering will be taken to compensate the artists.

Presenting SUNG WITH STRINGS ATTACHED performed by Ronald Hedlund, Bass-baritone, Barbara Hedlund, Violoncello, & Andrea Molina, Piano.

Enjoy beloved melodies by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, George Gershwin, Irving Gordon, Franz Lehár, Kurt Weill, Rudolf Sieczyński, Oley Speaks, Piotr I. Tchaikovsky, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, Sammy Fain, & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Professor, UPAC Commissioner, Mrs. Barbara Hedlund
www.barbarahedlund.com
Multi-award winning Cellist, Teacher, Orchestra Personnel & Operations Manager,
In School Concerts Coordinator /Performer, Music Publisher, Urbana Public Arts Commissioner CEO/1st Choice Music Services Artist Management & Musician Contracting  &  VCello Music Publications for solo cello, cello ensembles, cello/voice/piano Studio: 505 Eliot Drive, Urbana, IL 61801 | Tel. 217-384-0874 | [email protected]

Find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, & YouTube - 30 -

Planning downtown Peoria on the river

PEORIA, IL -- Planning for Peoria's Riverfront is underway, with ideas for the now flat green space which formally housed the concrete platform. 

An Aug. 1 meeting, sponsored by Terra Engineering, brought forth ideas for the area, which includes the land between the two Illinois River bridges, but not Riverfront Park, north of the Murray Baker Bridge.

The ideas included: bicycle and canoe rentals, an ice skating rink, space for the farmer's market (which attracts thousands of people) steps leading down into the river (like St. Louis, Mo.) a dog park, athletic places, a splash pad, green space for picnics, a boardwalk close to the river, a barge with restaurant, and of course parking. Much of the area floods, so that must be considered in selecting features for the place.

The engineers will select some of these ideas and encompass them into a drawing for the next meeting. 

Cost was not discussed, but some at the meeting warned maintenance costs must be considered.  A splash pad at the Gateway Building, where the meeting took place, is not operating this summer because it needs maintenance,  not in the city's budget, it was said.

Someone suggested protecting the River Station building from flooding, as it now must rely on sandbags.  A berm could be built as part of the plans, was the response.

The selected features could be added in phases, someone said, to make the project more financially feasible.

 --  Elaine Hopkins