PEORIA, IL -- Here is a comment to the Peoria Public Schools Board from activist Sharon Crews. It has been sent as she cannot now attend the meetings for public comments because of the virus.
Board members:
Please consider all the pleas I hope you are receiving before you decide on the administration’s proposal to lay off 44 teacher aides.
First, ask yourselves who, besides the aides, will be hurt by these layoffs (firings is probably the accurate term). First and foremost to be hurt are the 44 teachers who will be losing the only help they have in dealing with overcrowded classrooms and the ensuing discipline problems.
The administration’s lack of effective discipline policies and the lack of meaningful consequences for bad behavior increase the number of students who misbehave every day. The administration asks teachers to cut down on the number of students who receive consequences for bad behavior by cutting down on the number of referrals written. Ironically, teachers, not students, are judged by the number of referrals sent.
Of course, students will be hurt by the loss of teacher aides, who provide another adult with whom they can relate and from whom they can receive help. Also, the motivated students will be hurt by the disruptions created by students because the teacher no longer has help in controlling behavior.
Secondly, what created the financial need and how will these salaries resolve the financial problems? My guess is that the money will be used to pay off the purchase of computers to use in the classroom for remote learning and for students to borrow to connect with teachers during the shutdown of schools by the virus.
These “stolen” teachers’ aides’ salaries will provide only a pittance of what the district needs. The recent votes of four board members to provide Quest with six million dollars for each of the next two years has caused the deficit now hurting the district’s classrooms. Supt. Kherat has chosen to fire employees with direct contact with students to provide needed funds instead of decreasing the number of highly paid Wisconsin Avenue administrators.
This deficit also requires that the board vote “no” to all future requests from the administration to buy programs that promise but don’t provide miracle cures. Go back to the successful practice of the district’s earlier years of relying on committees of teachers to come up with original ideas for curricular changes.
Four years ago, I would not have believed that Dr. Kherat would be so unkind as to put 44 employees on the streets looking for employment during a time when the virus has created so much unemployment.
At the March 9, 2020, board meeting I was pleased to hear three African-American Glen Oak women (parents and a grandmother who acts as a crossing guard) support teacher, Joseph Grace, who was on the agenda to be fired because of what the administration considered insubordination for the way he expressed his concerns that discipline problems that jeopardize the safety of students, especially after school, are not handled.
I believe Kherat should have recognized the possibility of a 3 to 3 vote because one board member, Lynne Costic, was absent and postponed the vote. When a tie vote did occur, Kherat stated that she expects the board to support her decisions. Boards, all the way back to Harry Whitaker, have supported the board-chosen superintendent with mostly unanimous votes. However, I thought that the board members should consider the opinions of the taxpayers who voted them in.
Kherat called for a revote at a later meeting and the vote was 4 to 3 in favor of firing Grace. That seems like double jeopardy to me. and I believe the revote should not have been allowed.
The virus worked in Kherat’s favor. It was a 14-minute meeting with only the re-vote on the agenda. As Peoria Journal’s reporter speculated, I believe that there would have been a large number of Joseph Grace’s supporters and speakers at this meeting were it not for the restrictions of the virus. His firing was especially cruel since this was his fourth year of teaching. He would have been a tenured-teacher and much harder to fire. The three board members who voted not to fire him obviously thought he deserved a second chance.
In March, 17 non-tenured teachers were notified that they would be fired at the end of the school year. I guess “Dismissal for Reasons Other Than Reduction in Force” sounds kinder, but it isn’t kinder. Glen Oak lost 4 teachers, Harrison 4, Calvin Coolidge 1, Sterling 1, Peoria High 1, Roosevelt 1, and WCTC 1. Of the seventeen 3 were science teachers, 3 social studies, 1 business, and 1 music.
I know the science teacher from Calvin Coolidge. His firing makes me very angry. He is an African-American (others might be, also) and the district definitely needs black role models. and he is just that. He is my former student and an adult friend. I know that he is well-liked by students.
Board members, before you vote to fire these seventeen teachers, please consider the following
1 – Were any of these teachers some of the hard-to-acquire teachers that were finally found last year? I recall that science and music teachers were mentioned as hard to find.
2 – Will they be hard to replace next year—especially in this virus restricted time when applicants probably won’t be traveling to Peoria?
3 – Why is each one no longer needed?
4 – What negatives about these teachers make them unfit to work in District 150?
5 – Are the teachers accused of something related to how they teach or grade or how they discipline or treat students? Or, as in so many cases that I recall, was there a personality conflict between a teacher and a principal or other employee? Personality conflicts between adults should not be the reason for firing a teacher unless it negatively impacts the relationship between the teacher and the students.
6 – Has the administration prepared any workshops that help the administration acclimate new teachers to the demands and characteristics of District 150?
7 – Is it possible that Dr. Kherat does not want to replace these seventeen teachers because they will be replaced by Summit Learning or some other remote learning program?
The virus’ forcing teachers to teach via the phone and/or computer provides Kherat with the perfect opportunity to assess how students feel about remote learning. The Peoria Journal reported that, so far, the plan asking students to work at home has not been successful with a significant percentage of students at Manual and Peoria High.
I recall that Kherat’s report of her survey about how Washington Gifted parents felt about Summit learning was less than honest. A survey of all students and their parents should be conducted before any decisions are made about extensive use of remote learning and/or programs such as Summit Learning.
One question that should be given serious consideration would be how much time each student spends at home on cell phones and or devices such as computers, playing games, etc. My own knowledge of these practices tells me that students spend considerable time on these, and adding school to the time spent on computers is not good for the students’ physical or psychological health.
When you vote on any issue, please give serious consideration to both the students and the teachers well-being—they are the district.
Sincerely,
Sharon L. Crews
Retired in 2005 after reaching English at Roosevelt Jr High for 7 years and Manual for 36 years.
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