I am sorry I cannot comment at this time about the allegations against me. Please keep me and all those involved in your prayers. ~Rayanne
169 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Rayanne posted this to "prove" that she is up front and "honest" with the public. Obviously she has a "personal agenda" that she does not want you to know about. RESIGN, RESIGN, RESIGN!!!
You are wrong. Her or the union president cann't say anything until they go to court. I'm sure most of the board won't back her but I do not believe she did what was stated. She belongs to a union herself and she knows not to just go into a union meeting. Since no one knows or will know until they go to court remember you are inocennt until proven guilty. It sounds like you are the one with a personal agenda.
My agenda is very public. GET RID OF DEE AND RAYANNE. No secretes here. I'm not the one attending meetings that I shouldn't trying to get school teachers to participate in Illegal activities that would cost them their teaching careers. Once you have a criminal record you can't teach anymore.
Editorial: Teachers unions can take steps to protect our kids
The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus
Representatives of Illinois' two major teacher unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, declined to answers these two questions:
-- How confident should Illinois parents be that their child's teacher has been fully screened for past criminal convictions?
-- What, if anything, should the state do to further ensure that children are safe from being harmed by those entrusted to educate them?
Those are straightforward, important questions that deserve answers, especially in the wake of an eight-month investigation conducted by Small Newspaper Group. Among the findings:
-- Convicted child molesters and violent criminals have received teaching certificates in Illinois and are in Illinois classrooms.
-- Suspected pedophiles are routinely nudged by administrators from one school district to another.
-- Of the 50 states, only Virginia revokes or suspends fewer teaching certificates than Illinois.
-- No investigators are employed by the Illinois State Board of Education so reports of teacher misconduct are often not investigated or acted upon.
-- The Department of Children and Family Services has found 323 cases providing credible evidence of abuse by teachers, but none have had their licenses suspended or revoked.
-- Teachers hired before 2004 have not had to undergo a state-mandated national criminal background check.
-- Physicians are 43 times more likely than the state's teachers to have their license suspended or revoked. Lawyers are 25 times more likely than teachers to have their license suspended or revoked.
-- None of the tenured teachers fired in the last decade have also lost their teaching certificate and certification officials are not notified when a school district disciplines an educator.
The IEA and the IFT's role is to be advocates not only for their members but also for the children of Illinois. The two labor organizations are to be commended for decades of work that have established a firm place for teachers in the middle class. But both unions have steadfastly opposed such commonsense proposals as fingerprinting all teachers.
It wasn't until 2004 that Illinois began fingerprinting teachers entering the profession, making Illinois the 46th state to implement such a requirement.
Any Illinois educator hired before 2004 has not undergone a national criminal background check. When State Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Morris, proposed fingerprinting everyone, union lobbyists in Springfield helped slap down the proposal and it was eventually watered down to just include "new teachers."
The state of Illinois has done a lousy job of screening people entering the profession, for decades. It's easy to dismiss individual cases of misconduct as problems of urban school districts, but experience has taught us that children are vulnerable in any part of the state.
It's time for Illinois to take additional steps:
-- Fingerprint all school employees and conduct national criminal background checks on each employee every five years.
-- Hire an investigative staff for the Illinois State Board of Education so that all serious allegations against educators can be followed up thoroughly and professionally. (To its credit the IEA endorsed this plan in response to the SNG investigation.)
-- Require school districts to inform the teacher certification board of all disciplinary action taken against teachers -- including employment settlements agreements in which employees are "counseled out" of a teaching post.
-- Prohibit job referrals from being part of these settlement agreements.
Both unions contend incidents of teachers abusing children are aberrations. They are quick to note that the vast majority of teachers are good people. The same can be said for public servants like police and clergy. Leaders in those fields and others often deny that anyone bad can be in such noble professions, but they are. It's worse when their potential victims are children.
They deserve better. It's time for both unions to take new steps to not only protect the image of a noble profession but also to protect the children we entrust with their members.
Another manner in which bad conduct can be kept off an individual’s record is through deferred adjudications, in which a guilty plea is submitted to the court but a judge chooses not to enter it into the record if a person meets the certain requirements, such as successfully completing a probation or undergoing a drug rehabilitation program.
Certain criminal convictions such as murder, sexual abuse, drug possession or soliciting a prostitute are grounds for automatic revocation of a teaching certificate in Illinois. But if a teacher receives a deferred sentence the Illinois school code says that is not considered a conviction.
Everyone that has demanded that Clayton resign or be fired, even though it has yet to be proven (legally) that he violated the law, should demand the same from Rayanne. If board members break the law or are unethical than what kind of example are they setting? This type of behavior does nothing but feed into the stereotype that East Aurora is a nothing but a dysfunctional mess, which apparently starts at the top. I have been to board meetings and heard Rayanne more or less lecture everyone else on what should or shouldn’t be done and in effect alienating most of the other board members and administrators. Perhaps she isn’t so high and mighty after all. For the good of the district she should either resign or offer a formal apology to the community.
I have not demanded or asked Clayton to resign and I will not ask Rayanne. She has not been charged with anything yet and until i hear the whole story will not make a judgement call. We will have to wait till the out come of the Labor Relations inquiry before we judge.
I have not read the paper yet, but my first thought is-Why isn't the union being sued about this-if this was a meeting or whatever it would be the person running this that should tell someone who is not a member to get lost? To the one with the agenda, if you were not there, how do you know what happened? Of course you have secrets here, you do not state your name. Have to go and read the paper now.
The Education Labor Relations Board will investigate the charge and decide whether to hold a hearing, said general counsel Helen Higgins.
At a hearing, an administrative judge would review evidence from both parties and determine if Carlson's actions in fact violated labor rules and whether a remedy is in order.
I don't know the specifics of the allegations except what is reported in the Beacon which is very sketchy. What I do know is that the union in this district is in bed with the administration. I would definately reserve judgement until all the facts are in.
I do find it interesting that Clayton (who is a friend to this administration and board)has been committing illegal acts for years and the district has refused to do anything about it. Rayanne (who is not a friend to the administration and board) in this district may or may not have broken a rule and within a about a week it has gone to the state level.
Rayanne, you may also want to check. I emailed you on tuesday and you said that you were going to a meeting that had been called for that evening but that they refused to let you know in advance what the meeting was about. I am assuming that they confronted you about the allegations at that meeting.
I don't know if this protection pertains to school board members but when a school administrator knows that a meeting that they intend to have with an employee may lead to a reprimand, suspension, termination or legal action, the administrator is required to explain the charge against them and explain the employees rights which include having a representative speak for them at that meeting.
If they had a board action/vote which led to this investigation and they did not present the charge in advance and allow you enough time to mount a proper defense then they are probably in violation of the law themselves. I would definately run these issues by your attorney (don't trust the school districts attorney).
What business is it of hers (Rayanne) to go to the union meeting in the first place. She is not a member so why go? Her being at this meeting is really quite troubling. What purpose could it have served? This is what happens when people do not understand what their roles are. If one of the "old guard" board members had done this people would be all over them.
If there was a meeting called for this why was it not posted in the agendas on the district website? How did a reporter from the Beacon find out about it if we the public did not know?
If there was a meeting on this, don't the same rules apply like other meetings and a vote has to be taken before the public?
So many unasnwered questions in all of this? Was the person with the agenda orcharstrate all of this?
Stay tuned for the soap opera "So Goes the On Going Saga of D131 School Board"
I was wonder also if this was a union meeting why didn't someone stop her from comming in? It was only her and I sure they had a few people there so why wasn't she asked to leave and if she didn't why wasn't the police called to have her taken out. I'm a union member and if someone came in from the outside to start something they would be thrown out or the police called. There is something wrong in all of this.
Her's a factoid for you about 2006 salaries (the last ones made public). The union leader made $134,755. For that sum she taught one class. Teachers in the 30 years + category with a masters degree like the union leader were paid from $65,000 to just over $100,000 in this district. The union president was by far the highest paid teacher in the district.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MONEY PAYS FOR?
WHY WOULD THE ADMINISTRATION PAY THE UNION LEADER FAR MORE THAN THEY DO FOR ANY OTHER TEACHER?
NOT A BAD LITTLE BONUS CONSIDERING UNION POSITIONS ARE NON-PAID POSITIONS.
The paper says that Carla Hettinger is the union president and she is an elemtrey teacher. Looked up on thechampion.org and it says her salary is 77,807. So how are you talking about that makes 147,000?
This is incredible some of you are actually blaming the union for a board member’s highly questionable actions. Once again I ask what is she doing there at all. She did not belong there at all. Defend why she would be at this meeting in the first place. Can’t blame this one on anyone else. Rayanne’s actions caused this no one else’s.
No, somebody has to tell Rayanne that she should not be there. We can't take responsibility for ourselves. We should know that Rayanne can't think for herself and everything needs to be spelled out for her.
Here we go. Rumor has it that the principal at Cowherd is going to be removed from his position to one over at the Service Center due to allegations of wrongdoing. Further, the district is looking to fill the position with Clayton Muhammad.
That is the question why was she there. Why would she know there was a union meeting. Why did't someone in the union ask her to leave? There is something wrong with this story.
And "So Goes the On Going Saga of D131 School Board"
Everything is getting more and more interesting.
THis should be sold as a television series and it would end the money problems of this district.
THere would be money for the kids and the administrators, everyone could see how not to run there district and give everyone a good laugh and think this really could not be happening as heads shake in disbelief!
What I would be more concerned about than the persons gender is, if this is true, why wouldn't the district post the position? The district is already in a federal discrimination suit. Part of that complaint is that the district has used the good old boy network for hiring and that jobs for coaching postions were not posted.
What I want to know is how they can go forward with this magnet school without having the board The Board is responsible for the curriculum of the district's schools." "A listing of all curriculum materials shall be made available for the information of parents/guardians, students, staff and Board members." "With prior Board approval, the Superintendent may conduct pilot programs as deemed necessary to the continuing improvement of the instructional program." [Emphasis added] "The Superintendent shall report periodically to the Board each pilot program, along with its objectives, evaluative criteria, and costs." vote for it.
I don't think the rumor is true about Cowherd. I'm almost certain that Clayton is taking a new position with the Illinois Tollway Authority. It's a Diversity and Minority Affairs Director gig for $105,000 a year! This came from a credible source by the way! I'm sure the news is coming when the ITA publishes it in March! THis is from a gal who works in the HR Department. I didn't think that was a secret because I have heard it talked about publicly in Aurora.
The union will say the same thing they always do. Their concern is the teachers not the administration (that's what they say, not what they practice). I have never seen the union do anything regarding the administration. Whatever the administration does legal or not, the union refers to the short clause in the contract which states the union will not interfer with management rights. That's just one of the reasons this district is where it is at.
Yeah you are right 12:40. I was at the event for Henry Cowherd last night and it was announced there. Clayton is the new Director of Minority Affairs for the state effective July 1! Geesh and to think I was coming on here to give a surprise! You take all the fun away!
11:10: I do believe he is certified because he taught my daughter at Waldo and is in that Doctoral Class with Marin Gonzalez and about 5 other 131 people.
The Cowherd School Principal position can't be posted because she hasn't resigned yet. It's coming however. They are going to get a Hispanic because they already have two African-American principals at Waldo and Simmmons.
But what is this deal about the Union and Rayanne Carlson? Someone please explain in laymans terms.
Thanks for the info. Now does that mean Clayton won't be working for the district.
No one is sure yet because the only thing people know is what is in the beacon and Rayanne and the union proably won't say anything untill they are talked too. All lawyers will tell you not to talk to anyone until after that.
Maybe this is why the board keeps putting off about what is going on about Clayton in the district. I like Clayton, but with everything that has been going on I wonder about this new position he is taking, he is to much onesided when it comes to miniority. I want to know how come the Beacon printed what they did when the rest of the community had no idea, especially if this one of those closed sessions or meeting things. Just who is running the show on this magnet scholl thing? I thought the board had to give a go ahead on something like this before andthing else could be done.
You know I don't think the beacon even knows anything about the open meeting act. All they do is have a reporter come and listen at these meetings or show up for one of those special closed meetings and ask about what is going on and then report it. That is why I think The Daily Herald would do a better job. After reading some of their articles about schools it looks like they look into things more.
Yes, I wondered about how the beacon knew when there wasn't anything on the district website about a executive meeting. The beacon should of said since this is going into lidigation that both parties could not talk about it until after the hearing instead of no comment. That is why I say The Daily Herald would of done a much better job and explained it more. Now I would say both parties are being secretive. The door swings both ways.
If this is true about Clayton resigning from the district, it's the best news this community has had in years. Before you leave, I would like to send you a very large Chicago Salute. For the uneducated among you, a Chicago Salute requires just one finger. I'll let you guess which one. Farewell and good riddance.
131 School District has been scheduled to participate in the online Lighthouse Conditions and Beliefs Surveys. These surveys are key components of the Targeting Achievement through Governance (TAG) program that our Board of Education is currently involved with. They need to hear (many!)honest opinions. Please forward and respond before the deadline Sunday 2/8/08.
The results of your surveys will be part of a national research study and will, hopefully, provide the board with some valuable insight into the beliefs and conditions that exist in our district around student achievement.
The surveys will be available to you on-line (please see URLs below) from Monday, January28 – Sunday, February 10, 2008.
Each survey can be completed and submitted separately; directions are provided once you log-on to the survey. The total estimated time for completing both the surveys is 30 - 45 minutes.
Beliefs Survey – http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/7356/LHMulti-StateBeliefsSurvey-IL.htm NOTE: q Hit the “Enter” key only when you have completed the survey and are ready to submit it.
q Jr. High or Middle School Principals/teachers should use the “Elementary” designation when identifying their relationship or role in the district.
Rayanne, I am impressed. The Beacon blog is reading this one. It mentioned about the comments on this one and the only comment in theirs so far is about Clayton and is it true about him.
Yes, I went to the beacon blog and saw that they where reading this one. I will say that they posted how the process would go which was nice to know now maybe they will say how they found out about the closed meeting and the people of district 131 didn't. I will be watching the beacon too on how they cover this.
In response to most postings, but specifically to February 8, 2008 8:35 AM
"This type of behavior does nothing but feed into the stereotype that East Aurora is a nothing but a dysfunctional mess, which apparently starts at the top." You are 100% right on that one! The top meaning admin! 131 has become a joke!
Has anyone stopped to ask how she knew about the meeting and why there was a meeting in the first place? Maybe she was asked to attend. Then what? What is so wrong about some teachers speaking to a board member about their concerns? You've all read about the problems at that school on here, but things just continue to get worse there and no one has done a thing.
"For the good of the district she should either resign or offer a formal apology to the community." She has nothing to apologize for. There are plenty of others in this district that need to go, and things will never change when there is such coruption at the top. As for how the beacon reporter knew about the closed meeting...doesn't that seem a bit fishy? I bet that she was invited by our fearless leader.
Rayanne stay strong. You did nothing wrong and that will all come out in the end.
I've known Rayanne for a long time and I also find it high unlikely that she broke the law. She's always been a careful person, and always tried to do things by the book and the right way. I agree with others who are saying that there is some definite foul play and fishyness to this story.
There are no board bits for this year yet. See Clayton is bailing out before he tells why the computer update thing is not done yet. Hasn't anyone else wondered why the districts website is not done yet as was promised? Didn't we get a grant or something to pay for this?
Good Luck and God Bless Rayanne. I know in your heart you thought you where doing the right thing. But becasue of this you will now have to be careful of what you do in talking to anyone. So as we move on from this take care of who you talk too and keep doing your best. For all that complains to her come to a school baord meeting and bring up the problems you feel this district has. That is the only way the rest of the district is really going to listen.
This is off base of what most of these post are about but remember this board wants to give administrators an early retirement. Does Your Employer Contribute $69,000/yr To Your 401K Retirement Plan?
By Bill Zettler
To answer the question posed in the headline – I don’t think so. And it’s not because your employer is greedy but simply because it would be impossible to pay that amount and stay in business. They would be bankrupt.
But that’s in the private sector where most of us work. In the public sector this is possible because state governments cannot go bankrupt. They just keep raising taxes to pay whatever exorbitant retirement contribution amounts are needed.
The specific case I am talking about involves an employee of the public school system Linda Jedlicka, campus manager of the Lake County High School Tech Campus whose employer pension contribution will be more than $69,000. And the employer is you the taxpayer.
I use Ms. Jedlicka as an example because she was recently written about in the Daily Herald concerning school board member’s complaints about her salary. According to the Daily Herald article her four highest salaries will be $230,675, $257,459, $257,459 and $210,000 from 2008 thru 2011. That means Ms. Jedlicka's pension will start at over $179,000 per year.
If she retires after 35 years at age 56 then her life expectancy is 30 years and her 30th year’s pension will be $405,000. Her total pension payments will be $7.9 million, the overwhelming majority of it from the Illinois taxpayers. You can see these numbers for yourself by plugging her salaries into our Pension Calculator on the Home Page.
Compare that to the Presidential pensions of Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush at $191,000. What exactly did Ms. Jedlicka do for us that rival’s what a president did? Nothing I can think of.
Although the current teacher-pension contribution is 9.4% that has only been for the last 3 years. Before that it was 8.4% and 30 years ago when Ms. Jedlicka started her career it was less than 6%. Compare that with the typical private sector worker contributing 10.5% via 6.5% Social Security and 4% 401K. So although he pays a higher percentage into his retirement what chance do you think that private sector worker has of retiring on $179,000 at age 56?
According to state actuaries, taxpayer liability for state pensions (Teacher, University and State Employees) is in excess of $300 billion over the next 35 years. Also starting in 2010 when Ms Jedlicka’s salary is $257,459 the state i.e. taxpayer contributions to her pension will equal about 27% of her salary or over $69,000. How does that compare to your 401K?
And Jedlicka is not alone in her out-of-control salary and pension. In 2006 over 8,470 K-12 employees had salaries over $100,000/yr including 420 phys ed teachers, 94 drivers ed teachers, 71 art teachers, 26 auto repair teachers, 135 music teachers and 4 Latin teachers. Top salary was $170,000 for a Drivers Ed teacher and that does not include the value of the pension, tenure or abbreviated work year. See related article and spreadsheet.
So the question is: why should the taxpayer have to pay many times more for retirement as an employer than they can reasonably expect as an employee? The answer, of course, is they should not have to pay a premium to fund other people’s pensions. It is not only inherently unfair it is impossible financially over the long term.
And as you can see from the attached spreadsheet, Ms. Jedlicka is not even near the top, as total compensation approaches $500,000/yr with taxpayer funded benefits of over $100,000/yr. And because these numbers are based upon 2006 salaries they will certainly be even higher when more current salaries become available.
So let us initiate a “Fairness In Compensation Plan” that will put public sector employee pay and benefits on the same level as their peers in the private sector. That way we will have plenty of money for homeless shelters, food pantries, the CTA and road construction and we can fund all of them without any increase in taxes.
Everyone needs to remember they are working on an early retirement plan for our admininstrators right now. Look at what the above states. If nothing else, this should get you to the school board meetings, at least I hope so.
The issue I have with comparing administrators with private sector counterparts is that they could make a case that buisiness leaders, CEO's etc make multi-millions of dollars between salaries, bonuses, stock options, etc.
Articles like this are inherently skewed. There are relatively few teachers who gain multiple degrees and teach for 35 years and teach in richer districts to receive those salaries. The average years of experience for teachers in this state are 13 years. The average salary is about $58,000. In this district the average is about $52,000. also remember that most of the school districts in the six county area are above the state average, that means that the teachers in this district are far below the areas other teachers.
Just take with a grain of salt any article which singles out the exception and tries to make a case with it. Find out the averages, they generally are more telling of the truth.
I am not having a problem with the teachers pensions, my problem lays with the administrators, asst.superintentants, superintendant, within the catagories. And why should anyone be prorated if they retire early? THis does not happen in anyother sector. In fact, in the other sector, if someone retires early their pension is less than it would be if they retired at retirement age. It should be this way in this case.
Yes, I would say that the teachers salaries are not the norm for this district but they do have a few that make over 100,000. But then with this group it seems that it happens. Again no where out in the working world would you get an increase in you pay for the last three years before you retire which here it seems the admin. and maybe principles benifit from this the most. As far as people complaining about grammer and such maybe it is a good thing so we can maybe pratice on that stuff it won't hurt. In fact I was one that did some grammer wrong but part of that was I was in a hurry and did not proof read.
How sure are you about Clayton's announcement? I've spoken with people who were at Cowherd that night and they do recall Clayton pushing for scholarships for his illegal fraternity members but they never heard anything about Clayton resigning or taking a job with the Illinois Tollway Authority.
No. Here I am! Although, I do agree w/ 6:28-comments have been a little slow. And who might you be?
I appreciate your joining in on this blog. All opinions are welcome. ("an" unproductive moron)
I could say: Sticks & stones, ...takes one to know one, .....I'm rubber your glue, .....but then that may make it appear like TWO immature adults are blogging here.
There are a LOT of board bits missing, not just from 2008.
I understand that the district is supposedly still working on improving the website, but why can't they at least put the "bare-bones" summaries of board minutes on the site? After all, they seem to have no problem publishing agendas.
The improvemens were to be done by now. Has not anyone else wondered why this has not been done? I believer Clayton is in charge of this improvement. Nothing has been mentioned at the last couple of board meetings why this has not been done, but of course no one would know this without the board bits.
So how long do we have to wait to hear an official statement on whether or not Clayton is resigning and taking a position with the tollway authority. This should be something a board member should know and be able to speak openly about if it is true that Cclayton has announced this publicly at Cowherd.
My name is Diane Carlson, younger sister to Rayanne Carlson. I was disturbed about the way the article was written about Rayanne in Friday's paper.2/ 08/2008. First and foremost, my sister is the most honest person I know and she would not deliberately say or do anything to break any rules or regulations. Secondly, I have continually asked her why she wanted to be on the school board since her kids are grown and by the way, all 3 graduated with honors fron EA High, and she has a full time factory job for 27 years and now she can have her free time to enjoy life. Her reply was she wants the Aurora schools to have the best for the kids of today and its her community so she is trying to do her part. I am a retired police afficer, so I am well aware of how things are done in and around Aurora including misinterpreted Beacon News articles. I served the community of Aurora and was paid for doing my job. My sister on the other hand is giving her time just for her own peace of mind, which from readin the article it sounds like someone is not happy about her speaking her mind. I no longer live in the area and don't know exactly what is going on with Rayanne do to the fact she has been given a gag order. I do know there are enough friends, family and co-workers out there that will be able to read between the lines of your school board article. Respectfully, Diane Carlson
Posted by: Diane Carlson | February 13, 2008 10:06 AM
For all of you with questions and concerns, please join us Tuesday Fedruary 19 at 7 pm and voice those concerns. I have mentioned the website and what has happened. As usual most of my fellow board members refuse to engage in any discussion on the subject. I love to talk but a one side discussion is useless. There is some good news to discuss. I look forward to having many people there to share the information. We are still working on budget reductions, please come and offer your opinions. I have asked questions of Ms. Wells, our Personnel and Policy chairperson, in regards to the new policy for administrators. I have not received any answers as of yet but I hope this will be discussed on Tuesday. For those of you with questions, ideas, or suggestions, please attend and let the board know what you are thinking. I have questioned the magnet school at length and asked my fellow board members to do the same. Unfortunately, Rayanne seems to be the only person that has added to this discussion. I feel the board should be informed of any changes to the curriculum or class structure. Our superintendent and board president feel differently. Community input would be very helpful with this issue. In regards to Rayanne and the accusations, I support Rayanne 100%. I realize I will be critized by some for making this statement and that is okay. Rayanne and I have had some wonderful conversations since becoming board members. We have spent time traveling on the train to Chicago and also trying to figure out the "processes" here with the board. We have also shared life stories. Successes and failures. We don't always agree (belief it or not) but we do respect each other. We are very different people with very different styles or expressing ourselves but we share some very strong beliefs. God for one, family, our drive to stand up for what we believe in (at almost any cost), and our pride in our community. I have been the target of gossip and understand the importance of having someone believe in you. I believe in Rayanne and hope you will to. I hope to see all of you next week on Tuesday. Arrive before 7 and sign up to talk. It is board policy for members not to repond to comments directly but I promise you I hear your words. I have stood at that podium and know how it feels. Your comments do not fall on deaf ears. D
This school board mostly the president and superintendent whats people to follow rules but they cann't or chose to bend the rules when they want to. The Illinos School Code states that certain things are to be approved by the board before they can be used in the schools.
The school board shall direct, through policy, the superintendent in his or her charge of the administration of the school district, including without limitation considering the recommendations of the superintendent concerning the budget, building plans, the locations of sites, the selection, retention, and dismissal of employees, and the selection of textbooks, instructional material, and courses of study." (105 ILCS 5/10-16.7)
Moreover, the role of the superintendent regarding curriculum is legally restricted to making a recommendation to the board: The district superintendent is required to "make recommendations to the board concerning ... the selection of textbooks, instructional material and courses of study." (105 ILCS 5/10-21.4 )
Textbooks can only be adopted in the full light of day, and with board majority approval: "... textbooks and courses of instruction shall be adopted or changed only at the regular meetings of the board and by a vote of a majority of the full membership of the board ..." (105 ILCS 5/34-19) Who would one go to to complain about this.
You go to the Kane County States Attorneys Office:
Kane County Judicial Center 37W777 Rt. 38, Suite 300 St Charles, Il 60175 Phone: 630-232-3500 FAX: 630-232-6508
They are responsible for enforcing the laws of this state.
You can also contact the Illinois State Board of Education, they will refer you to the Regional Superintendent Douglas Johnson at the Kane County Regional Office of Education. Unfortunately he has shown that he does nothing when the law is being broken as has been established with his handling of the Boys II Men Fraternity situation.
If I were you, I would go directly to the States Attorneys Office if you know the law is being broken.
When you call the States Attorneys office you might be told this is something for the Attorney General. You need to stress to whomever you are talking to that this is where you were told to call. The person talking to you is not trying to give you a runaround, you just need to stress this is what you were said to do and the person will either put you over to the States Attorneys secretary or ask to speak to the States Attorneys secretary, who will give you her email address if you ask.
Lets all be thankful that what ever our problems are in this district that nothing has happened like it has at NIU. Let us pray for all that have lost their lives in this awlful thing. Let's pray for the parents and friends that have lost someone they love.
You never heard of one crazy guy killing and injuring 22 people 100 or more years ago. The reason was simple, when everyone carried a weapon, it was impossible to hurt more than one or two before everyone protected themselves. The current laws dictate that people are victims.
I agree we should all pray for our NIU families. That his too close to home.
Back to the other stuff. I believe that when Dr. Roberts was hired he had a vision for the magnet school and the Board okayed it then. (secretly,of course) So I think at this point there will be no legal course of action. Just another secret of the "old Board"
They're not dumb, they know when they are doing unethical and/or illegal things. They're not going to write it down for you. It's whispered in back rooms and then voted (usually in closed session) giving it the stamp of approval. It's no wonder the district gets no support when they do deals inthis way.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances, all meeting are to be done in open session. These are simple school board meeting, not national security. Most everything should be done in open meeting with the opprtunity for the public to give their input. I have never in all my years seen a school board that does so much behind closed doors.
The whole purpose of having school board meetings is to make the activities of a school district open to the public. If everything is done behind closed doors with only the vote done in public, what's the point of having a school board?
If I may, I would like to clarify a few things that have been written. Anon 2/14 7:16am You can come to the board meeting and express your opinion to the board. We are not allowed to comment (according to our president, senior members, and superintendent) but you words will be recorded. I suggust you ask that they be added to the minutes. If you are uncomfortable doing this, you can mail in your comments. Be sure to send a seperate envelope addressed to each individual board member to ensure all board members are aware of your concerns. This board has not made any judgement regarding the magnet school. This has never been an action item or for that matter discussed amongst the board members at all, other than mine and Rayannes comments. Last Tuesday we had a meeting which updated our information on the strategic plan. Again, this board has not voted on the plan or for that matter had any real input except from Carol and Dan (when he was a board member). Since he left, only one board member has been a part of the cadre. On Tuesday we were "told" that the magnet school has "always" been a part of the strategic plan. For at least tne newest board members, this has been the first we have heard of it. Again, we were told the board "does not have to approve" the magnet school as it is "NOT" a curriculum change and of course it will not cost the district any extra money. Of course if it does we won't know about it until it is spent so............. I encourage all of you to attend this coming Tuesday. Put your name on the list and let all in attendance know how you feel. It is only though our expressing our opinions that we will be successful with any type of change. I hope to see all of you on Tuesday.
I am really confused about this magnet school thing. If there is not a cirriculum change then why do it? Really, what would be the purpose if this is for gifted kids? Really now, are the teachers doing this on their own time and how will it not take away from the cirriculm of the other kids, if the teachers are doing this thing? Why would parents have to get their kids to it for what sounds like nothing? THe paper stated something about a stand alone building also, so is someone donating it or what? Really confusing is that I was always thouught that the board had to approve spending of money anytime.
Has anybody else gone to the district website (d131.org) and noticed that many of the links on the left hand side no longer take you anywhere? Just wondering if it is my computer or the whole thing.
I just tried the district website. The same ol' site.The left side links went to the same old pages. I didn't try them all, though.
Loni I would suggest calling or writing Dr. Jerome Roberts. The magnet school is his pet project.
jroberts@d131.org
Before you contact him-check:
http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articles/2
"Students in a Magnet school will more likely live in two-parent households with employed parents who have college or graduate degree.... Magnet schools spend about $200 more per student than non-Magnet schools.Magnet schools may be drawing scarce energy and resources away from improving neighborhood schools.....Critics will point out that low-income, English-as-a-second language and special education students can be under-represented in Magnets"
hmmmm......a large part of 131 fits the low income, English language learner category.
Could it be 131 is trying to segregate our middle class, families from the rest? Or maybe cater to them to keep them in the district?
What real purpose is being served by this magnet school?
Educate yourself then ask your district superintendent to answer your questions and be accountable for his plan.
I kept getting the old website too and was wondering what people meant about the old one. Go to this website. http://www.d131.org/ This will show you it.
2/15 @ 4:45pm You are right about the magnet schools. Ir does go towards middle class families and to keep them in the district. At grade school level do the children stay in the school all day? If you look at other districts that have the magnet schools they do have stand alone schools. What about the children that need that little help to make them suceed? Do they get let behind? I'm not saying that gifted students shouldn't be able to get ahead but how about the ones that need just a little help. All children should be able to learn so lets give it to them. This district did it before lets do it now. There will be money involved. There will have to be new books and who is going to replace the teachers they will need for this magnet school. This is a smoke and mirror thing for the district. Lets take care of the problems we have now and them move forward.
What is a Magnet School? Magnet schools - this article will help you better understand what they are and what their role may be in your family’s education. We’ll first introduce the concept of a Magnet school. Then we’ll go over in detail the function that Magnet schools have played originally and currently. After that we’ll share some basic facts about Magnet schools as well as go over pro and con positions regarding Magnet schools. Finally we’ll end the article by discussing whether a Magnet school is right for your family and how to get into a Magnet school. At the end of this article is a list of resources that was used to help write this article.
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What is a Magnet school?
A Magnet school is part of the public school system. Usually students are zoned into their schools based on location. Students mostly go to the school which they are closest to (this may not always be true since boundaries can seem arbitrary). With Magnet schools, the public school system has created schools that exist outside of zoned school boundaries. The point of them is that they usually have something special to offer over a regular school which makes attending them an attractive choice to many students, thereby increasing the diversity of the student population within them (in theory).
Magnet schools are different from private or parochial schools in that they remain part of the public school system. They differ from Charter schools in that they remain part of the public school system bureaucratically. Charter Schools have a different organizational model (i.e. they have a charter that releases them from the regular school administration). Magnet schools operate under the same public school administration (they don’t operate on their own).
Distinguishing them from other public schools, Magnet schools usually have alternative or otherwise compelling modes of instruction. For example, you might find a Montessori Magnet school. A school doesn’t have to be a Magnet school to be a Montessori School. There are also public schools that aren’t Magnet schools which still offer fine academic experiences. Magnet schools differ from other public schools in that they receive additional funding to enable them to spend more money on their students, supplies, teachers, programs, etc.
History of Magnet school
Magnet schools first came into being in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a tool to further academic desegregation. The school was intended to “attract” (get the magnet metaphor?) students from across different school zones. So they had to do two things. 1) open their enrollment geographically across traditional school zones and 2) provide an environment or experience that would attract students and families from other school zones (thereby families would volunteer to desegregate their children to the Magnet school).
Original Purpose
The original purpose of a Magnet school was politically not to innovate in instructional approach solely but rather to create a school that would be so attractive, it would “attract” students to attend it rather than having to force students to bus to other schools to promote academic desegregation of students. The goal was to reduce racial segregation voluntarily.
Current Role of Magnet schools
Many Magnet schools still help increase diversity within the public school system and help families volunteer for desegregation. But over the last 20 years or so, some Magnet schools have taken on an a more competitive aspect in that they can only fill 10-20% of the students that apply to attend school on their campuses. The current role of Magnet schools, therefore, can often promote academic opportunity and excellence over their regular counterparts. Magnet schools often attract “gifted” students who score well in tests and receive good grades (about 1/3 of all Magnet schools use selection criteria to decide who they’ll invite to enroll for that year).
Magnet schools have three distinguishing characteristics:
Distinctive curriculum or instructional approach Attract students from outside an assigned neighborhood attendance zone Have diversity as an explicit purpose
Magnet school Facts
Magnets offer special curricula, such as math-science or performing arts programs, or special instructional approaches, such as academic achievement through application of Gardner's learning styles.
Magnet schools have increased rapidly since the Federal Court’s acceptance of Magnet programs as a method of desegregation in 1975-76. Between 1982 and 1991, the number of individual schools offering Magnet programs nearly doubled and students enrolled in these programs almost tripled. Sometimes you’ll find Magnet programs as part of a school. They are known as Magnet “schools within a school” programs and other times you’ll find complete schools that are Magnet schools.
By the 1991-92 school year, more than 1.2 million students were enrolled in Magnet schools in 230 school districts. In the 1999-2000 school year, 1,372 Magnet schools operated in 17 states (of the 33 states that reported such information to the federal government). The states with the most Magnet schools were California (473), Illinois (350), North Carolina (153) and Missouri (95). (Source: National Center for Education Statistics). By the 2001-02 school year, more than 3,100 Magnet schools operated in America.
Magnet schools are mainly an urban phenomenon. According to U.S. Department of Education, more than half of the large urban school districts have Magnet school programs as compared to only 10% of suburban districts.
There are Magnet schools at the elementary school, middle school, and high school levels and they occasionally combine grades in certain classes.
While Magnet schools are more racially balanced than their traditional counterparts, other imbalances may develop. Students who attend Magnet schools are less likely to have the same social economic status (SES) mix that the regular public schools have. For instance, fewer students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs. Students in a Magnet school will more likely live in two-parent households with employed parents who have college or graduate degrees, compared to students who don’t attend Magnet schools. These findings apply to the students regardless of their race.
A study in school districts in three communities - St. Louis, Missouri; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Nashville, Tennessee – has found that for two of the schools (Cincinnati and Nashville), the Magnet schools did not contain a higher percentage of black students enrolled than other public schools in the same school district. From this study, it’s not clear what admissions process was used for enrollment purposes.
While students with low SES may be underrepresented in Magnet schools, a study in collaboration between the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights and Vanderbilt University shows that when low SES students do attend Magnet schools, they achieve better academically than like students who remain at regular public schools. Evidence in St. Louis suggests that low SES students in Magnet schools are more likely to complete high school than their counterparts in non-Magnet schools.
But what these results indicate is that generally a focus on increasing the diversity as the core purpose of a Magnet school has been moved more so to academic achievement. Students attending Magnet schools achieve greater academically than students who attend traditional schools in the same school district.
Districts finance Magnet schools the same way they finance other public schools. However, on the average, Magnet schools spend about $200 more per student than non-Magnet schools. Some Magnet schools receive state desegregation funds. Federal funding under the Magnet schools Assistance Program (MSAP) is also available. MSAP provides two-year grants to Magnet programs that are implemented to promote desegregation.
Pros and Cons of Magnet schools
Supporters of Magnet schools focus on the success Magnet schools have made drawing students out of their assigned school zones, about the level of academic achievement enjoyed by Magnet schools, about how Magnet schools provide families more choice within the public school system, and about the trickle down effect you’ll find with Magnet schools within the public school system.
There’s no doubt that many Magnet schools have successfully encouraged families to enroll their children in school zones outside of where they live, thereby helping desegregate public education. But that’s not the only thing positive about Magnet schools.
Magnet schools have specialized programs emphasizing a consistent theme or method of teaching, facilitating students’ and teachers’ commitment to the school. This helps students at Magnet schools surpass the achievement they would have made at their zoned schools.
Magnet schools increase the choices available to parents and students in urban school districts but lets them remain in the public school system.
Proponents of Magnet schools talk about how progress made in teaching methodologies within Magnet schools are often shared with their neighboring schools so that other schools benefit from the progress made in educational methodology made in Magnet schools.
Critics of the Magnet school focus on the inequity of the Magnet school in general, how Magnet schools often “hurt” neighboring public schools by taking away their brightest students, how selection processes will often keep children out who could benefit from a Magnet school experience, the problems with student diversity that Magnet schools still have, and how Magnet schools draw resources from regular school programs.
You may find some critiques of the magnet school system: If families can be encouraged to change schools because the Magnet school is so much nicer than the zoned school, why not focus on making all schools in effect Magnet schools? Why should the Magnet schools receive extra funds to make them special programs? What about the many students who get turned away?
Another critique is that while Magnet schools may open up previous geographic segregations of neighborhoods, they encourage the segregation of students based on ability and talents. Because the best and brightest students would naturally be attracted to Magnet schools, the argument goes that their exodus leaves the public zoned school poorer for not having those smart bright students in their classes anymore. Gone are the chess clubs and the debate teams that gave those original “average” schools any chance of academic sparks
The selective admission criteria of Magnet schools often acts as a hurdle for students with failing grades or records of bad behavior or truancy who want to attend these schools. Hence, magnet schools may not really be open to all students who need them. About 1/3 of all Magnet schools use selection criteria to decide who can attend their schools.
Critics will point out that low-income, English-as-a-second language and special education students can be under-represented in Magnets. Finally, a common critique about Magnet schools is that even if they work, does this really work for the public schools system in general? Magnet schools may be drawing scarce energy and resources away from improving neighborhood schools.
If you’ll notice, many of these criticisms have to do with philosophical aspects of Magnet schools and do not focus on the academic performance or educational experience that students have in Magnet schools. That’s because generally speaking, families that are involved with Magnet schools are very happy with their experiences.
Is a Magnet school right for your Family?
This all really depends on the following factors:
Are you interested in a different curriculum or instructional approach than what your children would have with their zoned public school? Do you feel your children have needs that would be better met with a Magnet school then their zoned public school? How do you feel about sending your children to a school outside of your normal school zone? On that note, how well do you think your child will adjust to a new school? How do you feel about student diversity? How do you feel about student achievement?
The decision to enroll your child into a Magnet school is not a fast and easy one. Probably the best way to make this decision is to prioritize your goals and focus on them that way. What are your goals? Are they to:
Place my child in a more racially or ethnically diverse student population? Place my child in a school where academic progress should surpass what he or she would do at their assigned school? Place my school in a school environment with a specific type of curriculum or teaching methodology?
Once you have decided why you want your child in a Magnet school program, it should be easier for you to look at individual Magnet schools and decide which one, if any, are right for your family.
Getting into a Magnet school
If you have decided that you want to your child in a Magnet school, then the first thing you should be concerned about is getting your child enrolled into that Magnet school. Getting enrolled into a Magnet school is not as easy as we’d all like for it to be.
Getting admitted into a Magnet school usually occurs one of the following ways:
What the percentage set-asides means is that for those living in a Magnet school’s original zone, those students may be allowed to attend the Magnet school without having to participate in one of the other ways to get into the school. Sometimes Magnet schools use admissions criteria to weigh the admission. Race is used much less so today but social economic status and children who are deemed at risk academically may often get pushed to the front of the line, so to speak.
If you want to get into a Magnet school, find out what the admissions policy is. If they make room for students who live in their zones, you’ll want to move to that zone to ensure enrollment. If enrollment is based on admission criteria, you may get a chance of convincing them of your need to be enrolled with your application. Only about a third of the schools use selection criteria.
If their policy is first-come, first-served, make sure you turn your application in as soon as possible. If the school uses a lottery system only, there is nothing you can do other than repeatedly apply each year until your child get in. If this is the case, the only advice I can give you is to apply to as many feasible Magnet schools as you can to increase your chances of enrolling your child into one of them. Most Magnet schools will give siblings preferential enrollment status if one sibling is already enrolled.
Conclusion
Magnets schools were first created to facilitate public school desegregation. All this is done to better balance the student population racially and ethnically by attracting students across neighborhoods. Specialized curriculums and instructional approaches became an extension of these efforts. Unfortunately, the desire to attend a Magnet school often overpasses the enrollment capacity of Magnet schools today. That leaves many students and families desiring a Magnet school experience stuck within their zoned public schools.
The goal of each magnet theme is to promote high achievement, cultural diversity, and choice of curriculum delivery. Magnet schools can often maintain a high standard of education because of the extra funding they receive plus their “restricted” student population. Just because Magnet schools aren’t perfect in reaching their goals doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable learning opportunities. As mentioned many times over in this article, the students desiring to attend a Magnet school can often surpass the actual head count a Magnet school can support ten times over.
There are many pros and cons to Magnet Schools. Some of these pros and cons deal with the Magnet School experience specifically and others focus on the concept of Magnet School philosophically within the public school system. Deciding whether a Magnet school is right for you depends on a number of factors and on your own goals for your children’s education. The best thing to do is to work out what you want out of a school and find out what Magnet schools can do for your family. Magnet schools don’t come in a “one size fits all” shape. Understanding what Magnet schools are is the first step to deciding whether they make sense for your family.
Resources
In writing this article, statistics and information was used from various online sites. The following sites provided valuable resources to this article:
Magnet schools of America (http://www.magnet.edu) U.S. Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml)
Read the the article above and make your own judgement. Are we really improving our district? Do we really need this when they are asking for a referendum?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007Removing magnet status The school board has swung the axe today at several magnet schools.
The board voted this afternoon to demagnetize Lincoln Heights, Olds, Root and Wake Forest elementary schools. The board also decided not to go ahead with starting a magnet program at Forestville Road Elementary.
The schools didn’t meet new magnet objectives which focus on reducing high concentrations of poverty and supporting diversity and maximizing use of school facilities. You’ll note that the four existing schools have few low-income kids. While Forestville has a lot of poor kids, the board was worried about how giving it a magnet program would affect surrounding schools.
Click here for demographic info on the schools.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions.
No date was set on when the magnet programs would be removed. It’s safe to assume that nothing will happen for the 2007-08 school year.
The board didn’t get to the review of middle and high schools today that were on the watch list. No date was set on when that discussion will take place.
No discussion took place on which schools might now get magnet programs to replace those being removed.
Posted at 06:22 pm by Keung Hui in Diversity WakeEd 92 comments | Permalink
Comments:
Comment from: Aunt Bee [Visitor] 05/23/07 at 19:38 Ouch! That has to hurt.
Truthfully I have seen this coming for awhile and frankly am surprised they didn't cut more schools magnet status then those listed. 4 out of 20, I think I would still be worried if my school was on the list.
Is there a way to get information how the voting on this went? Comment from: Wondering [Visitor] 05/23/07 at 20:08 Seems like we need MORE magnet programs, not less!
What on earth is the board thinking? Comment from: Rich [Visitor]
Imagine that a school board would take this much interest in there district. Should a school board vote on a magnet school? It looks like this one did. This is how a school board should act.
Wonder if Salinas kid was one who applied for this magnet school? He was the one who was on the board the last time who said if the referendum didn't pass he would put his kids in pirvate school.
The new district web site is up. Not completely done as you see when you click on the links, but it looks pretty damn nice to me. I'm sure you all will find major problems with it though.
I have been looking at the new site for a few days now and it looks good. We are all willing to work with this district when they are upfront and honest with us. Your statement only suggests that you want people to complain. There might be some questions on some things, but that is to be expected when something is new, but this does not mean it is complaints. The only thing I can think anyone would complain about is why certain things are still not posted such as missing board bits and things like that and this is understandable.
I think it must be only our district that doesn't have the school board vote on the magnet schools.
A year ago this month the school board approved a plan to draw students from overcrowded schools in the district to underenrolled Jefferson Elementary by creating a magnet school -- a campus that offers a focused education program so attractive to students and parents that they would choose to transfer there from their existing school. Trustees asked district staffers to explore magnet schools as a way to avoid politically divisive boundary changes.
Some facts on the board member "busting in" on the union meeting.
-The union was consulted prior to the board member visiting. -The union indicated that the board member can not be in the same room as the meeting. -The board member visited and was not in the same room as the meeting. She was on the other side of the school. -The teachers were happy to see the board member there. -The board member did not give any instructions or recommendation to the teachers that CHOOSE to go to the room where she was. -The board member sat passivly and listened to what the teachers had to say.
Someone lied to the reporter. The person who lied to the reporter does not want the board to know what the teachers think about what is going on in their school/district.
This investigation and issue will go nowhere because nothing was done wrong.
What you have stated means so much to many of us who never believed what was in the Beacon.
From what you have stated it does make me wonder if anyone else other than the union was consulted before the board member visited, such as other board members?
Whomever lied to the reporter must realize that they will be found out sooner or later, just like the facts have come out here.
The reporter who did this story should follow up on this in fairness to all concerned. It should start with the person who gave the information.
I too think the honesty that has come out about this is good and maybe things can get better at Waldo. We need the whole communities support with this. You have mine. I don't have children in school but I will stand behind you to make things right. I know Rayanne and I knew that this couldn't be true what they said and maybe now we can start helping to get things to work for the better of Waldo. But it takes not only the teachers but the parents of Waldo to make this better.
I work at Waldo and I agree. We need more parent support. Parents don't believe the teachers when we tell them they need to take their concerns to a higher level. I don't know if they are afraid or what. Although, the few parents who have gone over to the service center get the run around and get frustrated. I was not there the day of the meeting but I was told Rayanne was in a different room than the union person and that the union president was aware of this. Something is definitely shady with the union on this which is not surprising because really what have they done for anyone aside for protecting teachers who would have been fired if they were in any non-tenured job. Basically, the community, the parents, and the staff of D131 need to band together for change.
11:22 I agree that there needs to be change. Dee & Rayanne joining the school board are a big step in the right direction, but it seems that there are those who are determined to keep the old-guard secrecy in place.
Sneaking Salinas back onto the board is but one recent example of this. Harassing Rayanne is another.
This is in the Beacon today. It looks like Chicago might get 3 new magnet schools after a vote by the school board.
3 new magnet schools on tap CPS | But one plan opposed by residents
February 18, 2008 BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter/rrossi@suntimes.com A rare second round of magnet school lotteries could be held as early as March if Chicago Public Schools officials push through plans to create three new magnets -- including some in half-empty school buildings.
Second campuses of the hugely popular LaSalle Language Academy and Disney Magnet are expected to emerge this fall in the aftermath of a CPS proposal to shake up 19 schools -- the first wave of as many as 50 school closings or consolidations over the next five years.
A third new school -- focused on preparing elementary students for careers in engineering -- is planned this fall on the South Side in the new Miles Davis Magnet building at 6740 S. Paulina, less than a mile from the current, half-empty Miles Davis.
For years, the cachet of magnet schools has drawn middle-class families into CPS. But plans involving the new LaSalle, or LaSalle-2, face stiff opposition.
Six busloads of protesters crowded a public hearing last week to fight plans to replace Hans Christian Andersen Elementary at 1148 N. Honore, near gentrified Wicker Park, with LaSalle-2. A School Board vote is set for Feb. 27.
I do not like the fact that they want to prepare elementary students for careers in engineering, do not children have the right to choose what careers they want when they get older? This is what the communists and etc. do with their children.
I think the reason there were not that many is that there was not an adequate period of time to inform the staff and the parents. At our school, we were told there was a committee looking into magnet schools and then all of a sudden we read about the application process in the Beacon. How ridiculous is that? A parent told me a tthe open house, the admin could not even answer questions parents had. I think there are some kids that would benefit from this program but there is not adequate info out there so there parents are skeptical. There are some very bright kids in our district but they are not buying into this. ALso, if they are cutting other programs, such as the alternative schools for kids with extreme behaviors, how can they justify this program. We all know it is going to cost money.
They did kind of rush this thing and no matter what some say they are suppose to have the board approve it. I think at some time this might be a good thing for some students but like you said if they cann't answer all the questions and we have programs they are going to cut they need to wait for awhile.
In reading the little you can find about magnet schools it does seem that some extra money will need to be involved.
So let's do it the right way. Have the board approve it then really look into it and be able to answer parents questions and then do it.
It amazes me that the administration would try to pass by the board that they have no say so in a major educational shift as would happen with the change to the magnet school program. The only thing more amazing than that is the fact that the board just goes along without a clue of whether it is legal or not.
It's no wonder this district is in the mess that they are in.
When you have most of a board that has done things there way so long and have let a superintendent and the administrators run this district so some people on the board can just say they are on a board and dong there community some good you will not see change. But I do believe a change is coming. But it takes the community to get involved. How can this board and administration tell students to follow the rules when they don't? The times they are a changing for the best of the district I hope.
Now is the time for the people that put in for the new school board member that wasn't chosen to start talking to people before the next election of the school board. Remember this time you can be elected and not chosen. I think it is time to start talking to the parents of this district if you have a chance. You don't need alot of money like other canidates for mayor and the like. Get your name out there so maybe people will not vote for the first four on the ballot. It seems in the school board elections word of mouth can be better. Let people know what a school board can do for them. Let them know you will follow the rules and not let the superintendent and administration run the schools. Take the time to look at the school code that applies to the school board and the open meetings act to answer any questions that they might ask. Be able to answer questions to the people that always answer no to a referendum if you believe that it should be why it should be. If you think that the district could cut cost why it could. Let us know why it shouldn;t be the same ole same ole. Our children deserve better and let us know how you can help. The time to start is now because the ones that the board picked are not doing this. They did pick the ones that would always say yes to them and not callenage what the old guard says and they are breaking some laws.
Found these postings on openline blog-people are still posting on it but you have to go to older posts:
Anonymous said... THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT DICK MANLEY PRESIDENT OF AFT 604 IS A GOOD FRIEND OF DR. ROBERTS. DO YOU THINK MAYBE //????????????????
2/18/08 1:51 PM
Anonymous said... I truly do not know who Dick Manley is. Could you please tell me and something about him? Thanks
2/18/08 3:24 PM
Anonymous said... Dick Manley is the president of the local teacher's union. It is a conflict of interest if he is friends with the superintendent. He supposedly new about the Waldo meeting and okayed it if the D131 union president was not in the room as the board member and then went and filed charges against the board member. She was aksed to come to Waldo to hear concerns so I am not sure why Dick would file a suit against her for busting in. Other board members have come to the schools for various events and never get accused of anything. It seems odd.
2/18/08 5:14 PM
Anonymous said... Thanks for answering who Dick Manley is. It does make one wonder if Roberts had something to do with this since he is a good friend of Manyleys. If this is so, then he or someone on the board had to know before hand or Manley told Roberts about it and asked him to do it.
From openline.blog. Now that I think about it I have never seem a reporter at a board meeting ask the outcome of a closed session that was about students or facitly. I thought what was said in closed session was suppose to stay there. I wonder if they taped it. I think they are way out of line with this. I could see the reporter coming when they where picking the new members and ask who they voted on but this different. I think Rayanne should check into see if they violated her rights.
The reason school districts deal with personnel matters behind closed doors is because they fear lawsuits. If negative information is leaked and a person reputation is damaged and it turns out that the charges are not true, they have a legal right to seek restitution. Further if it was known that the allegations were false and purposely released to damage a person credibility they have every right to sue for defamation of caracter. To purposely bring the press in on a personnel issue that has not been resolved is very foolish for a district to do.
That's what I thought. For a news reporter not to know this is not good either. If this turns out to be in favor for Rayanne (which I'm sure it will) I hope someone does file a lawsuit.
No teachers "busting into" the blog to defend the board member. Must be out "engaging in unlawful activities."
February 11, 2008 6:28 PM" Whoa! This was a nasty comment! I logged on to leave news about something that happened at East High today, but I was BROADSIDED by reading the "unlawful activities" post. Do you really hate teachers so much that you would publicly post such garbage?
At any rate, I wanted to comment about the MYSPACE threat. Upon seeing that many of their friends had stayed home for the day, many students at the high school called their parents to ask them to come to school to pick them up. Some students were legitimately frightened, but most of what I saw was students eagerly anticipating having another day off. While I certainly want to protect the safety of students, the school was filled with security. As one teacher said, "There's no safer place to be today than here."
The kicker of the day was this: while deans' assistants were busy shuttling hundreds of students downstairs to go home, one student had a seizure in a classroom. Between the time his teacher called the office for assistance to the time a nurse arrived in the classroom with a wheelchair, 25 minutes passed, and the student had suffered two seizures. THIS is a travesty.
You give the students of East High an inch and they take 10 miles. These kids will do ANYTHING to get out of class. And don't tell me that all kids are like that, because it isn't true. I am only 25. I was in high school not too long ago, actually during the Columbine incident.
The kids at East High don't give a crap about education because their parents don't give a crap. That is evident in the community 12 times over.
That is terrible about the student who had the seizures and there is no excuse for this! Not all students at East went home. Give credit to the ones that stayed. A member of my family(ninth grade)stayed. All anyone wants to do is give all the glory to the bad ones. My heart goes out to the families at NIU, but all the coverage in the media just glorifies what has been done, and as proven in the past, this just leads others to do it. So far, in less than a week two more incidents have been reported. Thank God they were just threats, but will another incident happen like this due to all the coverage? These people that do these things do not care if anything happens to them because they know they will get the attention they want even if they are dead.
For all of you that was not at the board meeting tonight, it was good. Dan B. has an agenda, just can't figure out what it is. He sure put down Rayanne when he spoke before the board and it sounded like what he was saying was heresay and what has been read on the other blog. Some woman named Anits something spoke before the board about the magnet schools and it was good. That reporter was sure busy tonite talking to everyone, lets see if all of it makes it in the paper. A man was actually taping the meeting! THere actully was alot of people there for a school board meeting tonite. Could not stay til the end, but Rayanne said something when she talked(when board members get to make comments)in reference to the closed session that is apparently about this case against her. She could not say what is was about, but I think she wanted it in the minutes when she was speaking. It is hard to hear everything there at times. Ya all will have to find out the rest somewhere else this is all I know.
6:53 PM I do agree with you. However, I will state for the record that attendance in classes steadily dwindled throughout the day. By tenth hour, I had only 6 students present in a class of 30. I will add, however, that one parent came to pick up a student during 9th hour class, and the student refused to go. So yes, there were some students who stayed.
So let us give the recogniztion to the ones who stayed and especially the one who did not want to go home. THis is the way it should be done and not the other way around. All the negative things get every aspect of attention and not the positive. It should not be done this way.
You are wrong there are kids at East High that do care. From what I heard there where quite a few kids that stayed. I do feel sorry for the child that had seizures though. That was too long for someone to get to them. They should be made to make up the day though at the end of the year. Add a day to the calendar. About the teachers busting in comment you have to remember that there are people writing on this blog trying to get people off track. From what I have heard there are teachers sticking up for Rayanne and I know they have to be careful so don't take to heart what some say.
WHY DO WE PRAISE KIDS FOR DOING WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. You are supposed to stay in class, you are supposed to be on time, and you are supposed to do your work. It is one thing to praise somebody for an exciptional job, but to praise them for going to class is rediculous. Yes, thank you for staying, but I would say far more left than stayed.
7:12 PM I understand where you are coming from, but today did not count as a "day off" so there would be no make-up day at the end of the year. If a parent came to school to pick up a child, it was an excused absence. As far as many kids staying, I certainly did not see "many" kids present today.
Upon hearing that a threat was made to your school a week after a nearby school had the tragedy that NIU has experienced, yes, those brave enough to stay in class to get an education deserve to be praised.
If this were a neighborhood where violence was unheard of and there was no credible threat I would agree that being in class was just expected.
How can you possibly make a statement that children should be expected to stay in an enviroment that may be dangerous. That sitting in a math or english class is more important than basic safety.
Safety must be first and foremost. An education is pretty worthless if your dead.
7:35 PM The point i made earlier tonight was that there were students who pursued going home simply to have another day off. This is a fact. I heard their conversations with one another.
By giving all the attention to the ones that did not stay is giving praise to them in by book. The ones who stayed do deserve praise as they could have done like the rest and looked at this like a free day off with no consequence. There was bomb scares when I went to school and if they said we could leave I did cause it was free day off without getting into trouble.
What is safe about: 1) Standing in a huge line in the hallway outside of the attendance office?
2) Standing outside waiting for you parents?
Don't you think it is a little safer if you can be locked inside a classroom when the "Secure the Building" in announced rather than running to a classroom?
Of course students would be safer in a locked classroom. I guess I am missing your point and I am sorry. Are you saying the school SHOULD have had a lock down? If so, you might be right. Or, in lieu of what happened at NIU, and knowing that the administration was aware of the problem BEFORE today, perhaps they should have cancelled classes altogether until things cool off. I don't know what the answers are.
I think they should have either called off school, or not even allowed the students to call their parents. The school has counselors and people on staff the students can talk to if there is a real problem and somebody is really nervous. The problem is that 90% of those students who went home today were looking to skip class. Those are the same students that come to school late EVERY DAY, and are tardy to most of their classes.
You can't answer the question of where the safest place is until you define where and what the threat is. If there is a gunman in the classroom how can you claim that being in the locked room would be the safest. If there is a bomb in the building how can you say it is safest to lock children in the classroom.
Anybody who says that they could know what 90% of the children were thinking has got their head where the sun doesn't shine, no one can possibly read a single persons mind let alone ninety percent of thousands of people. No they are going to play it off and act cool even when they are scared.
You can claim you overheard a few students talking but the simple fact is the last thing students want to do is show weakness, they're not going to announce "I am leaving because I am scared to death".
You can't tell students that they are not allowed to call their parents. They are free individuals that the school is providing an education for. They are not slaves and they don't check their constitutional rights at the school house door. It's ridiculous to state that the school should ban students from communicating with their parents.
That is funny because a few years ago at the end of the school year there were some students who told they were in trouble and they let some of them call their parents and would not let a few of them. Want to know more, ask Marin Gonzales, this happens to be the last year she was principal at East before she became a asst. superintendant or ask Conrad because she would know about this.
if i had a student at east i would have kept them home too, or had gone to pick them up. better safe than sorry. you can't trust that administration took the threat seriously, you just can't trust that they would handle it correctly! there was an incident at waldo last week that was brushed off but should have been a lock down. staff wasn't even told about it and the ones that know now don't feel safe there anymore
You can't take what Marin Gonzales does as the gospel of how things are supposed to be. Anyone who has worked with her would tell you that many of the decisions that the woman makes are highly questionable.
The fact is this, schools act with the authority "in Loco Parentis" in other words we act as a child's parent when the parent is not there. We have no authority to over ride a parents decision when the parent is acting in good faith and conscience for their child. Further, the school district is responsible for providing a safe environment for teachers and students. If more than half the students felt themselves unsafe enough to leave school yesterday, I'd say the administration failed in their duties.
Apparently the parents and students of this district do not feel that the administration will take adequate steps to keep them safe. The community does not have faith that the administration will make correct decisions. This lack of faith should be a wake up call to the board.
It's amazing to me what you people will agrue. You are right, let the students be in the hallway, they don't have to show up to class on time, the safest place for them is wherever they think the safest place is. Let's not have any kind of order or anything going on.
Along with working in the district, I attend a Chicago area college. For the last week I have been bombarded with information from my university about all the precautions that they are taking for student security. I have received information from my advisor, counseling services, campus security and the university president. I have been made aware of the multitude of actions being taken at the university to assure my safety.
In this district nothing has been stated by administration about why children should feel safe. The only correspondence these children have received was the automated message by Dr. Roberts yesterday. I heard the message, Dr. Roberts in his unassuring drone of a voice stated that there was a credible threat against the high school (no details given) by a 15 year old. He continues that they have added a couple of police officers and counselors. That's it!!
Children and parents were left with little information to make an intelligent decision. In short, this situation was handled as incompetently as every other situation this administration is put in charge of.
The fact that this administration can be this insensitive in the wake of last weeks horror at nearby Northern Illinois University has to be a wake up call to the community. Don't worry though, they are still working on trying to pass a referendum.
I can't believe the administration has done nothing to assure the children and their parents that they are safe at school. No one has explained what if any programs are in place for student safety, what if any action plans are in place in case of a security incident.
Our district spokesman has time to tell us about Will Smith and run an illegal fraternity but doesn't have tim to assure students that they are safe. Only in 131
This a direct quote from Clayton in the Beacon today:
"Our kids' safety and the perception of an unsafe environment is important."
Apparently Clayton thinks that it is important for the community to perceive the schools as an unsafe enviroment. That is what he is quoted as saying in the Beacon. The man has only one line to get correct in the local papers and he can't even do that. Why are we paying him $75,000+ dollars a year?
Communication skills like that and we wonder why children went home scared yesterday. The middle schools were also inundated with calls after Dr. Roberts message. Apparently no understood what Dr. Roberts was talking about.
She was invited to the meeting to address concerns Walsdo teachers were having with administration. They'd already gone to Dr. Roberts and hadn't gotten results, so the next step is a Board Member. She didn't storm in anywhere!
She was separated from the union meeting as that she's a member of management in accordance with state law. The union president was in one room with most of the membership, and she was in another. Anyone who wanted to see her to voice their concerns could. She made no statements about comitting criminal action, I was there.
A higher union official was contacted by members of the administration and THEY pursued this, which might be improper because our union reps aren't supposed to work with administration like that. They didn't know what was going on and acted on bad information. The IFT people were wrong and are being used as tools of the administration. There were no complaints from union members who were there.
By the way, while this is going on, East Aurora Schools are not safe for students, staff, or parents. I work there! Not to mention there's not much teaching going on because teachers are trying to keep order in the classroom with no help from administration. Also, not to mention the fact that teachers have no resources, not even enough desks or books to teach children, but we've got millions for worthless workshops, and presenters who talk about nothing and get paid big money to do it! We're not talking about all these problems while we deal with this crap and another year of substandard education goes on at EA schools! Great!
Anonymous 3:40- you say you work in the district. It’s great that you are speaking out.
Can you share examples of what you mean about the schools being unsafe? I have been in many of them, especially East High and I have never felt threatened. I remember several years ago that the halls were unsafe and when the second bell went off all classroom doors were locked, then security would go and “sweep the halls” and any student that was late was sent to study hall. The environment did not allow the kids any time to interact between classes because of fear of getting “swept”. Now with the metal detectors and all the main doors locked it seems to me to be a place where the kids can feel safe and interact.
As far as the teachers not having the resources I could not agree more. I am a Band Booster and we raise funds for new music, instrument repair and anything else we can do because these programs are underfunded. I know the Sports Boosters and the PTA also help out anyway they can.
The workshop thing has touched a lot of nerves with the Board. I think everyone understands that Continuing Education is valuable because we want our teachers and administrators to keep up with their fields of study but not to abuse the privilege. I know at the company I work for we are encouraged to go to conferences if they are relevant to us but are expected to come back and share with our department or staff what we had learned. Most conferences now also give a CD of the proceedings so it is not necessary for as many people to actually attend in order for everyone to benefit. Also there are many other ways to save money at conventions. Usually the Hotel or conference center has specific “overpriced” hotels associated with the conference when right across the street there may be a Hampton Inn or Comfort Inn for half the price and free breakfast. Anyway, you get the idea.
The Band Boosters should ask at the next meeting whether or not the East High band is really going to organization contest at IMSA in April, as the band website states.
It's my understanding that the organization contest will be held in LaSalle-Peru this year, and that East High is not signed up to participate.
You want examples, I got examples. I work in a middle school. I don't know much about how East High is on safety. Waldo has no metal detectors, and little supervision. Two teachers have been attacked this year by students, but nothing like what happened at Elgin or anything. They were both pushed by students and the students were charged, one was expelled, I think.
These two incidents of actual assaults against teachers, but students are disrespectful all the time, telling teachers to F*** off and so on. Many teachers don't go out in the hall during passing period because we feel powerless and outnumbered.
Worse than the two incidents with teachers, we have fights all the time between students. There was a time in the Fall where we had multiple fights per day. I mean, these were violent fights, not just middle school stuff. Kids came out bloody and hurt. Its gotten a bit better, but theres still several fights per week. Students just can't be controlled. There's no support from the administration. Students aren't suspended for telling teachers off or other offenses that anywhere else, might get a student 5 days or expelled!
This next one is a duzy! We had a kid caught with weed by the cops in school. Not just a bag with enough for himself, but a whole freaking bunch of weed bagged up to sell. Did he get expelled? Nope, he got a 10 day suspension. He was selling DRUGS in school and got to come back! Tell me thats safe. What's next? A week off for carrying a gun? I'm scared, really....
This is Waldo. I don't know about East, but these kids from Waldo will be there soon! If East is OK now, its about to get interesting!
to anonymous 2-22 thanks for sharing the info on Waldo. I have certainly heard there are discipline problems there this year but had no idea. A mother got up at the School Board meeting a earlier this month and was in tears talking about the lack of discipline. I suggest that a bunch of you go to the next meeting and put your name on the board to speak. That's also a good way for the Beacon to get ahold of the story because they always have a reporter their more than willing to report problems because it sells papers.
The open line in the Beacon is also a way to get attention.
Again, thanks for sharing. I don't have a child there anymore so its easy to loose touch.
Anonymous, I have no problem finding out for you about the posting on the Band Contest at IMSA. I just came for the East Band website and did not see it listed? I did see the listing for the solo competition at Naperville Central which has been talked about and I know our kids are going to.
If you can point me in the right direction on the posting I can get you an answer before the next meeting.
Or if you want come join us at the meeting. We are always looking for new faces. April 1st 7:00 pm in the EA Band Room.
We are just a group of parents and community members that want to help the band kids.
My kid said that it is listed on the handouts page of the band site in the performance schedules for each of the bands. His friend at Aurora Christian told him that it was not at IMSA this year but was at LaSalle-Peru instead because that's where they were going. Also, I think the solo thing at Naperville is just a clinic not a competition. The kids were originally supposed to go to Seneca on March 1 for the actual IHSA thing that was at Neuqua last year.
I am a parent of an East High band student as well as a student in chorus. The Naperville contest is not IHSA because both the band and chorus directors wanted the students to have a longer time with the judge. They both told my children this in classes. IHSA contests (I've attended several over the past few years) in the music area have not been very well organized. My child received a "thanks" from the judge and that was it. Even the written sheet had little. I know nothing about the Naperville contest but I'm willing to give it a shot.
I was at the band concert last Thursday and thought it well attended and a good concert (yes, I'm biased with a child in the band!). I do like it when all the bands are there. And to the Band Boosters - thanks for all of your work. I am a second shift parent who has to take off for evening things and would love to attend your meetings. I will be purchasing/selling cheesecake!
I find it interesting that at the beginning of the year the "new, inproved" EHS band director said (in the handbook) that he planned to take all the bands to organization contest.
And now it looks like no bands are going to organization contest?
Isn't the band organization contest the same one that they did last year, and got a second division rating, and the director put up a plaque saying they got a first?
No wonder the East High administration (not to mention the "new improved" band director) isn't eager to go again this year--too bad the band handbook distributed at the beginning of the school year says clearly that ALL bands will be competing at organization contest.
Can someone explain how this is "better" for the program? How about you, Mr. Johnson or Mr. Harmon? Where's the promised improvement in the band program that you told the community would happen?
Yes, the cheesecake samples were delicious. Too bad the bands don't sound as good as the cheesecake tastes!
This is 12:19 p.m. again. I really enjoy the varied opinions here. I have been hearing about the band discussion since I moved to the area a few years back. My child has been in band since we moved here and the last 3 years at the high school. So I have no point of comparison to the previous band director and won't make comments about something I don't have reference to. I will say this about the past 3 years experience with East High Band: 1. My child loves music more and more each year 2. I feel they are challenged. 3. I like idea that there is a 9th grade band now (not when my child was in 9th grade), a "middle" band as I call it from my lack of musical knowledge, and a band that is by audition. 4. I feel the band director challenges my child and respects them. 5. I appreciate the website, the newletters, and the quick responses I get when I call the band office.
The previous band director may have done all of that too. I'm just speaking as a current parent. My child in the choral program is treated the same way and I appreciate that too. What I heard at the concert on Thursday was three bands that have various levels of playing experience and abilities. That's all my ear told me!
As far as the not going to contest, I'm one of these parents that wants answers when questions are raised just like everyone else. I went to the IHSA website myself and the school IS listed to participate in LaSalle. I have not heard from my child that they are not attending so I'm just going to plan for it.
Again, a little long for me but I really do enjoy the information on here.
6:25--I've gone to East High choral programs over the past several years (since my daughter started high school--she's now in college). I'd definitely say that Mrs. Nadel does an outstanding job. The music is challenging without being so difficult that it frustrates the students, and the programs always contain a variety of styles of music. The East High choral program is one of the best things happening at that school!
Unfortunately there will always be a cloud hanging over the band program, because the previous director was deprived of his position unjustly and against the wishes of parents & students. As long as anyone in this community remembers how Mr. K was treated, the administration will have a difficult time regaining the trust of the people.
I can understand why they would want to change a division 2 to a division 1. There are only divisions 1, 2 and 3. In thirty + years of band experience, I've never even heard of a band receiving a division 3. They just don't give them out, it would be to humiliating to the children and school. Further they don't frequently give a division 2. You have to play pretty bad to receive it. The vast majority of schools receive a division 1 or if they are really great a highly superior (a perfect score).
You are wrong. Where on earth do you come up with these lies. There are ratings five rataings.of I, II, III, IV, or V. I pulled the following information off of the IHSA website. You all seem to be so good at pulling web site information when it suites your purpose but when you are looking for truth you some how miss it.
I = Superior II = Excellent III = Good IV = Fair V = Poor
East High got a II. Only Excellent. Sorry that is not perfect enough for everybody. I thought it was pretty good. I don't know about the plaque, or what went on there, but you people need to realize that mistakes get made sometimes.
4:25, let me enlighten you about the plaque, since you claim to be interested in "looking for truth".
The truth is that the "new, improved" East High band director ordered a plaque that falsely claimed that the band had received a Division I rating. He then cleared out a display case in the lobby that had held awards fairly won by the band for many years, and displayed the bogus plaque along with some pictures. This display was seen by several faculty members, parents, and at least one school board member before the administration removed it. "Mistake"? not so much, it seems to me. More like a public display of arrogance and insecurity.
I was just checking out the Band webpage. I think its very well put together and informative. I didn't see the contest listed in LaSalle but did see the one for the Solo and Ensemble @Naperville N. My daughter participated in that one last year when it was @Nequa and it was very well run and they got so spend time getting critiqued by the judge. He had them play some parts over to show them how it could have sounded better, etc.
The EA Band website has a "blog" that it looks like nobody is using. Maybe this would be a good place to ask some of the questions about which IHSA events are attended and how the rating occur. You can link to it at www.eastauroraband.tripod.com. GO to the Helpful links tab on the left side and its at the bottom under the music store contacts.
Anita, thank you for the information. I am the parent of a band and choral student who posted earlier. I have never had any hesitation about asking either Mr. Liska or Mrs. Nadel questions. They have always been quick to answer. And like I said earlier, I do like the website. If questions need to be asked, they should by all means, but I have found asking them directly to the source is the quickest way to get an answer.
I'm another parent who has found the band website helpful. I also remember that the previous EHS director (the one who was "reassigned" because of a personal vendetta) maintained a nice website for the band, which included a complete history of the East High band program with pictures & brief bios of all the directors. I remember when that band program used to be the pride of the district--those were the days!
There's also a website for East High drama, which is very informative.
Feb. 28th @5:45 a.m., thanks for explaining what happened with the plaque. I agree with Anita that it's best to go directly to the source with questions about the band (or choral) program, but I seriously doubt that information like you posted would have been forthcoming, except on an anonymous blog.
The public has a right to know when deception has been swept under the rug by administrators and dismissed as an "honest mistake". Publicly misrepresenting contest results is anything but honest.
These types of situations are embarassing for our district at best. Rayanne did not barge into a meeting at any point. She was sitting in a classroom waiting for teachers to get out of a meeting with Karla. We entered the room, voiced concerns, she listened to us and was concerned about what we where telling her. She did not encourage any of us to "break any laws". The fact that this woman is being brought up on charges for this makes me want to leave the school in all seriousness. It also put fear in me that any person in a position of authority can fabricate whatever they want in this district about whoever they want in order to force someone into resignation, drag them to court, or tarnish their name. It sickens me that this has occurred. Since concerns where met with chuckles and laughter from Dr. Roberts months prior, an attempt through the chain of command to reach out for help from someone that our concerns at our school are being pushed aside one way or another turned into a terrible situation for someone who was just there to LISTEN to our concerns. I have had some of my worst teaching experiences during this school year and the kids think they can do whatever they want and I've seen it spread like an airborn virus to kids that wouldn't have thought twice the year before to behave in such a way. I am worried about the safety of the building, but not as much as many others. A dumb kid or a scared kid I would assume brings a knife to school probably once a year, we just don't always find out about it. Even in a very nice school district years ago there where fights all the time, and some minor weapons have been found. But it was stopped once it got out of hand IMMEDIETLY. IT IS OUT OF HAND right now. We should have some type of federal assistance, or state assistance in order to get another Dean and another police officer in the building. So in some ways there isn't much that can be done, but the damn doors need to be locked without question. Fights happen, people fight it's in our society now wether we like it or not even more so than ever with fighting all over cable television via EliteX and Ultimate Fighting thanks to the VS channel. There is a lot of girl fighting over guys on television thanks to the reality television shows so these things are probably going to happen especially if there isn't the necessary amount of supervision and police presence in the building. I also believe a large alternative school rather than a magnet school would be more productive for the district. This would create a stable environment in the classroom and those interested in learning would have a better opportunity to do so, while those who really don't care or just can't follow rules can go to the alternative school and be a problem there. There are a large group of kids just ruining this school and the people with the power to make change are doing nothing. I understand that some kids are just misguided and need extra help and have bad situations because I have spent the majority of my teaching experience trying to guide, help and lead these kids by explaining to them over and over about their choices, why they are wrong and where they are going to wind up if they continue to make these choices and I have pretty much gotten nowhere. At the high school I saved some, at the middle school, MAYBE ONE. So congratulations for making a mockery of our district!
169 comments:
Rayanne posted this to "prove" that she is up front and "honest" with the public. Obviously she has a "personal agenda" that she does not want you to know about. RESIGN, RESIGN, RESIGN!!!
You are wrong. Her or the union president cann't say anything until they go to court. I'm sure most of the board won't back her but I do not believe she did what was stated. She belongs to a union herself and she knows not to just go into a union meeting. Since no one knows or will know until they go to court remember you are inocennt until proven guilty. It sounds like you are the one with a personal agenda.
My agenda is very public. GET RID OF DEE AND RAYANNE. No secretes here. I'm not the one attending meetings that I shouldn't trying to get school teachers to participate in Illegal activities that would cost them their teaching careers. Once you have a criminal record you can't teach anymore.
Editorial: Teachers unions can take steps to protect our kids
The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus
Representatives of Illinois' two major teacher unions, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, declined to answers these two questions:
-- How confident should Illinois parents be that their child's teacher has been fully screened for past criminal convictions?
-- What, if anything, should the state do to further ensure that children are safe from being harmed by those entrusted to educate them?
Those are straightforward, important questions that deserve answers, especially in the wake of an eight-month investigation conducted by Small Newspaper Group. Among the findings:
-- Convicted child molesters and violent criminals have received teaching certificates in Illinois and are in Illinois classrooms.
-- Suspected pedophiles are routinely nudged by administrators from one school district to another.
-- Of the 50 states, only Virginia revokes or suspends fewer teaching certificates than Illinois.
-- No investigators are employed by the Illinois State Board of Education so reports of teacher misconduct are often not investigated or acted upon.
-- The Department of Children and Family Services has found 323 cases providing credible evidence of abuse by teachers, but none have had their licenses suspended or revoked.
-- Teachers hired before 2004 have not had to undergo a state-mandated national criminal background check.
-- Physicians are 43 times more likely than the state's teachers to have their license suspended or revoked. Lawyers are 25 times more likely than teachers to have their license suspended or revoked.
-- None of the tenured teachers fired in the last decade have also lost their teaching certificate and certification officials are not notified when a school district disciplines an educator.
The IEA and the IFT's role is to be advocates not only for their members but also for the children of Illinois. The two labor organizations are to be commended for decades of work that have established a firm place for teachers in the middle class. But both unions have steadfastly opposed such commonsense proposals as fingerprinting all teachers.
It wasn't until 2004 that Illinois began fingerprinting teachers entering the profession, making Illinois the 46th state to implement such a requirement.
Any Illinois educator hired before 2004 has not undergone a national criminal background check. When State Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Morris, proposed fingerprinting everyone, union lobbyists in Springfield helped slap down the proposal and it was eventually watered down to just include "new teachers."
The state of Illinois has done a lousy job of screening people entering the profession, for decades. It's easy to dismiss individual cases of misconduct as problems of urban school districts, but experience has taught us that children are vulnerable in any part of the state.
It's time for Illinois to take additional steps:
-- Fingerprint all school employees and conduct national criminal background checks on each employee every five years.
-- Hire an investigative staff for the Illinois State Board of Education so that all serious allegations against educators can be followed up thoroughly and professionally. (To its credit the IEA endorsed this plan in response to the SNG investigation.)
-- Require school districts to inform the teacher certification board of all disciplinary action taken against teachers -- including employment settlements agreements in which employees are "counseled out" of a teaching post.
-- Prohibit job referrals from being part of these settlement agreements.
Both unions contend incidents of teachers abusing children are aberrations. They are quick to note that the vast majority of teachers are good people. The same can be said for public servants like police and clergy. Leaders in those fields and others often deny that anyone bad can be in such noble professions, but they are. It's worse when their potential victims are children.
They deserve better. It's time for both unions to take new steps to not only protect the image of a noble profession but also to protect the children we entrust with their members.
Another manner in which bad conduct can be kept off an individual’s record is through deferred adjudications, in which a guilty plea is submitted to the court but a judge chooses not to enter it into the record if a person meets the certain requirements, such as successfully completing a probation or undergoing a drug rehabilitation program.
Certain criminal convictions such as murder, sexual abuse, drug possession or soliciting a prostitute are grounds for automatic revocation of a teaching certificate in Illinois. But if a teacher receives a deferred sentence the Illinois school code says that is not considered a conviction.
I've been acquainted with Rayanne for long enough to know two things about her: she loves this district, and she hates secrecy & corruption.
I smell retribution, and it stinks!
Rayanne, you're in my prayers.
Everyone that has demanded that Clayton resign or be fired, even though it has yet to be proven (legally) that he violated the law, should demand the same from Rayanne. If board members break the law or are unethical than what kind of example are they setting? This type of behavior does nothing but feed into the stereotype that East Aurora is a nothing but a dysfunctional mess, which apparently starts at the top. I have been to board meetings and heard Rayanne more or less lecture everyone else on what should or shouldn’t be done and in effect alienating most of the other board members and administrators. Perhaps she isn’t so high and mighty after all. For the good of the district she should either resign or offer a formal apology to the community.
I have not demanded or asked Clayton to resign and I will not ask Rayanne. She has not been charged with anything yet and until i hear the whole story will not make a judgement call. We will have to wait till the out come of the Labor Relations inquiry before we judge.
I have not read the paper yet, but my first thought is-Why isn't the union being sued about this-if this was a meeting or whatever it would be the person running this that should tell someone who is not a member to get lost? To the one with the agenda, if you were not there, how do you know what happened? Of course you have secrets here, you do not state your name. Have to go and read the paper now.
The Education Labor Relations Board will investigate the charge and decide whether to hold a hearing, said general counsel Helen Higgins.
At a hearing, an administrative judge would review evidence from both parties and determine if Carlson's actions in fact violated labor rules and whether a remedy is in order.
Anybody know when that hearing will take place?
I don't know the specifics of the allegations except what is reported in the Beacon which is very sketchy. What I do know is that the union in this district is in bed with the administration. I would definately reserve judgement until all the facts are in.
I do find it interesting that Clayton (who is a friend to this administration and board)has been committing illegal acts for years and the district has refused to do anything about it. Rayanne (who is not a friend to the administration and board) in this district may or may not have broken a rule and within a about a week it has gone to the state level.
Rayanne, you may also want to check. I emailed you on tuesday and you said that you were going to a meeting that had been called for that evening but that they refused to let you know in advance what the meeting was about. I am assuming that they confronted you about the allegations at that meeting.
I don't know if this protection pertains to school board members but when a school administrator knows that a meeting that they intend to have with an employee may lead to a reprimand, suspension, termination or legal action, the administrator is required to explain the charge against them and explain the employees rights which include having a representative speak for them at that meeting.
If they had a board action/vote which led to this investigation and they did not present the charge in advance and allow you enough time to mount a proper defense then they are probably in violation of the law themselves. I would definately run these issues by your attorney (don't trust the school districts attorney).
What business is it of hers (Rayanne) to go to the union meeting in the first place. She is not a member so why go?
Her being at this meeting is really quite troubling. What purpose could it have served?
This is what happens when people do not understand what their roles are.
If one of the "old guard" board members had done this people would be all over them.
If there was a meeting called for this why was it not posted in the agendas on the district website? How did a reporter from the Beacon find out about it if we the public did not know?
If there was a meeting on this, don't the same rules apply like other meetings and a vote has to be taken before the public?
So many unasnwered questions in all of this? Was the person with the agenda orcharstrate all of this?
Stay tuned for the soap opera "So Goes the On Going Saga of D131 School Board"
I was wonder also if this was a union meeting why didn't someone stop her from comming in? It was only her and I sure they had a few people there so why wasn't she asked to leave and if she didn't why wasn't the police called to have her taken out. I'm a union member and if someone came in from the outside to start something they would be thrown out or the police called. There is something wrong in all of this.
Her's a factoid for you about 2006 salaries (the last ones made public). The union leader made $134,755. For that sum she taught one class. Teachers in the 30 years + category with a masters degree like the union leader were paid from $65,000 to just over $100,000 in this district. The union president was by far the highest paid teacher in the district.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT MONEY PAYS FOR?
WHY WOULD THE ADMINISTRATION PAY THE UNION LEADER FAR MORE THAN THEY DO FOR ANY OTHER TEACHER?
NOT A BAD LITTLE BONUS CONSIDERING UNION POSITIONS ARE NON-PAID POSITIONS.
The paper says that Carla Hettinger is the union president and she is an elemtrey teacher. Looked up on thechampion.org and it says her salary is 77,807. So how are you talking about that makes 147,000?
This is incredible some of you are actually blaming the union for a board member’s highly questionable actions. Once again I ask what is she doing there at all. She did not belong there at all. Defend why she would be at this meeting in the first place. Can’t blame this one on anyone else. Rayanne’s actions caused this no one else’s.
No, somebody has to tell Rayanne that she should not be there. We can't take responsibility for ourselves. We should know that Rayanne can't think for herself and everything needs to be spelled out for her.
Look up Mary dudzienski, She was the union president in 2006
It hasn't been made public yet what bonuses Carla might be expecting in her paycheck.
Here we go. Rumor has it that the principal at Cowherd is going to be removed from his position to one over at the Service Center due to allegations of wrongdoing. Further, the district is looking to fill the position with Clayton Muhammad.
Say it ain't so, Joe.
Rumor did not know when this is to take effect.
That is the question why was she there. Why would she know there was a union meeting. Why did't someone in the union ask her to leave? There is something wrong with this story.
And "So Goes the On Going Saga of D131 School Board"
Everything is getting more and more interesting.
THis should be sold as a television series and it would end the money problems of this district.
THere would be money for the kids and the administrators, everyone could see how not to run there district and give everyone a good laugh and think this really could not be happening as heads shake in disbelief!
Funny how the Principal at Cowherd is being removed from HIS position, when Cowherd's principal is female.
Sorry I didn't ask the gender of the person when I was told the rumor.
What I would be more concerned about than the persons gender is, if this is true, why wouldn't the district post the position? The district is already in a federal discrimination suit. Part of that complaint is that the district has used the good old boy network for hiring and that jobs for coaching postions were not posted.
Interesting. Sounds like retribution to me as well for not going along with what the union wants.
Good point Lennie.
I thought all teachers had to be certified and it was stated that Clayton wasn't so is the union going to allow this to happen if it is true.
What I want to know is how they can go forward with this magnet school without having the board The Board is responsible for the curriculum of the district's schools."
"A listing of all curriculum materials shall be made available for the information of parents/guardians, students, staff and Board members."
"With prior Board approval, the Superintendent may conduct pilot programs as deemed necessary to the continuing improvement of the instructional program." [Emphasis added]
"The Superintendent shall report periodically to the Board each pilot program, along with its objectives, evaluative criteria, and costs."
vote for it.
I don't think the rumor is true about Cowherd. I'm almost certain that Clayton is taking a new position with the Illinois Tollway Authority. It's a Diversity and Minority Affairs Director gig for $105,000 a year! This came from a credible source by the way! I'm sure the news is coming when the ITA publishes it in March! THis is from a gal who works in the HR Department. I didn't think that was a secret because I have heard it talked about publicly in Aurora.
The union will say the same thing they always do. Their concern is the teachers not the administration (that's what they say, not what they practice). I have never seen the union do anything regarding the administration. Whatever the administration does legal or not, the union refers to the short clause in the contract which states the union will not interfer with management rights. That's just one of the reasons this district is where it is at.
I hope that the tollway thing is true because the man should have absolutely no contact with children.
Yeah you are right 12:40. I was at the event for Henry Cowherd last night and it was announced there. Clayton is the new Director of Minority Affairs for the state effective July 1! Geesh and to think I was coming on here to give a surprise! You take all the fun away!
11:10: I do believe he is certified because he taught my daughter at Waldo and is in that Doctoral Class with Marin Gonzalez and about 5 other 131 people.
The Cowherd School Principal position can't be posted because she hasn't resigned yet. It's coming however. They are going to get a Hispanic because they already have two African-American principals at Waldo and Simmmons.
But what is this deal about the Union and Rayanne Carlson? Someone please explain in laymans terms.
Thanks
Thanks for the info. Now does that mean Clayton won't be working for the district.
No one is sure yet because the only thing people know is what is in the beacon and Rayanne and the union proably won't say anything untill they are talked too. All lawyers will tell you not to talk to anyone until after that.
Maybe this is why the board keeps putting off about what is going on about Clayton in the district. I like Clayton, but with everything that has been going on I wonder about this new position he is taking, he is to much onesided when it comes to miniority.
I want to know how come the Beacon printed what they did when the rest of the community had no idea, especially if this one of those closed sessions or meeting things. Just who is running the show on this magnet scholl thing? I thought the board had to give a go ahead on something like this before andthing else could be done.
You know I don't think the beacon even knows anything about the open meeting act. All they do is have a reporter come and listen at these meetings or show up for one of those special closed meetings and ask about what is going on and then report it. That is why I think The Daily Herald would do a better job. After reading some of their articles about schools it looks like they look into things more.
Yes, I wondered about how the beacon knew when there wasn't anything on the district website about a executive meeting. The beacon should of said since this is going into lidigation that both parties could not talk about it until after the hearing instead of no comment. That is why I say The Daily Herald would of done a much better job and explained it more. Now I would say both parties are being secretive. The door swings both ways.
If this is true about Clayton resigning from the district, it's the best news this community has had in years. Before you leave, I would like to send you a very large Chicago Salute. For the uneducated among you, a Chicago Salute requires just one finger. I'll let you guess which one. Farewell and good riddance.
TEACHERS RESPOND THIS WEEKEND!
Lighthouse Conditions and Beliefs Surveys
131 School District has been scheduled to participate in the online Lighthouse Conditions and Beliefs Surveys. These surveys are key components of the Targeting Achievement through Governance (TAG) program that our Board of Education is currently involved with.
They need to hear (many!)honest opinions. Please forward and respond before the deadline Sunday 2/8/08.
The results of your surveys will be part of a national research study and will, hopefully, provide the board with some valuable insight into the beliefs and conditions that exist in our district around student achievement.
The surveys will be available to you on-line (please see URLs below) from Monday, January28 – Sunday, February 10, 2008.
Each survey can be completed and submitted separately; directions are provided once you log-on to the survey. The total estimated time for completing both the surveys is 30 - 45 minutes.
URLs to log on:
Conditions Survey –
http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/7356/LHMulti-State-conditions-survey-IL.htm
Beliefs Survey –
http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/7356/LHMulti-StateBeliefsSurvey-IL.htm
NOTE:
q Hit the “Enter” key only when you have completed the survey and are ready to submit it.
q Jr. High or Middle School Principals/teachers should use the “Elementary” designation when identifying their relationship or role in the district.
Rayanne,
I am impressed. The Beacon blog is reading this one.
It mentioned about the comments on this one and the only comment in theirs so far is about Clayton and is it true about him.
Yes, I went to the beacon blog and saw that they where reading this one. I will say that they posted how the process would go which was nice to know now maybe they will say how they found out about the closed meeting and the people of district 131 didn't. I will be watching the beacon too on how they cover this.
In response to most postings, but specifically to February 8, 2008 8:35 AM
"This type of behavior does nothing but feed into the stereotype that East Aurora is a nothing but a dysfunctional mess, which apparently starts at the top." You are 100% right on that one! The top meaning admin! 131 has become a joke!
Has anyone stopped to ask how she knew about the meeting and why there was a meeting in the first place? Maybe she was asked to attend. Then what? What is so wrong about some teachers speaking to a board member about their concerns? You've all read about the problems at that school on here, but things just continue to get worse there and no one has done a thing.
"For the good of the district she should either resign or offer a formal apology to the community." She has nothing to apologize for. There are plenty of others in this district that need to go, and things will never change when there is such coruption at the top. As for how the beacon reporter knew about the closed meeting...doesn't that seem a bit fishy? I bet that she was invited by our fearless leader.
Rayanne stay strong. You did nothing wrong and that will all come out in the end.
I've known Rayanne for a long time and I also find it high unlikely that she broke the law. She's always been a careful person, and always tried to do things by the book and the right way. I agree with others who are saying that there is some definite foul play and fishyness to this story.
There are no board bits for this year yet.
See Clayton is bailing out before he tells why the computer update thing is not done yet. Hasn't anyone else wondered why the districts website is not done yet as was promised? Didn't we get a grant or something to pay for this?
Good Luck and God Bless Rayanne. I know in your heart you thought you where doing the right thing. But becasue of this you will now have to be careful of what you do in talking to anyone. So as we move on from this take care of who you talk too and keep doing your best. For all that complains to her come to a school baord meeting and bring up the problems you feel this district has. That is the only way the rest of the district is really going to listen.
This is off base of what most of these post are about but remember this board wants to give administrators an early retirement.
Does Your Employer Contribute $69,000/yr To Your 401K Retirement Plan?
By Bill Zettler
To answer the question posed in the headline – I don’t think so. And it’s not because your employer is greedy but simply because it would be impossible to pay that amount and stay in business. They would be bankrupt.
But that’s in the private sector where most of us work. In the public sector this is possible because state governments cannot go bankrupt. They just keep raising taxes to pay whatever exorbitant retirement contribution amounts are needed.
The specific case I am talking about involves an employee of the public school system Linda Jedlicka, campus manager of the Lake County High School Tech Campus whose employer pension contribution will be more than $69,000. And the employer is you the taxpayer.
I use Ms. Jedlicka as an example because she was recently written about in the Daily Herald concerning school board member’s complaints about her salary. According to the Daily Herald article her four highest salaries will be $230,675, $257,459, $257,459 and $210,000 from 2008 thru 2011. That means Ms. Jedlicka's pension will start at over $179,000 per year.
If she retires after 35 years at age 56 then her life expectancy is 30 years and her 30th year’s pension will be $405,000. Her total pension payments will be $7.9 million, the overwhelming majority of it from the Illinois taxpayers. You can see these numbers for yourself by plugging her salaries into our Pension Calculator on the Home Page.
Compare that to the Presidential pensions of Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush at $191,000. What exactly did Ms. Jedlicka do for us that rival’s what a president did? Nothing I can think of.
Although the current teacher-pension contribution is 9.4% that has only been for the last 3 years. Before that it was 8.4% and 30 years ago when Ms. Jedlicka started her career it was less than 6%. Compare that with the typical private sector worker contributing 10.5% via 6.5% Social Security and 4% 401K. So although he pays a higher percentage into his retirement what chance do you think that private sector worker has of retiring on $179,000 at age 56?
According to state actuaries, taxpayer liability for state pensions (Teacher, University and State Employees) is in excess of $300 billion over the next 35 years. Also starting in 2010 when Ms Jedlicka’s salary is $257,459 the state i.e. taxpayer contributions to her pension will equal about 27% of her salary or over $69,000. How does that compare to your 401K?
And Jedlicka is not alone in her out-of-control salary and pension. In 2006 over 8,470 K-12 employees had salaries over $100,000/yr including 420 phys ed teachers, 94 drivers ed teachers, 71 art teachers, 26 auto repair teachers, 135 music teachers and 4 Latin teachers. Top salary was $170,000 for a Drivers Ed teacher and that does not include the value of the pension, tenure or abbreviated work year. See related article and spreadsheet.
So the question is: why should the taxpayer have to pay many times more for retirement as an employer than they can reasonably expect as an employee? The answer, of course, is they should not have to pay a premium to fund other people’s pensions. It is not only inherently unfair it is impossible financially over the long term.
And as you can see from the attached spreadsheet, Ms. Jedlicka is not even near the top, as total compensation approaches $500,000/yr with taxpayer funded benefits of over $100,000/yr. And because these numbers are based upon 2006 salaries they will certainly be even higher when more current salaries become available.
So let us initiate a “Fairness In Compensation Plan” that will put public sector employee pay and benefits on the same level as their peers in the private sector. That way we will have plenty of money for homeless shelters, food pantries, the CTA and road construction and we can fund all of them without any increase in taxes.
Everyone needs to remember they are working on an early retirement plan for our admininstrators right now. Look at what the above states. If nothing else, this should get you to the school board meetings, at least I hope so.
The issue I have with comparing administrators with private sector counterparts is that they could make a case that buisiness leaders, CEO's etc make multi-millions of dollars between salaries, bonuses, stock options, etc.
Articles like this are inherently skewed. There are relatively few teachers who gain multiple degrees and teach for 35 years and teach in richer districts to receive those salaries. The average years of experience for teachers in this state are 13 years. The average salary is about $58,000. In this district the average is about $52,000. also remember that most of the school districts in the six county area are above the state average, that means that the teachers in this district are far below the areas other teachers.
Just take with a grain of salt any article which singles out the exception and tries to make a case with it. Find out the averages, they generally are more telling of the truth.
I am not having a problem with the teachers pensions, my problem lays with the administrators, asst.superintentants, superintendant, within the catagories. And why should anyone be prorated if they retire early? THis does not happen in anyother sector. In fact, in the other sector, if someone retires early their pension is less than it would be if they retired at retirement age. It should be this way in this case.
I agree, about administrators NOT receiving early retirement bonuses, especially in a district that is doing as poorly as 131!
They are the one's directing the ship and it is sinking.
Radakovich's 4 or so years in this district is a part of the unbalanced budget what did he do to improve 131?
Yes, I would say that the teachers salaries are not the norm for this district but they do have a few that make over 100,000. But then with this group it seems that it happens. Again no where out in the working world would you get an increase in you pay for the last three years before you retire which here it seems the admin. and maybe principles benifit from this the most.
As far as people complaining about grammer and such maybe it is a good thing so we can maybe pratice on that stuff it won't hurt. In fact I was one that did some grammer wrong but part of that was I was in a hurry and did not proof read.
To: February 8, 2008 12:47 PM
How sure are you about Clayton's announcement? I've spoken with people who were at Cowherd that night and they do recall Clayton pushing for scholarships for his illegal fraternity members but they never heard anything about Clayton resigning or taking a job with the Illinois Tollway Authority.
It sure got quiet here. Who died?
No teachers "busting into" the blog to defend the board member.
Must be out "engaging in unlawful activities."
Wow, what a stupid comment. Thank you for being a unporductive moron.
Is this Rayanne :)
No. Here I am!
Although, I do agree w/ 6:28-comments have been a little slow.
And who might you be?
I appreciate your joining in on this blog. All opinions are welcome. ("an" unproductive moron)
I could say:
Sticks & stones, ...takes one to know one, .....I'm rubber your glue, .....but then that may make it appear like TWO immature adults are blogging here.
Have a Good day. :oD
Anybody wondering where all of the Board Bits are from 2008?
There are a LOT of board bits missing, not just from 2008.
I understand that the district is supposedly still working on improving the website, but why can't they at least put the "bare-bones" summaries of board minutes on the site? After all, they seem to have no problem publishing agendas.
It almost looks like they're hiding something.
The improvemens were to be done by now. Has not anyone else wondered why this has not been done?
I believer Clayton is in charge of this improvement.
Nothing has been mentioned at the last couple of board meetings why this has not been done, but of course no one would know this without the board bits.
So how long do we have to wait to hear an official statement on whether or not Clayton is resigning and taking a position with the tollway authority. This should be something a board member should know and be able to speak openly about if it is true that Cclayton has announced this publicly at Cowherd.
The board members do not know everything, and as have been stated in the past, there are some who find out like the rest of us, in the paper.
I think someone was pulling our leg. It would of been out there by now if it was true. Just someone trying to stir things up.
Call Clayton and ask him if it is true. There is a number on the districts website that you can call him at/
Found this on the Beacon Blog tonight:
My name is Diane Carlson, younger sister to Rayanne Carlson. I was disturbed about the way the article was written about Rayanne in Friday's paper.2/ 08/2008.
First and foremost, my sister is the most honest person I know and she would not deliberately say or do anything to break any rules or regulations.
Secondly, I have continually asked her why she wanted to be on the school board since her kids are grown and by the way, all 3 graduated with honors fron EA High, and she has a full time factory job for 27 years and now she can have her free time to enjoy life. Her reply was she wants the Aurora schools to have the best for the kids of today and its her community so she is trying to do her part.
I am a retired police afficer, so I am well aware of how things are done in and around Aurora including misinterpreted Beacon News articles. I served the community of Aurora and was paid for doing my job. My sister on the other hand is giving her time just for her own peace of mind, which from readin the article it sounds like someone is not happy about her speaking her mind. I no longer live in the area and don't know exactly what is going on with Rayanne do to the fact she has been given a gag order. I do know there are enough friends, family and co-workers out there that will be able to read between the lines of your school board article. Respectfully, Diane Carlson
Posted by: Diane Carlson | February 13, 2008 10:06 AM
For all of you with questions and concerns, please join us Tuesday Fedruary 19 at 7 pm and voice those concerns.
I have mentioned the website and what has happened. As usual most of my fellow board members refuse to engage in any discussion on the subject. I love to talk but a one side discussion is useless.
There is some good news to discuss. I look forward to having many people there to share the information.
We are still working on budget reductions, please come and offer your opinions.
I have asked questions of Ms. Wells, our Personnel and Policy chairperson, in regards to the new policy for administrators. I have not received any answers as of yet but I hope this will be discussed on Tuesday. For those of you with questions, ideas, or suggestions, please attend and let the board know what you are thinking.
I have questioned the magnet school at length and asked my fellow board members to do the same. Unfortunately, Rayanne seems to be the only person that has added to this discussion. I feel the board should be informed of any changes to the curriculum or class structure. Our superintendent and board president feel differently. Community input would be very helpful with this issue.
In regards to Rayanne and the accusations, I support Rayanne 100%. I realize I will be critized by some for making this statement and that is okay. Rayanne and I have had some wonderful conversations since becoming board members. We have spent time traveling on the train to Chicago and also trying to figure out the "processes" here with the board. We have also shared life stories. Successes and failures. We don't always agree (belief it or not) but we do respect each other. We are very different people with very different styles or expressing ourselves but we share some very strong beliefs. God for one, family, our drive to stand up for what we believe in (at almost any cost), and our pride in our community. I have been the target of gossip and understand the importance of having someone believe in you. I believe in Rayanne and hope you will to.
I hope to see all of you next week on Tuesday. Arrive before 7 and sign up to talk. It is board policy for members not to repond to comments directly but I promise you I hear your words. I have stood at that podium and know how it feels. Your comments do not fall on deaf ears.
D
addendum to my posting
Wow I really am tired. Please excuse my spelling tonight. Just proves to me that it really is time to go to bed.
D
This school board mostly the president and superintendent whats people to follow rules but they cann't or chose to bend the rules when they want to. The Illinos School Code states that certain things are to be approved by the board before they can be used in the schools.
The school board shall direct, through policy, the superintendent in his or her charge of the administration of the school district, including without limitation considering the recommendations of the superintendent concerning the budget, building plans, the locations of sites, the selection, retention, and dismissal of employees, and the selection of textbooks, instructional material, and courses of study." (105 ILCS 5/10-16.7)
Moreover, the role of the superintendent regarding curriculum is legally restricted to making a recommendation to the board: The district superintendent is required to "make recommendations to the board concerning ... the selection of textbooks, instructional material and courses of study." (105 ILCS 5/10-21.4 )
Textbooks can only be adopted in the full light of day, and with board majority approval: "... textbooks and courses of instruction shall be adopted or changed only at the regular meetings of the board and by a vote of a majority of the full membership of the board ..." (105 ILCS 5/34-19)
Who would one go to to complain about this.
You go to the Kane County States Attorneys Office:
Kane County Judicial Center
37W777 Rt. 38, Suite 300
St Charles, Il 60175
Phone: 630-232-3500
FAX: 630-232-6508
They are responsible for enforcing the laws of this state.
You can also contact the Illinois State Board of Education, they will refer you to the Regional Superintendent Douglas Johnson at the Kane County Regional Office of Education. Unfortunately he has shown that he does nothing when the law is being broken as has been established with his handling of the Boys II Men Fraternity situation.
If I were you, I would go directly to the States Attorneys Office if you know the law is being broken.
When you call the States Attorneys office you might be told this is something for the Attorney General. You need to stress to whomever you are talking to that this is where you were told to call. The person talking to you is not trying to give you a runaround, you just need to stress this is what you were said to do and the person will either put you over to the States Attorneys secretary or ask to speak to the States Attorneys secretary, who will give you her email address if you ask.
Lets all be thankful that what ever our problems are in this district that nothing has happened like it has at NIU. Let us pray for all that have lost their lives in this awlful thing. Let's pray for the parents and friends that have lost someone they love.
You never heard of one crazy guy killing and injuring 22 people 100 or more years ago. The reason was simple, when everyone carried a weapon, it was impossible to hurt more than one or two before everyone protected themselves. The current laws dictate that people are victims.
I agree we should all pray for our NIU families. That his too close to home.
Back to the other stuff. I believe that when Dr. Roberts was hired he had a vision for the magnet school and the Board okayed it then. (secretly,of course) So I think at this point there will be no legal course of action. Just another secret of the "old Board"
Have you seen this in writing? Even if you have, there still is the correct way to do it.
This has not been done.
They're not dumb, they know when they are doing unethical and/or illegal things. They're not going to write it down for you. It's whispered in back rooms and then voted (usually in closed session) giving it the stamp of approval. It's no wonder the district gets no support when they do deals inthis way.
Anthing that is done in closed session has to be brought forth to the public.
If they vote in closed session(against policies) it has to be done again at the board meetings before the closed session minutes can be approved.
There is no time limit on this type of thing if anyone thinks that something like this has happened.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances, all meeting are to be done in open session. These are simple school board meeting, not national security. Most everything should be done in open meeting with the opprtunity for the public to give their input. I have never in all my years seen a school board that does so much behind closed doors.
The whole purpose of having school board meetings is to make the activities of a school district open to the public. If everything is done behind closed doors with only the vote done in public, what's the point of having a school board?
If I may, I would like to clarify a few things that have been written.
Anon 2/14 7:16am
You can come to the board meeting and express your opinion to the board. We are not allowed to comment (according to our president, senior members, and superintendent) but you words will be recorded. I suggust you ask that they be added to the minutes.
If you are uncomfortable doing this, you can mail in your comments. Be sure to send a seperate envelope addressed to each individual board member to ensure all board members are aware of your concerns.
This board has not made any judgement regarding the magnet school. This has never been an action item or for that matter discussed amongst the board members at all, other than mine and Rayannes comments. Last Tuesday we had a meeting which updated our information on the strategic plan. Again, this board has not voted on the plan or for that matter had any real input except from Carol and Dan (when he was a board member). Since he left, only one board member has been a part of the cadre. On Tuesday we were "told" that the magnet school has "always" been a part of the strategic plan. For at least tne newest board members, this has been the first we have heard of it. Again, we were told the board "does not have to approve" the magnet school as it is "NOT" a curriculum change and of course it will not cost the district any extra money. Of course if it does we won't know about it until it is spent so.............
I encourage all of you to attend this coming Tuesday. Put your name on the list and let all in attendance know how you feel. It is only though our expressing our opinions that we will be successful with any type of change.
I hope to see all of you on Tuesday.
I am really confused about this magnet school thing.
If there is not a cirriculum change then why do it? Really, what would be the purpose if this is for gifted kids?
Really now, are the teachers doing this on their own time and how will it not take away from the cirriculm of the other kids, if the teachers are doing this thing?
Why would parents have to get their kids to it for what sounds like nothing?
THe paper stated something about a stand alone building also, so is someone donating it or what?
Really confusing is that I was always thouught that the board had to approve spending of money anytime.
Has anybody else gone to the district website (d131.org) and noticed that many of the links on the left hand side no longer take you anywhere? Just wondering if it is my computer or the whole thing.
I just tried the district website.
The same ol' site.The left side links went to the same old pages. I didn't try them all, though.
Loni I would suggest calling or writing Dr. Jerome Roberts. The magnet school is his pet project.
jroberts@d131.org
Before you contact him-check:
http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articles/2
"Students in a Magnet school will more likely live in two-parent households with employed parents who have college or graduate degree....
Magnet schools spend about $200 more per student than non-Magnet schools.Magnet schools may be drawing scarce energy and resources away from improving neighborhood schools.....Critics will point out that low-income, English-as-a-second language and special education students can be under-represented in Magnets"
hmmmm......a large part of 131 fits the low income, English language learner category.
Could it be 131 is trying to segregate our middle class, families from the rest? Or maybe cater to them to keep them in the district?
What real purpose is being served by this magnet school?
Educate yourself then ask your district superintendent to answer your questions and be accountable for his plan.
I kept getting the old website too and was wondering what people meant about the old one. Go to this website.
http://www.d131.org/
This will show you it.
2/15 @ 4:45pm
You are right about the magnet schools. Ir does go towards middle class families and to keep them in the district. At grade school level do the children stay in the school all day? If you look at other districts that have the magnet schools they do have stand alone schools. What about the children that need that little help to make them suceed? Do they get let behind? I'm not saying that gifted students shouldn't be able to get ahead but how about the ones that need just a little help. All children should be able to learn so lets give it to them. This district did it before lets do it now.
There will be money involved. There will have to be new books and who is going to replace the teachers they will need for this magnet school. This is a smoke and mirror thing for the district. Lets take care of the problems we have now and them move forward.
What is a Magnet School?
Magnet schools - this article will help you better understand what they are and what their role may be in your family’s education. We’ll first introduce the concept of a Magnet school. Then we’ll go over in detail the function that Magnet schools have played originally and currently. After that we’ll share some basic facts about Magnet schools as well as go over pro and con positions regarding Magnet schools. Finally we’ll end the article by discussing whether a Magnet school is right for your family and how to get into a Magnet school. At the end of this article is a list of resources that was used to help write this article.
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What is a Magnet school?
A Magnet school is part of the public school system. Usually students are zoned into their schools based on location. Students mostly go to the school which they are closest to (this may not always be true since boundaries can seem arbitrary). With Magnet schools, the public school system has created schools that exist outside of zoned school boundaries. The point of them is that they usually have something special to offer over a regular school which makes attending them an attractive choice to many students, thereby increasing the diversity of the student population within them (in theory).
Magnet schools are different from private or parochial schools in that they remain part of the public school system. They differ from Charter schools in that they remain part of the public school system bureaucratically. Charter Schools have a different organizational model (i.e. they have a charter that releases them from the regular school administration). Magnet schools operate under the same public school administration (they don’t operate on their own).
Distinguishing them from other public schools, Magnet schools usually have alternative or otherwise compelling modes of instruction. For example, you might find a Montessori Magnet school. A school doesn’t have to be a Magnet school to be a Montessori School. There are also public schools that aren’t Magnet schools which still offer fine academic experiences. Magnet schools differ from other public schools in that they receive additional funding to enable them to spend more money on their students, supplies, teachers, programs, etc.
History of Magnet school
Magnet schools first came into being in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a tool to further academic desegregation. The school was intended to “attract” (get the magnet metaphor?) students from across different school zones. So they had to do two things. 1) open their enrollment geographically across traditional school zones and 2) provide an environment or experience that would attract students and families from other school zones (thereby families would volunteer to desegregate their children to the Magnet school).
Original Purpose
The original purpose of a Magnet school was politically not to innovate in instructional approach solely but rather to create a school that would be so attractive, it would “attract” students to attend it rather than having to force students to bus to other schools to promote academic desegregation of students. The goal was to reduce racial segregation voluntarily.
Current Role of Magnet schools
Many Magnet schools still help increase diversity within the public school system and help families volunteer for desegregation. But over the last 20 years or so, some Magnet schools have taken on an a more competitive aspect in that they can only fill 10-20% of the students that apply to attend school on their campuses. The current role of Magnet schools, therefore, can often promote academic opportunity and excellence over their regular counterparts. Magnet schools often attract “gifted” students who score well in tests and receive good grades (about 1/3 of all Magnet schools use selection criteria to decide who they’ll invite to enroll for that year).
Magnet schools have three distinguishing characteristics:
Distinctive curriculum or instructional approach
Attract students from outside an assigned neighborhood attendance zone
Have diversity as an explicit purpose
Magnet school Facts
Magnets offer special curricula, such as math-science or performing arts programs, or special instructional approaches, such as academic achievement through application of Gardner's learning styles.
Magnet schools have increased rapidly since the Federal Court’s acceptance of Magnet programs as a method of desegregation in 1975-76. Between 1982 and 1991, the number of individual schools offering Magnet programs nearly doubled and students enrolled in these programs almost tripled. Sometimes you’ll find Magnet programs as part of a school. They are known as Magnet “schools within a school” programs and other times you’ll find complete schools that are Magnet schools.
By the 1991-92 school year, more than 1.2 million students were enrolled in Magnet schools in 230 school districts. In the 1999-2000 school year, 1,372 Magnet schools operated in 17 states (of the 33 states that reported such information to the federal government). The states with the most Magnet schools were California (473), Illinois (350), North Carolina (153) and Missouri (95). (Source: National Center for Education Statistics). By the 2001-02 school year, more than 3,100 Magnet schools operated in America.
Magnet schools are mainly an urban phenomenon. According to U.S. Department of Education, more than half of the large urban school districts have Magnet school programs as compared to only 10% of suburban districts.
There are Magnet schools at the elementary school, middle school, and high school levels and they occasionally combine grades in certain classes.
While Magnet schools are more racially balanced than their traditional counterparts, other imbalances may develop. Students who attend Magnet schools are less likely to have the same social economic status (SES) mix that the regular public schools have. For instance, fewer students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch programs. Students in a Magnet school will more likely live in two-parent households with employed parents who have college or graduate degrees, compared to students who don’t attend Magnet schools. These findings apply to the students regardless of their race.
A study in school districts in three communities - St. Louis, Missouri; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Nashville, Tennessee – has found that for two of the schools (Cincinnati and Nashville), the Magnet schools did not contain a higher percentage of black students enrolled than other public schools in the same school district. From this study, it’s not clear what admissions process was used for enrollment purposes.
While students with low SES may be underrepresented in Magnet schools, a study in collaboration between the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights and Vanderbilt University shows that when low SES students do attend Magnet schools, they achieve better academically than like students who remain at regular public schools. Evidence in St. Louis suggests that low SES students in Magnet schools are more likely to complete high school than their counterparts in non-Magnet schools.
But what these results indicate is that generally a focus on increasing the diversity as the core purpose of a Magnet school has been moved more so to academic achievement. Students attending Magnet schools achieve greater academically than students who attend traditional schools in the same school district.
Districts finance Magnet schools the same way they finance other public schools. However, on the average, Magnet schools spend about $200 more per student than non-Magnet schools. Some Magnet schools receive state desegregation funds. Federal funding under the Magnet schools Assistance Program (MSAP) is also available. MSAP provides two-year grants to Magnet programs that are implemented to promote desegregation.
Pros and Cons of Magnet schools
Supporters of Magnet schools focus on the success Magnet schools have made drawing students out of their assigned school zones, about the level of academic achievement enjoyed by Magnet schools, about how Magnet schools provide families more choice within the public school system, and about the trickle down effect you’ll find with Magnet schools within the public school system.
There’s no doubt that many Magnet schools have successfully encouraged families to enroll their children in school zones outside of where they live, thereby helping desegregate public education. But that’s not the only thing positive about Magnet schools.
Magnet schools have specialized programs emphasizing a consistent theme or method of teaching, facilitating students’ and teachers’ commitment to the school. This helps students at Magnet schools surpass the achievement they would have made at their zoned schools.
Magnet schools increase the choices available to parents and students in urban school districts but lets them remain in the public school system.
Proponents of Magnet schools talk about how progress made in teaching methodologies within Magnet schools are often shared with their neighboring schools so that other schools benefit from the progress made in educational methodology made in Magnet schools.
Critics of the Magnet school focus on the inequity of the Magnet school in general, how Magnet schools often “hurt” neighboring public schools by taking away their brightest students, how selection processes will often keep children out who could benefit from a Magnet school experience, the problems with student diversity that Magnet schools still have, and how Magnet schools draw resources from regular school programs.
You may find some critiques of the magnet school system: If families can be encouraged to change schools because the Magnet school is so much nicer than the zoned school, why not focus on making all schools in effect Magnet schools? Why should the Magnet schools receive extra funds to make them special programs? What about the many students who get turned away?
Another critique is that while Magnet schools may open up previous geographic segregations of neighborhoods, they encourage the segregation of students based on ability and talents. Because the best and brightest students would naturally be attracted to Magnet schools, the argument goes that their exodus leaves the public zoned school poorer for not having those smart bright students in their classes anymore. Gone are the chess clubs and the debate teams that gave those original “average” schools any chance of academic sparks
The selective admission criteria of Magnet schools often acts as a hurdle for students with failing grades or records of bad behavior or truancy who want to attend these schools. Hence, magnet schools may not really be open to all students who need them. About 1/3 of all Magnet schools use selection criteria to decide who can attend their schools.
Critics will point out that low-income, English-as-a-second language and special education students can be under-represented in Magnets. Finally, a common critique about Magnet schools is that even if they work, does this really work for the public schools system in general? Magnet schools may be drawing scarce energy and resources away from improving neighborhood schools.
If you’ll notice, many of these criticisms have to do with philosophical aspects of Magnet schools and do not focus on the academic performance or educational experience that students have in Magnet schools. That’s because generally speaking, families that are involved with Magnet schools are very happy with their experiences.
Is a Magnet school right for your Family?
This all really depends on the following factors:
Are you interested in a different curriculum or instructional approach than what your children would have with their zoned public school?
Do you feel your children have needs that would be better met with a Magnet school then their zoned public school?
How do you feel about sending your children to a school outside of your normal school zone? On that note, how well do you think your child will adjust to a new school?
How do you feel about student diversity?
How do you feel about student achievement?
The decision to enroll your child into a Magnet school is not a fast and easy one. Probably the best way to make this decision is to prioritize your goals and focus on them that way. What are your goals? Are they to:
Place my child in a more racially or ethnically diverse student population?
Place my child in a school where academic progress should surpass what he or she would do at their assigned school?
Place my school in a school environment with a specific type of curriculum or teaching methodology?
Once you have decided why you want your child in a Magnet school program, it should be easier for you to look at individual Magnet schools and decide which one, if any, are right for your family.
Getting into a Magnet school
If you have decided that you want to your child in a Magnet school, then the first thing you should be concerned about is getting your child enrolled into that Magnet school. Getting enrolled into a Magnet school is not as easy as we’d all like for it to be.
Getting admitted into a Magnet school usually occurs one of the following ways:
admissions criteria
first-come, first-serve applications
lotteries
percentage set-asides for neighborhood residents
What the percentage set-asides means is that for those living in a Magnet school’s original zone, those students may be allowed to attend the Magnet school without having to participate in one of the other ways to get into the school. Sometimes Magnet schools use admissions criteria to weigh the admission. Race is used much less so today but social economic status and children who are deemed at risk academically may often get pushed to the front of the line, so to speak.
If you want to get into a Magnet school, find out what the admissions policy is. If they make room for students who live in their zones, you’ll want to move to that zone to ensure enrollment. If enrollment is based on admission criteria, you may get a chance of convincing them of your need to be enrolled with your application. Only about a third of the schools use selection criteria.
If their policy is first-come, first-served, make sure you turn your application in as soon as possible. If the school uses a lottery system only, there is nothing you can do other than repeatedly apply each year until your child get in. If this is the case, the only advice I can give you is to apply to as many feasible Magnet schools as you can to increase your chances of enrolling your child into one of them. Most Magnet schools will give siblings preferential enrollment status if one sibling is already enrolled.
Conclusion
Magnets schools were first created to facilitate public school desegregation. All this is done to better balance the student population racially and ethnically by attracting students across neighborhoods. Specialized curriculums and instructional approaches became an extension of these efforts. Unfortunately, the desire to attend a Magnet school often overpasses the enrollment capacity of Magnet schools today. That leaves many students and families desiring a Magnet school experience stuck within their zoned public schools.
The goal of each magnet theme is to promote high achievement, cultural diversity, and choice of curriculum delivery. Magnet schools can often maintain a high standard of education because of the extra funding they receive plus their “restricted” student population. Just because Magnet schools aren’t perfect in reaching their goals doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable learning opportunities. As mentioned many times over in this article, the students desiring to attend a Magnet school can often surpass the actual head count a Magnet school can support ten times over.
There are many pros and cons to Magnet Schools. Some of these pros and cons deal with the Magnet School experience specifically and others focus on the concept of Magnet School philosophically within the public school system. Deciding whether a Magnet school is right for you depends on a number of factors and on your own goals for your children’s education. The best thing to do is to work out what you want out of a school and find out what Magnet schools can do for your family. Magnet schools don’t come in a “one size fits all” shape. Understanding what Magnet schools are is the first step to deciding whether they make sense for your family.
Resources
In writing this article, statistics and information was used from various online sites. The following sites provided valuable resources to this article:
Magnet schools of America (http://www.magnet.edu)
U.S. Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml)
Read the the article above and make your own judgement. Are we really improving our district? Do we really need this when they are asking for a referendum?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007Removing magnet status
The school board has swung the axe today at several magnet schools.
The board voted this afternoon to demagnetize Lincoln Heights, Olds, Root and Wake Forest elementary schools. The board also decided not to go ahead with starting a magnet program at Forestville Road Elementary.
The schools didn’t meet new magnet objectives which focus on reducing high concentrations of poverty and supporting diversity and maximizing use of school facilities. You’ll note that the four existing schools have few low-income kids. While Forestville has a lot of poor kids, the board was worried about how giving it a magnet program would affect surrounding schools.
Click here for demographic info on the schools.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions.
No date was set on when the magnet programs would be removed. It’s safe to assume that nothing will happen for the 2007-08 school year.
The board didn’t get to the review of middle and high schools today that were on the watch list. No date was set on when that discussion will take place.
No discussion took place on which schools might now get magnet programs to replace those being removed.
Posted at 06:22 pm by Keung Hui in Diversity WakeEd
92 comments | Permalink
Comments:
Comment from: Aunt Bee [Visitor]
05/23/07 at 19:38
Ouch! That has to hurt.
Truthfully I have seen this coming for awhile and frankly am surprised they didn't cut more schools magnet status then those listed. 4 out of 20, I think I would still be worried if my school was on the list.
Is there a way to get information how the voting on this went?
Comment from: Wondering [Visitor]
05/23/07 at 20:08
Seems like we need MORE magnet programs, not less!
What on earth is the board thinking?
Comment from: Rich [Visitor]
Imagine that a school board would take this much interest in there district. Should a school board vote on a magnet school? It looks like this one did. This is how a school board should act.
Wonder if Salinas kid was one who applied for this magnet school?
He was the one who was on the board the last time who said if the referendum didn't pass he would put his kids in pirvate school.
The new district web site is up. Not completely done as you see when you click on the links, but it looks pretty damn nice to me. I'm sure you all will find major problems with it though.
I have been looking at the new site for a few days now and it looks good. We are all willing to work with this district when they are upfront and honest with us. Your statement only suggests that you want people to complain. There might be some questions on some things, but that is to be expected when something is new, but this does not mean it is complaints. The only thing I can think anyone would complain about is why certain things are still not posted such as missing board bits and things like that and this is understandable.
Does the new site have a different address? I type in aurora 131 and get the same site I always have.
Here is the new url:
http://www.d131.org/
I think it must be only our district that doesn't have the school board vote on the magnet schools.
A year ago this month the school board approved a plan to draw students from overcrowded schools in the district to underenrolled Jefferson Elementary by creating a magnet school -- a campus that offers a focused education program so attractive to students and parents that they would choose to transfer there from their existing school. Trustees asked district staffers to explore magnet schools as a way to avoid politically divisive boundary changes.
Some facts on the board member "busting in" on the union meeting.
-The union was consulted prior to the board member visiting.
-The union indicated that the board member can not be in the same room as the meeting.
-The board member visited and was not in the same room as the meeting. She was on the other side of the school.
-The teachers were happy to see the board member there.
-The board member did not give any instructions or recommendation to the teachers that CHOOSE to go to the room where she was.
-The board member sat passivly and listened to what the teachers had to say.
Someone lied to the reporter. The person who lied to the reporter does not want the board to know what the teachers think about what is going on in their school/district.
This investigation and issue will go nowhere because nothing was done wrong.
Thank you Feb.16, 11:03AM
What you have stated means so much to many of us who never believed what was in the Beacon.
From what you have stated it does make me wonder if anyone else other than the union was consulted before the board member visited, such as other board members?
Whomever lied to the reporter must realize that they will be found out sooner or later, just like the facts have come out here.
The reporter who did this story should follow up on this in fairness to all concerned. It should start with the person who
gave the information.
If you go to the right of this page I have updated the link to the district webpage.
Give it time to be totally reconstructed.
But it is Lookin' good!
Just went back to read up on blog comments.
Dear 11:03:
MWAH!
My lips have been sealed but I am overjoyed for your defense.
Your honesty means a lot to me.
All I can say is Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, whoever you are!
I too think the honesty that has come out about this is good and maybe things can get better at Waldo. We need the whole communities support with this. You have mine. I don't have children in school but I will stand behind you to make things right. I know Rayanne and I knew that this couldn't be true what they said and maybe now we can start helping to get things to work for the better of Waldo. But it takes not only the teachers but the parents of Waldo to make this better.
I work at Waldo and I agree. We need more parent support. Parents don't believe the teachers when we tell them they need to take their concerns to a higher level. I don't know if they are afraid or what. Although, the few parents who have gone over to the service center get the run around and get frustrated. I was not there the day of the meeting but I was told Rayanne was in a different room than the union person and that the union president was aware of this. Something is definitely shady with the union on this which is not surprising because really what have they done for anyone aside for protecting teachers who would have been fired if they were in any non-tenured job. Basically, the community, the parents, and the staff of D131 need to band together for change.
11:22 I agree that there needs to be change. Dee & Rayanne joining the school board are a big step in the right direction, but it seems that there are those who are determined to keep the old-guard secrecy in place.
Sneaking Salinas back onto the board is but one recent example of this. Harassing Rayanne is another.
Who knows when we are able to vote the rest of the old guard off the board? Is it this fall election or is it further down the line?
Not till 09.
Bob McCue, Juanita Wells, Ken Maurice and Fernando Salinas will be the ones on the ballot in 2009.
This is in the Beacon today. It looks like Chicago might get 3 new magnet schools after a vote by the school board.
3 new magnet schools on tap
CPS | But one plan opposed by residents
February 18, 2008
BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter/rrossi@suntimes.com
A rare second round of magnet school lotteries could be held as early as March if Chicago Public Schools officials push through plans to create three new magnets -- including some in half-empty school buildings.
Second campuses of the hugely popular LaSalle Language Academy and Disney Magnet are expected to emerge this fall in the aftermath of a CPS proposal to shake up 19 schools -- the first wave of as many as 50 school closings or consolidations over the next five years.
A third new school -- focused on preparing elementary students for careers in engineering -- is planned this fall on the South Side in the new Miles Davis Magnet building at 6740 S. Paulina, less than a mile from the current, half-empty Miles Davis.
For years, the cachet of magnet schools has drawn middle-class families into CPS. But plans involving the new LaSalle, or LaSalle-2, face stiff opposition.
Six busloads of protesters crowded a public hearing last week to fight plans to replace Hans Christian Andersen Elementary at 1148 N. Honore, near gentrified Wicker Park, with LaSalle-2. A School Board vote is set for Feb. 27.
I do not like the fact that they want to prepare elementary students for careers in engineering, do not children have the right to choose what careers they want when they get older? This is what the communists and etc. do with their children.
What do they propose to do if there are not enough applicants for the magnet school? I heard there were not that many.
Believe it or not some kids do start thinking young.
Yes, it did say that there wasn't to many and if the parents have to be the ones to get them there that might be a problem too.
I think the reason there were not that many is that there was not an adequate period of time to inform the staff and the parents. At our school, we were told there was a committee looking into magnet schools and then all of a sudden we read about the application process in the Beacon. How ridiculous is that? A parent told me a tthe open house, the admin could not even answer questions parents had. I think there are some kids that would benefit from this program but there is not adequate info out there so there parents are skeptical. There are some very bright kids in our district but they are not buying into this. ALso, if they are cutting other programs, such as the alternative schools for kids with extreme behaviors, how can they justify this program. We all know it is going to cost money.
They did kind of rush this thing and no matter what some say they are suppose to have the board approve it. I think at some time this might be a good thing for some students but like you said if they cann't answer all the questions and we have programs they are going to cut they need to wait for awhile.
In reading the little you can find about magnet schools it does seem that some extra money will need to be involved.
So let's do it the right way. Have the board approve it then really look into it and be able to answer parents questions and then do it.
It amazes me that the administration would try to pass by the board that they have no say so in a major educational shift as would happen with the change to the magnet school program. The only thing more amazing than that is the fact that the board just goes along without a clue of whether it is legal or not.
It's no wonder this district is in the mess that they are in.
When you have most of a board that has done things there way so long and have let a superintendent and the administrators run this district so some people on the board can just say they are on a board and dong there community some good you will not see change. But I do believe a change is coming. But it takes the community to get involved. How can this board and administration tell students to follow the rules when they don't? The times they are a changing for the best of the district I hope.
Now is the time for the people that put in for the new school board member that wasn't chosen to start talking to people before the next election of the school board. Remember this time you can be elected and not chosen. I think it is time to start talking to the parents of this district if you have a chance. You don't need alot of money like other canidates for mayor and the like. Get your name out there so maybe people will not vote for the first four on the ballot. It seems in the school board elections word of mouth can be better. Let people know what a school board can do for them. Let them know you will follow the rules and not let the superintendent and administration run the schools. Take the time to look at the school code that applies to the school board and the open meetings act to answer any questions that they might ask. Be able to answer questions to the people that always answer no to a referendum if you believe that it should be why it should be. If you think that the district could cut cost why it could. Let us know why it shouldn;t be the same ole same ole. Our children deserve better and let us know how you can help. The time to start is now because the ones that the board picked are not doing this. They did pick the ones that would always say yes to them and not callenage what the old guard says and they are breaking some laws.
Found these postings on openline blog-people are still posting on it but you have to go to older posts:
Anonymous said...
THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT DICK MANLEY PRESIDENT OF AFT 604 IS A GOOD FRIEND OF DR. ROBERTS. DO YOU THINK MAYBE //????????????????
2/18/08 1:51 PM
Anonymous said...
I truly do not know who Dick Manley is. Could you please tell me and something about him?
Thanks
2/18/08 3:24 PM
Anonymous said...
Dick Manley is the president of the local teacher's union. It is a conflict of interest if he is friends with the superintendent. He supposedly new about the Waldo meeting and okayed it if the D131 union president was not in the room as the board member and then went and filed charges against the board member. She was aksed to come to Waldo to hear concerns so I am not sure why Dick would file a suit against her for busting in. Other board members have come to the schools for various events and never get accused of anything. It seems odd.
2/18/08 5:14 PM
Anonymous said...
Thanks for answering who Dick Manley is.
It does make one wonder if Roberts had something to do with this since he is a good friend of Manyleys.
If this is so, then he or someone on the board had to know before hand or Manley told Roberts about it and asked him to do it.
2/18/08 10:22 PM
There is really some good postings in the openline blog, but it is under older posts. Wish the ones posting there would come and post here their info.
From openline.blog.
Now that I think about it I have never seem a reporter at a board meeting ask the outcome of a closed session that was about students or facitly. I thought what was said in closed session was suppose to stay there. I wonder if they taped it. I think they are way out of line with this. I could see the reporter coming when they where picking the new members and ask who they voted on but this different. I think Rayanne should check into see if they violated her rights.
2/19/08 11:49 AM
The reason school districts deal with personnel matters behind closed doors is because they fear lawsuits. If negative information is leaked and a person reputation is damaged and it turns out that the charges are not true, they have a legal right to seek restitution. Further if it was known that the allegations were false and purposely released to damage a person credibility they have every right to sue for defamation of caracter. To purposely bring the press in on a personnel issue that has not been resolved is very foolish for a district to do.
That's what I thought. For a news reporter not to know this is not good either. If this turns out to be in favor for Rayanne (which I'm sure it will) I hope someone does file a lawsuit.
"It sure got quiet here. Who died?
No teachers "busting into" the blog to defend the board member.
Must be out "engaging in unlawful activities."
February 11, 2008 6:28 PM"
Whoa! This was a nasty comment! I logged on to leave news about something that happened at East High today, but I was BROADSIDED by reading the "unlawful activities" post. Do you really hate teachers so much that you would publicly post such garbage?
At any rate, I wanted to comment about the MYSPACE threat.
Upon seeing that many of their friends had stayed home for the day, many students at the high school called their parents to ask them to come to school to pick them up. Some students were legitimately frightened, but most of what I saw was students eagerly anticipating having another day off. While I certainly want to protect the safety of students, the school was filled with security. As one teacher said, "There's no safer place to be today than here."
The kicker of the day was this: while deans' assistants were busy shuttling hundreds of students downstairs to go home, one student had a seizure in a classroom. Between the time his teacher called the office for assistance to the time a nurse arrived in the classroom with a wheelchair, 25 minutes passed, and the student had suffered two seizures. THIS is a travesty.
You give the students of East High an inch and they take 10 miles. These kids will do ANYTHING to get out of class. And don't tell me that all kids are like that, because it isn't true. I am only 25. I was in high school not too long ago, actually during the Columbine incident.
The kids at East High don't give a crap about education because their parents don't give a crap. That is evident in the community 12 times over.
That is terrible about the student who had the seizures and there is no excuse for this!
Not all students at East went home. Give credit to the ones that stayed. A member of my family(ninth grade)stayed. All anyone wants to do is give all the glory to the bad ones. My heart goes out to the families at NIU, but all the coverage in the media just glorifies what has been done, and as proven in the past, this just leads others to do it. So far, in less than a week two more incidents have been reported. Thank God they were just threats, but will another incident happen like this due to all the coverage?
These people that do these things do not care if anything happens to them because they know they will get the attention they want even if they are dead.
For all of you that was not at the board meeting tonight, it was good. Dan B. has an agenda, just can't figure out what it is. He sure put down Rayanne when he spoke before the board and it sounded like what he was saying was heresay and what has been read on the other blog. Some woman named Anits something spoke before the board about the magnet schools and it was good. That reporter was sure busy tonite talking to everyone, lets see if all of it makes it in the paper. A man was actually taping the meeting! THere actully was alot of people there for a school board meeting tonite. Could not stay til the end, but Rayanne said something when she talked(when board members get to make comments)in reference to the closed session that is apparently about this case against her. She could not say what is was about, but I think she wanted it in the minutes when she was speaking. It is hard to hear everything there at times. Ya all will have to find out the rest somewhere else this is all I know.
6:53 PM I do agree with you. However, I will state for the record that attendance in classes steadily dwindled throughout the day. By tenth hour, I had only 6 students present in a class of 30.
I will add, however, that one parent came to pick up a student during 9th hour class, and the student refused to go. So yes, there were some students who stayed.
So let us give the recogniztion to the ones who stayed and especially the one who did not want to go home. THis is the way it should be done and not the other way around. All the negative things get every aspect of attention and not the positive. It should not be done this way.
You are wrong there are kids at East High that do care. From what I heard there where quite a few kids that stayed. I do feel sorry for the child that had seizures though. That was too long for someone to get to them. They should be made to make up the day though at the end of the year. Add a day to the calendar.
About the teachers busting in comment you have to remember that there are people writing on this blog trying to get people off track. From what I have heard there are teachers sticking up for Rayanne and I know they have to be careful so don't take to heart what some say.
WHY DO WE PRAISE KIDS FOR DOING WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. You are supposed to stay in class, you are supposed to be on time, and you are supposed to do your work. It is one thing to praise somebody for an exciptional job, but to praise them for going to class is rediculous. Yes, thank you for staying, but I would say far more left than stayed.
7:12 PM I understand where you are coming from, but today did not count as a "day off" so there would be no make-up day at the end of the year. If a parent came to school to pick up a child, it was an excused absence.
As far as many kids staying, I certainly did not see "many" kids present today.
Upon hearing that a threat was made to your school a week after a nearby school had the tragedy that NIU has experienced, yes, those brave enough to stay in class to get an education deserve to be praised.
If this were a neighborhood where violence was unheard of and there was no credible threat I would agree that being in class was just expected.
How can you possibly make a statement that children should be expected to stay in an enviroment that may be dangerous. That sitting in a math or english class is more important than basic safety.
Safety must be first and foremost. An education is pretty worthless if your dead.
7:35 PM The point i made earlier tonight was that there were students who pursued going home simply to have another day off. This is a fact. I heard their conversations with one another.
By giving all the attention to the ones that did not stay is giving praise to them in by book. The ones who stayed do deserve praise as they could have done like the rest and looked at this like a free day off with no consequence. There was bomb scares when I went to school and if they said we could leave I did cause it was free day off without getting into trouble.
What is safe about:
1) Standing in a huge line in the hallway outside of the attendance office?
2) Standing outside waiting for you parents?
Don't you think it is a little safer if you can be locked inside a classroom when the "Secure the Building" in announced rather than running to a classroom?
There was no "secure the building." The school was not on lock down.
REALLY, but what if there was? That is the question. IF there was a secure the building where would the students be safer:
1) In the hallway?
2) Outside
3) IN A LOCKED CLASSROOM
GUESS WHAT THE ANSWER IS 3.
Of course students would be safer in a locked classroom. I guess I am missing your point and I am sorry. Are you saying the school SHOULD have had a lock down? If so, you might be right. Or, in lieu of what happened at NIU, and knowing that the administration was aware of the problem BEFORE today, perhaps they should have cancelled classes altogether until things cool off. I don't know what the answers are.
I think they should have either called off school, or not even allowed the students to call their parents. The school has counselors and people on staff the students can talk to if there is a real problem and somebody is really nervous. The problem is that 90% of those students who went home today were looking to skip class. Those are the same students that come to school late EVERY DAY, and are tardy to most of their classes.
To:
February 19, 2008 7:50 PM
You can't answer the question of where the safest place is until you define where and what the threat is. If there is a gunman in the classroom how can you claim that being in the locked room would be the safest. If there is a bomb in the building how can you say it is safest to lock children in the classroom.
Anybody who says that they could know what 90% of the children were thinking has got their head where the sun doesn't shine, no one can possibly read a single persons mind let alone ninety percent of thousands of people. No they are going to play it off and act cool even when they are scared.
You can claim you overheard a few students talking but the simple fact is the last thing students want to do is show weakness, they're not going to announce "I am leaving because I am scared to death".
You can't tell students that they are not allowed to call their parents. They are free individuals that the school is providing an education for. They are not slaves and they don't check their constitutional rights at the school house door. It's ridiculous to state that the school should ban students from communicating with their parents.
That is funny because a few years ago at the end of the school year there were some students who told they were in trouble and they let some of them call their parents and would not let a few of them. Want to know more, ask Marin Gonzales, this happens to be the last year she was principal at East before she became a asst. superintendant or ask Conrad because she would know about this.
if i had a student at east i would have kept them home too, or had gone to pick them up. better safe than sorry. you can't trust that administration took the threat seriously, you just can't trust that they would handle it correctly! there was an incident at waldo last week that was brushed off but should have been a lock down. staff wasn't even told about it and the ones that know now don't feel safe there anymore
Waldo seems to have become a big problem, hasn't it?
You can't take what Marin Gonzales does as the gospel of how things are supposed to be. Anyone who has worked with her would tell you that many of the decisions that the woman makes are highly questionable.
The fact is this, schools act with the authority "in Loco Parentis" in other words we act as a child's parent when the parent is not there. We have no authority to over ride a parents decision when the parent is acting in good faith and conscience for their child. Further, the school district is responsible for providing a safe environment for teachers and students. If more than half the students felt themselves unsafe enough to leave school yesterday, I'd say the administration failed in their duties.
Apparently the parents and students of this district do not feel that the administration will take adequate steps to keep them safe. The community does not have faith that the administration will make correct decisions. This lack of faith should be a wake up call to the board.
It's amazing to me what you people will agrue. You are right, let the students be in the hallway, they don't have to show up to class on time, the safest place for them is wherever they think the safest place is. Let's not have any kind of order or anything going on.
Along with working in the district, I attend a Chicago area college. For the last week I have been bombarded with information from my university about all the precautions that they are taking for student security. I have received information from my advisor, counseling services, campus security and the university president. I have been made aware of the multitude of actions being taken at the university to assure my safety.
In this district nothing has been stated by administration about why children should feel safe. The only correspondence these children have received was the automated message by Dr. Roberts yesterday. I heard the message, Dr. Roberts in his unassuring drone of a voice stated that there was a credible threat against the high school (no details given) by a 15 year old. He continues that they have added a couple of police officers and counselors. That's it!!
Children and parents were left with little information to make an intelligent decision. In short, this situation was handled as incompetently as every other situation this administration is put in charge of.
The fact that this administration can be this insensitive in the wake of last weeks horror at nearby Northern Illinois University has to be a wake up call to the community. Don't worry though, they are still working on trying to pass a referendum.
I can't believe the administration has done nothing to assure the children and their parents that they are safe at school. No one has explained what if any programs are in place for student safety, what if any action plans are in place in case of a security incident.
Our district spokesman has time to tell us about Will Smith and run an illegal fraternity but doesn't have tim to assure students that they are safe. Only in 131
This a direct quote from Clayton in the Beacon today:
"Our kids' safety and the perception of an unsafe environment is important."
Apparently Clayton thinks that it is important for the community to perceive the schools as an unsafe enviroment. That is what he is quoted as saying in the Beacon. The man has only one line to get correct in the local papers and he can't even do that. Why are we paying him $75,000+ dollars a year?
Communication skills like that and we wonder why children went home scared yesterday. The middle schools were also inundated with calls after Dr. Roberts message. Apparently no understood what Dr. Roberts was talking about.
Clayton's still in the district? I thought someone said he was going to work for the tollway authority. Is he leaving or what?
In case Dan is reading this blog just want you to know that Rayanne is using her own lawyer so it isn't costing the district any money.
Is it true that someone video taped the meeting last nite? Are they going to put it on you tube or somewhere so people can see it.
As far as Clayton statement remember the fishwrap could of got it wrong they are known for that.
Yes, it is true someone was taping the meeting last night. Do not know the rest. You could call Lisa Morales and ask her about your other question.
She was invited to the meeting to address concerns Walsdo teachers were having with administration. They'd already gone to Dr. Roberts and hadn't gotten results, so the next step is a Board Member. She didn't storm in anywhere!
She was separated from the union meeting as that she's a member of management in accordance with state law. The union president was in one room with most of the membership, and she was in another. Anyone who wanted to see her to voice their concerns could. She made no statements about comitting criminal action, I was there.
A higher union official was contacted by members of the administration and THEY pursued this, which might be improper because our union reps aren't supposed to work with administration like that. They didn't know what was going on and acted on bad information. The IFT people were wrong and are being used as tools of the administration. There were no complaints from union members who were there.
By the way, while this is going on, East Aurora Schools are not safe for students, staff, or parents. I work there! Not to mention there's not much teaching going on because teachers are trying to keep order in the classroom with no help from administration. Also, not to mention the fact that teachers have no resources, not even enough desks or books to teach children, but we've got millions for worthless workshops, and presenters who talk about nothing and get paid big money to do it! We're not talking about all these problems while we deal with this crap and another year of substandard education goes on at EA schools! Great!
Anonymous 3:40- you say you work in the district. It’s great that you are speaking out.
Can you share examples of what you mean about the schools being unsafe? I have been in many of them, especially East High and I have never felt threatened. I remember several years ago that the halls were unsafe and when the second bell went off all classroom doors were locked, then security would go and “sweep the halls” and any student that was late was sent to study hall. The environment did not allow the kids any time to interact between classes because of fear of getting “swept”. Now with the metal detectors and all the main doors locked it seems to me to be a place where the kids can feel safe and interact.
As far as the teachers not having the resources I could not agree more. I am a Band Booster and we raise funds for new music, instrument repair and anything else we can do because these programs are underfunded. I know the Sports Boosters and the PTA also help out anyway they can.
The workshop thing has touched a lot of nerves with the Board. I think everyone understands that Continuing Education is valuable because we want our teachers and administrators to keep up with their fields of study but not to abuse the privilege. I know at the company I work for we are encouraged to go to conferences if they are relevant to us but are expected to come back and share with our department or staff what we had learned. Most conferences now also give a CD of the proceedings so it is not necessary for as many people to actually attend in order for everyone to benefit. Also there are many other ways to save money at conventions. Usually the Hotel or conference center has specific “overpriced” hotels associated with the conference when right across the street there may be a Hampton Inn or Comfort Inn for half the price and free breakfast. Anyway, you get the idea.
Have a great day everyone out there in blogland.
Hi Anita--
The Band Boosters should ask at the next meeting whether or not the East High band is really going to organization contest at IMSA in April, as the band website states.
It's my understanding that the organization contest will be held in LaSalle-Peru this year, and that East High is not signed up to participate.
You want examples, I got examples. I work in a middle school. I don't know much about how East High is on safety. Waldo has no metal detectors, and little supervision. Two teachers have been attacked this year by students, but nothing like what happened at Elgin or anything. They were both pushed by students and the students were charged, one was expelled, I think.
These two incidents of actual assaults against teachers, but students are disrespectful all the time, telling teachers to F*** off and so on. Many teachers don't go out in the hall during passing period because we feel powerless and outnumbered.
Worse than the two incidents with teachers, we have fights all the time between students. There was a time in the Fall where we had multiple fights per day. I mean, these were violent fights, not just middle school stuff. Kids came out bloody and hurt. Its gotten a bit better, but theres still several fights per week. Students just can't be controlled. There's no support from the administration. Students aren't suspended for telling teachers off or other offenses that anywhere else, might get a student 5 days or expelled!
This next one is a duzy! We had a kid caught with weed by the cops in school. Not just a bag with enough for himself, but a whole freaking bunch of weed bagged up to sell. Did he get expelled? Nope, he got a 10 day suspension. He was selling DRUGS in school and got to come back! Tell me thats safe. What's next? A week off for carrying a gun? I'm scared, really....
This is Waldo. I don't know about East, but these kids from Waldo will be there soon! If East is OK now, its about to get interesting!
to anonymous 2-22
thanks for sharing the info on Waldo. I have certainly heard there are discipline problems there this year but had no idea. A mother got up at the School Board meeting a earlier this month and was in tears talking about the lack of discipline. I suggest that a bunch of you go to the next meeting and put your name on the board to speak. That's also a good way for the Beacon to get ahold of the story because they always have a reporter their more than willing to report problems because it sells papers.
The open line in the Beacon is also a way to get attention.
Again, thanks for sharing. I don't have a child there anymore so its easy to loose touch.
Anonymous,
I have no problem finding out for you about the posting on the Band Contest at IMSA.
I just came for the East Band website and did not see it listed? I did see the listing for the solo competition at Naperville Central which has been talked about and I know our kids are going to.
If you can point me in the right direction on the posting I can get you an answer before the next meeting.
Or if you want come join us at the meeting. We are always looking for new faces. April 1st 7:00 pm in the EA Band Room.
We are just a group of parents and community members that want to help the band kids.
Anita--
My kid said that it is listed on the handouts page of the band site in the performance schedules for each of the bands. His friend at Aurora Christian told him that it was not at IMSA this year but was at LaSalle-Peru instead because that's where they were going. Also, I think the solo thing at Naperville is just a clinic not a competition. The kids were originally supposed to go to Seneca on March 1 for the actual IHSA thing that was at Neuqua last year.
I am a parent of an East High band student as well as a student in chorus. The Naperville contest is not IHSA because both the band and chorus directors wanted the students to have a longer time with the judge. They both told my children this in classes. IHSA contests (I've attended several over the past few years) in the music area have not been very well organized. My child received a "thanks" from the judge and that was it. Even the written sheet had little. I know nothing about the Naperville contest but I'm willing to give it a shot.
I was at the band concert last Thursday and thought it well attended and a good concert (yes, I'm biased with a child in the band!). I do like it when all the bands are there. And to the Band Boosters - thanks for all of your work. I am a second shift parent who has to take off for evening things and would love to attend your meetings. I will be purchasing/selling cheesecake!
I find it interesting that at the beginning of the year the "new, inproved" EHS band director said (in the handbook) that he planned to take all the bands to organization contest.
And now it looks like no bands are going to organization contest?
Looks like someone dropped the ball here!
Of course the band concert was well-attended--they gave away samples of cheesecake!
:)
Isn't the band organization contest the same one that they did last year, and got a second division rating, and the director put up a plaque saying they got a first?
No wonder the East High administration (not to mention the "new improved" band director) isn't eager to go again this year--too bad the band handbook distributed at the beginning of the school year says clearly that ALL bands will be competing at organization contest.
Can someone explain how this is "better" for the program? How about you, Mr. Johnson or Mr. Harmon? Where's the promised improvement in the band program that you told the community would happen?
Yes, the cheesecake samples were delicious. Too bad the bands don't sound as good as the cheesecake tastes!
This is 12:19 p.m. again. I really enjoy the varied opinions here. I have been hearing about the band discussion since I moved to the area a few years back. My child has been in band since we moved here and the last 3 years at the high school. So I have no point of comparison to the previous band director and won't make comments about something I don't have reference to. I will say this about the past 3 years experience with East High Band:
1. My child loves music more and more each year 2. I feel they are challenged. 3. I like idea that there is a 9th grade band now (not when my child was in 9th grade), a "middle" band as I call it from my lack of musical knowledge, and a band that is by audition. 4. I feel the band director challenges my child and respects them. 5. I appreciate the website, the newletters, and the quick responses I get when I call the band office.
The previous band director may have done all of that too. I'm just speaking as a current parent. My child in the choral program is treated the same way and I appreciate that too. What I heard at the concert on Thursday was three bands that have various levels of playing experience and abilities. That's all my ear told me!
As far as the not going to contest, I'm one of these parents that wants answers when questions are raised just like everyone else. I went to the IHSA website myself and the school IS listed to participate in LaSalle. I have not heard from my child that they are not attending so I'm just going to plan for it.
Again, a little long for me but I really do enjoy the information on here.
6:25--I've gone to East High choral programs over the past several years (since my daughter started high school--she's now in college). I'd definitely say that Mrs. Nadel does an outstanding job. The music is challenging without being so difficult that it frustrates the students, and the programs always contain a variety of styles of music. The East High choral program is one of the best things happening at that school!
Unfortunately there will always be a cloud hanging over the band program, because the previous director was deprived of his position unjustly and against the wishes of parents & students. As long as anyone in this community remembers how Mr. K was treated, the administration will have a difficult time regaining the trust of the people.
Sad but true.
To: February 25, 2008 6:41 AM
I can understand why they would want to change a division 2 to a division 1. There are only divisions 1, 2 and 3. In thirty + years of band experience, I've never even heard of a band receiving a division 3. They just don't give them out, it would be to humiliating to the children and school. Further they don't frequently give a division 2. You have to play pretty bad to receive it. The vast majority of schools receive a division 1 or if they are really great a highly superior (a perfect score).
You are wrong. Where on earth do you come up with these lies. There are ratings five rataings.of I, II, III, IV, or V. I pulled the following information off of the IHSA website. You all seem to be so good at pulling web site information when it suites your purpose but when you are looking for truth you some how miss it.
I = Superior
II = Excellent
III = Good
IV = Fair
V = Poor
East High got a II. Only Excellent. Sorry that is not perfect enough for everybody. I thought it was pretty good. I don't know about the plaque, or what went on there, but you people need to realize that mistakes get made sometimes.
4:25, let me enlighten you about the plaque, since you claim to be interested in "looking for truth".
The truth is that the "new, improved" East High band director ordered a plaque that falsely claimed that the band had received a Division I rating. He then cleared out a display case in the lobby that had held awards fairly won by the band for many years, and displayed the bogus plaque along with some pictures. This display was seen by several faculty members, parents, and at least one school board member before the administration removed it. "Mistake"? not so much, it seems to me. More like a public display of arrogance and insecurity.
And that's the "truth"!
I was just checking out the Band webpage. I think its very well put together and informative. I didn't see the contest listed in LaSalle but did see the one for the Solo and Ensemble @Naperville N. My daughter participated in that one last year when it was @Nequa and it was very well run and they got so spend time getting critiqued by the judge. He had them play some parts over to show them how it could have sounded better, etc.
The EA Band website has a "blog" that it looks like nobody is using. Maybe this would be a good place to ask some of the questions about which IHSA events are attended and how the rating occur. You can link to it at www.eastauroraband.tripod.com. GO to the Helpful links tab on the left side and its at the bottom under the music store contacts.
Anita, thank you for the information. I am the parent of a band and choral student who posted earlier. I have never had any hesitation about asking either Mr. Liska or Mrs. Nadel questions. They have always been quick to answer. And like I said earlier, I do like the website. If questions need to be asked, they should by all means, but I have found asking them directly to the source is the quickest way to get an answer.
I'm another parent who has found the band website helpful. I also remember that the previous EHS director (the one who was "reassigned" because of a personal vendetta) maintained a nice website for the band, which included a complete history of the East High band program with pictures & brief bios of all the directors. I remember when that band program used to be the pride of the district--those were the days!
There's also a website for East High drama, which is very informative.
Feb. 28th @5:45 a.m., thanks for explaining what happened with the plaque. I agree with Anita that it's best to go directly to the source with questions about the band (or choral) program, but I seriously doubt that information like you posted would have been forthcoming, except on an anonymous blog.
The public has a right to know when deception has been swept under the rug by administrators and dismissed as an "honest mistake". Publicly misrepresenting contest results is anything but honest.
These types of situations are embarassing for our district at best. Rayanne did not barge into a meeting at any point. She was sitting in a classroom waiting for teachers to get out of a meeting with Karla. We entered the room, voiced concerns, she listened to us and was concerned about what we where telling her. She did not encourage any of us to "break any laws". The fact that this woman is being brought up on charges for this makes me want to leave the school in all seriousness. It also put fear in me that any person in a position of authority can fabricate whatever they want in this district about whoever they want in order to force someone into resignation, drag them to court, or tarnish their name. It sickens me that this has occurred. Since concerns where met with chuckles and laughter from Dr. Roberts months prior, an attempt through the chain of command to reach out for help from someone that our concerns at our school are being pushed aside one way or another turned into a terrible situation for someone who was just there to LISTEN to our concerns. I have had some of my worst teaching experiences during this school year and the kids think they can do whatever they want and I've seen it spread like an airborn virus to kids that wouldn't have thought twice the year before to behave in such a way. I am worried about the safety of the building, but not as much as many others. A dumb kid or a scared kid I would assume brings a knife to school probably once a year, we just don't always find out about it. Even in a very nice school district years ago there where fights all the time, and some minor weapons have been found. But it was stopped once it got out of hand IMMEDIETLY. IT IS OUT OF HAND right now. We should have some type of federal assistance, or state assistance in order to get another Dean and another police officer in the building. So in some ways there isn't much that can be done, but the damn doors need to be locked without question. Fights happen, people fight it's in our society now wether we like it or not even more so than ever with fighting all over cable television via EliteX and Ultimate Fighting thanks to the VS channel. There is a lot of girl fighting over guys on television thanks to the reality television shows so these things are probably going to happen especially if there isn't the necessary amount of supervision and police presence in the building. I also believe a large alternative school rather than a magnet school would be more productive for the district. This would create a stable environment in the classroom and those interested in learning would have a better opportunity to do so, while those who really don't care or just can't follow rules can go to the alternative school and be a problem there. There are a large group of kids just ruining this school and the people with the power to make change are doing nothing. I understand that some kids are just misguided and need extra help and have bad situations because I have spent the majority of my teaching experience trying to guide, help and lead these kids by explaining to them over and over about their choices, why they are wrong and where they are going to wind up if they continue to make these choices and I have pretty much gotten nowhere. At the high school I saved some, at the middle school, MAYBE ONE. So congratulations for making a mockery of our district!
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