Jeff Adkins-Dutro and Hedy Elliott-Gardner both graduated from Calvin Coolidge and, later, from Manual High School. Hedy has taught in District #150 for thirteen years and Jeff for fourteen; they are both committed to the teachers and the students of District #150.
Hedy received her undergraduate degree in elementary education from Western Illinois University where she also earned a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on African-American / Latin studies. Hedy has taught at Harrison Primary School and Roosevelt Magnet School; currently, she teaches at Garfield Primary.
Hedy has taught at the Adult Education Center and currently teaches GED at the Peoria County Jail and Proctor Community Center as well. Hedy has long been an advocate for adult education.
Hedy was a strong advocate for the many teachers who were treated poorly at Roosevelt Magnet School. She is absolutely not afraid to stand up for and to speak up for what is right.
Hedy is heavily involved in our community; currently, she serves on the Family Selection Committee for Habitat for Humanity, the Peoria Park District Rec Advisory Committee, Peoria Park District Inner City Services, and she is the president of Friends of Proctor Center.
Jeff Adkins-Dutro earned his bachelor's in English education from Missouri State and later a master's degree in liberal studies and another in English (both from Bradley University). Jeff taught at Manual High School for fourteen years before being transferred due to restructuring. Jeff dedicated much of his life to his Manual students while standing up for and supporting the many teachers who were done wrong. Jeff spoke out about the restructuring of Manual High School -- a process that has (as he warned) turned into a nightmare.
Jeff has also been an advocate of adult education -- having taught at the Adult Education Center and the Peoria County Jail.
Jeff is involved in his community. He has been a long-time volunteer EMT and firefighter with the West Peoria Fire Department.
Hedy and Jeff have spoken to their families about what the next two years will entail. Hedy and her husband Zeb have two children; Jeff and his wife Karen have five. Although the Elliott-Gardner and Adkins-Dutro families will be sacrificing much of their time over the next couple of years (if Hedy and Jeff are elected), Hedy and Jeff and their families are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get our district on the right track. Our students and we teachers deserve better and together we will make things better!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
PFT / Parent Coalition
As union leaders, we will meet with the presidents of PTO's. It's crucial for parents and teachers to form bonds, to work together to improve our schools. The PFT and the PTO's should work together to help transform our district.
The administrative "meetings with parents and community members" are often poorly-attended and tend leave too many parents with bad tastes in their mouths. Teachers and parents have daily contact with the children of District 150 -- they are the ones who are the experts not only on how things are, but also on how things need to be. Together, we need to ensure our voices are heard.
Certainly, parents and teachers will not agree on every issue. Often, though, some of the best new ideas come from intellectual disagreement.
We firmly believe that the effort to imporve our district must be a community effort, and we fully intend to work towards forming a productive, united front.
The administrative "meetings with parents and community members" are often poorly-attended and tend leave too many parents with bad tastes in their mouths. Teachers and parents have daily contact with the children of District 150 -- they are the ones who are the experts not only on how things are, but also on how things need to be. Together, we need to ensure our voices are heard.
Certainly, parents and teachers will not agree on every issue. Often, though, some of the best new ideas come from intellectual disagreement.
We firmly believe that the effort to imporve our district must be a community effort, and we fully intend to work towards forming a productive, united front.
New Secretary of Education -- Arne Duncan
We District #150 teachers are going to have to grab the bull by the horns -- and soon. With the appointment of Arne Duncan as Obama's Secretary of Education will come massive school reform. Many (if not most) of us are not opposed to changing the way things are. Let's face it, we do need reform. That said, what I learned from the Manual High School debacle is that teachers need to firmly establish themselves as the catalyst for and facilitators of this change.
Teachers were left out of the Manual High School restructuring process. Now, with over half of the teachers placed elsewhere and several new teachers likely to abandon ship at the end of this year, Manual is a disaster. We cannot let that happen again. We teachers must be at the forefront of discussions about school reform, charter schools, etc.
We have much to gain from the Obama / Duncan era -- so long as we teachers establish ourselves as the professionals fully capable of and fully willing to drive the educational future of our district.
As union officers, we will meet with the union officers of the Chicago Public School System. We will get a solid feel for what Duncan's reforms have meant to Chicago teachers -- what has worked, what hasn't, what to look forward to, what to look out for, etc.
Again, we teachers must take the bull by the horns. We must be the ones who drive the educational future of our district. We must and we will.
Teachers were left out of the Manual High School restructuring process. Now, with over half of the teachers placed elsewhere and several new teachers likely to abandon ship at the end of this year, Manual is a disaster. We cannot let that happen again. We teachers must be at the forefront of discussions about school reform, charter schools, etc.
We have much to gain from the Obama / Duncan era -- so long as we teachers establish ourselves as the professionals fully capable of and fully willing to drive the educational future of our district.
As union officers, we will meet with the union officers of the Chicago Public School System. We will get a solid feel for what Duncan's reforms have meant to Chicago teachers -- what has worked, what hasn't, what to look forward to, what to look out for, etc.
Again, we teachers must take the bull by the horns. We must be the ones who drive the educational future of our district. We must and we will.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Positive Ad Campaign
With at least one board member continuously stating that we District #150 teachers get paid more than other area teachers and that we work a shorter day, we feel it's crucial to advertise (at least somewhat modestly) how much above and beyond the call of duty we District #150 teachers go on a daily basis. Not only do we work hours upon hours after the dismissal bell rings, we also put a good deal of our own money into our classrooms. (When is the last time District #150 bought any of you a fan ??? let alone the many other materials you purchase with your own money.)
I'd argue that other teachers in the area wouldn't be willing to take the little extra we get paid to deal with the many elements (other than strictly teaching) that we deal with . . . daily.
I haven't talked to any teacher who is ungrateful for his salary or her benefits; however, to say that we're somehow getting by without working our share is absurd. We would like to start a positive ad campaign . . . T-Shirts, Bulletin Boards . . . Yard Signs . . . "District 150 Teachers / Going Above and Beyond"
We need to let parents and community members know that we are working our butts off for their children. If the PFT doesn't do it, no one will.
I'd argue that other teachers in the area wouldn't be willing to take the little extra we get paid to deal with the many elements (other than strictly teaching) that we deal with . . . daily.
I haven't talked to any teacher who is ungrateful for his salary or her benefits; however, to say that we're somehow getting by without working our share is absurd. We would like to start a positive ad campaign . . . T-Shirts, Bulletin Boards . . . Yard Signs . . . "District 150 Teachers / Going Above and Beyond"
We need to let parents and community members know that we are working our butts off for their children. If the PFT doesn't do it, no one will.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Master Teachers / Retirees
Too often, administrators consider our most experienced teachers to be out of touch -- to be effectively unwilling or unable to teach today's students -- as though a Type 75 makes them some sort of detached expert. We know otherwise. Our experienced teachers -- our master teachers -- should be revered -- they should be respected and looked to for guidance.
The same is true for our retired teachers. Our retirees should be the ones making extra money by mentoring our new teachers, by subbing (for higher pay) in well-disciplined schools, by doing morale surveys / checks for the PFT, etc. We should call on our retirees to serve in a variety of capacities after we ensure our schools are under control enough for them to be able to do so without being unnecessarily stressed out.
If elected, we will make every effort to get retirees actively involved in the PFT.
The same is true for our retired teachers. Our retirees should be the ones making extra money by mentoring our new teachers, by subbing (for higher pay) in well-disciplined schools, by doing morale surveys / checks for the PFT, etc. We should call on our retirees to serve in a variety of capacities after we ensure our schools are under control enough for them to be able to do so without being unnecessarily stressed out.
If elected, we will make every effort to get retirees actively involved in the PFT.
Morale
Remember: Teaching should be fun. No PFT members are afraid of hard work. Hard work and dealing with out of control schools, though, aren't the same thing.
Too many teachers are experiencing a level of stress that is unhealthy and absolutely unnecessary. We need to create conditions in which we can work hard and productively. Then, we won't have teachers who dread getting up to go to work every morning.
We will work hard and we will have fun doing so. We will no longer allow ourselves to be stressed out and run down by chaos.
As PFT leaders, we will survey conditions in our schools. Teacher morale should be high. If teacher morale is high, student morale will be high. The converse is also true; hence, low morale can't be tolerated.
We will visit schools with low morale continuously until morale becomes high. If there's a school in which morale remains low because of poor leadership, lackluster discipline, etc., we will -- if the problem isn't immediately fixed -- ensure everyone in the city knows about the problem until it DOES get fixed.
We firmly believe that administrators (top-notch administrators whose teachers have high morale) should conduct inservices for administrators whose buildings are lacking in the morale department. We want to give administrators the opportunity to improve; however, if things don't improve or if they get worse, votes of no confidence must be taken. We can't allow our students to suffer from poor-quality leadership.
We teachers deserve to be able to work hard in conditions that allow us to constructively do so.
Too many teachers are experiencing a level of stress that is unhealthy and absolutely unnecessary. We need to create conditions in which we can work hard and productively. Then, we won't have teachers who dread getting up to go to work every morning.
We will work hard and we will have fun doing so. We will no longer allow ourselves to be stressed out and run down by chaos.
As PFT leaders, we will survey conditions in our schools. Teacher morale should be high. If teacher morale is high, student morale will be high. The converse is also true; hence, low morale can't be tolerated.
We will visit schools with low morale continuously until morale becomes high. If there's a school in which morale remains low because of poor leadership, lackluster discipline, etc., we will -- if the problem isn't immediately fixed -- ensure everyone in the city knows about the problem until it DOES get fixed.
We firmly believe that administrators (top-notch administrators whose teachers have high morale) should conduct inservices for administrators whose buildings are lacking in the morale department. We want to give administrators the opportunity to improve; however, if things don't improve or if they get worse, votes of no confidence must be taken. We can't allow our students to suffer from poor-quality leadership.
We teachers deserve to be able to work hard in conditions that allow us to constructively do so.
The Restructuring Debacle: Manual High School
Manual High School is an absolute disaster. Morale is at rock bottom, chaos has supplanted organization, and discipline is out of control. This is precisely what happens when teachers (the professionals who have daily contact with our children) are left out of the "restructuring" process.
One of our first goals as union officers will be to rescue the teachers at Manual High School. We will survey the teachers to get a feel for exactly what the problems are; we will then take whatever actions are necessary / possible to help the teachers in the school get things turned around. If we must help the Manual teachers organize a vote of no confidence, we will absolutely do so.
Keep in mind, many (if not most) of our schools will end up having to restructure. We want to help ensure that what happened at Manual doesn't happen anywhere else in our district.
One of our first goals as union officers will be to rescue the teachers at Manual High School. We will survey the teachers to get a feel for exactly what the problems are; we will then take whatever actions are necessary / possible to help the teachers in the school get things turned around. If we must help the Manual teachers organize a vote of no confidence, we will absolutely do so.
Keep in mind, many (if not most) of our schools will end up having to restructure. We want to help ensure that what happened at Manual doesn't happen anywhere else in our district.
Alternative Schools
Our district is in dire need of an alternative school -- a top-notch alternative school. Teachers should NOT have to spend even a fraction of their class time dealing with discipline problems. Students should be expected to behave from the time they enter school until they leave school grounds. Students who don't behave -- who disrupt the learning environment of other students -- should be summarily dealt with.
This idea that teachers should handle discipline problems within their classrooms is absurd. If discipline isn't established and upheld first and foremost, no progress will be made. In fact, there will be digression.
We teachers must stand up for the rights of our students. Our students deserve classrooms (and schools) that are calm, peaceful, and conducive to learning.
Nobody wants to throw children out on the streets; however, if we don't control behavior within our schools, there becomes little difference between our schools and the streets. A top-notch alternative school would allow students who need intensive interventions to get those interventions. Students who don't need such interventions would be able to learn without having to deal with being continuously disrupted.
This idea that teachers should handle discipline problems within their classrooms is absurd. If discipline isn't established and upheld first and foremost, no progress will be made. In fact, there will be digression.
We teachers must stand up for the rights of our students. Our students deserve classrooms (and schools) that are calm, peaceful, and conducive to learning.
Nobody wants to throw children out on the streets; however, if we don't control behavior within our schools, there becomes little difference between our schools and the streets. A top-notch alternative school would allow students who need intensive interventions to get those interventions. Students who don't need such interventions would be able to learn without having to deal with being continuously disrupted.
Community Schools
Our high schools should be transformed into Full Service Community Schools that provide services for the betterment of our community -- from GED classes, to exercise classes, to parenting classes for parents of misbehaving children, to college classes, etc. A new day must dawn if we are to transform our community and our schools. The PFT should push for and help facilitate this process.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Professional Development
The people making the decisions regarding what kind of professional development we need aren't people who are in daily contact with our children. That's wrong. We teachers need to be in charge of what kinds of professional development we do and don't need.
Too much time is being spent managing the manifold programs our district has purchased. After dealing with all of the paperwork, data entry, etc., these programs entail, there's little time left for teaching. The district says we teachers need to "work smarter, not harder." We firmly believe they need to take their own advice.
Incidentally, the people who are often in charge of "teaching" these programs to us teachers are people who couldn't wait to get out of the classroom. I don't have much respect for people who abandon the classroom only to make money by telling classroom teachers what they should and shouldn't be doing.
Recently, I attended a required professional development session. Three professional developers showed up -- all from the same professional development organization. It took all three of them to show a video, hand out a worksheet related to the video, and lead a "discussion." There were only six or seven teachers in the session and three of us teachers had already seen all or part of the video. One teacher had already seen it three times.
Professional Development??? or ???A complete waste of time.
We teachers must demand better.
Too much time is being spent managing the manifold programs our district has purchased. After dealing with all of the paperwork, data entry, etc., these programs entail, there's little time left for teaching. The district says we teachers need to "work smarter, not harder." We firmly believe they need to take their own advice.
Incidentally, the people who are often in charge of "teaching" these programs to us teachers are people who couldn't wait to get out of the classroom. I don't have much respect for people who abandon the classroom only to make money by telling classroom teachers what they should and shouldn't be doing.
Recently, I attended a required professional development session. Three professional developers showed up -- all from the same professional development organization. It took all three of them to show a video, hand out a worksheet related to the video, and lead a "discussion." There were only six or seven teachers in the session and three of us teachers had already seen all or part of the video. One teacher had already seen it three times.
Professional Development??? or ???A complete waste of time.
We teachers must demand better.
Team up with the City
We teachers -- via the PFT -- must team up with the city to improve not only our schools, but our communities as well. If our communities improve, the schools within those communities will improve. For too long, teachers have been asked not only to play the role of teacher but also parent, professional counselor, etc. We teachers go above and beyond the call of duty every day; however, for us to be blamed for not being able to solve all of the problems our students bring with them to school is absurd.
We must meet with city officials in an effort to establish a new era of parent and community involvement and accountability. Although we do go above and beyond the call of duty, there's only so much we teachers can do.
If reading scores are abysmal in parts of our community, there must be a community-wide effort to improve those scores. Learning should not begin with the first bell and end with the last. The community must step up and keep the learning alive long after the school day ends. We teachers have been doing our part and then some. It's time for the community to step up. The PFT should play a major role in facilitating this effort.
We must meet with city officials in an effort to establish a new era of parent and community involvement and accountability. Although we do go above and beyond the call of duty, there's only so much we teachers can do.
If reading scores are abysmal in parts of our community, there must be a community-wide effort to improve those scores. Learning should not begin with the first bell and end with the last. The community must step up and keep the learning alive long after the school day ends. We teachers have been doing our part and then some. It's time for the community to step up. The PFT should play a major role in facilitating this effort.
School Discipline
It is no secret that many of our schools are out of control.
First of all, teachers should not have to check their dignity at the front door of the school house. To think that professional educators -- members of our union, the Peoria Federation of Teachers -- are being cussed at, cussed out . . . to think that our teachers are spending the majority of their day dealing with egregious behavior while risking their own safety by breaking up violent acts of mob action several times per week . . . it's unacceptable. We cannot and will not tolerate this kind of madness.
Administrators who chalk up misbehavior to cultural differences or poverty do nothing more than enable students to misbehave. These administrators are worse than drug dealers because they allow a few students to actively destroy the education of all students within their buildings.
For many (if not most) of our students, education is their only key to a future free from the poverty into which they were born. If teachers can't teach and students can't learn, everybody loses.
We will be in troubled schools daily. We will document what is going on and one way or another, positive changes will be made. No one wants to spend the next twenty years simply trying to survive. We are teachers . . . our job is to educate . . . and that's what we'll do.
First of all, teachers should not have to check their dignity at the front door of the school house. To think that professional educators -- members of our union, the Peoria Federation of Teachers -- are being cussed at, cussed out . . . to think that our teachers are spending the majority of their day dealing with egregious behavior while risking their own safety by breaking up violent acts of mob action several times per week . . . it's unacceptable. We cannot and will not tolerate this kind of madness.
Administrators who chalk up misbehavior to cultural differences or poverty do nothing more than enable students to misbehave. These administrators are worse than drug dealers because they allow a few students to actively destroy the education of all students within their buildings.
For many (if not most) of our students, education is their only key to a future free from the poverty into which they were born. If teachers can't teach and students can't learn, everybody loses.
We will be in troubled schools daily. We will document what is going on and one way or another, positive changes will be made. No one wants to spend the next twenty years simply trying to survive. We are teachers . . . our job is to educate . . . and that's what we'll do.
Checks and Balances
We firmly believe that the Peoria Federation of Teachers, the Board of Education, and the District #150 administration should operate in much the same way our government works. Each organization (the union, the board, and the administrators) should check and balance the other.
Our goal is to strive to put the PFT in a position to do much more checking and balancing. We firmly believe that the educators in our district -- the teachers who have daily contact with our children -- should drive the educational future of our district. If elected, we will ensure that the PFT has a strong voice with regards to which direction our district must take.
As it is, the administration has turned our district's academic culture into a business culture. The administration (with little or no guidance from our district's educators) buys programs; we teachers then become service personnel directed to carry them out. So many programs . . . so little time left to teach.
We intend to take to bull by the horns . . . we intend to rally teachers . . . to reclaim our position as the professionals . . . as the ones who should be driving the educational future of our district.
Our goal is to strive to put the PFT in a position to do much more checking and balancing. We firmly believe that the educators in our district -- the teachers who have daily contact with our children -- should drive the educational future of our district. If elected, we will ensure that the PFT has a strong voice with regards to which direction our district must take.
As it is, the administration has turned our district's academic culture into a business culture. The administration (with little or no guidance from our district's educators) buys programs; we teachers then become service personnel directed to carry them out. So many programs . . . so little time left to teach.
We intend to take to bull by the horns . . . we intend to rally teachers . . . to reclaim our position as the professionals . . . as the ones who should be driving the educational future of our district.
Not to Disparage
I want to be clear . . . this blog is not intended to be a means for current PFT members to disparage the current PFT leadership. This blog is to be utilized to discuss the future of the Peoria Federation of Teachers -- the future as Hedy Elliott, I, and the rest of our members envision it.
Please share your thoughts about what you envision for the future of the PFT while maintaining the high level of dignity and respect all of our members deserve.
Thank you.
Please share your thoughts about what you envision for the future of the PFT while maintaining the high level of dignity and respect all of our members deserve.
Thank you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
