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Per reports on blog and elsewhere, employee complaints have been mounting; someone may have snapped.
23 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Hey, how about "restorative justice" for this poor teacher. He clearly doesn't know any better, how is suspending him or involving the legal system going to help? Put him on a behavior plan so can earn points for each day he doesn't make death threats. He can get a reward at the end of the week for his points.
That is the kind of foolishness tat transpires when students threaten teachers' lives. I just heard a 4th or 5th grader yelling at a teacher in the hallway yesterday, saying he'd shoot him. Students regularly make threats to shoot, stab, kill,etc. I once had to write a referral for a student who threatened to "cut my head off" Student don't even get as much as a detention for it.
Here's what I find interesting. When threats are made against teachers, the PPS has a firm policy: You are to call the school police, not the city police.
I am not aware of even one instance where the city police were called in to handle a threat against a teacher. All these instances were handled by the school police.
But now we have a threat against a principal. All of a sudden, the city police are involved.
I find this curious. Are there two tiers of police response, one for principals and one for everyone else?
"To post re Tensions from two months ago- [NAME CALLING DELETED} This admin has made a positive impact! The teacher in question is a loose cannon who brought his own problems on himself This principal wants the best from staff & kids Stand by those that are fair, just & principled!"
Hopefully more information will be disclosed, but 2 months is not a long time; it is about the length of time that issues raised (locked faculty restrooms, etc) could build and lead to heightened emotions where people say things they otherwise might not.
6:21 Do you, by any chance, happen to BE the principal of Perry? Does anyone else get the feeling this poster "doth protest too much" If Perry truly solved all their problems that fast, bottle up your cure and sell it to U Prep.
I'm surprised more teachers don't "snap" given the stress & conditions we are subject to. I always assumed that was the reason for the Fort Knox style security at Bellefield. Lord knows we have all wanted to pick something up and throw it at one of the incompetent, rude, and generally unhelpful mopes sitting at behind most of the desks there.
The last time I went there with a payroll question I felt like I was visiting the president! First you sign in and they alert the department you are headed for. You have a certain amount of time to get to your destination before security measures are taken. Then I had to speak to the payroll person though glass, like I was at an impound lot. They just need some barbed wire and a junkyard dog roaming the grounds.
I guess administration & central office must feel they are potential targets for violence due to the way the treat district employees and push them to the point of a nervous breakdown or psychotic episode. Meanwhile teachers can be threatened, asssulted, etc without repercussion. The schools we house our children in should be at least as secure as the building that houses our central office staff.
This is very interesting a school employee threaten a Principal one area we should explore not why Principal was threaten what cause the Principal to be threaten also is this first time or prior incidents as well ?This is not a good sign for students to see this type of behavior when there is a lot of threats among them.Is there a plan of action to as prevention and intervention in place?This is SHAMEFUL this kind of behavior involving ADULTS no wonder STUDENTS act the way they do.YEt we tell students bad BEHAVIOR unacceptable a lot of NERVE Needs to be a REALITY CHECK !!!!!!!!!!!dont see this carrying on at CAPA seems like always happen at the problem schools of PPS
8:24 To say "no wonder students act the way they do" because of one incident of a teacher making a threat to a principal is kind of a stretch. I can't recall ANY other incidents such as this.
Students are not learning violent behavior from their teachers. At my school, we have full time security due to the amount of parent fights that occurred in our school. This is a K-5 school, so these children are at their most impressionsble stage. At one point parents weren't even allowed in because they would not stop fighting.
Many parents are banned from the building due to fighting, making threats, cussing out teachers and office staff and other bad behavior.
Recently two mothers fought in the office in front of their 7 year olds. The one mother screamed she would "f**k up her and her kid" they proceeded to fight and police had to be called.
Another time a woman came in and said "I'm here to kill the 1st grade teacher" and ran loose in the building until the police cornered her in a stairwell. I encountered this scene while walking my class line back to our room from gym.
The icing on the cake was the mother who put her baby on the ground to attack another mother first thing in the morning.
No wonder they behave as they do, indeed! Can't imagine too many CAPA parents behaving that way, if you want to make that comparison. For the most part the apples don't fall too far from the tree.
7:38 speaking of the Bellefield staff practices reminded me of my neighbor who took her kid over there to get a work permit and encountered the rudeness described. She asked me what I would suggest she do about it. I said she should skip the hotline, which is a switchboard, and go straight to linda lane.
9:06 Many parents like me who were active when they had kids in school have stories just like those you posted. there is a poster here on pure who continually talks about more relevant curricula and teachers who engage better with students making the difference. I would like her/him to tell me how the story you tell NOT having a negative, long-lasting impact.
The security employee downstairs at Bellefield, among others, is always pleasant and helpful. In general, though, an attitude that parents, teachers and community members are problems to be brushed off is sure to have an effect.
PPS awarded $3 million for Safe Schools (Restorative Practices?) 3.01 RAND Corporation -(Student Support Services)–-- Agenda Review: "RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of the School District of Pittsburgh authorize its proper officers to enter into a contract with the RAND Corporation to fulfill program services as defined in the proposal submitted by the District to the U.S. Department of Justice's “Comprehensive School Safety Initiative – Developing Knowledge About What Works to Make Schools safe” grant program. This submission resulted in a $3,021,407 three-year grant award that was accepted and approved as Agenda Item Number 2.04, by the Board of Directors of the School District of Pittsburgh at the October 22, 2014Legislative Committee Meeting. The contract period is from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. The contracted amount shall not exceed $999,912 (Year one: $217,725, Year 2: $375,717 and Year 3: $406,470) from account line 4810-09X-2810-330."
Rick Earle was the reporter for the original post on this topic. He is also the reporter who covered the fight between football teams last fall.
This isn't THAT big of a story... someone lost their temper... the bigger story is the high levels of stress and teacher turnover that seem to be present in the schools these days. Word is that something like 6 teachers have already left Perry this year, either with medical issues (stress related?) or to other PPS or nonPPS schools.
Dear Rick Earl You need to check the facts. The story reported IS NOT accurate. This teacher did not threaten to kill Mr Chakey. This teacher is not a loose cannon. He, like most of the staff is under a lot of pressure. Mr. Chakey is a bully. Everyone knows a bully is really a coward. He intentionally tagets a select group, mostly older, almost always female teachers. He sets them up for unrealistic expectations. He then goes after them. He has been doing this for years. And he gets away with it. He should have been slapped with an age/ sex descrimination suit a long time ago. I am not a liberty to reveal all of the detai,s about this particular situation, but I know this teacher, and this story is not bei g reported accurately. Mr.Earl, get your facts before you report. Better yet, investigate Mr Chakey, that's the REAL story here.
I am sure that many who read this blog are appreciative of your comments to Rick Earle,since I think many of us are older female teachers, past and present who have experienced his arbitrary accusations. Those who fight him are faced with so called empathy from the union but no action comes from them. Ms. Spolar runs the show. Linda Lane is her puppet.
"It is common knowledge that Mr Chakey discriminates against older teachers, particularly women. The union knows, Spolar knows, Lane knows. When he arrives at a new school he immediately targets these teachers and sets them up for failure. His management style uses fear and intimidation. There are a few people who have challenged him and won, but those numbers are few. I suggest you get your own lawyer, don't not rely on the union. They are useless. Document everything, because he does! These principles have been instructed on the fine art of targeting employees. Inhale watched this technique up close and personal. Chakey would never answer an email. He puts nothing in writing. He uses staff (Travanti, Turnball) to don his dirty work. He stays in the office, steers clear of difficult parents. He belittles and demeans staff members at meetings. [PERSONAL CHARACTERIZATIONS DELETED.] The REAL news story in PPS is the inadequate, ineffective administration NOT the teachers. When will someone start to investigate this growing trend in Pittsburgh [NAMES DELETED]."
In response to anonymous comment quoted at 9:45. Someone did try to investigate questionable practices of administration at U Prep, but no one would talk to her even anonymously. Maybe she would do the same for Perry, if the staff will cooperate. Her name is Rebecca Nuttall and I believe she posted contact information on the most recent U Prep threads.
Bullies lead by fear. Bullies do not respect women and view them as objects. Bullies have little to no relational intelligence. Bully leadership is not sustainable. Bullies get no loyalty from their staff. Staff morale is low, the staff will never go the extra mile for this type of leader. The leader loses his respect. A bully is vicious and vindictive in private and charming in front of witnesses. Only the current target sees both sides. (Jekyll and Hyde) Does this sound like YOUR principal. This is going on each and every day in our schools. Dont be too quick to place blame on the teachers.
5:50, when it comes to bully principals, let me add two more to your list.
Bullies will not accept ideas from their staff. The bully does not see a staff meeting as a problem-solving session. Instead, it's a place where the staff goes to receive their marching orders.
Bullies would rather continue along an obvious wrong path than admit that they made any mistake.
Here is my experience with "bully principals" *they get others to their work and "plant ideas" with teachers so it seems like colleagues want it *decisions that wont go over easy (changes in schedule,class,duties,etc) are made on Friday's or before holidays so you cant talk to anyone *they allow the culture of the building to come to a point that people have to go to them with scoop or info so they can look like the almighty *they always talk about what they are going to do next year
23 comments:
Hey, how about "restorative justice" for this poor teacher. He clearly doesn't know any better, how is suspending him or involving the legal system going to help? Put him on a behavior plan so can earn points for each day he doesn't make death threats. He can get a reward at the end of the week for his points.
That is the kind of foolishness tat transpires when students threaten teachers' lives. I just heard a 4th or 5th grader yelling at a teacher in the hallway yesterday, saying he'd shoot him. Students regularly make threats to shoot, stab, kill,etc. I once had to write a referral for a student who threatened to "cut my head off" Student don't even get as much as a detention for it.
Here's the link to the "Problems at Perry" post from about 2 months ago; clearly there were warnings of tensions at the school:
http://purereform.blogspot.com/search?q=perry
Here's what I find interesting. When threats are made against teachers, the PPS has a firm policy: You are to call the school police, not the city police.
I am not aware of even one instance where the city police were called in to handle a threat against a teacher. All these instances were handled by the school police.
But now we have a threat against a principal. All of a sudden, the city police are involved.
I find this curious. Are there two tiers of police response, one for principals and one for everyone else?
Anonymous wrote:
"To post re Tensions from two months ago- [NAME CALLING DELETED} This admin has made a positive impact! The teacher in question is a loose cannon who brought his own problems on himself This principal wants the best from staff & kids Stand by those that are fair, just & principled!"
Hopefully more information will be disclosed, but 2 months is not a long time; it is about the length of time that issues raised (locked faculty restrooms, etc) could build and lead to heightened emotions where people say things they otherwise might not.
6:21
Do you, by any chance, happen to BE the principal of Perry? Does anyone else get the feeling this poster "doth protest too much" If Perry truly solved all their problems that fast, bottle up your cure and sell it to U Prep.
I'm surprised more teachers don't "snap" given the stress & conditions we are subject to. I always assumed that was the reason for the Fort Knox style security at Bellefield. Lord knows we have all wanted to pick something up and throw it at one of the incompetent, rude, and generally unhelpful mopes sitting at behind most of the desks there.
The last time I went there with a payroll question I felt like I was visiting the president! First you sign in and they alert the department you are headed for. You have a certain amount of time to get to your destination before security measures are taken. Then I had to speak to the payroll person though glass, like I was at an impound lot. They just need some barbed wire and a junkyard dog roaming the grounds.
I guess administration & central office must feel they are potential targets for violence due to the way the treat district employees and push them to the point of a nervous breakdown or psychotic episode. Meanwhile teachers can be threatened, asssulted, etc without repercussion.
The schools we house our children in should be at least as secure as the building that houses our central office staff.
This is very interesting a school employee threaten a
Principal one area we should explore not why Principal was threaten what cause the Principal to be threaten also is this first time or prior incidents as well ?This is not a good sign for students to see this type of behavior when there is a lot of threats among them.Is there a plan of action to as prevention and intervention in place?This is
SHAMEFUL this kind of behavior involving ADULTS no wonder STUDENTS act the way they do.YEt we tell students bad BEHAVIOR unacceptable a lot of NERVE
Needs to be a REALITY CHECK !!!!!!!!!!!dont see this carrying on at CAPA seems like always happen at the problem schools of PPS
When you have a union as weak as the PFT, what do you expect to happen?
8:24
To say "no wonder students act the way they do" because of one incident of a teacher making a threat to a principal is kind of a stretch. I can't recall ANY other incidents such as this.
Students are not learning violent behavior from their teachers. At my school, we have full time security due to the amount of parent fights that occurred in our school. This is a K-5 school, so these children are at their most impressionsble stage. At one point parents weren't even allowed in because they would not stop fighting.
Many parents are banned from the building due to fighting, making threats, cussing out teachers and office staff and other bad behavior.
Recently two mothers fought in the office in front of their 7 year olds. The one mother screamed she would "f**k up her and her kid" they proceeded to fight and police had to be called.
Another time a woman came in and said "I'm here to kill the 1st grade teacher" and ran loose in the building until the police cornered her in a stairwell. I encountered this scene while walking my class line back to our room from gym.
The icing on the cake was the mother who put her baby on the ground to attack another mother first thing in the morning.
No wonder they behave as they do, indeed! Can't imagine too many CAPA parents behaving that way, if you want to make that comparison. For the most part the apples don't fall too far from the tree.
7:38 speaking of the Bellefield staff practices reminded me of my neighbor who took her kid over there to get a work permit and encountered the rudeness described. She asked me what I would suggest she do about it. I said she should skip the hotline, which is a switchboard, and go straight to linda lane.
9:06 Many parents like me who were active when they had kids in school have stories just like those you posted. there is a poster here on pure who continually talks about more relevant curricula and teachers who engage better with students making the difference. I would like her/him to tell me how the story you tell NOT having a negative, long-lasting impact.
The security employee downstairs at Bellefield, among others, is always pleasant and helpful. In general, though, an attitude that parents, teachers and community members are problems to be brushed off is sure to have an effect.
Grateful nobody was hurt by this "possible threat" and that the school district is being tight-lipped.
PPS awarded $3 million for Safe Schools (Restorative Practices?)
3.01 RAND Corporation -(Student Support Services)–--
Agenda Review:
"RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of the School District of Pittsburgh authorize its proper officers to enter into a contract with the RAND Corporation to fulfill program services as defined in the proposal submitted by the District to the U.S. Department of Justice's “Comprehensive School Safety Initiative – Developing Knowledge About What Works to Make Schools safe” grant program. This submission resulted in a $3,021,407 three-year grant award that was accepted and approved as Agenda Item Number 2.04, by the Board of Directors of the School District of Pittsburgh at the October 22, 2014Legislative Committee Meeting. The contract period is from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. The contracted amount shall not exceed $999,912 (Year one: $217,725, Year 2: $375,717 and Year 3: $406,470) from account line 4810-09X-2810-330."
I wonder why no one else picked this story up. I emailed Rick Earle and told him about this website.
Rick Earle was the reporter for the original post on this topic. He is also the reporter who covered the fight between football teams last fall.
This isn't THAT big of a story... someone lost their temper... the bigger story is the high levels of stress and teacher turnover that seem to be present in the schools these days. Word is that something like 6 teachers have already left Perry this year, either with medical issues (stress related?) or to other PPS or nonPPS schools.
That is why I contacted him since I am a past victim of Chakey's abuse.
Dear Rick Earl
You need to check the facts. The story reported IS NOT accurate. This teacher did not threaten to kill Mr Chakey. This teacher is not a loose cannon. He, like most of the staff is under a lot of pressure. Mr. Chakey is a bully. Everyone knows a bully is really a coward. He intentionally tagets a select group, mostly older, almost always female teachers. He sets them up for unrealistic expectations. He then goes after them. He has been doing this for years. And he gets away with it. He should have been slapped with an age/ sex descrimination suit a long time ago.
I am not a liberty to reveal all of the detai,s about this particular situation, but I know this teacher, and this story is not bei g reported accurately. Mr.Earl, get your facts before you report. Better yet, investigate Mr Chakey, that's the REAL story here.
I am sure that many who read this blog are appreciative of your comments to Rick Earle,since I think many of us are older female teachers, past and present who have experienced his arbitrary accusations. Those who fight him are faced with so called empathy from the union but no action comes from them. Ms. Spolar runs the show. Linda Lane is her puppet.
Anonymous wrote:
"It is common knowledge that Mr Chakey discriminates against older teachers, particularly women. The union knows, Spolar knows, Lane knows. When he arrives at a new school he immediately targets these teachers and sets them up for failure. His management style uses fear and intimidation. There are a few people who have challenged him and won, but those numbers are few. I suggest you get your own lawyer, don't not rely on the union. They are useless. Document everything, because he does! These principles have been instructed on the fine art of targeting employees. Inhale watched this technique up close and personal. Chakey would never answer an email. He puts nothing in writing. He uses staff (Travanti, Turnball) to don his dirty work. He stays in the office, steers clear of difficult parents. He belittles and demeans staff members at meetings. [PERSONAL CHARACTERIZATIONS DELETED.] The REAL news story in PPS is the inadequate, ineffective administration NOT the teachers. When will someone start to investigate this growing trend in Pittsburgh [NAMES DELETED]."
In response to anonymous comment quoted at 9:45. Someone did try to investigate questionable practices of administration at U Prep, but no one would talk to her even anonymously. Maybe she would do the same for Perry, if the staff will cooperate. Her name is Rebecca Nuttall and I believe she posted contact information on the most recent U Prep threads.
Bullies lead by fear.
Bullies do not respect women and view them as objects.
Bullies have little to no relational intelligence.
Bully leadership is not sustainable.
Bullies get no loyalty from their staff.
Staff morale is low, the staff will never go the extra mile for this type of leader.
The leader loses his respect.
A bully is vicious and vindictive in private and charming in front of witnesses. Only the current target sees both sides. (Jekyll and Hyde)
Does this sound like YOUR principal.
This is going on each and every day in our schools. Dont be too quick to place blame on the teachers.
5:50, when it comes to bully principals, let me add two more to your list.
Bullies will not accept ideas from their staff. The bully does not see a staff meeting as a problem-solving session. Instead, it's a place where the staff goes to receive their marching orders.
Bullies would rather continue along an obvious wrong path than admit that they made any mistake.
Here is my experience with "bully principals"
*they get others to their work and "plant ideas" with teachers so it seems like colleagues want it
*decisions that wont go over easy (changes in schedule,class,duties,etc) are made on Friday's or before holidays so you cant talk to anyone
*they allow the culture of the building to come to a point that people have to go to them with scoop or info so they can look like the almighty
*they always talk about what they are going to do next year
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