Anonymous wrote:
"
*New post please
Once again I am left to wonder how Perry has managed to fly under the radar. I think it's appalling and worthy of further investigation that 60% of the current teaching staff has applied for a transfer! In fact, the ENTIRE MATH DEPARTMENT at Perry applied for a single position at CAPA! What's going on? Until this year, Perry High School had the HIGHEST TEACHER RETENTION RATE OF ANY HIGH SCHOOL IN THE CITY! Teachers who were in the classrooms there STAYED due to commitment to the kids. In one year, Principal Chakey managed to crush that statistic into dust under his heavy steel-toed boots. Teachers have had to reevaluate their priorities--staying for the kids, to whom many had committed a lifetime of service, or save their own sanity after having to teach in an atmosphere of intimidation and fear. It's time for someone to look into the number of classes currently not being taught by highly qualified teachers in that building. So many substitutes have been banned that an inordinate number of classes (left without teachers due to the extraordinary number of those out on leave) are now being covered by other teachers in the building on a period by period basis. This means that there is no consistency, no ongoing learning, and no expectation of growth. Have we marginalized our North Side youth to such an extent that they no longer matter? Perry has the highest rate of chronic absences in the city. Where is the outcry? Our black youngsters are being left to fend for themselves in a building led by a man who, when at Oliver, had so many suspensions that if you were a black male, you had a 98% chance of being suspended. Finally, the number of students attending Perry has dropped by almost 50%. How long can the district afford to keep Perry open at that rate? Is that the goal? To close the only neighborhood high school for our North Side kids? Wake up North Side parents--before it's too late! "
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16 comments:
This needs to be sent to the three candidates for School Board for District 8 - Northside.
That is ashame to let this disaster happen in PPS District
This type of issues will not happen in
Upper Saint Clair right they say Black Lives Matter what about Black Student Education Matters as well
District 8 Candidate: Kevin Carter of Manchester, 26, founder and CEO of the non-profit Adonai Center for Black Males, which works with black students in several city scchools.
Incumbent Mark Brently Sr. is not seeking re-election.
Isn't Perry the school that has/had? special administrative people such as Jan Ripper, etc. in the building to effect positive changes? What happened to the outside organizations that were working in the school with faculty and students? Are they gone? Was that a bust?
That's right, lots of consultants! Jan Ripper and Pedro Noguera, lots of money with deteriorating results.
What else is new?
The schools in PPS that are deteriorating by the minute, by the day, year after year are the result of poor, very poor, if any, leadership.
Yet its always the victims that get blamed for the crimes (plural)!
Education reform starts at the top, but it takes a village to make it happen.
There are many bright, passionate and energetic people who care and willing to lend a hand.
The solution lies with the communities.
PPS reform is community reform.
There is nothing more important than this engagement.
We all have a voice ....not a voice as 'victims' but a voice for meaningful change.
How many of us have informed the candidates for School Board to log into this Blog and read the issues that concern us in educating our children?
Such an easy and impactful thing to do.
9:27, you're right. This blog could be a real candidate resource.
I have a friend who is more than just a candidate for a PPS School Board seat. My friend is a current Board member. I have mentioned this site numerous times, even sent my friend the link.
I don't think it has sunk in. Sigh.
As an aside, I would encourage the moderators of this blog to perhaps put up a "sticky" post, a place where candidates could freely discuss issues with blog visitors. Just imagine what an impact that could have, once people knew about it!
(And by a "sticky" post, I mean a post that always stays at or near the top of the post list, and doesn't get pushed off the main page.)
And one more thing. I have another friend who ran for a PPS seat, and lost. This friend posted here, but eventually the posts stopped appearing. If that's true, that's probably not a good thing. We should encourage all the candidates to visit here, and speak freely, even if the posts get a tad bit repetitive!
Send the language for the sticky post, and it will be done!
Did all of her posts just stop appearing? Sounds like a technical glitch with Blogspot that kept them from being received.
Unless it was the security guard posts- they were getting time consuming- but a new topic has been posted.
The last principal has nothing to do with the conversation at hand. The top teacher retention rate harkens back to the days of Patsy Aloise, Bob Miller, etc. Your lack of knowledge relevant to the history of Perry points to the fact that you are most probably one of Chakey's golden children, helping a bully bring an entire faculty to its knees at the expense of our North Side youth. You mention that teachers are displaced. This is due to Chakey's inability to retain students, as evidenced by the reduction in student population and abysmal student and faculty attendance numbers. Finally, I find it appalling that a self-professed Perry teacher is using his/her time while on the Board's dime to follow this blog and post a response. It's time to check those teacher iPads to determine who is using school resources to further their own agendas and begin filing those critical incidents. Thank the current administration? For lower student numbers, horrifying test scores, disgusting attendance rates and out of control suspension numbers? I will save my kudos for those far more deserving.
May 22, 8:29 comment with name of a former school administrator deleted:
"Teachers who were in the classrooms there STAYED due to commitment to the kids" Actually the only reason why so many teachers stayed for so long at Perry was because [ADMINISTRATOR NAME DELETED] allowed us to do anything we wanted. We were never held accountable to teach, come to work on time or even come at all for that matter. For an ineffective teacher this was the place to be. So when teachers are being held accountable to students and all stakeholders by Dr. Chakey we become confused and irritated and it becomes an uncomfortable place for us to work. We then want to place the blame on anyone but ourselves. If you truly care about North Side kids you should be thanking the current administration for creating an environment where students can learn and I can actually teach. And if a teacher chooses to leave because they don't want to be a part of it, then good riddance to my fellow teachers who were not teaching. We will take the 60% statistic and put teachers here who want to teach our North Side youth. BTW Let's not forget that out of that 60% of staff leaving, many of those were very good teachers and were displaced and are not leaving by choice.
Anonymous wrote:
"To 11:27am- checking your time on the boards dime, hmm! -it takes more than one year to decrease student numbers & test scores- this happened during the last principal's reign. My daughter is a current junior & I know she feels safer & so do I- why did so many students roam in & out of classes & through hallways? I only know she & her friends are happy for the safer school & I welcome Dr Chakey- out with the old bath water & in with the new - let's give him a chance to make a positive difference- can he get kids to come back & scores to rise only time will tell. Meanwhile I know [NAME DELETED] went to [SCHOOL] after abandoning Perry for half a year hoping she doesn't take that school down to what she did here. [SCHOOL] parents does your principal come to work?"
Chakey has had his chance! It only took one year for him to bring down scores. It only took a year for him to decrease attendance rates. It only took a year to lose teachers who had been there ten years or more. Have you seen the fight videos on YouTube from this year? Hallways two years ago were clear. Doors were locked (Chakey has removed those locks); teachers attended daily PD (Chakey discontinued that practice); teachers worked in grade level teams (Chakey has dismantled those teams); students didn't have cell phones (Chakey discontinued that policy); kids attended mentoring once a week (Chakey did away with that); students took educational and culturally enriching field trips (Chakey ended that practice). The list goes on. Give him a CHANCE? At what cost? If you are a North Side parent, it's time to take serious notice of the data, especially the SUBSTANTIAL decrease in population. Perry is headed down the path of destruction Chakey wrought upon Oliver. Parents saw the writing on the wall too late to save that building. It may already be too late to save this one as well.
Ya know I'm tired of hearing about the last principal. She merged two schools without the bloodbath that was predicted. She raised test scores in spite of the fact that Oliver's scores were horrible before that student body was moved to Perry. She was the only principal at Perry to lead them to make AYP. She started a cell phone policy that was copied in schools across the country. She started having teachers meet in teams by grade level, a practice that was revolutionary for high school, was nationally praised and was documented in a number of academic journals. She brought more grant money into Perry than any principal in the history of Perry. She was able to install projectors and whiteboards in every classroom and facilitated bringing iPads to every teacher and several classrooms (making Perry the only comprehensive high school to have been given that opportunity). She implemented PRAISE, a program that gave each student 40 minutes a week to work on study skills and academic awareness. If a kid came to school in winter with holey shoes, she bought them boots. If a kid was consistently late, she bought them alarm clocks. She provided EVERY student with back packs full of school supplies at the beginning of the year and gave EVERY STUDENT a Christmas gift of a Perry hat. She made sure kids had breakfast and lunch, bought prom dresses for those who couldn't afford them, and traveled to homes to bring kids to school when they had decided to just opt out. When she sustained a concussion she still came to work. When she had major dental work, she came in to work the same day. She did NOT abandon Perry. She responded to significant health issues by having extensive tests and procedures that would have meant missing work. Instead she chose to take a leave so that someone else could be appointed. So let's see the list for Chakey. Oh wait, there isn't one. Get your facts straight before leveling accusations that are unfounded, potentially damaging and ridiculous.
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