by John Laesch, posted on Monday, April 18th, 2016 at 5:48 am
This is an audio file of District 131 President Annette Johnson verbally assaulting and threatening district employees. When I was elected, I had heard rumors of this kind of behavior, which Annette’s supporters call, “passionate.” But, this smoking gun proof is downright scary.
There should be no room for bullying – students bullying each other, teachers bullying students, administrators bullying staff and, the board bullying either staff or administration.
Sadly, District 131 has had enough bad ink spilled over Ms. Johnson’s antics. And, my preference was to resolve this issue quietly. I asked Ms. Johnson to resign. She said that she would not. So, our only hope now is that we put enough community pressure on her to vacate her position on the board.
Annette is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Worse yet, if District 131 board members are serious about finding a new administrator that can move the district forward, they need to recognize that it will not happen as long as this reckless behavior is driving the district’s decision-making. For the good of the district, I will happily remove this post when she resigns.
People gave me a hard time when I called on Denny Hastert to resign in 2006 after he covered up sexually inappropriate behavior between Representative Mark Foley and a young male page. I know that where there is smoke, there is typically fire. It turns out that I was right about Denny Hastert.
And, I am confident that the tape recording of Ms. Johnson is not an isolated incident. If you have witnessed this kind of behavior with Ms. Johnson, feel free to leave an anonymous post. If you have the courage to share it with the rest of the board, better yet. I recognize that Johnson uses terror-tactics to drive fear into those she seeks to control. Indeed, she verbally assaulted me one night after I voted against her wishes over the expulsion of a kid.
Or, feel free to contact me or any other board member if you have experienced this kind of behavior – 630.878.7454.
by jstupec, posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2014 at 8:25 pm
To unseat what essentially is a ghost incumbent in the 14th district of northern Illinois, Democrat Dennis Anderson has decided to take his message to the people of the district by holding 20-25 town hall meetings. In St. Charles on Tuesday, Anderson said the only thing that will prevent more meetings is securing venues to hold them.
This is Anderson’s
second run for this office and he feels he learned a lot from the previous loss to make him a much stronger candidate. Anderson, who is now retired, said he is not looking for a career in politics. He vowed to do his best to address the issues of the day and if the voters of the district liked his accomplishments they would return him to office. With approximately fifty voters in attendance, Anderson limited his opening comments to a brief history of his past. After that he began taking questions regarding his views on every possible issue facing the nation today.
Here’s a synopsis of issues raised and his view regarding them:
by Ellen McClennan, posted on Wednesday, November 13th, 2013 at 8:41 pm
Okay Union leaders, Union members, Everybody and Anybody else who cares about Illinois families, get out of your comfort zone and get to work. The time for sitting on the sidelines is over.
We need to endorse another candidate to run for Governor. Quinn/Vallas would be a disaster. A Republican would be a disaster. We can no longer fear what traditional Democrats will think–or what traditional Republicans will think–if we ‘rebel’ against our ‘traditional’ party lines. They have both abandoned us in support of a corporate-driven tax loophole culture which is cannibalizing our schools and our state. We need to think of our children and their future in Illinois. Our kids are counting on us.
All of us who care about the education of our children, our tax burden, and the maintenance and structure of our beautiful state’s infrastructure need to open our eyes. We have a real crisis brewing and we cannot live in denial any longer.
by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, April 7th, 2013 at 8:03 am
Pam Verner took the time to contact all 18 school districts and ask when the school board planned on voting for or against the K12 Inc. application for a charter school. Thanks to Heather Steans, Stand for Children, and wealthy charter school backers, the law (SB79) requires school districts to vote 30 days after the public hearing.
While the public comments section is officially closed, we are still encouraging people to attend these hearings, add your comments of opposition at the beginning of the meeting and have your voice heard. Here are the dates that school districts said they anticipated a vote:
April 8, Monday
Naperville District 204 @ 7:00 p.m.
Crouse Education Center
780 Shoreline Drive
Aurora, IL 60504
630-375-3000
West Aurora District 129 @ 6:00 P.M.
West Aurora High School
1201 West New York Street
Aurora, IL 60506
– Meeting will be held in the Library.
Closed session first, then “may” vote on K12.
Geneva District 304 @ 7:00 P.M.
Williamsburg Elementary School
1812 Williamsburg Avenue
Geneva, IL 60134
630-463-3010
by John Laesch, posted on Monday, April 1st, 2013 at 10:55 am
After making 16 similar presentations at public hearings over the course of 10 days in the Fox Valley, and receiving hundreds of tough questions, K12 Inc. finally showed up with a panel of executives. I counted seven K12 Inc. executives, one attorney, and three board members from Virtual Learning Solutions. They were all nicely dressed in business attire, their PowerPoint had new graphics, and their data was still non existent. K12 Inc. had 10 days to do their homework and once again failed to produce any substance.
For almost three hours the D365U School Board kept pushing for data, substance and explanations about K12’s questionable history of grade doctoring, cover-ups, lawsuits, scandals and investor settlements. The board was phenomenal, and Dr. Vince Gaddis (NIJwJ Steering Committee member) drove it home in a “worth the watch 12 speech” below the fold.
by John Laesch, posted on Friday, March 29th, 2013 at 9:16 pm
State Senator Heather Steans and Stand for Children are ultimately responsible for Chicago school closings and the recent increase of charter school applications like the 18-district virtual charter initiated by K12 Inc. in the Chicago suburbs.
I started researching SB79 and HB 5825, the legislation that created and gave the Illinois Charter Commission super “override powers” and autonomy from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). If SB7 gave education activists concern, SB79 and HB 5825 should have started a five-alarm fire.
Because of SB79, K12 Inc., a for-profit, Wall Street-traded company applied for a virtual charter scam in 18 suburban school districts. Why are they doing this? K12 Inc. anticipates that the state charter commission will override local rejections of their taxpayer rip-off scheme and approve the charter despite overwhelming local opposition.
by John Laesch, posted on Saturday, March 23rd, 2013 at 5:52 pm
K12 Inc., a for-profit virtual learning company is pitching their services to 18 Illinois school districts, attempting to exploit Illinois’ weak charter laws. K12 Inc. executives have handled presentations at 16 of the 18 schools in which they have submitted an application for a virtual charter. Geneva’s school district 304 held a hearing on March 11th and the applicant did not show. The final hearing is in District 365U (Romeoville and Bolingbrook).
Please join Northern Illinois Jobs with Justice (RSVP via this link) at the final public hearing to express your opposition to K12 Inc’s taxpayer rip-off scheme. This Wall Street company is trying to rip-off taxpayers in the amount of $8,000 per customer (students that they sign up).
When: Wednesday, March 27th @ 6:30 p.m.
Where: Valley View D365U School Service Center (755 Dalhart Ave., Romeoville, IL 60446)
The first vote for or against K12’s virtual charter scam is going to be held in East Aurora, District 131. Please join NIJwJ (RSVP via this link) and encourage the board to vote “no.”
When: April 1st @ 7:00 p.m.
Where: School Services Center (417 Fifth St., Aurora, IL 60505)
by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, March 17th, 2013 at 8:26 am
We will have some exciting news at the informational meeting on K12 Inc. that is scheduled for Sunday, March 17th from 2-5 p.m. at the Geneva First Congregational Church (321 Hamilton St.) in Geneva, IL!
In addition to hearing from Tennessee State Representative, Gloria Johnson about how k12 Inc. has hurt students and taxpayers in her home state of Tennessee, we will have a charter school expert by the name of Sharon Teefey to share knowledge on Illinois’ Charter Commission.
Teefey will be reporting that State Rep. Chapa LaVia (IL 83rd District) intends to initiate an amendment to address virtual charter schools. According to an e-mail from Rep. Chapa Lavia, she intends to file the following amendment in the house when they return to session.
(l) From April 1, 2013 through April 1, 2016 there shall be a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools with virtual schooling components which includes but is not limited to full-time online virtual schools and virtual blended schools. For the purposes of this subsection (l) virtual blended schools means a virtual school with in-person components.
This moratorium will give Illinois parents and lawmakers more time to study K12 Inc. and their questionable track record of performance.
An amendment is progress, and it shows that organizing works and we need to keep doing more of it!
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 at 7:26 am
New rules allow an Illinois charter school to apply for a charter from a local school district and appeal any rejections to the Illinois Charter Commission.
As of this blog post writing, I am aware that K12 Inc. has applied for charter schools in 18 school districts in the Chicago Suburbs. Please plan on attending these hearings (listed below) to ask the board to reject this scandalous business.
In addressing local school boards we need to let them know that K12 Inc. is a business that pays their CEO $3.9 million dollars per year and offers returns to investors. It is not a school. Our tax money is being diverted from the classroom to the pockets of the wealthy. K12 Inc. may perform well on Wall Street, but they don’t perform well in the virtual learning environment. And, according to Channel 5 News in Tennessee, when K12 Inc. fails to perform, they instruct teachers to “delete grades.”
Illinois State Representatives Linda Chapa LaVia and Elaine Nekritz address the Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice forum, “Funding Strong Schools and Fair Pensions,” East Aurora High School, Aurora, Illinois, January 2, 2013.