Local: D-150 needs a knight in shining armor

From Diane Vespa’s blog:

Conditions are ripe for the city of Peoria and our once grand old neighborhoods to make a comeback. There is a renewed interest in walkable “urban-ism“, crime stats appear to moving in the right direction, and I sense a renewed pride in our city. With gas well over $4.00 per gallon and no end in sight, there is a compelling argument to be made for urban dwelling. It seems the only thing stopping us is the perceived quality of our city schools. Unfortunately, the attitude of D150 is if you don’t like it leave - and they are serious! They view it largely as their own, for the district, by the district - community be damned.

We need a knight in shining armor. Will it be the mayor? Will it be a united Council? Might it be a coalition of area employers, or better yet, all of the above? Who is going to be a hero to our children? Who is going to step up to the plate and demand better administration, leadership and accountability from our schools? Everyone says they “love kids”. The “kids come first”. If I ever hear someone say that in the same paragraph as a shortened school day again I am going to throw up on their leather shoes or their Reeboks or maybe both at the same time.

Good post.

For what’s it’s worth, I talked to a different Keller School parent today. They flirted with talking their kids to a private school, but decided to stay. They have invested too much time into helping their kids’ school grow and improve. They’ll try to find other venues for their kids to be exposed to the arts and music instruction they won’t be receiving.