Peachey for Supt??

[Im_lovin_it]

Would it be out of line to suggest that Mr. Miller is "hand picking" his successor to hide and or mask his egregious errors over his 30+ years of service?? I'm sure there is alot of skeletons in that closet... (just an opinion) :hail:

[woodpecker]

For the same reason 90% of the professional TAHS staff have their jobs....their parent(s) worked/works there, there boyfriend/girlfriend works/worked there; it's all about who you know. Doesn't matter if you are qualified, as long as you have some relative relationship to some one that worked there before or currently works there....you're hired !!! I say...let her have the job! Who else wants it?????

[RedhairNFreckles]

For the same reason 90% of the professional TAHS staff have their jobs....their parent(s) worked/works there, there boyfriend/girlfriend works/worked there; it's all about who you know. Doesn't matter if you are qualified, as long as you have some relative relationship to some one that worked there before or currently works there....you're hired !!! I say...let her have the job! Who else wants it?????

You know, during my 40 yr. long working career between FL and NC, with a short stint in GA, it's all the same, no matter where you go. It's especially true in smaller communities. :banghead:

[My2Cents]

I am just amazed that the school board would allow and encourage such a ridiculous thing. Really. I have nothing against this person (don't know her or of her) but the woman is not qualified to be superintendent. It's just that simple. And WHY would the school board encourage her before they initiate a national search for actual, qualified candidates? If we were desperate with no candidates and no prospects for candidates, that is one thing. But we're not. This is Bill Miller trying to control the future (and secure a legacy job for a 'close' friend, if the rumors I've heard for years are true). And if they hire this woman over other, actually qualified candidates, I hope one of them sues and takes the whole foolish board for all they're worth. She has never taught a day in a classroom and never will and she should stick to her numbers and let people who have not only OBSERVED and TAKEN CLASSES in education but actually done the hard work in the classrooms and know from experience what teaching and education is about to lead the school district.

I mean, are you kidding me? I'm a certified high school teacher (currently staying home with my 2 year old) and taught in a major metropolitan school district before moving back here and I will have a child entering school about the time Miller retires and this is a travesty. As a teacher, I would have NO respect for a superintendent that had never taught (never loved education enough to teach, never been in the 'trenches' so to speak and learned about educating kids while, oh I don't know, EDUCATING KIDS!) and needed a special waiver for unqualified people just to apply for the job. The difference between 'observing' in classrooms and actually having your own classroom year in and year out is insurmountable. You cannot learn how to educate by observing. Every teacher knows this because they have experienced it. You must learn to educate by doing it and, without doing it, this woman has no personal authority to lead from and no real idea about what it takes to teach and help students learn. Also, I would be very wary of taking a job in a district where the superintendent was hired on a 'special waiver', assuming such a district had low standards and that the superintendent would not understand the problems faced by teachers and students in the classroom.

This is the kind of thing that happens in this town and embarrasses me about being from Tyrone and the kind of thing I tell my friends out there in the real, professional world about and we roll our eyes and talk jokingly about how close I live to West Virginia (no offense meant toward West Virginia...it's looking more cosmopolitan all the time, I'll tell you). This town deserves better than a school board that would vote to consider hiring a woman who is UNQUALIFIED for the job. They deserve better than a woman who needs special treatment to even apply. And the KIDS in the school deserve better than a superintendent who didn't think educating them was important enough to actually do for a living. Hire a teacher, an educational leader, for heaven's sake. How can you possibly justify hiring a financial person and not a career educator? What's next? The secretary down the hall wants to apply? (no offense intended to the secretaries, who may be just as qualified as Ms. Peachey for the job.)

Educational leadership is about more than moving money around or sitting in on 'problem sessions' with the current superintendent and I certainly hope the school board will open its eyes and require the same thing from its leader as it does from its students -- that they meet ALL THE STANDARDS that are required of them by the state and country. Those standards, those requirements, exist for a reason -- to provide the best possible training and preparation for the leaders in our school systems so that those leaders can lead effectively, creatively, and from the deep experience of actual teaching. If our children have to pass their NCLB tests to keep our schools going and our teachers have to meet rigid and highly regulated state requirements to teach and be 'highly qualified' by NCLB, the least we could offer our students is a superintendent who managed to meet every qualification required of her, instead of one who needed to have those requirements waived because of her inadequacy.

I am disgusted. I sincerely hope that this town will not stand for this and demands better for our children, our teachers, our school staff, and ourselves. When is the next school board election?

Nerf... I fully understand what you are saying and how you, among many others, feel about this situation. At first, I too, as most others, immediately thought... here we go, another pass it down, hand pick, keep it in the family type situation. However, the more I have been thinking about this, the more I think... why not give Ms. Peachy a chance ?? She has been in the system for quite a long time, knows it, and worked it. I think she would be more qualified than bringing sombody in from the outside.
If she is willing to go for, what ever she has to go for, to become qualified... then more power to her. Being a Superintendent is a very stressful, difficult, thankless job which bears a lot of responsibility. If she is willing to take all this on and accept this position, that in itself, is saying a lot of this individual. Check it out.... it's very difficult throughout this entire State of Pennsylvania to find someone willing to take on this "Superintendent" responsibility... most, when asked, do not want to accept all the demands of this position.
Dr. Miller must have done something right all these years, and I'm sure he has taken a lot of unnecessary knocks along the way... however, look what we have sitting up there on Clay Avenue... a fantastic school system and one to be very, very, proud of !!!
Why bring an outsider in ?? Why fix what isn't broken ?? Why not give her a chance ??
Just My2Cents.

[banksy]

Nothing compares to experience. If she had the certifications required for the position, combined with her understanding of the TAHS system, would many opinions of her change. Regardless of Dr. Miller hand-picking, if that's what you really want to call it, do you think he would recommend someone to replace himself who was not able to do the job? Individuals of his nature do not willy-nilly recommend people for positions unless they really feel they would excel at the position. It would only reflect bad on him down the road. Many may not like "they got in because they knew someone." Tough crap, that's how it is everywhere. People have to work with others where there is a chemistry. Getting hired because you know someone is all about networking. You can't sit back in a class and get your education and never go out and meet people.

This situation will resolve itself. If she can do the job let her do it. Give her a chance and let it at that.

[caddis]

Banksy try this one: I think that the Tyrone hospital or Altoona Hospital should let me apply for a job as a doctor. I know that I don"t have the required degree but if they hire me I promise that I will obatain any schooling required to get the postion. How does this differ from what is going on now? You might say it is a slap in the face to all the people who went to college and medical school and are now in there residency but what the heck I recieved a waiver to apply from the same hosipital they want to work in.I guess what I am trying to say is she doesn't have the right amount of experience now and could take 10 years to get it and if our school board elects to choose someone on promises then shame on all of them and kiss them goodbye next election.Theres a buzz in this town about this and it is not going unoticed,prepare to hear more if this thing goes any further. :mob:

[nerf1225]

"It's all about experience"

My point exactly. She doesn't have it and while she may take an experimental alternate route to certification, she has no intention of teaching in a classroom, which is the heart and soul of the educational system and the fundamental experience that all teachers and administrators share (since adminstrators are required to have been teachers so they understand the challenges of educating). She does not intend to get the 3 years of teaching experience the state says a superintendent needs. She intends to take classes describing that experience and then then lead from that position of second-hand weakness. If the state lets her and Miller encourages her and the School Board hires her, so be it. But do not think she'll easily gain the respect (or cooperation?) from the people who know from first-hand teaching experience what she never will -- what really happens in a classroom between teachers and students and how to make what happens there better. She doesn't have the specific experience needed for the job she is seeking, though she may have amassed other experience as the long-time business manager for the district. That's why she needs 'special help' and a waiver to apply for the job.

I wouldn't allow a 3rd year medical student to operate on me just because he'd watched the operation over the years and thought that watching qualified him to do it (good example from the pp), and I sure as heck wouldn't go to a lawyer who was actually the business manager at the firm until she decided she'd like to try a case (you know, she's AROUND lawyers all day, she knows everything about the firm, she's helped them prepare their cases, etc.). And I don't want an educational leader who is not an educator. My child will be in classrooms under her supervision. Years of experience in the business office down the hall from Miller is not relevant experience. How does she get to be an educational leader when she's not an educator and does not want to be (if she really wanted this, she could do all that coursework she's going to do AND teach for three years and get qualified)? We deserve better and we shouldn't sink to this level until we're convinced by the actual applicants from a properly advertized job search that we can't get better. Accepting the known out of fear of the unknown is no way to succeed or excel.

And what's this outsider-phobia I keep seeing? Like big scary 'outsiders' are going to come in and ruin our good schools? Gosh, like inbreeding (or nepotism) is a good thing or something. LOL. You know, lots of really great, qualified, ethical, capable people exist outside of Tyrone, PA. LOL. Sure, we're special here, but not always in a good way.

[My2Cents]

Good points nerf... and, understandable. Thank you !! :thumb:

[banksy]

Banksy try this one: I think that the Tyrone hospital or Altoona Hospital should let me apply for a job as a doctor. I know that I don"t have the required degree but if they hire me I promise that I will obatain any schooling required to get the postion. How does this differ from what is going on now? You might say it is a slap in the face to all the people who went to college and medical school and are now in there residency but what the heck I recieved a waiver to apply from the same hosipital they want to work in.I guess what I am trying to say is she doesn't have the right amount of experience now and could take 10 years to get it and if our school board elects to choose someone on promises then shame on all of them and kiss them goodbye next election.Theres a buzz in this town about this and it is not going unoticed,prepare to hear more if this thing goes any further. :mob:

I get the point you're trying to make, but the correlation between physician and superintendent isn't a very good analogy. You're comparing apples to oranges.

[no-it-all]

Yeah, a physician can only screw up one person/family at a time. With one "brilliant" move or policy a superintendent can severely damage the future of an entire senior class, or group of kids; and effectively hinder the future of a community!You can always get a second opinion from a physician, unless you have the money, most people can't homeschool or afford to pay tuition elsewhere......You're right, it is apples to oranges; a supt. is more important.

[My2Cents]

This is a perfect example as to why they can't find individuals to take on the position as a school superintendent anywhere throughout the state. No matter who takes the position.... someone out there is going to trash them big time. It's going to take someone who can bear the constant and forever jealously's and insults thrown at them from the public. Ms. Peachey has been in the system for quite a long time and she knows the system. I wouldn't be afraid to bet she knows more about the school's functioning right now than Dr. Miller. She is, and has been, in the middle of it's functioning all along. As Banksy mentioned above.... do you think Dr. Miller would recommend someone to replace him if he didn't think they could do the job? If anyone knew who could do it, he would.
I still say... if this individual is willing to take on that position and is willing to go out and obtain whatever she needs to qualify for that position, then more power to her.... give her a chance. She already knows what she is in for with the constant backlashes she will get from the community. She will definitely have to be constantly putting in the extracurricular activities in proving herself worthy of the position. If she is willing to do all this..... give her a chance.

[My2Cents]

Yeah, a physician can only screw up one person/family at a time. With one "brilliant" move or policy a superintendent can severely damage the future of an entire senior class, or group of kids; and effectively hinder the future of a community!You can always get a second opinion from a physician, unless you have the money, most people can't homeschool or afford to pay tuition elsewhere......You're right, it is apples to oranges; a supt. is more important.

I understand your point of view "no-it-all"... However, if an outsider were brought into here... what you are saying above, could happen big time. An outsider could prove to be a bigger risk to our school system. This new person COULD most definitely do some damage. For many, many years our school has been doing just fine... I still feel we don't need to risk bringing an outsider in here and take a chance of them possibly changing things around that shouldn't be changed around. The public wouldn't know it for a long time. The one thing we don't need in here is someone who is a close friend of "Big Brother" and would agree to all of "Big Brother's" wishes without question !!! This is our school system and I don't feel we should risk and outsider who would possibly be taking advise from another outsider on how to run our school system.... it could happen.
Our's is the school to love, loyal by her we'll stand. Let's keep it that way.

[banksy]

Yeah, a physician can only screw up one person/family at a time. With one "brilliant" move or policy a superintendent can severely damage the future of an entire senior class, or group of kids; and effectively hinder the future of a community!You can always get a second opinion from a physician, unless you have the money, most people can't homeschool or afford to pay tuition elsewhere......You're right, it is apples to oranges; a supt. is more important.

Using the physician-superintendant analogy is like saying people should not be allowed to have children unless they have experience or some advanced training in it. The analogy is flawed. As I said, I understand the concerns, but the analogy adds nothing to the debate.

[redhead+2]

For the same reason 90% of the professional TAHS staff have their jobs....their parent(s) worked/works there, there boyfriend/girlfriend works/worked there; it's all about who you know. Doesn't matter if you are qualified, as long as you have some relative relationship to some one that worked there before or currently works there....you're hired !!! I say...let her have the job! Who else wants it?????

Do they really get that many applicants from "outside" of Tyrone that would want to teach there???? I mean, come on how many applicants would they really have to choose from????

[disneyqn71]

This is our school system and I don't feel we should risk and outsider who would possibly be taking advise from another outsider on how to run our school system.... it could happen.
Our's is the school to love, loyal by her we'll stand. Let's keep it that way.

For many, many years our school has been doing just fine... I still feel we don't need to risk bringing an outsider in here and take a chance of them possibly changing things around that shouldn't be changed around.

Since when is "FINE" the acceptable measurement of performance for the school district?

I feel Tyrone needs to start hiring the MOST qualified applicant's for any/all positions, despite their demographics, race and/or sex, instead of hand selecting and continuing to pass the torch to folks who "maybe" nice people, but do not have the qualifications and/or experience to handle the position. This situation is identical to every other situation within the district, in my opinion. For example, look at the basketball program. Tyrone obviously wants "nice" people in charge and they don't give a hoot what is truly in the best interest for their students and community. There seems to be a pattern of hiring individuals that literally "sets" Tyrone back a few years in comparison to other districts.

Tyrone has been stuck in a "comfort" zone for decades. It is time for a CHANGE!!!