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Gunsaulus 2.0

Hey is this the same Micheal Scott that ignores the parents @ Gunsaulus. So, if he is in trouble, shouldn't KOTZ watch herself because isn't he her clout?

Gunsaulus 2.0

I guess if no one posts on this blog that defeats the purpose of it. But there are two heartless people who dont.

Gunsaulus 2.0

[b] omg did kotz change the name of the skool. my friends said that she got a letter that said the skools lost its scholastic status? wat happend?

Gunsaulus 2.0

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

If fighting for what is right and not allowing students best interests to get lost in the fray then so be it. Insanity it is.

Gunsaulus 2.0

you either lie, do not get it or are not facing reality that the principal of ANY school CANNOT reveal to the public, esp. a blog, personnel or student matters or information. It is private and will remain that way no matter how much you continue to bait or conjol or push or conjure up in your head.
Insanity is defined as doing the same thin over and over and getting the same result.
It is time for you to get anger management or counseling services.
As an employee of CPS, your insurance card has a toll free number onit to call for this asistance.

Gunsaulus 2.0

So you had a hard time following my post? S*cks to be you. And again, you've proven MY point: You are hard-pressed to make an honest, reality-based refutation of the many accusations against the Kotz-Fanelli Regime.

Gunsaulus 2.0

bi-polar and paranoid. You are angry at people for not being negative, for being positive, you are angry that they comment about the negative comments and how they should not be on the blog and to stay off of it. Who made you the queen of this blog? People can say what they want when they want whether you like it or not. And, I for one comment here after reading the blog from day one. Yet, I am not 'in' with the principals or LSC--you are a real paranoid person--and hopefully NOT a teacher.

Gunsaulus 2.0

Observer, you sound like "downtown". Of course, you don't have to walk the mile with these people at Gunsaulus. You don't have to understand this from the ground, do you? Just from the top of your head, this is your view of things, right?

You don't want to see it, but it's more than a "few" people.
And by the way, these people have gone past the anger management classes and are learning about organizing themselves now. Next year is going to be a dose of reality. A well needed dose of reality. You should be grateful that these people have a lot more class and strategy than you"downtowners" because they'll probably end up making you look good too - when it's all over and they get their school back. It's what "for the children" really means.

Gunsaulus 2.0

Yes, let's work together in a spirit of community and harmony. We'll come together at the table. hold hands, sing Kumbaya and We Are the World. How could such a communal and spiritual experience not fundamentally change Ms. Kotz and Mr. Fanelli? They'll embrace us and work for the betterment of the school for our children like the good people I know they are deep inside. We just have to let their better natures come out, because they've never really been given a chance to show who they really are.

I for one am looking forward to this new lease on life at Gunsaulus!

Gunsaulus 2.0

Hi moms,
This blog has really gotten out of hand. Using the word NAZI, is like throwing slavery in my face. I understand that this whole situation at the school has everyone on edge. I know, because I allowed everything to push me over the edge at one point. I truly regret going off the way I did. I forbid to start my son's school year off in any bad way. Let's all just focus on working together, a lot more can get done this way. The children come first, I totally agree with the frustrations that alot of parents and teachers are expressing. Let not bring this negativity in the new school year.

Gunsaulus 2.0

can someone please tell me when these board meeting are aired on television. I would love to watch these meetings.

Gunsaulus 2.0

I am a teacher at Gunsaulus. I don't often write on this blog but I always read it. I find it more and more disturbing. We are following the right channels to express our distrust of our LSC and administration. This blog is hurting any chance of being taken seriously. Whether people are on Amy's "side" or the other side, teacher's names should not be used and we need to respect each other...if you don't have a problem with Amy, then you are one of the lucky ones and should also respect your co-workers who have been hurt this year. We cannot start the school year with all of this animosity...our kids are smart and will see it. We need to rise above all of this for their sake...karma will come soon enough.

Gunsaulus 2.0

Oh the outrage! Someone wrote a post that they obviously intended to be a joke and now the whole world comes crashing down! Now anyone who objects to the bad behaviors routinely exhibited at Gunsaulus by the principal, the assistant principal, and the LSC chair is immature!

If you not see that whomever posted the quote from "Amy Kotz" meant it to be a joke, then my advice is to reread it. My guess is that if was a student, since the humor was a bit juvenile. So now this one joke from some unknown person represents the problems at Gunsaulus?? Now that one joke has occurred, you use this as an opportunity to shift the direction from the topic at hand and express your anger at the dissenters. I think the real joke here is that you are outraged by an obvious attempt at humor, rather than being outraged at the things that Amy and Reid have done. They break laws, mistreat people, retaliate when challenged, etc. Apparently that is OK with you, since you choose to respond to the "AMY KOTZ" post rather than address the charges made against Amy and Reid.

So let us be honest and clear here-you are totally in support of these bad acts, but you object to some poorly done humor. That post "shows a huge lack of professionalism, ethics, principles, sense and judgement"? I think you have that poster confused with the way Amy and Reid act. Get a grip.

Gunsaulus 2.0

pretended to be the principal, at 3:13, shows a huge lack of professionalism, ethics, principles, sense and judgement. You cannot have it both ways. With posts like this, I feel sorry for the reasonable people at this school. Again, you prove over and over that it is better that you are hopefully, gone from the school.

Gunsaulus 2.0

how immature. You negative posters show over and over how it is better you are gone or need to go from this school. The one who had another job, why do you wtill post here? Let it go or your new principals and students will sense your bitterness.
And vert bad form to post as someone else, I hope CPS investigates this!

Gunsaulus 2.0

I love the posters who are so tired of us being on a "witch hunt" and want us to let it go already. Here's an idea, if you are so tired of hearing the horrible truth of what's going on at Gunsaulus and how it continues to unfold, then stop reading this! Maybe you need to move onto another subject thread or blog altogether.

For the rest of our majority - keep posting what Amy has done and what we plan to do to counter it. It is in our best interest, and ignore the dissenters who we already know to be Amy herself or one of her 3 sad, measley followers. Bring Gunsaulus back to its greatness!!

Gunsaulus 2.0

You are sad you work for CPS? We are too, Judy.

Gunsaulus 2.0

The best course for us is to simply not respond to the rumors of Kotz being fired. All we have on that is an unsubstantiated rumor that was posted on this blog. Until we actually see her escorted out of Gunsaulus, rumors can only distract us. That may be why the rumor was placed there.

Stay focused. Continue to keep a sharp eye on Kotz and her little buddy, and keep documenting.

As for the constant posters telling us to "get over it" and calling us witch-hunters, etc., it's been said before: There is no "proof" that would ever persuade or convince them, no reason that they would ever understand, and no horror stories that will get their sympathy or empathy. I can't say why they lack the capacity to reason or to feel the pain caused by Kotz; perhaps some have vested interests themselves in this reign of terror, perhaps some are as pathological as Kotz herself, or perhaps they're simply that self-centered and shallow. Who knows?

Gunsaulus 2.0

How would answering the 20 points violate the privacy concerns of teachers, students or parents? She stood in front of teachers, students and parents in June 2008 and stated that she would uphold Gunsaulus traditions. She has not .

Gunsaulus 2.0

That was a weak shot. Why not address "direct link to the children"? Oh. I know. It's hard for you to accept the school would be better off without YOU.

Gunsaulus 2.0

are just that. Don't you see how your gossip beats you at your own game? You prove everyday on this blog, just how scheming and conniving you are. The school is better off without you. Move on already.

Gunsaulus 2.0

I had an 8th grader at Gunsaulus this year. They had language arts books. They could not have homework because there were not enough and none were ever ordered. Just clarifying...everything else in the post is accurate...I have another child entering 8th this year and I hope the principle has ordered enough books for evry child. The teacher did fine with other things but every kid should have a book. I hope all the problems are fixed when school starts because last year was painful for everyone.

Gunsaulus 2.0

Is Kotz really fired? Is Fanelli going to be charged? Has peace finally come to Gunsaulus?

Also, where do you get the video of the board meeting?

Gunsaulus 2.0

You want to know the effects on the children? Let's see.......

1. There is no longer an honor roll, and no longer assemblies to honor academic achievement and perfect attendance. So the children's peer role models have been removed. Also, there is no recognition of children's accomplishments. Sorry, a few pictures on the Gunsaulus web site with only a last initial is not enough. What kind of a principal eliminates honor roll? What kind of principal does not recognize perfect attendance?

2. Amy fired the coaches for the afterschool, then complained that there is no afterschool sponsors. She also managed to totally undermine the sports assembly, despite the fact that a teacher and the PTO were more than willing to make it happen.

3. Amy coereced the teachers into allowing a shortened break during ISAT testing. Not a big deal you say? Look at the scores for the last few years and compare. Except for 5th grade, % meets/exceeds dropped this year. What is the one big variable from last year to this year? Amy and her idea of school management. In addition, consider the amount of stress that the whole school experienced this year, and look at the scores again. Consider the one variable.

3. Inconsistent application of discipline policies. The kids who misbehave are either rewarded (hmm...blackhawks tickets) or not appropriately handled (Hmm...make a death threat, get a day of coloring). This makes the school unsafe for everyone when kids are not handled appropriately and consistently. This only encourages misbehavior and classroom management problems.

4. Amy fired the music teacher before the year was through out of some sort of personal agenda. There was no reason she could not have let him stay until the end. So, the 8th grade students had to practice their graduation song without accompaniment. Some other pianist was brought in to play at graduation. This while all the other students taking music were subjected to one substitute after another, thus eliminating music altogether.

5. Amy tried to cancel the Christmas party tradition entirely. When the 8th grade students mounted a protest, did she ever consider bringing them in to speak to them like the educational leader that she claims to be? No. She simply called the police on the children and their parents when they were outside the school protesting.

6. Amy did everything she could to make fun fair not happen. A small handful of parents worked like dogs to make sure it was fun for the kids, but if Amy had her way, there would not have been any fun fair at all. Then, even when the parents were working hard to make it happen, Amy tried to block the 8th grade students from attending at all, saying that "they never went in years past", when we all knew that they did.

7. Remember the service picnic? Amy or one of her minions, went through the mailboxes removing invitations for children who deserved to go, and then invited others who didn't, including one child who should have been in in-school suspension that day for threatening to beat a teacher.

8. As Amy systematically attacks the teachers, both tenured and the PATs, the children feel the brunt of this mistreatment, and have to watch their teachers be belittled and abused.

9. Amy calls the children's parents "ghetto moms", "parent trespassers" and speaks of the stigma of working at a Southside school. If the parents are treated thus, then what are the affects on the students? How does a student handle the idea that there is a stigma associated with his parents, or the location of his school?

10. Amy and Fanelli consistently violate rules, lie, doubletalk, refuse to answer questions, and can't even communicate within the bounds of decency and common courtesy. Not only does this set a bad tone for the school, but what lessons are the students learning from this? What is a school like when the students hate the principal and can't trust her or the LSC? Is this the example we set for our students?

11. Students are now barred from speaking up at LSC meetings. What a nice strategy to reinforce the idea that students don't matter at Gunsaulus.

12. Where is the student council? Where is the academic olympic team? How are students made to feel valued and a part of their education? Thank you Amy for making those groups impossible. Again, go back and read the earlier posts in this blog and the first Gunsaulus blog. Read the students' own words as they describe not wanting to win competitions, because they don't want their success to reflect well on Amy, and because they don't even want to pose for a picture with her. Do these sound like students who are not affected?

13. Amy clearly does not value the education of this students as evidenced by her reassignment of the teachers. She is making every effort to intimidate and punish the tenured teachers by the reorganization. And in the process, affecting the students by impacting the quality of the education they will get at their grade levels.

14. Look at what a mess the bussing situation is now. We had a perfectly organized system, but Amy went to a lot of work to change that so that it is mass chaos. And so children race down the stairs desperate not to be left behind. And so children are crowded into the hallway waiting for busses. And so many days, busses leave without all children being present and accounted for. Have you seen children sitting inside waiting for the bus to return? I have. And in addition, no works gets done from 1:25p on, because students are leaving their classrooms, and the frequent LOUD and DISRUPTIVE announcements for the bussers makes it impossible to continue instruction.

15. Amy does not encourage teachers and parents to interact. This is because she is so worried that the parents will hear or see something that will make them question her management of the school. So now, parents are out of the loop, and have a more difficult time being involved in their child's education.

16. Fanelli and Amy deliberately changed the public participation policy at LSC meetings, once parents started coming to voice their concerns. After all, we can't have dissent and questions as a part of the public record. Since the parents have a more difficult time speaking, and the students don't get to speak at all, the students clearly get the idea that the school does not value input from anyone-parent, teacher or student.

17. How about the lack of security? Amy spent all year targeting and harassing Mr. D. When she finally got her way and he was not in the school, she brought in the lady in the sandals to secure the building and the grounds. Good move.

18. Amy lost a student from the after school program. When the child's mother came to pick the child up, he was found to have been on the playground for 2 hours, unattended. Not a coincidence that this happed when the security guard was off that day.

19. All year, Amy and Elba have had students in their office interrogating them without parental consent, and in some cases telling them not to tell their parents. Many of the interrogations were launched to find statements to discipline staff, not to investigate student problems. So now our students have been used as pawns all year in some sick and twisted agenda to punish staff. Fine work from a great educational leader.

20. Ask the 8th grade students how they liked their Language Arts textbook, and they will look at you blankly. This is because they did not have one this year. Amy decided the books were too old, and threw them out, so they did not use a textbook at all this year. Just the thought of a principal throwing BOOKS in the trash should give one pause, but also consider this. Amy was a READING SPECIALIST. A reading specialist who clearly does not value books in any way.

Want me to go on? Or do you get the picture. Are you reading this CPS? Is Michael Scott reading this? I watched him on TV shmoozing with the Gunsaulus teacher and discussing how wonderful things are for the children, and how unfortunate it is that adults are not getting along. When will the board realize that NOTHING Amy does is for the children. She is concerned only about herself, and obtaining absolute silence and cooperation from the staff and parents.

And is the board really interested in the children at Gunsaulus? Did Drew Beres bother to speak to students when he came out? Has Isabel Mesa Collins ever bothered to speak to students? CPS has talked to parents and teachers. If CPS is really interested in the effects on the students, they should speak to them. Or at least, open their eyes and use the skills of deductive reasoning and logic to understand how Amy and Fanellis actions are harming the scvhool.

Michael Scott was so pointed to bemoan the fact that there is no peace, and this was portrayed as adults not getting along. And yet he never wonders why the adults are in conflict. The board does not understand that parents and teachers are speaking out, at the risk of retaliation, to identify and remove the destructive influences at Gunsaulus. Look over this post and tell me if you would allow Amy and Fanelli to be around your children under any circumstances. If they were your neighbors, would you involve them in your children's lives? No? And yet they are running your child's school.

As the problems continue and escalate, it is only a matter of time before some tragedy occurs, and the media become interested. The board members should ask themselves this-if the Julian King tragedy happened today, what would the press about Gunsaulus be? The story left Gunsaulus pretty quickly last fall because there was no story. NOW imagine the field day the media reporters would have. Better to solve the problem now than risk the bad press.

When will the board realize that there will be no peace at Gunsaulus until this tyrant principal is removed and the LSC problems are resolved? As the bad acts become more blatant, since Amy and Fanelli can't help themselves, the outcry will become louder. If the board wants peace, then they know what to do-Remove Amy.

Gunsaulus 2.0

I heard that AMY is getting fired before the school year. Also, If Fanelli doesn't turn over the keys he is going to be charged. with unlawful entry. And is from a very reliable source. Maybe these two needs to rethink about staying at Gunsaulus.