CVESD teacher removed for requesting massages from students, but Pettit isn't the only employee whose job is threatened

Stephenie Pettit

See comments at bottom of this post.

Stephenie Pettit has been placed on administrative leave for requesting massages from students. (See Channel 10 News story below.)

No one, including the police, has found that there was any hint of wrongdoing in Ms. Pettit's classroom--only bad judgment.

(Updated Mar. 14, 2014) But a parent has made me realize that Ms. Pettit's actions could result in serious harm to students in the future because they conditioned children to touch an adult on request. Even worse, kids were given class currency to do the touching. If CVESD used my plan for master teachers, this would not have happened. Our system puts untested teachers in full and solitary control of classrooms right after getting their teaching credentials. There is no close oversight or support to guide them.

Superintendent Francisco Escobedo will need to be careful in this case. A couple of members of his administration have more to hide than a few massages.

Asst. Supt. Sandra Villegas-Zuniga and Human Resources director Peg Myers will want to go easy on Ms. Pettit. They will want to continue the district's policy of avoiding investigations. It's a good policy when the people with the most to hide are not the ones the district is targeting. Ms. Pettit might say more than they want to hear if she were pressed for information.

WHAT KIND OF INVESTIGATIONS DOES CVESD CONDUCT?

Let's compare the two situations: guns and violence in the earlier case versus kids giving massages in the current case. Why was there NO investigation in the first case, while the police were called in in the second case?

The fact is, CVESD doesn't do thorough investigations to keep kids safe. Instead, it tries to protect its reputation. Too often this means covering up truly illegal actions by staff. As soon as as a report of child molestation surfaces in any school, a district administrator runs over to the school and threatens all the teachers that they'd better keep quiet. And they do keep quiet. The public has the right to vote for board members, but clearly does NOT enjoy the right to know what's going on at school districts.

Stephenie Pettit would NOT be the target of any investigation in the earlier case, but she'd be a star witness. She knows the truth about the reports of "fear for their lives" by teachers Jo Ellen Hamilton and Linda Watson when they taught at Castle Park Elementary in 2001. Pettit knows the role that Peg Myers played in the cover-up of crimes by Robin Donlan and other teachers.

And Sandra Villegas-Zuniga and Francisco Escobedo also know, or they should know.


Asst. Supt. Sandra Villegas-Zuniga might want to review her bizarre dealings with Peg Myers.


Peg Myers at her deposition

When Myers was the site representative at Castle Park Elementary School about ten years ago, she kept a tight rein on Stephenie Pettit in order to make sure that illegal actions were kept hidden. Stephenie Pettit was not involved in the original illegal actions, but she did keep her mouth shut after she found out about them. Later, when Myers was President of Chula Vista Educators (CVE), she continued to use her position to cover-up events at Castle Park in 2000-2001.

When she was President of CVE, Myers apparently impressed Villegas-Zuniga as someone who would help the district manipulate teachers. After sitting across from Myers at the bargaining table for a number of years, Villegas-Zuniga convinced Myers to clamber across the table to the other side and accept the job of Director of Human Resources. Obviously, Peg's intimate knowledge of individual teachers, and the workings of the teacher union, have been very helpful to the district in intimidating teachers. [Yes, I know that the district website claims that Myers is in charge of "classified" staff. Don't be fooled. She spends at least some of her time intimidating teachers.]

So here's the problem in the current situation. Stephenie Pettit knows the details of who was involved, and what actions they took, during the years when a large number of violations of civil and criminal laws were committed at Castle Park Elementary School, the district office, and the teachers union. The near-destruction of a school by power-hungry teachers and administrators was just the boost Peg Myers' career needed, and she has catapulted dramatically to higher positions since she was just an ordinary teacher at Castle Park Elementary in 2001.

CASTLE PARK ELEMENTARY

The effects of the decade-long teacher meltdown at Castle Park Elementary--that resulted in the school having 11 principals in 11 years--continue to ripple through the district.

It staggers the imagination to realize how many teachers involved with Castle Park Elementary's descent into a miasma of dysfunction have continued to make news long since the Chula Vista Star-News and San Diego Union-Tribune lost interest in supporting a troublesome group of teachers, parents and administrators that brought the school to its knees during their years of arbitrary power.


Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham

Current Chula Vista Elementary board members Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham oversaw the cover-up of illegal actions by CVESD employees at the school in 2000-2001. (I was a teacher at Castle Park Elementary, with Stephenie Pettit and Peg Myers, at that time.)


Former CVE president Jim Groth wanted a replacement who would continue the teacher versus teacher culture that he had helped create. Peg Myers fit the bill perfectly. See all Jim Groth blog posts.

It should be mentioned that current member of the statewide CTA board of directors Jim Groth played a big role in the concealment of illegal actions. He was then, and still is, a member of the Chula Vista Educators board. I imagine he's already hopped in his car and driven over to the district office to remind the administration that the district and the teachers union need to continue the cover-up.

After the district paid $100,000s of taxpayer dollars in legal fees to lawyers Dan Shinoff and Mark Bresee for their successful efforts to protect teachers and administrators who had committed crimes, the prevailing teachers apparently felt invulnerable. They delighted in their arbitrary power to do whatever they wanted and get away with it. What else could the district expect when it had fired a teacher (me!) simply for demanding an investigation, and for refusing to come back to work until something was done about the relentless harassment of me by teacher thugs.


Former CVE President Gina Boyd. See Gina Boyd's deposition HERE.


Robin Donlan, notorious along with her husband for $7 million Wireless Facilities stock options fraud case. See Robin Donlan's deposition HERE.

The rogue teachers were led by Robin Donlan, a personal friend of both Peg Myers and former CVE president Gina Boyd. Gina Boyd was a member in extremely good standing of the self-styled "Castle Park Family". The self-styled "Castle Park Family" resisted all efforts by a string of principals (averaging one principal per year for 11 years) to get them to settle down and do their jobs. I myself was a target of the ruling teachers. Administrators Libia Gil and Rick Werlin did the bidding of those teachers.

Before my lawsuit was even finished, five teachers were transferred out of the school during the summer of 2004. Stephanie Pettit was one of the "Castle Park Five" group that included the notorious Robin Donlan, Peg Myers, and Nikki Perez.

This district keeps finding that its favored employees have big problems. Perhaps an effective evaluation system for teachers would help? But no, that would interfere with the politics that currently guides employment decisions at the district. And the district wouldn't have hired Peg Myers if it didn't want to keep politics in the forefront of district decisions.

I doubt that the district will try to fire Mrs. Pettit. She knows too much about criminal actions by teachers and administrators. I predict a settlement.

And as far as the parent who says Stephanie should not teach again, I don't see how voluntarily giving a massage to a teacher could seriously harm a child. The situation is no more serious than if Stephanie were rewarding kids to fan her. The problem with the behavior is that the students are being asked to treat the teacher like a queen rather than a professional. The touching was clearly NOT sexual. It's only wrong because kids shouldn't be performing personal services for teachers--like combing hair, cutting hair, shining shoes, etc. Of course, Stephenie used poor judgment, but she's been taught by the district and the teachers union that she and other teachers with political connections are free to indulge any whim without repercussions.

A more important issue is that kids are being damaged by teachers every day in CVESD classrooms. There is psychological damage being done by cruel, rigid teachers who take pleasure in causing pain. Stephanie did not cause pain to the kids who volunteered to give her massages.

It would be interesting to know what else was happening when the kids were giving the teacher a massage. Was she teaching them at the same time? This could very well be the case. But there are so many classrooms where teachers spend huge amounts of time NOT interacting with their students that it would be very dangerous for anyone to criticize Stephanie even if she had not been teaching while receiving a massage. She could easily get plenty of witnesses to talk about the time wasted in classrooms while teachers are doing something other than teaching. I could write a book about it.

Stephanie deserves the due process than she herself helped to deny to me. Lawyer Dan Shinoff of Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz took tax dollars for his successful efforts to keep Stephanie from being deposed in my case. I would be happy to deposed in any case she might file--which is exactly why I think that the district won't try to fire her. Here's my deposition in the current defamation lawsuit against me by Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz. Stutz is quite miffed, it seems, that the Court of Appeal says I have a constitutional right to discuss the lawyers who act on behalf of public schools.

Though I was not able to depose Stephanie, I was able to take the depositions of Castle Park Family members Gina Boyd, Peg Myers and Robin Donlan. (I recommend clicking on these links for these depositions if only to see the hilarious expressions on the faces of teachers who don't like being asked to tell the truth.)

NEWS COVERAGE

Channel 10 News and San Diego Union-Tribune have covered this story. Let's see if Channel 10 will investigate further the failure of school districts to do meaningful evaluations of teachers. The SDUT has been covering up for CVESD for years. I hope they will start to cover the real stories instead of only the sensationalistic ones.

EVALUATING TEACHERS

Researches say that 10% of teachers are doing a bad job, failing to add value to their students' academic abilities. Many teachers have serious personality problems. But the fact is that CVESD really doesn't know its teachers. I never met a principal who really observed and really talked to staff members to find out what they were up to.

It's time that ALL teachers in CVESD were properly evaluated.

Chula Vista teacher removed from job, accused of soliciting massages from students
Kandiss Crone
10 News
02/13/2014

CHULA VISTA, Calif. - Some parents at a South Bay elementary school told 10News they couldn't believe what their kids said went on inside their third-grade classroom.

"This behavior, to my son, has become so normalized that he did not report it to me," said parent Andy Stumph.

Some parents say Salt Creek Elementary School teacher Stephanie Petitt solicited massages from the students during reading time in exchange for $10 in class money. The parents also say Petitt also encouraged the third graders to give each other massages.

"The most children I've heard at any one time that was massaging the teacher was seven -- one on each leg, one on each arm, one on each shoulder, one playing with the hair," Stumph said.

The parents voiced their concerns at a school board meeting Wednesday night but weren't happy with the outcome, so they contacted 10News.

Chula Vista Elementary School District Superintendent Francisco Escobedo said Chula Vista police were called in to investigate but did not find any criminal wrongdoing.

"This behavior is absolutely not acceptable. We have professional standards at Chula Vista," Escobedo said.

Escobedo said Petitt is no longer teaching at the school, but is still employed with the district.

"She's on administrative leave; these allegations we take very seriously and we have to do due process to investigate," Escobedo said.

Parents say that's not enough, and they worry the teacher's actions could have a lasting impact on their kids.

"If there's a goal to be had ... Mrs. Petit would never be able to teach again," parent Samantha Trickey said.

Three parents pulled their children out of the school, 10News learned.

The district says a long-term substitute will replace the teacher.

Teacher on leave over massage claims
U‑T San Diego
Feb. 14, 2014 - She reported back to work Monday and taught her class after investigations by the Chula Vista Elementary School District and the Chula Vista ...

Peg Myers morphs from Chula Vista Educators president to Director of Human Resources in the same district!

Peg Myers, recent CVE President and one of the Castle Park Five, did not want to testify about events that occurred when she taught at Castle Park Elem. School.

Peg Myers morphs from Chula Vista Educators' President to Director of Human Resources at CVESD

The woman formerly know as Peggie, then Peg, and now Margaret Myers has changed her colors once again, underscoring the bizarre relationship between Chula Vista Educators and CVESD.

Myers has been at the epicenter of many controversies since since 2001, including helping to cover-up illegal actions against a fellow teacher at Castle Park Elementary in order to protect her friend Robin Donlan. Then both Peg and Robin became members of the Castle Park Five in 2004.

Myers was rewarded for helping former CVE presidents Jim Groth and Gina Boyd conceal the truth about what happened at Castle Park Elementary. Myers moved up automatically from her position as vice-president of Chula Vista Educators when Jim Groth resigned as president. (This is also the way that CVESD board members usually obtain their seats on the school board: by NOT being elected.)

Myers' relationship with Asst. Supt. for Human Resources Rick Werlin made it seem that she did not care about teacher rights, only about politics.

But after she became CVE president, it seemed that she had changed, and was genuinely interested in protecting other teachers' rights. Unfortunately, like former CVE presidents Jim Groth and Gina Boyd, Myers appeared to be an advocate for teachers when she was actually undermining teacher rights to gain political advantages. The strategy has obviously paid off.

I guess the teachers who poured their hearts out to her over the past few years are a little worried now. Who would even have imagined that a teacher union president would become a Director of Human Resources? It's like Assemblyman Juan Vargas going from the Insurance Committee to vice-president of Safeco Insurance Company. You can't help wondering why the insurance people liked him so much. He must have been helpful to them all along.

Photo: Robin Donlan being deposed in Maura Larkins case.


To add to the oddness of the situation, Chula Vista Educators has taken down its website, and refuses to tell callers who the new CVE officers are, except that Jennefer Porch is president.

I'm trying to figure out what the big secret is. My suspicion? Perhaps Robin Donlan is one of the new officers! This situation reminds me of Mitt Romney's refusal to release his tax returns except for the last two years. Obviously, something is being kept secret by both Romney and CVE, but what is it? HERE is one theory about why Romney doesn't want to release his records. Obviously, Chula Vista Educators also feels it has something to hide. If it's not Robin Donlan, then I'm guessing it's another of Peg Myers' cronies from Castle Park Elementary.

Chula Vista Educators president Peg Myers stuns teachers in Chula Vista, becoming Director of Human Resources at CVESD

Peg Myers, recent CVE President and one of the Castle Park Five, did not want to testify about events that occurred when she taught at Castle Park Elem. School.

Peg Myers morphs from Chula Vista Educators' President to Director of Human Resources at CVESD

The woman formerly know as Peggie, then Peg, and now Margaret Myers has changed her colors once again, underscoring the bizarre relationship between Chula Vista Educators and CVESD.

Myers has been at the epicenter of many controversies since since 2001, including helping to cover-up illegal actions against a fellow teacher at Castle Park Elementary in order to protect her friend Robin Donlan. Then both Peg and Robin became members of the Castle Park Five in 2004.

Myers was rewarded for helping former CVE presidents Jim Groth and Gina Boyd conceal the truth about what happened at Castle Park Elementary. Myers moved up automatically from her position as vice-president of Chula Vista Educators when Jim Groth resigned as president. (This is also the way that CVESD board members usually obtain their seats on the school board: by NOT being elected.)

Myers' relationship with Asst. Supt. for Human Resources Rick Werlin made it seem that she did not care about teacher rights, only about politics.

But after she became CVE president, it seemed that she had changed, and was genuinely interested in protecting other teachers' rights. Unfortunately, like former CVE presidents Jim Groth and Gina Boyd, Myers appeared to be an advocate for teachers when she was actually undermining teacher rights to gain political advantages. The strategy has obviously paid off.

I guess the teachers who poured their hearts out to her over the past few years are a little worried now. Who would even have imagined that a teacher union president would become a Director of Human Resources? It's like Assemblyman Juan Vargas going from the Insurance Committee to vice-president of Safeco Insurance Company. You can't help wondering why the insurance people liked him so much. He must have been helpful to them all along.

Sandra Villegas Zuniga continues as Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources at CVESD. She hired Myers as one of three Directors of Human Resources.

PEG MYERS SEEMS TO HAVE LEFT A PERMANENT STAMP ON CHULA VISTA EDUCATORS

Photo: Robin Donlan being deposed in Maura Larkins case.


To add to the oddness of the situation, Chula Vista Educators has taken down its website, and refuses to tell callers who the new CVE officers are, except that Jennefer Porch is president.

I'm trying to figure out what the big secret is. My suspicion? Perhaps Robin Donlan is one of the new officers! This situation reminds me of Mitt Romney's refusal to release his tax returns except for the last two years. Obviously, something is being kept secret by both Romney and CVE, but what is it? HERE is one theory about why Romney doesn't want to release his records. Obviously, Chula Vista Educators also feels it has something to hide. If it's not Robin Donlan, then I'm guessing it's another of Peg Myers' cronies from Castle Park Elementary.

New Chula Vista Educators president Jennefer Porch conceals identities of CVE board members just as her predecessor did

The annual CTA Presidents' Conference is taking place at Asilomar State Beach (see photo) near Monterey.

New Chula Vista Educators president Jennefer Porch is up at Asilomar this week at the annual CTA Presidents' Conference, but she left instructions with her staff not to release the names of CVE officers. It's a deeply ingrained habit at CVE. The names have been left off the CVE website for over a year.

Perhaps CTA President Dean Vogel can give Jennefer some tips about how to run CVE. I myself had a nice chat with Mr. Vogel at the conference a few years ago. (I was a lowly CTA member, not a chapter president, but Mr. Vogel was very nice.)

Jennefer replaced Peg Myers as president of CVE when Peg took a job as Director of Human Resources for the same school distsrict, but Jennefer doesn't seem to have replaced Peg's policies regarding secrecy. Furtiveness has been in force since 2001 when former presidents Gina Boyd and Jim Groth and executive director Tim O'Neill decided to cover up crimes by Gina's friend Robin Donlan at Castle Park Elementary.

Jennefer held a meeting on July 10, 2012. It was advertised as the meeting when a decision would be made as to who the new officers would be. Obviously, the job of vice-president was up for grabs. CTA advertises itself as a democratic institution, but it is actually hierarchical, and the power structure is decided through back room politics, not elections. Some locals are democratic, but Chula Vista Educators is obviously not one of those. Secrecy and democracy can't co-exist.

Administrators prevail over teachers and students who follow them to lunchtime trysts

This case interested me because it is somewhat similar to what happened at Castle Park Elementary, except that it was not students, but teachers, who followed a district administrator to a lunchtime tryst in the California case. Castle Park Elementary had a very disturbed culture among the teachers, who wanted to retaliate after several teachers had been transferred out of the school.

The teachers didn't seem to appreciate that the district was in the middle of a court case in which it paid $100,000s to lawyers to defend these very teachers for illegal actions. The teachers styled themselves as "The Castle Park Family", and they were furious.

They caused a big public brouhaha, but the lunchtime stalking incident did not reach the newspapers. The board and the district administrators should have disciplined the teachers at the beginning instead of paying $100,000s of tax dollars to conceal their illegal actions. They became drunk with power, and could not be controlled by any principal. The school had eleven principals in eleven years. Also, one of their leaders, Peg Myers, became the President of Chula Vista Educators, and retains that position today. During the strife at Castle Park Elementary, Peg Myers worked closely with CTA director Jim Groth.

Court Decisions Favor Schools
BY ANDREA BELL
nassp.org
National Association of Secondary School Principals
Nov. 2000

Principal Prevails

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas found in favor of a school principal on legal issues related to the intended use of dubious photographs that could have potentially compromised the principal’s integrity.

In Riggan v. Midland Indep. Sch. Dist. (86 F. Supp. 2d 647 [W.D. Tex. 2000]), Casey Riggan, a senior at Midland (Tex.) Senior High School, along with several o f hi s f r i ends, followed the school’s principal to the house of a teacher and photographed the principal’s car in front of the house. Not long after, administrators investigating rumors of the principal’s sexual impropriety learned that Riggan had photos that might be linked to their investigation. The principal himself also learned of the photos and contacted Riggan’s father for a conference.

Although the parties disputed exactly what was said at that meeting, the principal alleged that Riggan intended to print the photograph on a T-shirt with the statement “I never had sex with that woman” for graduates to wear during graduation to publicly humiliate him.

Additionally, the principal charged that Riggan’s photos were taken in retaliation for prior disciplinary actions and attempted to punish Riggan by suspending him and temporarily assigning him to the Alternative Education Program and requiring him to write apologies or be banned from graduation. Riggan claimed that the photos were absolutely protected under the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of expression and that, as a result, the school could not regulate the photos or their use. The court held that although the photo-bearing T-shirt would be considered an expressive activity, regulation of the photographs in this case would not violate the First Amendment because Riggan did not have the absolute right to publicly humiliate the principal at graduation. Additionally, the court explained that if the p h o t o h a d b e e n p r i n t e d o n t h e Tshirts for graduation, the resulting disruption would have justified Riggan’s punishment by the school.

60 percent of students in Texas study were suspended or expelled

Peg Myers, the president of Chula Vista Eductors, and former teacher at my school, Castle Park Elementary, would come in to the teachers lounge in the first week of school and identify several new students as troublemakers. Here's the problem. She complained about those same kids for the entire school year! I don't think she realized the implications of her unchanging complaints: she was implicitly admitting that she was not able to help a single one of those children improve their behavior. This also seems to be the case in Texas:


How do school discipline tactics affect children?
Florence Shapiro and John Whitmire
Statesman.com
July 18, 2011

..."Breaking Schools' Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students' Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement" found that 60 percent of students studied were suspended or expelled based on an examination of records of nearly a million public secondary school students, spanning their six years of middle and high school. About 15 percent of students studied were disciplined 11 or more http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftimes; nearly half of those students were involved at some point in the juvenile justice system...



This isn't "No Tolerance." It's More Like " Mo Ignorance!"
Half of Texas' Students Suspended, Study Finds
By Nirvi Shah
Edited by I, Praetorian; MA, PPS, PVC, ATM
Disenfranchised-Educators
July 20, 2011

...“We hope other states will follow Texas’ lead and put their systems under similar scrutiny,” said Michael D. Thompson, director of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Justice Center. He raised a key question he said state education leaders should ask themselves: “Is our state’s school discipline system getting the desired results?”
The study found that the average number of days on which students missed at least some class time due to a disciplinary incident was two days for out-of-school suspension, 27 days for a placement at an alternative school, and 73 days if they were placed in a juvenile justice program.

While the numbers gleaned from analyzing student discipline in Texas may be shocking, the state’s rate of expulsions and out-of-school suspensions, at 6.9 percent, is lower than that of some other states, including California, at about 13 percent, and Florida, at about 9 percent.

Repeat Offenders

One statistic uncovered by the analysis of Texas discipline and juvenile justice records was that 15 percent of students were punished by suspension or expulsion 11 or more times. Those repeat actions make the effectiveness of those types of punishments questionable, Mr. Thompson said...

California Teachers Association head counsel Beverly Tucker used to be a counsel for the ACLU

California Teachers Association head counsel Beverly Tucker used to be a counsel for the ACLU in Northern California. Obviously, she wasn't a true believer in civil rights, or she wouldn't have spent so much money and effort on silly efforts to violate my civil rights. Tucker didn't plan her actions well.

Tucker had no good reason to support the two teachers who said I was going to come to school and shoot everybody. Her reason for doing so? It was an election year for the teachers union affiliate in Chula Vista, and the incumbent (Gina Boyd) was afraid the two teachers might make trouble for her if she insisted on a proper investigation.

I think Tucker was careless. The matter simply wasn't important to her, so she didn't bother to use any energy thinking about it. Only a very tiny amount of brain work was required to reach a sensible solution to the problem. The teachers should have been told to apologize to me. Instead, Tucker has spent years forcing teachers to lie under oath, wildly contradicting each other, among other shameful actions.

Tucker has enormous power. The people who supported her in my case (Gail Mendes, Jim Groth and Peg Myers) are rising fast in CTA. This delights me, because it makes my case more newsworthy and it reveals the politics inside CTA.

Click on the labels below to see older posts about the individuals involved.

Who blanked this blog yesterday?

Peg Myers is facing an election in May as President of Chula Vista Educators.







I woke up yesterday morning and found all the posts missing from this blog.

Who could have done it?

Someone seems to have gotten really angry about the last article I published before my blog went blank; it concerned the deposition of Chula Vista Educators President Peg Myers.

I have a prime suspect.

By looking at the IP addresses of computers that hit my site, I know that the first person who looked at the Peg Myers story (on Saturday morning, March 1) was also the last person who saw it in the earlier hours of the next morning, at 12:21 a.m. on Sunday, just before the blog went blank.

Interestingly, this person was using the same computer as the anonymous person who posted this comment just a few days ago:

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness for the perseverance of the attorneys in Shinoff's firm...some day this crazy nonsensical web site will come down!

This angry visitor also looked at all four pages of Peg Myers deposition in my San Diego Education Report website--twice. No one else came close to that level of interest.

A witness told me that Peg Myers used the word "crazy" to refer to me. Putting all the information together, I am suspecting Peg Myers, who is facing an election in May if she is to continue as President of Chula Vista Educators. It's perfectly understandable that Myers wouldn't want her deposition to be exposed during a campaign. It should be noted that Peg Myers was one of the celebrated "Castle Park Five."

I know that California Teachers Association protects sitting presidents of CTA locals, and that CTA information has previously disappeared from my website.

This is the information I have about the anonymous visitor:

IP Address
72.220.30.144
Cox Communications
United States
California
Chula Vista
Time of Visit Mar 1 2009 12:21:31 am
Visit Length 10 minutes 6 seconds
Page Views 2
Out Click SAN DIEGO EDUCATION REPORT WEBSITE
Time Zone UTC-8:00

Deposition of Peg Myers, President of Chula Vista Educators

Peg Myers, current CVE President and one of the Castle Park Five, did not want to testify about events that occurred when she taught at Castle Park Elem. School.






























































Teacher and union member Maura Larkins finally deposed Ms. Myers in Nov. 2004.
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Are education reformers bad Democrats? Challengers at DNC convention confront teachers union

More and more Democrats are starting to challenge the National Education Association and other teacher unions for standing in the way of education reform.

Union Tensions at DNC
by Michele McNeil
Education Week

The education event that followed the NEA luncheon showed the growing tensions within the Democratic Party over school reform, and the role of teachers’ unions.

Though it’s no surprise an event sponsored by the Democrats for Education Reform would have a slight anti-union message; many of the speakers at the event took several shots at unions during the press conference announcing the Education Equality Project in June.

Today, the sentiment was strong and persistent at standing-room-only, three-hour forum called Ed Challenge for Change. In fact, some of the big-city mayors who participated predicted that had such a forum been held four years ago, a mere five souls would have showed.

Here at the Denver Art Museum, Democratic mayors from Newark, N.J., Washington D.C., and Denver joined education reform darlings including New York City’s Joel Klein and Washington D.C.’s Michelle Rhee. The group was referred to as the “misfits” of the Democratic Party by DFER's Joe Williams, a nod to their willingness to speak up against the influence of teachers’ unions, which have formed the backbone of the party...

Here's more about NEA and Washington D.C.:

Darcy Burner, Washington D.C.

NEA Throws Darcy Under the Bus, Undermines NEA’s Health Care Agenda
July 22, 2008
by Matt Stoller



The NEA's Washington chapter, the Washington Education Association, just endorsed Republican Dave Reichert for Congress over progressive Democrat Darcy Burner. Now, there are a lot of reasons that organizations endorse, and in this case it's because Reichert has badmouthed unfunded mandates. Reichert has a bad voting record on education, with a 10% rating on education from Progressive Punch. He has among other things voted to gut Head Start and lots and lots of scholarship money, as well as voting down the line with Republicans to gut Federal spending on education. But the NEA's Washington chapter wants a Republican in their pocket, so they are throwing Darcy Burner under the bus...

Jim Groth and Peggie Myers: Where was CVE during the Danielle Coziahr case?

Chula Vista Educators President Peg Myers

Chula Vista Educators spent $17,000 to defend former CVE president Frank Luzzaro from the threat of losing a day's pay. And who knows how much CVE spent defending Peggie Myers, Robin Donlan and their friends from a mere administrative transfer.

But when it came to the Danielle Cozaihr case, CVE and CTA were not to be found. Perhaps CTA had used up all its money defending child molesters such as Albert G. Truitt.

CTA is a friend to union fat cats and their close friends, but ordinary, decent teachers can't expect much.

Jim Groth and Peggie Myers, and the new CVE vice-president Monica Sorenson actually helped the district violate the law in the Maura Larkins case.

Why did Chula Vista Elementary School District teachers elect these Beverly Tucker clones? Don't they care about basic human decency? Or do they simply not know what's going on?

NOTE:
FOR THE DETAILS OF the Coziahr v. CVESD lawsuit, click the link "A school district lawsuit (Coziahr v. CVESD) at right.

Why is Peggie Myers trying to hide the identity of her new vice-president at CVE?

I knew that Chula Vista Educators had just last week finished counting the votes after its second election in one year to choose a vice president.

I called them up this morning. A cheery woman's voice greeted me, "CVE!"

"I was wondering, who is the new vice-president of CVE?"

Without missing a beat, the woman said, "Peg Myers."

"I thought she was the president," I said.

Also without missing a beat, the woman said, "Yes, she is."

Clearly, this woman had a well-prepared script.

"Then who is the vice-president?" I asked.

"Monica Sorenson."

I thanked her, and began to wonder why CVE is trying to pretend that Jim Groth is still president (he was reelected president in 2007, a few months ago), and that Peggie Myers is still his vice president (she was elected vice president a few months ago). Jim Groth resigned after a couple of months to take a seat on the California Teachers Association board of directors.

I must assume that Peggie Myers told the receptionist to try to hide the truth. Peggie Myers is a forceful advocate for hiding the truth. When she was CVE representative for Castle Park Elementary, she made it clear that teachers had to report to her any contact they had with me. She worked hard to make sure that the truth was kept under wraps about crimes committed at the school. But she didn't succeed despite tremendous effort.

Now Myers seems to think that by continuing to cover up facts that can not be covered up, she will avoid having to deal with the fallout from her past actions. She and Jim Groth and Monica Sorenson would be wiser to quit pretending, and simply apologize and repair the harm they've done.

Monica Sorenson, by the way, was a lawyer (though currently inactive), so perhaps she's had a lot of practice at hiding information. It would appear that this is what the teachers of Chula Vista want.

Clearly, CVE's culture of secrecy is hale and hearty.

And we wonder why young people grow up today without moral compasses.

For CVE President Peggie Myers, it's all about what's best for #1

Anyone who has listened to Chula Vista teacher Peggie Myers rant regularly about uncooperative students must have been shocked to learn that Ms. Myers didn't think her daughter should have to attend class when a standardized test was being given.

Logical consistency is apparently not something Ms. Myers strives for.

Myers' behavior, particularly the behavior that earned her a place among the "Castle Park Five," indicates that she thinks her students should obey her, but she shouldn't have to take direction from any principal.

In May 2005, the San Diego Union Tribune reported:

"Parent Peggie Myers said her daughter, also a junior, was afraid she'd be unable to get the letters of recommendation she needed for her application to Columbia University's summer school program, which she was in the process of applying for last week. "The pressure these kids are under is ridiculous. It's out of control," Myers said. "Something has to give, and it can't be the emotional health of our children." "So no, I didn't want her taking the standardized tests," Myers said. "It's not going to get her into a better college."" (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040505/news_6m5tests.html)

Ms. Myers was outraged when the CVESD superintendent called her in and told her she was being transferred in August 2004 in order to improve the educational program. She claimed it was a violation of the contract that she not be given a more specific reason.

But it didn't bother her one bit that another teacher was transferred without any meeting with the superintendent, and absolutely no reason given. In fact, the transfer was done to aid the cover-up of illegal actions by members of the Castle Park Five. In that matter, Myers was represented by Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz.

Sadly, Myers has climbed her way to the top of Chula Vista Educators, thanks to assistance from Jim Groth. (She is president; he preceded her in that position.) The two of them have repeatedly shown themselves willing to discard the contract and the law in order to achieve power for themselves.

Secrecy in schools must stop in New York and California

At Jamaica High School in New York, deans were forbidden by the chancellor to call 911 under any circumstances because the school had landed on a list of dangerous schools as a result of too many altercations.

When a 14-year-old girl suffered a stroke at Jamaica High School in New York, her mother was called, but an ambulance was not called. The mother is suing the district for $10 million dollars because no medical treatment was sought for an hour after the girl was stricken. The girl is having trouble walking and reading, among other things.

Success through secrecy seems to be the motto of just about every school district in the country.

Secrecy is also a standard tactic for dealing with problems at Chula Vista Elementary School District, the school district where I studied as a child and taught as an adult.

The board and administration of CVESD refused to investigate a report by two teachers that there might be a mass shooting at the school. Even the teachers union, California Teachers Association, and the local Chula Vista Educators, refused to insist on an investigation. Why? Because past and current presidents of Chula Vista Educators (Gina Boyd, Jim Groth, and Peggie Myers) were afraid that crimes by teachers would be brought to light if an investigation took place.

We need administrators and union leaders who will solve problems at schools, not cover them up.

Jim Groth and Peggie Myers play yet another trick on Chula Vista teachers

Peggie Myers is the new president of Chula Vista Educators. Readers may remember Ms. Myers for her role in the Castle Park Elementary fiasco.

Teachers re-elected longtime president Jim Groth in 2007, but he had other plans. He moved on the the Board of Directors of California Teachers Association, where he can continue to work closely with lead attorney Beverly Tucker, who helped him and Ms. Myers cover up illegal activities at CVESD.

One wonders why Jim Groth didn't resign immediately as Chula Vista Educators president when he was chosen for the state board of directors.

My guess is that he wanted to make very sure that the person who followed him as leader of CVE was someone who knew and approved of the coverup that CVE and CTA had been conducting for several years. He--and Beverly Tucker--wanted someone in charge of CVE who wouldn't be too interested in following the law. The last thing they wanted was someone who would ask questions or demand reform. Apparently they feared that recent past vice-president Robyn Higginson might not be a whole-hearted supporter of Jim and Peggy's illegal actions against teachers. Jim Groth apparently threw his support to Peggie Myers, and the two of them succeeded in pushing Higginson out.

Apparently Peggie Myer's training went well, and after a few months, Jim Groth resigned and Peggie Myers, who had recently been chosen as vice president of CVE, became president of CVE.

It should be an easy job, Peggy. The board of directors rubber stamps whatever CTA lawyers and/or the CVE president tells them to. There doesn't seem to be a single person among them who would resign on principle because their association was violating laws willy-nilly.

Next, Chula Vista Elementary teachers will be asked to vote for a new vice-president. How about Robin Donlan, to keep the old gang together?