Parents ‘blindsided’ by removal of beloved principal, blame Rahm

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CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson speaks to a crowd of about 300 parents and community members at Blaine Elementary School on Monday evening. | Brian Jackson/For the Sun-Times

Boos and chants of “We stand with Troy!” greeted Chicago Public Schools officials Monday evening as they sought to clarify for parents at Blaine Elementary School why the popular principal has been removed.

“I can honestly say this was not a politically motivated decision,” said Janice Jackson, CPS’ chief education officer, speaking to a crowd of about 300 inside the auditorium at Blaine, 1420 W. Grace St., in the Lake View neighborhood.

Without going into details, Jackson said Troy LaRaviere faces 12 charges that fall into three categories: “dereliction of duty,” “ethics violations of state and CPS policies” and insubordination.”

Jackson, one of three CPS officials who faced the largely pro-LaRaviere crowd, was often drowned out with shouts that included “Troy for mayor!” and “Is this a dog-and-pony show?!”

Angry parents repeatedly demanded that Jackson explain what specific behavior led to LaRaviere’s removal. And Jackson repeatedly said that, because it is a legal matter, she could not do so.

“This is not an easy decision to make,” Jackson said. “However, in the past weeks, we could not ignore the escalation and the continued acts of misconduct and a refusal to meet with CPS and rectify those situations.”

Parents at the Monday evening meeting were frustrated because they couldn’t get their questions answered. During a raucous question-and-answer session, referring to ousted principal Troy LaRaviere, Blaine parent Anna Proni yelled: “What was the threat? Wh

Parents at the Monday evening meeting were frustrated because they couldn’t get their questions answered. During a raucous question-and-answer session, referring to ousted principal Troy LaRaviere, Blaine parent Anna Proni yelled: “What was the threat? What was he saying that was so wrong?” | Brian Jackson/For the Sun-Times

During a raucous question-and-answer session, Blaine parent Anna Proni yelled: “What was the threat? What was he saying that was so wrong?”

Once again, Jackson said she couldn’t answer. Jackson said, however, that LaRaviere has the legal right to go public with the specific charges against him.

Afterward, Blaine parent David Craven said he was disappointed but not surprised by CPS’ response.

“I felt like I got the answers I expected,” Craven said. “I didn’t expect good answers because CPS is not in the business of giving good answers.”

Earlier on Monday, about 50 parents gathered at Blaine.

LaRaviere has been an outspoken critic of CPS and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He supported Emanuel’s opponent, Chuy Garcia, in the last election.

LaRaviere on Monday declined to comment via text, noting that he’d have more to say in the coming days.

CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner emailed the following statement on Monday: “CPS has removed Troy LaRaviere because of alleged acts of misconduct, including violations of a previous Warning Resolution passed by the Board of Education. A hearing will be held to determine his employment status.”

Blaine’s Local School Council said the decision to remove LaRaviere was made without their input.

“The Blaine LSC is outraged that CPS has removed our award-winning principal without due process — they have not told him, nor us, what charges he is facing,” read a statement released by the LSC Monday.

“Two of the LSC’s primary functions are the hiring and evaluation of principals. CPS circumvented these core responsibilities by blindsiding the LSC with this decision when it knew that most members would be out of town for spring break, and denied us the opportunity to have a meaningful voice in our principal’s temporary replacement.”

Blaine Elementary School parents and community show their thoughts Monday night. | Brian Jackson/For the Sun-Times

Blaine Elementary School parents and community show their thoughts Monday night. | Brian Jackson/For the Sun-Times

Betsy Melton, a Blaine parent who was recently elected to the LSC, said she spoke with LaRaviere late last week.

“He does not know why he’s been reassigned — we can call it fired at this point,” she said. “That’s really the question in our minds.”

Melton said she and other parents want to know the meaning behind the words “alleged acts of misconduct.”

LaRaviere has been a thorn in the side of Emanuel for pointing out problems within CPS, she said.

“From a parent’s standpoint, we believe this was politically motivated,” she said.

LaRaviere is up for election in May to lead the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, which would give him a larger voice within CPS “and that’s something that a lot of people didn’t want,” Melton said.

He also has recorded ads for progressive presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, as well as Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who ran against Mayor Rahm Emanuel last year.

CPS’ inspector general Nick Schuler confirmed that his office was looking at LaRaviere’s participation in the Sanders campaign “to see if there are any possible violations” of CPS’ ethics policy.

Last year, sources said LaRaviere was reprimanded after the inspector general dinged him for “improper political activity” for Garcia, though he was not named in the annual report released to the public.

According a CPS official, LaRaviere was asked to come to a meeting at CPS on Wednesday to discuss his removal and employment status. He did not show up to the meeting.

LaRaviere wrote on his personal blog that he was notified of that meeting by a single email the day before — a day he took off to take care of his son who had minor surgery that day — and didn’t get the message in time.

“I therefore could not attend a meeting that I didn’t know about. Based on the last minute email-only notification, it appears this was the result CPS officials were hoping for,” he wrote.

The next step will be a pre-suspension hearing on Friday to determine whether there is a sufficient basis to suspend LaRaviere without pay, pending an Illinois State Board of Education hearing, the official said.

Blaine Elementary parents (from left) Catherine Francis, Peggy Herrington, Amy Derksen and Sandra Hamilton join other protesters at the school on Monday. They are upset that Principal Troy LaRaviere was reassigned last week. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

Blaine Elementary parents (from left) Catherine Francis, Peggy Herrington, Amy Derksen and Sandra Hamilton join other protesters at the school on Monday. They are upset that Principal Troy LaRaviere was reassigned last week. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

LaRaviere was reprimanded in August of last year when Emanuel’s hand-picked board of education issued a “Warning Resolution” against LaReviere — a step CPS has to take in order to fire someone.

Neither CPS nor the Board of Education ever fully explained why the punitive measure was taken.

But LaRaviere wrote on his blog that he was punished for supporting parents who chose to opt their children out of state standardized testing that was pushed heavily by CPS. And because he was deemed insubordinate for asking a question of then-CPS CEO Jesse Ruiz about controversial CPS spending habits at a district principals budget meeting, thereby breaking a “no questions” policy.

“He’s very outspoken and he always has been. He always stands up for our children . . . but also all of the children in CPS. We believe that his outspokenness probably was what did him in,” Melton said.

“CPS is broken in so many ways, to fire a principal who is the leader of the best performing neighborhood school in the city is unacceptable,” Melton said.

“We are the number one neighborhood community school in Chicago,” Melton said. “Above us are the selective enrollment schools that kids test into and then there’s us.”

Retired Principal Pedro Alonso, who has been a CPS employee for more than three decades, will serve as Blaine’s interim principal. Alonso’s last post was as principal of Von Steuben High School.

Parent Jonathan Eyler-Werve believes the protests over the principal’s departure won’t just fade away. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

Parent Jonathan Eyler-Werve believes the protests over the principal’s departure won’t just fade away. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

Jonathan Eyler-Werve, a software engineer who has a daughter in kindergarten at Blaine, laid into Emanuel.

“To take him out of his job for no reason whatsoever that has been given to anyone . . . is vindictive, it’s petty and it’s hurting my kid,” said Eyler-Werve, 35.

“We have a principal who four years into his career has won the CPS principal’s award three times,” he said.

“And so we have Rahm Emanuel who is unable to govern the Chicago Police Department and is now unwilling to govern the Chicago Public Schools. We have a principal who is pointing out corruption and mismanagement in CPS and is now being punished for that,” Eyler-Werve added.

“And it’s coming down on my kids in the middle of a school year, and so on a Monday morning I have to be standing here talking about why the principal’s missing instead of going to my job. And that comes down to the mayor. It comes down to leadership, and it’s unacceptable. I think right now we have a lot of people standing in this field who are starting to understand how people in Lawndale feel about what’s going on with the Chicago police.

“We are organizing and we’re not going away,” he said.

“So Rahm needs to understand that if this doesn’t get resolved quickly by reinstating our principal that he’s going to have an issue that organizes hundreds of parents for as long as he’s in office, which probably won’t be very long,” he added.

About 50 parents and others gathered at Blaine Elementary on Monday to protest the reassignment of Principal Troy LaRaviere. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

About 50 parents and others gathered at Blaine Elementary on Monday to protest the reassignment of Principal Troy LaRaviere. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Sanders had pinned the principal’s reassignment squarely on the mayor and on what he called “Emanuel’s unhealthy obsession with taking revenge.”

On Monday, the mayor fired back without engaging Sanders in another round of finger-pointing.

“When I first became mayor, I set the city on a course to [get out from] under the Shakman decree, where there was political hiring going on and politics played a role in personnel in the city of Chicago. It took me three years, but we ended a 40-year federal judge oversight of our hiring,” Emanuel said at an unrelated news conference at Dunbar High School.

“I do not get involved in a personnel decision,” he said. “I can understand if I’m getting blamed. But I’m just being clear. I’m adhering to the Shakman decree.”

“I’ve said exactly what I said. I do not get involved in personnel decisions,” he said.

Contributing: Lauren FitzPatrick, Fran Spielman

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