Random Ramblings

Peoria Public Schools - District #150: Please re-open Woodruff High School as Would Be Rough Alternative School. Select the most difficult students from the remaining high school and the upper middle school grades, about 150 to 200 from each school. Staff Would Be Rough appropriately with qualified Behavioral Disorder and other special education teachers. Design a highly structured, well supervised, secure in-school suspension room so that suspension or expulsion is no longer a treat. The remaining students at the "Home Schools" would actually have an opportunity to learn without threat and the students at Would Be Rough might actually modify some destructive behavior and be educated in spite of themselves.

Peoria Landlords - Please treat every property you own as an important business in the neighborhood in which it is located. Everything you do, from selecting your tenants to improving your property increases the value (or decrease its' value) of that business. If the neighborhood improves because of your property, the value of your business also goes up. There is more to consider than move 'em in - move 'em out - get the check - keep the deposit! There are good landlords, don't get me wrong, but the others..... If your business is the worst house on the block, you should be ashamed and be put out of business.

Respect - Treat others the same as you want to be treated. If you do not want to hear my classical music or country music at full blast, please don't play your Hip Hop so loud that it rattles my windows. Do not walk through my yard if you would not want me walking through yours. Do not damage my property if you don't want me damaging yours - even if it is just breaking off my flowers or littering my yard.

Parenting - There is more to being a parent than producing offspring. The inner city is victimized by Urban Terrorists - unsupervised youth of various ages that think nothing of threatening adults, carrying weapons, robbing individuals / businesses or bullying other youths. As much as I want to blame the youth, it is their parents who are really at fault. Not that every little Urban Terrorist is the result of bad parenting, but many are. Parents should know what their kids are doing, supervise their activities, be involved in their education, know who their friends are and enforce discipline. Be a parent not just a hatchery.

Look for the positives - As difficult as it is sometimes, look for what is positive and try to make it even better. There are good parents, there are good kids, there are good landlords and there are good schools. I try to recognize these facts and not get so caught up in the negatives that I fail to see the good things. It is just hard sometimes.