001foreign good evening everyone I love that response thank you um this is special meeting of the board of education for September 19th 2023 it's called to order all items being considered this evening are posted on the DPS website under the board and meeting tabs this meeting is being streamed live on PPS TV services website and on Channel 28 and we'll be replayed throughout the next two weeks please check the district website for replay times there's been an update to tonight's agenda we'll no longer be discussing the 2023-24 budget amendments um you know board leadership will look and work with staff to reschedule that discussion for another meeting um did I just leave it was just one agenda item tonight in addition to the consent agenda which will so which is we got to consider gender
002and then the consideration for the dismissal of uh contract teacher but first we'll just start with the voting of the consent agenda um the board will now vote on the considered agenda board members if there are any items you would like to pull from for discussion we'll set up set those aside for the next time we meet any item anyone want to pull Charles there's not an item I want to pull but I want to note um and also ask um permission from my board members to submit something at the last board meeting during the committee reports the video of the committee reports went out during my committee report and I had a number of people afterwards asked me what I'd said during the committee report as it relates to the policy committee and a
003policy that number of people are interested in and so I just want to note that the minutes and the the physical videotape omit something and that I would like to ask the board normally you do have to do at the board meeting that it occurred at but since I didn't know my comments weren't being recorded I'd like to ask that an almost verbatim just statement of what I said at the board meeting be allowed to be included in within the minutes if that's okay and I don't know it's large if I needed to um have that be a voted on or just the chair has the prerogative to include it in the official minutes were captured in notes for that period of time I think if you wanted to restate that in this meeting can
004I just probably be the most direct and accurate way to do that instead of retroactively restating it stated again this evening okay um I'll do that during the committee reports and also I'll submit the statement just to include within we're not having committee reports okay how about at the end of the meeting if that's all right thank you Ms Bradshaw is there any changes to consent agenda no all right do I have a motion and a second to adopt a consent agenda motion second is there any discussion on the consent agenda sure I can say it now yeah that's what we'll do it now okay this is my policy committee report um at the September 5th board meeting um I reported that we're starting to build our policy committee agenda and policies will be brought
005to the committee for consideration we'll be bringing forward policy changes requested by law proposed by community members revisions of policies to update or align with current practice and rescissions of policies that no are no longer needed such as the one that we had that evening on the nutrition services policy and we're finishing up ones from previous years such as the private fundraising to purchase School staff as part of the last meeting of the policy committee I'd posted a draft policy proposed by a community group referring to Foundation funding a PBS staff the discussion about this policy issue has been occurring for six years it was not scheduled for discussion or action rather it was posted for transparency all policies and especially the ones related to private fundraising for staff will have committee discussion and an
006opportunity for public comment I welcome the group that met earlier last spring to bring forward a draft policy for consideration if they can agree on a draft I'd ask for it to be brought forward by October 13th so the committee can add it for discussion to the committee agenda thank you chair Hollins yeah thank you for that all right so the board will now vote on resolution six seven five six three six seven six zero all in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes all the polls please indicate by saying no student director Silverstein please indicate your vote yes all right is there any abstentions all right so the contingent is approved by a vote of seven zero with student director Silverstein and officially voting yes all right so next on the agenda is
007the dismissal of a contract teacher next we're being asked to consider the dismissal of a contract teacher Mr Brian Chu employees Discipline matters are confidential under state law unless the employees requests the matter to be considered publicly which Mr true has requested in addition Mr true was entitled to a predetermination hearing under PPS policy that it was a three hour long hearing involving hundreds of documents that was held on August 17th before a hearing officer and for the benefit of the board I Mr choose a request the hearing was also a public hearing after considering the evidence including 1150 pages of documents the hearing officer found that a district established that Mr chews constitute and subordination and neglective Duty both statuary both statutory grounds were dismissals per ORS 342 0.865 his findings and conclusions the
008document offered by both sides and the hearing itself are all before the board for consideration before we move to a vote Mr true has requested to address the board followed by three public commenters related to the board vote and we're going to also allow three additional folks to speak as well so in order to get this going I need to get a motion and a second online I need a motion in a second before we can start discussing okay all right Mr true would you like to provide the comments at this time director Hollins Ms Bradshaw's confirming that the live stream is working we might just pause for a moment until we have that confirmation thank you okay would you like to make a comment Mr two [Applause] good evening chair and members my name
009is Noah barish I'm an attorney with McKenna Bishop Jaffe I'm here on behalf of the Portland Association of teachers and Mr Brian Chu educator my time is short to address you and in that short time I want to make two main points for your consideration the first point is this the evidence before you does not justify dismissing Mr Chu as I hope you have reviewed all of it including the statements at the pre-termination hearing you will see if you've reviewed that evidence that the district's case is full of holes and the harder you look the more holes that you see and the more holes that you see the more convinced you will be that there is some other motive at work for the district to be rid of Mr Chu so let me ask you
010a few questions and these are not all the questions that could be asked based on the evidence but these are a few for your consideration first why is it that the district claims that Mr Chu's Behavior during the February 22nd 2022 board meeting was disruptive and grounds for termination when many other white Educators more dramatically disrupted that meeting yet none of them were investigated let alone disciplined for that behavior second question why does the district seek to fire Mr Chu based on statements he made outside of work time at a public meeting when he voiced a concern about the district's Community engagement and that concern was echoed and also voiced by two different board members at that very same meeting another question why does the district seek to fire Mr Chu for professional emails he
011sent to other staff members at Tubman raising conceptual disagreements about how best to support marginalized students at that school these are just a few of the questions that I could ask and if I had more time I would have dozens of others but I think you will see that the district's evidence is weak and if you stop to look at it you will question the district's case as well so I'd like to talk to you about my second point which is that Mr Chu sits here today facing potential termination by this board but in fact it's the district's own failures I believe that are on trial at this moment [Applause] the district is seeking to dismiss an educator who is beloved by his students and Families and transformative for students of color at Harriet Tubman
012Middle School the district is seeking to terminate a teacher who advocated for racial and environmental justice within the district and in public even when that put him in an uncomfortable situation telling uncomfortable truths about the district's actions the district is seeking to terminate a teacher who prioritized the needs of his students in the classroom even when they were being failed by other adults around them and that's why they came and I'm talking about the students they came to this board not just tonight but again and again in many months following Mr chews being placed on leave and they came to this board to ask and in fact demand that Mr chubby returned to the classroom and the board ignored them and I hope you don't ignore them now because they're here behind us there are
013dozens of people here who are waiting to speak to you about Mr Chu their students colleagues families community members and I believe it would benefit this board to hear their voices and when you do hear their voices they will tell you that it was Mr Chu excuse me they will tell you that it was not Mr Chu who is neglecting his duty as a teacher but rather that it will be this board that neglects its duty to students in the community if they go ahead and dismiss Mr Chew foreign [Applause] so I want to leave you with a few words and these are perhaps the most important words that I'm gonna speak to you today and those are the words of some Brave Harriet Tubman students who dared to speak the truth about Mr Chu
014one said quote his classroom was one of the only safe spaces that all students felt like they could go to if they're having a hard time end quote another student said we as students value Mr Chu so much we really need him to thrive fully end quote one more student said Mr Chu's removal is an immature example of PPS putting their Petty workplace politics before students education we need teachers who care about us and Mr Chu was just that so don't take my word for it listen listen to the voices of the students who were taught by Mr Chu they know who Mr Chu is they understand his value to both them and to the larger community so in conclusion I leave you with a choice after all the choice is yours on the one
015hand you can trust and honor the students both behind you and the ones you've heard from and allow Mr Chu to serve the community by continuing to teach or you can ignore the needs of the students attempt to silence a voice for racial Equity a voice for public accountability and terminate Mr Chu the choice is yours thank you [Applause] Republican we have Pedro anglada Cordero shared with me David Fulton [Applause] sure do you want me to call three the three at one time okay David scholton and Jackie Dixon my name is Pedro Angela Cordero Deja is gonna read the words I wish to chair with the board y'all you are my other me sitiago Daniel a t if I do harm to you miago Daniel misimo I do harm to myself you respecto if I
016love and respect you miamo you respect all yo I love and respect myself this is how Mr Chu begin his class every day every period to put the poem in simple terms I matter you matter they matter we matter in 2013 Kevin Bacon became principal at Boise Elliott Humboldt he left in 2018 in those five years students at beh became known as Bacon's kids for the quality of Education they received in 2015 my seventh grade year we had no math or science teacher only Subs most teachers could barely control their their classrooms at that time meanwhile Mr Chu was teaching social studies as well as essay writing which we all know was not in his job description emphasis on the fact that we had uncontrollable classrooms in an absence of two teachers in two different
017subjects who were known to have trouble with literacy were gaining essay skills Mr Chu's classroom was always the perfect temperature always had food always had Good Vibes and produced productive outspoken compassionate students one of Mr Chu's well-known phrases was how can I help you learn to his students allowing practices that produced the phrase Bacon's kids in any other practice that detrimentally impacts students and by correlation the future is a disgusting disrespect to the Portland Community by removing two from PPS instead of other Educators some of which won't even learn the names of their students it makes one wonder if education is even valued in the eyes of PPS regardless of how you all try to paint Mr Chew I am a product of PPS I see who you are I see what you deem acceptable
018and the future you're leading us towards and I am proud to be one of Mr Chu's kids oh [Applause] yeah my name is David Scolton last name is spelled s-c-h-o-l-t-e-n and I've got someone here to also deliver my testimony for me tonight my name is Akeem Ballard last name b-a-l-l-a-r-d good evening members of the board the Public Public Educators and most importantly students [Applause] if you are a student uh here this evening would you just stand up please [Applause] thank you students um I appreciate you willing to oblige in that request as I never want us to forget what we do here why we in public education have come to serve the field that we all call dear to our hearts It's always important to ground ourselves in our call our charge students we say
019we're supporting to making such weighty decisions as the one before you today as before noted my name is Hakeem Ballard I'm currently a PhD student at UC Berkeley School of Education I flew out here today from Berkeley California in that program I study the role of race class and gender and public education particularly at the intersections of the lives lived experiences of both Educators and students and it can sound peculiar to have someone from Berkeley California all the way to Portland Oregon on such an occasion but to me it's almost circling back to an auspicious board meeting here some odd 10 years ago in that board meeting yet another black woman student stood up to speak her voice and ask what this board would do to ensure Justice was in her educational Journey another student
020was ignored that evening a circling moment that I hope doesn't happen again tonight I don't know the student I didn't know the student was going to speak but it's an honor for me to hear what the student has to say and as they reflect back on that board meeting and remember that student I asked a follow-up question to the board what should a teacher who is young in the teaching profession to do when such atrocities are happening to students around them and a board member on record told me that I should wait until I get tenure and could keep my job well what happened at Portland Public Schools When I Was Here is sadly still happening today we see it on full display tonight we've seen it on full display in the board meetings that
021have led up until now a testament to what happens when public officials conflate diversity and representation with Justice and Equity they are not the same in those 10 years what I saw as a public school educator was sad to say the least and troubling to say the most in those 10 years I would have a principal who would go from asking me to stay and and teach three preps as a first year public school teacher with a 0.8 contract and then asked me to go until there was zero percent chance of me staying because of how much I spoke out I'm still speaking today because what I want the board to know is that this decision is not about the termination of a contract it is about the Vitality of your role as public servants
022the decree from which is called upon the students in this audience what is before us today is not the decision of Did a teacher do this or that what is before us today is how we will answer back to the call of students who have told you what they're asking for they're asking for justice they're asking for doing the very least that we promised them giving them an education that befits the humanity that rests within them this is what we are asked to do today while you will make your decisions how you need to make them as Noah said earlier what's on trial today for this decision is not about the firing of a teacher it's about the long-standing issues that this public school district has refused to face it's about how when we conflate
023diversity and representation with Justice and Equity we are ensuring that the future of our nation is not equipped to handle the beauty of the humanity within themselves because we've ignored it as well [Applause] in my short remaining time I want to make it clear that what happened to me was an injustice but what happened to me does not have to be repeated over and over and over again you do not have to let children like this students like these ones in the audience have to suffer the wounds of the past because we're not willing to face our own wounds we can face our own wounds we are Educators we're called to do what other people don't want to do to be the champion of children to ensure that every student who passes through the doors
024in Portland Public Schools is has access to a healthy and happy lifestyle and can be contributing members of society and I think it's odd and perhaps peculiar at the least but also really concerning that for an educator who has created a safe haven for students to access their education to become their full selves to be contributing members of society by being at board meetings is retaliated against and who is suffering at the end I'm not going to see you and I'm not going to say chew I'm going to say the students all right thank you for your comments [Applause] good evening board as superintendent Community beautiful Community students um so wonderful to see y'all here in community I wish it was um under better circumstances Jackie Dixon uh last name spelled d-i-x-o-n at Pat We
025strive to ensure that all educators are guaranteed not only their basic rights but due process dignity and respect we cannot mirror the systems of Oppression we are fighting against we teach our students to advocate for their needs be critical of information and to stand up for what's right as Educators we aim to arm our students with the tools necessary to navigate the complex bureaucracy and red tape of not only the public education school system but the very world we exist in as an educator who has served students in PPS for nearly 20 years I've personally witnessed countless brilliant educators of color leave this District friends of mine colleagues of mine community members due to untenable working conditions lack of support and inconsistent disciplinary practices I believe Brian Chu symbolizes the underdog in this District always
026raising his voice to stand up for what's right despite the fear of being retaliated against despite the discomfort it may create in predominantly white spaces when questioning white supremacy culture and how it functions in our Public Schools he treats he speaks truth to power there are many Educators in PPS particularly educators of color who've expressed feeling alone isolated or having fear of speaking out Against Racism or harassment they've faced in the workplace educators of colors similar to students of color in Portland Public Schools face disproportionate levels of discipline the numbers don't lie the data shows very clearly that students and educators of color are disciplined more often than their white counterparts so I asked the board what happens when you see evidence of educators of color being harmed by the same systems of Oppression students
027of color are harmed by will you interrupt these systems I have read through the district's report it's long and I'm perplexed at the amount of irrelevant information included evidence attempting to paint Brian shoe as a villain for example two letters of expectation which has clearly laid out in the pat contract are non-disciplinary or the inclusion of complaints which were unfounded on the fact that Mr Chu was singled out of a crowd of multiple Educators including white Educators as our attorney mentioned earlier he was the only individual reprimanded for raising his voice when many members could be seen and audibly heard speaking out in a board meeting Brian Shu could not be disciplined should not be disciplined for his advocacy if the concern is around his skills as an educator we have processes laid out clearly
028in our contract to address those concerns and develop those skills as an educator we know we don't throw people away we provide supports we provide high expectations in order to reach them and meet them where they're at termination is not the answer thank you [Applause] thank you the board will now within their board discussion any comments thoughts now you're moving up yeah Gary I I called three yeah so you're gonna call three more I thought yeah I yeah Ally Fogerty Celeste Baird I was why okay and Chris riser ma'am ma'am ma'am ma'am nobody's trying to put you in your place no we're we're we're all volunteers we're all volunteers too we're volunteers I hear you can we hear can we listen to the to the next three people please youth last year and they sat
029in your seats and they represented this in a way that is unmatched right now yes we did silence Brown IES women no no we don't laugh at people thank you my name is Lauren lockman and I'm just talking with her um I was here about a year and a half ago to give almost this exact same speech for Mr Chu I've been here before I've been to meetings I've been to walkouts I've been to walkouts for months the amount of school that I've missed to advocate for a teacher that should have been in our school already it's not okay I am currently a ninth grader at Grant High School and I'm still doing this after two years it's from the same speech that I read almost a year and a half ago well he was
030still on leave while we were still doing walkouts while we were still coming to board meetings you're not saving us you're taking away teachers that we need in fact for my speech from four to take away Mr Chu is to take away opportunities away from students MR2 is more than a teacher he's like family to us we count on him and he believes in us we need teachers that care about us and Mr Chu was just that I've had him for two years now well I had um and whenever students go into classroom that we know that he will feel that we will feel safe respected and heard whenever I was having a bad day and I went to his classroom I instantly felt better removing Mr Chu was extremely detrimental to students mental health
031because we no longer have this critical critical connection to our teacher as I said teachers don't know your names it's only Subs when I was in seventh grade I had seven Subs out of eight classes [Music] I'm talking about how I was worried about how when I go into 8th grade and in high school I wouldn't know anything I'm behind in all of my classes algebra teacher I didn't have one social studies teacher you took him away yeah it's also very telling that you took away one of our very few teachers of color to us it looks like pps's continuing systems of white supremacy when we demand that you reinstate Mr two we are demanding that you consider our most vulnerable and our most burdened doing Mr chudu this would benefit us all we have
032gone to so many walkouts we've showed here we have showed up here we have done our part why won't you do yours okay [Applause] these are some quotes from again two years ago I have Subs in every single one of my classes and not a single educator how does that work when am I going to learn the math I need to learn the science I need to learn I need people here that will actually teach me what I need to know it's been over three weeks now over two years and you still haven't told us anything you keep telling us that you don't know or that you can't help us or that you're on our side you are not on our side but it doesn't really seem like it because you don't seem to be
033responding to anything that you're doing you tell us to show up here and we do you tell us to advocate for ourselves and we do you tell us so many things and we do it and we do it and we do it and you do not respond it's really really tiring to be going against you guys or to be trying to work working with you and you just do not respond you do not listen well I guess that's my time um one last thing if you think that taking away teachers and staff members is going to take away our voice then you are wrong [Applause] okay oh cool all right then good evening ladies and gentlemen and people of all identities my name is Chris Reiser r-i-s-e-r nice to see you again um I come
034before you tonight as a passionate educator deeply influenced by the pedagogy and practice of my man Brian Chu I work with you in the classroom as well as Mr Ballard back at Lane Middle School which means I speak from a kind of experience no one making this decision has had I've seen two memorize 150 names 45 minutes at a time in a single day and on that same day which was my first day as a cooperating as a student teacher a freshman from high school jumped through the first floor window saying chew Chu I need some C notes begging for Cornell notes I mean who needs a teacher like that I mean like everyone like everyone you wish you had a teacher like that none of y'all had anything like what he brings in the
035classroom every single day never seen it and I know because I've tried as hard as I can to try to meet that like man if I can get a kid to jump through my window on the first day I'm winning um but you just to be clear he's not the cancer it's not the cancer director Hollins he's the antidote if there was a chew in every Middle School in this District some of y'all might not be sitting here right now but kids would be receiving an excellent Equitable education you're talking about black kids brown kids white kids lgbtq plus kids native kids all the kids respond to chew and learn from him some folks were offended that they received letters and insisted that he must have coached students instead of just giving them the information
036that they didn't have from the people sitting up here and so it must have been him coaching them they couldn't have come up with their own ideas they couldn't have been indignant about the fact that this group was actually leaving them in the dark about decisions that were being made about the school in which they were forced to go um and we could talk about the money you know we could talk about how you know putting students in that building made it worth 120 million dollars to the state of Oregon I wonder if you would have gotten 120 if you didn't have black kids that were forced to be in there only during school hours they couldn't go out for more than drop off pickup and recess why because you knew that they were breathing
037in toxic air that's why you put a 10 million HVAC on it before you threw those kids in there you knew and so um but tonight you know is really a celebration I want to give a shout out to Paolo Freire who's informed both shoes practice and my practice and on keem's practice and who else is practice today is his 102nd birthday so happy birthday Paolo friet may we continue Fighting For Freedom it's us y'all let's go thank you thank you thank you okay so now um the board will vote on resolution 6761 Mr Hollins excuse me I'm sorry to interrupt when we were worried about the live stream neither Ms bradshardner I heard if there was a Muslim in that conversation if there was we just confirm for the record thank you very much
038the board will now vote on resolution 6761 dismissal of a contract teacher is there any board discussion yes um first um Mr Chu I think that's you but is that right okay because you were turned backwards when when the hearing went on so I just wanted to make sure I knew who I was talking about here so right there okay thank you that's what I thought but I but I wasn't sure um are we voting now or are we making statements or do we have a discussion okay um yeah I I know that Mr Chu has been accused of bullying and harassing behavior and a failure to do his job among other things I did not find all of the alleged misconduct would rise to a level that would result in this missile but but
039there are some allegations that taken in totality that caused me consider considerable concern as a former teacher I want to comment specifically on the allegations related to Mr Chu's teaching and interactions with his students now I hear from all of you all the interactions must have been beautiful that's what I hear however statements were made that lesson plans weren't there yeah they were in your head yeah I talked to they were in my head but I could write them down pretty fast so somebody could see what I was doing and in fact can we please let she's a new board member so I would plead that we can get her some respect of these letters yes let her finish when she has to stay before the interaction starts thank you okay I really can tell
040I recognize that Mr Chu cares deeply for his students however Karen deeply is not all that is needed when one chooses to be a teacher when Mr Chu signed a contract with PPS he agreed to share lesson plans ongoing assessments and grades he has chosen not to do so according to what we have according to what we were given at the uh all whatever we call that whatever we have that's what it said if the lesson plans are on his head it's easy to write them down if they're working he can share them with other people in the district who are also care for their students everybody was having a hard time there as far as I can tell and when Mr Chu gives all students an exceptional grade with no evidence of their work
041or According to some was not requiring any work in my opinion he's not showing respect for the student's ability to learn and to demonstrate that they are learning now Mr Chu has been put on a plan of assistance before his time at Tubman I believe that he completed the plan of assistance but it seems that he continued to not follow the reason for that what was requested with that plan of consistence his lawyer did not present any defense for any of the above teaching choices except to say that plans of assistance are not disciplinary which as I understand is true and I also understand he had only one plan of assistance didn't I just say that that it was completed excuse me cheers I'm not going to vote now I will vote in a minute
042but those were the things that have been on my mind when we vote should I vote now or we wait till everybody has a chance okay all right is it offer if the board has any questions yeah we haven't asked any questions as soon as any questions the thing is we they're going to listen to everyone everybody came up to speak all I'm asking for the same respective that folks on the board to listen to when people are speaking and not interrupt that's all we're asking there's a way that you can speak to that speaking out is not going to do anything okay so I I said what I had to say now it's up to you guys just regulate yourselves or not it's up to y'all all I'm saying is all I'm saying is
043we would like this respect when where someone is speaking that you hear them listening listening to learn that's all we're asking we're listening okay anyone else anyone else has yeah I have something to say [Music] [Applause] [Music] my anger like regulate myself and run in I don't know what we have put up with being here in this system or how many people I know from this room from coming here over and over again because of the Injustice and the races of guadalupees so it wait hold on okay this is what we're about to say what's gonna happen we can we can we get we can either listen or we can recess or we just go to the vote that's that's how it's going to be whether you like it or not good or bad so
044I want to hit I want to hear from my colleagues I will I would like to hear from my colleagues I would like to hear from my colleagues and if we can make it happen great if not I'll just call for the vote whatever it is it is thank you any other um yeah I but I think I forgot what I was gonna say I got a little distracted um so uh I really struggle with this because I have um maybe too many personal ties with a lot of these issues so one of one of the things I do want to address is that when I was struggling with this I kind of you know had an issue with uh with kind of categorizations of the issues that were brought up um when when we're
045presented with Mr Chu's record um I I noticed there's kind of three spheres that we're judging and one is you know just um try to lay it out as simply as I can um you know one is the behavior in the public sphere and I agree there are some things that maybe stepped over line and I try to determine whether in this sphere the the [Music] um consequence really matched the behavior and I am someone who really truly believes in restorative justice and I feel like in that sphere I would not rise to the level of dismissal on the second sphere which I I also among all the data that would present and this is where I'm kind of addressing the board directly it raised a little concern with me because I I have worked
046as a as a person who uh trained coached and supervised and also evaluated teachers and of these prison one of the things that teachers suffer through all the time is that you know we have to make decisions on our feet all day long you know there's some State came out a couple of years ago was like just teachers make an average of like 1500 decisions a day I mean it's draining and if you're a student that's like 99 right if you're 99 teacher making the right decisions that's still 15 mistakes a day and you can take the best teacher in the world and come up with a list of all these mistakes and they can look up now I'm not saying Mr Chu is an awesome teacher he could be the worst teacher in the
047world I don't know I was never his student and I never was there to observe his classroom so therefore this is the issue I have is that if we're judging Mr Chu if if he should stay based on his teaching ability the data presented does not give a full picture of my professional opinion uh professional enough that inner or in our judge whether dismissal is warranted I cannot uh you know as someone who who has had the job of observing teachers um this is not enough because you have so many factors that are involved whether they are administrators that do not agree or there are job issues are going on um some years are worse than others I've made mistakes too and I am not happy with them but they happen um and then the
048third so in that in that sphere I would I kind of say that I I cannot make a judgment in terms of his ability in in as a teacher the last category and this is the part that I I am the most trouble with is a lot of the allegations have come up and a lot of data may not be is not public but one of the things is that um with uh the issues with co-workers uh complaints of bullying creating unsafe workplace and this is something that I am kind of Hope talking to a lot of you is that um having been on the board for a while for not that long but a little bit um I really got to know a lot of the people in leadership and they really are people
049who are trying very hard and really in their heart to try to make things as best as possible we do have a problem with the system right we we are all victims of the system in that there's always going to be a natural disconnect between leadership and what goes on on the ground and uh one of the things that I have an issue with is that leadership is also has to protect everyone else in the workspace and as every good teacher knows a student can't learn unless they feel safe and that is very important and we need teachers like that that create these safe spaces at the same time when we are addressing racism in the workplace all of us uh Harbor can Harbor racial bias all of us no matter who you are and
050it is the the movement of anti-racism is the the movement to to bring this about and and try to address these issues um this is the the place where I think I disagree with some of the things I've seen in Mr Chu's Behavior I understand um the the frustrations that can be encountered but I also know that if we are trying to push the agenda of anti-racism we need to make sure that we create a safe space not just for the people we agree with but also people we disagree with and so I understand but let me finish please um so in this case this is a separate judgment where I feel like um I have not seen the data I mean I have seen a lot and is convincing and this is where the
051difficulty lies is that we need to also protect everyone else um and there I am in a conundrum so uh that's I'm sorry for that if that didn't leave any resolution that's where I am thanks thanks for that any any other board discussions all right [Applause] so I'm going to give you kind of my where I'm at right now on this and I would love if people can just hear me out if you want to talk to me afterwards I'll be here all night um with I've struggled with this this issue as well um you know I went in to seeing uh how Mr Chu's class was you know everybody is right he controls his classroom he has their ear he had the kids ear um you know it was it was great watching him
052interact with the kids um and that's something was like oh this is this is pretty cool you know and one of the things that you know we're constantly especially as people of color one of the things that we are constantly looking at is how do we undo racism you know as a system um but just hear me out um how to undo racism and one of the things that I've seen Mr Chu do is Empower our kids to fight those same fights that we're fighting every day as a minority you know when we come to talking down I mean even when we you know talk about the marches and the advocacy that the kids did you know those are teaching our kids skills to undo racism you know those are the things you know that
053is able to instill in our kids that there's a system of racism throughout America this is this is not new but giving kids the tools to do that um and I thought that was great you know when I hear the other acquisite accusations of Mr true it's it's true sorry it's hard for me to look at one and rectify the other um and I was really hoping to hear from um Mr Chu um today um to kind of address those other allegations um because for me coming from him not his attorney not Representatives but coming from him for me would would have probably bring some light to some of the some of the other allegations um but you know this is a hard decision especially you know when we're looking at a teacher of color
054and them the systematic racism that teachers of color has had to deal with in PPS this is not new right um and how do we not continue the um per petrolating that same system and that's kind of where we're that's where I struggle with is how we not do that and at the same time making sure that we're doing right by our kids um so that's just kind of where I'm at colleagues just so you just so you guys know where I'm at on that um so I want to just thank the students and Community for your advocacy not just tonight but over the last um two years um for my 10 years in the board dismissal votes and closing schools are the two hardest vote I think that um board members can make because
055they impact things that are that parents and students hold dear I've read all the materials and I want to say that in my 10 years have had an opportunity to be on the same side with the Mr Chu on the other side sometimes and I always appreciate a strong Advocate I think that makes our community stronger even when we disagree um and I wasn't at most of the incidents that many of the incidents that are described that were at the board level at the committee level that Mr Chu is involved in including the committee meeting in which he was dismissive and abusive uh towards a female staff member of color and can I can I would love to hear my colleagues thank you um I can read the record and I can interpret it the
056way I was there and I also spoke to Mr Chu um after the the meeting and I also spoke at about the meeting because I feel that when I'm in a meeting and somebody is um dismissive in what I felt was um mistreating a staff member of color um it's my role to speak up and I did so um and I will continue to do that I think that's what you would suggest but I would say most concerning to me is not necessarily what happened in the sport room or in committee rooms but the practices in the classrooms and I've had an opportunity to talk to school leaders including School leaders of color and which places in which Mr to please don't you you've had your opportunity to speak so I'm going to just note
057that many of the issues that director Sullivan raised about what was happening in the classrooms in which grades were not based on demonstrated student work in which there weren't lesson plans a whole host of other things that weren't happening in the classroom which have an impact on students that those are things that for me are more important and more serious issues for Mr Chu and his continued employment with the district then what happened in this boardroom thank you how many teachers in here write lesson plans for every lesson stand up you're gonna come into our rooms now oh that's funny no we don't do that okay okay so is that right is there any other board discussions all right so we're going to go to the vote so a yes vote means we are moving
058to dismiss a no vote means we're not going to dismiss I okay all right so all in favor no no to dismiss ions no but it's not taking that too as somebody marching I hope you're hearing this Gary and that youth were marching to bring awareness to A system that you all here continue to uphold which is eviscellaneous black fully Supply so it's not an unusual okay thank you so let me let me let me answer let me answer let me master Mr chews oh no I'm trying to answer Mr Chu's question hold on okay what's up well Mr Chu had a question I'm trying to answer his question okay so is it true the what it says is is we're voting on insubordination and the neglective duty that's what we're voting on yeah we
059don't have to provide that and I'm not going to provide that okay well do what you got to do bro okay yeah so for that so the board will not vote on that's what I'll just do with it 6761 all in favor please indicate by saying yes can you raise your hand so I know who did okay Julia [Music] Herman green said yes for the record okay and I'm saying yes as well all the all the posts please indicate by saying no no [Music] all abstaining so the resolution is approved by a vote of four five two one with one abstaining all right we're now we're now adjourned the meeting foreign