Washington High School principal continues purge of veteran teachers... A 53 year - old teacher at GWHS for 32 years is told to leave
Though I am 61 year. old, and have been teaching for going on 30 years, I have been at George Washington High School for half a dozen years, only one fifth the time popular instructor Kevin Ross has been teaching at Washington High on 114th St. and Avenue O — due west of the decaying and abandoned steel mills where you could once get a decent paying factory (union) job if you were stout and willing to work.
George Washington High School teacher Kevin Ross. Photo by John Whitfield.Last June just before school was out, Mr. Ross, the GWHS patriarch, was notified that that his services were no longer needed at Washington. Ross taught computer classes, had gone the extra mile teaching driver's ed., prevented innumerable fights and injuries by stepping between students to break it up, conducted "in school" taming the tough minded problematic types, so they could return to class without getting into the teachers' hair, went back to take university classes at Merchandise Mart sponsored by the CTU, receiving additional certification.
You name it Kevin Ross has done it at George Washington High School on Chicago's east side.
Under a horde of different administrations, Ross never took it upon himself to get involved with infighting that may occur. When there was a turnover in administration, but he was not afraid to speak up either. As a loyal union member since December of 1978, he has always attempted to address his concerns through the right channel, never selfishly crying to the union about petty things.
As his CTU delegate, I must say this man is one hell of a person.
Kevin went to Englewood for a year, attended St. Joseph, when it was tough for an African American to do so, and went to Chicago Vocational School. Ross then went on to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
A great storyteller, Kevin Ross is fun to eat lunch with and will pick you up when you are down. That is what I am asking CTU to do. That is, to help this great colleague by any means necessary.
Though feeling like he is being forced into retirement, Ross says he is not old enough to retire, and is determined to complete the 34 years to be able to receive his full pension that he will need to be able to live on. A grievance was filed well before the end of the school year, and was not answered within the five days required by the rules.
By: radi
CPS "new policy"
It looks like getting old and educated is not an advantage at all for a CPS teacher, just being young with not too much education is better, because it is cheaper for the new CPS budget. Mr. Ross, I wish you good luck and enjoy your pension, what ever would be, because life is too short and handling the trouble makers does not extend your life at all.