Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America Bureau
January 11, 2012
LOS ANGELES— Filipino parents of Precious Blood Catholic school are petitioning to oust school principal Karen Velasquez for allegedly banning Tagalog from being spoken at school by parents, teachers and students.
Precious Blood school has a considerable number of Filipino students; over half of its 170 total student population.
Some of the parents believe many of the school’s problems stem from the principal’s poor leadership.
“She told me that you cannot speak Tagalog in the school. I don’t know what her reason was. She said that the Spanish people cannot understand so while I speak in Tagalog, when once in a while I will hear them speak Spanish as well,” said Nimfa Cook, a former teacher of Precious Blood.
Nimfa Cook believes she was unfairly treated by Velasquez, who said she was fired without warning before winter break. She now plans sue for wrongful termination.
Parents are currently consulting lawyers, and have begun a petition to oust the principal. They say nearly 20 students have already left the school.
Velasquez says she is not allowed to speak to the media.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles which operates Precious Blood School says it does not comment on issues dealing with personnel, but assured that it has spoken to a representative of the group and is working with the pastor and the principal to address the parents’ concerns.
For more information, contact Steve_Angeles@abs-cbn.com.
This is the reason why my daughter will not be coming back to pbs there is such drama going on at this school. This school will not be happy until the the filipino community takes over. Instead of spending money in your lavish events invest in the school look around you people the school needs alot of work. You people want changes but all you do is talk behind closed doors amongs eachother. If you people don’t change your ways this school will not stay open for long and I for one feel sorry for the kids unlike you people.
Grow up!!!!!!!!!
@All PBS Parents – It is rediculous all of this BS that is going on. The bottom line we know that this so-called principal is the problem of this school. But what I dont understand is why so many of these parents are not doing anything to effectively get rid of her? The tuition money is being taken (or “robbed”) and so is the education of the students by this incompetent principal. It is pathetic that despite of some parents efforts, this principal is still there. I don’t understand why your money doesnt talk? If it was a public school, it takes only one parent to make such a big deal about anything for the school to take action. In PBS, many parents actually pay tuition every month and their voices are not taken seriously. What kind of customers are you, PBS parents, if your money does not have a voice? Too many of you seem to be like loud dogs that just bark and bark and bark but dont bite. And unfortunately, the so-called principal knows that and uses it against you. Sometimes I feel that you guys deserve what is happening to you because you are being so weak. And the sad part is, you are teaching that to your kids. This so-called principal is a street fighter because she knows by dividing the PBS parents, she can win. THE OLD DIVIDE AND CONQUER routine! And obviously that has been proven despite all of the efforts that some of you have done but she is still this principal. STOP THE BLAH, BLAH, BLAH BS and have some cojones and make your money to have a voice. After all, you are the customers. You have tried to do things by the book but obviously it hasnt been working. This passive or nice way of doing things should have proven to all of you that it does not work. Have some dignity and fight for the education of your children. Dont let the school keep robbing you of your money. I cant believe that this so-called principal, after closing 2 schools and causing all of this damage to you guys, she’s still there. Its pretty sad that the Archdiocese knowing this, they still putting her in schools. Its like spreading cancer. After reading all of the postings here, I have come to the conclusion that this so-called principal is a mean-spirited person. You as parents stop being STUPID and do something about it to get rid of this person. How much more money and time are you willing to lose by keeping her at that school? For the good of your kids education, if it means to move your kid to another school, so be it. I know many kids at PBS have been there for a long time. Just remember, this so-called principal is like a bad apple. It takes only one to spoil an entire crate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Indifferent – “Indifference is the enemy of progress and a friend to mediocrity.” Clearly you are not fully grasping nor seem to care to understand the bigger issue at hand here. Reducing things down to a race issue is so pedestrian and irresponsible. The education of kids and their future is at stake here and you have the audacity to merely water down the issue to a Filipino VS Non-Filipino thing? Shame on you!!! May I suggest that you read in between the lines among all of these postings? Race is not the major issue in this school which this news story may falsely lead people to conclude. The disregard of quality education in certain grade levels seem to be the real problem here. What words of wisdom do you have to offer to the students who rightfully yearn for a better education? For them to get their “facts straight” and “grow up”?!!! Get real, open your eyes, and see things for what they are! Listen to students who care about learning…They may illuminate you assuming that you even genuinely care for the actual welfare of such students.
First everyone complains about bessares for years being principal, no you get a new face and one year in she is the devil. Who would you rather have at this point? Why don’t you try figuring out why this teacher really got fired.. I am pretty sure it was more than just the random firing of a filipino, cook could have done something. Get your facts straight before you defend sum1 just because she is the filipino of this argument and grow up
Why is Karen & some of our teachers telling us 2 not get involved with whats going on @ PBS? Saying its adult buzines. Its our school. Students have the right to say something too! What r they trying 2 hide? The truth that they suck in thier jobs?
The principal regularly says “God is good all the time”. I wish she would stop using God’s name because I don’t think she is really a nice person. Many PBS students think she is mean.
Many of us are told to do too many things that have nothing to do with what we have to learn. Example? Some 8th grade students got to skip some classes just because they were selling nachos to raise money for the school. Students who graduated told us that they learned nothing in middle school but how to sell nachos and make banners and posters for school events.
When teachers are absent, the people who substitute teach is the computer teacher or the school aids. We only do busy work for them. We don’t learn much. Staying home and studying by myself would be better. Siriusly!
When the 8 grade students took an HSPT practice exam at Loyola, the highest score was like 70%. Most other PBS students failed. Many students want to do good but we can not do that if our teachers do not even teach us what we really need to know.
When a middle school teacher does not know how to answer a question, this teacher just assigns everyone to research the question and write an essay about it. To make it worse, we dont even write essays good cause nobody teaches us. The only thing I really learned from this is to not ask teachers questions because we will be punished by us getting more work.
Too many assignments are not collected or they are not graded by some teachers. How are we going to learn the correct way if we do not get our work back to see what things we did right and what things we did wrong?
Really long homeworks are given a lot which really dont even really teach us much other than to dislike work that we get from school.
HOW MUCH A TEACHER MAKES — A Short Story
Hats off to this (and all the other conscientious teachers like her). However, it would be good to remember that full parental involvement – from day one – in every aspect of a child’s education is vital for the child’s success. It would be folly for parents who provide less than their share of responsibilities expecting all teachers to be as conscientious as this teacher in preparing a child to meet life’s challenges.
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The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” To stress his point he said to another guest; “You’re a teacher, Barbara. Be honest. What do you make?” Barbara, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, and then began… “Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents CAN’T make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental. You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.) I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding ISN’T EVERYTHING. I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in Math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator. I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe. Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life (Barbara paused one last time and then continued.) Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make. I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO? His jaw dropped, he went silent.
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If only teachers, students, parents, administrators, and politicians alike all agree & embrace the heart of this story? What a stellar sea change that would be within our troubled Education System!!!
Busy work is regularly assigned to middle school students to make us and our parents think we are actually busy and learning a lot of stuff. Can the principal tell the difference between busy work and real work that teaches us stuff that should be assigned for our grade level? How can the principal let our teachers get away with this?
OMG! That’s a lot of people defending a principal who sucks. I wonder if Miss Valasquez and her friends are the ones posting up most of these false comments which are supposed to come from PBS parents? For example, one of those people who wrote comments kept saying I KNOW FOR A FACT…, I KNOW FOR A FACT… so many times when Mrs. Velasquez did not even want to talk to many of our parents. So how can a parent really know the CORRECT FACTS? I hope the REAL PBS parents can bring good changes in our school very soon. I’m tired of not learning as much things that I should know.
I wasnt goin to say nothing but I read a comment that really made me mad. Who wrote that the things being said on Facebook are just rumors & lies is full of it. Walk a big liar!!! It sounds like one of our own teachers is the one wrote that comment or maybe its even the principal? Whatever! Thats just sad. The thing is, Facebook is proving that there are a bunch of us students who are tired of not learning what we should @ PBS. Our friends are cool and few of the PBS teachers really know how to teach. Some of our teachers are lazy, dont know enough things about teaching to teach right or both! I want to learn and be ready to do good in high school just like many PBS students. But now I dont even know if I can enter high school. My Xmas wish was for the principal to stay with her new husband some where far away and for our school to get some new people who really know how to teach us right.
Ok. So Im a PBS student. It was cool 2 read what another person in my school feels because I think a bunch of us feel the same way b/c things have been wrong in our school 4 a long time now. I don’t want show my name because Im afraid 2 get in trouble w/ the principal and my teachers. But I figured 2 finally say something b/c I now see that there are some parents who are trying really hard 2 fix our school. It was messed up what happened 2 Ms. Cook. I dont know if she was a good teacher or not but she was a nice lady 4 sure. Her getting fired is just a minor problem I think compared 2 the bigger problem going on @ PBS. Us middle school students are not learning a lot. we are given a bunch of busy work but if you ask us how much we really learned so far this school year, I think all of us are really behind. Our teacher even said so! I love PBS. The community is nice and my friends are totally cool. Many parents get along. We are like a family. It sucks that the principal doesnt care about our education. All she cares about is how 2 make more $$$ it looks like. Why does she let our teachers get away with not doing their jobs that our parents pay for? That really sucks! Im tired of being scared to say something. We need help.
@Dan – Correction! who do you think started this mess? not our respectable parents. you sound like one of the favored teachers. where there is smoke there is fire. Complaining about incompetence in the school is not gossiping. it means truly caring for our education. Next time you post, please do not disrespect our hardworking parents by calling them gossipers. thank you.
@Lhiza – i saw in the previous postings that the journalist steve angeles provided his email address so what’s stopping people from responding to steve’s offer for interview to even the playing field? I attended the PBS open house last year and it was clear to me that the non-Filipino population of this school is not even close to 50% as you claim.
@runforyourlife – YAY! you finally said what most of us feel! Our previous principal was not good but Karen makes us feel that we would like the other back. Choose between 2 evils? Choose the lesser one!
@bert s- indeed you need to stay in NY. You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is NOT a racist issue alone. There are other more important issues involved that have nothing to do with this teacher in the video…..such as the education and future of our children, Filipino or otherwise.
@steve_ angeles-the reason why the messages you sent bounced back is because the people questioning your right as a legitimate journalist and your expose’ of PBS maladies are obviously the culprits. Let’s see if they have the decency to come out in the open and take up your offer for interview so they can give their side of their story. After all, aren’t we all interested in the truth?
I agree w some of you that some things need to improve. I would like to see better education in some grades . But our issues there started 5 years ago. Also, the enrollment grew a lot because of some families who mrs cook referred but honestly the mayority I saw came from parishes, other parents who suggested, walk ins , and few from mrs cook school which closed. So all deserve credit not just one person!
I helped recruit at St Kevin and cook was not there . And mrs Velasquez was out every weekend until sch opened and beyond !
Also— I think records and documents can help us see what we want
I want more clear explanation of test scores and would like to see thus years in comparison to The last 3 years or so and see if we are declining or not,
I Also would like to see comparisons of financial trends to see if we are improving or not
And also graduation rates and where they go public versus private to see if the efforts pay off
Statistics and facts always speak volumes !!!! I’m sure someone can produce that!!! That will be an example of great leadership from the new principal
@OpenYourEyes- Look, Karen is a very poor leader. I didn’t really think the previous principal was good, but Karen just makes me want her back. The only reason we had a good amount of enrollments was because of Ms.Cook!! Its just not Karen..its the teachers too. I wont say what grade I am in, but none of us barely get taught anything useful. The way I see it the school is gonna be closing down SOON. All thanks to Karen.