Dear Editor,
Imbedded in Cynthia Walker’s editorial concerning Gilroy High School’s policy regarding homeschooled teens returning to public high school (Dispatch, July 15 “Drop-Ins Getting Shut Out by Gilroy High School) are her far more troubling, gratuitous and unnecessarily demeaning comments about parents who chose to send their children to public schools, the students themselves and the institutions.
Prior to discussing the “policy” she finds it necessary to comment that, “Not every homeschooled teen wants to go to high school. My daughter does not, thank god.” She goes on to say that, “… [high school students learn] in lockstep with everybody else'” and that, unlike regular high school students, homeschooled students have, “… absorbing interests outside of school: real lives.”
I am the proud parent of two public high school graduates, both of whom attended east San Jose’s Independence High School, one of northern California’s largest and most diverse high schools. During their years at “Indy” they met some remarkable teachers and coaches who became role models and mentors, while building on the values and intellectual curiosity my wife and I instilled in our sons.
I can assure Ms. Walker that they had then, and continue to lead “real lives.” They did, of course, experience adversity during their high school years, as this experience modeled the “real world” that they both now successfully negotiate.
All parents must make numerous difficult and informed decisions on behalf of their children, and I applaud Ms. Walker for making the right decisions for her three children. I do, however, vehemently protest her need to denigrate public high schools and the families that support them, as a way of justifying her choices.
Barry Goldman-Hall, San Jose
