Dear Editor,
And we wonder why there is concern about public education and the growth of private schools.
Don’t take me wrong, my brother was an educator for more than 30 years and I was a PTA President and on the city PTA Council in the city I came from. I also helped start a volunteer aid program in our schools, so I have been involved, but I have continued to be concerned.
I was amazed to read the article and the poem that Joanne Lewis read to her class of 11-year-old students. I am also concerned with a sight council member saying she was not concerned about the material but just what class it was read in because it was not part of the social study class. My question would be, just what class does it belong in?
Some were degrading Elma Mendoza for informing other parents of the situation, but I applaud her so this would be brought to light and not swept under the rug without appropriate action taken or more poems read.
If this poem had been read to an adult audience by either potential candidate during the election campaign there would have been an unbelievable uproar. If a complaint had come in that this type of thing had happened in the workplace of the major company where I worked, there would have been an immediate termination. Calendars with either men or women pictured on them in swimsuits that could be worn in public must be taken down in the workplace because they can be considered offensive, and we are questioning if this poem was appropriate?
We have set a precedent with the termination of a high school teacher in a similar situation at the high school level, these are 11-year-old kids. I see the attorney for the California Teachers Association is coming on to handle the matter on the teacher’s behalf – who is looking out for the students?
It looks like some parents and board members have already made up their minds saying she is a good teacher. The same thing comes out when people commit felonies (they were such a good kid). How many times have you been angered because of the lack of punishment by our system when crimes go unpunished? These are kids’ minds we are dealing with, we need people who know what is appropriate before it’s done, not after it comes out.
Erwin Boggs, Gilroy
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a
well-written letter.
