GILROY
– In direct response to a Dispatch editorial and parental
complaints, Gilroy High School teachers made an overwhelming show
of support for English Department Chair Peter Gray, signing a
letter of endorsement and delivering it to The Dispatch Tuesday
afternoon.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – In direct response to a Dispatch editorial and parental complaints, Gilroy High School teachers made an overwhelming show of support for English Department Chair Peter Gray, signing a letter of endorsement and delivering it to The Dispatch Tuesday afternoon.
Ninety-four educators attached their names to the letter, including the social science department chair, the director of GHS’s award-winning band, a longtime secretary and a retired, award-winning science teacher.
There are 117 certificated employees at GHS. The 94 signatories include certified employees, non-certificated employees and GHS supporters.
Principal Bob Bravo called the letter a “group effort” that teachers felt was a necessary reaction to The Dispatch’s Nov. 20 editorial that denounced Gray and the Reading Literature Advisory Group, responsible for examining GHS’s reading list and English curriculum. The editorial called on Superintendent Edwin Diaz to demand Gray’s resignation from the department chair, saying that Gray has been unresponsive to parent concerns.
Bravo noted that the editorial also criticized his leadership by calling the advisory group a cover for his “thumb-twiddling.”
“It’s just disappointing to see editorials that are focusing on people rather than the issues,” Bravo said.
The letter calls for the Dispatch editorial board “not to resort to personal attacks and conjecture.”
The show of support is significant, considering its source, Bravo said.
“I think from my conversations with Mr. Gray, he knows that I support him, but to tell the truth, I don’t think there’s anything I could say that means half as much as coming from his colleagues,” Bravo said. “At the end of the day, I think it’s always your peers whose support means the most.”
Gray did not return interview requests by deadline.
The mostly unified stand of GHS also is meaningful because controversy last year over implementing honors classes created splits amongst the staff, Bravo said. When he became principal last year, Bravo was advised to unify GHS staff.
“I think that the fact that so many staff members are willing to respond shows a lot of unity in the staff,” Bravo said. “In any kind of big organization, you’re going to have people who have different points of view. So unity doesn’t mean necessarily, everybody agreeing on the same thing.”
Rather, Bravo said, the high school maintains a forum for open debate about controversial subjects.
English teacher Laura Fujii, who teaches sophomores and juniors, said she signed the letter to prevent teachers from being misrepresented.
“I signed it because I support Peter Gray and I support the English department,” Fujii said. “I just try to focus on my job, on my students, and this takes away from that focus, so I hope it stops.”
Fujii said the letter was circulated throughout her department but did not know who drafted it.
“I’m a strong believer in ethics and integrity and behaving in a respectable way,” she said. “I think that it’s important to let the person who is in charge of your department know that he is appreciated. (Gray) has a lot of years experience, and I’ve always viewed him to be an excellent teacher.”
The letter also asks for support from the Alliance for Academic Excellence, the grassroots parents group that pushed both for honors courses last year and for the present examination of the English department curriculum and core reading list.
“We have some very specific questions and concerns about the academic program and the instructional materials, and that is what we’re trying to keep our focus on,” said Jackie Stevens, a GHS parent and member of the Alliance.
Stevens said she could not respond to the high school’s request that the Alliance support its protest of the Dispatch editorial because to do so would not be within the group’s scope. The Alliance also does not take a position on personnel matters, Stevens said.
“The Alliance is a very diverse group, I cannot speak for them on personal opinions on an editorial,” Stevens said. “We are issue-based on academic issues at the high school, and we have made our public opinion very clear.”
The Alliance published a guest column in The Dispatch describing its history and mission Oct. 30.
In another reference to the Alliance, the letter cites the Dispatch editorial’s claim that Gray “has repeatedly refused to meet with the Alliance to discuss their concerns,” saying Gray has no record of e-mails or phone messages from Alliance parents.
The Alliance conducted all its communication through Bravo, Stevens said. The Alliance first requested a meeting with Bravo and the English department last spring to express concerns about the book list and the curriculum in general before the start of this school year. Bravo said a meeting likely would take place in August but later told the Alliance that he was unable to schedule a meeting. Bravo has said it is “nearly impossible” to get teachers to meet during the summer.
Stevens said Gray has expressed his desire to meet with parents and discuss their concerns, and she would still like to see that happen.
“I think there was somewhat of an expectation that, given that we were discussing the English curriculum, that we would be given an opportunity to meet with him,” Stevens said, adding that parents have offered to meet with Gray right after school is dismissed.
“Peter Gray would have added much-needed clarity to a situation that has become more and more confusing,” Stevens said.
The Petition
We, Gilroy High School teachers and paraprofessionals including the Chairs of all departments, fully support Department Chair Peter Gray and our colleagues in the English Department. We are shocked and dismayed to see that the editorial pages of the Dispatch have sunk to unfounded personal attacks.
Our English Department is in large part responsible for our soaring API scores. Can they rest on their laurels? No, the process of improvement is a never ending one. However, we believe in their capacity to continue the forward momentum and serve the
students of GHS well.
In the wake of controversy over implementing honors classes a year ago, many wondered if rifts between staff members could be mended. With Peter Gray’s leadership department unity has been renewed. What is his compensation for accepting the challenge of department leadership? Approximately $4.67 a day. If he left a Board meeting at 9:00 pm to drive home to his family, that’s not arrogance, that’s being a loving father and husband. He knew Principal Robert Bravo would remain late enough to debrief him on anything he needed to know.
The editorial of November 20th says Gray “has repeatedly refused to meet with the Alliance to discuss their concerns.” Mr. Gray has no record of an email or phone message from any person asking him to meet with the Alliance for Academic Excellence.
All parents have every right to give input on our curriculum. However, we call for a fact-based discourse about specific issues, not people. We call upon the Dispatch and its editorial board to stick to reportage and opinions about facts and issues and not to resort to personal attacks and conjecture.
We ask the Alliance for Academic Excellence to publicly join us in supporting this request.
Sincerely,
(signed by 94 people)
