DEAR EDITOR:
Maybe I’m out of the loop. Maybe my classroom is so far removed
from everything else on campus that I’m just out of touch. Either
way, there are opinion pieces in The Dispatch that are
confusing.
DEAR EDITOR:
Maybe I’m out of the loop. Maybe my classroom is so far removed from everything else on campus that I’m just out of touch. Either way, there are opinion pieces in The Dispatch that are confusing.
My confusion was accentuated by a letter written by a group of GUSD teachers who referred to a “social elite.” I’d sure like to know who constitutes the social elite at GHS. I haven’t seen it. If you are a teacher at GHS and you are now, or have ever been, a member of the social elite, please introduce yourself. If I am an unknowing member of the social elite, let me know. I’d hate to be a member and not get my secret decoder ring.
The teachers asked that principals be rotated every five years. Not one of the current administrators at the high school has been in their position for more than two years. I am told that there has been a revolving door for administrators in recent years. Let’s try keeping an administrator for five years to see what that is like before we talk about rotating them around the district.
The teachers’ letter also asked for public disclosure of hiring and evaluation practices. Show me a district that is doing it right and I’ll support change. The fact is that any hiring or evaluation procedure must have a subjective component. Recent events have shown that there might be a problem with the teacher evaluation procedure. Stop whining and tell what, specifically, is wrong and how to fix it.
Doug Meier’s opinion piece was equally off kilter. Using his criteria, I am a bad fit for GHS. When I was hired three years ago I had seven years of experience and malleable is a word no one has ever used in reference to me. As with most educational philosophies (including Mr. Meier’s), Enid Lee’s and Stupski’s philosophies have good points and bad points. The trick is to use the good points and ignore the bad points while fending off overly assertive supporting and detracting bullies.
I’d like to know what Mr. Meier is referring to as “lip service,” or “pap passing as academic rigor” as those comments refer to me or my classes. I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken but I think that you will be hard pressed to find either in my case.
Mr. Meier and others of his ilk (the Alliance for Academic Excellence and Cynthia Walker) should apply their word processors to GUSD applications.
I eagerly await the practical application of their educational expertise. Don’t tell me how, show me how. See and feel first hand how the words and deeds of those like you affect the morale of solid, hard-working educators. Then scratch your head while those same people wonder why Gilroy can’t get/keep quality educators. You are part of the problem; become part of the solution – teach.
Wayne Scott, GHS math teacher
Submitted Saturday, April 17 to ed****@************ch.com
