DEAR EDITOR:
My wife and I are stunned by the firing of Gilroy High School
teacher Kristen Porter and, though we know little more than what
The Dispatch has printed about this particular incident, we call on
the Board of Trustees and the administrators involved to search
their consciences and ask if there isn’t a better resolution to
this case.
DEAR EDITOR:
My wife and I are stunned by the firing of Gilroy High School teacher Kristen Porter and, though we know little more than what The Dispatch has printed about this particular incident, we call on the Board of Trustees and the administrators involved to search their consciences and ask if there isn’t a better resolution to this case.
We are graduates as well as the parents of three graduates of Gilroy High. We know and respect many former and current Gilroy Unified teachers, administrators, and board members, and we have supported the district through volunteer work – even helping in passage of last year’s school bond measure. I am a retired high school teacher, having taught for 35 years at Los Altos and Mountain View High Schools. Needless to say, the quality of local education is a very high priority for us.
Despite my background as a teacher, we are not apologists for poor teachers – I have urged two teachers in my district to resign and we were part of a group of parents that helped convince an El Roble School principal to remove a teacher.
Some teachers lack the motivation or integrity to do their best for students; in those cases, officials are duty bound to take appropriate action, but thus far we see no evidence of that lack in Kristen Porter.
Because of my background as a teacher, I have seen several incidents where administrators struck out viciously at staff members (including fellow administrators) who dared to voice reasonable opposition to their agenda.
These attacks were sometimes facilitated by board members who were seemingly too ready to accept the word of an administrator or felt it would be harmful to countermand them. Though newspaper reports so far have left us with a queasy feeling about the motivation behind Kristen Porter’s firing, and though the nature of her removal was unprecedented, we pray our board and administration is not guilty of angry retribution.
The course of this controversy will teach the entire Gilroy community, students and adults, to what degree our school system is truly promoting knowledge, thought, discussion, and integrity.
Phill & Kathy Laursen
Submitted Tuesday, March 23 to ed****@ga****.com
