Dear Editor,
In its Feb. 24 issue, the Dispatch published an article on
the
”
grievance
”
the teachers’ union had filed against the district for some
concerns it had with the new Accountability Plan. In a future
letter to the editor, I will try to provide some additional
information, which did not make its way into the article.
Dear Editor,
In its Feb. 24 issue, the Dispatch published an article on the “grievance” the teachers’ union had filed against the district for some concerns it had with the new Accountability Plan. In a future letter to the editor, I will try to provide some additional information, which did not make its way into the article.
In the meantime though, I must correct one glaring error which I take very personally.
In the article, Ms. Bremner states that I told her that “closing the achievement gap between minorities and whites (is) unreachable.” This is not correct and I never said that. What teacher would? I have always had the same expectations of ALL my students, regardless of their background and I certainly never cared what ethnic group anyone belonged to. The thousands of students I have taught can attest to that.
The initiative to which I was referring was the previous Strategic Plan, adopted for 2001-2004, in which the district wanted to diminish the achievement gap between all subgroups to 5 percent within three years.
The time frame to accomplish that goal was what I referred to. The time frame was “aggressive” and the district even acknowledged that after the fact. In the current strategic plan, the goal has been rewritten to say “The achievement gap will be eliminated,” but this time no one has given a deadline. It is an ambitious goal, but it certainly can be reached.
Michelle Nelson,
President, Gilroy Teachers Association
– Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Ms. Nelson did not provide the context to which she refers in her letter to the reporter.
