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Classifieds

Issue date: September 08, 2000

A teacher responds

Editor:

I would appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight regarding the letter to the editor written by "Mrs. Didi Graham" and published in the Aug. 18, 2000 edition of the Voice.

It's about time the Mountain View community heard directly from a teacher on the staff at Graham Middle School. My tenure at Graham spans 24 years; I've taught English, literature, social studies, and geography to 7th and 8th graders for 19 years and was principal of Graham for 5 years in the mid 1970s when the school was a junior high school with grades 7 and 8 only. Currently, I teach 8th grade English.

The Aug. 18, 2000, letter would have the community believe that 15 teachers who left Graham at the end of the 1999-2000 school year resigned and were disgruntled and disillusioned with the lack of administrative leadership. The facts don't support these accusations at all.

At Graham School, teachers left to pursue a career in business, to move into new or renovated homes in other parts of the state, to continue schooling, to take advantage of higher paying teaching positions in other school districts and at the high school level, to return home to the East Coast, to teach at the elementary instead of the middle school level, and for other legitimate reasons. There was no mass exodus of teachers from Graham because of a lack of administrative leadership.

Whatever discord existed at Graham Middle School last school year had nothing to do with a lack of leadership at the school or the district level. In fact, leadership at both levels was exercised in reaction to the challenge presented by some teachers who didn't want to follow the rules.

Some teachers wanted the power to decide which books to teach, which units of instruction to include in the curriculum, and generally what to teach, whom to teach it with, and how it should be scheduled. Some teachers were admittedly unhappy with the administration when, according to school district policy, it didn't allow these thing to happen. Not everyone is satisfied with his/her supervisor or boss or manager or principal.

The letter states that "There is no reason why an administration must be retained at the expense of some truly wonderful, wonderful, experienced educators."

Mrs. Graham, wonderful, wonderful, experienced educators don't intentionally manipulate the curriculum to teach whatever they believe is important even though it is not part of the approved course of study; they don't purchase class sets of books which have not been approved by the administration and school board and then teach them without approval; they don't undermine a school and an entire community with half truths and misinformation by encouraging you to speak on their behalf.

I submit to you that the license to do one's own thing which is contrary to the established rules, policies, and regulations of one's employer is the arrogance of a better-than-thou mentality.

Another point written about in the letter of Aug. 18, 2000, is that Graham's "modus operandi is one size fits all." This is a totally misleading and ridiculous statement.

The reality is the opposite. Graham is assiduously and eagerly open to meeting the needs of all students. What an irony that on the very same page of the Voice that contained this letter, there was an article titled, "Lessons of Proyecto CHAC." The article acknowledged the support of the district in that successful program and the poignant fact that it was a "pilot project to help Latino students at Graham Middle School."Is that "one size fits all"?

Graham used a myriad of programs, techniques, courses, and materials to accommodate the needs of its many different students. There are so many of them: individualized 504 agreements, advanced classes in math at Mountain View High School, mainstreaming special needs students, Proyecto CHAC, individual assistance for students at risk of retention, Honors English, Special Day Classes, speech development interventions, and the new Bridge program, which will assist students who need help in English skills. The list goes on and on and on.

That's what public education is all about, Mrs. Graham: providing educational programs and implementing a wide range of instructional strategies to meet the educational needs of all the children in the community.

How misinformed and gullible you were, Mrs. Graham, when you wrote: "This past year, I witnessed the lack of sensitivity from the Graham Middle School administration towards this teaching staff in the name of bringing the school 'up to standard.'"

You apparently have no idea of how critical "standards" (you should have written standards, the correct term to use in this case) are to the public schools and the children who attended them. Graham's entire curriculum and the whole teacher evaluation process are dependent upon the California Content Standards. That's the law!

Teachers and administrators must work together to implement these standards, see to it that they are taught effectively, devise strategies to help students achieve them and view them with a positive attitude. Teachers who want to do their own thing with a disregard for the state-mandated standards can't be allowed to do so.

Your use of the words "lack of sensitivity" is blatantly unfair. A committee made up of teachers (including me) and the Graham School administration was formed in November of the last school year and met almost weekly with the specific purpose of developing a master schedule for the 2000-2001 school year. It listened to all points of view regarding courses, scheduling methods, electives, team teaching, standards, and a host of related issues.

None of these accusations is true, and I am truly angered that someone would intentionally try to make the Mountain View community believe they are.

I'm proud to be an employee of the Mountain View School District. I'm proud to be a member of the Isaac Newton Graham Middle School staff and community. We should work to develop the school into the best middle school in the nation, not tear it down and speak ill of it and its personnel. I'm also proud to be a part of the reason why Graham students increased their scores in every category in every grade on last school year's SAT 9 assessment.

Lastly, I'm proud of the freedom I have to write this letter to the Mountain View Voice and identify myself as a teacher in the community. How proud are you, Didi? My research confirms that there is no Didi Graham in the Graham Middle School data base and that there is no Didi Graham in the phone book who resides on Grant Road. Who are you, Didi? Why are you apparently writing letters anonymously? Do you expect people to believe you when you do this? What are you afraid of? Why don't you come out of the closet and talk to me about Graham?

I would be most pleased to buy you coffee and set you straight about the school I enjoy working at and where I have spent 24 years of my 38 year career in education. Hurry, Didi, I'm retiring at the end of this school year.

Dr. Renato C. Nicolai

Graham Middle School