Wayne Scott's district email abuse

[Related links: While Edwin waffles, day of silence advocates keep talking and Day of silencing learning in the schools]

Those following the Day of Silence soap opera are by now aware of the ridiculous Day of Silence support letter, signed by 28 teachers at Gilroy high school. The signees include GHS English department chair Peter Gray, who penned the letter, and honors English teacher Joan Martens, who mentors other teachers and is influential in determining teacher class placements.

Gray's letter makes this baseless claim: "If The Day of Silence had been in support of African-American students who had been taunted with racial slurs, if it had been in support of young women who had been the victims of rape, if it had been in support of people struggling against dictatorship, or if it had been in support of the victims of terrorist attack, there would have been no outrage at the board meeting.”

That's not just a stretch, it's paranoia. Is there a phobia for people who see homophobia where none exists?

Kudos to those teachers who chose not to sign the letter. Most GHS teachers realize that the classroom is neutral political ground and should stay that way. At the opposite end of the spectrum is GHS math teacher Wayne Scott.

Posting an opinion to the Dipsack editorial page is perfectly fine, but Scott went over the line when he used the school district's intranet to advocate that teachers boycott the school's career faire because some of the faire's organizers are parents who dared criticize the four GHS teachers who brought Day of Silence into their classrooms. (See Scott's email response to principal Bob Bravo at the end of this post.)

It's important to point out -- again -- that none of the parents or school board members targeted by Scott have criticized the students who engaged in silent protest during Day of Silence. None of Scott's targets have criticized Day of Silence as a valid form social protest. The critics, including those at the April 29 school board meeting, have only said that it is not appropriate for teachers to participate in Day of Silence (or any social protest, including Day of Truth, a religious fundamentalist reaction to Day of Silence) during classtime. But Scott is too wrapped up in self-righteous indignation to acknowledge these facts. They don't fit into Scott's personal baggage, which is brimming with grudges against academic reform advocates in Gilroy. If you dare to disagree once with Wayne Scott, you earn an enemy for life.

Scott probably won't ever get it: The classroom is not the place for a public school teacher to champion personal agendas. The teachers who signed Peter Gray's letter don't get it either. And neither does the Gynnacle's editorial writer (see The Silence is Deafening, from the May 1 edition). Liberal tough-guy columnist Dennis Taylor doesn't want to get it. He used his Dipsack column to accuse Day of Silence critics of promoting hatred and discrimination against gays and lesbians -- something that never happened. Taylor's typical over-reaction amounts to hate-mongering of a different sort.

California State education code and the district's collective bargaining agreements spell it out rather clearly; teachers at other school districts seem to understand it instinctively: Don't bring your social, sexual, or other political banners into the classroom. It's not cool. Why is this not understood in the GUSD? Could it be because GHS leadership is weak?

When asked to respond to Scott's broadcast email message to the GHS staff, which clearly advocates for a teacher boycott of the career faire, GHS principal Bob Bravo responded that he did not believe Scott was directly saying individuals should not participate in the GHS career faire. (Huh?) But he did acknowledge that “I can understand how it could be interpreted that way due to the timing.”

The Watchdog has come to expect nothing less than insincerity and waffling from Bravo. He's been in denial mode for his entire career at GHS. When the Watchdog interviewed Bravo last year, he denied that police were called to campus during the Kristen Porter firing. Police records indicated that the cops were there and that they talked to Bravo and his staff. Bob Bravo has a history of saying whatever is most convenient at the moment, and this newest incident only confirms that trend.

What will Bravo and superintendent Edwin Diaz do about Scott? Nothing, probably. Scott, who quickly becomes confrontational, has them cowed. If recent history is any indication, the district will probably seek a legal opinion from their lawyers and the Stupski Foundation, then they'll wait until it all blows over...

Enough for now ... below is Scott's email response to Bravo's request for help at the GHS career faire. The reply was sent to all GHS teachers. On top of Scott's reply is a response from Jeramie Oliveira, another teacher at GHS who is unclear about his obligation as a teacher to conduct himself professionally in the course of his duties.

From: Jeramie Oliveira
Sent: Mon 4/25/2005 2:48 PM
To: Wayne Scott; Robert Bravo; GHS Staff
Subject: RE: Career Fair volunteering

In light of the my colleague mr. Scott's e-mail, I would encourage those of
you who want to participate in the Career Fair to do so.  Remember, taking
the "eye for an eye" approach does not solve problems.  It creates more
problems.

Show them that they were wrong in their condemning the day of silence by
doing the escorts WITHOUT TALKING.  Wear a name tag and such, but do not
talk to parents or other volunteers.

Try that approach.

O

Comments

[Benjamin Baxter]

The things you find when you search "Wayne Scott" on Google.