Zealots and Their Public Personas
Update at the bottom of this post.
There isn't a lot to get excited about when growing old but one thing that is good is learning patience.
I've been at this work for a long time and, from the start, was in it for the long game. I learned early on that nothing changes quickly in public education and you'll face heartbreak if you think it will. (This is particularly hard on parents who would like change to come before their kid graduates high school.)
One issue that is especially difficult to deal with is to see the parade of people in and out of SPS especially those who actually do damage. Very frustrating.
But with people who are zealots and bullies, if you wait long enough, they end up hurting themselves. Here's the best example I can give you.
Many, many people have contacted me over a recent story about the former head of Ethnic Studies at SPS. What might be a fairly shocking piece to some actually didn't surprise me at all.
I am not going to provide a link because the report is from a far-right wing news site who I have no desire to be associated with if you use Google, you'll find it.
Because of the sensitive nature of what the article states about the former SPS employee and her daughter, I am going to do her a BIG favor and not state her name. But her initials are TCG. I do want to state that SHE put out all the many personal items about herself AND her child so what has come to pass is on her.
I checked and the reporter, Luke Rosiak, is an actual journalist who at one point worked for the Washington Post. He's not some wild-eyed person making stuff up. He has written a book on public education and TCG going to be in a chapter in it.
From the article, we learn that the former SPS staffer - who was exited from SPS by former Superintendent Juneau - appears have exaggerated? fabricated? misled? many people about her background. The discrepancies come from the author of the excerpt interviewing her father and her ex-husband about statements she made at her first blog. But the point really is:
She turned her new persona into a job—and in her case, a position of genuine influence. Seattle’s school system named her to a district-wide position called Ethnic Studies Program Manager, paying her $93,000 a year to convey to children the pervasiveness of racism. She described herself as a “radical atheist and consider myself a far-left anarchist.”
In spring 2018, the math ethnic studies program was piloted in six schools. The school board had approved the pilot program to decrease the achievement gap, writing “1. We affirm our belief that the integration and addition of ethnic studies into the education of Seattle Public Schools’ students can have a positive impact on eliminating opportunity gaps. 2. We direct that the Superintendent incorporate ethnic studies . . . as a high-leverage gap eliminating strategy.”
On the next state math exam, the performance of black students at those schools plummeted. At one pilot school, John Muir Elementary, black achievement had been rising steadily every year, but all those gains and more were wiped out, with the black passing rate dropping from 28% to under 18% the next school year. At another pilot school, 69% white and with only seven black students, the white students’ pass rates also plunged, from 60% to 36%.
Confronted with these results, she replied that she never had any intention of narrowing the achievement gap. Gaps, she believed, are a good thing, because they ensure that we focus on race. “Closing ‘Achievement/Opportunity’ gaps is a Western way of thinking about education,” she said. “We should never ‘close’ that gap because it provides space for reflection and growth.” It also justified jobs like hers.
Despite the failure of the pilot, the district said it would “prioritize ethnic studies . . . [and] help integrate ethnic studies into all curriculum, content areas, and grade levels.” An option to skip a requirement to take Algebra II, a staple for those planning to go to college, and replace it with a course covering “power & oppression,” became enormously popular.
Why mention all this?
- Because this person's work is now forever attached to Seattle Public Schools.
- Because she did damage during her time there. Early on in Juneau's tenure, the superintendent had a good working relationship with then Board president Zachary DeWolf and VP Chandra Hampson. Emails show this. But when Juneau let TCG go - for many good reasons - TCG did all she could to poison the well of colleague friendship between Juneau and DeWolf/Hampson. It seems it worked.
- Because she now wants to extend that kind of "take no prisoners" path to how she interacts with others. If you are not following her party line, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. The problem isn't just the disagreement; it's that she does it so very publicly, either via Facebook or Twitter or blog writing. (She has a different blog now for her group Washington Ethnic Studies Now.)
- Because, despite the fact that she says she really doesn't like the limelight, she does and says anything to be in it. The whole "math is racist" issue which gained her national attention is the likely reason that the writer of this article learned about her.
- Because she has gotten contracts from other districts and wants to get contracts for work via OSPI. If I was at a public education entity, I would not trust her to be able to interact (and disagree in a manner that is not destructive to the work) with others in a productive manner.
- Because of two words in terms of spending public dollars - trust and judgement. Both matter. I know I would not like my public tax dollars being spent on someone who will verbally attack others.
Her tactic of expanding ethnic studies programs in this way was helped by another tactic: Bullying.
As a sympathetic journalist described it, “she admits to having little time to dither or speak ‘Seattle polite’ to people who either didn’t understand or recognize the issue: Children of Color had been drowning in educational ‘whiteness’ for centuries and even learning to swim meant assimilating, meant subverting their identities. If you were too daft to understand the curricular overhaul necessary to stem this chronic tide of whiteness, after having a little fun at your expense, she was ready to get back to work.”
The advocates simply built a footing within the bureaucracy, then began treating everyone else — parents, taxpayers, even colleagues — as the enemy.
And when a regular citizen spoke up to her SPS boss:
A resident complained to a curriculum manager about the “math ethnic studies” tenets: “Despite being a staunch liberal, I desperately hope this document does not represent what we are teaching in our schools, in either math class or social studies. . . . My hope is that some well-intentioned but naive individual created this document, and the larger group brought common sense to the situation.”
The resident pleaded for a reply. The manager simply forwarded it to the head of Ethnic Studies with the note, “No worries, I didn’t respond.”
As 2019 went on, more colleagues filed complaints against her, but “retracted their complaints for fear of more public shaming and further retaliation,” according to an internal report.
And here's why Juneau wanted to send her back to teaching:
In May 2020, the superintendent determined that “[y]ou engaged in unprofessional behavior. . . . Being trustworthy, having integrity, collaborating with staff and families, and communicating in ways that allow inclusivity and voices/opinions that are different than your own, are essential and critical job functions for the Manager position. Your inability to exercise these skills on a regular basis impacts our staff, students, and families, plus it stalls the important Ethnic Studies work that must move forward.”
The article delves quite a bit into her personal life but I'll just note that the former staffer herself fully opened this door herself via her own blog where for years, she wrote intimate details about her life. It's a bit of a crazy quilt blog because, at the time, it served as a place where she wrote about her work as well. So it was a weird mix of the personal and the professional that I found confusing and troubling.
Now, let me be clear: I am an introvert with anxiety disorder, so you will rarely see me at marches and rallies. I do attend them when I can, but part of why I am compelled to start a blog is to help people understand how activism and leadership don’t need to be loud, public acts.
It is near impossible to reconcile those statements with the person who has openly attacked others in public and in work spaces.
My expertise in ethnic studies comes from my formal education and my personal life experiences. One is not more valid than the other.
Though I am multiracial, my outward appearance and surname signaled to others that I am Chicana, and that is the identity I embrace.I have to acknowledge one thing before I delve into attack plans and predict outcomes, and that’s my white passing privilege. This is something new to me since moving to Seattle. I’ve decided this privilege comes from the fact that Seattle is much more white than my hometown in Southern California where nearly everyone is Chicanx. I am mixed, so lighter skinned than many, and that makes me white passing here.
Want to know something I find amusing? Same for me. Here in Tucson, people are a lot more likely to perceive on sight that I might be Mexican because I skew olive-skinned. Never happened in Seattle.
And, despite viciously attacking others' races, she says this at her blog (bold mine):
Some people of color don’t think I should be doing this work because “I’m only half” or because I’m white passing. They may play on that. I say, “Bring it,” because minimizing a person’s racial or ethnic identity is racist as fuck.
I was interested to learn from the article that just like me, she's only a quarter Mexican. I have absolutely no problem with anyone embracing their heritage even if they were not raised in it. But if you are person who says, "For me, not for thee," well, then that would make you a hypocrite.
Rick, who is half Hispanic, said her closest connection to Spanish-speaking culture may be her similarity to Don Quixote, the fictional warrior who attacked windmills believing he was doing battle with ferocious giants.
“My mom was white . . . my dad was born here in Long Beach,” Rick said. “You’ve seen pictures of her, she’s basically white. How are they racist against you? She can’t speak Spanish. . . . Remember Rachel Dolezal, that lady a few years ago who pretended to be black? That’s exactly what this is,” he said, referring to a white woman who became an NAACP official while identifying as black, also in Washington State.
“Everything since [she] moved to Seattle has been one big lie,” Rick said. “It hurts to be the subject of a complete fabrication. . . . She never said a word about any of this racial stuff back then.
I'll say little about her ex-husband - what she has said about him, their children, what he says about her - because it is deeply personal. (But it is interesting that for all her writing about hanging with Chicano kids in high school, that her boyfriend was a white guy.) But again, keep in mind, this is a person who long ago opened the door on her personal life very wide but is now unhappy that people are looking in.
Her answers to all this are that her ex-husband and father are both bad people so look at their actions, not hers. As well, she says she hasn't been around either of them in years so they don't really know her.But that wasn't the point of the excerpt; it's about her upbringing and her early adulthood. Neither father nor ex-husband seems to have anything but pity for her.
On May 7, 2020, Superintendent Juneau terminated Castro-Gill as SPS Ethnic Studies Program Manager after she was investigated for Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying and found guilty of multiple offenses. Castro-Gill reported to Chief Academic Officer Dr. Diane DeBacker who reported to Juneau.At the beginning of December 2020, local NAACP Education Chief Rita Green published a letter calling for Superintendent Juneau to be terminated and specifically included eight separate bullets related to Castro Gill as reasons. The NAACP’s letter was released on Castro-Gill’s WAESN website. The NAACP was aware of the investigation’s findings and refused to retract their support for Castro Gill.The Seattle Times then published an article on December 8th quoting from the NAACP letter stating that Juneau had “exacerbated racism”. The same article also stated that Director Hampson told Juneau her contract “likely” wouldn’t be renewed, and Juneau then announced she was stepping down. DeBacker also left.Here is the investigation into Castro-Gill dated 5/7/2020, which Castro-Gill herself published on the internet.Here is the letter published by the NAACP on Castro-Gills website demanding the removal of Juneau dated 12/3/2020 claiming Juneau had “exacerbated racism”. The letter from the NAACP includes the following reasons for Juneau’s removal:
“Juneau’s personal attacks against the Ethnic Studies Program Manager (Castro-Gill)… Personal attack on Ethnic Studies Program Manager (a Woman of Color) who has received nothing but praise from non-racist educators, students, and communities that are pushing for Ethnic Studies (Castro Gill)… The District has not paying the Ethnic Studies Advisory Group for their work on curriculum or professional development (Castro-Gills group)… Juneau ignored and dismissed input from the community about the removal of the Ethnic Studies Program Manager (Castro-Gill)… Juneau was caught instructing groups not to work with groups focused on moving Ethnic Studies forward (Catro Gill’s program)...”Here is story from the Seattle Times published 5 days later on 12/8/2020 quoting from the NAACP Letter published on Castro-Gill’s website claiming Juneau had “exacerbated racism”, and announcing Juneau was stepping down because she had lost the support of the SPS Board quoting Director Hampson saying Juneau didn’t have enough votes to renew her contract.
After Castro Gill’s termination for cause, Castro-Gill worked closely with the local NAACP to ensure Juneau was forced out, and together with Director Hampson, who herself was under investigation and later found guilty of Harassment Intimidation, and Bullying, Juneau and DeBacker were forced out.The Native American Superintendent was replaced by an African American Superintendent and the White Chief Academic Officer was replaced by an African American Chief Academic Officer. I have nothing against the current leadership but alleging Juneau exacerbated racism to force her out and citing Castro-Gill 8 times in the letter by the NAACP calling for Juneua's ouster was heinous.
Comments
She seems terribly unhappy with herself, like so many bullies, and its unfortunate that the district had to suffer from her issues.
"Confronted with these results, she replied that she never had any intention of narrowing the achievement gap. Gaps, she believed, are a good thing, because they ensure that we focus on race. “Closing ‘Achievement/Opportunity’ gaps is a Western way of thinking about education,” she said. “We should never ‘close’ that gap because it provides space for reflection and growth.”
Give kids a chance.
Chaos, polarization, constant campaigns, lawsuits ...and the list goes on.
OSPI has cut ties with WESN.
Going through the OSPI site looking at the name of her org, I also found:
- She claims that SEA wrote her org into the SPS contract "as a professional development resource for schools to be in contact with and contract with for ethnic studies." I find that hard to believe. SEA includes various orgs in their contracts to do work with? Teachers?
- She says that her organization has "several contracts with schools for PD." I would think schools would be paying for that out of their budgets. She goes onto say, "There is a plan to partner with the district in the future." I can only say that given her previous work with many schools and the unhappiness from both principals and teachers with her methods of browbeating to make a point, I doubt that. Even with Brent Jones as superintendent.
- She says that her group is "not concerned with aligning with Washington Education Standards."
"In terms of the standards that exist, we don't think ethnic studies has anything to do with diversity and cultural competence or inclusion. It's our belief and assertion that ethnic studies criteria far exceeds the rigor and anti-racist value of any existing standard or standards that are labeled diversity, equity, inclusion, or cultural competency."
- Her group had been working with the OSPI Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee but that seems to have ended.
- In a Q&A after a presentation from her group, the question was "How do we get districts to bring ethnic studies into schools?" Among the answers - PD, "be proactive, not reactive" (that one made me laugh) and "ignore people who are NEVER going to be onboard." I think it difficult to decide to ignore people who work in a school especially teachers.
- She also said in a public comment section of the Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee, "You are creating opportunity gaps by silencing the voice of people of color who show up for the public comment period." You don't have to use much imagination to know why the Committee likely wanted to hear less from her.
But with Ms. Gill, I see another one who has decided the lure of the klieg lights too much an allure. I cannot recall working in SPS at any time for a competent administrator or knew many Teachers who were outstanding at their craft but had the game of politics well mastered. There were some but they are few and far between and are often targets making them outliers in their schools and guarded as they should be. And I had 20 plus years there and taught in many schools. Yet Ms. Gill seems to be in a special category of her own making. I think she taught at Mercer briefly and if I am right that was a hot mess of a classroom. But then again that was a common place occurrence so nothing new there.
But if you want to really know a school and its system Substitute and realize why so few do it. Why would you set yourself up for that kind of abuse and Seattle does it better than most. But one thing Seattle is good for is denial and ad hominem attacks when they cannot argue point or content. And Ms. Gill has also excelled in that.
This is just another confirmation of why I am glad I am gone and done with the city, the district and the profession. This is truly a tragic tale but one of many I recall in the district.
Former Resident
Personally, my teen is done with exhaustively talking about their identity in class, sheepish for liking/excelling at “racist math,” and can’t wait to graduate from the district and maybe even Seattle. I’m tired of apologizing to my kids for the crazy times we live in!
Just Children
I think it's also notable that TCG didn't just appear out of nowhere. Her rise was enabled by a toxic dynamic in SPS, where the vast majority of parents are to be silenced and ignored, the needs of their kids deliberately unmet, teachers disrespected, and only a small insider elite is allowed to participate in the governance of the district -- and only if they toe the party line.
It's a situation ripe for bullying, which we've seen from several board members now (particularly DeWolf and Hampson). It's a situation ripe for zealotry, which we've seen from TCG and Hampson. It's also a situation ripe for reckless extremism, which is better hidden by people atop the SPS hierarchy who know how to present themselves well to the public.
And it's also a situation ripe for cronyism, scandal, financial impropriety, and mismanagement, all of which have plagued SPS before, and surely will again. Only when parents and teachers unite, unafraid of what a zealot might call them in public, and work to fix the broken district will we be on a path of quality education as well as racial justice.
Reckoning Coming
I’m disappointed when commenters are concerned about political correctness or hurting the personal feelings of TCG. Seattleites are infamous for pussyfooting around issues in the name of political correctness. (‘Infamous’ because issues affecting the public at large require direct address in language the average high school graduate has no difficulty understanding.) The fact is there are always conflicting viewpoints about education. These can’t be reconciled until education is clearly understood by the general public. And that requires blunt, direct discussion using the simplest words possible; language which will help them feel comfortable participating in public education. Both TCG and SPS administrations avoid simple, direct language with the aim of leaving outsiders ill-informed, confused and fearful of being embarrassed at public meetings. Their jargon, strung together in phrases or slogans, which might or might not mean something, leave teachers, close district watchers and parents to wonder if we’re naive or if SPS administration is full of bulls***. It’s the latter as well-intentioned education administrators could and would make district matters clear to everyone. Colleges of Education Administration prepare and aim graduates to do so but SPS administrators prove not every graduate lives up to professional ideals.
Neither Melissa nor the rest of us should have to decode SPS statements in order to understand, then consider content or assess actions. Yet here we are still deciphering what SPS and its Board are about. I suggest we publicly ask Legislators and OSPI how to get rid of these rascals. Our intuition about TCG’s blather proved correct. Everything in her approach was antithetical to professional education. And measurement showed it harmed students we were trying to protect. I don’t believe this blog could have done more to warn of TCG’s danger to SPS. At the time we didn’t know who was supporting her silly zealotry. But now that we know some of those administrators and managers, I suggest a campaign to replace them, if not SPS administration as a whole. TCG’s case, though clearly visible, is only a symptom of larger professional failure in SPS administration.
Paolo
At the beginning of December 2020, local NAACP Education Chief Rita Green published a letter calling for Superintendent Juneau to be terminated and specifically included eight separate bullets related to Castro Gill as reasons. The NAACP’s letter was released on Castro-Gill’s WAESN website. The NAACP was aware of the investigation’s findings and refused to retract their support for Castro Gill.
The Seattle Times then published an article on December 8th quoting from the NAACP letter stating that Juneau had “exacerbated racism”. The same article also stated that Director Hampson told Juneau her contract “likely” wouldn’t be renewed, and Juneau then announced she was stepping down. DeBacker also left.
Here is the investigation into Castro-Gill dated 5/7/2020, which Castro-Gill herself published on the internet:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/qybrvkj33h36of0/CastroGill%252CTracy_Attachments.pdf/file
Here is the letter published by the NAACP on Castro-Gills website demanding the removal of Juneau dated 12/3/2020 claiming Juneau had “exacerbated racism”. The letter from the NAACP includes the following reasons for Juneau’s removal: “Juneau’s personal attacks against the Ethnic Studies Program Manager (Castro-Gill)… Personal attack on Ethnic Studies Program Manager (a Woman of Color) who has received nothing but praise from non-racist educators, students, and communities that are pushing for Ethnic Studies (Castro Gill)… The District has not paying the Ethnic Studies Advisory Group for their work on curriculum or professional development (Castro-Gills group)… Juneau ignored and dismissed input from the community about the removal of the Ethnic Studies Program Manager (Castro-Gill)… Juneau was caught instructing groups not to work with groups focused on moving Ethnic Studies forward (Catro Gill’s program)...”
https://waethnicstudies.com/2020/12/03/remove-denise-juneau-an-open-letter-to-the-seattle-public-schools-board-of-directors/
Here is story from the Seattle Times published 5 days later on 12/8/2020 quoting from the NAACP Letter published on Castro-Gill’s website claiming Juneau had “exacerbated racism”, and announcing Juneau was stepping down because she had lost the support of the SPS Board quoting Director Hampson saying Juneau didn’t have enough votes to renew her contract.
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/reactions-to-seattle-schools-chief-denise-juneaus-resignation-are-mixed/
After Castro Gill’s termination for cause, Castro-Gill worked closely with the local NAACP to ensure Juneau was forced out, and together with Director Hampson, who herself was under investigation and later found guilty of Harassment Intimidation, and Bullying, Juneau and DeBacker were forced out.
The Native American Superintendent was replaced by an African American Superintendent and the White Chief Academic Officer was replaced by an African American Chief Academic Officer. I have nothing against the current leadership but alleging Juneau exacerbated racism to force her out and citing Castro-Gill 8 times in the letter by the NAACP calling for Juneua's ouster was heinous.
Sad BHS Parent
Has anyone noticed the amount of bullies sitting ont he SCPTSA board. They replaced the ones that quit. Some of these same people moderate the Seattle Public Schools Community forum facebook page which was formerly Soup for Teachers. It was quite something when the moderator began supporting Jones over teachers when mask mandate appeared to be a unilateral decision. It seems the moderators want to squash any dissenting opinions. Manolita Light aka Manuela Slye is one of the biggest offenders; you can always count on Light/ Slye to hop onto the heap!
sss.westbrook@gmail.com
What seems to be happening is that there is a LOT of anecdotal narrative. I can understand this somewhat but no story can be based on a couple of narratives. Kids should not be pressured to join in one narrative. There seems to be one media source feeding this and it saddens me. That's not journalism.
I also think that the district/school could do a LOT better in explaining why they are unable to do some requested actions. For example, my understanding is that in the case of one student's accusation of sexual assault, that student wanted the accused attacker removed from the school or order the attacker to avoid any place in the school where the victim was.
I think the district has no ability to legally remove a student from a school if they have not been arrested and charged. it could open the district to a lawsuit. (Again, clear details would help. What I think I understand the victim did report the attack to the police but the attacker was not arrest but the victim did get a restraining order.)
As for having the attacker avoid the victim, I guess you could name places the attacker shouldn't be but it would be hard to tell the attacker not to use Bathroom X or go to the library or the cafeteria; logistically, it would be tough.
I am NOT saying nothing happened. What I am saying is it needs to be clearer what the district can and cannot do.
I note that the Board is updating - based on the Sexual Harassment/Title IX Task Force work - both the employee policy and student policy.
Bullies Galore, yes, I have noticed a lot of this. I am banned from the former Soup for Teachers Facebook page because I will challenge statements and they don't want that. I do smile thinking that Manuela Slye/Manolita Light thinking she can run for school board as two people.
Freddy Mac
One of my messages in writing this post is that I'm with you - I do not think she should have any business with the district. Sadly, a few schools - on their own - have hired her as some kind of consultant. I would think the money came out of their school budgets and if that's how they want spend their money, I guess it's allowed. As well, I think she still has supporters on the school board and that's troubling.
Also, as I noted in a previous comment, somehow she and her lawyer managed to convince/threaten OSPI if her group was not listed as a professional development resource. I wish that OSPI had stood firm. It's clear from the sequence of meetings at OSPI for their Ethnic Studies group that TCG has managed to yet again alienate folks and seems to be on the outside looking in. She certainly didn't fool Rep Sharon Tomiko Santos who has been a huge public education supporter in the state legislature. Naturally, TCG badmouths her as well.
That is the disturbing thing about TCG - there is no agree to disagree or you might have more emphasis on one area that you think important but she thinks is wrong - it's take no prisoners. For a place like public education, that just won't work.
https://southseattleemerald.com/2020/12/07/opinion-why-we-the-naacp-youth-council-are-demanding-superintendent-denise-juneaus-termination/