[BHS etree] ADMIN: Message from BHS Acting Principal and BUSD Superintendent

[bhs at idiom.com]

Please do not contact the e-tree; please contact Richard Ng rng at berkeley.k12.ca.us

The following response was sent to the editor of the East Bay Express from Acting Principal Maggie Heredia-Peltz and Superintendent Bill Huyett:

March 13, 2009

Dear Editor,

The administrative team at Berkeley High is deeply disturbed by your article, "Small Schools, Big Debate: Separate and Unequal at Berkeley's Small Schools," published on March 11, 2009.  In a five page biased article filled with inaccuracies, you irresponsibly called into question the validity of the education of a large number of Berkeley High School students.  The reporter neglected to interview any administrative leader at either the site or district level and scattered, among many misquotes, multiple damaging falsehoods.  In addition, the reporter failed to use valid data or research to substantiate her conclusions. 

Berkeley High has a long and proud tradition of excellence in public education.  We have been on the forefront in exploring innovative ways to address inequity.  Our fundamental belief is that not all students come with equal readiness for work at the high school level, and we have to meet students where they are.  We recognize the problem and work toward solutions.  Thousands of students over our very long history are proud to say they graduated from Berkeley High.  In 2008, Newsweek ranked BHS 286 among the top public high schools in the nation.  The school recently received a six year WASC accreditation, the longest possible term.  Under the stabilizing leadership of Principal Jim Slemp, our enrollment has increased.  Over a hundred college recruiters visit our school annually working to entice our students to their institutions. Our students, across all programs, are currently enrolled at all of the Ivy League Schools, Stanford, University of
California, Berkeley, and University of California Los Angeles among others.

Like any urban public school BHS has its problems.  We struggle with an achievement gap; we struggle to retain great teachers in a society that disregards them; we struggle with covert racism which threatens to perpetuate separation and devalue who we are as individuals. 

Unlike many schools, we are looking directly at the problem with our City, our District, and our colleagues at school through our 2020 Vision – developing a collaborative plan to eliminate inequities in our system by the year 2020.  We are working to redesign our institution to create more academic choices and to provide more personalization.  We believe strongly that teachers who share students get to know them better, and this leads to stronger student engagement and increased academic success.  We believe that innovative teachers who are passionate and committed to working with all students are the key to altering the achievement gap - one student at a time.

This is why the article you published is so damaging to our dedicated staff and our community on many levels.  In one moment of inaccuracy and bias, you tore at the fabric of our common bond -- our students and our passionate work as teachers.  As though pink slips, low wages, and general societal disregard don't hurt educators enough, your article accused us of actually increasing the achievement gap.

We are very committed to examining data across programs, small schools, and departments to evaluate and monitor the growth of student learning. The data guides us in improving our programs and small schools, all of which are designed to meet the needs of diverse learners while holding them to high standards. 

In these difficult times, we would appreciate your exposing all the effective work our educators are doing.  You will find a great deal to report.   

Maggie Heredia-Peltz, Acting Principal Berkeley High School & the Berkeley High Administrative Team

Superintendent William Huyett