Principal's words to 27 Hispanics are scrutinized

The Seattle Times ^ | December 17, 2003 | Associated Press

[yonif]

WENATCHEE — The Brewster School District is reviewing a meeting by high-school Principal Randy Phillips last month during which he said he told a group of Hispanic students that they have less respect for each other, lower test scores and fight more than non-Hispanic white students.

"We're taking this very seriously," Superintendent Jim Kelly told The Wenatchee World.

About 70 Hispanic parents, students and supporters stood in the school library Monday as their spokesman, Marco Reyes, told the School Board their concerns.

"Our mission here is to assure that our rights and the rights of our children have not been violated," Reyes said.

Phillips said he called the Nov. 6 meeting with 27 Hispanic students after the eighth fight of the year broke out on the Okanogan County campus among Hispanic teens.

"We feel they (Hispanic students) were intimidated, and we feel that they were profiled and they were labeled," said Reyes, who is a guardian of one student.

Kelly said the investigation into last month's meeting will be handled by an outside party, and the school district will not be involved.

In a news release, Kelly defended Phillips' decision to meet with students: "Having meetings with individual students, small groups of students or large groups of students regarding behavior and performance issues is typical."

[G-Bear]

The only question should be: "Is the statement true?"

[Travis McGee]

Uncomfortable truth is forbidden!

[Spok]

Of course, whether his remarks were truthful or not has no relevance-the inquiry will be how the comments made the students 'feel'.

[Bogey78O]

I'm sure the crucifiction of the principal for telling the truth to these students will aid them in becoming better citizens.

[Onelifetogive]

"Our mission here is to assure that our rights and the rights of our children have not been violated," Reyes said.

"We feel they (Hispanic students) were intimidated, and we feel that they were profiled and they were labeled," said Reyes, who is a guardian of one student.

Did Reyes "profile" all of these students as "his", did he "label" them?

[merry10]

A similar situation happened to a teacher in Pasadena CA, only he was saying this about and to black students. He was put on suspension and or reprimanded, but he had several black parents supporting him. I believe they eventually reinstated the teacher.

[KellyAdmirer]

If all the 27 had been in fights and had lower test scores, I don't see any problem here. If there were other Hispanic students included who had good test scores or were not in fights, then the Principal was wrong to have held the meeting in my opinion. Students should not be lumped in with troublemakers like that unless they did something to deserve it, regardless of their ethnicity.

[Jaxter]

Disgusting! Instead of focusing on fixing the problem, they shoot the messenger.

[pabianice]

... and telling the truth is wrong...why...?

[FITZ]

If all the 27 had been in fights and had lower test scores, I don't see any problem here.

I think it depends on if the group accepts the label of "hispanic" or not. Just like the other group has a lable "non-hispanic" which means they could have any kind of ancestry expect being from a former Spanish colony. Many people cling to labels because it helps them get affirmative action and other goodies.

Otherwise it's like saying Irish are more inclined to be alcoholics --- it's possible they are but it doesn't mean all are going to become that. Behaviors can be changed.

[FITZ]

They'd better quit reporting the ethnic break-down of public school standardized testing here because the "hispanics" perform more poorly than other groups. They even report the results of the tests which are given in Spanish which are much lower than the results of the tests given in English. That probably hurts the Spanish-speaking populations' feelings.

I guess they should be told they are doing better than all other groups so they can feel good.

[whereasandsoforth]

Why not stop profiling and labeling yourselves, hispanic students? It's so charming that truth is now a cause for shame and indignation amongst you! not.

[republicofdavis]

"Our mission here is to assure that our rights and the rights of our children have not been violated,"

I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out what right has allegedly been violated. It appears that the only action that occurred was the principal said some words that some people didn't like. Oh wait, it's the right not be offended.

Which amendment was that again?

[Chad Fairbanks]

In response, a large group of Hispanics in the school district boycotted a test, earning a failing grade on it, and this led to infighting and disrespectful actions among each other as they tried to decide what to do next...

[Chad Fairbanks]

Note the use of the phrase "We feel".

[Fangorn]

You go in for a physical and your doctor tells you: "your cholesterol is high, you smoke, you're overweight, and have a history of heart disease, so you're X times more likely to die, or be debilitated, etc..."

You don't have to like what he says, or "feel good" about it, it just is a revelation of the test results.

If the numbers support the principal's assertion, maybe instead of being habitually offended, they should look at those statistical trends as one would a bad test result from a physician, with an eye toward making the necessary changes and choices so as to disprove as many of the stats as possible.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I hear ya. But, unfortunately that won't happen because today everyone is more concerned with how things make them feel - what it does to their precious self-esteem and all that hooey.

[Fangorn]

And, just as ignoring the test results at the doctor's office, we ignore that which makes us feel bad at our peril.

[SunStar]

"We feel they (Hispanic students) were intimidated, and we feel that they were profiled and they were labeled," said Reyes, who is a guardian of one student.

Unless they were labeled incorrectly, up yours.