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Joe Quigley - Davis unethical?


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The following is an email from Joe Quigley
(Posted 10-23-02)

To the question as to whether the principal is unethical, I may have what I believe is reason to think yes.
     I am sure those of us who are Gay, Lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, as well as our family and friends are quite aware that too often in an attempt to appear to have the high road of righteousness so-called "christians" find no problem lying, misleading and playing little games to spread falsehoods about us. What they cannot face as truth they attempt to promote by lies. They further commit the ultimate blasphemy by claiming they do this in the name of Christ. 
     But, then again one has to remember that Judas Iscariot was a christian too.

I am going to present the latest happenings as evidence that the principal only wants to appear concerned about all students under his care masking his closed minded bigotry by giving the appearance of compromise where he choses in reality not to compromise. To do this I have to take the Star Wars approach of beginning with the latest chapter and presenting the prequel later.
   I was not sure how to proceed, whether to take it with a heavy serious tone, or perhaps a soupcon of humor so as to avoid pounding too hard on the keys of my rental replacement computer. But like the principal's honesty, it will be a crap-shoot, and I will let it flow.
  
THE EVENT

As we approached the middle of October, and as the principal had effectively prevented any acknowledgement of Gay and Lesbian History Month by first referring my request to the social studies department (no one else has to be so referred), and then to the Faculty Advisory which he usually ignores and so was not fooled by his tactic and sent the request back to him reminding him that they did not set policy, nor were they ever designated to be part of the Paragraph J business, I referred back to the princiapl's memo of 09/04/02 in which besides informing me he had referred his request to the Social Studies Department, he made the following statement:

A solution to your concern would be to use the Community Bulletin Board generously donated to the school for that purpose ( this was not the purpose of the Community Bulletin Board, but it served his purpose to claim it was).

   On October 15, having given time during the first half of the month for something to get done, I submitted the following request to him:

You mentioned in an earlier memo that something about Gay and Lesbian History Month could go on the Community Bulletin Board. I am submitting this for that purpose.
     What I submitted was the same packet I gave to the Social Studies Department Chair and the faculty Advisory Committee that came about as a result of the advice of the Local Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers that I would show good faith if I attempted a compromise.
     I took three things from the Gay and Lesbian History Month booklet compiled by the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) that was presented to the District's secondary schools in the year 2000 which included the history of the Month's origin and subsequent developments, the Gay and Lesbian History of Oklahoma time line, and a small list of names of Famous GLBT people which was strongly suggested by AFT as my other lists were much more extensive, and therefore, probably overwhelming and perhaps threatening in their scope.
     At lunch on October 21 when I passed the principal in the hall he asked if I would go see him on a matter that was not disciplinary, just informational. As I have no reason to trust the man, even less now as you will see, I was concerned that presenting this meeting as something friendly would have me not ensure my Building Representative was present (as my contract says that if I think a meeting will result in something of a disciplinary nature I was entitled to representation) and, therefore, would not a witness present. He wanted to see me during my planning period, and as this was so short a notice and others had class or were entering grades in the new and confusing computer system, I chose as my representative my small hand held tape recorder.
     When I entered the office I waited while he shredded something, and then he turned to me with a piece of paper saying that he had had it since October 15 and made apologies for getting back to me after a few days and not right away. From where I sat I could see it was neither the list of names nor the time line, but rather appeared to be the origin page. He said he wanted to post this on the Community Bulletin Board, but wanted to make sure it was okay with me if he added "compiled by Mr. Joseph Quigley" on the bottom. I explained that I was not alone in the compilation,that I had been only one member of GLSEN, but okayed him adding that if that was all it would take to have it hung.
    I have to admit that I was very disappointed that he was not going to hang the list of names or the time line, but I was willing to compromise to get something up. I appreciated the gesture, and actually envisioned an email that would be positive toward him.
   I am glad I waited.
On  Tuesday, October 22, as I was passing the cafeteria I looked over at the bulletin board to see if anything were hung, and inspite of my very need-to-be-replaced- contacts saw that he had kept his word and hung the summary from the booklet.
     But something seemed wrong. When I copied the original page I had cut off the bold faced heading as it was dated 2000, the seventh annual G/L History Month, leaving two paragraphs that formed a rectangle with the shorter sides at the top and bottom. What was hanging was a little smaller with the shorter sides on the left and right. Even if he had reduced it on a xerox machine the fundamental shape would not have changed. This bothered me.
     After school, I returned to the bulletin board with a copy of the original submission and saw that what was hung and what claimed it was compiled by me was NOT what I had given to him on October 15, nor was it what he represented to me on the twenty first as what he had received on the fifteenth. It had been retyped.
     It should actually say, if he had any shred of honesty, was:
         "Compiled by Mr. Joseph Quigley. Edited by Mr. Weldon Davis"
Here is the submission, with his editing in brackets:
In January 1994, Rodney Wilson,a social studies senior high school teacher in Mehlville, Missouri, began to organize people around the country to celebrate our history. Wilson was appalled at the failure of textbooks to mention any Gay and Lesbian history. He organized a grass-roots network of teachers and community leaders towards creating a month of celebration that focused on the contributions of Gay and Lesbian people. October was chosen because it built on already existing traditions like Coming Out Day (October 11) and the anniversaries of the first two Gay and Lesbian marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987.
     Gay and Lesbian History Month has been endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, The Human Rights Campaign Fund, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and other national organizations. In 1995, John Kitzhaber, the Governor of Oregon, declared October 1995 Lesbian and Gay History Month in his state. In 1996, the governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut issued similar proclamations, as did the mayors of Boston and Chicago. [ in july, 1995, the National Education Association passed an amendment that supports the concept of a Lesbian and Gay History Month]
      This last had been removed while it was part of what I had submitted.
I believe he basically has affixed my name falsely to a document he edited for his own purposes. In the past, not only was he a member of the NEA, but when he was president of the Oklahoma Education Association he was in charge when the local AFT was not allowed to be the bargaining unit for teachers because it had lead the teachers on a strike, and according to some I have talked to who taught in the district at the time, he led OEA when it was guilty of giving back provisions of the contract negotiated and won by AFT. And as any member of any union knows, the bargaining unit never takes part in give-backs as those benefits so strongly fought for would in all likelihood never be gained back. AFT is still dealing with the results of that action.
    So apparently in 1995 he was not in agreement with the majority of the NEA National Assembly and has chosen to deny Gay and Lesbian Kids the knowledge that teachers are supportive of them.
    If he was going to edit my submission, he should have informed me, and not done it so surreptitiously. And, again, why is he so afraid to the point of deception, to let GLBT Students know they are part of the school community and have support from a vast majority of teachers?
    This man has a responsibility for the welfare and education of all students, yet he cosistently turns his back on the GLBT ones. And, what is worse, the district allows this.
   Am I the only one outraged by this?
Joe Quigley

 

 

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