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What a teachers union has done to Gompers
As far back as 2009, there have been articles pointing out the duplicity and charade performed by the leadership at GPA. (Read the comments in The Reader article "Gompers Takes a Bow"). Here we are, ELEVEN years later, with even more articles and exhaustively researched data driven proof of transcript inequities which paint much different pictures of the reality of life at GPA for teachers and students than the Disney version fairy tale plastered everywhere by Mr. Riveroll and company. At this point, the response to any challenge of their questionable practices is predictable and outdated. Anyone who raises concerns about the learning and/or working environment is labeled either disgruntled, racist, classist, lazy, burned out, or an outlier. It is one thing for the school to try to deflect the comments and concerns of past and present teachers, it is quite another for it to discount the many thoughtful and moving reflections that have been written by the very students that the school is/was entrusted to protect and educate. There is no doubt that Mr. Riveroll and GPA founders helped create a safer neighborhood school- no one is taking that away from them. But does this give them the right to run an oppressive and deceptive regime all in the name of putting "students first"? It would be easier to accept if they were, indeed, putting students first, but the reality is that they put Mr. Riveroll and the illusion of his program first. While he may have created an environment where students were safe physically, he certainly did not create or maintain one where their intellectual safety was taken into consideration. This is not a question of union vs charter. This is a question of those in charge assuming responsibility for past poor practices and making an effort to live up the image they worked so hard to create of a transparent, fair, progressive, professional learning and working environment.— August 14, 2020 10:29 a.m.