SANFRANCIScoTATEUNIVERSITY

CESAR . CHAVEZNSTITUTE

EDUCATIONALoUITYNITIATIVEJEFFREY . R. DUNOAN-ANDRADE,HD.CO-DIRECTOR

June7,2008To Whom ItMay Concern:Ii is u'ith mixedfeelings hat I write thls letter o{suppori for Ms. KarenSalazar.Ontheone hand, t is apieasureo writea letter ofsupport for Ms. Salazarocontinueas a teacheratjordanHigh School.The very fact thatso man)'students,parents,andcolleaguesaveexpressedutrage at her non-renen'alshouldsuggest o district and school eadershiphat Ms.Salazar s preciselyhetype of teacher hat LAUSDis looking for to turn thingsaround in schooisikeJordanHighSchool. Shehas nspired acommunity that so many have abeledasapatheticabouteducation. Shehas done this by following some of the besttraining, educational heory, and educatlonai esearch hat is available oourfield.This,n fact,puts herincompliancewithstateandnational policy, whichdemands hateducatorsknor.t' he besi practicesofthe field and fo1lon' hemntheirciassrooms. he act hat Ms. Salazar ses culturally elevantcriticalpedagogy,one which vaiues and recognizes he historical and racialdentitiesofher students, s directly in line with the NCLBmandate that all practice resupportedby "rigorousscientific esearch". ndeed, heresearchhat actuallydocumentseffectivepractice n urbanschoolssuggests hat thisis the onlr''provenmethod forraising engagementand achievementn urbanciassrooms.This bringsme tom1r llslration with needingo writethis letter ofsupport; heother side of my feelingson this matter. It is time thatLAUSD meet tsexpressedcommitmentto improving the qualityof educationoffered tostudents ncommunitiessuch asWatts. If, indeed,your district has morethan a rhetoricalcommitment toimproving the quaiity of serrriceouoffer iochildren in Watts, tseemsllogicalhat Ms.Salazarouldfind herselfunderire. New teachers,especially hose hatshow asmuchpotential to trulyengageand inspireyoungpeople(clearlvyour districtknolt s holr.' aresuch ndividualsare),mustbesupported anddeveloped,notpunished. Districtssuch as LAUSDstruggle ofindeven a handfulof teachers hat inspirestudents n the waythat Ms.Saiazardoes. knoltthis because am regulariyasked v largeurban disiricts orsupporttodevelop recruitmentandretention plans to attract and retainyoungteachersof colorthat inspirestudentso re-engagenschoolsvstems hat arefaiiingthem. if LAUSD ever hopes o improve the achievement n their lowestperformingschools,etainingandsupporting eachersike Ms.Salazarspreciselv hechangen the business susualpolitics hat must takepiace.I cannotstatesironglyenough that the pedagogicalrameworks thatdrive Ms.Salazar'sworkas aneducator are embeddedwith the bestof r,r'hatwe knolt