LETTER: Clark High School principal got a raw deal

I was aghast when reading about the departure of Clark High School Principal Antonio Rael (“Embattled Clark High School principal leaves,” Dec. 11 Review-Journal). Parents complained about his “work performance,” and teachers objected to being “observed.” His motive? To improve education/learning for the so-called “zoned” students, eight out of 10 of whom were not college ready.

Parents focused on Mr. Rael’s response to traffic issues that resulted in students being late to class. They evidently could not plan accordingly to get their students to school on time. A tardy policy has to be enforced, or students will habitually drift into school at their leisure. This does not enhance learning.

Next, parents complained that the dress code during Homecoming discriminated against girls. The school is not the beach. Learning needs to happen, even during Homecoming week. If the boys were walking around half naked, I imagine Mr. Rael would have addressed that as well.

Nevada ranks near the bottom nationally in education. We know that many high school graduates require remediation before taking college classes. We also know that very few teachers receive poor evaluations. Firing ineffective teachers is nearly impossible. How is this remedied? Here is an idea: Observe and evaluate the teachers.

Certainly, being observed is uncomfortable and a bit threatening, but if one is doing his or her job, one need not worry. After all, this is to aid teachers in becoming better teachers, assuming there was relevant feedback.

I applaud Mr. Rael for taking common-sense steps to improve student achievement at Clark High School. We need more of this. What a pity that the parents, faculty and School Board prefer the status quo.