Keep Elvira Sacco Teaching

We the undersigned, are appalled to know that a dedicated teacher could be accused of such a heinous crime. We ask your support in righting this wrong that no one else can fix; except us.

Here is a letter that Elvira Sacco has written herself to Mr. Barr.

5-08-09%u2019
Dear Mr.Barr,
I am appalled that the union allows their members to get trashed in the media and says there is nothing they can do about it.
Yes, there is quite a bit that can be done. I find it further distressing that a parent who hears second hand information,
immediately runs to the press and lies about what was said based on information that is hear- say. When the truth was told, the
credibility of the teacher had already been destroyed . There is no punishment ushered against the liars, namely the student and
the parent. With all the dues the United Federation of Teachers%u2019 collects from its member, you mean to say you can not take out
a full page ad to tell the public not to believe everything they read.
The blogs about me have me in hiding. You would think I was a member of the KKK or a Nazi. By Jove, there is even a petition
to have me removed and quartered. (see attachment). The calm of my home has been disrupted, and thank God I am employed
under my maiden name or I would be in deeper garbage. As a result of this I had to move out of my prior residence because of
fear for my daughters%u2019 safety. So tell me what recourse do I have? It is the responsibility of the UFT to sue the media for
slander of its members because it also slanders the UFT. With all the dues that are collected from its members who are being
detained, there would be enough funds to retained an attorney for this purpose.
When you utter that there is nothing that can be done, it gets my last nerve. This is an excuse. When you circumvent the issues
with the %u201CRubber Room%u201D and tell how much the union has done it is insulting. Because it has nothing to do with these
detention centers and why you had visited this one. You are still skirting away from the concerns of the inhabitants at these
sites. I admit we are a few hundred verses thousands, but does that dismiss that what is happening valid.? No Teacher, according
to the contract should have been removed from their work location, they were not presenting a danger to anyone. This unto
itself is a clear violation of the contract. No teacher should ever be threatened with arrest as a result of an allegation. You will
agree but it does not change the reality that it is happening and nothing is being done to prevent this. When it happens to you I
am sure your tone will change.
As a young teen sitting at the same dinner table with Mr. Shanker, before he was jailed, and listening to the birth of the United
Federation of Teachers and admiring his conviction that teachers needed to be respected and that getting a fair wage and
contract was the beginning towards that goal. What has happened to over turn a man I admired for his convictions and belief
that we as educators were not servants but professionals worthy of the same respect that doctors or lawyers get?
Not to brag or boast but I come from a family of educators, artisans, poets and radicals. Look up Elvira Sacco, Marie Ponsot,
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco, Veronica Franco. I am also the 22nd generation of artists that can trace themselves back to the building
of Notre Dame, Paris. (the altars were carved by my ancestors. I had been a disappointment to my great grandfather because I
was a painter and not a sculptress) My family history is a testament to who I am and does not illustrate a racist by no means. My
own credentials speak for themselves. I am a Ford and Fullbright scholar, yet I am still an artist. I will admit I am eccentric and
perceive the world differently than most. Being eccentric and speaking one mind is no reason to be punished. Tell me, how many
of these people that pass judgement over teachers have ever done our job? Not one and yet they are the judge and jury.
Another point that gets overlooked is the fact that most tenured teachers have been in the system for years without a problem
or episode. This reality gets overlooked and discarded. Why? I have been teaching for over two decades and this means nothing?
Why?
I selected this profession and did not embrace it because I was not capable of doing anything else. I believe strongly in our youth
and to encourage change one must work within the established system. Tell me, how has the United Federation of Teachers
ignited change for the welfare of ALL its members, including those of us who reside in these detention holding cells. I will grant
you that there are some people who should not be in the classroom, but that does not include me and many others.
Mr. Barr, I do not come from a family of money and I was not raised to hold money above integrity and honor. If I had the funds
I would fight this openly and aggressively in a court of law and bring the system to task and to its knees. ( It is the unions%u2019 job to
do this not the responsibility of any one individual member). I am not the only one who has been damaged beyond words as a
result of an allegation that had not been substantiated nor can it ever be. You can not turn a tiger into a leopard. But we both
know very clearly that a case can be made against anyone, even you yourself can be held liable for a misquote or interpretation
and slandered ( but unlike me and others in the %u201CRubber Room%u201D the UFT would defend you against the slander or any other
allegation made against you and it would not glean the pages of the press.). The fact that most people are not trained to listen
because it is a lost skill makes everyone susceptible to harm. I nor anyone else for that matter should be held accountable for
the inability of others to listen. I have had my words taken out of context and been held liable for the ignorance of another who
was not even present and taking the opportunity to make an easy buck ( Candice George is suing the DOE ).
The article also ends with the parent, Candice George, stating that I will get nothing more than a %u201Cslap on the wrist%u201D and she
%u201Cfeels sorry for the students%u201D. Again this is the same woman who has made a point of calling me %u201Cwhite%u201D. Tell me, truthfully if this
is not a racial intent for attention. This did get the attention of Al Sharpton. He went to the school to investigate the allegations
and walked away stating this was nonsense. . This already puts the DOE in the position to terminate me just to prove that the
parent was wrong. I have already been damned before my own voice is heard. What happened to truth and where is my union in
all of this?
My case has been blown out of proportion and I am afraid that fairness would be an illusion. I have already been convicted and
tried in the media. The DOE has no choice but to comply with the conviction. I can bring in a room full of people and then some
to testify but no one will be listening. The dance will be done just for the appearance that fairness has been executed. Yet we
both know that will not be the case. My property which is my tenure stolen from me and the city saving a few bucks. Where is
the UFT to prevent this? Another point to make is why is every allegation and offense treated with the same course of action by
the DOE for termination of the teacher?
I will state in print out loud that I am Not a racist , ( I am being charged with discrimination) and take offense by being called
one indirectly through innuendoes. The parent clearly states that I am "white" in the second article.( which I am not because I
am neither a ghost or an albino. Referring to someone as a color is insulting since we are not an object nor a color. I always
refer to an individual by their culture or continent. )
Mr. Barr I have worked hard to be an exceptional teacher in my discipline. You can ask my Principal, Abbie Reif, (%u201CIt would take 3
people to do what she as one individual does. %u201C)or even the superintendent, Cathy Pelis (%u201C the first time I have ever seen a fully
functional art studio in a public school%u201D). They have both expressed anger over this and yet they are helpless in stopping this. The
parent has made an innocent remark predicated on the color of my skin, expressing a behavior which was abhorrent into
something else ( throwing sharp objects across the room, calling me a white jew bitch, shut the f... Up and I%u2019ll do what I want,
kicking people- just to name a few of his actions) . I can bring in students as well as their parents who are out raged over me
being treated like this by the DOE in removing me from the school. My principal will tell you that I do have a mouth, but I do
one hell of a job.
This same student whose mother. (Candice George), had made the allegation has a son with no respect for others different
from himself. %u201CDirty Jew%u201D, White Jew Bitch%u201D are common phrases he utters towards me and others. (Irony is that I am not
Jewish but Wiccan (if she knew this I would be accused of being a devil worshiper) and a Roman Catholic. I do not dignify
abusive language with a response. )The mothers only response when confronted with this has been that he comes from a
Christian household.
This is the same parent who earlier in the school year accused me of showing pornography. Since when are the Icons of the
Renaissance pornographic? ( Maybe she is correct since the Vatican has the largest pornographic collection in the world. These
would be the paintings, sculptures, etc. That are exhibited within its walls.. I guess David by Michelangelo should be destroyed or
the Pieta for that matter. ).
This is the same child who has boasted that his mother runs this school and can have anyone fired. Allowing Candice George to
continue would be to validate his words. This can all be substantiated. I can back up my words. Mr. Barr, Both the press and OEO
have interviewed students in their investigation, who were not my students nor were they present in the class and believe them
over me. How is this possible? I have no history of abuse towards the youth I had instructed. At no time did Patrick Beath, of
OEO interview the principal of the school, administration. nor were other students aside from the disrupters interviewed. Nor
was he interested in the circumstances that led him to the school. He was not interested in the fact that this same parent has
been filing complaints against 6 other teachers, every administrator as well as myself. Is it not interesting that every person she
has complained about is of a non- African decent. What does that illustrate for you? Is it not interesting that this parent is suing
the DOE? The DOE was not interested in any of this and they were told this from the Principal as well as by me. Since when
does our job include being terrorized and gagged?
Mr. Barr I had to move from my last apartment as a result of the first article because the press was at my door. They prevented
me from entering my own home. What is comical is that my daughter had worked for the Daily News ( at the time she worked
for the Daily news was 13 years old ) and has had her byline in it as well. It was my daughter who forced the reporter to
identify himself. She had called the desk editor and it was at that point that he complied. The second article included my photo
which was hacked off the internet. I had never spoken to the press. If I had I would have told them to go kiss the third rail.
As a result of these allegations I can not transfer to another school. Do not get me wrong I have no problem returning to my
current site, but I am being denied the choice because a parent sees a golden opportunity to make a buck. I would jump at the
chance to return to Science Skills High School to teach art. I would be teaching Art and then electives as well. Ask the
administration, and teachers (Ms Baldwin, Ms. Caldwell, Ms. Pat Dye ) and the head of security there about me and you will hear
they want me back. I only left because they could not secure the funds to employ me. The current art teacher, rumor has it, is
leaving and with the recommendation of the administration there I would be able to return. Look at the population and ask
yourself how I can be accused of being a bigot? (Already I have 250 people, past students and their parents willing to testify on
my behalff. ( This is just the short list.).
What right does the DOE have in disclosing incomplete and faulty findings as truth to this parent or the media. They are the
ones bringing attention to me not the other way around. This is the other reason for termination. I bought disgrace to the
DOE. I did nothing and yet they are the ones who keep blowing this out of proportion to validate the parents allegations and to
create a racial incident with me being the victim and the parent looking for a pay off.
I would have expected more from my union in defending its members. The union should file a suit against the media for slander
or at best provide the member with an attorney to go after the media for wrong doing and irresponsible journalism. I was no
danger to my students and yet against the contract I was excised from the school or face arrest. Mr. Barr, I am appealing to your
common sense and compassion when I say this is unjust. I am nothing more nor less than a humble educator who truly loves
her job in-spite of the fact that I am over worked and under paid and spend far to much to provide an environment that is
enticing and exciting for my students. My accountant can not fully deduct what I have spent which has been 20% of my salary.
Books (art books being the most expensive on the market), 32 inch flat screen TV monitor, air conditioner, computers ( lap tops
because my students professionally produce their own year book),art supplies, printing press and a whole lot more. All this and
more are still sequestered at my school. To most of my students I am more than just a teacher I am another parent to them. I
love my students and they know this to be true and yet I am in the "Rubber Room". I want to return..........
Sincerely yours,
Elvira Sacco-Ponsot
PS. Look up the definition of the word I have been quoted using as a racial slur. You will see it does not only refer to a race but
denotes a behavior without race etc. I have aged myself because since the 70s' the definition has been redefined. It is also a
word used in the current cultural arena without ethnic monopoly. Look at the genre "gangsta" novels that are given to our
young to read as an enticement to read. These are books paid and provided to these students from the DOE. When all is said
and done language has many colors and definitions and it is up to the listener to place it in the context in which it is used. No
one can be held liable for another persons lack of comprehension. This is a word that has been appropriated globally to mean
either friend or classless. No culture has a monopoly over this word.
Any word taken out of context can be labeled inappropriate. I could have said , you are acting stupid, and accused of calling the
student stupid. Look at the word stupid when referred to an action. Out of context a student will accuse the teacher of saying
that an individual was called stupid, even when that was not the case and placed in the %u201CRubber Room%u201D. Or the teacher can
innocently say ,%u201Dyou are acting like a clown %u201C,and a parent can take offense and interpret it out of context having the teacher
then placed in a detention center out of the classroom.
Every generation takes offense with the culture of the young and in time it is incorporated into the lexicon of our culture to be
refined and redefined later on. Retro 60s%u2019. Retro 70s%u2019 and so on. My parents were insulted with long hair on males and mini
skirts. Twiggy was not a myth but has become a metaphor for an age. Lest we forget look at the history of jazz and rag time as
well as rock and roll and the controversy it stirred. I teach Art and that unto itself means culture without prejudice. I abhor
censorship on every level. The right for every generation to express itself without injury to another I up hold. I do not always
like it but I must respect it as a mode of expression and a defining of a generation. This includes not only the visual but the
language and music and fashion. I do not like hip hop but I can respect it. You might look at graffiti as destructive to property
yet I can respect Lady Pink as an artist.