Letter to the Editor: In defense of Cari White

Dear Editor:

In response to the Op-Ed piece, “Downey Unified was disingenuous in its messages to seniors,” (May 27, 2020) I would like to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to defend one of the most hard-working, genuine, and passionate administrators I have had the  pleasure to work for during my 30 year tenure as a teacher in the Downey Unified School District, Dr. Cari White.

The Op-Ed draws some hasty conclusions about our beloved principal regarding her attempt last March to provide a sense of hope and stability to the anxious and frightened students of Warren High School during the most unstable and unfamiliar situation any of us have experienced in our lifetimes. The authors state that they were “unsure whether” Cari White’s actions were “due to  incompetence or untruthfulness towards the seniors of 2020.”

Is it possible that there is another conclusion one could draw instead of the highly insulting false dilemma they suggest? Cari White, who is so humble that she never feels the need to broadcast her educational achievements in order to impress others--Ms. White, who has worked tirelessly to make sure that all staff and students remain safe during this pandemic at the expense of her own health--Dr. Cari White, respected principal of Warren High, who shows through her actions that she truly cares for and loves our school, would never intentionally or knowingly mislead anyone, especially in an unprecedented time such as the entire world is experiencing right now. 

For the last 21 years, I have witnessed first-hand how much passion Cari White has for her students, her fellow teachers, and for Warren High. I have worked with many wonderful administrators, but Cari White was the principal who managed, through pure grit, to hold our very opinionated staff together and motivate all of us to keep our wits about us during this pandemic. While actually having to create the new educational wheel, many of us most-likely said and did things that were not correct, but I know of no one who made mistakes with malicious intent. What kind of person would intentionally lie to students and to what end would someone do that?  Cari White spent a minimum of 14 hours per day, every day, making sure that every student had exactly what he or she needed to be successful while learning from home. There is nothing I can see that is incompetent or disingenuous about her words or actions. 

Other than the pending MD/PhD and the farewell graduation speech from six years ago, exactly what credentials do the authors possess to make these assertions? Furthermore, why would they turn their backs on the very institution that provided them with the groundwork to get them where they are right now? Here is the great irony: even after all their vitriolic accusations of Dr. White, she would be the first to say, “It’s okay. Once a Bear, always a Bear.” Some day, they may say something that doesn’t turn out to be the way they originally thought it would be. My hope for them when that happens--and it will if either of them is ever in a position of leadership--is that their critics will be more forgiving than they have been to Cari White.

Monica Schulman
English/Language-Arts Instructor
Warren High School