To whom it may concern—

As many of you in the Westview community are aware, our favorite sassy, FDR-bashing history teacher Robert Stafford is no longer at our school. I learned this news over winter break while I was writing a college essay about how his freshman US History class literally changed my life. There were a lot of rumors going around as to why he left, and since it seemed strange to me he would retire in the middle of the semester, I decided to do some investigation.

Mr. Stafford’s teaching license was set to expire and, by state law (the “Teachers Standards and Practices Commission,” or TSPC), he needed to complete some “Continuing Education” college courses to renew it. He had a couple of years to figure this out, and since he was taking some AP accreditation courses, he thought that would count – and it would have, but he missed some paperwork. This resulted in an email from the TSPC in early December informing him of the missing requirements. Mr. Stafford confesses it was entirely his fault that this slipped through his inbox unnoticed. The last week before winter break, his license expired, and he was told that he could no longer teach at Westview High School.

The state standards are one issue (it’s ironic because he has a Law Degree and is already technically better educated than 90% of district employees). Mr. Stafford was aware of them, though, and confesses the slip-up was his fault. However, when he asked to take an unpaid leave for the month of January to make up the credits so he could be back for second semester, he was met with opposition from the school and district. There is apparently a policy that district employees be terminated after one week of unpaid leave. This leaves him with two choices: forced retirement, or “termination,” two options not worthy of a dedicated educator who has done so much for this school and its students. 

So in the end it appears that it’s up to the district administration. It’s unlikely the state will want to entertain an appeal for an emergency license, but the district definitely could choose to extend Mr. Stafford’s leave so he has a chance to come back next semester. The district needs an outside push though, and that’s where we come in. 

We need to show the Westview and Beaverton School District administrators that keeping Mr. Stafford is the right decision for students. We are honestly lucky to have him (he’s even turned down more financially-attractive offers to stay with us). There is a district board meeting on Monday, January 13th from 6:30 to 8:00, and I want to PACK THE ROOM. We’ll have student speakers using public comment time to make a unified statement, and overall we want to show that Stafford has huge support from within the student body. We also want to get as many signatures possible on this petition in order to represent the students who can't make it to the meeting.

If you feel Mr. Stafford has made a positive impact in your life, if you appreciate him as an educator, or if you simply want to stand up against this bureaucratic BS, it’s time to give back. Mr. Stafford made a human error, which is understandable, but there’s nothing human about a bureaucracy whose “rules are rules” policy lets a teacher like this slip through the cracks. He may have missed an email, but meanwhile he was busy consistently getting some of the best AP scores in the building and using his own time and money to take Mock Trial on educational retreats. Personally, I credit him with my academic success in high school and for inspiring my passion for politics. There should be an exception for Mr. Stafford because he is an exceptional teacher. It’s as simple as that.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.