Highland Hall calls the cops on Pete!

I was contacted yesterday by a detective regarding one of my more sinister
comments regarding Highland Hall. Now that they realize my lawsuit is REAL, I'm
guessing they want to get as much on me as possible "on the record".

Highland Hall, I suggest you copy my entire blog. I'll be adding more to it
soon as I'm scanning documents for the lawsuit. My case against Highland Hall
is out there for everyone to see... (even the police).

The phone call went fine, BTW... please don't worry about me anyone... I get the
feeling the cops sympathize with me. One of the detectives who, after fighting
me initially saw how devoted I am as a father, told me "don't you EVER stop!" -
I've never forgotten this... as it gave me the confidence to face the judge in
court and get the bullshit restraining orders (not to mention minor's counsel)
removed. Since then I've made nothing but steady progress toward restoring my
daughters health and well-being. (Thank you Peggy)

As for Highland Hall... they should know I think the demise of their school is a
foregone conclusion at this point. They can barely fill their classrooms now...
the lawsuit will be their death knell. I'm focusing on the REST of Waldorf now,
in case they haven't noticed... and I'm going after the charter school system
AND AWSNA. One could say, I've got bigger fish to fry...

It was early one morning in the month of May

Friends,

Many 5th grade parents have, by now, received an ominous phone call from someone on the Crisis committee letting us know that Mrs. Leonard will not be in on Thursday and Friday.  Some of us got no explanation, others got the explanation that Mrs. Leonard is perhaps exhausted or tired and needed a rest.  For some of us, the fact that the Crisis committee was making the call was a sign that something was amiss.  Indeed, something was.

As this mailing is going out to some people who didn't receive my mailing last night, I will reprint the song Mrs. Leonard's handed out to the children in her class at the end of this letter.  At least one parent contacted Mrs. Leonard and asked her to please collect this song from the children as it seemed inappropriate.  In last night's email, I distributed the song to other parents of the class so that they might be aware of the material that was given to their children and make their own decision about its appropriateness.  I also directed the letter to Ed Eadon, some faculty members, college members and board members.

It turns out that today, Mrs. Leonard chose to SING the song to the children in her class.  I can't imagine what would compel her to do this - defiance, perhaps, or another case of poor judgement on her part, but in any case, clearly she had yet another opportunity to pause before exposing our children to this material and chose not to, this time after having received objections from some of the parents.  I believe she willfully and arrogantly exposed our children to this material. 

I try to have an open mind about most things but I find the contents and tone of the song below disturbing especially in light of the recent issues involving Mrs. Leonard's reading of other inappropriate material to the children of her class.  While these types of songs were, perhaps, acceptable in the 19th century, they certainly don't have a place in schools of today.  This particular song introduces themes of male dominance over women through violence and murder and the mutilation and dismemberment of a woman's body.  I find it distressing that these are similar themes to the ones contained in the material for which Mrs. Leonard was supposedly reprimanded recently.

Highland Hall has had ample and repeated opportunities to take action regarding this issue.  Instead they continue to characterize Mrs. Leonard's regular behavior as "atypical".  The only thing that would be "atypical" in this case would be if Highland Hall admitted openly that they have made a mistake and terminated Mrs. Leonard.  For that would be the right thing to do, and for Highland Hall, doing the right thing, the thing that puts the children above all else, is behavior that, sadly, is "atypical".  

I pray for Mrs. Leonard and hope she gets the help she so desperately needs.

Pete Karaiskos

Here are the lyrics to the song Mrs. Leonard sang to our children today:

It was early one morning in the month of May

Oh the wind and the rain

Two lovers went walking on a hot summer's day

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

He said to the lady "won't you marry me"

Oh the wind and the rain

"And my little wife you'll always be"

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around

Oh the wind and the rain

Then he knocked her down and he kicked her around

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

He hit her in the head with a battering ram

Oh the wind and the rain

He hit her in the head with a battering ram

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

He threw her in the river to drown

Oh the wind and the rain

He threw her in the river to drown

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

He watched her as she floated down

Oh the wind and the rain

He watched her as she floated down

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

She floated on down to the miller's millstream

Oh the wind and the rain

He watched her as she floated down

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

The miller fished her out with a long fishing pole

Oh the wind and the rain

The miller fished her out with a long fishing pole

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones

Oh the wind and the rain

He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair

Oh the wind and the rain

He made a fiddle bow of her long curly hair

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

The only tune that fiddle would play was

Oh the wind and the rain

The only tune that fiddle would play was

A crying the dreadful wind and rain

The Story of Geb

INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL - NOT FOR CHILDREN

Friends,

Below is the text of the Egyptian story that Mrs. Leonard read to our children.  I feel that it is every parent's right and responsibility to know what their child has been exposed to so that they can address issues or be watchful for problems with regard to their child.  Accordingly, it is the school's responsibility to make this information available to the parents.  Yet Highland Hall's administration has kept this information from me even though I requested it on five different occasions.  I finally received a copy of this story from another parent, not from Highland Hall.  It occurs to me, especially after reading the March 4th letter from the Evaluation committee and the March 5th letter commending Mrs. Leonard on her fine work, that other parents may not have had the opportunity to read the story below. 

***

GEB

Geb, the grandson of Atum, was the Earth God; his sister, Nut, was his counterpart as the Sky Goddess.  He was often depicted as a recumbent male figure lying beneath a woman, who is Nut.  Sometimes he appears as a goose; at other times, as a goose-headed man, or a man carrying a goose on his head.  In predynastic times, he was probably worshipped in the form of a sacred goose.

            It is perhaps surprising that Geb, the Earth God par excellence, should be male in gender.  In most cultures, the earth, the bringer forth of vegetation and living things, is regarded as female: Mother Earth.  In at least one place, his shrine at Bata in Heliopolis, Geb was worshipped as a bisexual god and credited with having laid the Great Egg from which the sun emerged at the dawn of time in the form of the Benu Bird (p. 47).  One of Geb's epithets was 'The Great Cackler', a reference to the cackle he gave as he produced this Egg.

            The Phakussa Stele (p. 52) tells of how Geb fell in love with his mother, Tefnut.  He yearned for her and wandered about the land in great distress until the day that his father, Shu, departed the earth.  On that day, Geb came upon his mother, Tefnut, in the palace of Shu at Memphis.  He seized hold of her with great violence and raped her.

            Geb does not seem to have been punished for the rape of his mother.  Instead, he became King of Egypt in his father's palace, and reigned successfully for many years.  He was given the title, unique to him, of Iry-paat-neteru or 'Heir of the Gods'.  Geb named as his heir his eldest son, Orisis, who thus became the first of many Kings, both mythological and human, to sit upon the Egyptian thrown, known as 'the Throne of Geb'; and the first to hold the title 'Heir of Geb', which was later borne by the mortal Kings of Egypt.

***

I can see now why my daughter felt so violated by Mrs. Leonard after being exposed to this story which is clearly not meant for children.  As I read it for the first time, I too felt violated - that Mrs. Leonard, a trusted person would not have the good sense to stop reading this to my child.  Clearly, during the reading of the story above, there were many places where anyone reading it to children might have taken pause to read ahead.  That someone of responsibility could read this in its complete form to 11-year-olds one day and be commended by the school on the next day is beyond belief.  Two years ago, after the Wendy Wilkins incident, I came to terms with the fact that Jeffrey Wilkins was a disturbed teenage boy who could and should be forgiven for his verbal sexual abuse of our children.  But Mrs. Leonard is not a disturbed 15 year old, she is an influential adult teacher at this school who is entrusted with the wellbeing of our children.  I do not easily forgive her for this, the most recent of many lapses of judgement.  I also hold Highland Hall  accountable for why this issue is not being dealt with more severly AND why covering up the incident is still the primary focus of their behavior.  Perhaps it's time for a lesser-known quote from our friend, Rudolf Steiner:

"We tried to be aware how far our present civilization is removed from the search for the truth.  We may say that the times are crying out for the spirit but that people are too arrogant or narrow-minded to search for the true spirit with a real will.  The degree of truthfulness which is essential if we are to perceive what the spirit has to say needs to be taught and developed.  Such truthfulness is not to be found in the educated world today, and, what is worse, people do not realize that it is lacking."  Rudolf Steiner - The Fifth Gospel

Here's one not by Steiner:

The Devil's greatest trick was convincing the world he doesn't exist.

Friends, please join me in calling for light in the darkness that has, once again, shrouded Highland Hall.  Truth and openness are nothing to be feared.  Deceit and misdirection are not the tools of honest people.

Pete Karaiskos

Parent Recommendations for Highland Hall

June 26, 2001

College of Teachers & Board of Directors                                              DRAFT

Highland Hall Waldorf School

17100 Superior St.

Northridge, CA 91325

Dear Members of the College & Board:

On Friday, June 22, 2001, we participated in (or have been told about) a meeting held at school that covered many difficult issues surrounding actual and potential exposure to inappropriate/harassing sexual commentary and propositions that a number of the children at our school experienced from Jeffrey Wilkins, the teenage son of then 3^rd Grade Teacher, Wendy Wilkins.  It is our understanding that Ms. Wilkins will no longer be teaching at Highland Hall and that efforts are being made to help Ms. Wilkins and her son get the professional help that they and their family need.

The meeting lasted four hours and only ended because people became exhausted.  All acknowledged the need to continue to discuss the various issues that these events have raised.  Understanding that the College of Teachers has spent enormous amounts of time and personal energy dealing with this situation, and hearing an appeal for help in leading the community through this difficult time, we have taken it upon ourselves to outline some potential next steps for the College and Board to consider:

1.  Investigation & Discovery and Recovery:  Many people felt that before they would be able to contemplate the future, it is critical to understand more fully what actually happened, to the extent it can be learned.  Also, in order to improve our process for dealing with, and ideally preventing, incidents of this nature, we must understand what was done this time, what reasoning went into the decisions that were made and the results of the choices that we collectively made.

As follow-up to the guidelines suggested by the Valley Trauma Center, we recommend that a meeting be set to which all people who have since spoken with their child and who have direct knowledge concerning incidents involving Jeffrey and their child that could be shared to the benefit of others would be encouraged to attend.  The meeting should be facilitated by the Valley Trauma Center personnel.  The purpose of the meeting would be to create a timeline of events that is as complete and accurate as possible.  These events would include incidents involving Jeffrey, parents notifying school authorities of such incidents, the school’s communication(s) with Ms. Wilkins regarding the situation and any other actions taken in regards to the situation.  People with such direct knowledge who are unable to attend in person would be encouraged to provide whatever information they had to offer in writing prior to the meeting.

In order for the meeting to be most productive and to try and limit the potential for a raging forest fire of hearsay, we suggest that every family and faculty/staff member be sent a letter explaining the purpose of the meeting and a description of the recommended process for discussing the situation with their children.  It would probably make sense to enclose the handout from the Valley Trauma Center.  The emphasis would be on calmly eliciting the facts, reassuring the children if they need to share difficult or embarrassing information and helping the children affirm their own power for any potential future incidents of this nature.  The goal is to avoid the inadvertent creation of misinformation in the quest for the needed information to allow healing to be assisted and improved processes to be developed.

The following people are willing to help with drafting the mailing to the community, arranging the meeting time in coordination with the Valley Trauma Center personnel and arranging the logistics for the meeting:   (please let me know if you would like your name added here)

2.  New 4^th Grade Teacher Search & Future Teacher Searches:   Many parents in the upcoming 4^th Grade feel that it would enhance the process of selecting the next teacher for the class if the College had the benefit of parent opinion, as well as all of the other factors the College takes into consideration when selecting a new teacher.  We recommend that a new Search Advisory Committee be selected by the College from a pool of volunteer parents from throughout the school.  This Advisory Committee would review the resume and any other information available on any teacher candidate under serious consideration by the College, interview the candidate from the perspective of parents, rather than colleagues, and give its impression and any areas of recommended further investigation back to the College as part of the College’s due diligence process.   We would recommend that Advisory Committee members recuse themselves when the teacher candidate is for their own child’s class.

The following people are willing to work with whomever the College mandates to do whatever letter writing, recruiting and other legwork necessary to bring the formation of this committee about:   Alex Wright,  David Cohen (please let me know if you would like your name added here)

3.  Changes to Current Community Practices to Better Protect the Children Under the School’s Care:   In order to realize the opportunity inherent in these unfortunate and painful events, we as a community need to grow and change.  Many questions and ideas have been put forth regarding notification, education, faculty/staff training, etc.  In order for these questions and ideas to be more fully discussed and lead to actual changes in the practices of our school community, we recommend that a committee from the broad community be formed to discuss these issues in depth, solicit ideas from professional resources, such as the Valley Trauma Center and/or other communications facilitators, and discuss with College members what kinds of guidelines and principals govern College decisions.  With this education and opportunity for discussion, the committee would formulate and present recommendations to the Board and College for consideration.

The following people are willing to work with whomever the College mandates to do whatever letter writing to the community and other legwork necessary to bring the formation of this committee about:   Alex Wright,  Lynne Moses (please let me know if you would like your name added here)

We all appreciate that Highland Hall is more than a school, that it is a social community for the families that make up the students, parents, faculty, staff, College and Board of the school.  We also recognize that much of the work that is typically handled by a larger administration in other schools is instead handled by faculty members volunteering to serve on the College at Highland Hall.  Therefore, the work of those in positions of authority in running the school extends far beyond the usual demands of school governance.  For this reason, we recognize that we all need to do our part in bringing about social change and supporting the College and Board in your work.  We sincerely hope that these suggestions are taken in that spirit of responsibility and loving support.

                                    Sincerely,

David Cohen

Ayelet Cohen

Alex Wright

Ben Moses

Lynne Moses

(Please let me know if you would like to add your name here) 

cc:  Parent Association

A Father's :Plea - To Highland Hall Board Member

This was a plea for help to Highland Hall board of trustees member Hal Sazzman.  You can see how desperate I was - begging Highland Hall to stop interfering with my daughter's safety.

Hal,

I'm sorry for involving you in this, but if you're really a friend, please talk with Hasib.  Find out what Angela and Jim have allowed to be done to my daughter.  I have enough on them to have them both thrown in jail along with the 29 year old crystal meth dealer they knowingly allowed {my daughter} to have as a boyfriend.  My daughter has been hooked on crystal meth for over a year.  I saw her Saturday - and I doubt she weighs 80 lbs.

If you still can't tell right from wrong after finding out what Angela and Jim have done to {my daughter}, then something is very wrong.  Again... your words ring in my ears - ENOUGH already!

Please, Hal, work with Hasib.  Help me get {my daughter} away from these two nuts and into rehab without any more interference from Highland Hall.  This is a human plea from one father to another.  Here's why...

So far, Hasib has run interference for Angela.  He won't speak to me unless I threaten him.  He ignored me when I asked for the names of mandated reporters at Highland Hall - when I had to report a crime concerning my OWN DAUGHTER.  I can prove all of this of course.  That's very bad behavior that I'm willing to report to the police.  I'm asking you to intervene before this escalates even further.  I need a responsible person to act as a contact to Highland Hall. 

I would prefer to work with Hasib, but he needs to get out of his denial phase and work positively.  You saw what his denial and refusal to talk with me did over the issue of racism in the classroom, didn't you?  That's still brewing BTW... Now he's trying to come between me and my daughter's safety.  You can imagine, I'm sure, that I'm not about to take much more crap from him before connecting him to this issue.  He did, after all, come in to run interference with me at Jim Pedroja's request.  I'm ready to point all this out to the community as well.  I don't like threats, but Hasib has trained me well - that this is the only thing he responds to - if anything.

Anyway, bottom line is - Highland Hall needs to take responsibility for what has happened to my daughter.  There is WAY too much connecting what happened here throughout her childhood and what has happened since.  {My daughter} needs rehab in a safe facility.  Highland Hall needs to pay for it.  I'd like it to just happen quietly and hopefully you've seen enough by now to know that if it needs to be a community effort, I'll make it one.   I'd prefer that nobody goes to jail over what happened to my daughter... but to be honest, I think a few people should. 

Hasib will probably tell you not to answer me Hal.  All I can say is there is a right side of this issue and a wrong side.  A few people thinking they are defending Angela have been on the wrong side of this issue.  They will, I'm sure, regret it. 

You once confided in me, after a particularly bad display, that Christine Leonard had finally "stepped on her own dick".  Now - Angela has finally done that Hal.  Please help me to get my daughter to safety with as little further incident as possible.  It's in everyone's best interest.

Thanks Hal,


Pete

The Never-Ending Story of ABUSE at Highland Hall

I don't often write directly in my blog about current events, and almost never directly about my daughter.  Lots of people ask me how she's doing now and if she has recovered.

I'm VERY proud of the progress my daughter has made in the last year and a half.  Through tremendous effort and perseverance, I was able to get a judge to order her into a lock-down health care facility out of state.  My daughter was able to turn herself around at that facility and graduated with the highest marks ever recorded there.  She has been released and is living in Colorado, working in clothing sales for Harley Davidson and has been accepted at the University of Colorado.

We had lunch together when she visited California a couple  months ago.  We call and text each other regularly.  I have helped her arrange for residency at the university for next semester... but in the mean time, she has lost her job and is about to be evicted.  It's three months before she's safely in school.

I have a couple of things to say about this.

My daughter is ALWAYS going to suffer over the criminal record she acquired last year.  After securing a restraining order on me, my daughter's mother Angela was supposed to have temporary physical custody of my daughter.  Despite many attempts by me to secure a therapist for my daughter during this time, Angela ensured no therapist could be found that suited her.  Two years went by - during which I continually tried to go through the courts to get the bogus restraining order removed.

Angela, a nursery teacher at Highland Hall, has been living with head administrator of Highland Hall, Jim Pedroja, almost since our divorce began - around 2001.  They were, of course, living together during the time my daughter was in Angela's custody.  By this time, and after years of abuse by her teachers, my daughter was finally out of Highland Hall - thanks to my efforts and the strong support of her therapist.  But with the restraining order in place, and no therapist available to reconcile our relationship (something the court ORDERED) - my daughter had no father in her life.

With no parental guidance, my daughter ended up moving in with a 30 year old meth dealer and pedophile... and not a PEEP out of her mother or Jim Pedroja.  In fact, it appears they supported this relationship - or at the very least, gave up completely on my daughter.  The meth dealer was seen many times, coming in and out of Angela's home at all hours.  The only times Angela showed concern for her daughter was in front of a judge.

So... the inevitable happened... My daughter started overdosing on crystal meth... and ended up in the emergency room - several times.  Her mother tried to cover it up.  MANY people from Highland Hall assisted them in trying to hide my daughter - even tearing down Missing Child posters.  This is all in the court documents elsewhere in this blog so I won't restate everything here... but suffice to say - the responsibility for what happened to my daughter lies clearly on the shoulders of her mother Angela and her boyfriend Jim Pedroja - and indirectly Highland Hall.  There is NO doubt of this.

So - when my daughter calls me now and says she cannot find work... I have to think about that criminal record and who is ultimately responsible for it?  This will follow my daughter around for the rest of her life.  That's something that can be quantified.

Negligence of a child is a terrible thing when it happens in society.  That SCHOOL TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS are guilty of this type of negligence is a travesty.  That they seek to cover it up is a crime.

The abuse of my daughter at Highland Hall led to her eventual brush with the law.  The trail is clear - and the reasons for covering up abuse are OBVIOUS!  This is just ONE MORE THING I hold the monsters at Highland Hall accountable for.

When the jury hands down a reward, I know they will take this into consideration.

Parents don't trust Highland Hall teachers

Highland Hall, after another bout with abuse in 2004, tried to send our kids on an "all-teacher" supervised camping trip.  The parents would have nothing of it.  As it turned out, the poorly-supervised trip yielded the hitchhiking incident I refer to elsewhere in this blog.

 

Letters to Minor's Counsel - 3

Bruce D. Abramson

of Lenske, Lenske & Abramson

re: Dissolution of Karaiskos

Dear Mr. Abramson,

I would like to report a very disturbing phone call I received from {Daughter} on Friday, September 3rd.  {Daughter} had been in the custody of her mother for the entire week.  She called me and when I asked her how she was doing she said "Not so good."  She explained that Highland Hall had refused to re-enroll her and that it is due to my emails criticizing the school.  Then she went on to describe the horrible conditions found in the new public school she is supposed to attend and how horrible it would be if she went to a public school - how she now wants to return to Highland Hall.  She asked me to stop emailing as Highland Hall is taking it out on her.  I explained to her that I have not been issuing any emails regarding Highland Hall.  The fact is, I have not issued any emails since Mrs. Leonard left two weeks before Highland Hall first threatened to expel {Daughter} in June.  {Daughter} went on to say that she knew that the court ordered me to stop emailing but that I am trying to start emailing again and that is why they won't re-enroll her in school.

I believe several disturbing things have occurred while {Daughter} was in the care of her mother: 

1)      Angela has fueled {Daughter}'s fears about attending public school, something {Daughter} embraced a few short months ago.  Fear of public schools is something Waldorf schools regularly instill in parents and students.  During the phone call, {Daughter}'s anxiety regarding pubic school was tremendous.

2)      Angela has been, once again, reading directly to {Daughter} from the court orders and from the  confidential proposed settlement agreement offer I made which was issued by Ms. Adler to Mr. Sobel (in which I stated that I felt the court should allow me the freedom to deal with the school as I have in the past).  This would explain {Daughter}'s comment that she knew the court orders to me but that I am trying to start emailing again.  I have documented cases of Angela reading from court orders to the children in the past and despite direction from the court, she continues to do this.

3)      Angela has, again, tried to drive a wedge between me and {Daughter} AND between me and the school.  Both Angela and the school have blamed {Daughter}'s expulsion on me and, in fact, this is not true.  If I were the problem, my other two children's enrollment would be in jeopardy, but this is not the case and no indication has been made that {Son} or {Son} are affected by my participation at the school EXCEPT that {Daughter} has been told by her mother that if I continue emails, {Son} and {Son} may be expelled.  {Daughter} has taken the additional stress upon herself to ensure that I no longer produce emails about Highland Hall in order to protect her brothers from expulsion. 

4)      It is very likely that {Daughter} has been expelled for reasons other than my email campaign exposing Mrs. Leonard.  Most people I have talked to agree that it was {Daughter}'s own defiance of Mrs. Leonard and the school that have caused her to be expelled.  I am also told that because of Angela's own inappropriate activities at the school, she has made enough enemies that she may have caused this decision or, at least has been unable to reverse this decision. 

5)      I believe Angela has shared the contents of the confidential proposed settlement agreement (mentioned above) with the school.  This would explain the school's reluctance to accept as binding the stipulation that I would abide by the communications protocol. 

After spending only a day with me, {Daughter} felt much better about attending public school - not through anything I said to her, but just by being away from Angela's influence.  I believe Angela is doing anything she can, regardless of the emotional torment she is causing, to distance me from these children and from their school.  She wants me out of her life and out of the children's lives - this is clear.  She intentionally misrepresented to you my relationship with the school and my participation in the children's extracurricular activities in hopes that she would gain autonomy over their schooling.  I feel the needless anxiety she has put {Daughter} through regarding pubic school is shameful and harmful.  I feel that exposing {Daughter} to court documents or their contents is absolutely inappropriate.

Just to be clear, I have only just found out (from {Daughter}'s telephone call on September 3rd) that {Daughter} will not be allowed to attend Highland Hall.  Up until this time Angela has indicated that {Daughter} will be attending Highland Hall and I have worked under this assumption.  As this new development is now extremely stressful for her, and as you have indicated that she should attend Highland Hall if possible, I have worked behind the scenes and called in favors with a few influential people at Highland Hall to see if this decision can be reversed so that {Daughter} can have the option of attending.  I have been informed tonight (Monday) that this can be accomplished and that the likelihood of her being accepted is very high. 

Bruce, please know that I am absolutely devoted to the children's well-being.  It is difficult for me to continually point out problems with Angela's parenting to the court, but I believe Angela is putting stress on {Daughter} with her actions and with her own fears of public schools.  Your intervention on {Daughter}'s behalf is requested to ensure that Angela discontinues sharing legal and confidential information with {Daughter}.

Thank you.


Sincerely,


Pete Karaiskos

Letters to Minor's Counsel - 1

Bruce D. Abramson

of Lense, Lense & Abramson

re: Dissolution of Karaiskos 

Dear Mr. Abramson,

I am in receipt a copy of Mr. Sobel's letter to you dated July 2, 2004.  I can confirm for you that I am indeed the author of the "open letter response" to Highland Hall that was posted on the openwaldorf.com website.  I signed the letter with my full name.  Furthermore, I can confirm Mr. Sobel's assumption that posts to that site by the author "PK" are, indeed, posts authored by me.

Of course you are free to draw your own conclusions regarding the posts I have made to this website.  I would like to point out, however, that in the topic Mr. Sobel references "Atlantis Coloring Book and Other WMDs", (a title that is, for those of us who know Waldorf practices, sarcastic in nature as Waldorf schools don't permit coloring books and discourage their use by children) my comments are absolutely constructive.  In many topics, including the Highland Hall area (listed under West Coast Schools) I have made many constructive comments and also some intended to initiate reform.  I have recapitulated my concerns dating back to the year 2001 in evidence of the fact that Highland Hall has been consistently unwilling to undergo a self-examination of its policies to the detriment of the children who attend school there.  Please, evaluate every comment by me and by others (especially two former Waldorf teachers "nmfoss" and "bdandje") as well as the many articles and references (links) to other websites that both support and critique Waldorf education.  It serves your clients well for you to get a clear picture of the environment they are in.

In the course of posting about Highland Hall specifically, I have received many private emails from parents who support my efforts.  More disturbingly, now that parents have become aware of my experiences with Highland Hall, parents have stepped forward to relate experiences involving their own children.  I am reluctant to provide these to you in any form other than a sealed document for your review only as these were intended to be private correspondences.  Some parents may choose to make their experiences public as they seem to be heartened by my courage to speak out.  I have found out about the experiences of other parents at Highland Hall only by circumventing the communications protocol restrictions and by participating in this open forum.  Highland Hall has gone to great lengths to discourage open discussion and to isolate parents in order to protect themselves from criticism they truly deserve.  

Some of the more disturbing reports I have read describe events some of which took place concurrent with events involving my own children.  The reports include two incidents of teachers having sexual relations and intercourse with students - one with a minor student, one with a student when she turned 18, several incidents of sexual harassment and threats by teachers and staff, at least two incidents of inappropriate physical (sexual) touching by a teacher, incidents of coercion to suppress testimony by children, incidents of failure to maintain the confidentiality of a minor and (and in fact publicizing information to the minor's peers), one incident of a teacher at the school being arrested for possession of child pornography and several instances when mandatory reporters failed to (and apparently conspired not to) contact authorities after repeated reports of inappropriate predatory activity by a teacher - instead choosing to badger, ostracize and belittle the students into reversing their testimony.  None of the above references are to any of the events I have already described regarding {Daughter}'s teacher, Mrs. Leonard who displayed similar behavior, or {Son}'s former teacher, Ms. Wilkins whose pedophile son was permitted to roam freely through the school and had regular unsupervised contact with {Son} and {Daughter}.  I believe the cloak of secrecy that envelopes Highland Hall allows (and perhaps invites) child predators to interact with children freely with the knowledge that their activities will be difficult to discover and in all likelyhood covered up out of the school's own desire for self-preservation and their need to misdirect public attention.  In many cases, people who have behaved improperly have been (and in some cases still are) supported by the school.

I expect criminal and civil action to be forthcoming against Highland Hall as more and more parents compare notes and more the truth about Highland Hall's behavior is revealed.  It is not my intention or desire to tear down a good school - it is my hope to expose a bad one for what it is.  It is clear to me that Highland Hall is an unsafe environment, not only because of a few "bad apples" (if sexual predators and child abusers can be characterized as such) but because of the schools initial response in each and every case to cover up the inappropriate and illegal behavior of their teachers and staff.  Even if none of what has been reported to me is true (although I have confirmed many of these reports from other sources), what I have witnessed personally is enough to give me considerable concern about this school. 

Mr. Sobel states "I do wish to express the concern of Ms. Karaiskos that {Daughter}, and probably the other children, are being involved in these matters to an inappropriate extent and in an inappropriate manner."  This is the rare occasion that I can wholeheartedly agree with Angela.  I can say with confidence that I am extremely concerned that the children are being involved to an inappropriate extent and in an inappropriate manner not by my critique of the school, but simply by their attendance at this school.  It is almost certain that discussions to discredit me in the eyes of my children have transpired at the school and at their mother's home, that innuendos and inappropriate commentary have reached their ears.  Lately, the children seem to be angry at me for no apparent reason other than the stress of conflict over what they have been told and what they know to be true. 

Certainly, the school has a history of dealing with troublesome parents discrediting them and by punishing their children.  In {Daughter}'s case this was evident and when the school realized they couldn't stop my emails  even with threats of lawsuits and arrest, they called me to inform me that {Daughter} may be forced to spend one or more days in the hot sun gardening as a punishment for "her" behavior.  If this type of action is appropriate for their school, they shouldn't be concerned when I discuss it in a public forum.

I would like to turn your attention to the wording of the letter from Highland Hall dated June 24, 2005.  I believe it exposes an intention that directly affects your clients.  The wording is in the last paragraph "Our decision only applies to {Daughter} and next year's sixth grade class."  What I am reading here is that this expulsion only applies for a year.  While on the surface this seems inconsequential as {Daughter} has expressed a desire to leave the school anyway, I am of the belief that {Daughter}'s mother will try to block efforts by me to put {Daughter} in a good public school in a safe school district where {Daughter} is likely to thrive and be happy.  I sadly believe it serves Angela's interests to have {Daughter} experience a difficult year in public school in hopes that she may change her mind and again return to the school of Angela's choice, Highland Hall.  To that end, Angela, I believe, will insist that {Daughter} attend school in an area close to Highland Hall in the difficult LAUSD.  This would not be in {Daughter}'s best interests as a school in a safer school district would be far more beneficial to her and would allow her to begin healing from the previous year's stressful situations.  I would hope you consider this possibility in any decisions you make regarding {Daughter}'s placement in public school if it is your intention to allow this.

It almost goes without saying that the entire letter from Highland Hall was intended to provoke a response from me.  It simply could have read "The College of Highland Hall Waldorf School has decided that the school cannot re-enroll {Daughter} for the 2004-2005 school year.  Please contact us if you feel you would like to discuss this matter in detail."  Instead, they chose to indict me about my "behavior" and activities.  I have no control over what Highland Hall does, what they write or how they behave.  I can only bring it to people's attention.  My troubles with Highland Hall will continue as long as they behave unprofessionally, immorally and illegally and in a way that is damaging to children - not just my own, but all children.  I hold out no hope that any of that will change despite my efforts to work toward a positive and productive reform of the school.  I understand that this makes it difficult for the school and for my children.  My parental obligation is to ensure that my kids are safe, not just physically but emotionally and psychologically.  My moral obligation is to expose Highland Hall to other parents whose children might be placed there.  I don't believe Highland Hall provides a healthy environment for my children and as long as they are there, it will be my responsibility to ensure their safety.  I don't trust Highland Hall because they have repeatedly lied not just to me but to many, many parents.  They have coerced children (even my own) through ridicule, fear and punishment.  They have avoided and conspired to avoid the state-mandated reporting that is in place to protect children.  It is my hope that you will clarify and support the need for healthy communications on both sides of this issue if any of the children are required to remain there.

In another communication you have asked for a response from me as to where I am considering moving to.  It is yet unclear if any funds will be released for me to spend on housing or moving expenses and I am guessing some court action will have to transpire before I am able to determine if I am buying or renting and whether I will be able to afford a home or an apartment or which areas will be affordable to me.  Keeping in mind that proximity to the children's school and friends is important but also that I have family (including the children's elderly grandmother) near my current home and that most of my established clients are also near my current home, the location I am most interested in is Simi Valley.  It is one of the safest cities in the world and is a 10 minute drive from Highland Hall and not too far from the children's friends, my established business contacts and the children's extended family.  This would appear to have the benefit of good proximity to the school and a clean, safe living environment not commonly found in the San Fernando Valley.  Housing is not particularly expensive and public schools in the area are very good.  I have discussed this area with the kids and we are in agreement that this would be acceptable.    

When we last spoke, you asked me to prepare several custody schedules for consideration.  As Highland Hall school has taken action against {Daughter}, some of the custody schedules I prepared are now rendered irrelevant, however I have prepared two proposed custody arrangements for the condition of 1 or more children attend Highland Hall and two for the condition of all three children attend public school.  I would like to fax them to you directly if possible.  The children have expressed to me a preference for schedules of one week with each parent without regard to birthdays, holidays and so forth - each parent driving the children to and from social events during their custody time.  I have tried to adjust my home relocation plans to accommodate their wishes. 

For the proposals in which the children attend public school, I have indicated shared legal custody would be appropriate.  For the proposals in which any of the children attend Highland Hall, I have asked for full legal custody.  I have done this out of necessity for the children's well-being and not out of any selfishness or presumed ulterior motives to remove them from the school.  I feel that enough evidence has surfaced regarding Highland Hall's actions to legitimize my request for full legal custody.  I will promise to respect the wishes of any of my children who choose to attend Highland Hall but would like the legal right to act unilaterally on their behalf if they decide not to attend this school as I am certain their mother would block any attempts by them to leave.  I feel that their mother's connection with Highland Hall, her job status and her belief system as an Anthroposophist precludes her from taking legitimate action on behalf of her children against Highland Hall. 

For the children to attend Highland Hall, I would request assurances from the school that both {Daughter} and I would be permitted to attend regular school events and functions as we have in the past, and that threats of arrest against me would cease.  I have never been confrontational, only outspoken, but if I ever do something that warrants arrest, they have the right and obligation to have me arrested - threatening arrest is immature and serves no purpose other than to generate gossip and rumors that my children eventually hear.  I would expect teachers to contact me directly when my children are not doing well in school and initially I would contact the teachers directly when I feel a problem has surfaced.  I would expect communications with administrators and faculty to be non-confrontational and professional.  I feel these are reasonable requests and expectations that would be at the forefront of working toward a positive experience for the children. 

Thank you, sir, for your work with the children.  As you are aware, this has been a difficult time for them and you have empowered them to make their desires known.  I very much appreciate this.

Sincerely,


Pete Karaiskos

Racism Conference Emails

Email Communications about:

Meetings regarding the teaching of Racism as physiology to Pete’s Child

My son was taught a very disturbing lesson in physiology class by Merrily Lovell.  He reported to me that he was taught that “the blood of Europeans is more evolved than the blood of Africans and Asians”.  Karen Grant, my son's sponsor, explained this to me as “Out of Africa Theory”.  She needs to read about what Out of Africa theory says. Then she said none of the children took anything racist away from that lesson (as if she knew).  I had already been posting my experience on Openwaldorf.com.   In an attempt to stop me from posting more about this, Karen Grant agreed to meet with me to discuss the lesson that was taught to my son and the possibility of racism surfacing Waldorf education.  I found out later, the only reason we were talking was to keep me from posting on Openwaldorf.com.  Naturally, they didn’t want any part of these exchanges posted... but I felt some of the points they raised were worth noting.  Anyway... The following email exchanges give you an idea of how it went.

From: Pete Karaiskos

To: Karen Grant

Subject: Meeting

Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 11:30:12 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Karen,

We talked about having a meeting together.  I'm wondering if you are still interested in having this and when it might be, and who might attend.  As I'm not particularly interested in attending any of the Essential Conversations (I don't think they are all that productive for me), I'm thinking this more private meeting might be worthwhile and a reasonable substitute.  I have two people in mind that I would like to ask to participate.

Thanks Karen,

Pete

Response from Karen Grant: 10/22/2004

Pete, I look forward to a meeting.  My schedule is kind of extreme right now because I have a particularly heavy teaching load and the 8th grade interviews have begun during the main lesson time.  I can meet on Thursday and Friday afternoons from 2:30 until about 4:30.  Are the two people you have in mind available during those times?  I guess I was thinking maybe Janet Knight would be helpful, though I'm not sure she could meet before 3:30 on either of those days.  Let me know what you think and if you're available at either of those times.  I could meet next week. Karen

From: Pete Karaiskos

To: Karen Grant

Subject: Our conference

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:07:58 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Karen,

I tried calling you this evening but missed you.  I was out of town all day yesterday.  I was hoping to have our conference tomorrow, Thursday at 2:30 as you suggested.  I have asked Alex Houghton and Dr. Knight if they wouldn't mind attending and both have agreed.  If this is too short notice, we could shoot for Friday afternoon instead.  Please let me know.

Thank you.

Pete

Response from Karen Grant: 10/28/2004 6:22am

Pete, This isn't much notice, but I'm pretty sure I can clear my calendar.  I'll call you at 11:30 if I can't do it; otherwise let's plan on having the meeting today at 2:30.  Karen

Meeting ensued that day.

Email from Karen Grant: 10/28/2004 7:26pm

Pete, Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed our meeting today.  You brought up some good points, and I'm eager to share them with Lynn, Martina, and Bari.  I appreciate so much your willingness to come to the table.  I do understand, better than before the meeting, what your concerns are.  Give me a chance to read through the Internet papers you gave me, and then we can reschedule another meeting.  If you think of anything else you'd like me to think about before the next meeting, just email me.  Also, if you'd like another meeting before I contact you, just let me know.  Karen

From: Pete Karaiskos

To: Karen Grant

Subject: openwaldorf

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 13:16:15 -0800 (PST)

Hi Karen,

I know you've probably been too busy to nose through the stack of papers I gave you at our meeting, but as the thread I gave you had been dead for some time, and I realized this topic is still meaningful, I decided to add a few comments to it to see if anyone else is still interested in discussing it.  I mentioned your comment about Waldorf traditions vs Anthroposophy.  The link below will bring you to the last page of the thread, if you are interested.

http://p087.ezboard.com/fopenwaldorffrm12.showMessageRange?topicID=3.topic&start=181&stop=194

Warm wishes,

Pete

Response from Karen Grant: 11/3/2004 5:39am

 Dear Pete,

     I appreciate your email letting me know that you had added more to the openwaldorf site.  I was surprised and disappointed, as I thought you had answered in the affirmative at our meeting when I asked you to stay off for awhile as we tried to work directly to answer your questions.  I guess I can talk to Alex and Jimmy to see how I misread your intention.  Perhaps you weren't happy or trustful of my answers, but I had hoped that you would keep the conversations in our meetings between you and me, and Alex and Jimmy, who you had invited.  I must admit, I felt betrayed to find my ideas represented by you on this site, even though you didn't use my name.  I feel like I should be able to represent myself if I want to, which I don't.  Anyway, I don't know exactly how to move forward now.  What do you think?

Sincerely, Karen

Nov 5, 2004 – I emailed Karen to ask about my son’s homework.  She added the following to her response:

Email from Karen Grant: Nov 6, 2004

Pete, Here's the email Christine sent back to me regarding Nick's homework.  I also want to let you know that I have begun speaking to the staff in admissions and outreach, and so far I've experienced only openness to your concerns, so that gives me some encouragement, and I hope it does the same for you.  I just wanted to let you know that we do have two classes occurring weekly on campus for parents who are interested in what lies behind Waldorf education.  These classes are announced weekly in the Lunchbox Express and are open to any interested parents.  Well, now I must begin correcting papers.  Let me know if you need anything else.  Karen

***Karen Grant tries to get me to join a Waldorf study group... and basically blows me off...

From: Pete Karaiskos

To: Karen Grant,  "Dr. James Knight",  Alex Houghton

Subject: Next meeting?

Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:27:18 -0800 (PST)

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if we are moving forward with another meeting.  I felt like there was some good progress made last time and that we should meet again if everyone is still interested.  I would love to have Martina, Lynn and Bari join us.

Pete

 

 11/11/2004 two positive replies:

Alex Houghton: Hi, Whenever everyone's ready, I'm there.  Alex

J. Marshall Knight: Hello, I am also hoping there will be a next meeting. I feel there is much to be accomplished when "good" and "right thinking" people commune together. Please let's continue.  J. Marshall Knight

Reply from Karen Grant: 11/11/2004

Pete, I have made some progress; Bari gave me a name of someone I can contact re: the spiritual aspects.  I have not had time to contact him.  I am absolutely overwhelmed with work right now.  I have many papers and tests to grade before I write grades on the one main lesson and two track classes I taught in the first nine weeks.  This work takes me approximately one hour per student, so 55 hours in addition to my regular work must be done before next weekend.  I think we may have to wait until after the Thanksgiving break.  I'm sorry, but I don't know what else to do.  Karen

Steiner Quotes - The Jews, Racial Progression, Blood and the Future

The Jews

"It certainly cannot be denied that Jewry today still behaves as a closed totality, and as such it has frequently intervened in the development of our current state of affairs in a way that is anything but favorable to European ideas of culture. But Jewry itself has long since outlived its time; it has no more justification within the modern life of peoples, and the fact that it continues to exist is a mistake of world history whose consequences are unavoidable. We do not mean the forms of the Jewish religion alone, but above all the spirit of Jewry, the Jewish way of thinking." (Steiner, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Literatur p. 152)

"Thus the greatest tragedy of this 20th century [World War I] has come from what the Jews are also striving for. And one can say that since everything the Jews have done can now be done consciously by all people, the best thing that the Jews could do would be to disappear into the rest of humankind, to blend in with the rest of humankind, so that Jewry as a people would simply cease to exist. That is what would be ideal. This ideal is still opposed, even today, by many Jewish habits - and above all by the hatred of other people. That is what must be overcome." (Steiner, Die Geschichte der Menschheit und die Weltanschauungen der Kulturvölker p. 189)

"Today all aspects of the Jews are dominated by racial qualities. Above all they marry among themselves. They see the racial qualities, not the spiritual. And this is what must be said in reply to the question: has the Jewish people fulfilled its mission within the evolution of human knowledge? It has fulfilled it; for in earlier times one single people was needed to bring about a certain monotheism. But today spiritual insight itself is necessary. Therefore this mission has been fulfilled. And therefore this Jewish mission as such, as a Jewish mission, is no longer necessary in evolution; instead the only proper thing would be for the Jews to blend in with the other peoples and disappear into the other peoples." (Steiner, Die Geschichte der Menschheit und die Weltanschauungen der Kulturvölker p. 190)

"Actual antisemitism is not the cause of this Jewish hypersensitivity, but rather the false image of the anti-Jewish movement invented by overwrought imaginations. Anyone who has dealt with Jews knows how deep runs the tendency to create such an image, even among the best members of their nation. Mistrust toward non-Jews has completely taken over their souls. [. . .] I consider the antisemites to be harmless people. The best of them are like children. They want something to blame for their woes. [. . .] Much worse than the antisemites are the heartless leaders of the Jews who are tired of Europe, Herzl and Nordau. They exaggerate an unpleasant childishness into a world-historical trend; they pretend that a harmless squabble is a terrible roar of cannons. They are seducers and tempters of their people." (Steiner, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kultur- und Zeitgeschichte pp. 198-200 [1897])

"...the Jahve forces from the moon sphere meet and cooperate with the Mars spirits and thus a special kind of modification arises, namely, the Semitic race. Here is the occult explanation for the origin of the Semites. The Semitic people are an example of a modification of collective humanity. Jahve or Jehovah shuts himself off from the other Elohim and invests this people with a special character by cooperating with the Mars spirits, in order to bring about a special modification of his people. You will now understand the peculiar character of the Semitic people and its mission."(Steiner, The Mission of Folk Souls p. 105)

"[Jesus felt]: All the forces of soul which I believed had been bestowed upon me lead only to the realisation that in the evolution of the Jewish people there is no longer the capacity to reach the heights of Divine revelations." (Steiner, 1913, The Fifth Gospel. (1913) Trans. C. Davy & D.S. Osmond. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1968. p. 67)

Progression through the Races

"The relation between soul-development and race-development is preserved to us in a wonderful myth. Let us imagine race following race, civilization following civilization. The soul going through its earth mission in the right way is incarnated in a certain race; it strives upward in this race, and acquires the capacities of this race in order next time to be incarnated in a higher one. Only the souls which sink in the race and do not work out of the physical materiality, are held back in the race by their own weight, as one might say. They appear a second time in the same race and eventually a third time in bodies in similarly formed races. Such souls hold back the bodies of the race. This has been wonderfully described in a legend. We know, indeed, that man progresses further in the fulfillment of the mission of the earth by following the great Leaders of humanity who point out the goals to be attained; if he rejects them, if he does not follow them, he must remain behind with his race, for he cannot then get beyond it. Let us think of a personality who has the good fortune to meet a great Leader of humanity, let us suppose such a personality confronting Christ Jesus himself, for example; he sees how all his deeds are evidence for leading humanity forward, but he will have nothing to do with this progress, he rejects the Leader of humanity. Such a personality, such a soul would be condemned to remain in the race. If we follow this thought to its conclusion such a soul would have to appear again and again in the same race, and we have the legend of Ahasuerus who had to appear in the same race again and again because he rejected Christ Jesus. Great truths concerning the evolution of humanity are placed before us in such a legend as this." (Rudolf Steiner, The Apocalypse of St. John, pp. 80-81)

"Each person proceeds through race after race. Those that are young souls incarnate in the races that have remained behind on earlier racial levels. In this way, the races and souls that live around us take on a physical and spiritual structure. Everything makes sense, everything becomes clear and explicable. We are moving closer and closer to the solution of this puzzle and we can realize that in the future we will have other epochs to go through, we will have other paths to follow than the ones made by race. We must be clear about the difference between soul development and racial development. Our own souls once lived within the Atlantean race, and they then developed themselves upward to a higher race. That gives us an image of the evolution of humankind up until our time. In this way we can comprehend how to justify the principle, the core principle of universal brotherhood without regard to race, color, status, and so forth. I will explain this thought in particular later. Today I simply wanted to show how the same essence appears in different forms, and in fact in a much more correct sense than natural science would have us believe. Our souls march from one level to the next, which is to say from one race to the next, and we come to know the meaning of humanity when we examine these races." (Steiner, Die Welträtsel und die Anthroposophie pp. 153-4)

"For peoples and races are but steps leading to pure humanity. A race or a nation stands so much the higher, the more perfectly its members express the pure, ideal human type, the further they have worked their way from the physical and perishable to the supersensible and imperishable. The evolution of man through the incarnations in ever higher national and racial forms is thus a process of liberation. Man must finally appear in harmonious perfection." (Steiner, Knowledge of Higher Worlds p. 207)

"You might now be inclined to say: Is it not an extremely bitter thought that whole bodies of peoples remain immature and do not develop their capacities; that only a small group becomes capable of providing the germ for the next civilization? This thought will no longer disquiet you if you distinguish between race-development and individual soul-development, for no soul is condemned to remain in one particular race. The race may fall behind; the community of people may remain backward, but the souls progress beyond the several races. If we wish to form a true conception of this we must say that all the souls now living in bodies in civilized countries were formerly incarnated in Atlantean bodies. A few developed there in the requisite manner, and did not remain in Atlantean bodies. As they had developed further they could become the souls of the bodies which had also progressed further. Only the souls which as souls had remained backward had to take bodies which as bodies had remained at a lower stage. If all the souls had progressed, the backward races would either have decreased very much in population, or the bodies would be occupied by newly incoming souls at a low stage of development. For there are always souls which can inhabit backward bodies. No soul is bound to a backward body if it does not bind itself to it." (Steiner, The Apocalypse of St. John p. 80)

"People who listen to the great leaders of humankind, and preserve their soul with its eternal essence, reincarnate in an advanced race; in the same way he who ignores the great teacher, who rejects the great leader of humankind, will always reincarnate in the same race, because he was only able to develop the one form. This is the deeper meaning of Ahasver, who must always reappear in the same form because he rejected the hand of the greatest leader, Christ. Thus each person has the opportunity to become caught up in the essence of one incarnation, to push away the leader of humankind, or instead to undergo the transformation into higher races, toward ever higher perfection. Races would never become decadent, never decline, if there weren't souls that are unable to move up and unwilling to move up to a higher racial form. Look at the races that have survived from earlier eras: they only exist because some souls could not climb higher." (Steiner, Das Hereinwirken geistiger Wesenheiten in den Menschen p. 174)

The "Aryan" Race

"The ancestors of the Atlanteans lived in a region which has disappeared, the main part of which lay south of contemporary Asia. In theosophical writings they are called the Lemurians. After they had passed through various stages of development the greatest part of them declined. These became stunted men, whose descendants still inhabit certain parts of the earth today as so-called savage tribes. Only a small part of Lemurian humanity was capable of further development. From this part the Atlanteans were formed. Later, something similar again took place. The greatest part of the Atlantean population declined, and from a small portion are descended the so-called Aryans who comprise present-day civilized humanity. According to the nomenclature of the science of the spirit, the Lemurians, Atlanteans and Aryans are root races of mankind." (Steiner, Cosmic Memory pp. 45-46)

Colonization and the Degradation of the Blood

"But all such questions are illuminated as soon as we recognize the nature of the spiritual essence which lies at the back of our blood. Who can deny that this question is closely linked to that of race, which at the present time is once more coming markedly to the front? Yet this question of race is one that we can never understand until we understand the mysteries of the blood and of the results accruing from the mingling of the blood of different races. And finally, there is yet one other question, the importance of which is becoming more and more acute as we endeavor to extricate ourselves from the hitherto aimless methods of dealing with it, and seek to approach it in its more comprehensive bearings. This problem is that of colonisation, which crops up wherever civilised races come into contact with the uncivilised: namely - To what extent are uncivilised peoples capable of becoming civilised? How can a Negro or an utterly barbaric savage become civilised? And in what way ought we to deal with them? And here we have to consider not only the feelings due to a vague morality, but we are also confronted by great, serious, and vital problems of existence itself. Those who are not aware of the conditions governing a people - whether it be on the up- or down-grade of its evolution, and whether the one or the other is a matter conditioned by its blood - such people as these will, indeed, be unlikely to hit on the right mode of introducing civilisation to an alien race. These are all matters which arise as soon as the Blood Question is touched upon." (Steiner, The Occult Significance of Blood p. 13)

Spiritual Politics of the Blood

“The use of the French language quite certainly corrupts the soul. The soul acquires nothing more than the possibility of clichés. Those who enthusiastically speak French transfer that to other languages. The French are also ruining what maintains their dead language, namely, their blood. The French are committing the terrible brutality of moving black people to Europe, but it works, in an even worse way, back on France. It has an enormous effect on the blood and the race and contributes considerably toward French decadence. The French as a race are reverting.” (FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, pp. 558-559.)

The War of the White Race Against Other Races

"White humankind is still on the path of absorbing the spirit deeper and deeper into its own essence. Yellow humankind is on the path of conserving the era when the spirit will be kept away from the body, when the spirit will only be sought outside of the human-physical organization. But the result will have to be that the transition from the fifth cultural epoch to the sixth cultural epoch cannot happen in any other way than as a violent battle of white humankind against colored humankind in myriad areas. And that which precedes these battles between white and colored humankind will occupy world history until the completion of the great battles between white and colored humankind. Future events are frequently reflected in prior events. You see, we stand before something colossal that - when we understand it through spiritual science - we will in the future be able to recognize as a necessary occurrence." (Rudolf Steiner, Die geistigen Hintergründe des Ersten Weltkrieges. Dornach, 1974 (GA 174b) p. 3)

The Highland Hall Community - Deaf Ears?

Here is another correspondence with the Highland Hall community. I have the date for this one listed as July 30, 2006.



Friends,

While I welcome the dialog that has begun (even though I am apparently not on everyone's mailing list) it is difficult to sit by and say nothing while so much anger seems to be directed at me. Does anyone really think I am to blame for Mrs. Leonard's suspension? Seriously? Even the Evaluation Committee claims my email communications did not shape their decision. Obviously, Mrs. Leonard's actions shaped their decision.

Mrs. Leonard alone is to blame - her actions clearly speak for themselves. How convenient it must be to blame me for pointing out what she said and did. Mrs. Leonard was seen handing out pills -not me. Mrs. Leonard read the rape/incest story to the children of her class - not me. Mrs. Leonard encouraged her class to join her in singing about battery and mutilation of a woman - not me. Nobody can deny these events transpired. I pointed these things out and expressed why I think they are inappropriate. If you disagree with me and you want your child exposed to such songs and stories, please read or sing them to your child separately. They do NOT belong in a classroom - no matter how disturbed the teacher, antiquated the teaching methods or bizarre the tenets of the society represented by that classroom.

I am not angry at Mrs. Leonard for I believe her to be ill, but I was angry at Highland Hall for dragging their feet while my child was regularly and continuously exposed to inappropriate behavior. I now applaud Highland Hall for finally taking the appropriate action against a teacher who has consistently used extremely poor judgment in her behavior and lesson plans. I strongly disagree that keeping her through the end of the semester would be of any benefit to the children whatsoever and believe that in fact it would indeed be extremely dangerous - not to mention exposing Highland Hall to serious liability should anything else happen during that time. Mrs. Leonard is obviously not well and should not be around children - this much is clear. Furthermore, she has proven that a reprimand from the school is not sufficient to contain her enthusiasm for exposing our children to inappropriate materials and behavior. I believe it would be in the children's best interests if a new teacher replaced Mrs. Leonard as soon as possible. I hope and pray that Mrs. Leonard will receive the help she needs and recover soon.

Pete Karaiskos

Working with Highland Hall - Open Letter to Highland Hall Community

Pete Karaiskos

Open letter to Highland Hall:
The Board of Directors
The College of Teachers
The Administration
The Faculty
The Parent Body

July 4, 2001
Dear Friends,
Highland Hall is a school in a crisis! I have tried unsuccessfully to have faith that things will get better. Recently my faith was, once again, shattered with the recent problems surrounding the employment of Wendy Wilkins. I say "once again" because I have observed a pattern of "faith-shattering" decisions, policies and attitudes for at least two years. What is most distressing to me is that the people exhibiting such poor judgment are the same people who are involved in the education of my children.

Frankly, I am furious at what my children have had to go through regarding their teachers. My son Christopher was misplaced with Mrs. Dimitrova and then, after he was exhibiting some stress, we had him repeat the 2nd grade with Mr. Janczak's class where he thrived. Then we lost Mr. Janczak and he first had Mrs. Leonard, and then ended up with Mrs. Wilkins. Now, he will have yet another teacher to look forward to.

My daughter, [redacted], has been from Miss Atkinson to Mrs. Devries to Mrs. Leonard and it looks like Mrs. Leonard will only be here another year. She, too, will have to adjust to yet another teacher it seems. It was necessary for her to adapt to three different teachers in order for her to complete two grades. At what point can a parent conclude that the school isn't working in the best interest of their children?

Now, none of this would have transpired if not for the senseless firing of Mr. Janczak. I don't think it serves any purpose to stir up old wounds, and I only mention the firing of Mr. Janczak here because it raises the questions of the more relevant issue of trust. I believe we all witnessed a pre-rehearsed school-supported conspiratorial effort to discredit Mr. Janczak in the eyes of the parents of his class. More than a year has gone by and I still don't understand why. The almost unanimous show of support by the parents for their children's teacher counted for nothing. Why not? The light went out of my son's and many of his classmate's eyes when they lost his teacher. How are we parents supposed to trust that the faculty, college, board and administration are working in our children's best interest after this?

I can't understand the hiring of the new 2nd grade teacher - Mrs. DeVries. I can't imagine what could have been going through the mind of the persons who accepted this woman's application, but I can understand that there may not have been very many applicants for the position. Five minutes into the first meeting with Mrs. DeVries, I knew she wasn't qualified to teach at any level, let alone at a Waldorf school and I also knew I didn't want her for my daughter's teacher. I can't imagine the person who would in good conscience make the decision to saddle my child with such an unqualified teacher - theoretically through the eighth grade. I am not going to berate anyone for making a bad decision but I would pose the question - What voice do we as individual parents have when the school selects a teacher that obviously isn't qualified - or wants to remove a teacher who obviously is qualified? What choice do we have but to be united in our voice in order to promote positive change? And in the case where we have united behind a teacher, why wasn't our voice heard?

Concurrent with the hiring of Mrs. DeVries, Mrs. Wilkins was hired. Aside from her
obvious family problems, she was hardly the caliber of teacher she was replacing - that was, again, obvious. Again, maybe there was a shortage of teachers at the time this hiring was going on. Clearly, the school was negligent in researching her background. Clearly, the school may have been less than forthcoming with information about her. It was, apparently, very easy to discover her past history with a few phone calls. The question is - Why weren't these phone calls made? And, if they were made and this information was discovered, why was she hired? And, if she had to be hired, why weren't we, the parents, informed so that we could decide for ourselves whether this teacher was one that we would accept for our children? As a parent affected by the hiring of this inadequate and potentially harmful teacher, I would have preferred to have been informed that NO suitable teacher could be found to take the class. At least that would have been honest on the part of the school and I could have been the one to make the choices affecting my child's education and well-being.

A tremendous trust was broken when the school hired these two teachers. I'm sorry, but I've lost enough faith in this school to consider the possibility that, in light of the fact that a competitive school was being formed by our former teachers, a decision was reached that the issue of filling the teaching spot took precedent over pursuing the questions of incompetence or a potentially dangerous history in the new teacher's background. I can only hope I'm wrong about this.

One might pose another question here. What is it about Highland Hall, a well-established Waldorf School, that doesn't seem to be able to attract the top teachers in the country? When it does attract good teachers, why is it unable to keep them? I believe the problem is internal. I believe there is an undercurrent that is eroding the foundation principles of this school, demoralizing the teachers and isolating the parents. The undercurrent puts what it believes are the needs of the school above the needs of the children. The undercurrent is more concerned about boosting tuition than it is about producing a healthy learning environment. The undercurrent is more concerned with how much money an event will draw than it is about how safe our children will be during the event. And, when something goes wrong, the undercurrent insists that parents only talk directly to the College or Board, and not among themselves.

This undercurrent is something I've noticed - perhaps we've all noticed it. It is quick to discredit a once beloved teacher who chose to move on rather than have their spirit diminished and their ego sucked out of them. The undercurrent expects loyalty - going with the flow. It undermines those that would oppose its force - whether teacher or parent. The undercurrent works beneath the surface, as any good undercurrent should. It doesn't come out and say things in public, it whispers in hallways. It may help us understand why an admired teacher who was fired is actually much better off now because she can be free to pursue her other aspirations. It can instantly comfort us by explaining that a child who was molested on our yard wasn't actually one of our own students, or that a parent who asks for temporary financial help could afford their tuition easily if they would just manage their money better. It swirls around us hoping to envelop us in its flow and to pull us in its direction. It has swept up many of our finest teachers
in its force - teachers who once stood up for their students with dignity, but now bow their heads in shame when parents confront them. Sadly, the light has gone out of their eyes too!

When the undercurrent comes to the surface, it gains momentum through solidarity - as was the case with Mr. Janczak's release. We all saw the undercurrent in action on that evening. They presented a united front - forget whether any of the innuendo tossed around that evening could be substantiated. A few undecided parents who considered leaving the school were immediately separated out and persuaded to stay through some loyalty to the school, or for the sake of their children, or through promises of "things will get better - you'll see". That night the undercurrent got stronger, and things got worse, not better.

Those of us who wrote letters supporting one of our parents who needed tuition assistance felt the instant force of the undercurrent - there was nothing friendly about it - it was strong and fierce with no chance of deviation from its course, it left us no room to take a breath - its purpose was to suck us down and hold us down until we gave in. And, we had to give in didn't we? After all, what choice do we have - the undercurrent holds our children too.

It may be easy for some to label me a troublemaker (no doubt the undercurrent will have a field day with me) simply because I have observed these events and drawn my own conclusions. Now that I have voiced my opinions, I'm sure the undercurrent will discredit me. You, too, may wonder how someone who brings such a negative view be anything but bad for the school. Please believe me when I say that nothing would make me happier than to be completely wrong about everything I have said here. Nothing would make me happier than to have the wonderful, well-balanced school we all expect, instead of the dysfunctional one we've all come to tolerate. I don't mind being labeled a troublemaker, however - better to go against the current of dishonesty than to become part of it. I contend that I am not the one doing harm to Highland Hall.

I believe the undercurrent are good people working within Highland Hall - people that have made their priority what they believe are the needs of the school. Unfortunately this has often proven to be at the cost of the needs of the children. This is not only morally wrong, it is bad business and ultimately detrimental to the school as much as to the children. Although they are well-meaning, I believe these people are doing this school serious harm and it is only by acknowledging what is happening that we can move forward from what are very dark times at Highland Hall.

I would like to challenge these people to acknowledge - if only to themselves - who they are and what they are doing and to please step back or step down. If you don't know whether you are part of the undercurrent, I'll help you discover this for yourself. If you put ANYTHING above the best interests of the children at Highland Hall, you are part of it - so shake yourself off and have a good look. If you are one of the ones who interviewed Mrs. DeVries and didn't notice anything wrong, please step down and let someone else do the interviewing from now on. If you discovered Mrs. Wilkins past history and didn't feel the moral obligation to inform the parents and protect the children of the school, please step aside and let someone else take your place. Whether or not you agreed with the outcome, if you saw nothing wrong with how the meeting of Mr. Janczak's release was conducted,
you are working not for, but in opposition to the good of the school. If you disagree with how things are, but feel pressured to go with the flow - please find a backbone now.

And, if you don't have enough backbone to stand up for what you believe is right, even if it may cause you discomfort among your peers or even cost you your job, please excuse yourselves from teaching our children. We expect, and our children deserve MUCH better!

I don't apologize for being so blunt - I have no time left to waste for my children's sake.

On this Independence Day I think of our forefathers and the suffering they had to endure to stand up for what they believed in, not because it was popular, not because it was easy, but because it was right! It's too late to undo the damage that has been done - and there has been a lot of damage at every level, to our school, to our friends, to our children - but we can avoid more damage by changing direction now. As we each notice the undercurrent that is demoralizing our school, we should be sure to acknowledge it, confront it, and be certain we are not swept unwillingly into its stream. Let's all try to work together to come to terms with what has happened recently and to push for changes so these mistakes (and the decisions that led to them) don't happen again. Let us group together and share our feelings - for in openness and honesty the undercurrent cannot survive. It is my sincere hope to affect a change for a stronger Highland Hall - one in which the requirements of the children take precedent over everything else. This is the
way I envision it and with God's will, the way it will be someday soon.

God bless us all,
Pete Karaiskos