Re “ ‘They Made Sure I Was Out,’ Says Sheila Silver”
Former Culver City High School drama teacher Sheila Silver, under fire from the administration for much of the past school year — for her style — while strongly popular with students, said her job conditions “worsened” last February after the School Board voted 3 to 2 to restore her job.
“They were willing to put up with me through June,” she said. “They were willing to have me come in and direct a musical. They were willing to have me come in and work very hard.
“But they also only — only — would have tolerated me with the knowledge they never would have to see me again after June.”
Then Ms. Silver uncorked a bomb.
“I think (former Principal Pam Magee, often portrayed as the chief villain) may have been just as much a pawn in the whole thing as I was.
“My heart has softened. I have so much compassion for the position she may have been put in. I don’t know for sure. But this is what I believe.
“I believe her integrity may have been put on the line with what she was instructed to do. I could be wrong.
“The way she handled (my situation) was completely inconsistent with everything else I saw her do in the two years I was there.
“This is why I am very happy she has a good position (CEO of a charter high school in Pacific Palisades). This is all speculation on my part. But it might be why she left in the manner she did,” vanishing virtually overnight the last week of school in June, shocking many after a six-year tenure at Culver High.
“Maybe she was forced to compromise. I don’t know.”
While Ms. Silver and Dr. Magee commonly were pictured as ill-matched rivals, Ms. Silver says today, “I always felt compassion for Pam.”
As her admirers and critics realized early, Ms. Silver, along with being an award-winning teacher and stage director of students, has, shall we say, a tendency to occasionally be emotional.
“It’s so weird,” she said. “I never felt any malice toward Pam. I have always had people in my prayers. I know when people behave in a certain way, they are really hurting. Again, it is speculation on my part. But it is how I feel.”
(To be continued)
