Cindy Wilcox should leave La Cañada

Cindy Wilcox should be ashamed of herself and leave La Cañada! Her outrageous attack against teacher Gabrielle Leko is utterly malicious and without basis. Leko is now, and always has been, one of the finest, fairest and most decent teachers in the district. You cannot teach in a school like La Cañada (with its cadre of self-important, ego-driven parents) for any length of time without being exposed to people like Wilcox who, for one reason or another, choose to attack good teachers who deliver solid education to our students. Usually, it is because their little Johnny or Jane didn’t do as well as the parents wanted; or maybe it’s because their spoiled and arrogant child didn’t do the work and expected a good grade because their parents have money, are powerful — or in maybe, like this case, are on, or have friends on, the school board.

By using the bully pulpit of her position, Wilcox assumes some deluded souls will give credibility to her claims. Remember, Wilcox admits she never personally heard any of the comments [she] relies on to trash Leko. Her hearsay is unsupported in any credible way.

Gabrielle Leko has influenced the lives of thousands of students over her many years of teaching. Is Wilcox claiming that out of the thousands of students Leko has taught, not a single student has ever filed a complaint substantiating in any way these slanderous allegations? Her claim that they are “afraid” is just plain hogwash. Gabrielle Leko taught my children at La Cañada High and has an extraordinary record of treating her students fairly, firmly and giving them what they need to succeed later in life.

I am outraged that any newspaper would print any of the defamatory tripe spewed by Wilcox. It is my hope that Leko will hire an attorney to sue Wilcox for libel and slander and hold her accountable for the malicious lies she has told and the damage she has attempted to do to a fine teacher.

Wilcox should be investigated and universally condemned for her callous and cowardly attack on Gabrielle Leko.

Charles T. (“Ted”) Mathews

Pasadena