ALLIE HOLLY-GOTTLIEB: I thank you for writing about a very prickly topic that most media won't go near -- or will gloss over at best ["A Tale of Two Schools," April 27]. You did your homework, but you left out some topics which I hope you'll pursue in follow-up articles: (1) Why teachers of color, and quality teachers of all colors, aren't hired or retained. (2) Other reasons why students of color are at a disadvantage -- ones that go beyond the school environment. (3) Solutions, [like] positive programs that Garfield and other schools have [that] combat racism, sexism, stereotypes, etc. (Cultural Relations, a student-run organization [at Garfield], is an amazing group.) I want you to extend your focus beyond the problems to solutions.

Liz Hepner, Language Arts teacher and faculty co-advisor of student group Cultural Relations, Garfield High School

DEAR EDITOR: I seriously doubt that Allie Holly-Gottlieb believes any of the bullshit she wrote in "A Tale of Two Schools." If you're black or Native American or any other minority (except most Asians, because they don't need our help) with anything resembling initiative or intelligence, the white teachers and administrators are downright excited to help you! Let's be honest: Most blacks probably don't want to be in advanced classes, and you do the community a disservice to suggest they're being kept out as a matter of policy.

Mark Bennett, via e-mail

TO THE EDITOR: Allie Holly- Gottlieb took a problem as big and complex and multi-dimensional as "Why do African American children not achieve their full potential in America's schools?" and turned it into an exercise of blaming Garfield High School's faculty and Seattle's public schools. My black son graduated from Garfield in 1997. He never took an AP class, and he wasn't on the honors track. Not all his teachers were superstars, but many of them were damn good. He's now a junior in a very good liberal arts college in the Midwest, where he is doing honors-level work. I'm personally very grateful to Garfield High School for what it did for our family.

Amy Hagopian, Seattle

EDITORS: Allie Holly-Gottlieb's "A Tale of Two Schools" is as fatuous and tendentious a piece of journalism as any that The Stranger has published. As politically incorrect as it is to say this, many of my African American classmates in high school simply displayed no interest in learning, even when being taught Black History by a black teacher. Can a school be held accountable for these students NOT doing their assignments? An African American Advanced Placement student at Garfield High complained that black students aren't expected to succeed. However, I distinctly remember my black classmates who DID take their education seriously ran the risk of alienating their fellow African Americans. By showing up for class, paying attention, and studying, they were "selling out to whitey."

Rick Segreda, via e-mail

EDITORS: As a student at Garfield High from 1990-1994, I was well aware, as I think all students were, of the incredible racial divide in the school. The divide is created, however, not by racist teachers or "tennis-shoe registration," but by a standardized test that students take before they ever get to Garfield. A student's score on this test, taken in his/her eighth-grade year, determines whether he or she is placed in honors or regular classes upon entering Garfield in ninth grade.

This test segregates [students] as soon as they enter. Standardized tests have proven to be culturally biased against African Americans. So ninth-grade honors classes are overwhelmingly white and Asian, and ninth-grade "regular" classes are predominately black. Once these racial lines are drawn, it is difficult to erase them. One solution might be to make the entire ninth grade honors-free. This would allow students to form friendships across racial lines, and let teachers, not computers, determine who is qualified for honors classes.

Seth Kolloen, Garfield High Class of 1994, Brooklyn, NY

DEAR MS. HOLLY-GOTTLIEB: I was disappointed by your one-sided view of Garfield High School. I wish you had taken the time to investigate some of the students and families involved in the AP and APP classes and the activities you slammed ("highfalutin orchestras, jazz bands, sports teams"). To defame the parents who actually stay in the school district, rather than [escaping] to private schools or the suburbs, seems like punishing the wrong people for the divide.

Kate Smith, via e-mail

TO THE EDITOR: As a former Garfield student, [I feel that] Allie Holly-Gottlieb's perception of a divided institution -- in effect constituting a "school within a school" -- is on the mark. Holly-Gottlieb seems to suggest, however, that Garfield itself is responsible for the divided atmosphere. I would suggest that Garfield's problems are, in fact, representative of a larger phenomenon: a feeling of helplessness or disenfranchisement among minorities, which induces them not to take advantage of the opportunities which exist at a school like Garfield.

Josh Young, Class of 1997, Garfield High School, Northfield, MN

DEAR STRANGER: I want to commend Allie Holly-Gottlieb for exposing the ugly racist nature of Garfield High School's teachers, administrators, students, and possibly even security guards. It's time for a change at Garfield. The AP classes only serve a third of the students: Latin, a dead [language], should go immediately. I don't even need to mention Greek. How about Chinese and Japanese, two languages no one in the Central District will ever need? Out the door. Forest Ecology? How many forests are there in the C.D.? I say we dump all those "highfalutin orchestras, jazz bands, sports teams, and math and science classes." Thank you, Ms. Holly-Gottlieb, for showing us where to set our educational sights.

John Siple, via e-mail

TO THE EDITORIAL STAFF: I violently object to your portrayal of Garfield High School. I agree that this school could use more hallway space and a new paint job (and possibly a new principal), but we do not need a better system to "integrate" classes.

Let me list some of the more blatant errors: You very incorrectly reported that during "tennis-shoe" registration, teachers could pick their own students, making it easier for the "racist" faculty to further distance themselves from black students. This is the exact opposite of the truth. The point of "tennis shoe" registration is that students can choose their own classes. Also, the student-run newspaper of Garfield High is The Garfield Messenger, not The Equilibrium. And your star interviewee! While I don't know Mr. Dixon (the Garfield security guard you opened and closed the article with), classmates have assured me that he is definitely the sort of person to know what tune the student body is humming.

Robert Hopt, via e-mail

ALLIE HOLLY-GOTTLIEB RESPONDS: Interim Principal Cheryl Chow said she's discontinuing tennis-shoe registration next year because parents raised concerns that it gives teachers too much control over students' class selection. Our story referred to Garfield Associated Student Body President Cecile Cross' article, "At risk: Successful African-American Male," which was published in the Summer 1999 issue of Equilibrium, a student newspaper distributed at Garfield.

EDITORS: My white AP students are brought up in a "culture of learning." Out of 100 African American students, only Anthony lives with both parents. Their college-educated parents read to them and taught them to love books. Half of my African American freshmen do not live with either biological parent. Every room in Brennan's house has a well-stocked bookshelf. Quanda has worked to pay for all her expenses since she was nine. Yingzong's father and mother are both scientists. Jamika owns a gun to threaten her stepfather when he beats her mother. David will be ostracized by his friends if he scores less than 700 on the math SAT. John will only let me read his paper to the class anonymously. Paul is fluent in two foreign languages besides Latin. He is going to Harvard. African American males who study are considered "sell-outs."

My AP class is segregated because of poverty, broken families, and anti-intellectualism -- the legacy of racism. It is my responsibility to give my African American students the skills and encouragement they would have imbibed from growing up in a culture of learning. It is ALL of our responsibilities to fight for social and economic justice for all races.

Tara McBennett, AP Language Arts teacher, Garfield High School