Garfield High School has laid off Wayne Miller, the district's only Latin teacher.

This means that students in the Latin program will not only lose their beloved teacher, they will lose the chance to study the language of their choice, ending the progress they've made satisfying graduation requirements. It also means that no school in Seattle offers instruction in the language, a terrible and unacceptable loss for the district.

The program serves approximately 80 students at Garfield, and Magister Miller is beloved among students. His program is rigorous and innovative, and he took the time to know and support his students, especially those with learning disabilities. His curriculum not only focused on language, but also included music and art. He embodies teaching excellence.

What's more, Latin itself is a powerful program for students. Those who learn the language tend to perform better on standardized tests and have higher grade-point averages, which makes sense because Latin is the root of so many challenging English words. It also makes learning additional foreign languages easier.

To date, the school has not notified parents of this decision. A month after receiving his layoff notice, Magister Miller alerted his students to the news. This is an extremely disrespectful process to students and families and suggests it was made without meaningful community input. Given the disarray at the beginning of the 2019 year because of the district's decision to lay off teachers, this is an inexcusable oversight and we are asking that the decision be reversed.