Overpaid Wall Street Private School Dad Throws a Hissy Fit

Gawker has the story via Dealbreaker (h/t Alexander Russo)

Hugh “Skip” McGee III has a rumored $25 million salary at Barclays, and he finds lefties and lesbians just sickening. In an epic letter to the board of his son’s school, he implores the “silent majority” to strike back.

It seems that John Edward, Skip’s son, wanted to perform a skit at a pep rally with some friends of his from the football team dressed in cheerleader costumes.  Cross-dressing fun, you say?  Au contraire.  From the letter itself:

A key event in the week was the Friday afternoon pep rally. Being her usual super-organized self, Peggy met early in the week with Mickey Saltman and went over the pep rally in detail, including a typed script. At the end of this session, I am told Mickey “high fived” Peggy and told her all was OK. One of the skits involved the classic routine of the seniors on the football team dressing up as EHS cheerleaders and doing a brief cheer followed by some clumsy cartwheels. Teams of moms went to work on making skirts big enough for the boys, while others fanned out across Houston in search of wigs, pom- poms and megaphones in the correct shade of blue. Seeing the boys practice all week in the gym, in the hallway and outside in the courtyard created a sense of anticipation for Friday afternoon (and gave everybody an idea of what the skit would be).

Friday afternoon arrived and the theater filled up with students, parents, grandparents and faculty, all eagerly awaiting the show. Just minutes before the skit was to begin, (Governing Council President and Master of Ceremonies) came backstage and told the boys that their portion of the skit was cancelled. The assembled moms pushed back and said “you have got to be kidding.” The seniors posing as cheerleaders was the punchline to the pep rally.    said no, that under the order of Mr. Saltman, the act was cancelled. Another mom said “such an order can only come from the Administration. Where is Mr. Saltman?” After all the effort and preparation and with the crowd anxiously anticipating something, and no “official” word from Mr. Saltman, the boys shed the balloons from their shirts, exchanged their skirts for khakis, and proceeded to the stage. After getting through one line of their act, Mr. Saltman finally appeared at the back of the theater and, pointing with his finger, yelled at the top of his lungs, “I told you not to do this! This pep rally is over!” The boys were humiliated as they milled about on stage and the crowd murmured in disbelief. The parents and grandparents were shocked. What a way to send the team off to the championship game! I have never seen the air taken out of a room like that.

Gasp!  The goofy football players weren’t allowed to prance around in skirts!  Oh noes!

How does Skip feel about all this?  Not good, my friend:

I am writing to you today with a heavy heart but also with a strong sense of obligation. I am sad that things have gotten to the point they have at Kinkaid but feel I must speak up on behalf of the “silent majority” before the situation gets to a point of no return. …While it has been a very slow and gradual process, I submit to you that the values, methods, beliefs and actions of the current Administration are not in synch [sic] with those of the majority of your students, families, alumni, with the original charter of the school, or with the views of this Board. So this letter is about much more than a cancelled pep rally—it’s about taking back control of the Kinkaid School.

They can take our lives … But they’ll never take … OUR FREEDOM!

You can read the rest of the letter yourself (and I strongly encourage it).  There’s a bunch more vaguely anti-homosexual stuff and, just for kicks, a major crusade against a “leftist” teacher (“So, if it were my decision, Leslie Lovett should be terminated immediately.”).

You know, I taught in an urban public school, and often trotted out the tired truism (to make me feel better) that, though things might be bad, one of the major downsides of teaching in private schools was dealing with obnoxious parents.  His Majesty Mr. McGee certainly proves that one right.  Just one final taste of his arrogance:

It is time for a change of direction, and it is time for the Board of Trustees to act. Like many other families, the McGees will be watching closely. We pulled our oldest child (Katie) from Kinkaid years ago due to concerns over the middle school experience, and she subsequently flourished at St. Johns (she is now a senior at Princeton). John Ed’s group of friends is what has kept us here at Kinkaid. They are now all graduating. Sadly, we may find ourselves forced to leave Kinkaid once again for the benefit of our third child, Lizzy, who is currently an 8th grader, as four more years of “status quo” is rather unappealing. Many, many parents have expressed the same concerns I have but they are worried about getting their seniors into college—I am not. Many are concerned about whether they can change schools – I am not, as I know St. Johns will take another McGee in a heartbeat. So on behalf of the “silent majority,” I tell you that this cancelled pep rally is the “tipping point” for many families.

Goodness gracious.