Letters

Taming the Tiger
Once again, NEA maintains the status quo in regards to special education. Taming the Tiger, Ha! We've got the tiger by the tail and it is ready to come back and bite us.

NEA should serve teachers and students by ferociously fighting against all the paperwork and getting the federal government to contribute their fair share of funding.

I have 38 students who require assessment, IEPs, and meetings that take up a minimum of three hours each. If you do the math and compare it to the amount of time I have available to have student contact, it is easy to see that special education talks more about specifically designed instruction than actually delivers it. Special education hurts more than it helps!

Torree Abrams
Bend, Oregon

I read "Taming the Paper Tiger" with great interest. Not being a special education teacher, I cannot fully appreciate the paperwork burden these teachers face.

However, being a high school language arts teacher, I would hope that the attention of the NEA and researchers would also be paid to the overwhelming burden of student grading (i.e., paperwork) that falls on language arts teachers.

Special education teachers in my high school have limited class sizes and an additional prep hour.

No such provisions exist for me or my department colleagues, who face five classes daily of anywhere from 25 to 33 students each.

The paperwork generated by these class sizes creates a daunting workload for the English teacher who cares enough to do the job right.

As an example, the one senior research paper assignment in my 12th grade English class last year took me 35 hours to correct--almost an additional week of work.

This was, of course, in addition to my regular teaching hours and duties with no additional compensation or recognition.

I am all for helping teachers to do their jobs more effectively. All teachers' workloads should receive the same scrutiny advocated for special education teachers in your article. But until we also consider the grading workload of English teachers who are themselves finding paperwork "devouring [their] time and energy," we may risk shortchanging the professionalism of, and fairness toward, language arts teachers.

Ultimately, we may be pushing dedicated teachers out of the classroom.

After all, "the last thing we want to do is shortchange our kids."

Timothy Donahue
Royal Oak, Michigan

Revisiting Homework
As a 30-year teacher, now retired, I thought Karolyn Berkman wrote a most interesting letter (November) about homework.

My comment is, if the majority of the students are not doing the homework, why are teachers still assigning it? If it isn't working, for heaven's sake, stop! Do something else! If the day is too short, then lengthen it, or break up the time in a different pattern.

As soon as you assign homework to students where there isn't a lot of support by the parents, you have told the class in essence, "Some of you will succeed, because your parents will see that you have the time and place to work on lessons. The rest of you might just as well quit trying to learn, because you're just not going to make it!"

When I taught English to seventh graders, I didn't require homework. We met one hour each day, and with proper classroom management we accomplished all I was supposed to.

I will just add that I admire Karolyn Berkman immensely. I could never be a substitute. I consider that job to be about as dangerous as going into a cage of lions without a whip!

Myron Richards
Kirkland, Washington

Student Graders
In answer to "Don't Use Students to Grade Classmates' Work," (Rights Watch, November):

There are many ways to improve teacher quality. One is for teachers to grade students' papers. Never call upon children to grade each other's work. Of course, peer grading is embarrassing, but grading one's own papers is a practice that can be used to a teacher's advantage.

Grading students' papers allows the educator to discover why and where specific children fail. Tests are not only given to determine grades, they help teachers to know how and where they have fallen short of their teaching goals.

Geraldine Hilton
Bloomfield, New Jersey

Nice Start
As a member of NEA for 50 years I want to tell you that I like the vision and philosophy of the new NEA executive director, John Wilson. (Interview, November) He sounds like a man with down-to-earth common sense and the wherewithal to advance and promote the well being of children and teachers.

James Todd
Canton, New York

Election Revisited
I passed the West Palm Beach County ballot around to my teenage students. Not one of them had any trouble reading the ballot correctly. I know we have especially bright kids here in Pine City. I am thinking of sending them as tutors to West Palm Beach County before the next election. After 15,000 mismarked ballots in 1996 and 19,000 mismarked in 2000, these voters need remedial help.

Jim Hanson
Pine City, Florida

By the time this gets printed, the election will be over, but whatever the outcome, I'm glad to see that our NEA leadership came out in support of the only pro-public educational candidate, Al Gore.

A lot of people who don't agree with what the NEA stands for don't take the time or make the effort to represent themselves in our organization. They don't attend the NEA Representative Assembly to see what this Association has done for teachers nationwide.

One of the greatest things liberalism has done is to create a public education system for all, and, no matter who wins the election, I expect that the NEA will always be one of the few national organizations to both represent teachers and be a constant force in improving our profession.

Rich Valentini
Yuba City, California

Not in this Space
I am very disappointed that NEA supports the teaching of homosexuality in the classroom.

I do believe that teachers should teach acceptance of all people regardless of their differences, but I do not believe that a public school classroom is the place for such topics as homosexuality, especially when many people consider this topic a moral issue.

If teachers are spending time on a controversial topic, then they are neglecting their academic responsibilities. The home is a better setting to discuss homosexuality.

I am ashamed that my hard-earned money goes to support this teaching in public schools.

T. Moore
Shelby, Alabama

Fine Work
I look forward to the monthly arrival of my NEA Today. It keeps me abreast of what is happening in the field of education throughout the nation, informs me of current political issues, and provides ideas and resources for my use in the classroom.

I especially enjoy the review and recommendations found in the Web Winners section. I sit down at my computer and explore each of the sites. I always find a couple of new sites to introduce to my students or find resources for myself. Thank you for a practical, up-to-date professional magazine.

Becky Cameron
Tustin, California

Competent Boards
After reading Simone Gobel's opinion on "Should candidates for Congress be required to pass competency tests?" (Debate, October), I came up with still further questions.

I understand why we require teachers to be competent. I understand why we require doctors to be competent. I understand why we require school bus drivers to be competent. But the question needs to be applied, not only to Congress, but also to school board members. Shouldn't school boards be staffed with competent people?

Shouldn't they be required to think, reason through problems, and be versed in financial and educational matters, as well as building maintenance? I think so.

And shouldn't voters be competent? Shouldn't voters be required to pass a competency test to show that they are intelligent enough to look at both sides of a question, and then make rational decisions?

Ed Morrison
Karns City, Pennsylvania

Remember Nurses
In "Take A Shot At Getting Immigrant Students Vaccinated" (Health and Fitness, October), one major resource was omitted: the school nurse.

You suggested that educators might fear the health of immigrant students. Not in my district. I use precautions to reduce any risk of disease transmission whether varicella (chicken pox), HIV, or pediculosis (head lice).

Rosemary Akin
Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Using Students
Sandi Ortiz Ishii's picture on the cover of the October issue, along with the headline "Helping Kids At the Ballot Box," made me wonder just what Ishii wanted her students to achieve at the ballot box, since they are unable to vote. Then I realized that she was aiming at their parents, who could!

I think it is unethical for teachers to involve their students in politics!

Donalda Alder
Garden Grove, California

Who Should Pay?
I was appalled at the (October) letter by Diana Hammermeister. Although she teaches in a public school, this teacher graduated from a religious high school and stated, "I still do not understand why my parents had to pay sc

It's time we realized that we are all dependent on each other. Sometimes we pay taxes for the good of others.

Lynda Bauckham
Portage, Michigan