Readers write

Responses to “Postermania grabs hold of schools,” @issue, April 20.

Projects depleted family’s food money

As a retired teacher, I say, “Amen!” to Maureen Downey’s column on postermania and, as a volunteer at the Central Presbyterian Outreach and Advocacy Center, I would like to share an incident.

About this time last year, a mother of four school-age children came to our center for food from our pantry. She told me that she didn’t usually have to ask for help, but she had spent her grocery money on supplies for two of her children to make school projects, because she didn’t want them to be embarrassed by what she could afford. It broke my heart.

Mary Caroline Lindsay, Atlanta

Arts/crafts supplies too costly for some

As a retired teacher (both elementary and secondary schools) I was the lone holdout when other faculty members assigned arts and crafts projects left and right. Of 25 to 30 students in my classes, about 20 percent couldn’t afford the supplies or didn’t have anyone to drive them all over town searching for the right materials. With working parents who didn’t have the time, or maybe the inclination, to help, I knew these projects were a burden, and the child would be the one to suffer.

Many of the projects were too large to come on the bus and needed two people to carry them and a flatbed truck to haul them. I would rather see a child write about a topic, or even sit down with me to tell me what he learned, than to spend hours and precious money making a diorama or “floating solar system.” Oral reports also gave the kids an opportunity to share and learn public speaking skills. And don’t even get me started on the group projects that our son had to do in high school.

Judy Thompson, Alpharetta

Issue spurred parent to switch schools

Three cheers for Maureen Downey’s column. I transferred my son from one California high school to another over this issue. Posters are a teacher’s way of not having to spend the hours required to grade a paper, teach English or offer written feedback. My older daughter —- now a doctoral student at Columbia University —- attended a non-poster high school that required a student to write and be graded on content and grammar. Our son spent his freshman year at a postermania school. He did not have a writing assignment in any class that year or months into his sophomore year, but he had a steady stream of poster assignments. Knowing how important writing skills are, I transferred him to the school that had a teaching policy. He is about to graduate from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree. He recently completed his senior design project with five other Tech students. His professor said he was the only one who could write a cohesive sentence in the 100-page final paper. Posters are OK within limits in elementary school, but at the high school level, teachers must be willing to make the effort to teach.

Melissa Teague, Gainesville

Does Chambliss want a cover-up?

The president released the memos detailing CIA interrogation techniques, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss charged, “It seems that this administration looks for every opportunity to embarrass the previous administration.” (“Obama tries to quell CIA memo furor,” Page One, April 21.)

The techniques cause the embarrassment, not their release. That embarrassment accrues to those who authorized those techniques. Taking a lesson from the old Soviet Union, the previous administration kept these memos secret. Does Chambliss support increased secrecy in government, including the cover-up of illegal actions?

Leslie Pounds, Atlanta

English for drivers veils other agendas

English isn’t needed to drive (“English-only test for drivers needed for state road safety,” @issue, April 20). Other countries, especially in Europe, have a relatively large percentage of drivers not fluent in the national language. Furthermore, Americans often drive in other countries even though they’re not fluent in the local language.

I think there might be other veiled priorities when lawmakers and columnists try to pass English-only legislation. Intolerance is wasteful government and morally reprehensible.

David Eads, Johns Creek

Health-care rationing already exists

If Charles Krauthammer believes that private health-care insurers do not practice rationing of care, he’s living in a dream world, (“Expect health care rationing, @issue, April 24).

In the past year my private insurer has denied the prescriptions my physician has written on three occasions.

One was because they would only allow the less effective generic drug. With the other two, there was no generic equivalent, so the prescriptions were simply denied. Either do without the drug or pay full price. Payment for blood work was also denied because it was done twice in a 12-month period.

A colonoscopy was out of network, so half the normal payment was refused. Almost any procedure requires “prior approval,” which can take weeks, if not months.

I won’t even try to enumerate all the various deductibles and co-pays they come up with. If this is not rationing of health care, pray tell me, what is?

Steven Braden, Atlanta