Education Letters

Passionate parents are pulling kids from school

David Elmore speaks as a passionate parent in his guest column. Perhaps more parents would be as passionate if they knew the facts.

I volunteer with two retired teachers. One says that over her 30 year career, very young children were expected to achieve academic milestones at younger and younger ages, with no acknowledgment that each child is unique with unique talents, gifts and learning styles.

The other teacher says the ability of teachers to inspire and engage students has been negated by preparation for standardized tests. Her students learned more about world history, geography and Chinese culture from the unit she wrote early in her career based on President Richard Nixon's visit to China than they did from any textbook. Yet, she would be prohibited from doing such a unit today because of the amount of class time devoted to test prep.

I know parents with graduate degrees in finance and engineering who are unable to assist their children with their math homework because the material in the textbooks is presented in such convoluted ways that it has absolutely no relevance to reality.

Teaching of the hard sciences is being replaced with junk science in support of politically correct environmental policy.

Students and teachers are stifled and demoralized. Curriculum has morphed from encouraging a love for learning into either some kind of hocus-pocus or indoctrination in current political agendas.

Until many more parents are willing to speak out in equally passionate ways, we will get more of the same. More disillusioned teachers will leave the profession, and more parents will remove their children from a dying system.

Karen Smith, Marietta

Research has proven that ADHD is real

Where has David Elmore been in the past 25 years of ADHD development? Holding his head in the sand? Mr. Elmore, please read "Driven To Distraction" or talk to a certified psychologist. ADHD is real. True, not all "troubled" students have ADHD. Some have ADD, some have HD, some have both or neither. The prescription drug Adderall is a good indicator of ADHD. If the child has ADHD and takes Adderall, this drug will slow the child down and allow him/her to concentrate more instead of speeding the child up.

Have you done/read any studies, Mr. Elmore? I doubt it. Your letter to the editor does not show any research.

ADHD is inherited. That is a proven fact. Mr. Elmore, until you receive some degree in psychology, please refrain from considering yourself an "expert" in this field. You apparently know nothing about this subject matter. More's the pity that you wasted a good amount of print that could have been used for more pertinent material.

James Litchfield, Suwanee

Rather than change teaching, we label kids

David Elmore's column on home schooling made sense. When I finished my college degree in special education in the early 1980s, less than 6 percent of kids were eligible for special ed services. Now, it's at least 20 percent.

Instead of changing how we teach, we just give out more labels. It's hard on the kids.

Rose Walker, McDonough

Not all schools live up to their good reputations

As usual, AJC columnist Maureen Downey hit the nail on the head in her column "What is a good school?" (Opinion, June 29). How often do we hear from parents, "Generally, public schools are awful, but we are so lucky. Our public school is wonderful!"

Both my children went to private school from preschool through eighth grade. My daughter continued onto a private high school and thrived. My son ended up in a highly regarded public high school in Sandy Springs.

At the first open house, we were warned that our kids might come home with photocopied pages rather than the actual book because there weren't enough books.

My son came home his first week to tell me there was a fight in his Spanish class; students were throwing desks at each other. The teacher was standing in a corner yelling for help.

There were lockdowns, weekly fights in the halls, an armed guard patrolling the campus, a drug dog sniffing lockers, no windows in the building, no time allowed outside (not even lunch) and a total disrespect for the students, unless, of course, they pulled straight A's.

Furthermore, the school was given $20 million for improvements from the school board. They chose to build a second gym, reconstruct the baseball field and improve the football practice field rather than repair the language and science labs or buy more books.

My son was in honors classes, thank goodness, because even the parents who loved the school admitted that any class outside of honors was terrible.

There were wonderful teachers, but they were the exception. I don't mean to say that private schools don't have their share of bad instructors, but at least a parent has some recourse through tuition.

Principals, teachers and school boards should be held accountable for performance, much the same as the students for their own work. Respect begets respect.

Susan Backer, Sandy Springs

Childless homeowners stuck paying school bills

I am a single gay male residing in Grant Park. I pay ridiculous amounts of money on property tax bills. I have no children, but since I live in Atlanta and Fulton County, the Atlanta school and Atlanta school bond portions of my tax bill equal $2,105.56.

People don't mind discriminating against gays, but they never think that we are helping in the funding of their children's education.

I attended a private school for 12 years and have never known the meaning of a free breakfast or lunch.

Married couples are able to declare their children as deductions on their tax returns. Why shouldn't single people with no children receive a tax credit?

Now our fearless leaders are considering raising taxes yet again. Why not tax people with children attending public schools more and give us a rest?

Funding children's education is not an interest of mine. You have them; you should pay for their educations.

Will Smith, Atlanta

CRCT serves as covert corporate training tool

Maureen Downey 's column, "Detesting the test (Opinion, June 22)," asks, "If students are performing everyday in class, then CRCT ought to be just one more curtain call."

If they perform what everyday? If they respond to certain cues with a dictated script or a practiced drill? Selling the image of a well-educated work force molded for corporate investors has been a longtime dream among Southern politicians.

Each day that CRCT dominates what a teacher does with students is a day devoted to instilling in them habits useful in the corporate workplace and very difficult for most people to overcome. For persons who consign themselves to most workplaces, this is of little concern.

But those who value their own thinking and independence over institutional dictates regard such habits with great disdain or horror, especially those of us who strive to keep a firm grip on certain elements for which Southerners used to be admired.

Joel Finegold, Atlanta