Equal education critical
Maureen Downey addresses a topic that needs to be discussed. If individuals feel that black children are not receiving a sufficient education, we need to act now. We need not brush this issue off as if it is not a big deal. The better educated our society is as a whole, the better off our society would be as a whole, and who does not want a better place to live? I know I do.
To fix this issue, the U.S. government needs to step in. Congress needs to enact a law banning segregation in schools. It is time to make an everlasting change in schools and give an equal education to all.
Logan Duckworth, Atlanta Big questions ignored
It galls me that Maureen Downey’s column on education as a civil rights issue skirted the most obvious elephant in the room: the explosion in the number of black and brown kids coming from the homes of single, poor, uneducated young women, the first marker for poor education.
While I think Michelle Rhee is a hero for her pluck and fortitude to stare down the charlatans running the nations teachers’ unions, it’s not the game-changer. We’d be far better served putting those luminaries on the panel at Spelman to the task of discovering why young boys and girls have zero respect for their bodies and the life consequences their children will face.
Where are the responsible men? Why do 70 [percent] to -80 percent of these kids have no permanent male influence? Who is fostering/enabling this self-defeating culture? Now, there’s a Ph.D. question for your Spelman panel. Ed Tessaro, Alpharetta
Quacks like tuition hike
As a graduating senior at Georgia Tech, tuition and fee increases largely don’t affect me anymore. Even so, the deceitful manner in which the Board of Regents raised fees and tuition is insulting. Tuition is increasing by only 3 percent, but a $350 fee increase on top of that (at Georgia Tech at least), equates to an effective tuition increase of more than 12 percent. These fees go toward “academic excellence.” Isn’t that what tuition is for?
If it walks like a tuition increase, quacks like a tuition increase and looks like a tuition increase, it ought to be called a tuition increase. We’re still students, and we’re still learning, but we can definitely hold our own when it comes to elementary mathematics.
Matthew Redmond, Atlanta
Pleading fifth a mistake
Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall’s statement that teachers appearing before a board of investigation in the testing scandal need have any fear of termination if they invoke the Fifth Amendment is simply appalling. It is de facto encouragement to obstruct justice.
J. Edgar Hoover called the Fifth Amendment the “gangster defense” and that any agent who attempted to hide behind it would be terminated. I guess Mr. Hoover was made of sterner stuff than Dr. Hall.
William M. Savage, Lithonia
Locking out learning
Once again, the CRCT is right around the corner. All learning ceases during these days, and now our media center, the pulse of the school, is closed for nearly 20 days because the locked testing room, where the tests are kept, is in that space. The media center is packed every morning, during most class periods and at lunch. And 400 or so books are checked out each week.
What are we telling our children by making this testing more important than real learning through reading and researching. There is just no justification that it be closed for this time. Testing security is important, but a lock and key do quite well. I’m sure the students have no interest in that room.
Lynn Knowles, Roswell
