EDUCATION
Common Core isn’t
standards enforcer
As a former Fulton County teacher, I have been entertained by all the letters and Opinion pieces about the Common Core. The letter, “Myths recirculate on Common Core” (Readers write, April 18), has much truth to it. The Common Core Standards are a framework of standards to be taught and not a curriculum, but it is how a county and school administer these standards.
In my former North Fulton Middle School, teachers were required to teach “prepared lesson plans” so that all the teachers’ grade books looked the same, teachers “were told what to do every day” if they wanted anything other than an unacceptable on their TKES evaluation, and there was an “emphasis on memorization and cramming” in my department. There was no room for higher-level instruction, creativity, writing or research.
VICKIE MCELROY, ROSWELL
Tuition, wages are
connected issues
Let’s do the math: Annual tuition at UGA increased to $9,500, but we cannot afford to raise the hourly minimum wage.
I am a member of the generation that benefited from affordable public education, where my annual tuition in 1964-65 was under $300. I could earn this in my minimum-wage summer job. The minimum wage over the last 50 years has increased by 500 percent. Tuition at flagship state universities has gone up by around 3,000 percent.
State support of public education has plunged since the mid-1980s. We are robbing our grandchildren of the opportunities we enjoyed. It’s well past time to increase support for public education and raise the minimum wage.
PETER C. SEDERBERG, ATLANTA
TURNER FIELD
Braves staying put
was better outcome
Regarding the story “Mayor: Turner Field future bright” (Metro, April 18), it would have been much brighter had Mayor Reed spent more time negotiating to keep the Braves, rather than spending hours and hours to see that the Falcons had a new stadium. It just stands to reason that the Braves should have stayed in the city.
R.L. TURNER, ATLANTA
TRAVEL
Georgian Terrace
a memorable visit
On a recent visit to Atlanta to celebrate Passover with our kids, they made reservations for us at the Georgian Terrace Hotel on Peachtree Street. What a delightful place, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but more important was the warmth of the hotel staff starting probably with the most important person, Anthony, the doorman. His Southern charm and mile-wide smile was more welcoming than any I have ever experienced at hotels in my travels throughout the world.
We also met Walter, the catering and meeting manager, about a future event, and he too embraced the same warm, welcoming, guest-oriented approach of Anthony.
What a breath of fresh air in this era of NO SERVICE we experience with many other businesses.
SAUL P. HELLER, JUPITER, FLA.
