BENGHAZI ATTACK
Collecting intelligence
never has been easy
It is true that early evaluations of what happened at Benghazi were different from what was discovered on further evaluation. It is also true that collecting and evaluating intelligence is never as easy as it might appear in hindsight. If it were, all the dots would have been connected, and Sept. 11 would be a meaningless date on the calendar.
If it were, we would have known there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; thousands of America’s finest men and women would be alive today, and thousands of others would have the limbs they lost in that unfortunate war. Collecting intelligence in a volatile country isn’t easy. It never has been.
DAVID SNELL, STONE MOUNTAIN
POLITICS
Re-elect Obama, say
good-bye to America
I am amazed by the number of people who have been mesmerized by a toothy smile and a lie.
If these people would use their intellect, they would see clearly that President Obama has been less than honest, and has done nothing to improve the economy. His plan for the future is to tell us how bad Mitt Romney is. I have heard nothing from him regarding a plan for four more years. Four more years will take us over the fiscal cliff, and to the bankruptcy of Medicare and Social Security.
Four more years of President Obama, and America will cease to exist as we have come to know it.
HARRY HARRISON, LAWRENCEVILLE
Give Obama credit
for progress to date
Republicans paint a gloomy view of the American economy. To believe them, we’ve made no progress over the past four years. To the contrary: there is much data that shows substantial economic improvement during President Obama’s administration (far different from Republican claims).
The following indices have improved: auto industry-related jobs, manufacturing output, oil and gas drilling rigs in operation, wind and solar production, and consumer confidence. Petroleum imports are down.
There are, of course, negative trends as well, but these positive data reveal considerable progress from a dismal starting point (and certainly do not suggest failed policies or anti-business sentiment).
TERRY M. HUDSON, SANDY SPRINGS
STUDENT TEST SCORES
N.J. school defends
its academic record
We were disappointed in the chart and article (“Blue Ribbons, red flags,” News, April 29) that suggested the results of North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, N.J., were “improbable.”
The New Jersey Department of Education warned against making the comparisons the newspaper made because of vast differences in test designs from 2006 to 2008. Anyone visiting North Star (as over 6,000 educators worldwide have) sees exactly why we get great results for kids.
We have eliminated the achievement gap between urban students and their more affluent peers for five consecutive years because we have a relentless focus on student-progress data, using that information to tailor instruction, tutoring and extra help to every child who needs it.
Our work is built upon some of the best teacher training in the country — training so good that it spawned more than one best-selling book. Our students are in school 44 percent more than the typical public school student, and our data-driven instruction methods have been adopted by charter and district schools nationwide. None of that was accounted for in the paper’s analysis.
PAUL BAMBRICK-SANTOYO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, NORTH STAR ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL
