MARTA workers: Look in a mirror
Regarding “MARTA plans deception not progress” (Opinion, Oct. 14), Curtis Howard and his union should be at the forefront of encouraging MARTA to remove those employees who have poor work performance, attitudes or continuing work-related discipline issues. That would save MARTA money to enhance transit service and hire employees who are motivated as well as capable. Currently, it appears Mr. Howard and his union want MARTA to be a job shop and training facility for the unemployable or marginally employable.
If Mr. Howard and most of his union members had any significant skills other than being employed by MARTA, they would use those skill sets to work with MARTA in suggesting ways to improving transit service and reduce costs (waste, poor-performing employees, theft, etc.) and thereby keep him and his union membership employed.
DEAN HEINZ, JOHNS CREEK
School texts reflect a ‘dumbing down’
I was shocked to read “Trust Our Teachers” (Opinion, Oct. 13), as the advice for fixing our schools failed to address the root of the problem: the curriculum and the gradual dumbing down of the textbooks. As a former teacher and mother who has supervised two children through Georgia’s public schools, I was constantly dismayed at the poor-quality textbooks: More pictures, less detail, less sophisticated literary sections, withering vocabulary, “fuzzy math” and lack of patriotic themes.
When I went to high school in Alabama, we were drilled in basic math, Algebra I, Algebra II, geometry, then advanced algebra and trigonometry, in that logical order. We learned American History and Western Civilization in regaling detail and studied the classics. Common Core has confused students and lowered standards. Our system was never broken. How can we possible expect superlative results without providing superlative material to our students?
MARILYN FLOWERS, SANDY SPRINGS
Ga. medical board needs a makeover
The Georgia Medical Board spends too much of its valuable time investigating senseless complaints from demanding patients and intimidating physicians, in my personal opinion. The agency has become an obstacle to practice of quality medicine. Its priorities need to be changed. There are some permanent fixtures in the department who need to be replaced. They have plenty of personnel who need to be re-directed to track real problems, not silly complaints.
R. JOSEPH KULANGARA, M.D., DOUGLASVILLE
