Letters to the Editor 03/22/06

To the Editor:

I am a native Oregonian, it will always be my real home. On a recent trip to a family home in Black Butte Ranch, a newspaper article caught my attention and so I did some background checking to see if I understood the problem. Sadly, my first take was correct.

During testing “teachers” (who should receive a medal) may have offered assistance to Johnny or Suzy? The crime — “Mrs. Smith, I don’t remember how to do long division.” “Here Johnny is a sample of how you do long division.” Not, “here is the answer, or let me fill it in for you!”

Believe it or not, that’s called teaching.

Sisters School Board has failed at their job. Their job and their only job is to do what is best for the children. Their job is not to have the Superintendent sitting at the board table during scheduled meetings. The Superintendent should be seated in the audience as any other district employee. The Superintendent should not set the agenda for the board.

The school board could have and should have handled this perceived crime internally!

Taking a stand in light of ominous warnings from the Superintendent and the board attorney waving statute in front of them and repeating the “L” word (liability) requires a special and strong commitment to the job of school board member. The board took the cheap, safe way out because of teachers doing what they were hired to do: teach!

We are not talking about an entrance exam to Harvard; we are talking about a little eight-year-old mind wanting nothing more than direction on how to get to an answer on a silly, worthless test.

Demand a school board that is willing to take a bullet to protect the children and the first line of defense — teachers who want the children to actually learn.

Elizabeth Koonce

Oceanside, California

To the Editor:

Our United (?) States is in serious trouble. Over the last five years we have gone from a generous surplus in our economy to an alarming deficit. From being generally respected around the world, we now get very negative ratings by large majorities overseas where our credibility has all but vanished.

Three years ago we embarked on an illegal and unjustified war. Tens of thousands of innocents have been killed or maimed, including almost 20,000 young American men and women. We are now learning an untold number of Iraqi vets and their families are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The Bush Administration deserves enormous blame for this, but others must also be found guilty. First and foremost are the senators and representatives, Republican and Democrat, that supported this administration’s disastrous policies. Next are political commentators behaving as accomplices to help deceive the American people. And last, but certainly by no means least, are these same American people that were so willing to believe the propaganda fed to them.

It is time for a radical change of course. We must get rid of every politician, Republican and Democrat, that supported these policies that have us in so much trouble. In Oregon’s 2nd District that means replacing Greg Walden. There are six candidates (Republican and Democrats) seeking this seat. Most would be better, some very much better.

I urge you to consider Scott Silver from Bend. Visit his Web site (www.silverforcongress.org) to learn more about him. In particular, note and enjoy his list of quotes that have impressed him. You can tell a lot about people by the quotes they like, especially when you have had a chance to observe, as I have, that they have formed a set of principles for Scott Silver to live by.

Bill Bodden