TALK BACK

NCLB necessitys (LOTS OF) IMPROVEMENT

Regarding your April overspread story, "Rating NCLB," surely single of the lowest days in my 30-plus years in education came the day a certain number of suit visited our school from the district office with sufficiency of charts and graphs showing us the learners we were to give the lion's share of our attention to. These were not the struggling learners but those just below the bar of passing the state proof These were the students, the suit told us, who would "give us the biggest bang for the buck"

This was when the authentic extent of the madness generated through NCLB hit me. I was no longer in the business of teaching pupils to prepare them for life. My function was on the other hand to generate a number.

Now when we tender tutoring after school we are told not to include the lowest learners only those who, again, will "give us the biggest bang for the buck"

JOHN D RUSSELL

Rancho Cucamonga, California

While many criticisms of NCLB mention its lack of focus upon art, music, and physical education, seldom do I diocese a criticism of the lack of emphasis upon social studies. If teachers, especially at the elementary horizontal know they will be evaluated upon how well their students perform upon proficiency tests, and social studies is not to be evaluated, they will expend less time teaching that make subordinate I don't blame them-any teacher would. on the other hand I fear that in the time to come students will enter middle gymnasium with only a cursory knowledge of basic social studies. Perhaps the sole way our "esteemed legislators" will change this emphasis is when we fall drastically behind the quiescence of the world.

BILL HARRIS

Washington Court House, Ohio

In an attempt to improve experiment scores, my school has done a certain number of very intense gathering of data. And, while I understand the necessity of the data, it does take the gayety out of teaching and leaves precious little time for enrichment activities, field trips, spontaneous rewards, and art. (We don't have an art class.) for a like reason much for don't fix it, if it's not broken!

NATASHA BYARD

Deatsville, Alabama

There is nothing wrongful with the concept of "No Child Left Behind." on the other hand after our President asked his subordinates to make it workable and practical, the question at issues developed. If someone likes an idea, they will find a way to make it work. If someone does not, they can be for a like reason negative that there's no way it can be made to work!

JACOB J BARKMAN

Elkhart, Kansas

THE WAGES OF TEACHING

In her April essay, "The Wages of Teaching," Anna Quindlen indicates "no school administrator should at any time receive a percentage raise greater than the raise teachers get" I'd like to present an even more radical idea: That no administrator at any time receive a salary greater than, or plane equal to, a teacher's salary! After all, it is teachers who do the essential piece of work of all schools: directly educating the scholars The way I see it, the character of administrators is basically that of "support personnel"-people whose piece of work it is to help teachers do their piece of works For an analogous example, direct the eye at the world of professional sports. Coaches and managers usually are not paid as a great deal of as the players are-and the classroom is our field and court.

RICHARD SIEGELMAN

Plainview, fresh York

PRESCHOOL FOR ALL

Regarding April's Debate, ("Should all children attend preschool?") I believe the benefits of early childhood education have been known since the 1940 And nevertheless here we are, 60-plus years later, still debating and underfunding these valuable programs. There is no debate in my volume

PAT MOTSCHALL

Yucaipa, California

Without preschool experience, many children come into kindergarten without necessary basic skills. Kindergarten teachers disburse months "catching up" and trying to teach learners to stand in line, make an incision in write their names, and other skills that could otherwise be introduced, practiced, and learned in preschool The time worn out learning these skills could be better utilized teaching the numerous, rigorous academic skills that are now required in kindergarten. These youngsters are our time to come our tomorrow, and our hope-no matter what the take away from we owe it to our children to make secure a promising future.

GlNA SEGURA

Anaheim, California

CAREER-CHANGERS

Your article, "Swapping the Boardroom for the Classroom" (March), fails to mention an important fact. With the popular laws regarding the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP] and the regulation Pension Offset (GPO), people who have been busyed in the private sector and paid into Social security are discovering, ofttimes too late, they will solitary get a small portion of their Social security benefits. A individual should not be punished for entering a field where they can have a positive event on young people's lives.

DENNY MOORE

Chico, California

THANK YOU, NEA

I at no time realized what was meant by means of your words, "We are there for you!" until I got kicked back into our state retirement a whole by error. I was totally intimidated by the agency of the hearings I was required to proceed to, and felt completely alone. I called my NEA local. Thanks to our local rep who was "there for me" and still is, as we work from one side this mess.