No Child Left Behind sets up unrealistic expectations

No Child Left Behind setsup unrealistic expectations
EDITOR:
I am entering my fifth year of teaching in Leetonia Schools in Columbiana County. We have wonderful students and teachers at our school. I absolutely love my vocation, and I care a great deal for the students in my school, and for students in general. I have read the recent articles about No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and I have found the response to Miss Hagan's column very ignorant of the reality of NCLB.
I have no problem with accountability. There are some poor teachers. These people should be helped to improve or they should be let go. However, NCLB is not based in accountability. Whether students pass or fail a test is not a measure of good teaching. Some kids will pass with lousy teaching, and some kids will fail with marvelous teaching.
Let's apply NCLB to other professions. If a doctor has any patients die in the next six years, he will be fired. If a dentist has a patient with a cavity in the next six years, he will be fired. If one car produced at GM has a factory error, the workers will be fired and the plant will be shut down.
No Child Left Behind holds teachers to unrealistic standards. In the next six years, schools must have 100 percent of their students passing the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). What other profession demands perfection? I can't think of one, other than air-traffic controllers, and hundreds of people don't die if a student makes a mistake doing binomial multiplication.
Furthermore, the attitudes of our students toward the test are not under our control. Is the OGT the top priority for the student who wonders where his next meal will come from? What about the student who is afraid to go home, due to mental or physical abuse? What about the student who is just not a good test-taker? Teachers are being held accountable for factors over which we have no control. In my opinion, you should only be held accountable for factors within your control.
Most teachers that I know are great. We want the best possible education for our students. However, we can't just bring in raw materials and produce a product. The lives and experiences of our young people are far more complex in this postmodern world. A school is not a factory, nor should it be. After all, factories are never expected to be 100 percent efficient.
RICK FAWCETT
Canfield
Valley needs a plan to stopthe decline in population
EDITOR:
A recent article in The Vindicator ( & quot;Valley's show population decline," June 25) underscored why residents of the region should worry. According to the article, population in the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys declined while state populations in Pennsylvania and Ohio overall increased. Why?
You don't need an economics degree to understand this disturbing trend. Our region has a long history of bowing to the special interests of Big Labor. This was fine when steel mills ruled the regional economy in the 1960s, but times have changed. We're in the Information Age now, and the service industry is king. Unfortunately, however, we still tend to elect labor-centric politicians, whose regressive policies chase business from the region. Compulsory unionism, combined with the problem of "brain-drain," or the flight of the college educated from Pennsylvania and Ohio, spells trouble for our region.
What can be done? First, we as voters need to recognize the need for change. Rather than electing officials who are indebted to outdated, overpriced union labor models, we need progress, creative legislators, who can help us compete in the global economy. It's no shock that Hermitage was the only local city showing a population increase; that city's long-running economic strategy has attracted a wealth of service companies and big box stores alike.
The rest of us need to follow suit. It's not the 1960s anymore, folks. We need a plan, one that reduces representation for unionized labor to its proper proportion, and recognizes that our region can move forward.
JASON C. REEHER
Grove City, Pa.
Series on Ohio Records Lawwas an excellent eye opener
EDITOR:
Kudos to The Vindicator (and other participating members of the Ohio Newspaper Association) for their recent series of articles exposing the woeful inadequacy of many of our governmental offices to comply with the Ohio Public Records law.
It is shameful that almost 50 percent of the agencies to which requests for public documents were made by the media involved in the simultaneous state-wide survey failed to discharge their legal responsibilities -- either by stonewalling or imposing conditions for disclosure which the law simply does not require. Among those agencies receiving the lowest marks were the various local school districts throughout the state.
It is axiomatic that democracy fares best in an informed society. Good government requires transparency and accountability. Without transparency, there can be no accountability and without accountability, despotism will inevitably follow. Unfortunately many of our public officials don't seem to get it. They forget that the records belong to the people; that they, the public servants, are merely the custodians of such records.
Of course, not all governmental agencies are at fault. As the newspaper articles pointed out, some agencies responded quite well. But too many agencies, whether through ignorance or paranoia, have flouted the Public Documents Law. It was, therefore, gratifying to learn that as a result of these newspaper articles, top state officials, including the governor and the attorney general, are now urging the adoption of educational programs and seminars to educate our public record keepers on their responsibilities.
The Ohio Newspaper Association and its members who participated in this survey should stand up and take a bow.
MICHAEL T. HONOHAN
Cleveland
X The writer is a volunteer attorney for the ACLU of Ohio.
Arnold Schwarzeneggercould teach Ohio a lesson
EDITOR:
The Republican leaders in Columbus should take a lesson from Arnold Schwarzenegger. He worked out a deal with the Indian tribes in California to share in the profits of their casinos. A cool $2 billion from the Indian casinos to help his state of California in financial need.
Ohio is ready to go with either compacts to allow the Indian casinos in Ohio and is also ready to go with conventional casinos if the General Assembly passes special legislation to allow them.
Gambling has always been a part of our culture and always will be. The more you suggest stopping a gambler from gambling, the more they want to and will continue to gamble. Ninety-nine percent of them aren't compulsive anyhow and gamble for enjoyment.
Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana and Illinois are raping Ohio by getting all the proceeds from Ohio gambling in their states. Have the leaders in Columbus come down of their high horses, shake hands with Geronimo and help Ohio financially -- like Arnold did.
You Republicans should stop poking fun at the Democrats and start complaining where it will do Ohio some real good -- in Columbus.
VICTOR SCHNELTZER
Youngstown
Amtrak station is neglected
EDITOR:
Recently I had occasion to visit the B & amp;O Amtrak station in Youngstown. What an eye-opener. I saw:
UA carpet that was badly in need of vacuum cleaning.
UCastoff furniture from the restaurant below and WORSE -- no toilet paper nor paper towels in the restroom.
On the plus side, the watchman was extremely helpful.
Correcting this situation would be a fine project for one of the women's organizations in the area. The sooner the better.
ROSE SHAFFER
New Castle, Pa.