Think about freedom's value on this Independence Day

Think about freedom's valueon this Independence Day
EDITOR:
An unending debt of thanks and gratitude is owed to those who paid the ultimate price for the freedom Americans enjoy today. It's because others had the courage to fight and die for what they believed in, that Americans are blessed to be able to live in the greatest country in the world.
For that reason alone our country and every person who served in the armed forces deserves the love, loyalty, support and respect of the American people. Should any American abuse or take the freedom they have for granted, they would be wise to remember that without freedom a person loses ownership of their mind, their body and their soul.
May God continue to bless America and its people, and may Americans continue to count their blessings because they have freedom. Happy Fourth of July to all.
MARY LOU JURINA
Youngstown
A short course in what's wrong with public education
EDITOR:
If you want to discover what's wrong with America's education system, read Harold Gwin's front page article, "Teachers say law stifles pupils," in the June 24 Vindicator. In this 36-paragraph article, the impact of No Child Left Behind on the student wasn't mentioned until paragraph 32. What was that impact? First, let's look at what preceded it.
One teacher lamented, "We're very overtested" All that testing apparently "leaves no room for critical thinking or problem solving." Another teacher noted, "I feel compelled to teach to the standards and the benchmarks." He suggested a better measure -- a blend of attendance, grade point average, SAT and ACT scores. The SAT and ACT are tests. And attendance and GPA are standards. They are just his standards.
He also suggested that "The real measure of success is what the kids are doing five or 10 years down the road." Makes sense. If a fifth-grader fails math, fire the kindergarten teacher. I can't wait to see that clause in the next teacher's contract.
One teacher even bemoaned "the interference of the government." While another said, "How can you put a mandate on me if you don't fund me?" Somewhere they forgot that they are the government. They are government employees. As far as funding is concerned, they have it. It's called a paycheck.
Yet, one admitted that "we need accountability." But another proclaimed, "I do not see the need for the test at all. I grade my students every single day." But who is grading you? Certainly not the teacher's union or the school superintendent or the board of education.
The gist of this article is that teachers don't like standardized testing. It's not that they don't like standards. They love their standardized salaries that pay them for time served rather than students saved, or their standardized union contract that places insurmountable hurdles between their incompetence and their termination. These standards are OK.
The standard they hate is the one that is "not perfect, but it does work for a lot of kids." Or as one teacher stated, "It's really helped." But that revelation doesn't appear until paragraph 32 and is abandoned by paragraph 33. By paragraph 34 we are fed a meaningless poll result.
Now I love teachers. I almost became one. But they should spend time listening to their own words, and then practice a little of that "critical thinking and problem solving" that they want to teach our children. If they did, the system, the country and the children would be better for it.
THOMAS MASKELL
Poland