Published: 31 January 2012
Dear Editor,
Sen. Chip Rogers never ceases to amaze me. Our state majority leader has been known for having his kids in private school (his prerogative, which is respected); however, to assume that every parent can afford or even wants to send their kids to private school is ridiculous.
The charter school is a good example of alternative schools, but it doesn’t work for everyone. This doesn’t mean that public schools must suffer in order to maintain and build other alternative schools.
My kids attend a county public school, and I believe they are receiving a very good education, based on the standards that the state has set and measured by the tests that the same state has provided.
This is not to say that I wish that the No Kids Left Behind was used in a different way, but that is another matter that needs to be addressed somewhere else.
Sen. Rogers needs to understand that there are many parents, teachers and kids that need public schools, and they need the funding that is otherwise being sent somewhere else.
Here again comes the subject of salaries and why there are so many people making huge salaries, while the most important people in the scene, teachers, are not being awarded what they deserve. How about keeping teachers accountable?
The ones that have a proven record, not with test results, but with overall learning, should be rewarded and those who are plainly showing up, without caring for the education of the kids, should be replaced with teachers with a real calling for the field.
I am a teacher myself and understand the frustrations of both parents and teachers, but there is a middle ground where we shall meet to bring what benefits kids the most, whether is schedule, curriculum, or teaching styles.
In the meanwhile, let’s keep our majority leader away from our schools. Perhaps, it may be time to replace him with somebody with priorities that are more citizen-oriented instead of having so much politics in mind.
Carolina Ayerbe, Woodstock
