Letters To The Editor
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
Phonics alone is not enough
We, the board of the Inland Northwest Council of Teachers of English, a bi-state organization serving teachers in North Idaho and Eastern Washington, have read the Washington state bill regarding the reading initiative. While we recognize the importance of phonics in reading instruction, we also recognize that reading is a complex task requiring phonics instruction as well as strategies dealing with comprehension, syntax, word origins and students’ prior knowledge that help students connect word and meaning. Phonics always needs to be part of reading instruction but it should not be the sole focus of reading instruction, even in the early grades.
We are also concerned with the ominous tone this bill sets in state control of education. Teachers in the classroom who teach reading as a complex skill are best able to determine the needs of their students. Teachers making these informed decisions demonstrate the essence of effective local control.
The board of INCTE is willing to help the Legislature and the public understand more about the complexity of teaching reading. We recommend a book recently published by the Northeastern Regional Education Laboratory in Portland and the National Council of Teachers of English, “Building a Knowledge Base in Reading.” It is an excellent resource on reading instruction and research.
We encourage our legislators and the public to observe reading instruction, in classrooms in their districts or anywhere else in the state, and to watch elementary teachers use various reading strategies, including phonics, to help their students connect word and meaning. Duane Pitts, president Inland Northwest Council of Teachers of English, Odessa, Wash.
Mead voters, back best education
We have a commitment to our children who will be, have been or are now in the Mead School system. We as parents, no matter where we fall within these parameters, have a commitment to allow our children the best possible education so that they can have the chance to achieve their dreams. It is the one thing we can do for all of them.
The Mead School Board and citizens advisory committee studied the situation and have made well-informed suggestions as to needed improvements in the district. It is our job to vote yes twice on March 10. Dave S. Lafferty Spokane
Don’t snuff charter school competition
School board member Andy James’ article concerning charter schools is an excellent example of an attempt to destroy the competition before it exists.
The demand for charter schools comes from parents who want to exercise their right to choose the educational paradigm their children will participate in, regardless of their economic situation, race or location. Charter schools should be accountable to a charter school board, one per legislative district, appointed by the legislative district elected representatives, and to a local school board, one per charter school, elected by the parents supporting that school. Charter schools, like magnet schools, must have the right to establish entrance criteria for both students and parents.
To allow our government to continue to be the only provider of affordable education is not only wrong but supports a system that has no competition and no reason to improve its performance. Our state is a leader in educational freedom and reform. Charter schools is the next appropriate step. John W. Axtell Valley, Wash.
CHILD CARE
Rosie’s just what my boy needed
I am very proud to say that my child went to Rosie’s Romper Room, and it made a great positive change in him.
From infancy, my child went to a well-known, licensed, expensive but “my child is worth it” preschool day care. At the age of 4, he was labeled as possibly having attention deficit problems and was coming home each day saying he was a bad boy.
I went to Special Services with everything I had on my child: class work, progress reports and notes from the day care. The counselor said my child was bored. He did all that was asked and now he needed to be a boy, a kid.
On April 2, 1997, I found Rosie’s. My son and I traveled from the North Side to the South Hill. What a place! Desks and four computers for their learning. A U.S. flag, at which they stood every morning and did the Pledge of Allegiance. Best of all, when the children are done with their work, they can play. Her yard is more rewarding than you can imagine: a log cabin, tepee, rock castle, swings, slides, etc. Kids can run, jump, roll, bring any toy they want any day.
My son went from thinking he was a bad boy to knowing he is trustworthy and wonderful.
Rosie Zaring loves all her children and they all love her. She puts her life into her day care. It’s not a 6-to-6 job to her. She is a caring giver. She is an asset to the working parents of Spokane. Pam M. Woodley Spokane
HIGHER EDUCATION
West’s plan an expensive rip-off
Sen. Jim West’s plan to kick Eastern Washington University out of Spokane will be very costly for me and for the citizens of this city. If it works, 1,300 EWU students in Spokane will become 1,300 WSU students paying $800 more per year. That’s $1.04 million yearly for the same service we’re getting now. That is, unless WSU continues to rely on video and television courses from Pullman. In that case, we’ll still pay a million dollars more a year, but for a lower-quality education.
I have four children who plan to go to EWU. If they must pay $800 more a year for four years, that’s $3,200 per child for a total of $12,800. West likes to boast about saving me $50 on my property tax, but now he wants me to pay $12,800 more for public higher education in Spokane. I’ll gladly return my measly $50 to West and Sen. Eugene Prince, co-sponsor of West’s bill, if they will give me a choice about higher education in Spokane.
If WSU really wants a bigger role in Spokane, it should win it by offering good programs for which students are willing to pay more. The fact that WSU’s Spokane enrollment is only 300, compared to 1,300 for EWU, makes me think WSU is trying to win in Olympia what it lost in the classroom.
Fortunately, West can’t take some choices away like who I’ll vote for this fall. Maria Musun Spokane
EWU commentary sorely lacking
Re: editor Chris Peck’s Feb. 17 diatribe against Eastern Washington University. I suggest that if Peck ever plans on writing another such editorial, he should first consult an award-winning journalist on the concept of accuracy. Someone like Jess Walter, who was a Spokesman-Review reporter before going on to bigger, better things. Walter, incidentally, is an EWU graduate.
As for EWU’s enrollment numbers, which The Spokesman-Review consistently seems to get wrong, Peck might want to talk with a mathematician, perhaps EWU student Emil Kraft, who last year took an international actuarial exam and placed first - in the world.
In terms of Peck’s feeble attempts at levity, he would do well to take a course from someone who really knows how to be funny. Pat McManus, for example, who is known around the world for his humor. Oh, and did I mention, he’s a faculty emeritus in Eastern’s English department?
I concur with one thing in Peck’s ranting essay. Ron Popeill is indeed a successful multimillionaire because his greatest skill has been his ability to sell people things they don’t really need or want. Maybe the Review could use him to boost its sagging subscription numbers. John Soennichsen Cheney
HEC gave it lick and a promise
It’s nice to know the Legislature took the time to make a token effort at an honest, unbiased evaluation of the Eastern Washington University-Washington State University situation.
The fact that the Higher Education Coordinating Board could come into EWU for only two days and properly assess the situation shows that the decision to give big brother, also known as WSU, control of education in Spokane was already decided. I expected the HEC board to at least stay a week, to make it appear they were really doing their job.
I have attended both WSU and EWU, and I will graduate proudly with a degree from EWU in June. After having experienced lectures at WSU with 1,000 students in one room, professors who see class time as a burden to their research grants, and a basic atmosphere of party-‘til-you-drop, it was refreshing to attend EWU, where, amazingly enough, academics is the main concern and the overall goal. Leslie Czernik Medical Lake
INTOLERANCE
Our way is to honor the rights of all
I’ve been following the news and letters of response concerning the Nazis’ proposed march in Coeur d’Alene. Everybody is so politically correct and righteously offended that some people who are out of the mainstream should actually have the same rights as the anointed.
I was in the middle of all the “civil disobedience” of our so-called cultural revolution of the 1970s in Seattle. All sorts of crimes against persons and property were expected to be, and were, excused in the name of freedom of expression. Now, those ragamuffin misfits are in power and anyone of us who fails to mutter the mantra is persona non grata.
Just last year, the Supreme Court found, in the case of pro-life demonstrators obstructing and verbally abusing persons patronizing abortion clinics, that such verbalization, no matter how offensive, no matter how in-your-face, the utterer has a First Amendment right to utter thus and such, halitosis and all.
I have no use for the Nazis or the Church of Jesus Christ Christian. I just believe in the Constitution. If all you hypocrites want to make a point against that church and the Nazis, go to their parade. As they approach, turn your backs until they have passed. Don’t throw rocks, bottles or insults. Bring signs to show them while your back is turned.
So, Coeur d’Alene, stuff your collective self-righteousness and grant the Nazis their parade permit. The Constitution is for everyone, even the properly unpopular. Brehon K. McFarland Colville, Wash.
Give marchers an about face
It looks like nothing can be done constitutionally to stop Richard Butler from marching down a public street in Idaho while waving the flag with the big black spider. As enlightened humans, though, we can show our displeasure at his actions.
Instead of a counter demonstration, I suggest to anyone attending the show that lining up on the parade route with your back to the street as he passes sends an appropriate signal to that kind of man without goading someone to throw punches. (Feel free to add barnyard noises at a strategic moment.) Gordon J. Hensley Colville, Wash.
Hate response won’t do, either
I was very disturbed by the Feb. 20 article concerning the Aryan Nations Parade. The possibility of it is very disturbing in itself, but even more appalling is the idea that Irv Rubin of the Jewish Defense League would suggest that hate is an appropriate and desired response to the activities of the Aryan Nations. Hate is what fuels the Aryan Nations movement. To respond to their activities with hate is to play into their hands.
As Americans who value our freedoms and appreciate the American dream that enables people of all cultures, faiths and beliefs to live in harmony, we have a civic and moral responsibility to demonstrate that we disagree with the Aryans’ beliefs and with those of any group that rejects equal rights. However, hate is not the way.
On the contrary, we should demonstrate our rejection of their ideas through such peaceful, positive activities as a peaceful demonstration at the parade, if it occurs; increased efforts to teach the values this country was based on in our schools; and increased efforts to dispel prejudice and foster love for all mankind within our homes and communities.
Hate is never the answer. I hope that if the parade occurs, it does not disintegrate into an angry, vengeful demonstration by those of us who do believe all men and women are created equal. Shaun L. Brown Liberty Lake
Turn your back on Aryans, their credo
As our Constitution is now written, Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Judy has no choice but to grant the Aryans a parade permit. As to the parade itself, I suggest that we, the people of North Idaho, should not attempt to ignore the event but rather should line the parade route. As the marchers reach our vantage point, we should turn our backs on them, just as we turn our backs on their message of hate. Barrie MacConnell Coeur d’Alene
THE MEDIA
Belt buckles do not a Nazi make
Columnist Doug Clark’s Feb. 19 blistering attack on David and Bernice Laabs (“Evil accessories help highlight complacency”) points out a common idiocy: guilt by association. Apparently, because the Laabs possess these two chunks of brass they are low-lifes, in Clark’s book.
Well, Clark, in my collection, I have a book purported to have been owned by James F. Cooper. Does this make me a sympathizer of those who would trivialize the plight of early Native Americans or merely a collector of old books? My Uncle owns a World War II German flag his dad confiscated off a Panzer tank. Does possessing this make him a sympathizer, and should it be destroyed to ensure that our streets are kept safe from a fresh group of Panzers?
Come on, get a grip. Objects - no matter their history - are not inherently evil. Possessing an object, no matter its history, doesn’t establish intent or lack of intent.
Because someone isn’t as anti-skinhead as you, don’t make them out to be some sort of closet collaborator. You really need to learn to control that overly wide brush, Clark. You’re beginning to sound rabid. Rick Cleigh Spokane
Olympics segment inappropriate
I am outraged that CBS would take its Olympic coverage time slot (Feb. 22) and use it to dredge up a full hour of coverage on how the Japanese tortured prisoners of war 50 years ago. For us to use this as a forum to air out the dirty linen from a terrible period in world history is tasteless in the extreme.
The Olympics are a momentous time. Each time they take place, countries join together to display their athletic prowess and put aside political differences.
As an American, I am embarrassed that CBS would stoop to this level to get ratings and/or reviews. The story of Louis Zamperini is a moving one but it could have been told in about 10 minutes by cutting out the graphic footage of the prisons and so forth.
I do not pretend this era in our history never existed. I enjoy watching and reading about the history of our world, good and bad. During any other time slot, I would have appreciated the story’s thoroughness. The Olympics wasn’t the proper time or place.
I am ashamed this was shown. We should be showing the host country the respect it deserves for the wonderful games it put on. Valerie Brady Rongey Chattaroy
I turn tables on telemarketers
Perhaps your readers are as frustrated as we are with ill-timed telemarketing calls to our home.
Any telemarketer call is ill-timed, as far as my husband and I are concerned. Our privacy is invaded every day and every evening with these unwanted calls. Is there not any law that can protect the telephone customer from these daily invasions?
Recently, I answered the phone to a young lady wanting to give us an estimate on new windows and doors. I very nicely said, “I’m glad to have this opportunity to tell you that I sell insurance and I’d like to give you some estimates from my company.” She replied, “But, I don’t need any insurance.” I answered, “Well my dear, now you know how I feel, and I don’t call you to buy anything, do I?”
From now on, I’m going to answer every telemarketing call with a sales pitch for every different product, from aquariums to zirconium. Do you think that would get me off the telephone list? Phyllis S. Heinel Spokane