Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 8, 1994 TAG: 9405090116
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Betty Whitley's first point was that the REA was in favor of hiring a nurse as long as it did not affect the 3 percent raise proposed for teachers. My proposal would have reduced that 3 percent raise to 2.921 percent, a reduction of only 0.089 percent or 47 cents a week in the average teacher's take-home salary.
Our teachers are the 14th highest paid in the state out of 133 divisions and the highest paid west of the Roanoke Valley, with an average salary of $33,424. Don't get me wrong. Our schools' successes are for the most part due to competent and motivated teachers. I have been a strong advocate of these increases. In fact, last year I argued for a 3 percent raise for teachers, an action which caused the city to have to fund an extra $50,000 in this year's budget to maintain that raise. Despite this, the sentiment of the REA is that they would somehow be misused if their raise were diminished by 0.089 percent.
The letter's second point vastly oversimplifies my numerous arguments in favor of a school nurse, referring only to my fears of a possible future tragedy. I also pointed out that our elementary school office staff is spending up to half a day caring for sick children and trying to find parents. At McHarg alone, teachers administer medication to 31 pupils each day. A medical professional would be able to train staff in first aid and the handling of blood-borne pathogens. Also, a nurse would be better suited to spot subtle medical evidence of child abuse. Finally, a nurse would be able to teach some of the more sensitive areas of our family life curriculum (we currently have to hire a nurse part-time for this purpose).
We need at least one full-time nurse at each of our elementary schools and possibly one to be shared between the high school and Dalton Intermediate. I reduced my request to one nurse to address our most immediate needs at the elementary level.
Ms. Whitley went on to say that I criticized the REA for not being present when City Council heard our budget request. The actual quote was: "I'm glad to see so many members of the REA here this evening. I only wish you had turned out in these numbers when we took the school budget proposal to council."
Ms. Whitley seems to take great umbrage at my remark that "in five years on the School Board I have not heard one proposal from the Radford Education Association that contained the word child or children." I noted that the accuracy of the remark was not challenged. I know that our teachers are devoted to teaching children and care for them greatly. My remark was aimed at the institutional role of the REA.
Finally, I wish to address that concept that I am anti-teacher. There are none in our society that hold my esteem more than teachers. Much of who I am was shaped by the excellent teachers I had in the Radford City School System. The confusion comes from how I perceive my role as a member of the Radford City School Board. It is easy to support a constituency that is organized, financed, politically active and turns out at our meeting in relatively large numbers.
On the other hand, my allegiance is to a group that is unorganized, unfinanced and not politically active - our children. When the interests of teachers and students diverge you can be assured that I will take a stand for what I feel is best for our students.
This is probably the most difficult letter I have ever written. Carrying this argument to the newspapers in unquestionably counterproductive for our schools. However, the unfortunate personal nature of the previous letter left me no alternative. From this point forward, I hope we all will work together to achieve quality education for our children.
John Craig II
Member,
Radford School Board
Radford
Worthwhile, not 'worthless'
I am an eighth-grader at Blacksburg Middle School. I am writing this letter in response to the letter "School means work, not play," that appeared in the April 24 Current. I was appalled by some of the things in that letter. You have the right to your opinions, but it is wrong for you to make value judgments on our projects and our schools when you have not participated in them.
The first thing I wanted to talk about is Earth Week. Excuse us for caring about our precious earth. You think school should be run like it was in the 1930s. Well, in the 1930s the environment was in better shape than it is now. I think it is important for us to teach our children how to help the earth. It is also important to teach them how precious our earth is. How can you call Earth Week a waste of time?
The second thing I wanted to talk about is the Holocaust. You say that the Holocaust merits only a period or two. How can you say that the killing of millions and millions of people requires only a period or two of learning? Today the country took a whole day to mourn the death of former President Richard Nixon. We are supposed to take two periods to honor the death of millions of people? The Holocaust is a sad period of history. It is often hard for us to look at ourselves after something like this happens. We need to teach our children not to let something like this happen again. That certainly requires more than one or two periods.
The third thing I wanted to talk about is the last few words of your letter about "our worthless public schools." If they are so worthless then how come Blacksburg High School has a substantially higher average on SAT scores compared to the rest of the state and nation? To prove to you that our schools are not worthless I am sending you a copy of a magazine I helped make in English. The magazine is called "Racism in the United States." You are welcome to read and see what you think.
Brian Wheeler
Blacksburg
Studies are not a waste of time
I, my fellow students and my teachers at Blacksburg Middle School are very upset with your letter: "School means work, not play."
First of all, excuse me? Something called Earth Week? I don't think so. Earth Week is a celebration of our natural world. If you don't like it then go somewhere and hibernate. When the sixth grade made the whale they didn't just make a whale, they also learned about whales, a dying breed of animals.
The eighth grade has been studying the Holocaust for five or more years. Many innocent lives were wasted during the Holocaust. Learning this information could possibly stop anything from happening again.
The students at Margaret Beeks are not wasting their time when they write the opera. I'm sure that the teachers give them lessons on the history of operas, which gives them a good history of music.
I'm sorry, but I feel that we don't need a return to the education of the 1930s. Students these days would get too bored if they weren't having any fun. Learning about recent issues is just as important as learning about the 1600s. The teachers are not wasting taxpayers' money, they are using it very wisely.
After learning about the Holocaust I have looked at racism and human rights more in-depth. My parents feel that using six weeks to learn about the Holocaust was a waste of time. I feel that if they had been put in my place and learned about the Holocaust for six weeks they would look at using that amount of time the same way as I did.
So I'm sorry if you don't like the 1990s education. Get over it. It will probably be more to your disliking in the next century. Live with our education or move.
Megan Stratton
Blacksburg
This is education for our time
In response to the letter written by Thomas Ozro MacAdoo, "School means work, not play," we would like to express our concern and embarrassment. This is not the '30s and the education of today shows it. In our school, we learn about things that weren't even around in that time, like technology of the computer or technology of medicine, which we are studying in our unit on technology and invention. The students here care about the world around us and taking care of it. You have no place telling us that caring for our earth, which might be gone someday, is a waste of time.
In response to your comments on the Holocaust unit, had we not learned about this very influential event, we would all be as ignorant as you. After all, ignorance was the main cause for the Holocaust and the prejudice going on today in Bosnia. Learning about the hatred and prejudice involved in the Holocaust has taught us to show more respect and love for those around us. In your letter, you criticized our becoming better people.
Although the work we do can sometimes be mistaken for play, that is what makes us eager to learn. We worked very hard on all the units that have been previously mentioned. For your sake, you should learn more about the world in which we live and respect those who want to.
Rachael Kesler, Daniel Gray, Suzanne Gerus, Shannon Sprague, Sarah Atkins, Sara Callahan and Christine Kesler
Eighth-graders at Blacksburg Middle School
Blacksburg
Volunteers came through for seniors
Congratulations are in order for a job well done by volunteer members of the New River Valley Senior Olympics steering committee. Over the past several months, these professionals from area RSVP and recreation departments carefully ironed out the details that always arise during a project of this magnitude.
The New River Valley Senior Olympics is a joint venture sponsored this year by the Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Radford and Montgomery County recreation departments, as well as RSVP organizations from Giles, Floyd and Montgomery counties. With the knowledge and experience from these professionals, the 1994 Senior Olympics became a huge success.
There were numerous people and businesses that volunteered time, effort and intellect to this event and their contributions are certainly appreciated. It was such a pleasure to see these local businesses, institutions, industries and governments working together to provide recreational activities for citizens of the New River Valley.
Phillip Conner,
Community center
supervisor
Blacksburg Parks
and Recreation
by CNB