ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702140007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
Social promotions must end
WANDA MUSGROVE'S Feb. 8 letter to the editor (``Teachers must put children first'') deplores the fact that so many children are graduating who cannot spell, read or do simple math. Well, I bet these children couldn't read in the first grade, second grade or third grade either.
What the heck is a child who cannot read doing in the third grade? If parents and schools would stop worrying about the little darlings' bruised egos and insist they achieve before being promoted, we wouldn't have such graduates.
Social promotions may make a child feel good about himself or herself at the time, but the student eventually pays a heavy price. |MARY BURTON |SALEM
Don't risk splitting|
Democratic votes|
WE ARE aware of the excellent job Marsha Compton Fielder has done since she was elected as Roanoke city's commissioner of revenue. We were pleased to be able to pick up federal tax forms and Virginia state forms in her office, which saved us a trip to the Poff Building. This service, along with other changes she has made, is a real convenience for the people she serves.
Maybe there has never been a hybrid method of nomination in the city's Democratic Committee, but sometimes a change is due. Fielder had a right to ask for the method she wanted as did the other incumbents. The other incumbents didn't object to the method Fielder wanted, and she didn't object to their method.
We applaud the other incumbents for voting for a primary for commissioner of revenue because they knew Fielder had a right to ask for the method she preferred. This wasn't one individual's selfish desire. The mass meeting and the primary were decided on solely by members of the Roanoke City Democratic Committee in a roll-call vote.
If any divisive political maneuvers are under way, we would say it is persuading someone in a party to run against someone of the same party, even though the latter is doing a good job.
Split the party. Split the vote. Wake up, Roanoke.
|HENRY H. and VIRGIE F. CRAIGHEAD |ROANOKE
Schoolteachers|
deserve a raise|
ABOUT ROANOKE city schoolteachers' raises: Many citizens feel that teachers do not deserve raises because they aren't doing anything for the majority of students who attend school. Well, I have something to say about that.
I am 14 years old, attend Franklin County schools, and I am the son of two former teachers. I can tell you that being a teacher is no walk in the park.
Teachers spend part of their lives earning a license to be a professional. That's right - these people who some say cannot do jack are licensed professionals.
It isn't the teachers' fault that some of their students come to class high, half-awake or half-willing. They can discipline the student who is high, but that will only keep him or her out of school. They can lecture the student who is half-awake, but more than likely it will only make the student mad at the teacher and unwilling to cooperate or do any work. And they can only lecture the half-willing student so much before the student gives up completely.
If anyone is at fault when students don't get what they should out of a quality education, it is the kids themselves - not the teachers. Therefore, I think that teachers deserve their overdue raise for at least trying. |MATT LITTLE |BOONES MILL
Sen. Edwards voted|
against parents|
I WAS disappointed to see the parental-rights bill attacked and defeated by the Democrats in the state Senate.
Despite the demagogues who feared this would challenge the state education bureaucrats, the bill was a good idea. It simply reaffirmed the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children. This bill wouldn't have been necessary were it not for big government's intrusion into the lives of families.
Our senator, John Edwards, toed the Democratic Party line and voted against parents. Apparently, he feels that bureaucrats in Richmond or other liberal interest groups can better dictate what is best for our children.
The citizens of Roanoke deserve solid, conservative leadership in the Senate, not a liberal who blindly follows orders from the Democratic leadership. Voters should remember this in November 1999 and replace Edwards if he is unable to represent the families of Roanoke.
|JAMES MIXON |ROANOKE
Keep the mountain|
a place of peace|
THANKS TO Liza Field (Jan. 27 commentary, ``A view of the mountain as a living thing'') and Mary Beth Crowgey (Jan. 29 letter to the editor, ``Don't develop the mountaintop'') for their insights into our local treasure, Mill Mountain. As a transplanted resident of only two years, I feel many do not understand the value and significance of the problems we may face in the upcoming decade.
I grew up in Flagstaff, Ariz. Our treasures included many Indian ruins, the San Francisco Peaks and the Grand Canyon, to name only a few. I left the West when 23 years old to move to Virginia with its beautiful peaks and valleys. I miss the West, but never regret relocating.
As I head out West soon for my 20th high-school reunion, the reports scare me. Tour groups must wait in line outside the canyon, buses piled up and exhaust pluming into the once-crystal blue skies. Scalpers have taken all artifacts and ladders once unique to the Anasazi ruins, and there are condos on the prairies. I cannot camp in any of the old familiar sites because there are hotels and mini-casino-type bars, and my old neighborhood is in weeds because new attractions have taken away business from the once-thriving area. Doesn't that sound dismal?
They have numerous ordinances and regulations that are supposed to protect the areas from this very thing. But sometimes new businesses open in restricted areas, and the population doesn't know about it until it's too late. Does this sound like something we want to happen here?
I am a businesswoman residing in a unique and beautiful city. We need bike paths, hiking trails, places to find solitude and comfort, places where birds sing and wildlife abounds untethered. Should we take the precious gift J.B. Fishburn gave us and make a mockery of things his family holds sacred? I don't think so!
I can stand in the middle of my street and see the star atop Mill Mountain. It's beautiful, and should be the only light on the mountain that I see. I may not have the time to ramble as Field and her mother do, but my children may. For their sakes and for the sake of all generations to come, we need a place of peace inside our city. Please don't commercialize or take this precious gift for granted.
|ELIZABETH M. JONES |ROANOKE
Time to outgrow|
racist attitudes|
I HAVE been reading the editorial pages ever since I moved to Roanoke, and there is a reoccurring theme in letters to the editor. Many angry people seem so filled with hate and envy that the only way they can make themselves feel better is by giving their narrow-minded, antiquated, racist views so that everyone who gets the newspaper can read them.
What is their reason for writing these letters? Do they actually think that intelligent, open-minded, educated people will agree with them?
I am guessing that these letter writers are mostly white, and between 30 and 60 years of age. They probably have children, and that is scary. Racism breeds through uneducated, ignorant people feeding their children with this tainted point of view, as if it were gospel.
One of my best friends is black, and I am white. I see the stares, feel the cold shoulders, and see people change their path when we walk toward them. This enrages and embarrasses me, and almost makes me sick. But my friend is used to it.
I've heard the excuse that some people are too old to change, that they have been that way their whole lives. When are we going to stop using that excuse?
|DEWAYNE MORSE |ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 152 linesby CNB