THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996            TAG: 9610170006
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A18  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   23 lines

EDITORIAL IN LEFT FIELD

Your Sept. 27 editorial, ``The clock is ticking. . . ,'' implies that out-of-field teachers are somehow less than competent to teach their out-of-field subjects. This is as nonsensical as assuming that you are less than competent to write about anything other than journalism because your degree is in journalism.

When receiving an education, I would prefer it come from a competent out-of-field teacher as opposed to an incompetent teacher who possesses the appropriate credentials. I believe your error is in assuming that the licensing and certification procedure protects us from incompetent and inadequate teachers; any student can tell you that it does not.

Do you want to know why students aren't learning? Look at the studies that show how little of the school day is spent on learning and, more importantly, how the remaining time is spent.

HOYT DUFF

Virginia Beach, Oct. 9, 1996 by CNB