Letters: Heavy Impact

Credit: Edutopia

The "Weighty Matters" cover really caught my eye (December 2005 [1]). A parent was in the staff room when I mentioned the scale increments ("Hurtin', Healthy, Holy Cow!"), and she cracked up. More importantly, it got her thinking about our overweight kids. She is now on a mission to raise money for a circuit-training course for our play area. Staff then suggested we have awards for different levels of accomplishment and perhaps even have a staff relay once the circuit course is installed. I want to see that!

Mickey Garrison

Credit: Edutopia

Defending Vending

I found the information on vending machines in schools in "Fighting for Fitness: Educational Institutions Step into the Ring" [2] (December 2005) to be a simplistic response to a complex problem. A major study by the American Medical Association found that the issue is not an increase in calorie intake, but a decrease in exercise. Blame for the increase can go to television, video games, advertising, and parents. Couple this with a decrease in required physical education classes, and you have a real explanation.

When we analyzed the consumption of soft drinks at our high school, we found that we averaged nine bottles per student per year. Shutting down our vending machines may make politicians feel good about taking action, but it will have no impact on student obesity.

Removing these machines will take approximately $11,000 per year out of our student activity budget. We use that budget to pay for assembly programs, field trips, fees for students who cannot afford to pay them, and some technology.

Do you have a plan to replace the money that you would remove from our school to solve a problem that will not be solved?

Jim Murphy

The Funding Fallacy

It is striking how often parents are asked to kick in funds for school supplies and programs such as athletics and the arts ("Beyond Bake Sales: Family Subsidy of Public Schools," [3] December 2005). The question is, Why? You seem to attribute it to a lack of state funds.

Actually, over the past ten, twenty, even fifty years, state education budgets have swelled, as has per-pupil funding. (Of course, some districts have seen cuts, but this is not indicative of shrinking state budgets in general.)

My guess is that if one compared, say, an education budget for the State of California from 1970 with one from 2005, you'd find dramatically higher portions of total spending devoted to: pensions, capital (school buildings), special and bilingual education, and technology. Wherever the money is going, though, I think most folks would agree that having schools go hat in hand to foundations and parents for operational expenses is not a sign of healthy education budgeting.

Kevin Kosar

Excellent Treatment

Your article about school nursing ("Intensive Care: Medical Treatment at Schools Is About More Than Band-Aids," [4] December 2005) is wonderful and paints a very accurate picture of what we do each day. Thank you for that fantastic piece.

Arlene Krassner, RN

Leery of Lear's Advocates

I appreciate Howard Fisher's letter ("The Right is Wrong," [5] December 2005) regarding Norman Lear's article ("Declaration of Independence: Students Caught in the Middle," [6] November 2005), yet he tips his hand when he fails to share an equal and balanced concern for the dogma of the radical liberal Left. Where is the balance? I have heard at least as much "misinformation and falsehoods" from the extreme liberal Left as I do from the Religious Right.

Thomas Wieland

Tme for Teachers

My thanks go to Dan Ouellette for expressing my thoughts on being a middle school teacher in a K-12 school ("Give Me a Break: A Teacher's Plea for Pause," [7] November 2005). I don't welcome the summer because I dislike teaching; it's because my heart is so absorbed in making a better classroom and a better curriculum and making my students enthusiastic learners that I ache for downtime so I can fire back up again. Burnout is a real issue in teaching and, without the summer to stoke the fire, I couldn't continue with the enthusiasm I have at the beginning of each day.

Cathy Engstrom

Although I agree that teaching is a marathon unlike any other job, I think teaching should be a full-year position. However, we should not also extend the school year for students. One preparation period a day is nowhere near enough time to prepare for the tremendous amount of lessons needed for each day of school and for each unique student in the classroom.

Everyone needs a break, but let's not consider vacation alone. How about a paid break that lets our teachers explore new ideas, meet with colleagues to brainstorm new approaches, evaluate what worked over the past year, and plan new approaches for the coming year?

Melinda Kolk

Principals and Principles

I agree with all your Big Ideas ("Big Ideas for Better Schools: Ten Ways to Improve Education," [8] September 2005). I believe, however, that in order for these to be successful, a hands-on instructional leader on the campus is essential. No mention of the principal's role in the school was made in the list, though. As instructional leaders, principals must devote at least 50 percent of their day to being in classrooms to provide feedback and encouragement for these great ideas. But many go by the wayside because the majority of our instructional leaders do not know what is going on in classrooms day in and day out. Instead, they focus their time on administrative duties.

In addition, 20 percent of their day must be devoted to staff development. One way is through common planning periods, which are essential for teachers to have time to meet with their principals during the day and discuss instruction and its impact on the students. Principals must be the main providers of professional development for their staff.

Roberto Zamarripa

One idea for school innovation and/or transformation not included in your Big Ideas is multiage elementary school and middle school classes. These can provide children, their teachers, and their parents with a better form of education than can be offered within age-graded, conventional classrooms: better in terms of personal and social growth and development, and better in terms of both conventional academic achievement and self-motivated and self-directed learning.

David Marshak

Letters to the editor are a vital part of the conversation. Send your thoughts, corrections, or even complaints to letters@edutopia.org [9], or Letters to the Editor, Edutopia magazine, P.O. Box 3494, San Rafael, CA 94912. Be sure to include your name, affiliation, and contact information. Letters may be edited for length and clarity prior to publication.