
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994                   TAG: 9402050004
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

STANDARDS

CONGRATULATIONS to the judge who the other day ordered the Georgetown, Del., school board to reconsider its firing of an algebra teacher, Adele Jones. We're not sure of the legalities involved, but the board ought to reconsider its decision.

Jones' offense: holding her charges to too high a standard. In one class, she ended up flunking as many as 40 percent of her students.

Yet, rather than celebrating her departure, students marched to demand her reinstatement. Some carried signs that read: "I Failed Mrs. Jones' Class and It Was My Fault."

School board members, of course, took this blatant demonstration of inadequate self-esteem as proof of the wisdom of their decision. They unwittingly exemplify a national phenomenon: talking about upgrading academic standards at the national level, while avoiding doing it in the local schools.

by CNB