THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 7, 1995 TAG: 9509070006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
I rejoiced when I read William Raspberry's column about American Federation of Teachers President Albert Shanker's thoughts on American education (Perspectives, Sept. 1).
I am a retired teacher. I was a lifelong member of the National Education Association, which is in competition with Mr. Shanker's AFT. Many times I have argued with fellow teachers, trying to get them to join the NEA instead of the AFT. But if I were still teaching, I would switch to Mr. Shanker's organization simply on the basis of this one interview.
Mr. Shanker has hit the nail on the head! There may be other defects in the system. But the one glaring fault that must be solved before any others can be seen or studied is lack of discipline. I do not mean bringing weapons to school; that offense is being met with the proper amount of punishment. I'm speaking about walking into class late, students talking loudly during class, getting out of their seats and walking around the rooms, bringing no books or writing supplies to class, eating during class, throwing trash on the floor and then, when they are confronted by the teacher, responding with unbelievable disrespect and verbal abuse.
Such behavior has become so prevalent that it is viewed by many of those in charge of discipline as not worthy of any meaningful punishment.
Most of these disruptive students are not making a passing grade - and they are not concerned about that. But they are very successful at crippling the learning process.
This situation is glossed over at all levels of the educational world because everyone is embarrassed by it. Teachers hide it because they are blamed for it. Sometimes they lose their jobs because of it. But the ultimate blame belongs to levels above the teacher.
Mr. Shanker is a rare man. He has the guts to speak the truth.
H. THOMAS ROGERS
Norfolk, Sept. 1, 1995 by CNB