To the editor,
Congratulations to all who wrote in response to Joanna DelBuono’s rantings against teachers (“Tenure Schmenur, something’s gotta give,” Not for Nuthin’, Feb. 8).
I taught for 22 years in the most wonderful and rewarding profession in the city. It was my dream and it came true after many years in private sector jobs, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed.
However, teaching was the most fulfilling profession of all, until our illustrious mayor decided teachers were the devil’s employees. I retired three years ago, but I still miss my kids (yes “my kids”) while I do not miss the constant feelings of stress and frustration of my last years in the system. Isn’t it funny that “in the system” also describes being in prison.
I talk to teachers all over the city and the general consensus of opinion is that they can’t wait to get out. They feel they can no longer be the best they can be with all the pressure.
Let’s stop the teacher bashing and see what we can do to help the deteriorating situation in our schools.
Tony Merlino
Gravesend
To the editor,
Great column, Shavana Abruzzo (“Our troops are heroes — not zeroes,” A Britisher’s View,” Feb. 16)! Exactly how I feel.
For years I have personally boycotted all professional sports, for the same basic reasons expressed in your column.
Paul G. Knox
The writer is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army.
…
To the editor,
Shavana Abruzzo (A Britisher’s View) has brought up a topic that my friends and I have wondered about.
Why has there not been a parade down the Canyon of Heroes for the true heroes, without whom we wouldn’t have so many blessings, including professional football.
I sometimes wonder about how skewed our priorities have become. Do we have to wait for an okay from Washington? What’s the deal here?
Thank you for your honesty and putting forth topics which must be considered by all of us.
Deborah Matlack
Bay Ridge
Golden irony
To the editor,
Gov. Cuomo delivered a strong and inspired State of the State address, recapping the significant successes of his first year in office and outlining a vision for the future of New York that all New Yorkers can support.
It hit all the right notes on issues that matter to our neighborhood — reviving our economy, strengthening our schools, reinvesting in our transportation system, and giving New Yorkers the honest and transparent government they deserve. But, state Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge) strangely chose to criticize the governor for being weak on public safety, despite the fact that Cuomo has proposed expanding the DNA database to cover all crimes, among other initiatives.
Sen. Golden’s criticism is ironic because he was curiously absent from the Senate chamber last year during a vote on a critical bill that would have helped our police officers investigate incidents of gun violence — clearly a top issue of public safety.
We can’t settle for just one good year in Albany. There’s still a lot to be done to fix the political dysfunction of the past decade. Our elected officials should be working with Gov. Cuomo to get New York back on track, instead of offering empty criticisms.
Andrew Gounardes
Democratic state senate candidate, Bay Ridge
True blue freedom
To the editor,
American empires were built with blood, sweat, tears and fossil fuels! Freedom must be guarded and protected or it ebbs away like the tide.
The best sailors and soldiers on the planet have overthrown tyrants, liberated the oppressed, rescued the lost and kept the American way of life alive. The Rev. John WInthrop’s vision in 1630 was “a shining city on a hill” that the entire world could see as a beacon of light and liberty.
When 55 delegates met in Philadelphia in June 1787, they were charged with the task of improving upon the Articles of Confederation that garnered 13 wayward and capricious colonies for 11 years. A compromise, known as the Virginia Plan, would help found a nation, and draft the U.S Constitution, our second document.
Today, the American left and Socialist renegades have pushed our Constitution aside. President Obama decided to attack Libya without the approval or consent of Congress. Instead, he went to the U.N. Security Council to announce his half-baked plan. Are Libyans freer today or better off? The flagpole at the Benghazi courthouse sports the al Qaeda black flag that says in Arabic, “There is no God but Allah.”
Tod Davis
Marine Park
Education 101
To the editor,
You have never run articles lauding teachers, especially those teaching in difficult schools.
You have never spoken about the problems of class sizes, the need for the 600 school concept for disruptive children, the fact that we have principals from the Leadership Academy rating teachers when they themselves have never taught, uncooperative parents ready to battle the teacher at every step, and the city’s refusal to use excessed teachers to teach classes so as to lower class sizes. Instead, these duly licensed teachers have been relegated to substitute status. I haven’t heard you mention that the while the mayor proposes merit pay, there is no money to lower class size.
You are quick to point out that certain teachers assaulted students, but you never report when a teacher is assaulted on a daily basis by a student. The number of teachers are out due to being assaulted on the job is shocking.
I never hear you write about the fact that teachers spend their own money for supplies since the latter is lacking in so many schools. I never hear you praising teachers for coming in earlier to decorate their rooms in August, when school is not officially in session. You never mention the dedicated men and women who work with children after the school day, or those who make home visits on their own time to the homes of problem students.
All your paper does is knock teachers. Why do you refuse to look at the other side of education? Why is it always the teachers fault?
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
