The Charlotte Observer

I sent a letter to the editor of the Observer last week. I was criticizing their work. They managed to edit it so that my point was lost. They gave it a headline that supported the point they wanted the readers to think I was making.

Here is what I wrote:

Education Essentials

As long as the Observer looks at our school system's problems in a vacuum we will get editorials like Education Essentials, Observer 11/16/06. Teachers leave schools where it is unpleasant to work and try and move to schools where there is a better work environment. We have a teacher shortage and your idea is to pay the new ones poorly and make the experienced ones work in unpleasant environments. I bet the woman with the high-risk pregnancy really enjoys the Observer piling on as she is pilloried for trying to work through a difficult problem. As you ought to know she is protected by the ADA. Every time I see “highly effective” in the paper I wonder whose kids deserve to get the highly ineffective teachers? When you can answer that question, and explain how to make high poverty schools attractive places to work, you may be getting close to a solution.

This is what they published:

Who wants to work at high-poverty school?

As long as the Observer looks at CMS's problems in a vacuum we will get editorials such as "Education essentials" (Nov. 16).Every time I see "highly effective" in the paper I wonder: Whose kids deserve to get the highly ineffective teachers? When you can answer that question and explain how to make high-poverty schools attractive places to work, you may be getting close to a solution.

Garry Ballenger

Ah well, I will have to try again.