English Program at Marina High

Pardon my chagrin, but I take umbrage with the Oct. 30 remark by Steve Smith, Board of Education member for the Huntington Beach Union High School District, that the English teachers at Marina High School “taught four days a week and took Fridays off” under the principalship of Paul Berger.

How unfortunate for a lawyer with Smith’s background in investigative management to be so misinformed by the administrative team that he hired after forcing our principal into retirement.

As English chairman of this much maligned department from 1976 to 1985, I coaxed, prodded, and cajoled a staff of 18 gifted English teachers to implement for an hour each Friday an educationally sound program called Silent Sustained Reading.

Instead of allowing our students to become what some have called “aliterates,” people who can read but won’t, the program provides regularly scheduled time at school to read. Television, videos, cassettes and a hectic home life often distract our kids from the joys of reading, while the program supports reading for the fun of it.

I spent seven years under three different principals convincing teachers that our students needed uninterrupted time in class to read self-selected material. In addition, this reading program is used continually by the elementary feeder districts in our area; it is championed by Stephen Krashen, professor of psycholinguistics at USC, and it is endorsed by our state superintendent of schools, Bill Honig.

I am outraged that Smith did not have the courtesy or commitment to visit our department to discuss this program with the teachers and me. Shame on you, Mr. Smith, for trying to use our department as the scapegoat for your incorrect decision to remove a principal who was loved and respected by his community.

As Marina’s English Department chairman and a parent of a Marina graduate, I am proud of the local, county, state, and national honors awarded to this superb staff.

DON HOHL

Huntington Beach