‘Teachers: True or False?’

Your editorial pointed out a major problem in classroom reform. The support from the major teacher organizations has been either late or lacking. They feel that educational reform will ultimately decimate the hard-won gains in teacher salaries, classroom environment and benefits.

Teachers would like to be thought of as professionals and to do this they must prove to the taxpaying public their competence and worth in the classroom. Senate Bill 1605 by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), which establishes a California Teaching Standards Board and a Professional Conduct Board, would be a start in this process of the professionalization of teaching.

To stem the tide of the coming teacher shortage, the teaching profession must recruit the best candidates from universities, colleges, and even the private sector. To accomplish this, school districts and the voting public must be prepared to grant these newcomers and established teachers a new social status, increased salaries, and a new sense of service to our society. We can ill-afford to have a repeat of the 1950s and ‘60s when anyone who could breathe was hired to teach just to relieve the shortage.

If educational reform is to succeed, cooperation is needed by the public, politicians, teachers, and their organizations. Bergeson’s bill will help to bring into the teaching profession quality individuals who care about our students.

JOHN PAWSON

Huntington Beach