Educators’ Role

Regarding the teachers, principals, nurse, psychologist and counselors at Perkins Elementary School who had put in thousands of hours over a two-year period trying to solve the emotional problems of one boy whose mother couldn’t handle him (“Teachers Feel They Failed Boy Charged in Shooting,” March 17): The shooting death of a young mother by this boy has devastated these educators, who blame themselves for “their failure to turn the child around.” I see a much greater tragedy in this senseless killing because of the role these educators in Barrio Logan have placed themselves in.

These educators have devoted “thousands of hours” in trying to resolve a problem that is not their primary function. Schools in many areas are no longer devoted to educating students in learning skills, but rather are serving as social problem centers. The great influx of foreign immigrants has created tremendous problems, which, unfortunately, the federal and state governments have refused to either acknowledge or provide for. This leaves the only social institution many communities have, the public schools, to deal with problems that are out of their sphere. They must clearly choose to educate or minister to community pathologies.

I do not fault these educators for choosing to take on the parental responsibility. I am only saddened to see education relegated to a secondary role. How many children could have improved their lives if those “thousands of hours” could have been devoted to what these teachers were trained to do.

With such limited funds allocated for basic education, how can Perkins Principal Marco Curiel continue to think of having “ . . . the mind-set of saviors” at a time when the function of public schools to teach basic learning skills is so sorely needed. If he were the administrator of a hospital where doctors spent thousands of hours counseling one patient instead of treating those who needed their medical skills, I would wonder if he could justify such a misallocation.

KEN ANDERSON, Pine Valley