Education Priorities

Meyer Kaplan is “way behind the times” (letter, Feb. 21). He castigates teachers for the unconscionable practice of giving poor students higher grades. The truth is that school boards and administrators “beat up” on teachers who give honest failing grades to students who refuse to do the assigned work and thereby learn something.

There are two education priorities that outweigh all others. One, there are to be no dropouts and two, keep the ADA funds coming. The third priority is to keep grades high so that the secondary schools can get their students into colleges. Whether they have what it takes to stay there appears to be beside the point. That students learn seems to have no priority at all.

NORMAN E. DAWSON, Chino Hills