Chalking Up Support for the Old-Fashioned Blackboard

I am a returning student attending classes at Santa Monica College. The subject of chalkboards versus dry-erase boards arose in my American literature class several weeks ago. While Kate Folmar provides several reasons why dry-erase boards have their detractors (“Leaving Chalkboards in the Dust,” June 26), the one she fails to mention is of utmost importance to environment-conscious individuals: what to do with all those leftover, nonbiodegradable plastic tubes that house dry-erase ink.

Nostalgia and economics aside, chalk is the perfect substance: It uses itself up. I don’t deny that allergies to chalk are real. I had several teachers in the past who suffered from this substance but who also found ways to deal with it. Chalk dust is a lot easier to clean up from clothing than marker ink. Also, in these days of concern about budgets and providing better education for our young people, why are the school boards squandering so much money on markers when chalk is clearly more economical? Let’s stick to chalk and apply the savings toward more books, and covers for the computers.

--MICHELLE SOLOTAR

Santa Monica

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The reason students are walking off with the dry-erase markers has nothing to do with the pretty colors. It is because they are used for “huffing.” Although the fumes are sickening to many people, increasing numbers of young students are using them to get high. It is unfortunate that unwitting school administrators are adding to this problem.

--KIRK NORENBERG

Torrance

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I am a 1968 graduate of North Hollywood High School, and I long ago adopted the exculpatory bon mot used by my physics teacher, Harold Corbin, whenever a mistake somehow crept onto his blackboard: “Must be the cheap chalk!”

--DAVID R. GINSBURG

Santa Monica

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As a seasoned educator, I have been using whiteboards for a number of years and, yes, the markers are colorful. Nontoxic? I’m not sure about that. Ask any student who sniffs the pungent aroma while the instructor is away from the classroom. Easy to clean? Never, just look at your fingers and nails after the chore of marker removal. Give me an old-fashioned slate blackboard any day!

DONNA YVASKA

Long Beach