Teacher Success
Nancy Ichinaga, principal of Bennett-Kew Elementary School in Inglewood, is quoted in “How to Turn Out Successful Teachers” (Opinion, March 26) as follows: “I create a situation for everyone to succeed. Teachers are not successful because they are not given manageable situations.” What a world of difference from the merit-raise position that assumes teachers are lazy and indifferent, to be motivated only by the dangling dollar carrot. We all spend a huge portion of our lives at work. To imagine that a person who has spent many years training for a position and many more working in it does not inherently want to be successful is profoundly demeaning.
Supt. Ramon Cortines, the LAUSD Board and The Times all need to focus their attention on providing “manageable situations” for success. They need to have faith in the fundamental decency of teachers, not the power of differential raises.
NANCY HARKEY
Pomona
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