Private Schools Need More Scrutiny

Re “Private Schools Lose Ground in Hiring, Keeping Teachers,” Aug. 8: At last, an article that shows that private schools are far from perfect!

But let’s go further than simply a few anecdotes about teacher transiency; let’s put private schools under the same scrutiny as public schools. Let’s see statistics about the qualifications, educational background and transiency of private school teachers, as well as how many are teaching subjects outside their expertise. Let’s see articles about the conditions of private school buildings, their facilities and the size of playing areas. Find out about pupil transiency and expulsions.

While you’re at it, I’d like to know how well private school students do on standardized tests compared to what would be expected of students whose parents are middle class and speak English. It’s time to question the naive assumption of the superiority of private schools.

Sara Leiber McKinney

Los Angeles

Blame for the sorry state of verbal skills today can be placed on educators and students alike. Two Aug. 8 articles illustrate that fact. One focused on teachers leaving private schools for the higher pay and better benefits of public districts. A teacher is photographed in her classroom, marker in hand, with the word “Gettysburg” misspelled on the board next to her.

The second article describes the approach of the new Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary: alerting students to the pitfalls of homonyms, frequently confused words and common sloppiness. People write such inanities as “doggie-dog world” because they no longer read. They hear these phrases on television and from their peers but never see them in print. What makes the dictionary editors think that students today will open their book? As a corporate writing trainer, I know that people can’t be bothered to click a mouse to use the spelling-and grammar-check programs on their computers, much less use a dictionary.

High-level corporate employees proudly show me papers they wrote for college classes; these essays are filled with errors of logic, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and yet the only mark on them is a “Good job! A+” at the end. If teachers don’t enforce (much less know) standards, their students graduate from college and enter the work force believing they are literate. I fear for our future.

Judi Birnberg

Sherman Oaks