Give Teachers Control of Their Classrooms

Re “Students, Then Teachers,” editorial, March 4: Your criticism of having teachers make decisions on what to teach--such as those on textbooks, reading requirements in English and multiplication tables in math--is like criticizing our practice of having rocket engineers make decisions on how to design a rocket. Who else do you think should make such decisions--the governor, politicians, media or the students themselves?

As for the argument on the approach of “older reading teachers” in teaching reading versus the phonetics-based approach proven by “scientific research,” let us leave it to those specialists who are responsible for the education of teachers, pre-service as well as in-service. By the way, researches in education are never “scientific.” They are, at best, selective statistic surveys.

Paul Chow

Northridge

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Regarding your misguided condemnation of AB 2160, the reality is that with the state Department of Education, individual school districts and so-called educational professionals (professional bureaucrats) the main concern is, in fact, promoting their own political agenda. Make no mistake about it, such “educational reforms” as the SAT 9, the Open Court reading program, new math or whole-language learning are essentially political remedies designed to protect an agenda or special interest.

In addition, textbook publishers make a bundle every time a new educational fad is invoked as the savior of the educational process. And who is never consulted in all these reforms? The teacher!

John Dorch

Seal Beach

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Are voters really supposed to believe that “the state, the local school board and the superintendent” know more about the needs of students than the classroom teachers? Get real.

Sean A. Lu

La Canada