Letters to the Editor

No regrets

Jan 17, 2008 12:47 PM

To the Editor:

It is good to see that generally speaking, things are improving in our schools. As many of us “dinosaurs” were ambling out of the door and toward our well-deserved retirements, a not-so-subtle message identifying us as the problem in the schools was conveyed. Tired and liberally beaten about the head and shoulders (usually metaphorically!) we may have bought into that sentiment. That should not have been our parting gift any more than failure our legacy.

Looking now, from the outside in (and having the time to do so), we see the desks no longer bolted to the floor (allowing clustering), Teacher’s Choice well and long-established as is a livable wage and the public eye is focused more intensely and intuitively on matters of education. There are computers everywhere and Internet access is abundant. Usable data is very available and accountability by all parties (students, parents, teachers and administrators) is very much counted in the equation. Today’s headlines shout a need for nearly 900 more classrooms and smaller class size is recognized as an important condition of effective teaching.

So, I was thinking, for the years of pushing makeshift book carts from shared classroom to shared classroom; for those who taught or lent guidance in hallways and dead lavatories; for the many times we shared furniture to deal with really big classes (God bless the custodians who did what they could); for simply surviving before the existence of school safety agents; for keeping things going in the face of what is now considered adversity: You’re very welcome! I, for one, would not have missed it for the world.

Merry Christmas New York

Lou Field Jr., retired