This is a recent letter to the editor I have submitted to The Link. Let’s see if they will publish it.
Letter to the Editor:
A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Robert Monnie wrote about the results of recent testing of sixth graders in the McBee school system. The article reported that 53% of the students met or exceeded expectations in reading proficiency. These results were considered “encouraging” by State Secretary of Education Ellen Weaver. My question is, “Since when is one out of two students not being able to read considered exciting”? Since when is failure a success?
Our education system in South Carolina, in general, and Chesterfield County, in particular, is broken. It is time for us to return to a curriculum that demands performance and accomplishments, not excuses. We need leaders on a local level to demand that those who educate the children of Chesterfield County do their job or be ready to be replaced by those who will give these young ones the tools that they need for future success.
Richard Zuendt
Middendorf