SAT cannot predict high school grads' success as teachers
Your article "Teacher recruiting criticized" (Feb. 10) by Liz Bowie presents some educational perspectives that we feel compelled to address.
Young people grow and mature in college. That is, after all, the purpose of higher education. Maryland young people who earn average or even mediocre scores on paper-and-pencil tests when they are 17 or 18 often become outstanding students in college. We see students who rank toward the bottom of their high school graduating classes excel in knowledge, skills, judgment and responsibility in college. And, they make superb teachers.
Coppin State President Calvin W. Burnett was right to challenge research by the Abell Foundation and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County that SAT scores "measure a teacher's ability to teach." After all, if test scores were the be-all, end-all predictors of success that some would have them be, we might not today have the theory of relativity -- Albert Einstein failed third-grade mathematics.
Coppin State has an excellent teacher-training program. It is one of Baltimore's best-kept secrets. It is ridiculous and misguided to make a direct link between high test scores and success.
Many persons who have come into teaching via Teach America from "prestigious" colleges and universities have been far less successful than others, especially in urban schools.
Those who ultimately decide to teach in Baltimore City do so by choice.
Herman A. Howard, Julius Chapman, Frank Kober, Baltimore
The writers are, respectively, provost/vice president for academic affairs, dean of education and associate dean of education and chairman of curriculum and instruction at Coppin State College.
Central booking system wastes more than money
The state's Central Booking and Intake Center noted in Barry Rascovar's column ("Md.'s public officials are failing Baltimore," Feb. 15) is a waste for more reasons than the $54 million it cost.
Now all Baltimore City police officers must bring their prisoners to the central location for booking, rather than to their precinct headquarters. An officer and prisoner must stand in line to use one of the limited number of computers. It can take up to five hours to book a prisoner compared with about half an hour under the previous system.
It's obvious that fewer arrests will be made under this system, and more criminals will be left on our streets.
David Kirby, Baltimore
State should have executed police sergeant's killer
The murder of Sgt. Wallace J. Mowbray was not only a tragic day for the family, but also for the Maryland State Police and the citizens of Maryland ("Slain officer's family keeps 24-year vigil," Feb. 25).
Once Charles Edward Watson was convicted by a jury, he should have been given the death penalty. This is another slap in the face by the courts and parole board.
It's obvious that in this case the system has not worked.
Victor DeCesare, Ellicott City
Choice for charter schools would bring something new
I think that all of the reforms suggested by Amy I. Bernstein, in her Opinion Commentary article ("Moving toward real school reform," Feb. 24) are worthwhile.
But even if we take just one -- "the state should offer parents more choice in the form of charter schools and other forms of self-governance" -- it would be a great step forward.
Yet in the same issue we read: "What the writers of the legislation have done is insist that the public systems maintain regulatory authority over the charter schools." Why? To maintain a system that is not working?
I could understand this if the system really worked. Why not at least try something that offers hope?
Al Buls, Baltimore
A federal budget proposal for Democrats, Republicans
This is a time when Democrats and Republicans must work together for the good of the people, not the good of party. The federal budget, always a controversial subject, is a good place to begin.
My idea would be to use most of the budget surplus (80 percent to 90 percent) to pay down the national debt. The remaining 10 percent to 20 percent of the surplus could be used for a tax rebate, thereby extending the olive branch to the Republicans.
Paying down the national debt would reduce government payments to service this debt.
Money freed up from debt servicing could be invested in conservative interest-bearing financial instruments.
The money earned from these instruments could be used for government programs such as schools, defense and Medicare. If the surpluses continue, as projected, the funds would grow over the years to a huge amount, yielding ever larger amounts of investment income for projects. The untouched principal would go on furnishing money for decades.
If we spend all the surpluses, nothing will be left for the future.
Donald D. Stegman, Berlin
General Lee's reference was to older, Greek war
I read with interest Kirsten Scharnberg's article on Carter Shepard's proposal to build a statue in Anne Arundel County in honor of Benjamin Welch Owens, the only Marylander to be awarded the Medal of Honor by the Confederacy ("Arundel man wants a statue for a hero," Feb. 15).
Owens evidently received this high award for continuing to fight, and survive, despite the death of all his comrades while defending a bridge near Winchester, Va., in June 1863. For his valor, Gen. Robert E. Lee referred to his stand as the "Thermopylae of the war." Ms. Scharnberg, I believe erroneously, writes that Lee was referring to the battle at that Greek pass between the Romans and the Seleucids in 193 B.C.
More likely Lee was comparing Owens' stand to that of Leonidas, the Spartan king who fought valiantly while losing his entire small force in vainly defending that same pass against Persian invaders in 480 B.C. In his history, Herodotus celebrated this battle as an example of heroic resistance against great odds.
Thomas A. Collier, Chestertown
Proposed state tax change was not politically inspired
The Sun's article "Tax change would help large donor" (Feb. 9) incorrectly implied that a proposed tax regulation change resulted from a donation made to Gov. Parris N. Glendening's re-election campaign. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Our review of the issue of how motion picture companies are taxed began in last spring under Louis L. Goldstein. I continued that review when I was appointed state comptroller, and we decided to go forward with a proposed change similar to the California model in October.
At no time did Governor Glendening or any member of his administration ever approach me or anyone in the Comptroller's Office about the proposal. Proposed changes to tax regulation must go through a publication and public comment period; they cannot be implemented directly by the comptroller or any other official.
Our further review of the proposed change indicates that a variety of companies could benefit from the proposed change, possibly encouraging more film, television and commercial production in Maryland and by Maryland companies.
Robert L. Swann, Annapolis
The writer is deputy comptroller for Maryland and was interim comptroller after the death of Louis L. Goldstein.
Nothing average about troubled teens
I found myself agreeing with Leonard Pitts Jr. and his well-written Opinion Commentary column "Not an average teen" (Feb. 26).
Do parents see their problem children as just average? What is average about a 14-year-old boy hanging out in the streets with dealers and thugs until late at night?
Marge Griffith, Pasadena
To our readers
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Pub Date: 3/04/99