Turn new tests into index of future success

The Sun's editorial about Maryland's new high school assessment (HSA) exams was pretty much on the mark ("How low can you go?" Dec. 11). The task faced by the Maryland State Board of Education - to determine where to set passing scores - is formidable.

Its challenge is to establish the exams as standards every student can and should aspire to meet, without making them appear either impossible or trivial. I do not envy the task of finding the "sweet spot."

The editorial omitted one important point, however. Wherever the board sets the bar for graduation, it will be essentially irrelevant to one important purpose. Colleges, universities and employers will judge for themselves what a student's HSA scores indicate concerning his or her ability to succeed in college or a job.

The mere possession of a high school diploma has long since ceased to have much value in and of itself. What matters is what a graduate knows and can do. But if the HSA is well-designed and rigorous, it has the potential to be a more reliable student performance indicator than course grades or even the SAT.

If it is not, it will simply be ignored by the gatekeepers of students' post-high-school career paths.

Donald N. Langenberg

Baltimore

The writer is chancellor emeritus of the University System of Maryland.

Trim state aid to private colleges

I read with concern Alec MacGillis' article on the potential for cuts to Maryland's colleges and universities in next year's budget ("Colleges warned by Ehrlich to be prepared for budget cuts," Dec. 12). My concern is that I don't think Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has yet differentiated between funds for public and private institutions.

Much to my chagrin, I learned a number of years ago that Maryland provides substantial support to our very well-endowed private colleges and universities.

Maryland's first responsibility is to our public education institutions. So if cuts must be made, let's make sure we prioritize correctly and start by cutting the funds Maryland gives annually to private colleges and universities.

Ann McNell

Phoenix

Funds for inaugural could be better spent

The day after reading about James Brown losing his job at Harlem Park Elementary School ("More is gone than just a check," Dec. 11), I read that our governor-elect is soliciting private funds for his inaugural festivities - which are expected to cost $1 million ("Ehrlich's inauguration to be hearty GOP party," Dec. 12).

Mr. Brown worked 35 hours a week at $15 per hour - or $525 a week total. By my calculations, Mr. Ehrlich's celebration could pay the annual salaries of almost 40 workers like Mr. Brown.

I would be happy to contribute to a fund to keep Mr. Brown and people like him employed in our schools and to ask others to join me. Perhaps Mr. Ehrlich, who was elected with the promise of reform, could ask his friends and supporters to do the same.

Then he should address the problems in the school system that led to these terrible losses.

Lisa Pintzuk

Owings Mills

Ignorance is our real enemy

The loss of a teacher, in the broadest and most dignified sense of that term, such as James Brown is not just a tragedy for him and his family, but also for the children of Harlem Park Elementary School and, therefore, for the future ("More is gone than just a check," Dec. 11).

We in Baltimore are not afraid of an Iraqi attack; our enemies are poverty and ignorance.

I'll bet you could pay the annual salaries of all the almost 400 people laid off from our school system with the price of a single missile.

Ellen Robbins

Baltimore

Inaugural festivities show dubious taste

With Maryland taxpayers facing a deficit of more than $1 billion and many Marylanders either out of work or concerned about layoffs, Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s imperial gesture of a weeklong, $1 million extravaganza of self-glorification is in very questionable taste ("Ehrlich's inauguration to be hearty GOP party," Dec. 12).

Robert A. Ritchie

Timonium

Landrieu's victory comes as good news

Louisiana Sen. Mary L. Landrieu's re-election was welcome good news for Democrats ("Democrats celebrate victory by Landrieu," Dec. 9).

We can also take heart from the fact that no president in American history who lost the popular vote has ever served more than one term.

With his continued bungling of the economy, President Bush is likely to continue this tradition.

Vincent DeMarco

Baltimore

Berrigan's voice will still ring out

Thanks to The Sun for its excellent coverage on Philip Berrigan ("At Peace," Nov. 25; "Philip Berrigan, apostle of peace, dies at age 79," Dec. 7; and "A life of conscience," editorial, Dec. 10). Although I had the privilege of knowing him only for a few months before he died, he and the Jonah House community have had a profound influence on me.

At a time when our administration is concocting excuses to initiate (or intensify) a war that will take a human toll we cannot predict and jeopardize the few remaining shreds of moral credibility our country might claim, Mr. Berrigan's voice will continue to be heard through the witness of the many thousands of people he influenced.

Betsy Lamb

Columbia

Lesson on war remains relevant

The recent death of Philip Berrigan has caused me to reflect on the old adage that "with age comes wisdom."

As I graduated from college in 1968, the war in Vietnam was raging. No longer eligible for a student deferment, I faced the prospect of being drafted. Mr. Berrigan and his associates were protesting the war and the draft that supplied the manpower to fight it.

As a young man I felt these activities were wrong and to be scorned. In lieu of being drafted, I joined the Air Force and spent the next four years serving my country, supporting the Vietnam War.

As the years passed and I had a chance to read and reflect on that war, I realized that Mr. Berrigan had the wisdom and courage to label the war what it was - an immoral waste of human life.

It was a war that did not have to be fought. Our country's national interests were not at stake, as subsequently admitted by Robert McNamara and others in leadership positions at the time.

It has taken a while, but I now recognize the worth of Philip Berrigan and his work. I am hopeful that his legacy will be that our country never again fights a war that it truly does not have to.

Jim Doty

Perry Hall