I am outraged about the book dumping by the Baltimore City Public Schools. I sit on a city high school advisory board where we have learned many of the ninth graders have third grade reading ability. When I challenged the principal about this, her response was that ninth graders did not need to have ninth grade reading ability!
Wouldn't it be wonderful if many of the young people who were involved in Baltimore's recent hell raising because they do not have jobs and probably cannot read (I predicted that dire situation years ago when factories began disappearing overseas) had books at home that would not only help them wile away the time but also help educate them? Then when they are out job hunting (wherever jobs might exist), they at least could understand the written directions that went along with that job.
Who wants things to be that simple? Let them blow up the city instead!
Burn the books! No one can learn from a book that was printed 10 years ago — or even five — the system insists. Goodness, I must clean out my personal library because 90 percent of my books go back not only 10 years but maybe some 50 to 100. Get rid of that clutter!
Helen Bentley, Timonium
The writer is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.