Budget cuts are affecting teaching quality

To the editor:

Your editorial that exposed the plight of writing instruction throughout the nation is on target. You are correct that writing skills seem to be diminishing and that more intensive instruction is necessary to remedy this problem.

With the impending budget cuts in education funding and with the lack of concern expressed by our current elected officials, matters will only get worse.

Appropriate writing instruction requires that the teacher and each student have conference times in which ideas can be exchanged and corrective measures can be shown and explained. However, conference times won't mean a thing if language arts teachers are teaching six sections with 30 students in each section. Can you fathom having to read 180 personal essays, narratives or expressive pieces? Neither can we, but it is expected of us.

It is not enough to decry the situation and to point out that public school students aren't achieving national standards. We want to see corrective actions as desperately as anyone. When our students perform poorly, we look bad. When we evaluate these test results, the common statement that comes up is, "How can I teach writing effectively with overcrowded classes and no conference times?"

When our elected officials address these questions effectively you will see an increase in standardized test scoring. Until that time, language arts teachers will continue to do the best they can. We are teachers, not miracle workers.

ROY MERIDETH

Language Arts Teacher

Jackson Junior High School

Jackson