Letter: An example of our failing school system

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006 | 8:20 a.m.

When do you think it is OK for a teacher to tell her students that it is OK for them to write gibberish and to pretend to know what they have written and read?

Well, my granddaughter is 7 years old, and I am now in charge of her, so one of the first things that I do is to check her homework every night. When I saw that her homework was just gibberish, I asked her to read it to me.

She read it, but it was not what she had written, so I asked her to correct the spelling. I showed her the right spelling of each word, but she said the teacher says it is OK for her just to do her best and write what she wants, how she wants.

Well, I thought that she was mistaken.

I was told that she is doing excellent in math, but I also discovered that for math problems that have sentences she can't do the problems, since she can't read them. So I scheduled an appointment with the teacher and she said not to worry her about correct spelling or nice handwriting, that when my granddaughter gets in second grade, then she can write correctly and spell correctly -- she is too young right now!

Could this be the reason why most of the kids here in Las Vegas, when they get to the high school level, can't even write a good sentence or are not able to read properly?

I don't know about you, but my granddaughter will learn to write, spell and read only the correct way, even though, according to the teacher, my way is "old-fashioned."

Edna Gonzalez

North Las Vegas

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