LETTERS: Linda Ogden
To the Editor:
Your recent editorial in the Marion County Record may contain some truth, but several of your opinions cause me to wonder if perhaps you are out of touch with Marion County schools and events. Based on my personal observations of the Marion-Florence school system, and Marion County schools as a whole, I feel compelled to disagree publicly with several of your bulleted points.
I have not seen "plush air conditioned hallways" in any Marion County school. Yes, most classrooms are air conditioned, but climate controlled living and work places are the norm in our society, and thank goodness for that. Teachers do receive salary increases (may not get much this year), as do employees of any job. Teachers put in as much or more time at work as ever — from eight to 12 hours a day during the school year, not counting summer hours required for recertification and professional development.
Come visit a classroom in Marion County. I have not seen any tiny classes. Personal aides? What are those? Some children or classrooms are assigned paraprofessionals, but those are a result of identified special education needs. Teacher aides are lifesavers for classroom teachers, but unfortunately are in short supply.
Frivolous extracurricular trips? Elementary classes take an average one trip per class per year. Middle school students earn one or two as a reward for good academic standing and behavior. Students who are academically ineligible are not allowed to participate (a policy with which I don't always agree). Research shows that students who are involved in extracurricular activities are more successful academically and socially than peers who are not involved. More counselors than students? There are an average 1.8 school counselors in each Marion County school district. This equals about one school counselor for every 120 students.
The administrators I know are not bureaucrats. They deal head-on with multiple problems that confront them every day from a kid mooning the crowd at graduation to leaky roofs to declining enrollments and the financial crunch that results. None of them have plush carpeting in their offices under which real problems can be swept. They provide leadership in our churches, volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and make their school facilities available for vacation Bible schools, educational workshops, and summer camps for severely emotionally disturbed children.
Your paper is full of articles citing the success of Marion High School graduates. Recent graduates of our "declining" school system are earning academic honors at major universities, graduating with degrees in veterinary medicine, and contributing to society in a variety of ways.
You link the supposed decline in the quality of our education system to being distracted by the ongoing landfill debate. I do not see the connection between the two. But since you brought it up, the landfill controversy is the perfect model for the goals of education. We encourage independent thought, gathering data from all sides, healthy debate of issues, and decision-making based on facts. Given, we adults embroiled in the emotions of the landfill argument have not followed rules of fair play and respect for others, but hopefully youth can learn what not to do by observing us.
Unfortunately, at times I have to seek out negative data on our schools and youth to justify need when applying for grant funds. I admit to getting caught up in the whirlpools of concern about a relatively small group of people. Those whirlpools will suck a person right under if you forget to come up for air. When I remember to do that, I emerge to the surface and see that there is a whole shining ocean to appreciate.
Mr. Meyer, rather than handing out advice from the far-removed safety of your desk in some other state, I invite you to come on down to your hometown and really get your feet wet. It's time you followed your own advice.
Linda Ogden
Executive Director,
Communities In Schools
of Marion County
