<center>Letters to the Editor</center>

Bush's education proposal demonstrates ignorance

Editor:

W is for Wrong.

George W. Bush’s new education proposal shows a supreme ignorance of simple human nature that would have never come from his father. Voucher or no, it is just a bad plan. Way back there in the mind of W is a fine motive: make schools responsible for quality education. Nobody can fault him there. But to just cut funds from the schools that obviously need it the most is to further the gap between the successful and the at-risk. Bad idea, W. Those schools need more support, not necessarily money thrown at them, and an intelligent plan for getting them up to speed. Bush shows a real ignorance of human nature to suggest punishment—cutting support—as a means to make schools improve. Everybody knows that people function better under the condition that they will be rewarded—possibly in the form of Improvement Grants—instead of being “whipped” and punished because of a perceived lack. Also, to paraphrase Bush, these measures will be performed on the basis of tests—any tests that the schools choose. Now what sense does that make? If the schools can give any test they want to, how can any kind of standards be gauged?

This seems to be Bush’s Education de-form instead of reform, and I hope that Republicans and Democrats alike will see its obvious flaws and shoot it down.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Miller

Pell City, AL

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