Michelle Nuss of Castle Rock, pictured in 2012, has flourished since starting online learning. (Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file)
Re: “The limits of school choice,” Sept. 14 Perspective article.
Michael Mazenko makes several salient points in his excellent article about the limitations of school choice.
As a country, we spend way too much time, money and energy on preparing students for university study and bachelor degrees, when two years of a community college, or a trade school, might be better alternatives.
Mazenko says that public education should be about freedom of opportunity, and he is correct. Public education should also be about creativity, critical thinking, and exploration, which have all suffered under high-stakes testing and more limited curricula.
When John Quincy Adams was 10 years old, he got to go with his father, John Adams, to France, and stayed there for a long time. John Quincy learned French and several other languages, and when he was 14, he went with his father to Russia. Granted, we cannot all have John Adams for our father, and most of us cannot go to France, or Russia, but today, John Quincy would probably be required to stay home, and take a PARCC test, or be told he had to stick to the Common Core standards.
Robert H. Moulton III, Commerce City
This letter was published in the Sept. 21 edition.A mandatory education is an oxymoron in a free society.
Itap natural for children to learn: to reach out, to inquire, to achieve mastery. In a receptive environment, learning to read is as natural as learning to walk. Itap unnatural to herd 6-, 5- and 4-year-olds en masse into a cinder-block institution whose de facto motto is “Sit down and shut up!”
For example, the Montessori method allows children to be themselves and to grow into their educations from the inside out. Public school attempts to pound a round peg into children’s minds whether it fits or not, then grades the child accordingly. This year they’re calling it Common Core.
Children who learn naturally follow the dictates of conscience. Public school children learn obeisance to authoritarian dictates, such as: “Some people are more equal than others.”
Theresa Stephen, Lakewood
This letter was published in the Sept. 21 edition.Excellent article. At least in the early ’60s, many schools offered art, music, wood shop, auto mechanics, and some other introductory trade courses. While I personally bought into the college propaganda, there was no stigma attached to those who didn’t.
Too many state and federal administrators do not appear to be interested in preparing all of our children for a great future. Why don’t we determine individual student interests and aptitudes? We all can’t be — and more importantly, don’t want to be — engineers, etc. How much do you pay your auto mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc.? Are they not a valuable asset in society? We need to allow our children a chance to explore and make decisions and not be judged by some non-relevant method. Either focus on the needs of everyone or find another, less wasteful use of our tax money.
Jim Gilmer, Westminster
This letter was published in the Sept. 21 edition.
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