Hack Job

Last week I submitted a letter to the editor of The Gainesville Sun regarding how the school board chose to devote part of their meeting last week.  That letter was published this morning and can be found here: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120124/OPINION02/120129895/1017?p=2&tc=pg

For those who do not want to click on the link (and after you see how bad they butcher my letter and hide my argument, I would urge you not to), here is the text of what THEY chose to print.

Last Tuesday night the School Board agenda had an item restricting teachers from providing candy as an incentive in their classroom.

While most can understand the health benefits of this action, my frustration lies more with the fact that the School Board continues to micromanage; now all the way down to telling teachers what is an acceptable form of incentive to their students.

I wonder if the board, or the teachers who offer such incentives, know what the greatest reward to their students should be: Their education.

It is quite possible that living in the times of FCAT and teaching to the test, that may no longer be the case.

There needs to be a movement away from the “what's in it for me” mentality and more toward employing teachers who can provide the education necessary to their students without any added incentives.

Now I completely understand that letters need to be trimmed to fit and edited for grammatical reasons one way or the other, but I urge you to read my actual letter.  What you will find is a direct and purposeful attack on the state of education not only in our state, but our country.  The Gainesville Sun has chosen to cut it up and make it look like not only do I not know what I am talking about from personal experience, but that I do not know the first thing about education.  Here is my original letter:

The state of affairs within the educational system in our county was hurt once again Tuesday night when there was time on the school board agenda given to an immediate initiative forbidding teachers from providing candy as an incentive in their classroom.  While most can understand the health benefits of this action, my frustration lies more with the fact that the school board continues to micromanage; now all the way down to telling teachers what is an acceptable form of incentive to their students. Time is being devoted at board meetings to the harmful effects of candy while the greater issue, a reliance on incentives themselves in order to induce student performance, is not mentioned.

I wonder if the board or the teachers in the district who offer such incentives have ever mentioned what the greatest reward to their students should be, and that is their education.  It is quite possible that living in the times of FCAT and teaching to the test, that may no longer be the case.  In order for the country to continue to be competitive with the rest of the world, there needs to be a movement away from the “what’s in it for me” mentality instilled upon the current generation and more towards employing teachers able to provide the education necessary to their students without any added incentives.  

I should have known better than to trust a media outlet not to twist my words around to protect a failing institution, but I wanted to get my point out there and with only a few people reading my blog entries; the local newspaper seemed like a good place to start.  I cannot wait for someone to write in and defend the school board based on the fact that The Gainesville Sun left me vulnerable in this argument, instead of pinning the responsibility on those who run the system.