Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / June 6, 1991, edition 1 / Page 5
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MORE LETTERS I Told You So, To the editor: Saturday night, June 1, on CBS's Capitol Gang, Mark Shields of the Washington Post singled out North Carolina as being at the bottom of the education ladder in this country. I do not dispute his claims, I only want to re-submit. The Victims, an article I wrote in this newspaper May 5, 1976 (15 years ago) as the reason why this situation still exists in our county as well as our state. But first some up-date and introductory information. Several months ago when some long known but somewhat secret information was released by the state rating and testing office, a top administrator of the Brunswick County Board of Education stated that he was, "surprised" at the bottom-of-the-barrel rating of Brunswick among other state schools. Of all people, a top administrator with the system for over 30 years should be the last to express surprise. In fact, after 30 years he should be the very one able to identify the pre cise problems and have solutions for all! Since our school plants are relatively new, our problems arc there fore in the academic, instructional and administrative areas. Our test scores put us at the bottom. In 1980 (11 years ago), I wrote another article, "It Is Allowed," in which I again related why our scores con tinued to be low. Here arc some selected paragraphs from that article: "Low test scores in Brunswick County schools are not surprising to anyone who understands the term and is an advocate of quality education. Granted, Bruns wick is at the very bottom but problems exist in other places, and partly for the same reasons we have the same problems here at home. "When boards of education and top administrators allow crafty, self-serving politicians and pressure groups to dictate academic standards and personnel hiring practices, the tragic breakdown has begun. Unfortunately some board members as well as adminis trators and teachers can, from time to time, be identi fied as members of the crafty pressure elements. "Personnel hired because of political connections rather than academic competence and ability to admin ister or teach cannot be expected to produce positive results in any area of the school system. Rather, they frustrate and destroy incentive and creativity in all children and staff members. "When the silent, passive majority allows these other groups to continue to tear down the academic structure and replace it with a political cosmetic substitute, can The Victims TO THE EDITOR 7 5 Years Ago anyone expect achievement levels to do anything but fall and keep falling? In the late 1970s over 50% of Brunswick graduates scored in the one percentile. That's the bottom on nationally- normed standardized tests. This will continue to happen until a substantial hand lakes hold of the helm." Today, the print and electronic media is full of news items about problems in our public schools and higher education. The President even wants to come up with a completely new school model for the 1990s. Others tell us about sports without academic requirements; politi cally correct thought; diverse race norming of test scores for entrance examinations and job placement, and the list goes on. We do not need a totally new school model. We need total discipline in our present schools where serious and responsible students have an atmosphere conducive to learning an up-to-date curriculum taught by competent well paid teachers who are supervised and supported by gutsy principals who are backed up by competent top administrators and a sincere, non-political board of edu cation. Academics should again have priority over sports (an extra-curricular activity), i.e., eligible only after the learning has been done to a required level. We all know the two top nations in academic achievement. They are Germany and Japan. They are also tops in their economic standing in free enterprise quality industrial production. They have had no radical changes in their school models, beyond normal techni cal updating, since the days of U.S and Allied occupa tion after WW II. That was when their schools were re vamped for the newly organized democracies along the acadcmic lines, with a few exceptions, of U.S. schools in the 1940s. 1 taught in those two countries for six years and still correspond with tcachcrs there. The Germans and Japanese still maintain the basics of firm discipline and a good atmosphere for learning; compe tent tcachcrs and administrators; basic acadcmic cur riculum fundamentals with emphasis on modem techni cal industrial training for grades seven through twelve and, by the way, no competitive sports. Sports are spon sored by individual communities after school hours. I like school sports, but after the learning is done. Our problems started in the 1960s when we began to destroy those basics as stated in the following 1976 arti cle, "The Victims." Robert Sellers, Retired Educator Shallotte BY ROBERT H. SELLERS, PHd PRINCIPAL, UNION PRIMARY SCHOOL Mrs. Arnold's letter in last week's Beacon was a most welcome critical commentary on the slate of the basic reading, speaking and writing skills of students at every educational level from kindergarten through graduate school at the most prestigious universities. The public education system of the United States has become, be ginning in the early 1960s, the vehi cle for social and political experi mentation at the expense of basic education and learning skills. Stand ards of performance in the basics were diluted at the kindergarten through college entrance exams be cause these requirements were con sidered by the bureaucratic politi cians as reflecting oppressive while middle class values and therefore discriminatory. When did the correct writing, reading and speaking of the English language (American tongue) and al so the adding of a single column of numbers become racist? Referenc ing "Why Johnny Can't Write" in Readers Digest, April, 1976: 'The pervasive influence of the structural linguists, coupled with the political activism of the past decade, has also led many teachers to take the view that standard English is just a 'pres tige* dialect among many others, and that insistence on its predomi nance constitutes an act of repres sion by the white middle class. This attitude ignores the likelihood that students who do not have the oppor tunity to master standard English will also lose the chance at higher ranking jobs where standard Eng lish does prevail. 'Prestige' dialect or not, standard English is in fact the language of American law, poli tics, commerce and the vast bulk of American literature. "Learning to write is the hardest, most important thing any child does," says Carlos Baker, professor of English at Princeton University. "Learning to write is learning to think." Adds semanticist S. I. Hayakawa, "You don't know any thing clearly unless you can state it in writing." I submit that all, i.e., teachers. students, parents, taxpayers, etc., who are'involved in the educational process today are victims of the tur moil of the 1960s, that period when all values were under attack and ed ucation was the main target; to para phrase an outstanding 20th century author and founder of objectivism: When the indoctrination of children with a mob spirit-under the catego ry of "social adjustmenr-was con ducted openly and explicitly, ihc supremacy of the pack was drilled, pounded and forced into the stu dent's mind by every means avail able to the child buyers of the class room, including the contemptible policy of grading the students on their social adaptability (under vari ous titles). No better method than this type of grading could be de vised to destroy a child's individual ity and turn him into a stale little conformist, to stunt his unformed sense of personal identity and make him blend into the anonymous mob, to penalize the best, the most intelli gent and honest children in the class, and to reward the worst, the dull, the lethargic, the dishonest. The objective was a valueless so ciety and a culture without stan dards of excellence in any sphere of human endeavor- from simple cour tesy between fellow citizens to the destruction of the bastion of human achievement and enlightenment; the Great Universities. How can you expect small public schools to stand up under the dic tates of HEW when prestigious Columbia University and other col leges and universities have caved in under the threat of loss of federal funds and have carried out the ridiculous dictates which are irrele vant to academic achievement? How the elected political hierarchy uses HEW as a vehicle for political kickbacks. A culture without values will revert to the uncivilized state of the Barbarian. If the "best" is not the measure, the "worst" will be. Any would-be dictator will first make the people ignorant by de stroying the integrity of the academ ic system and standards of excel lence. Reference the book "1984" by George Orwell, in the Day of the Big Brother and the Day of Double Speak when 6 equals 5; good equals to bad; and today exceptional equals REPRINTED FROM MAY 5, 1976 ISSUE OF THE BRUNSWICK BEACON retarded (exceptional used to equal gifted). We have arrived full circle (note, children who have problems arc "handicapped"). Historically democracy and ignorance are mutu ally contradictory and cannot sur vive in the same space. Educational decisions or policy affecting the academic achievement in our institutions must be made on the basis of what is good for stu dents, not what is politically expedi ent at the rtioment. Basic skills like structural foun dations crack if not properly built. Inferior foundations eventually causc cracks, not only in the foot ing, but the entire structure begins to fall apart at the scams. All arc victims, but the most vic timized group-ranging from Ap palachia to the center-city educa tional systems-arc those in whose name the destruction of standards of performance were enforced, they have been deluded in believing they arc achieving an adequate education on which to base their future. The day of the "Blackboard Jungle," a 1950s motion picture once thought mythical, has arrived and under these circumstances no teacher can teach and no student can learn. This will continue until the voices of par ents and taxpayers are heard in the communities and throughout the land. Perhaps it is time-excerpting Dr. Slager in "Living With Freedom," Wilmington Star News , April 18, 1976-to see that "These issues are complex and call for us to pause to consider how we manage the free dom we cherish. Freedom implies responsibility. To be free to make choices for one's life entails the re sponsibility to live with the conse quences. There is a certain risk in freedom. Perhaps that is why there are so many who are content not to be free, who choose rather to be the victims (or beneficiaries) of the choices made by others." The concerned staff of Union Primary School applaud Mrs. Arnold's letter and are most recep tive to continued conferences with parents on the improvement of edu cational standards for their children here in Brunswick. We cannot re write history, but we can sure make it! Poem From Past Brings Forth New Meaning To the editor: A favorite poem that my entire 8th grade class of Shallotte High School was required to memorize by our teacher, Mrs. Muzette Arnold (now deceased), was "The House by the Side of the Road" by Edgar Guest. At that time, the poem had such a deep effect on us, but to day, some 40 years later, it brings forth new meaning daily. Having lived by the busy Highway 74-76 for 27 years, there have been an abundance of opportu nities to be a friend to man as the poem emphasizes. The most recent opportunity was to cxpcricnce the joy of seeing our troops and their equipment return ing home from Saudi Arabia. They traveled so far to be a friend to mankind of another country as well as our own country. Their caravans really stood out like heroes yet blended in so beautifully and polite ly with the heavy civilian traffic. Words are inadequate to express the sadness in the hearts of our countrymen last August when the caravans of troops and equipment were on the road day and night for weeks preparing for war, or to voice the joy- we felt seeing them return. To live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man has been by far an enrichment to our lives. To fly the flag of the USA on the house by the side of the road is a privilege that these and many others before them have sacrificed so dear ly to give us this freedom. As the men who have served and are serving our country pass by the houses by the side of the road, may they be encouraged by the flags, ribbons, welcomes, and other signs of gratitude, and know that they are loved and appreciated. Rutha (Lee Grissctt) Phelps Delco PHOTO BY Bill PAVER RUDDY TURNSTONES feed among shells and debris on the beach and on rocks, oyster beds, and seaweed. Ruddy Turnstones One Of Our Most Interesting Bird Species BY BILL FAVKR The name is descriptive of this shorebird about the same size as the sanderlings. The "ruddy" comcs from the rich chestnut color on the shoulders and wings and the "turnstone" comes from its habit of pushing and flipping shells, stones, and debris in search of food. It is one of our regular birds along the Brunswick County coast and can be easily overlooked because of its protective coloration and feeding habits. This chunky, plover-like bird is about 8-10 inchcs tall with a wing spread of 16-19 inchcs. Its orange-colored legs arc probably its best mark for identification be cause no other bird its size has or ange legs. In summer its upper parts are rusty red which makes a strong contrast with the whitish under parts. Face and breast have conspic uous black markings which become duller but still visible in winter. In winter the upper markings be come brownish and the legs may also become duller. In flying, the black and white patterns on their wings and the three white streaks down their backs make FAVFR them appear larger. Turnstones use their short, stout bill which is slightly upturned at the point to flick over hundreds of shells and fragments to find eggs, worms, and small mussels. When they are feeding in an area and the surf is calm, you can often hear the soft clicks of the stones or shells being flipped. Their colors give them almost complete camouflage on an oyster bed or along rip-rap or similar material. These birds breed only in the Arctic areas on the coasts of Alaska to Greenland. Four buff-colored, olive-spotted eggs are laid in a shallow hollow lined with grass and dead leaves and concealed under low bushes. Both birds attend the nest and are territorial in defending their nest and offspring. Turnstones winter along the coastal areas from North Carolina to South American and along the west coast. We have birds here all summer as well, but our summer birds do not breed here. If you arc unfamiliar with the ruddy turnstonc, take time to look for this little bird along our coast. Sometimes called "calico back," "calico plover," "chickcn plover," and "sea quail," ruddy turnstones arc one of our most interesting bird species. LOANS Call for quotes on monthly payments FDIC INSURED First Investors ^ tS} SAVINGS BANK 642-8143 754-5400 371-1000 WHITEVILLE SHALLOTTE LELAND EOJAi hOjSimO 0??0RTUMTY Development, Inc. "Your Professional Full Service Construction Company" Sewage Disposal & Water ?Consulting/Permit Application* ?Designs/Plans/lnstallatiorv ?Conventional Septic Tanks/ LPP Systems* 1 Drainage Plans/Fill Dirt Plans* ?Maintenance Agreements* ?Water Line Installations* Site Preparation & Paving ?Clearing Chipping* ?Fill Dirt Grading* ?Sock Tile Installation* ?Minor Paving* ?Home Driveways* ?Parking Lots* NORTH CAROLINA Ricky Parker - Owner 842-4003 Mon.-Fri. 9-5, Sat. by appointment only Hwy. 130, Holden Beach Rd., 41A miles from Shallotte NFIB' MEMBER
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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June 6, 1991, edition 1
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