LETTERS.

A Wayward Attitude

STEPHEN E. FREDRICK

Superintendent, Melrose-Mindoro Schools, Melrose, Wisconsin 

My first reaction after reading the column by Robert Gerardi ("Why Some of Us Move Regularly," February 1996) was anger at being insulted. This feeling gave way to disdain for his callousness and culminated in thankfulness that I am just the opposite of Gerardi in all respects suggested by his article.

If you read the article with an eye to pronouns, almost every paragraph begins with the word "I," a touchstone that not only encapsulates his column, but also Gerardi's career.

Gerardi sounds like a slick operator, very glib, and absolutely adept at selling himself. Apparently selling himself is about where it ended. He loved his job interviews and winning the job, but afterwards it was time to start looking again. He says right up front that he wants bigger schools and more money and has "no compunction about leaving a system."

For 22 years I have worked in the same district and risen through the ranks from English teacher to superintendent. I also coached baseball, football, wrestling, girl's volleyball, and the academic decathlon. I officiated baseball, wrestling, forensics, and basketball. Kids whose parents I taught are coming through high school now, which means I know three generations in many families. My own kids went to school here.

I've stayed in this district because of a "kids come first" philosophy that is shared by teachers, parents, school board, and community. I don't need to judge myself by how much money I make.

Different Bottom Lines

LARRY L. DLUGOSH

Associate Professor of Educational Administration, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

The column by Marilyn Grady and Jack McKay ("Why Corporate Practices Won't Work for School Leaders," January 1996) reminds us about the differences in organizational goals that exist.

Educators are frequently challenged to adopt business models to improve efficiency. Grady and McKay, however, set forth some of the primary leadership differences between the two enterprises. Public education operates in a very open and visible arena with decision making influenced by wider audiences. Education's bottom line differs sharply from that of the corporate world.

I appreciated their statement that the "goal of public education is not efficiency but to provide effective education programs." No apology is needed for goals based on effectiveness. The public receives a great deal for its investment and, for the most part, they appreciate the difference in the bottom lines of the two entities.

Modifying Behavior

JENNY CAMARATA

Teacher, E.K. Baker School, Athens, Tennessee 

T.R. Ellis, superintendent in Lawrenceburg, Ind., contends in his column ("Good Behavior Has Nothing To Do with Ritalin," January 1996) that students are being labeled ADD or LD or ADHD and then being indiscriminately drugged to achieve good behavior in the classroom.

Ellis believes to get good behavior we should simply teach our students how to behave. He bases this theory on the experience of one day when he was doing a stint as an assistant elementary school principal.

I have been a teacher for 21 years, and I am amazed that Ellis has only one desk in his office for behavior problems. Students are coming to school with so many behavior problems that each classroom needs 10 desks to deal with misbehavior.

Please give that classroom teacher a little credit. The teacher has that child 180 days a year for 7 1/2 hours a day, and her shock value was worn out long before she sent this child to the assistant principal. She had not reached her decision about that child having ADD easily. She knows the child's name (something the author fails to mention). She knows where that child lives, and the names of his parents (because she has called and met with them often).

The classroom teacher has tried all sorts of behavior modification techniques, positive and negative reinforcement, and many hours of special attention. She had no choice. She couldn't teach until she got that student to stop disturbing her class.

A Writer's Request

JAY MATHEWS 

Reporter, New York Bureau, The Washington Post

I am doing research on strong Advanced Placement programs in smaller public schools. I would love to hear from readers about any public high school that gives fewer than 450 AP tests a year, but whose senior class is smaller than the number of AP tests given.

I can be reached at 29 Church Lane, Scarsdale, N.Y 10583; telephone [phone].