Newspaper Page Text
Opinion
Sunday, February 10, 1985
No federal teacher test
No! Absolutely not!
As clearly as that can be
expressed, it represents
answer to American
Federation of Teachers President
Albert Shanker’s suggestion of a
national, standard test, enforced
for all entry-level public school
teachers.
If somebody wants to submit
such a test to Georgia’s leaders for
consideration, that is fine. But,
under no circumstances would we
endorse federal control over who
is or is not allowed to teach in our
public schools.
Admittedly there are some weak
teachers among the outstanding
educators in Georgia, as in all
states. We need upgraded compe
tency. But that is a state/local
problem, not a cue for Uncle Sam
to tinker in our thinking process.
Some states test teachers for
minimal competency and have
raised graduation standards, of
fered merit bonuses and raised
base salaries.
Not all states have done these
things and no two have proceeded
exactly the same way. But, those
on the sidelines can later choose
the reforms they feel work best for
them. Damage from mistaken
ideas, are localized.
The AFT president is urging a
national exam for licensing new
teachers. It would be tough, con
ferring prestige and professional
ism with a single passing grade.
Ed Jenkins moving up
A tip of our hat to Congressman
Ed Jenkins.
The Jasper Democrat, who rep
resents part of Forsyth County and a
large chunk of north Georgia in the
House of Representatives, has scored
some impressive political influence
gains during the last month.
Recently the congressman was
appointed to the House Budget
Committee. And that has to be
seen as really something when you
consider that he already was a
member of the Ways and Means
Committee. Being on these two
powerful legislative committees is
a distinction shared by only one
A kindergarten story
Governor Joe Frank Harris’
much publicized plan for improv
ing public education has run into a
bit of a roadblock over the legislat
ing of full-day kindergarten ses
sions and first grade entrance
requirements.
Opposition to the proposal is not
surprising.
Much effort has gone into ex
plaining changes in teacher pay
plans, distribution formulas for
school systems, and career lad
ders, but proponents of the plan
have failed to build a convinvinc
ing public case for full-day kinder
garten.
We have basically been told that
more exposure to kindergarten is
good, and that we should be satis
fied with such an explanation.
But many have not been satis
fied. In fact, many have ques
tioned whether the additional
Forsyth CountvNews
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Shanker does not deny that his
profession has big problems. He
does not resist the ideas of testing
teachers or linking educational
competency with qualification. He
has not issued progress-resistent
statements such as “No pencil and
paper test is going to tell you how
well we teach.” He knows that we
need to tie higher pay to better
performance.
Stilly as important as it is to have
a national department of educa
tion, we cannot allow so far-reach
ing a federal grip on the thought
process of our people.
No thanks, Mr. Shanker, we
choose to make our own decisions,
in Georgia, on who will or will not
be allowed to teach our children.
States now requiring licensing
exams reportedly 20 or so
must set their standards based on
numerous things, such as state
and local economy, area educatio
nal deficiencies and partic
ularly availability of teacher
talent. Some areas have severe
teacher shortages. You simply
don’t toss out so-so teachers until
you have competent replace
ments. An effective test for one
state might bring devastating tea
cher shortage elsewhere.
Public schools are funded
mostly by state and local funds
and must be controlled the same.
A tough state competency test
for weeding out and pay increase
purposes is worth consideration.
other representative.
Forsyth County, and the entire Ninth
District, can be proud of Ed Jenkins’
new step up in governmental influence.
We look to his leadership in the nation’s
legislative process to continue, know
ing full well that he is in step with a
majority of the voters of north
Georgia’s Ninth Congressional Dis
trict.
There can be no doubt that he
has their political backing; other
wise, the man who has served
several terms since replacing
long-time legislator Phil Landrum
in the House, would not be re
elected to easily?
monies needed for implementing
the kindergarten program, cou
pled with the societal changes
brought about by such a change,
are offset by the good to be don§.
The fate of the kindergarten
plan has not yet been determined,
but it seems obvious supporters of
the governor’s plan have taken too
much for granted and done to little
in the way of explaining to the
public why such a proposal might
make sense.
Your letters welcomed
The Forsyth County News welcomes let
ters to the editor about opinions on this page
or opinions of general and community inter
est.
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ture. Letters not signed wiD not be used.
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brought to The News office at 107 Dahlonega
Street.
Forsyth County News
Using that reasoning power
“Where do we go from here?” That was
the question members of the local alcohol
and drug council were asking themselves in
their first meeting of the year two weeks ago
at Forsyth County Hospital.
A committee was formed at the meeting to
establish priorities for 1985, and hopefuDy,
programs instituted or continued by the
coundl this year wiD help steer our young
people away from substance (alcohol and
drug) abuse and its many harmful effects.
The council may be a small group, but at
least it’s there. At least someone cares about
what happens to potential substance abus
ers.
What’s tragic is that many other people
don’t seem to care, perhaps because they
don’t know enough about the problem.
Where substance abuse is concerned, how
ever, it’s never too late to learn.
A tremendous amount of material is avail
able on the subject, including a publication
by Pharmacists Aginst Drug Abuse.
Information from that publication, titled,
“The Kinds of Drugs Kids are Getting Into,”
is discussed in the foUowing paragraphs.
Right now, over one third of aU kids in
America use Ulegal drugs, and one out of
every 16 high school seniors is smoking an
average of 3% marijuana joints every day.
But, drug abuse doesn’t begin in high
school. Today, even children under 12 are
getting involved.
“Their grades suffer because they can’t
study or pay proper attention in the class
room,” the publication says. “And their
emotional and physical development can be
damaged at a critical period in their young
lives.”
Who is really reaping the benefits?
About three months ago the Crompton
Mills, a 200 year old manufacturer of cotton
velveteen, filed for bankruptcy. The same
week this happened the Japanese raised
their price of velveteen from $3 to $4 per
yard. This is the result of our Congress not
planning far enough ahead to protect our
industry from cheap imports. This is also
the result of what is caUed ‘an effective
monopoly’. We couldn’t make our own and
compete with their prices.
Forty percent of textiles,fiber and fabrics,
go into the manufacture of clothing. The
labor cost on the production of clothing
amounts to about a third the cost of the item
making the material cost about 60%.
Imports of fabrics for a given period
amounted to sl3 billion dollars while the U.S.
was exporting about $3 billion. This means a
loss to the U.S. for cloth of $lO billion dollars
alone. Now let’s see what it did to employ
ment. The American Fiber, Textile, and
Apparel Coalition reported a 100,000 jobs lost
to our laborers for each billion square yards
we imported. Last year imports cost the
Citizens on lake important, too
We need the Corps of Engineers on Lake
Lanier. They do many necessary projects
and maintain Lake Lanier in a highlevel
manner, but it appears that they have for
gotten that the lake is for the people, paid for
by the people and can beused in harmony
with the general public and the members of
the public owning property adjacent to the
Corps of Engineers’ property.
In the ten years that I have been a resident
of Forsyth County and living adjacent to
Lake Lanier, I have never had nor heard of
any conflicts between the public in general
and those owning property adjacent to the
Corps of Engineers’ property. It is also
interesting to note that the general public
appears to derive a great deal of pleasure
from riding in their boats along the shoreline
and viewing thevarious properties owned
adjacent to Lake Lanier.
I think the Corps should also take note of
the fact that without the property owners on
Chuck
Thompson
News Editor j
Substance abuse often begins which alco
hol and marijuana, which are commonly
referred to as “gateways” and “stepping
stones.”
This means they can lead to use of more
serious substances like Angel Dust, LSD,
cocaine, speed’ hashish, heroin or prescrip
tion products like tranquilizers and sleeping
pills.
Many people who would never consider
using marijuana see nothing wrong with
drinking beer, but beer contains alcohol,
which is a very addicting substance.
What’s more, an individual who’s drunk
kills approximately 4 million to 6 million
brain cells, which can never be replaced.
“Surveys have shown that almost half of
aU male high school seniors and nearly 20
percent of aD 9th grade boys can be caUed
‘problem drinkers,” the publication says.
“Meaning they’re repeatedly drunk, have
problems with school authorities and diffi
culties with friends and the pobce.”
Like alcohol, marijuana can cause prob
lems for kids in school.
Research has clearly shown that it inter
feres with immediate memory and inteUec
tual performance.
In addition, it can impair concentration
and reading comprehension and has a
Letters
nation’s economy 1.5 million jobs and 740,000
employment opportunities within the indus
try.
A hundred fabric mills closed between
1979 and 1984, the vast majority because of
imports. One billion pounds of capacity was
taken out of the American Fiber Industry
alone since 1973. The average wage rate in
the apparel business in the U.S. was $5.60
per hour. China as late as 1982 was paying as
low as $.30 per hour for this same kind of
labor.
Let’s go to another item. We should be
very careful when buying our daily needs.
More than 50% of aU shoes sold in the U.S.
are imports. Most aD the large shoe facto
ries in New England have had to close or
drasticahy curtaU production. About aD that
is left of the U.S. production is the more
expensive, web made shoes; and it is true,
they are made of much better material than
the imports.
Twenty years ago, only nine percent of
textile machinery was imported. Today
nearly half of the equipment is imported
from Europe. Machinery manufacturers
the Lake there would probable be a litter
problem, even more serious than we have
now. In general the public has difficulty in
finding areas not littered with broken glass
bottles, cans and general debris where prop
erty owners have not taken upon themselves
to maintain a clean and attractive shoreline.
I suggest that the Corps and the public wbuld
be well served if the Corps of Engineers
funds, and our tax dollars, were devoted
more to maintaining a clean and unlittered
shoreline and safe boating conditions rather
than reforestation of beautifully landscaped
property surrounding the lake.
I believe we as taxpayers all agree that
the Corps has served the public and specif
ically the residents of Forsyth County very
well in the past,but now it appears that in an
honest effort to continue the good work, they
have become misdirected.
We as property owners should not be
irrate but instead concerned and effective in
higher level of known cancer-causing agents
than tobacco.
One drug which has gained increasing
popularity is cocaine.
Its effetfs last for only a matter of min
utes, and the intense “high” is usuaby
fobowed by an equaby intense “low.”
Trying to avoid this “low” feeling, many
users of cocaine wiD take repeated doses of
the drug.
And, with heavy use comes suspicious
feelings, habucinations (seeing, hearing and
feeling things that are not real), and other
signs of serious mental disturbance.
When large amounts of cocaine are taken,
convulsions and death can occur.
The above facts are only a smab portion of
the information available on drugs and
alcohol, but they’re enough to make anyone
realize these substances are a serious prob
lem. . i
People use drugs and alcohol to gain
acceptance, alter emotional states, hide
from reabty and satisfy dominating habits.
“We’re just trying to have fun,” they say.
But, if having fun requires an emotional
change through drugs and alcohol, what
happens when the effects wear off?
An individual who can’t enjoy himself
without drugs and alcohol can’t be satisfied
with himself as he is. He must become
abnormal to have fun, which makes him
dependent on something totaby unbke him
self.
Imagine an inanimate object control
ling a living, moving being with the power to
reason for himself.
Let’s make sure our young people take
advantage of that power to reason before it’s
too late.
9
and converters are but two examples of this
ripple effect. It has affected the converters
who take the imported materials and further
treat them, print them, or dye them. This
part of the industry is stib greatly controbed
in the U.S. All express concern that even it
might be taken to other countries.
Unions painted themselves into a comer
through the years by making costly de
mands on their employer. They now reap
what has been sown,excessive wages in
proportion to their production. In fub sym
pathy with the manufacturer and the la
borer, we must redo our arithmetic and try
to adjust prices from both ends. This wiD
give the wage earner and the manufacturer
a better break. We should ask our elected
representatives to demand tarifs so ab wiD
survive and thousands of jobs be returned to
the U.S. At the same timewe should question
the international bankers because they are
at the back of it ab. The international
bankers are the ones making the real money
at the expense of the U.S. manufacturer and
laborer.
S.V. Wagoner
demonstrating to our elected officials and to
the Corps of Engineers our efforts in main
taining the Corps’ property adjacent to our
property is in the best interest of the general
public and the Corp’s overall objectives. We
do not want to see the shoreline erroded or
littered. We want to maintain it in a high
grade manner, so that it is an atmosphere of
peace and tranquility for all who use the
lake.
We are all keenly aware that Lake Lanier
and the adjoining property belongs to the
Corps of Engineers and is for the use of
every American taxpayer, but if we are
willing to spend our time, money and labors
to supplement the Corps of Engineers’ work,
then I believe we should be shown more
consideration and in fact appreciation for
our efforts by the Corps of Engineers, the
citizens should be forthcoming.
Bill Mason
Camming
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