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May 6: Food drive, rebate woes, teacher performance, Mets' Delgado

May 6, 2008

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Food drive more vital this year

As many readers may already be aware, this Saturday is the United States Postal Service's "Stamp Out Hunger" annual food drive.

Having recently retired from the post office as a letter carrier and having collected food in their past drives, I would like to make an appeal. The drive this year would seem to be more important than other years, as more people are in desperate need with the economy and jobs in bad shape.

If every house gave just two items of food, the drive would exceed all past drives and would stock food pantries for a much longer period of time.

Bill Erbis

Levittown

Rebate?! We're running on fumes

I know exactly what I am going to do with the $600 tax rebate I will be receiving from the federal government ["Windfall for bill-payers" News, April 29].

I am going to use the money to fill up the gas tank of my car.

Martin Alterman

East Meadow

Mets' Delgado didn't respond

I think Jim Baumbach got it wrong in his column ["By staying in dugout, he digs big hole," Sports, April 28] about Carlos Delgado's not responding to the fans' request for a curtain call. If I were Delgado, I wouldn't have come out of the dugout, either -- and not because of all the boos he has been taking since the season began.

Delgado, in my opinion, felt unworthy of the curtain call. Let him add a few more hits and RBI to his stats, feel good about the money he's earning, and then we should all expect, and embrace, a tip of the hat.

Lou Desiderio

South Huntington

Curtain calls should be reserved for someone breaking a long-standing or revered record, or hitting for the cycle, or hitting three home runs or three triples in a game, not for bringing home the tiebreaking run, making a great catch or finally coming through with a couple of big hits after having a short slump.

Fans should be more prudent by merely cheering the player when he makes his next appearance on the field. He can then tip his hat and thank them. Curtain calls are becoming too common. Let's keep them special.

Richard Sloan

Massapequa

Teachers' tenure saps motivation

A letter writer makes some excellent points regarding the students' role in their own performance ["At issue: student performance," Letters, May 4].

However, I have to part ways when he implies that six teacher observations per year over three years is more than enough to adequately understand the competency of a teacher. In the private sector, performance is measured every day.

Even if those 18 observations over three years were adequate, this system fails to take into account the "laziness factor" that can kick in after tenure is granted. It is impossible for teacher observations over three years to be an accurate predictor of teacher performance over the following 20-25 years.

It is time that "pay for performance" replace tenure in the educational system. Truly good teachers should have no problem with the concept, as their jobs will remain secure. As for the others, maybe the threat of job loss will motivate them the same way the prospect of gaining tenure motivated them so many years ago.

Doug Augenthaler

Port Washington

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