LETTERS: Teachers and parents, Nassau budget

A teacher responds on education 'reform'

As I sat in a diner, overhearing a conversation between two mothers, I became overwhelmingly aggravated. They, as like much of the country, were discussing everything that is wrong with our education system. I heard phrases like "take away tenure, reduce teacher salaries, merit pay."

I am a high school social studies-special education teacher in Hicksville. I love the subjects I teach. I spend my free time attending workshops, visiting museums and other events that will help me bring more to my classroom. My lessons are full of enthusiasm and mystery, and my classroom is full of humor, excitement and support.

I reach out to those students who need extra help and offer to stay after school or come in early to tutor them. Many of them take me up on these offers, but many do not. The truth is this: I see students for 40 minutes a day. They walked into my classroom with 17 years of life experiences and habits behind them. I alone cannot force a child to succeed.

Too many students go home without a single book in their hands; sometimes they come to class that way as well. I have seen with each passing year more students who cannot take accountability for their actions and feel they should pass a class simply for attending.

If you want to create a successful student, start at your home. Read to them as children, a lot. Create a quiet, organized area for them to do their homework and study. Enforce the idea that sitting in class updating their Facebook status or texting all their friends is not the way to succeed.

These are just a few of the things I wanted to tell the mothers behind me - as well as, please don't blame me for your child's obesity problem in 10 years because you let him eat French fries, onion rings and a large soda for lunch today.

Kiko Ikeguchi

Bayside

Nassau County's passing the buck

During his campaign for county executive, Edward Mangano publicly decried federal and state "unfunded mandates." However, in his first budget as the county executive, he resorts to the equivalent of unfunded mandates by proposing that towns, villages, schools, libraries and fire districts pay property tax refunds and sewer taxes ["Mangano budget slammed,'' News, Oct. 19]. Mangano is passing along county obligations (mandates) to lower levels of government without helping them pay for them (unfunded).

Peter J. Ruffner

Seaford

Why do officials practice trickle-down taxation instead of fixing their own houses? Gov. David A. Paterson cuts state aid without cutting state mandates. This results in the towns and school districts raising taxes. Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano wants to charge towns and districts a sewer fee. This results in the towns and districts raising taxes to pay the fee.

Fix your budgets without passing your problems on to others.

Arthur Fried

East Meadow