Letter: What basis to slow testing?
Joye Brown's "Call timeout on tests" column [News, Nov. 17] and the "LI principals join protest" article [News, Nov. 17] raise a number of questions.
Yes, parents who turned out for the forums were opposed to testing, but were they well-informed or did they simply follow teachers unions, PTAs and local educational "leaders"? Are they aware that testing is how we determine if the educational process is effective and what needs change?
How many days of testing, and preparation for testing, are too many in the roughly 180-day school year?
The coverage makes me wonder why educators who are committed to changing others through education are so opposed to change that affects them. Using student progress measures for 40 percent or less of teacher and principal evaluation is hardly too much.
Could the efforts of superintendents and principals have been better spent teaching teachers and department chairs how to implement the changes?
Gunther Geiss, Southold
Editor's note: The writer is a former professor of business at Adelphi University.
Homeless shelter's opponents heartless
Shame on those residents of Hauppauge and Smithtown, and Suffolk County Legis. John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset), who want to shut down a shelter for 96 homeless families ["Outcry over new shelter," News, Nov. 9]. Here we are entering the Thanksgiving and holiday season, and a bunch of Ebenezer Scrooges wants to displace poor and homeless families. It's a disgrace!
We are still in the middle of an economic recession that has many of our most vulnerable residents at risk, while a bunch of "not in my backyard" protesters opposes housing for these homeless families.
Opponents of this shelter should ask themselves about their own sense of right and wrong, and moral responsibility, before pursuing this effort to close this family shelter.
Jerry Bilinski, Riverhead
Radon can be lung cancer cause
Since radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, why isn't Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) suing Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency for excluding radon from the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1976 ["McCarthy files suit," News, Nov. 10]? The effect of the exclusion was a failure to monitor groundwater for radon levels.
There is radon in groundwater feeding Long Island's public, private and irrigation wells that could have caused her lung cancer.
Carmine F. Vasile, Patchogue
School closings are normal course
Six generations of my family have graduated from the Half Hollow Hills school district. I am perplexed by the public outcry over two schools closing ["Less development, fewer schools," Letters, Nov. 15.
It has never been one single school that makes this district one of the best. It's the combination of all the schools, some still in existence and some long gone. Schools have closed in the past.
Some opponents said they don't want their children separated from their friends. Do they plan to have their children all attend the same colleges? Seriously, people. Now someone has gathered medical information about the dangers of the car exhaust on Route 231. Why now is that a new concern? It's because her children might attend there.
I question the real reason for this upset. It seems to be based on self-centeredness.
Jackie McGrath, Dix Hills
Groundwater checks should be regional
In "L.I. doesn't need aquifer panel" , Joe Gergela, director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, addressed only a narrow perspective of the larger issue. Agriculture is a major industry on Long Island; however, water management affects us all. There are 1,000-plus wells managed by more than 100 water districts and authorities, along with many shallow private wells.
Local government can no longer depend on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which has been the victim of consistent reductions in funding and manpower. The 2013 state budget left the agency with 23 percent fewer employees than it had six years ago. This has led to a 75 percent reduction in inspections.
The sleeping giant that is quickly evolving into a water-quality crisis is the lack of sewers and waste management on Long Island, which is contributing to the increased levels of nitrates in our water. The nitrate levels and other contaminants in our water have vastly exceeded "trace amounts" as defined by Gergela.
The nitrate contamination leaching from our cesspools is not only destroying the water resources below our feet, but now is leaching into our coastal waterways.
No single water district has the authority, the financial resources or the will to address these issues. These are no longer isolated local water problems. A regional approach is the only means to effectively address these issues.
James P. Kelly, Patchogue
Editor's note: The writer is an adjunct professor of political science at St. Joseph's College.
