To the editor:

We are rushing to build beautiful new buildings stocked with new furniture and the latest high-tech equipment. Yet, the simple fundamentals of teaching our children to read are being ignored. The most important issue this election should be the standards and performance of the students. Instead, the school board and administration are focused on spending $59 million to save $1.4 million. Must be that new math the board adopted last year.

Why hire an outside agency to look for our downfalls? The test scores and downward trend in enrollment tell the whole story. Our kids are not being taught to read, and it shows. If the reports were not meant to confuse and deceive, it would be easy to see how poorly our children score. A recent report card of district sixth-graders shows a reading NCE score of 58.2, it also reports that 84 percent of the same sixth-graders scored at the 25 percentile or better, this is considered average or above? The last time I saw a score of 25 percentile it was followed by a failing grade

The recent building report cards should alarm all parents. Instead of looking of ways to improve test scores the current board is concentrating its efforts on building new buildings. Buildings will never teach a child to read or spell, solve a math problem or the history of America. Let’s face it, the big beautiful buildings are not for the kids, they are for the administration. Do not allow your self to be coerced into supporting this bond issue. The only thing that we should feel guilty about is the incredibly low-test scores.

Linda Weinmaster,

Lawrence