To the editor:

First, I want to say that I am an avid reader of the Journal-World. I appreciate it as a community forum and find it quite informative. I appreciate especially the efforts of Newspapers in Education.

However, I must express my great disappointment with the Jan. 24 article titled “Excessive teacher absences adversely affect students.” Since when does a serious journalistic publication put an article on the front page critical of the conduct of all the local members of a profession without speaking to any of them or their representatives, such as the president of our LEA? How can that possibly be considered fair?

Absences due to training, briefly mentioned, are often directly related to initiatives and goals directly related to No Child Left Behind. Teachers attend these to become better able to teach all the students in their classrooms. It’s hard to understand how this could be viewed as a lesser form of professional responsibility.

Also, many teachers in the district are in direct contact with over 100 students a day, some of whom have come to school sick. Obviously, our profession is uniquely susceptible to illness. This is why the Lawrence district is currently installing hand sanitizer dispensers in classrooms.

Jill Jevens,

Lawrence