Students deserved to walk
Friday, June 20, 2008 12:44 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleJune 20 Letters to the Editor
Students deserved to walk
The June 17 letter titled, “Walk without the WASL?” is a shameful and needless attack on Hispanic students at Kelso High School, where I am the ELL and COE teacher.
First, the numbers of ELL students do not support an immersion program. Furthermore, improving the reading, writing and mathematical abilities is our staff’s primary goal, followed closely by teaching students empathy and responsibility. Of the two students mentioned in the letter, one was an ELL student. Of the 170-plus students required to complete a COE Portfolio, only four were ELL students. Being Hispanic is not the issue.
Ninety-eight students from KHS attended Lower Columbia College this spring. None of them had a diploma.
The two students in the letter earned the right to walk at graduation with their hard work. They earned 21 credits, took the WASL, completed COE portfolios and senior projects, and appealed to the school board. Last year passing the WASL wasn’t even on the list.
I stand by these students, congratulate them on their hard work and wish them success, even if they walked across that stage without passing the WASL.
Erinn Morton
Kelso
Graduation walk was right
I am both appalled and disgusted as an American, with the ignorance of some of my fellow citizens. To strike out at immigrants without knowing the whole situation is shameful.
I have had the two students who walked in the Kelso graduation without passing the WASL sections in my science class. They are hard-working, intelligent young ladies who have an extraordinary grasp of the English language. To blame their failure on their Latin heritage smacks of racism.
Many students, immigrants or native born, struggle to pass the WASL. It is not as simple a test as many people make it out to be. I think that Carolyn Noe (June 17 letter) should take these tests herself before blindly accusing and running down our fine educational system.
Mark Wheatley
Kelso High School Science Teacher
A complicit media
Syndi Bay (June 17 letter) doesn’t seem to believe there is a complicit media. I give this recent example: Headline in a Seattle newspaper, “Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm polar bears.” Longest headline I have observed for an article. It sure seems the polar bears are in trouble.
Deep in the article it explains that the oil companies have been under these same or similar rules for the last 15 years. No polar bear fatalities and, in fact, only two fatalities since 1960 due to oil exploration. That is 48 years ago. Polar bears are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which is more protection than offered by the Endangered Species Act. The oil companies or the Bush administration will not and have not done anything to harm the polar bears.
The ice is not melting, polar bears are not drowning and, in fact, the population is increasing. Most people believe just the opposite because of the news media. That is complicit or better yet an example of outright propaganda. Has Bay noticed the news media will not identify people charged with a crime as being in the country illegally? Is that complicit or what? Larry Crosby’s (June 14) letter is right on.
William Schumacher
Castle Rock
After the fire ...
I finished reading the June 14 article about the fire on Cowlitz Way and something kept bugging me. It states that not a single victim of the fire had renter’s insurance.
As a landlord here in Cowlitz County for the last 15 years, I know how few renters bother to get this type of insurance. Even though they must initial next to a section of my rental agreement that states that they should get renter's insurance and that the property owner’s insurance does not cover any of their personal belonging or losses, including the cost of temporary housing. However, I rarely see anyone obtain a policy. I even have brochures on the front counter with insurance information and contact numbers.
So why do so few renters get insurance? I believe the main issue has to do with the misconception that it is expensive and they can’t afford it. So I went to my computer and got a quote from one insurance company. Turns out I can buy a policy for a two-bedroom apartment inside Kelso City limits with $38,000 of coverage for belongings and $300,000 in liability for well under $15 per month or 50 cents per day.
I’m hoping renters that read this realize how much there is to lose and how affordable it is to be covered. It’s too late when disaster strikes and everything is gone.
Brian Robinson
Castle Rock
Compassion has died
In regard to the letter titled “Where is Compassion?,” I want to tell Marie Indergard that compassion has died in the two towns of Longview and Kelso long ago. I am a disabled woman who has to use a wheelchair at times to get around. I am also a homeless woman. I am one of those people in need of a handout from time to time. I do not do drugs unless they are given to me by my doctor. I don’t drink or even smoke. Yet I am treated like the scum of the earth.
I have lived in Kelso and in Longview since I was 17 years old. I worked hard and helped those who needed it. I paid my taxes like all the rest. I am ashamed of where I am at now. But, God willing, something will give.
Some people believe I make a lot out there. This is not true at all; I can sit out there for three hours and only make $5 at the most. Most have asked me if I’m using the money to buy alcohol or drugs. I tell them the truth, that I do neither of them and they still don’t believe me. I use the money to eat a hot meal during the day or I use it to wash my cloths. I feel more like a human when my cloths are clean.
I do have a question to the Kelso and Longview police. When did I stop becoming a citizen of Cowlitz County? Was it when I could no longer work and pay taxes?
Sue Morrow
Homeless
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