Editor:
I read all 59 pages of the Montezuma-Cortez School District “plan” to improve reading scores and was left wanting to claw my eyes out so I would never have to read again. The “plan” reads like the legal mumbo jumbo they give you when you apply for a credit card. Backed up by the corporate double speak of the district superintendent, who sounds like a narcissistic CEO looking to meet quarterly sales goals – not someone who wants to teach children.
Here’s a plan for the district: Get rid of sports! This is a school, not training camp for the NFL (50 percent don’t finish school, zero percent go on to play professional sports. The numbers speak for themselves). If the kid wants to play ball, he or she can join or form a non-school intermural team and do it on their own time. Next, no cell phones on school grounds. Third, the “plan” should read like this “John Smith is reading two grades below his level, we are going to help John by doing the following: he will receive extra help, etc.” Fourth: School uniform. Less thought to fashion leads to more time for school.
The district’s plan will ensure continued failure, as it focuses on tests, not students.
Nels Werner
Cortez