Letters to the editor
November 5, 2008
By Administrator
School board resignation request
At the October 23 school board meeting, Ken Hutcherson and Todd Shaw took the bold step of calling for the resignation of school board vice president Kathryn Lerner claiming she has “compromised her ability to serve the Snoqualmie Valley” by allowing her older daughter to attend a school in Mercer Island (she also has one attending CVES) because it offered marching band and Chinese, things not offered at MSHS.
First of all, it’s none of our business where Lerner’s children are educated. Second, if anything, the process has likely provided Lerner with invaluable experience about curriculum challenges facing every school district.
Apparently, Mr. Hutcherson and Mr. Shaw would like to require that all school board member’s children must attend schools in the district. While we’re at it, should we also require that school board members have children at all? Certainly a person without children or someone who has children too young or too old to attend our schools wouldn’t have the “ability to serve the Snoqualmie Valley.”
I find it incredibly ironic that Hutcherson, whose antics at an MSHS assembly last year did nothing to help passage of the April school bond, suggests that Lerner’s daughter’s attendance at Mercer Island High School could be detrimental to passage of the upcoming bond. He says “I’m one parent who would like to move off of the controversy issue and deal with the work to get our next bond passed?” Really? Then might I suggest Mr. Hutcherson volunteer to knock on doors, make phone calls and otherwise participate in the process of getting the bond passed rather than take useless, divisive potshots at a board member who did what she thought was best for her daughter.
Our schools are filled with great curriculum, great teachers and fantastic students. Our test scores are among the highest in the state. Our teachers and school board successfully negotiated a new contract to avoid a strike. We are certainly not a perfect district. We all have things we wish were offered that aren’t. But no district can offer everything to everyone nor should it try.
Sean Sundwall
Snoqualmie
Cat Tales censorship
While I hardly wish to take space in this publication to respond to a recent letter from a reader, I feel that Mr. Strine directly attacks my character and me personally, and thus feel obligated to defend myself accordingly.
The issue at hand is of the recent attempt of censoring Cat Tales, Mt. Si High School’s student newspaper, by school administrators.
While Mr. Strine is busy making Ad hominem attacks on the other original letter writer – whom I in no way speak for here – and myself, he fails to combat a single point either him and I make in our letters.
While I find many of his statements ill-informed and down-right offensive, Mr. Strine’s assertion that “With [my] current [attitude], [I] wouldn’t last a week for a commercial paper where rookies are always edited” particularly struck me. Yes sir, you are certainly right, we are edited — by editors — not by those whom we report on.
I am surprised and dismayed that he fails to realize or acknowledge this point because it is at the crux of my argument against this censorship. And it is also at the heart of this “trade” called journalism that Mr. Strine so deeply wishes me to learn. Well, sir, for one, I know that.
And for two, these student reporters need to know that if they are ever going to, as Mr. Strine puts it, “be a cub reporter, get experience from the bottom up, and then pop off.” So I would appreciate more substance from your criticism, sir, and less personal attacks that have no place in this important discussion.
Chris Pulliam,
New York City, N.Y.
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