Views in brief

Teachers aren't expendable

I AM so pleased with the article "The other name for school 'reform'". There has been so much back-and-forth talk in the media surrounding this topic, and much of it expects that the reader has previous knowledge of education and of reform.

While this article still had some expectations, it painted a beautiful picture of what will happen if we continue to chant "Rhee and Gates" without doing our homework and making a decision based on research as opposed to the media's interpretation.

As an elementary teacher, I appreciated the section articulating the loss of creativity and critical thinking skills, as we are sacrificing our students' childhoods for high-stakes tests and accountability. Hands-on, minds-on, place-based, project-centered curriculum is the direction we need to be moving toward to foster a lifelong love for learning, and it is heartbreaking to be a part of my utopian antithesis.
Allison Shea, Seattle

Sports owners plan to fleece LA

IN RESPONSE to "Those non-profit Packers": I didn't know that the Packers were community owned, and it's great that they won the Super Bowl.

Here in Los Angeles, a group of "investors" and "sportsmen" want to build a multibillion-dollar stadium in downtown to attract an NFL team. I just hope that the politicians don't allow them to use the people's tax money to build this, during a time of high unemployment and continuing problems of traffic congestion and the need for increased public transportation. The city of Los Angeles has survived without an NFL team for almost 20 years.

In the coming months, watch the owners plead poverty when they lock out the people who generate their profits.
Joe, Los Angeles

Egypt, technology and revolution

IN RESPONSE to the Critical Reading blog post "How to run a revolution": My students were shocked that anyone could live without cell phones or Internet for one day, let alone three or four. So I think they will be impressed that a revolution could be organized by cell and social media, in coordination with actually walking the routes to the protests.

Will you have a followup article on how the revolution spread in spite of the
Internet shutdown?
Ian Weniger, Vancouver, British Columbia

Zionism's attack in academia

IN RESPONSE to "FIU activist faces harassment": If possible, please convey to Mnar Muhareb my sympathy and solidarity with her. I agree with the end paragraph of the article. This attack on Mnar is yet another of a concerted effort by Zionists in their quest to suppress, censor and intimidate those who seek to expose the crimes of Israel. An ongoing campaign to carry this out is being conducted in academia: it is academic assassination.
Michael Severson, from the Internet