William Birt: No respect shown to Modesto’s educators

Re “Enough testing, teachers protest” (Page A1, March 6): I’m compelled to respond to the recent article concerning the excessive assessments in early-grade education. I’m astonished by the condescension and lack of respect that administrators conveyed in response to hundreds of frustrated, heavy-hearted educators who are concerned for their students. It is imperative that we listen to the teachers who know our children, their aptitudes and their strengths.

Quoted in the article were Ginger Johnson and Kim Newton, administrators who have unequivocally forgotten what it was like to be in the classroom. Both as a parent who expects quality instruction and responsible use of valuable classroom time, and as a citizen who hopes for a future of bright, critical thinkers, I implore these ladies to re-evaluate their collective philosophy and understand that our best hope for a new generation of well-educated thinkers is to provide them with a greater depth of knowledge – a depth that cannot be achieved while thousands of individual assessments are consuming priceless instructional minutes.

While our students will graduate high school with the basics, on this current course our peers will continue to surpass us as they emphasize critical areas like science. As a community, as parents, we give you a “1” across the board.

This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 5:30 PM with the headline "William Birt: No respect shown to Modesto’s educators."