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When you read that 45 teachers in the Harrisburg School District have resigned, you realize that teaching has turned from the pursuit of academic excellence to the rehabilitation of bad parenting.

No classroom, school building or district can function without co-operation, interaction, respect and understanding between administration and teachers.

Parents used to be the first line of defense when a student had a behavior problem, but that seldom happens today. Many parents will vigorously defend the worst behavior and turn it back on the school.

Many teachers feel left out in the cold and demoralized by administrators who abandon them because they have their own problems standing up to the bullying tactics of some parents. So the answer is either a teacher who will cave by granting a grade to an undeserving, manipulative student or an administrator who will simply transfer that student to another teacher whose standards are not as high.

The academic community has a responsibility to recognize that a strong alliance between teacher and administrators is more important than placating troublesome parents. If they neglect that responsibility, the erosion of academic excellence can only continue.

We are fortunate in the Wyoming Are School District to have a superintendent who has become duly seasoned with multiple challenges during her tenure and has proven to be one of the most cohesive administrators in the state. We need more of this kind of performance throughout the state, in addition to dedicated fearless teachers.

Deanna C.Farrell

Wyoming Area School Director

Wyoming

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