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Ask Tough Questions On School Choice

Editorial
Portsmouth Herald
November 22, 2011

I was very disappointed in your article last week about state Commissioner of Education Virginia Barry’s visit to our elementary schools and her support to remove school choice for Portsmouth parents.

How does a visit to the computer room and seeing art on the walls convince her the schools have “parity” of education? Did she even talk with the parents who chose to leave Dondero? In the Herald’s discussion with Ms. Barry, our superintendent of schools, and our School Board, there was no mention of the real reasons so many parents chose to put their children through the drama of changing schools. What is going on in Dondero that would convince parents to make this choice? These parents didn’t make that difficult choice so they could be in a school liked by real estate agents — a lame claim that appeared in the Herald article.

Portsmouth Herald: I challenge you to ask tougher questions! What have the parents told our superintendent about their reasons for changing schools? What are his plans for addressing the substance of their concerns? What did parents tell the Dondero principal and what are her plans? I understand parents requested a closed-door session with the School Board — why won’t they agree to this to uncover the issues and help address them?

I know many Dondero families love it there, but the families who left must have had a different experience. Why are we angry at these parents and focused on removing choice instead of addressing the problems?

I’m a parent of two children in Little Harbour Elementary and welcome any families making choices to benefit their children. I’m thankful that our principal and staff have been able to accommodate the influx. But I’m very disappointed in our commissioner of education, our school superintendent, our school board, our newspaper, and some parents at both schools who seem to have closed ranks and are content to let the education of some Portsmouth schoolchildren suffer rather than admit and address the real concerns.

Removing choice also removes a school’s incentive to change and that hurts all of us. Let’s keep the law and focus on the real issue: Why are parents taking their children out of Dondero and how do we address the problems there?

Bethany A. Yeaton

Portsmouth