Featured Letter: Education more than Common Core

To the editor:

Before we get bent out of shape by the local Common Core Test Scores, consider that now we have something more viable than a nagging concern.

Also that, to some degree, the tests were based on learnings that are not dealt with in all school districts, and the promised training of teachers was not forthcoming.

The Common Core learnings require reasoning skills in lieu of rote learning, something skilled teachers have always endorsed. However, that is not always appreciated in some school systems, which want students to do well on rote-level multiple choice bubble tests.

What’s good is the awareness that we have to take education seriously and support our schools, financially and with expertise. What’s sad is the stark difference in scores between wealthy districts and poorer communities, the terrible disparity in our society.

We stand at a crossroads. Children are our future. If we do not invest now in their effective education, including the opportunity to attend college and further studies, we will see our country devolve into a second-rate, greed-obsessed nation, no longer the great country of democratic opportunity and growth.

Merle Levine, Louise Barry and Mimi Seidman

Editor’s note: The authors are all retired educators living at Peconic Landing in Greenport.