OPINION:
Douglas E. Schoen hits a pop fly in his column on racial divisions (“The politics of disparity,” Opinion, Thursday). He applauds President Obama for proposing a merit-pay system that rewards good teachers - and rightly so. However, he fails to point out the need to remove the protective wrap around poor teaching, which is just as important. Of course, that would offend the teachers unions from which that protection arises, which is why the administration is unlikely to make that move.
Second, his sad recital of minority educational statistics fails to recognize the most important aspect of a successful education: family. We can trace minority educational failures to the fact that a large percentage of black children are born to single mothers. While this is unfortunate, I am comforted by the strides our society has achieved. The election of a black president had little to do with it.
WILLIAM M. STELL
McLean
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