Dear Editor:

A few weeks back, I expressed the opinion that we needed a change in both our elected school board and our superintendent of schools.

In my opinion these people have been in charge for many years while the problem of basic skill deterioration amongst our student population has been allowed to flourish.

My opinion is that the school board has been guilty of allowing educational bafflegab to convince the public that they are actually doing something positive when in fact they have allowed our system to become one of the worst in the province.

To illustrate this point, remember that our current superintendent of schools was hired once before by this same school board. The result of his first tenure was the shutting down of a school in Tulameen, as well as at least one program aimed at providing some sort of remedial review for students who were let down by the system. Now in this tenure, this same superintendent has shut down yet another program aimed at solving those same problems. He seems to be very good at denying educational opportunity for students while concentrating on building his own little empire at student expense.

It is my considered opinion that this superintendent needs to be replaced with a competent trained educator. One who knows how to allocate the resources at hand in a manner that puts the student first. An individual who can command respect based on educational competence. I consider this individual to lack that competence.

Many of the members of the current school board have been around far too long. Some are even former administrators in the system.

These people have already proven their incompetence by allowing this system to deteriorate to the current level.

The time has come to demand accountability. Get involved.

Lin (LB) Wotton