This letter responds to recent reports of reorganizing local high school curricula and teaching methodology, which this former math teacher interprets as effete smoke and mirrors; i.e. if you can’t achieve the goal, change the goal.

Virtually all these plans result in less hours of instruction for all students. That’s not going to work. The first step is write your state legislators and advise them if they do not fix our state education funding crisis this year, you will vote them out. Second, add teachers, not staff positions, to allow adding one to two hours to each school day, one period being a study hall for all non-honor roll students. It has to be a bona fide study hall with math and science teachers available to assist students. Group projects should be reduced or eliminated, because the individual efforts are so disproportional. Honor roll students should have free auto parking; all others pay.

SAT scores peaked in 1963, and declined each year until 1997, when the tests were revamped, but scores since have continued to decline. Let’s start rewarding excellence.

Jim Cavanaugh

Coupeville