In the March 14 Whidbey News-Times editorial, the editor stated, “It should be easier to fire a teacher . . . than to arrest someone for speaking out,” because the first involves “only a job,” and the second a “personal freedom.” Does the editor believe that there should be no need to follow the mutually agreed upon (by both the teachers’ union and the administration) steps of due process in a teacher’s contract?

The steps to fire a teacher are neither unreasonable nor excessive. They do necessitate a careful documentation of the reason(s) for termination, and steps taken to insure that the firing is not capricious nor the result of allegations without thorough investigation and proof.

I do not know whether the allegations for the teacher in question are true or not. That remains to be discovered through the process of investigation and/or court of law. Lacking access to all the facts in the case, I am in no position to judge. I do not know whether or not the teacher in question deserves to be fired, but I do know that there are procedures to be followed that attempt to insure that no employee is unfairly fired. I support the steps of due process in contracts, the system of checks and balances in a jurisprudence system that does its best to mete out justice, even under inflammatory circumstances such as these.

I yearn for the day when all Americans, be they grocery clerks, postal workers, teachers, or dare I say editors, know their livelihood is under the control of employers who would seek truth and fairness first, even if there were no contractually binding procedures for being fired. I eagerly await the time when no American need fear the specter of unfounded or unproven allegations from any other citizen.

Unfortunately, that time is not now. If it were, contracts governing working conditions would not be needed, and we would not hear sad tales of citizens who have been tried in the media long before their case ever reaches a course of law. Until then, I will be grateful for working conditions that have contractually agreed upon steps of due process, and a jurisprudence system that guarantees citizens the right to be considered innocent until proven in a court of law.

Sharon Erickson

Oak Harbor