Standards squashed
The Oregon Department of Education seems determined to repeatedly diminish the value of a high school diploma. Several alternatives already exist to permit students to work around the basic requirements for graduation. We keep pushing kids through graduation and padding our statistics while failing to provide them with the skills necessary for success under real world conditions.
The state has now decided to override the Common Core scoring key for what constitutes a “meets expectation.” Apparently, “holding constant the expectations for earning a diploma” (A5 Sept. 23) supersedes the need for students to actually learn an established amount of information and pass a standardized test.
Readers have barely had an opportunity to congratulate our wonderful teachers for exceeding expectations on the 2014 Common Core Testing statewide. What message does this send the teachers after demanding an instantaneous change of course in 2014 with the inception of the Common Core?
We raised the bar and teachers and students responded in grand fashion. Why artificially squash it back down?
Steve Kaplan
Hood River
Come to dinner
A thank you potluck dinner will be held Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Cascade Locks fire station. All are welcome to come and say we appreciate our crews and families. We also thank the helpers who bring treats to their meetings. Thank you EMS and firepersons for volunteering many hours per month. They are there because they care. Thank you.
Nancy Ann Renault
Cascade Locks
Kindness appreciated
Driving across the Hood River Bridge between Hood River and Odell today, I noticed a man stopped and removing a huge log out of the way of traffic. I appreciate the kindness and the concerned he showed for other drivers and their safety.
Jeanne Kenlee
Hood River
Agrees
In regards to the Mike Teems, Jr., letter praising the Hood River News, I couldn’t agree more. I especially like the Kaleidoscope. Keeping it a bi-weekly publication makes you anxious to getting the next issue.
Good job.
Dennis (Ed) Cullington
Hood River
Chance to vote
Editor’s note: Here are some of the letters we’ve received concerning a proposed county ballot measure to prohibit commercial water bottling.
I moved to Cascade Locks to live closer to my daughter and granddaughter and have been a resident for five years.
After being disappointed with my elected officials, I’m so happy that I and other county residents finally have a chance to vote to protect our water from Nestlé and other water bottling corporations. We are in a time of drought, so I’m eager to protect our precious water for residents, farms, orchards, and fish through the ballot box.
Steve Koskela
Cascade Locks
I have lived in Cascade Locks for over 20 years and my husband Harry for almost 15 years. We could not be more pleased to see that Hood River County voters will now have a chance to vote to protect our water supply from Nestlé and any other bottled water corporations.
Our water should be for the people who live here, work here and farm here. It doesn’t make sense to us to give our water to any foreign corporation that comes looking to support their bottom line by walking away with the future of our water supply. Nestlé hasn’t guaranteed even a single job to Cascade Locks residents and even if they did provide a few jobs for locals, it’s certainly not worth trading for the security of our county’s water supply.
Karen Saro Troeger
Cascade Locks
I have lived in Cascade for 10 years and have addressed my city government several times over the last six and a half years regarding the water bottling issue. We have no guarantee that any of those jobs will go to any Cascade Locks residents or even residents of Hood River County. Our leaders have not addressed our concerns regarding traffic or damage to our streets.
I am excited that we get a chance to have a vote on saving our water in Hood River County from Nestlé and similar corporations who could follow.
The precedent of selling our water to a corporation is not a good one and must be stopped.
This is an important step, not just for Hood River County but also for all of Oregon.
Katelin Stuart
Cascade Locks
Cascade Locks has been my home for over 40 years and I was pleased to read the news that Hood River County voters will now have the opportunity to protect our water supply. Many people I know in Cascade Locks feel the same way. The recent drought has helped make clear that a few new jobs are not worth putting hundreds of existing jobs in our county that depend on a stable water supply at risk. What is the point of letting our lawns go dry or having farmers switch to low-water irrigation equipment if we are going to set the precedent that we will let over 100 million gallons a year of our water be bottled up in plastic and sent away by truck? I cannot wait to put up a “Vote Yes” sign on my lawn.
Margie Curtis
Cascade Locks
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