Rosa Parks comparison inappropriate
This letter is in response to the story in the November 9, 2005 Forest Park Review, “Latinos allege discrimination at D209.”
I find Ms. Reyes’ comparison of Latino D209 issues to Rose Parks inappropriate and insulting. After reading the article, it is clear that Ms. Reyes has some complaints with the school district, but I certainly could not find an example in the article of anyone’s civil rights that were violated. It seems like a cheap attempt to exploit the accomplishment of Ms. Parks for the benefit of Ms. Reyes organization.
I disagree with Ms. Reyes assertion that it is a government entity’s responsibility to provide information in multiple languages or for the school district to provide the bilingual personnel to accommodate non-English speaking residents of the school district. I am trying to understand why the school should have to increase its spending to provide special services that apply to a small portion of the students in D209.
If this is an issue that is important to non-English speaking residents of D209 (not just Latinos) then it would seem more appropriate that an organization in their community, such as Ms. Reyes LUV organization, provide the resources needed for bilingual communication between the parents and the school. The onus to provide these services should not be on the school district, and neither should the financial burden.
Lastly, I do not understand why it is a major concern to provide five proofs of residency to show that your child legally belongs in this school district. The proofs of residency should not be difficult to provide if you rent or own in the district and are the same for every new student, not just those from the Latino community. The article seems to take issue with the number of proofs required; but, of the factors listed that allegedly make this requirement difficult, it would be the same degree of difficulty if the requirement were two proofs.
Aaron Kolb
American Education Week
Once again we are celebrating American Education Week. This year, during the week of November 13-19, millions of Americans joined in raising awareness about the critical need to provide every child with a quality public education.
Throughout the week there were a number of activities nationwide to reinforce this years theme: “A strong American starts with great public schools.” This theme represents a call to all Americans to do their part in providing quality public education to children so they can grow and achieve in the 21st century.
The week spotlighted the people who are critical in building great public schools for our nation’s 50 million students. We encourage every Forest Parker to spread the word about the importance of public schools in the lives of our students. We encourage and invite you to visit the schools of District 91. We are proud of our schools and our efforts to educate the students of Forest Park.
The Forest Park Teachers Association would like to take this opportunity to say that we are proud of our members. We believe that our teachers go that extra mile each and every day to ensure that every students gets a remarkable education here in Forest Park. All of our members work together for our students to help make our schools something special.
Rebecca Ciardullo and Beverly Forbes
Co-Presidents
Forest Park Teachers Association
Children’s librarian will be missed
Jackie Schulz mentioned in her Nov. 2 column that beloved children’s librarian Dorothy Klaus had died. I would just like her family and friends to know that she had a tremendous influence on my children and on their friends because she was in love with children and in love with books. She always made our family feel important and welcome. She will live on in our memories.
Linda Balla
