TALK BACK

In a small school there is no anonymity. Everyone is necessarily more accountable for their behavior. When teachers or administrators walk down the hall, we can call most kids by name. Students know there is little chance they will get away with misbehaving. There is also more space! When hallways and cafeterias are crowded and students shove just to get to their lockers, it's more likely someone will feel threatened. That's when fights break out. When I was at a large school, the number of fights seemed to increase with the size of the student body.

GERA SUMMERFORD

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

I've worked at both small and large schools and much prefer the smaller ones. My special education students are treated much better in small schools. Other students know the children and watch out for them, rather than taunt them.

KlM PEABODY

Blytheville, Arkansas

Smaller is better. When is school more like an assembly line? In a large school. When is school more like a real community? In a small school. Students are treated as individuals. They know people in the school who can help them and they don't have to rebuild their support system every year. Teachers at these schools can affect lives long after students leave them.

THOMAS NEDREBERG

Eureka, Utah

DRESS TO IMPRESS OR FOR LESS STRESS?

If we are to make effective personal connections with students ("Should teachers wear business attire to school?" February), we must put students at ease. I propose a compromise. Let's leave the three-piece suits and the sweatpants in our closets, and instead permit the neat but casual dress that allows us to perform all aspects of our jobs in comfort.

KAY HERBERT

Buckfield, Maine

In my first year of teaching, my superintendent suggested that I come to school in a jacket and tie every day. I said if he could guarantee that I would no longer have to jump up on the heater to reattach the falling drapes, crawl under the sink to stop the leak, battle the often unbearable heat in my un-airconditioned room, or worry about snagging my pants on the edge of the desks, I would be happy to dress in designer suits every day. He said to forget it.

WILLIAM J. CHARNEY

Hackettstown, New Jersey

To gain the full support of the public and instill the premise that teachers are really professionals, NEA and state organizations must begin to emphasize that dress is not a shallow surface issue. Schools would do teachers a great service by instituting a professional dress in-service each year, especially for new teachers. Dress says, 'Treat me respectfully. I love my job. I expect to be adequately compensated. I woke up this morning rested, prepared, and ready to teach."

GERALD WILLIAMS

Cleveland, Tennessee

In the late 1950s when I started my teaching career, I was told to wear a suit. Fifteen years later, I was delighted when female teachers were allowed to wear slacks. For the rest of my career, I could be comfortable sitting on the floor with my students, lifting disabled students from wheelchairs, and cleaning up the inevitable messes young children make. When respect for educators results from their expertise, rather than how they are dressed, they are truly professionals.

PHYLLlS CHILDS

East Jordan, Mississippi

(ON)LINE DEFENSE

Don't assume that all online credits are easy to obtain (Last Bell, February). Online courses and schools ,vary as widely as the U.S. education system. Online courses serve a variety of purposes and varying audiences. I am a public school science teacher with National Board certification. I do not consider my online course to be any less demanding than my traditional courses, nor are the other courses available through our system.

JODlE HARNDEN

Pendleton, Oregon

I agree students should not do their work online. However, if teachers are allowed to do work online and get graduate credit, why can't the students do it?

DOLORES LEITHNER

Linden, New Jersey

HIS TWO CENTS

As an educator, longtime NEA member, and lifelong Republican, I feel compelled to speak about the editorial in the Wall Street Journal ("Teachers' Pets," January 3) on NEA's recent financial filing with the Department of Labor.

I was disappointed the paper did not state that groups such as the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, AIDS Walk, and Amnesty International received $5,000 each [from NEA], and instead said $65 million. While $5,000 might seem like too much to give an organization I don't identify with, there are 2.7 million NEA members. Some of them might feel it was money well spent. I noticed in the federal report that my state Association received more than $800,000 in NEA grants.

If it takes a leap of faith for a Republican to feel comfortable in an organization the paper calls an arm of the Democratic National Committee, I guess I've taken that leap. It's easy to take numbers, facts, and figures and make them appear as they may or may not be. Perhaps the Journal owes NEA and its rank and file members (liberal, conservative, Republicans, Democrats) an apology.

GARY GEE

Kansas City, Missouri