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Daily Staff Report

Excerpts of what you had to say following stories and commentary on-line Compiled by Daily staffOn the Vail Daily Web site, you can comment on each story or editorial you read there.Here, we publish excerpts of those comments:Re: Education called a key to Hispanic success”Everyday Math” not for all: According to the Colorado Department of Education, Eagle County had 5,157 students during the 2004 year. Of those students, 2,305 were Hispanic. Therefore, about 45 percent of the students in Eagle County in 2004 were Hispanic. One would hope the district would have taken this into account when selecting teaching materials. This seems to not be the case when the ECSD chose “Everyday Math” as the math program for all the elementary schools in our valley. This math program requires fluent English skills. … How will non-English-speaking parents be able to help their struggling children, when English-speaking parents are often baffled by math homework brought home by their kids? “Everyday Math” does not have a text for student or parent reference, and it requires kids to master many ways of doing basic math. Students are shown four ways to multiply and several ways to divide, for example. Students are expected to work in groups and “discover” ways to solve math problems which require strong english skills. The program also spirals rapidly. This means it doesn’t stick with a topic until all of the children understand. It touches on a concept and then moves on with the assumption that the next time the topic appears the children will somehow catch on (even though the topic is a bit more difficult the second time around). Imagine learning math in a foreign language. Just as you understand the vocabulary but not the skill, the teacher suddenly moves on to something different. How in the world is a child that is not speaking English fluently going to learn math with this type of program? Eagle County administrators need to explain to us the reasoning behind the selection of this program. …Re: War for the agesI believe you’re quite mistaken with the notion that moderates are some elite majority. The “moral values” dividing this country have practically no middle ground. Those of you claiming to be middle-of-the-road have expressed clear opinions on “moral values” and other issues such as abortion, homosexuality, health insurance, taxes, development, big business, guns, war, macro-evolution, religion, capital punishment, euthanasia, etc., thus exposing your opinions as truly aligning with the left and/or right. A belief system that crosses the political borders of both sides is more of an accurate self-description than pretending there exists some realm of moderate ideas (with the exception of taxes, etc.). Like it or not, it’s the “moral values” that are dominating more and more elections. Speaking of “moral values,” it’s amazing how many now act blind to the definition of “moral values” as if it’s some new concept, although it’s obvious why this definition has become blurred to so many. It’s because they simply do not exist in many present-day belief systems. When a country no longer tolerates “moral values,” the actual definition fades as quickly as the despicable actions that take over.The intention by recent writers to paint a picture where moderates are the true “normal” people is as flagrant as the condescending titles you place at the top of conservative articles in this section.Vail, Colorado


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