Letters
Letters to the Editor: May 28, 2008
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May 28, 2008 - 11:11:59 AM

Contesting C-Section Facts

To the Editor:

In Chris Wiegard’s letter in the May 14 issue concerning C-sections, he states that C-sections can be motivated by a doctor’s desire to avoid a malpractice suit. I agree this is one of the reasons (sounds like a good reason to me).

Mr. Wiegard states that C-sections account for 30% of new babies. I am sure he got this information from reliable sources. Did it break down how many were deemed necessary for the health of the mother and baby, or how many were done to prevent malpractice suits, or how many were for a parent’s desire to time a birth? A statistical expert would have broken this down.

I am not a statistical expert, but I do know that every baby does not enter into this world in perfect condition. If having a C-section can improve on the odds, what’s wrong with that?
There are many doctors (retired, etc.) who would donate some time to help those in need, except for malpractice insurance. It is not good when one cannot donate his or her time because of the cost or possibility of a lawsuit.

Sounds like Mr. Wiegard is more interested in creating business for lawyers than the welfare of mothers and children.

James Cox

Real Estate Situation is No Joke

To the Editor:

In response to Greta Shefers’letter (“Who Needs a Beginner’s Course in Real Estate?”) I must point out that the housing bubble is far from imaginary and there are indeed many young people who cannot afford a home these days in many housing markets throughout the USA. She blandly asserts that firemen, teachers and policemen have no problem affording a home in Chesterfield because three live within her neighborhood. Duly noted, but when did they buy those homes? Do their spouses bring home larger paychecks than they do?  She jokes that she is going to get together with the local old ladies to toss their social security checks into a pot to buy local firemen, teachers, and policemen homes. That goes beyond funny. You can’t buy a home in Chesterfield with a social security check these days. If you bought a home here thirty years ago and have just finished off the mortgage payments in time for retirement, then you can live here on Social Security, maybe.

Chris Wiegard

Parents Want Say in Language Class Choice

To the Editor:

There is an issue of which everyone should be aware, relating to foreign language instruction in Chesterfield County Schools. I was very curious after I read the story “Curriculum Concerns” in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the drive in Chesterfield for all elementary students to be receiving foreign language instruction.

There was a particularly interesting part where it was reported that Edward Pruden, assistant superintendent for instructional administration, said that schools got to choose their language. As a parent of Marguerite Christian students, I can tell you that was absolutely not the case for us.

The discussion of this issue started last school year, when Mrs. Gutkin, the principal at that time, called a meeting of parents to hear Linda Szwabowski, an instructional specialist in the World Languages department of CCPS, discuss why it is so important to start a foreign language so young. We parents listened carefully and did not take exception to anything she said. One parent asked what language Ms. Szwabowski thought we should pick. She said that she could not tell us which language to pick, but that she could let us know which one not to pick. She said that learning the new language should be an equal challenge to all of the students, with all of them working equally hard on pronunciation, etc. She said that based on our number of Latino students, that Marguerite Christian should definitely not pick Spanish.

Later in the year, Mrs. Gutkin sent a poll to parents asking which language they preferred. Subsequently, another letter came home from Mrs. Gutkin, saying since that about 60% of the school’s students at that time were about to be redistricted out to other schools, and a large number of new students would be redistricted into the school, some parents were saying that the decision of the language should be tabled until the student body was stable.
So the parents voted on that and the principal sent home another letter at the end of the last school year that the decision of which language would be taught at Marguerite Christian would be tabled until this current year, when the parents of students who would be taking it could vote. Again, parents thought this was logical and took no exception to the decision to wait.

Imagine our surprise when this past fall, we parents had our first meeting with our new principal and she announced that Spanish instruction would start in January. I raised my hand and told her how we had been told that we would be able to vote on the language this year, which other parents in attendance that day verified to the new principal. She said she had been told we had already chosen Spanish and that she was sorry we did not get a vote, but the decision had been made, the Spanish teacher had been hired, and it could not be changed.

I would be very interested to know how many of Chesterfield’s parents chose their elementary school language, and whether they were able to do so with the valuable input from Ms. Szwabowski. I still feel her advice about the language being a challenge for all is excellent and should be followed. Our school board members say the system needs more rigor and should be more challenging for all students. Well, following the reasoning of all these professionals would seem to indicate that Spanish should not even be a choice for which foreign language our elementary students should be learning. Yet according to the Times-Dispatch article, 10 of the 13 elementary schools who have “chosen” their language have chosen Spanish. Where is the rigor and challenge in that? Don’t we want the best for all of our students? Give our kids, all our kids, the best education possible, including the current buzzwords of “rigor” and “challenge,” equally.

Linda H. Hevener


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