Keep the bad out of Holmesburg
In regards to HUD putting the Liddonfield land back up for bids, I take exception to their demand to require any new builder to set aside 25 percent, or 12 acres, to build low-cost housing for seniors.
Here we go again. Does HUD really expect the neighbors to sit back and accept this farce?
What rules and enforcement will be in place to stop these so-called seniors from bringing the rest of their families aboard in these homes? The same element that caused all the problems formerly will be right back in our neighborhood again.
As far as local low-income seniors, they should have the first opportunity for this type of housing. And we see no reason for the demand of 25 percent or 12 acres. That is more than one-third of the land. After all the years of putting up with the crime, trash, noise and gunshots, they are attempting to throw it all back in our neighborhood again. We say NO!
Tom Jackson
Amanda Spross
Raymond Rink
Holmesburg
A waste of money
The mayoral primary is now over and I have some advice for the white suburbanite multi-millionaires who generally support Republican causes. This is the second time they supported the same black Democratic candidate from Philadelphia with tons of money and lost.
Obviously, they can afford to lose their money; however, they would have been statistically better off had they bet their money on red or black at any casino
Mayer Krain
Modena Park
Standardized testing should be limited to one
Standardized testing is absolutely necessary because of the need to have a standard to which we measure achievement in response to state/federal/ business/life goals and expectations that are nationally and locally accepted. In most areas of life there is a standard to which we are expected to achieve as the norm. It is a standard measurement. How else would we be able to measure achievement in these areas? We need a standard.
My problem is the amount of standardized tests to which students and teachers are increasingly confronted. As a graduate of the New York State school system, I participated in the yearly high school NY State Regents Exam. I am proud to be a recipient of a New York State Regents Diploma. It definitely stands for something! If I passed the exam, it showed that I learned the content of expectations/standards from the state and was able to go on to the next level of content. If I failed, I would have to repeat the course. One test equaled one result. You pass or fail. It was a state standard. It was an expectation I had to achieve.
At this time more and more standardized tests are being added to the mix. This in turn, takes away from ongoing instruction and forces teachers into more “practice testing.” What a shame it is, for this limits valuable instructional time important for student learning and achievement. This now takes away at least a half-hour from a 45-minute instructional period. In my opinion, with 40 years of teaching experience in private and public schools, this becomes “busy work,” putting time limits on new learning experiences and opportunities for students to move on to the next area of challenge. Needless to say, schools need to — and must — accommodate remedial instruction to those students with instructional needs.
One standardized test, one result. Period.
Karin Kull
Recently retired PA State Certified Reading Specialist K-12
