Testing amust for students
Reassess the assessment
Regarding “Cancel STAAR tests, urge legislators,” (A1, Nov. 19): We do need testing to find out what students have learned and to set individual goals for each student’s future instruction. Standardized testing, as it has been implemented in the U.S., has not yielded the results necessary for all students to be successful in the environments they will face. Now is the best time to reassess the assessments and modify them to help our students keep pace with an ever-changing world.
John McManus, Pearland
Embrace the middle
Regarding “Groupthink has left the leftists behind,” (A17, Nov. 18): Bret Stephens’ column was spot on. I think the best quote from the column was “Jeering moral condescension from entitled elites is among the things most people tend to resent.” The unexpected number of seats the Democrats lost in Congress this year was likely attributable to that resentment. They are tired of the “dualities,” as Stephens put it, where “we are privileged or powerless, white or of color, racist or anti-racist, oppressor or oppressed.” Maybe there is hope that the pendulum will swing back to the middle and we can embrace the shades of gray.
Lloyd Sanders, Tomball
Integrity of the election
Regarding “Vote count handled by bipartisan teams,” (A13, Nov. 19): I want to thank Robert Icsezen for writing the column I’ve been wanting to see since the claims of voter fraud have taken over the headlines. As a person who has worked the polls a number of times, I want to vouch for the mandatory bipartisan nature of the election process. The people I have worked with at the polls are some of the most dedicated, fairminded, by-the-book people I have ever known. There are checklists and rules and procedures that every person honors and fulfills to the best of his or her ability.
It is an insult to the thousands of patriotic people who work our elections to accuse them of cheating, and I am grateful to Icsezen for taking the time to write such a thorough article defending the integrity of the election process in this country.
Joanna Friesen, Houston
A happy anniversary
This Thanksgiving my husband and I will be celebrating his one year cancerfree anniversary. On Nov. 26, 2019, he endured a 24-hour surgery to remove a tumor at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He spent over 100 days in the hospital before coming home to continue his recovery. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the incredibly wonderful care he received at MD Anderson. The compassion and help he received from the doctors, nurses, techs, cleaning staff, food service staff and everyone else who attended him overwhelms us with gratitude. The ongoing care we have received as he continues his recovery at home has been excellent and we look back at 2020 with gratefulness that God has blessed us so much with the gift of life.
Valerie Maier, Friendswood