Dear Editor,

As president of the Parents’ Association at Roy Moore Elementary School in Silt, I would like the students, staff and parent volunteers to receive the praise they so justly earned for their hard work with our reading program. To receive a 98 percent CSAP score in reading is a huge accomplishment and should be treated as such.

This accomplishment did not happen overnight. Roy Moore has aides who go into every classroom daily to work with small groups of students in reading instruction. Our teachers communicate with each other and the parents to provide a home-school connection. Roy Moore’s English Language Learners and Waterford reading programs benefit a large portion of our students.

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Our parent volunteers read with students and maintain a monthly reading incentive program to encourage all of our students to meet their reading potential. The Parents’ Association purchases books for our students, encouraging them to continue reading throughout the summer.

With this group effort, Roy Moore students are becoming accomplished readers. I’m proud of their successes and feel honored to be a part of this school community.

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Sincerely,

Karen Valenteen,

president,

Roy Moore Elementary

Parents’ Association

Dear Editor,

As the schools’ CSAP scores hit the news, I was glad to see reminders that you can’t judge a school by its CSAP scores. There are many details affecting a school’s scores.

Carbondale Elementary School is at a particular disadvantage in the testing game:

(1) All Spanish-speakers at CES must take the test in English (versus schools like Basalt Elementary where some kids take the test in Spanish).

(2) The large number of Spanish-speakers at CES means that their scores will all be counted (vs. schools like Basalt, which have less than 15 Spanish-speakers taking the test in English, and therefore their scores are not averaged in).

(3) The high mobility rate of the CES student body means that teachers end up teaching kids who don’t stick around to get tested, and testing kids who haven’t been taught by CES teachers for very long.

Factoring out the non-English-speakers’ scores also gives a more accurate picture of how the English-speaking students performed. CES has had a large number of non-English-speakers for years, and this is the first time I’ve seen the scores reported with the non-English-speakers factored out.

Unfortunately, the state does not consider all these factors when they give CES their score, and CES will have to deal with the consequences of that. But let’s not be fooled by the “low performing” label given to the school by the state. CES teachers are doing an excellent job in the face of some difficult challenges. Thank you CES teachers!

Debbie Bruell

Carbondale

Dear Editor,

I am sorry Tommy Gagner died in such sad circumstances, and am sorry for the life he chose. I would be pleased to support a shelter for the homeless, as well as some type of mental and physical health care.

At this time, a portion of my wages are paying for a war and the rebuilding of Iraq, assisting immigrants both legal and illegal, and rebuilding the infrastructure of our state. There are many beneficial programs my tax dollars support. My income is depended on for financing city, county, state and federal governments and all of their programs.

My children need new schools and more money to run them.

I am a single parent in the Roaring Fork Valley. It is an expensive place to live, but I choose to live here and work here. I pay for my private health insurance, I have auto insurance. I have no retirement package with my employer. I try to take care of my health and pay my bills.

Because I am a homeowner and have a work ethic, nearly one-third of my income will be taken from me.

There are many worthwhile causes in the world; I can’t support them all even if I wanted to. The economy in our area is still struggling; my income has not gone up. I am not assured a job. The working middle class can’t afford to take care of everything.

Kristi Dawsey

Glenwood Springs