With the hype among the school board candidates, I find a whole lot of criticism of our educational system; and it seems they all talk of “improving” the schools, and insuring that our children are all up to the standard of excellence that they say has escaped us these past many decades.

As a retired teacher/administrator, I have been through many, many “improvements” in public education over the years. Just as technology appeared on the scene, many more “improvements” became necessary.

Public education has made America what it is. It has had federal intervention over the years, but by and large, the states and local districts have established curriculums, standards, and therefore there has been some “good, better, and best” systems among the states. Like medicine, or plumbing, or architecture, there is degrees of perfection and not all will ever be “perfect.”

But I would point out that all these school board candidates, as well as all the armchair critics I read about — were ALL products of the very education they criticize. They must be, then, ALL quite lacking in their knowledge, their skills, their wisdom, their ability to reason. Not true. They as well as I can appreciate the education they got even though we all wish we got more and better.

There will always be good schools and better schools, depending on many variables: teacher skills, curriculum selection, clientele, parental support, many other factors. I hate to hear folks just taking for granted that past education methods and success were worthless, unsuccessful folly.

Education in our democracy will always, of necessity, need to change, to improve, to meet the needs of a DRASTICALLY changing society, a society not necessarily for the better, as most of us realize.

RON BOOTHE

Kingston