Mr. Eubanks is again attempting to impart misinformation to the readers. His 24 Oct. My Turn article states that “inadequate funding from our legislature” is the reason for Idaho’s poorly performing public schools. I knew this to be untrue, and, upon checking, I find not one study that endorses his contention that additional funding impacts the quality of the education process. Rather, the following is a typical sample of the data concerning the subject:

“There is no strong or consistent relationship between school resources and student performance. In other words, there is little reason to be confident that simply adding resources to schools as currently constituted will yield gains among students.” — Eric Hanushek, Resources on Performance, 1997.

There seems a pattern with Mr. Eubanks. He has previously stated that the Coeur d’Alene schools are “the best” — without quoting a reference. If they were, he would present proof. The CDA school district and most other public schools contend that class size and parent involvement are reasons for poorly performing public schools. In truth, neither parent apathy nor class size has proven to be the detriment to quality education compared with teacher competence. Teacher competence is “the” ingredient which stunts our youth and the nation. Presently, teachers have a job for life, regardless of competence.

Mr. Eubanks needs “to get it right.” He needs to spend his time addressing massive improvements in the Coeur d’Alene School District rather than promoting misinformation.

RONALD DEADY

Ex-Public School Teacher

Coeur d’Alene