In regard to the ITI curriculum, Ron and Chris Baran, John DeCotis, etc.: I am a parent of children at both Booth Middle School and McIntosh High School.

The letter written by the Barans [March 17] scared me. I got a copy of their in-depth report, looked up several of the named authors on the web, and read up on the ITI and OBE methods of teaching.

I think that diversified teaching techniques should be part of the system/methodology of teaching our children in this day and age. The scary part is the all or nothing approach, which the Barans have suggested, is happening, right now, at Booth Middle School.

I think I can speak for every parent who has a child in public school in wanting my kids to excel academically in school and be able to go in any career direction they desire with the backing and sound education brought forth by caring teachers who demand the best of them.

This includes regular academia: reading, writing, arithmetic, and new theories, which provide a forum for discussions with in the age group/subject matter. In fact, my daughter says she will retain more from a discussion in class than from other types of studies (meaning; the read-this-chapter-andyou-will-be-tested-Friday type of teaching procedure).

In this day and age one must strive for academic excellence and social skills to survive in the technology-based business world.

That said, the precise reason we chose to move to this area in the first place was the high grades of the high school here. They are and remain consistently high in the state. Thank you for that.

Please, do not hinder this momentum. There are careers out there for our children that weren't even thought of when we had to make the decisions faced by our kids today. The prospects are at times overwhelming, and we (teachers and parents) have the responsibility to help them as much as possible.

Re: The integration of group activities. Look at any corporate board of directors; they need to be able to discuss issues at hand without hostility, make decisions based on trust, character, and facts found by other group members. There is significance in social behavior taught with the current academic-based curriculum, but in order to get to that point, where a person is qualified to be a board member, they must have excellent fundamentals of academics allowing them to be in that position in the first place!

Charles Sykes, a fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and educational journalist, writes (and I will sum up) that ITI/OBE methods provide a quick fix in teaching, meaning they get immediate gratification.

An example of this: How many of your 10-year-olds can tell time using an analog watch? Not many, I bet. Talk about immediate gratification! They think they don't need to learn to tell time; just read the digital readout, and not fully understand what time it is or be able to read an analog watch!

Charles Sykes states that ITI and OBE do just that, provide instant gratification to our kids. Well, thanks but no thanks; I prefer the old method of teaching the concepts for understanding. Shortcuts seem to miss the point, and personally, I will not stand by while a group of highly placed educators use experimental teaching methods on my kids. And neither should you!

Please don't get me wrong. This year my sixth grader has lucked out with a team of fantastic caring teachers who are doing their best to get their students ready for next year and the harder scholastic years that follow. I commend them.

On the other hand, I do not think it fair that I may need to question the integrity of the next years' team based on what I have learned from two parents who feel the education of their child has been threatened by this method of teaching.

The Barans may have offended some people at their outrageousness in using the word "deceitful." Well, it got our attention didn't it?

While John DeCotis just might be the best person for the job of superintendent, I do have to wonder about the process of his appointment, the fact that he himself voiced concern over the fact that the committee did not choose to interview the five other recommended candidates. I mean, it took more than a year to get to this point! Why the rush so late in the game?

Many of us with middle/high school age kids grew up in the 1970s, the age of student rights, the Vietnam war, Kent State, draft dodging, flag burning, equal rights movements, Black Power. It's in our blood to question authority.

Go ahead and pick up the book, "Dumbing Down Our Kids," by Charles Sykes. It can't hurt. The idea of incorporating ITI as the sole method of teaching our kids is a seriously scary tact and parents do need to know if this has been incorporated at any level.

I suggest allowing parents to attend some of the workshops available to our teachers to become more informed. It is the responsibility of the board of education to provide all sides of a particular teaching method to the teachers, especially if there is controversy.

In conclusion, I for one would like to hear from John DeCotis specifically on the issue raised by the Barans. Let's get it out into the open. The Fayette County Board of Education has some mending to do regarding public opinion, i.e., the SPLOST. Maybe an open forum on this issue this would help.

The teachers are already doing a good job with our children scholastically. So, as the saying goes, "If it's not broke don't fix it." Keep us informed.

The question doesn't have as much to do with John taking office as it does with the perception that someone has slipped this by us. No one likes that notion.