Please take part in our Reader Survey!

OpINion

Life on the northshore is often controversial. We should know—IN frequently receives calls and letters from readers who wish to express their views on local issues relating to politics, post-Katrina recovery, education and community planning and zoning, to name just a few. And while we print readers’ responses and reactions to stories and information presented within the magazine (Input, at right), we’ve never offered space strictly for your honest opinions on hot topics—until now.

If you’d like to respond to an OpINion, or write one of your own, please limit it to 500 words and e-mail it to editor@insidenorthside.com. Because of space and other editorial considerations, submissions that are accepted for publication may be edited, and not all submissions can be published.

Adopt New Directions 2025
Leonard Joseph, Covington

Sometimes it takes me forever to catch on.
I had never heard of urban planning, comprehensive land use or urban master plans until I was eleven years old. It was in 1957 and the Boy Scouts were running the city of Fremont, Calif. for the day. I was acting as the city planning director.

Fremont incorporated in 1956 and was instantly California’s second-largest city in square miles. On Day 1, I had a master plan. I studied the vision for my town. On the huge maps, I could see where my future high school and an eventual rapid transit system would be built.

Fremont preserved its Old California heritage, olive trees, oaks and palms. Rarely did people complain “not in my back yard,” because there were few surprises. Residents and business people could plan, invest and grow with the knowledge that growth was inevitable, sustainable and manageable. Fremont attracted prosperity.

Nearly every St. Tammany Parish problem is a result of no master plan, and the fact that the parish derives much of its income from development. We don’t finance government—development does. We have a resolution with no power and a parish president with too much power.

St. Tammany’s comprehensive land use/master plan, New Directions 2025, was many years in the making, involved thousands of hours of work by hundreds of citizens and cost many thousands of dollars. The recommendations of citizens groups have long urged the adption of New Directions 2025 as the top priority for St. Tammany. For years, the Bureau of Governmental Research, a private, non-profit independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making in the New Orleans Metropolitan area, has encouraged the implementation of the plan, stating, “The well-planned transportation network and environmentally sound approach endorsed in the Vision Element are at odds with the current pattern of residential and commercial development in St. Tammany.”

In 2007, the people of Fremont are leaders of the information age, while parish government and parish attorneys argue to keep the people of St. Tammany—you and me—hunters and gatherers.
Sometimes it takes me forever to catch on.

Those who can, teach.
Deborah Trattler-Bilbo, Covington

Whatever happened to the days when the teacher was always right? Whatever happened to parents working with teachers to create the best possible learning environment?
When you ask talented teachers what they like about the profession, the usual response is, “I love to work with students.” When you ask them what they dislike most, the top two responses are, “The salary and the parents.”

Teachers have to earn a degree, pass state certification exams and complete a five-month internship without pay to see if they really can teach. I know there are some pretty crummy teachers out there. I feel that they are still out there because the talented teachers that are compassionate, workaholics, caring, dedicated, respectful, and professional have all left the profession due to the lack of respect given to this very demanding career. As an educator, I am so disheartened, after I’ve put twelve hours into a school day, to receive an ugly note or a nasty e-mail from an unhappy parent. Whatever happened to “Thank you, my child loves being in your class”? And our salaries equate to minimum wage for working 50-60 hours a week.

I received an e-mail recently that I believe puts it all into perspective. It told of a dinner party, where one man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” He then reminded the other guests what “they” say about teachers: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

To stress his point, he said to another guest, “You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?”

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness, replied, “You want to know what I make?” She paused for a second, and then began. “Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C-plus feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for five minutes without an I-Pod, Game Cube or movie rental. I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to read, and then I make them write. I make them read, read, and read some more. I make them show all their work in math. I make my classroom a place where all of my students feel safe. Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

“Then, when people try to judge me by what I ‘make,’ I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make? I make a difference. What do you make?”

I challenge anyone to come into my classroom for a week to do what I do. I think we should change the expression to “Those who can, teach.”