I was saddened when I read the Letter to the Editor by Mr. Kosinski on education. I would like to comment on some of his ideas.

* To apply the word "efficiency" to human beings is wrong. My car runs efficiently, my oil burner, I am told, needs to be fixed so it can run efficiently. Children have an emotional development that these two inanimate objects don't have at all. In many cases the emotional factor in children has more to do with learning than intelligence, a good curriculum, testing or good teachers.

* In my elementary school experience, teachers "delivered the curriculum" to all the students at the same time. Unfortunately, since all the students were not on the same level, much of what they delivered (mostly by lecturing) fell on deaf ears. Hence, today we talk about individual differences, children working on different levels in the same classroom, multitudes of audiovisual aids, class trips, visitations to classrooms by parents with specialized information, team teaching programs, resource rooms, computers, etc.; all this to get at children who have different styles and are learning at different levels of achievement.

* When state-testing results are published in the press to compare different systems, we are comparing apples to oranges. Obviously, higher achievement levels are reflective to a large degree in socioeconomic differences in various communities. These areas have higher salaries that attract better teachers, smaller classrooms, more effective guidance counselors and psychologists, more technology, etc.

* Because of testing "all children are better taught and that means all learn more." On the contrary, the opposite is true. Great amounts of time spent on reviewing for the coming tests leads to boring periods and rote learning. It tends to eliminate creative thinking and self-discovery, both essential to good learning experiences. State-testing results in teacher against teacher, school against school, district against district. And, to what end? Good schools help children along in their development by providing learning experience in leadership, skills in cooperative group work, personal success in classroom achievement, skills in democratic living, developing friendships, learning about morality in relationships, developing a sense of responsibility and commitment. What has excessive testing to do with these lofty goals?

New York City is gung-ho on testing its children. Last year, 300,000 children had to tell their parents they were failures in school. What a burden for children and families to carry!

In conclusion, there are many ways to track growth and development of children through the educational system. You can learn more about these ideas by attending your P.T.A. meetings.