The important issue of education has dominated the national stage, as well as a fair amount of content of your letters section, for quite some time now. There's been much debate about the additional expenditures we've been asked to incur for our schools, and many questions have been raised: Can our community afford this additional major expense? Will we need additional classrooms? How many more teachers will we need to hire to man these new classrooms? And finally, will this added expense actually improve outcomes for our children? I'm sure we'll hear more from all sides, so I ask your readers to 'stay tuned!'

As a change of pace, and in anticipation of a new school year, along with our perennial highest hope, I'd like to offer a reprint of a letter written by a parent to his child's teacher - I wish I'd sent this to my daughter's teachers during those important years. Hopefully, your readers may be moved to send a copy to their children's teacher. I believe it touchingly expresses what every parent wishes for their child and every good teacher would like to provide their students - in short, something we call all agree on.

Frank Morrone

Parent/Grandparent

(The following letter originally appeared in The Joyful Child Journal, and is reprinted here at the request of Westbury resident, parent and grandparent, Frank Morrone, who is also president of the Westbury Association of American Retired Persons AARP.)

Dear Teacher:

I am entrusting my child to your care for this school year. I do this willingly, but with concern and a degree of parental trepidation.

You see, my child has a priceless possession - her spirit. My role has been to nurture and protect it. I want you to be sure to do this as well. Therefore, let me offer a few suggestions that may help you to understand and appreciate her, and be the kind of supportive guide she needs as the two of you begin this adventure together.

First of all, I ask that, above all, you cherish and preserve her spirit. She may not be the brightest child in your class, but the lift of her spirit will be as radiant as any. It glows when praise and encouragement are offered; it withers when disparagement and humiliation prevail.

Her spirit will either carry her forward into a life where she will apply her energy with purpose, caring, and a goal for achievement, or into a future where she will settle for routine and mediocrity. I want her to turn toward challenges, not away from them. I want her to test her strength against the harsh realities of life, imbued with an inner courage that tells her she can overcome whatever obstacles she encounters. Please help her spirit grow.

Her self-esteem is emerging. She is attaining a sense of self as she begins to grasp who she is and what she can do. But her developing self is fragile, her steps are tentative and she will need your hand. Encourage her as she gropes her way forward, crawling when she should run, and passive when you know she should lead. She is young, after all, so inconsistency is her standard behavior.

Discover her skills, boost her abilities and cheer her accomplishments while quietly identifying her limitations. Then help her improve, circumvent or overcome whatever it is that impedes or blocks her progress. She knows better than you how to overcome them. Please be her caring assistant.

My child is coming to you eager to learn. Do not, I beseech you, disappoint her. Make her studies stimulating and enjoyable. So far, in her young life, it has been mostly fun. Her educational experiences have been as natural as breathing. Please continue this pattern. Place her learning as a higher priority than you teaching, and make her and her classmates the focus of your class.

Finally, help her discover the wonder and excitement of self-knowledge so that at the end of the year, she has a better understanding of what she can and cannot ask herself to do. I want her to leave your class more confident in her abilities to succeed, more competent as a learner and a person, and better prepared to take the next step on the educational ladder.

You see, this is the year you will become the most important person in her life. She will decide to emulate your values and standards or reject them. She will respect and remember you for the rest of her life, or she will dismiss you and feel disheartened for what you refused to give her. I sincerely want you to be the subject of her admiration - it will be up to you.

Oh yes, and when your year together is completed, give her a hug and thank her for being a part of your life, as I hope to thank you for being part of hers.

With love and hope,

Her Parent