[Vision2020] Letter to the Editor re Our View Editorial

[Saundra Lund]

Dear Visionaries,

Since Kai has brought up Edward Swan's difficulties at WSU as a potential
cause for the vandalism of Melynda Huskey's rig, I thought I'd share a
letter I wrote to the Daily News in response to the Steve McClure's
editorial which appeared last Tuesday, 10/4/2005.  While I no longer
subscribe to the Daily News, I've not heard that my letter has been
published.  So much for timeliness!

Since we're fortunate to have the participation of several university-types
here on V2020, perhaps some of them would like to elaborate on the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)?

For those interested in learning more about FERPA, please check out:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
OR (if the link breaks in transmission)
http://tinyurl.com/3ydvw

For those who missed McClure's editorial, I'm sharing below my letter the
text that was sent to me by a friend.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2005, Saundra Lund.
Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
without the express written permission of the author.*****


-----Original Message-----
From: Saundra Lund [mailto:sslund at adelphia.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 11:56 AM
To: 'murf at dnews.com'
Subject: Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I find it interesting that opinion columnist Steve McClure thinks he knows
enough about Edward R. Swan's allegations against Washington State
University to pontificate on the subject.  McClure finds WSU guilty of
excessive and foolish political correctness in evaluating the characters of
the teachers the university trains in its College of Education.  McClure
writes: "The college threatened to boot Swan out of the program after he
'failed' four evaluations of his character.  The basis for those failing
marks appears to be Swan's conservative views on some of the hot-button
issues of the day."

McClure is a senior editor at the Daily News and a long-time resident of
Moscow, home of the University of Idaho.  One would expect him to have at
least a passing familiarity with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA).  To refresh McClure's memory, under FERPA, faculty and
administrators at WSU cannot comment in any way on Swan's allegations. They
cannot comment, they cannot explain, and they cannot offer defense.  Mr.
Swan can say what he likes without fear of correction or recrimination.  So
too, it would seem, can Steve McClure.

For all McClure - or any of us - knows, Swan might be telling God's own
truth.  Then again, he might be inventing his story out of whole cloth.
Unless Swan files a lawsuit, FERPA protects his privacy as a student even if
his accusations unfairly or unjustly damage WSU and its faculty, staff,
administrators, and his own fellow students. 

In light of this ambiguity, I think it would behoove Steve McClure to
withhold judgment.  Thanks to FERPA, he's talking through his hat.  Or,
perhaps McClure finds the vital safeguards provided by FERPA superfluous?

In any case, I missed the news flash declaring McClure judge, jury, and
executioner in situations where only one side of a story is known.


Saundra Lund
<snip>

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke
__________
Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Tuesday, October 4, 2005

OUR VIEW: Character evaluations are absurd, offensive

By Steve McClure, for the editorial board

Washington State University's College of Education needs to rethink how it
evaluates character in future teachers. Perhaps the best way to start would
be to define character because we're obviously on different pages. 

A person's character is not measured by whether or not they espouse opinions
on political or social issues that you agree with. WSU's College of
Education needs to come to grips with that in a hurry, as the university
works through the protests of Edward R. Swan. 

The college threatened to boot Swan out of the program after he "failed"
four evaluations of his character. The basis for those failing marks appears
to be Swan's conservative views on some of the hot-button issues of the day.
That's absurd and downright offensive to those of us who believe in a hearty
exchange of ideas. 

The state requires WSU's College of Education to sign off on each student's
"good character" at graduation. For the past four years, a system based on
"dispositions theory" has been in place in the college to evaluate a
student's character. Each semester, faculty fill out a "professional
dispositions evaluation" form for each student they have in class. 

Swan, who has earned good grades at WSU, received failing marks on his PDE
last school year. He passed several other PDEs from other faculty. 

Swan realized last fall his personal opinions put him in a small minority at
the College of Education, where social and political matters often are
discussed in class in the teacher preparation program. 

Swan admits he's conservative and has strong opinions - as do many other
people. Those opinions aren't shared by everyone, but diversity doesn't mean
you start at the middle of the political spectrum and move left. It means
there should be some recognition that a great many opinions exist. 

Swan's biggest mistake in all of this appears to be that he told the truth.
When he asked a faculty member if he should voice his own opinions or say
what people wanted to hear, the professor told him to speak his mind. For
that he was shot down and his education was put in jeopardy. 

If the College of Education and its cohorts around the country want to weed
out felons and convicted sex offenders, or those who just don't like
children, there won't be much argument from us. 

But there shouldn't be a litmus test for political and social opinions
attached to an education degree.