Thursday, January 4, 2007 Older Editions

LETTERS

Wheels of justice: My children will not attend AHS

Editor, Townsman:

As a parent, Jew, and resident of Andover, I was shocked and saddened to read that Andover High School has invited the Wheels of Justice group to speak to its students.

While it is important for our principals and school administrators to foster open debate about important issues, it is profoundly disappointing to see such a lack of appropriate discretion by Principal [Peter] Anderson and the Andover public schools in this case.

As we witness the prevalent hatred and ignorance associated with anti-Semitism via the recent conference of Holocaust deniers in Iran, must we at the same time foster this intolerance within the walls of Andover High School?

Freedom of speech and the important opportunity to voice different points of view do not negate the duty of our educators to use care in choosing the material that makes up our children's education.

This glaring indiscretion by the town of Andover had led me to the unfortunate decision that my own children will never be students of its high school.

Seth I. Rubinson

37 Linwood St.

Returned cell phone helps ring in spirit of the season

Editor, Townsman:

I would like to acknowledge the Good Samaritan who recently found and turned in my son's girlfriend's cellular phone to the Andover Police.

The Andover Police, specifically Officer Glen Ota, went out of its way to find out who the cellular phone belonged to and to return it to us.

We are forever grateful to both the Good Samaritan for his or her random act of kindness and to the Andover Police Department for going out of its way to return the phone. This was truly in the spirit of the season.

Cindy Pilla

38 Pasho St.

Happy to celebrate holiday

Editor, Townsman:

I would like to share my happiness while celebrating the holiday of lights, Hanukkah.

On Monday, Dec. 18, I celebrated Hanukkah by gathering nearly 40 friends, Jews and not Jews, for a party at the Andover Housing Authority, complete with Russian music, Russian dancing and Russian food.

Rabbi Asher and his wife Feiga Bronstein from the Chabad Lubavitch house in Andover attended the party and taught us how to celebrate. We all were thankful to the rabbi and his wife for helping us celebrate Hanukkah.

We didn't know about Jewish holidays in Russia, where we are from. The religion had been prohibited since 1938. Now we know about Jewish traditions and holidays here, in America. We learned that in ancient times, the Jews had a midwinter celebration. The holiday was a festival of joy. Much later in Jewish history, in the winter of 167 B.C., Judah and his followers triumphed over the Syrians and rededicated their temple. Jewish people decided to add the victory and the rededication to the seasonal holiday. They named the celebration Hanukkah, the Hebrew word for "dedication."

Today, Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah as a reminder of the miracles that occurred long ago. It is a miracle that a few Jews were able to overcome the power of many Syrians. It is a miracle that the little oil in the temple burned for eight days. It is a miracle that the Jews survived thousand of years of oppression in many different lands.

Maria Maimina

216 Stowe Court

Reuse: Local groups help used goods reach homes

Editor, Townsman:

While walking my dog recently, I happened on a beautiful set of living room furniture that a neighbor had just carefully pulled to the curbside, minus pillows (a clue that it was for rubbish pickup). When I asked, they said they didn't know of anyone who would pick up the furniture for reuse. Realizing that this is a common problem, I want to share some suggestions for all who are sprucing up their homes or having difficulty closing their closet doors.

The Andover Recycling Committee has an excellent Web site: www

.Andoverma.gov/recycle. Scroll to the bottom of the page, click on "reuse," and a fantastic list appears, with contact information for organizations that will find new home for books, toys, bikes, furniture, clothing, linens, appliances, building materials, eyeglasses, computers and a host of other items. Many of the organizations are well-known, such as Lazarus House, Salvation Army and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, but others may be less familiar, such as Andover-based Project Home Again.

Under the leadership of Nancy Kanell, PHA works with social service agencies throughout the Merrimack Valley to provide their neediest families with furnishings, dishes, baby furniture, dressers and other daily necessities at no cost to the recipients. As an all-volunteer group, PHA is able to take even the simplest donations, such as five plates, two bowls and a frying pan, and provide them directly to a family with no dishes at all, instead of rejecting them or shipping them to distant locales. Forever Green Lawn and Landscape donates a truck and labor over the winter months to help PHA move furnishings from donor to recipients, and donations can also be brought directly to the warehouse. At times, PHA also works with social service agencies to pick up items from donors and move them directly to a family's dwelling. PHA's Web site, www.projecthomeagain.bravehost.com provides details and links to additional groups that may need residents' excess belongings.

Before you throw things away, take a moment to consider who else might be able to use them. Recycling is terrific, but enabling others to directly reuse items can be even more beneficial to us, our communities, and our environment.

Amy Janovsky

6 Snowberry Road

The writer is the chairwoman of the Sustainability and Natural Resources Committee of the League of Women Voters of Andover/North Andover.

Controversy shows that schools must provide model for respectful discourse

Editor, Townsman:

Like others, we are disappointed in the way events surrounding the controversial speakers from Wheels of Justice have transpired. Our teachers, principals, and community members have worked hard over the years to create a schoolwide culture of tolerance and acceptance of diversity. Our schools are no place for hate. And global challenges facing our students demand that we maximize the educational impact of instructional time for students. As we open the New Year, the true test of our community bonds will come not from how we act when times are good and easy but from how we act and move forward when faced with difficult and controversial decisions.

It is important the community know that the school attorneys, Naomi Stonberg and special counsel Leonard Kesten, advised unequivocally that, given the facts, Principal Peter Anderson's failure to allow Wheels of Justice to return would result in a lawsuit against the town, the school district, and the School Committee with substantial legal fees and damages.

Anderson's decision to provide balance for the students through a three-part series, the First Amendment, the Wheels of Justice, and other viewpoints (academic scholars from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government) has met with criticism. Many suggest the preferred model for such a program would be one session (not three) combining the First Amendment, Wheels of Justice, and other viewpoints. We cannot speak for Anderson. He is a respected educational leader who can and should speak for himself. We are satisfied that his decision, given the circumstances, was focused on the students who would be hearing the presentations.

So how does Andover, a community with great talent and compassion move forward? First, we need policies in place dealing with (1) controversial speakers in our public schools and (2) keeping the political agendas of district employees out of our classrooms. The School Committee, in a comprehensive policy review, has done a "first pass" on such (and many other) proposed policies. They can be found for review and comment at the Andover Public School Web site at aps1.net. Second, together we must find ways to discuss controversial issues, with compassion and respect, in our community. Our schools should provide a model for such discourse. This will further the mission of our public schools, which in partnership with the community, is to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and quality education required to be successful in a diverse society.

Debra Rahmin Silberstein

28 Burton Farm Drive

Arthur Barber

3 Sparta Way

The writers are School Committee members but said they submitted this letter as individuals, not to speak for the committee.

Seeking more answers for parents, taxpayers

Editor, Townsman:

Dear Principal Peter Anderson:

In response to your letter to parents, thank you for the information about the Wheels of Justice and related presentations. Some remaining concerns...

1) I understood that there would be two sessions with speakers/groups that would provide opposing viewpoints to Wheels of Justice. But viewpoints from unnamed attorneys, and from the Kennedy School of Government, do not appear to balance the clearly biased views of the Wheels of Justice group. Could you please provide more specifics, perhaps including the names of the attorneys, and the names of the speakers from the Kennedy School, and a summary of points and perspectives they will cover, so that concerned parents and taxpayers can better investigate and judge if the viewpoints presented will be balanced overall?

2) Could you please indicate more specifics about the "designated Social Studies classes," and especially what grade levels are included?

3) The decision to allow controversial outside speakers to address students in presentations closed from parents and taxpayers is irresponsible, and smacks of concealment and corruption. Will you please reconsider that? Such groups, especially when speaking on such issues in an unbalanced format, should be presented outside of school hours, in a venue open to both parents and students.

4) If the presentations go forward as planned, then at the least I would expect transcripts or recordings of the discussions with students to be made available. Will you ensure that such transcripts be made available, and by independent observers? If not, will you at least ensure that some independent observers can be present during all presentations to students?

When a secondary school chooses to teach minors about subjects that are obviously considered controversial by the community, especially if taught by third-party speakers in a non-debate format, then the above sorts of concerns become the school's responsibility - your responsibility. Please do not shirk this responsibility. If you do, then we can only expect more irresponsible teaching practices in the future, and the taxpayers will not trust their money with this school system. For my part, I am sorry that I even need to be addressing you about such issues, but like most Andover taxpayers, I have a lot invested in the quality of the Andover school system.

Note: I do not oppose the teaching of controversial subjects, but only the irresponsible methods being employed here, which appear to support more of an biased activist agenda than a balanced educational agenda. [Furthermore, I do not think it is realistic to expect these students to learn enough at high school to make final decisions about such controversial topics - few adults are so qualified. Instead, the school should merely attempt to introduce the debate, in carefully and responsibly balanced formats, and preferably by responsible teachers on the town payroll.]

Jonathan Harder

23 Abbot Bridge Drive