OPINION
Page 6 The Michigan Daily Saturday, May 7, 1983
The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCIII, No. 2-S
93 Years of Editorial Freedom
Managed and Edited by students of
The University of Michigan
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the
Daily Editorial Board
Quality teachers:
Worth the price
IT SEEMS ironic that the University's proposed
40 peretnt cut in the School of Education
coincides with the recently released report by
the National Commission on Excellence in
Education. It appears to be almost an attempt by
the University to lower the quality of America's
teachers to the ridiculously low standard
existing in secondary schools today.
The report by the commission and another
statement by the National Task Force on
Education for Economic Growth point to the
structure of American public education as the
root of the problem. Short school days, lack of
technology, and a general disinterest in
education were all cited as reasons for the poor
quality. Nowhere was quality of teaching
faculty criticized.
So why is the University threatening one of
the few sources of quality remaining by
reducing its funds? As University President
Harold Shapiro said in a February address to
the National Conference on Excellence in
Teaching, "the schools are filled with talented
individuals despite many difficult and
misguided personal policies."
Perhaps the University believes that it is
training teachers too well for a system which is
obviously declining. Perhaps it feels the disease
afflicting public education is terminal and un-
worthy of the qualified graduates the School of
Education produces. Whatever the reason, the
aims are misdirected.
More money invested in education will enable
teachers to achieve a more respectable position
in today's society. More money, not less will
allow teachers to effectively take up the slack
left by poor administration and bureaucracy.
Some critics of the public education ask why
these changes and more effective
reorganization have not occurred in the many
years that funds have not been a problem.
Reorganization of American teaching
strategies is imperative, but, such a
reorganization must receive all our support.
Support which includes adequate funding.
If the University has decided that education
is not worthy of full support then they are
suggesting that quality teachers are not impor-
tant. That suggestion will be echoed in the
quality of teachers across the country. It's an
echo that should reverberate well inside the
empty heads of "America's future."
Sinclair.
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Reagan can't thaw freeze
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By Bill Hanson
Amy Carter was right when in
1980 she told her campaigning
father that nuclear non-
proliferation was the most impor-
tant issue of the 1980s. Unfor-
tunately, "nuclear non-
proliferation" are words that do
not exist in the Reagan Ad-
ministration's vocabulary, and
Reagan has continually balked at
seriously discussingarms-con-
trol with the Soviet Union.
The young Carter and countless
other proponents of nuclear non-
proliferation, however, can take
heart in the nuclear weapons
freeze resolution passedeWed-
nesday by the House of Represen-
tatives.
The resolution, which calls on
President Reagan to negotiate a
"mutual and verifiable freeze
and reductions in nuclear
weapons" with the Soviet Union,
is the result of a grass roots
movement that sprung up
throughout the country's chur-
ches, schools, town halls, and
other local organizations.
It is ironic - since he staunchly
opposes the freeze - that
Reagan's strong anti-Soviet
foreign policy and Cold War
rhetoric have helped add a sense
of urgency to the freeze
movement. The speed with which
the resolution got to Washington
is evidence of that.
Both advocates and opponents
of the freeze claimed victory with
the final draft of the House
resolution. Opponents argued
that the language of the
resolution places emphasis on
reductions rather than on a
freeze. Supporters claimed the
resolution still maintains the ob-
jective of freezing production of
nuclear arms and then reducing
them, if possible.
It is - clear, however, that
proponents of the freeze are the
real winners, since the importan-
ce of the non-binding House
resolution is more symbolic than
real. The freeze is symbolicly
important because politicians
have become aware of the
public's concern with the arms
race. The resolution is also a vote
against Reagan's arms-
negotiating stance, or more ap-
propriately, lack of one.
The freeze issue now moves to
the Republican-controlled
Senate, where its fate is uncer-
tain. Even with Senate approval,
however, Reagan has repeatedly
said he will not support any
freeze resolution.
Perhaps, the popular support
for the freeze will have some im-
pact on Reagan's arms-
negotiating strategy in the
future.
If it doesn't, and Reagan con-
tinues his hard-line stance on
arms negotiations - and that is
not out of the realm of possibility
- the freeze issue, in the end
might be his political undoing.
Either way, the nuclear freeze
proponents finally have
something to be happy about.
Hanson is the Daily's
Opinion Page co-Editor.
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
SEd. cuts concern faculty
To the Daily:
We, the undersigned faculty
members of the University of
Michigan, express our profound
concern at the proposed severe
budget reduction for the School of
Education.A vital function of the
University is to promote progress
in education at all levels in
Michigan and elsewhere. To that
end a strong School of Education
should be maintained.
-Wilfred Kaplan
Dept. of Mathematics
April 25, 1983
(Editor's note: The above letter was
signed by 103 faculty members
front eight schools and units
within the University.)
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