Dress code proposed for teachers

     To the editor:
      The news story about the Clark County School Board discussing a dress code for teachers is disgusting. To have a retired principal bring it before the board is even more disgusting. She should know better.
      This strikes me as an attempt by a former macromanager to foist her opinions onto everyone. Never mind the financial burden to the teachers. Total new wardrobes are not inexpensive. No jeans, no sneakers, dress shirts and ties. Let the lady try wearing a tie during the summer weather here in a year-round school. Are we returning to the 1950s?
      I get very irritated with administrators trying to run the lives of others. This ex-administrator needs to get a life, enjoy her retirement and get out of the way for education. It is her ilk that has students entering middle schools without the basic facts needed to be able to work long division problems and fractions. Writing a complete sentence is totally out of the question.
      Making the teachers dress better, according to an ex-macromanager, will help solve the problems of Clark County's educational system. Carajo del toro!
      I have taught in the Clark County schools since 1990, and prior to that I taught in California public schools since 1966. Very few teachers ever dressed either sloppily or inappropriately. The good teacher attempts to teach students to be good students and to master the subject material. The way she or he dresses makes little or no difference to the educational process.
      The board would do well to pat this ex-administrator on the hand and send her on her merry way into retirement, and suggest the schools are better now that she is out of the system.
     ROBERT LEASE
     Las Vegas
     
     -- To the editor:
      Well, once again the Clark County teachers union shows why it's the biggest obstacle to children getting a better education in Clark County. By making such a stink about a teacher dress code, it proves children come last.
      Teachers are supposed to set a good example by what they do, how they look and act, and what they say. If they come to class looking like refugees from a tag sale, they show no respect for themselves, their profession or the children. If they are neat appearing, children notice; if they are sloppy appearing, children also notice and they think it's OK to be sloppy, because that's the way the teacher looks. Children are human video recorders; they hear and see a lot more than adults give them credit for.
      Of course, the teachers are mostly taught by left-leaning, liberal professors who usually look pretty unkempt themselves, so what do you expect? No respect, no responsibility -- that's the new way of the country. God help us!
     JIM STOLFI
     Las Vegas