Letter: Be Brave enough to Challenge and Then Execute Change

To the Editor:

There are four groups of Manchester adults.

The first the group does not know of the frequency of violence in our schools, the lack of academic achievement and how these undermine home values, increase property taxes, and generally decrease ability to retire in this community.

The second is made up of those who know about the violence and lack of achievement, who then execute a "great flight plan" for their kids to other towns, to East Catholic, to private schools or the magnet system.

The third is made up of those parents who tell their kids to tough it out, to only take honors classes, stay quiet, withdraw from after-school sports and activities, lay low and strive to be invisible.

The fourth is made up of the victims; Those who lay hands on others, those who receive the blows, and the many witnesses conditioned to be desensitized to violence.

This fourth group, of course, includes the many parents whose voices are shamed, by town officials and our school system, into silence.

If you are brave enough to run for elected office, be brave enough to challenge and then execute change within the current insane social experiment that has become our school system.

John Formosa

Manchster

Patch welcomes letters to the editor on any topic, and reserves the right to edit letters for brevity or clarity. Acceptable letters regarding political candidates will refer to the positive qualities of the candidate; letters which are considered negative toward a candidate's opponent will be edited or unpublished. Email letters, including the writer's name, address and phone, to chris.dehnel@patch.com.

Patch Staff Graphic