As I was reading the story (Journal, Dec. 24) concerning our school district and our new high school ground breaking, something struck me. Dan Porter (mayor of Cortez and principal in the RE-1 school district) states that the new school will bring growth because people will seek out good schools and hospitals, and I agree with this statement.
We all want exceptional health care and great education for our children, but don’t you think if people are truly looking for these attributes in a community they will not just look at the building but the education system and their grades? RE-1 is failing and failing miserably, with a 43 percent total accreditation score. If this was your child and they brought home a test with this score, would you just hand them money and tell them this would fix it? No, you would not, so why are we doing this with the school district?
This new building, while it may be aesthetically pleasing, is not going to give our children a better education. I believe as a mayor and principal, Porter, Alex Carter and the RE-1 administration should step up to the plate and correct what is happening in the district just as they expected all of those taxpayers to step up and vote for the new high school building.
There is obviously a real problem here that is not going away, as we are in our fourth failing year, and if we have one more failing year, the state is going to either take over the district including our new $40 million school or close the district (according to the Cortez Journal) and it seems like the school district just wants to throw our money at it ,and it will all go away.
That’s not working. Come on guys, you are all educated people – find a solution or step aside and let someone who can!
Diana Jackson
Cortez
