Dear Editor:
Like letter writer Lorne E. Dennis, I went to school in classes of 40-45. No special-needs students though. No one on medications or non-prescription drugs either. Even in those numbers, we were a select group, especially since students who had trouble with academic learning could leave school in Grade 9. There were jobs then for people with that level of education.
Only after I became a teacher myself did I realize how my teachers were limited by class sizes. With smaller groups some, at least, would have used more effective methods, perhaps even kept some of those "early school leavers" in school longer.
We won't even talk about how far some of our North Shore teachers have to travel to get to and from their jobs.
All five of our bright motivated children who tried teaching under today's conditions have now left classroom teaching. They found they could do better, with less stress, in other settings.
Sorry, Mr. Dennis. It's definitely not true that "teachers have never had it so good."
Donna J. Stewart North Vancouver
