Dear Editor:
I read with dismay the editorial and letters to the editor this week.
First, regardless of whether you believe teachers "deserve" a raise, you only have to look at any school staff to see the real problem of not paying our highly qualified teachers properly. There is a void of men on every staff. If you don't pay teachers enough, men who do not believe they can support their families do not enter the profession (I mean no disrespect to all the women who are bread winners or single mothers). The education community is wondering what is happening to boys, and their marks in our schools and the lack of male teachers is an enormous part of that problem. Plus, don't we want the best possible people teaching our children?
Second, as much as I know the Burnaby NOW believes everyone should have a voice and everyone has their own opinion, it is only adding fuel to fire by giving ink to the letter by Thang Vu (Pro-gay position refuted, Burnaby NOW, Jan. 20). Sometimes, you have to make better decisions and not give that kind of hate public space.
Louise Hazemi, Burnaby
