Editor's Note: The following is actually a true article. The subject matter certainly would have made a good satire piece, but the editor was considering sending it to the Ambler Gazette, and as such, facts were actually relevant.

To the Editor:

Does Dr. Durtan have something against South Dakota? His recent comments seem to indicate this. In last week’s Gazette, Dr. Durtan was interviewed in the story “Curriculum will be focus at Wissahickon for coming year” regarding Wissahickon School District’s efforts to comply with the new federal legislation requiring all teachers to be “highly qualified.” He is quoted as saying that “We’re going to be able to comply with that since we have a large pool of potential teachers in our area. How central Pennsylvania or South Dakota is going to comply, I don’t know.”
However, Dr. Durtan seems to have some gross misconceptions about the state of education in rural areas, particularly South Dakota. Rural communities are often more devoted to public education than their suburban counterparts, especially in the areas of qualified staff and technology investment. In fact, six South Dakota teachers recently received the National Board Certification, their profession’s top honor. The state also has a comprehensive plan in place to get all teachers certified under the new regulations. (Source: SD Dep. of Education) Can Pennsylvania say the same?
Instead of engaging in ill-informed derision of other states about their response to federal regulations, Dr. Durtan should focus on his own job’s mandate: to make sure Wissahickon itself has as many qualified teachers as possible.