Dear Source:
I see that my comments on how the issue of education in the Territory should be addressed drew 'blood'. However, my intent was not to attack anyone or to defend Mr. Richards but to raise the level of discourse above personal and vitriolic and baseless charges. He doesn't need me to defend him. His credentials as a long time public servant are well established.
Characterizations/comments like 'oh please' and 'corrupted' and 'B.S.' indeed lends nothing to an intelligent discussion. The space in the Source for comments is limited and should be 'fair' and 'balanced'. However, when it is filled with that level of language it casts the Islands in a poor light.
Speech is certainly allowed in our democracy but as a wise man once said Words are like leaves and where they most abound, the Fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.
To point to one person or one administration or one issue as the sole reason for any problem is an over simplification. It absolves everyone else from responsibility and thus relieves them from being a part of the solution. It is an obvious fact that progress has been and is being made in the area of education and quite frankly everywhere else in the Territory.
Kudos to the teachers and principals and administrators who worked so hard to gain accreditation for the schools in the U.S V.I. (I saw the Commissioner working on her laptop during the Carnival parade).
Vernald Turnbull
Hamilton, N.J.
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