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Page Eight, PHOENIXJohnny Can%u2019t Read;Who%u2019s To Blame ?On Sunday THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE printed an interview with Dr. Kenneth Clark entitled %u201c Just Teach Them to Read!%u201d The reading scores for local schools made public this week indicate that with all of the conversation and often heated debate relating to our school system, we are not teaching our kids to read.The national median reading score for the second grade is 2.7, for the fifth grade it is 5.7 and 8.7 is the eighth grade median score. Every tenth of a point equals one month of school achievement.In our communities, school districts 13 and 15, second graders scored 2.1, about six months behind the national average. The fifth grade score of 4.0 indicates a 19 month lag, while our eighth graders are four school years (36 months) behind.Our districts are tied for 25th place (out of 31) in overall scores.Window onBrooklyn HeightsThe American MedicalAssociation doesn%u2019t know from youknow what and they want to taikabout diet and nutrition. They poseas experts and, damn it, every MDknows he received only one hour,just one lousy hour, studyingnutrition in his whole course inmedical school and all of a damnedsudden he%u2019s advising people on howand what to eat with remarks like%u201c Eat lightly%u201d (whatever thatmeans) or %u201c You don%u2019t needvitamins, you get enough fromyour food!%u201d They just don%u2019t knowbut they want to talk about atomicbombs.Dr. Atkins (no relation, unfortunately) wrote a book calledDr. Atkins%u2019 Diet Revolution and ithas become the fastest selling bookin the country. It should be. I%u2019vebeen on the diet for a month andI%u2019ve lost 20 pounds, I%u2019m neverhungry, don%u2019t, hanker for sweets,etc. and I%u2019m perfectly well. Severalpeople I know who arehypoglycemics (low blood sugar)are finding new life, new healthand joy in living. But now, all of asudden, the F.D.A. and the AMAare after him. They haven%u2019t evenread the book so their remarks areblatantly biased and dangerous.They are starting a campaign Inimpugn him saying that the sugarand carbohydrates he decries areimportant to health, that his dietcould be dangerous. Atkins hasreached his conclusions as a resultof studying the effects of his diet on10,000 patients. He knows thatpeople eating the high fat contentof the foods he prescribes loseweight, their cholesterol leveldrops and often their high bloodpressure drops. He is a cardiologistand is one of the few MDs whoknows about nutrition andm egavitamin therapy and itsrelationship to good health. Andtalking about vitamins themonopolistic medical profession isusing its toady, the FDA, to try tofoist on all of us a law mandatingthat vitamins can only be soldunder a doctor%u2019s prescription. MyGod! What next? Madison Avenuewith its tremendous power to influence creates a nation of%u201cSickies%u201d dying like flies from thedegenerative diseases caused bysugar, coffee, and all the otherdenatured foods and drugs. Theylie, the doctors swear to it, and thegovernment puts its stamp ofapproval * t and the documentturns out to be your death certificate.There is a chance to fight thesecrooks. Learn to raise hell and yell.Did you ever hear the story of thewise man who came to a town andfound that a giant snake was eatingthe people? Inasmuch as the snakesaid he only ate people when hewas hungry the wise man madearrangements for the people tofeed the snake and this seemed tosolve the problem. Several monthslater when the Guru came back tothis village he found the snakedying from a broken back.%u201cI did what you said,\snake. %u201cThey fed me and I neverate anyone, and the children cameto visit me and play with me, butone of them got too fearless and hitme with a stick and broke myback!%u201dThe wise man said %u201cSnake,snake, I never told you not to hissonce in a while.%u201dFriends, you%u2019d better starthissing! Open your mouths and letthe politicians see your fangs.These statistics are appalling. What they clearly demonstrate is that our youngsters are not getting an education, and year by year they are falling behind.Go to the suburbs of New Jersey, Long Island or Connecticut. Talk with the former city people and find their reason for leaving New York. Talk with the corporate relocation specialists such as the Fantus Corporation which has moved major New York City firms such as Pepsico, General Foods, and Western Electric. You will find that one of the major reasons given by individuals and corporations for leaving New York City is the poor quality of public education and the increasing cost of private schools.While there are many other reasons for the moves, school considerations are high on every list. New York City is losing its economic base, its pool of jobs and its middle class people. No city is viable without all three.Reading scores are not the only problem with our schools. John Jay is overcrowded and the decision to build a new high school for the area has been debated for three years without any action. The rate of truancy is alarming at Jay, the drug problem is mounting at all of the schools. The kids are just turned off by thesystem; they know it doesn%u2019t work and they have lost interest.On May 1, we will be asked to elect a school board, and if the past is any indicator of things to come, voters in hoards will stay away from the polls. It seems that the electorate is not interested in voicing an opinion where it can count.The incumbent school board members seeking re-election to the unpaid job, say that things are just fine in districts 13 and 15. The facts indicated by the reading scores tell the story, we have a growing problem, the system just does not work. The school board is directly responsible for the hiring of teachers and the implementation of innovative programs, yet the quality of education seems only to lag the national average.It appears to us as though the school board is sitting on its hands and not attacking the real problems while they use our children to build personal political futures.The slates of office seekers have not yet been announced. Although the election is only six weeks away it is still not clear who the candidates Will be.PHOENiX promises to keep a careful watch on the candidates and their positions and then to encourage a big turn out at the polls to elect individuals who can deliver necessary change.in the meanwhile, Kenneth Clark seems to have summed it all up %u201c JUST TEACH THEM TO READ.%u201dKoDerr ounce Jones, PresidentM ichael A. Armstrong, Publisher132 CLINTON ST.,BROOKLYN 11201TEL. 6 4 3 -1 0 3 2Local Parks Desperately NeedYour Tender, Loving CareThe New York City parks system is a much needed, but often underutilized, resource. The parks provide children and adults with a refuge from the heavy city street traffic, with a place to have a friendly chat with a neighbor, to take in the sun, to run and romp and play, or just to say \But too often a community is prevented from realizing all the potential a local park has because of poor facilities, disrepair, or because they have become havens for neighborhood drunks or addicts.Several concerned people in the PHOENIX coverage area have responded to the paper's campaign to get problems in local parks reported and acted upon by Commissioner Clurman and the Parks Department.Three responses received by the PHOENIX were particularly interesting: one woman complained that the Cobble Hill Park was unfit for small children to play in due to dog poop, which is found even in the sandbox, she said. Another said Cadman Plaza Park was underutilized and that a ball field for young area aduits was needed. Schermerhorn St. Park (at Nevins & State Sts.) was reported unsafe for small children. There, gangs of older teenagers are said to menace young people. Police have failed to deal with reports that there are also persons drinking and taking drugs at all hours of the day.One of the best ways to insure that local parks receive the attention they need and are utilized in the most imaginative ways possible is through the Adopt-A-Park program.1. Borough Hall Park: Joralemon, Court and Fulton Sts.2. S. Parkes Cadman Park: Fuiton and Tiiiary Sts.3. Carroll Park: President, Carroll, Court and Smith Sts.4. Cobble Hill Park: Clinton, Congress and Verandah PI.5. Edward Robinson Squibb: Columbia Heights, South East of Middagh St.6. Fort Greene: DeKalb and Myrtle Ave.,Washington Park, Willoughby Ave., and St. Edwards St.7. Fort Stirling: Columbia Hgts., Clark to Furman St.8. Unnamed: Atlantic Ave., Furman St., Joralemon St., Columbia PI., and State St.9. Unnamed: Middagh St. and Columbia Hgts.10. Pierrepont Park: Furman St. to Pierrepont PI., bet. Montague and Pierrepont.11. Red Hook (Coffey) Park: Richards, Verona, Dwight, and Pioneer Sts.12. Red Hook Recreational Area: Foot of Henry St., on Gowanus Bay.13. Van Voorhees: Hicks to Columbia St.,Congress to Pacific St.14. Walt Whitman Park: Washington, Tillary, and Adams Sts.15. Unnamed: Schermerhorn at State and Nevins Sts.16. Unnamed: Nevins, bet. Douglas and Degraw Sts.17. Unnamed: Union, bet. Columbia and Van Brunt Sts.18. Unnamed: 200 Bergen St.%u00a71I%u25a0V%u00bbI \i Adopt a Park%u201c N am eI . . . %u25a0M.aaressi P h o n e ________________________________ iI1!1M a il to PHOENIX, 130 Clinton St. B rooklyn 11201II