I am writing this letter today in response to Mr. Beauchesne’s letter on some state legislators voting for a bill that ignores the No Child Left Behind Act (Feb. 3).

Clearly Mr. Beauchesne has not been in one of the state’s schools in quite a long time. If he had been, he would see how the national standards are having such a negative effect on the school systems.

Being a junior at Lewiston High, I am one of the many people who are directly affected by the NCLBA, and I see how these standards, well-intentioned as they may be, have harmed the learning process.

English teachers cannot follow normal regimens because they are required to read “Huckleberry Finn” and “The Crucible,” both of which do not rank very high on the teachers’ and students’ list. The standards are not only misguided, but made so that our students in special education and English as a Second Language are harmed. The standards Mr. Beauchesne advocates are detrimental to our quality of education.

In closing, I would like to say that I know that our state legislators’ decisions are not based on the money they get from labor unions, and that Mr. Beauchesne clearly decided to use his opinion on the bill to take cheap shots at the Democratic Party.

Finally, I’m sure Sen. Rotundo, a former member of the Lewiston School Board, knows what is good for our school systems.

Ryan Reed, Lewiston