Your Opinion: Unbalanced school coverage lacks character

Dear Editor:

Much has been printed in recent months criticizing the Jefferson City Public School District in your newspaper. You have made considerable efforts to bring to light the district's woes. Your reporters dig deep into each story making sure no detail is overlooked. These articles are prominently featured in the Sunday edition with considerable regularity.

As a parent of children who attend public school locally, I appreciate your efforts to keep us informed. Knowledge is power and by being informed we as a community can make the changes necessary to improve our local educational system.

There are two ways to invoke change. The first, as you have so prominently done, is to criticize and deter undesired behavior. The second way is to recognize and commend a desired behavior or outcome. That is called positive reinforcement. Certainly there is a time and place for both methods.

I was pleased to find in the May 24 Local section under the Mid Missouri heading the subheading, "Character program honors local schools." What a great honor that several Jefferson City schools were recognized nationally for their achievement. This should be lauded and shouted from the rooftops.

This goes back to the positive reinforcement component I mentioned earlier. Yet that's not what was printed. It wasn't a major feature headline. It apparently wasn't deemed front page worthy by you, unlike the more critical pieces published in recent months. It really wasn't even much of an acknowledgment. Instead it only comprised a third of a column and even at that was listed below the first subheading "Classes on tap at farmers market."

All due respect to the farmers market, it hasn't garnered nearly the attention in your newspaper that our public school system has in recent months. So my question to you is where is the fair/balance? Where is the journalistic integrity?

Do the right thing and feature those schools, administrators, and faculty who have made a difference. Utilize that same journalistic tenacity you use to expose and share with us the details behind these national achievements. Achieving national recognition should be a common goal for everyone no matter what your stance is in the ongoing debate. Unfortunately if all you do is shout criticism yet whisper praise, your efforts eventually come across as an insincere hit job. You can do better than that.

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