Sept. 10, 2026 issue: Letters/Opinion

One of the reasons why there is a drop in college readiness for students As a former elementary school teacher, I believe one of the reasons that college students are not ready for college level work is that elementary students don't see the correct spelling or words they spelled wrong. In elementary school the teachers do not require the students to correct any words spelled incorrectly whether on a spelling test or any writing. The students need to see the word(s) spelled correctly in their brains for them to learn the word. When correcting a spelling test or any writing, the student needs to write the correct word at least 12 times on a new sheet of paper. Staple that paper to the original test or essay paper and give it back to the teacher and have the teacher look at it and check it off. This is how we did it back on the 'prehistoric ' 1960s. We were ready for college. Additionally, this was also not implemented in middle and high school either. Unbelievable, I raised four San Diego public school kids and not one teacher had them do this. I had my kids do it. They all graduated college and beyond. Just a thought. Lynda Better, Carmel Valley Letters policy: What's on your mind? Letters published in this newspaper express views from readers about community matters. Letters reflect the writers' opinions and not those of the newspaper staff or publisher. Letters are subject to editing. To share your thoughts in this public forum, email them with your first and last names and city or neighborhood of residence to editor@rsfreview.com. The deadline is 10 a.m. Friday for consideration of publication in the next week's paper. The current word limit for letters is about 450 words maximum. Letters without the writer's name cannot be published. Letters from the same person are limited to one in a 28-30-day period.