LETTERS: SPEAKING UP GETS RESULTS

To the editor:

For two consecutive days, the Southeast Missourian carried the developing story of concerned citizens in Charleston. I'm referring to the efforts of students, teachers, parents and former members of the board of education to get a reconsideration of the decision to fire high school principal Joe Forrest. The involvement of this group in Charleston stands out in sharp contrast to the words written by the Rev. Martin Niemoeller, a German Lutheran pastor, who was arrested by the Gestapo and was incarcerated in the Dachau concentration camp from 1938 to 1945. His moving piece is titled "I Didn't Speak Up."

"In Germany, the Nazis first cam for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me."

From the account by the Southeast Missourian reporter, it appears that the Charleston experience has been constructive. No board of education is infallible in decision-making, and the more distant the board is from the concern -- in this case, whether Forrest communicates well with his faculty -- the greater the possibility of an incorrect decision. The Charleston community can take pride in its citizens who did speak up. Even the Charleston Board of Education is better for this experience. The board provided a forum to hear from faculty who had first-hand knowledge of Forrest's communications skills. After receiving reports from the faculty, the board demonstrated its wisdom by reversing a decision made on incorrect information and reinstated Forrest as principal.

ED WILLIAMS

Cape Girardeau