A viable solution to uniforms

As we face evolving challenges in public education, teachers and administrators in the Cape Girardeau School District have reached out and asked for support in solving a problem that they overwhelmingly acknowledge: the school dress code.

I've been amazed at the response to a draft proposal from a volunteer group of concerned educators and administrators, who spent many hours mulling over a complex issue. We've heard well-articulated arguments ranging from cost concerns and special-needs students, to emotional claims that this has been a "totalitarian process" meant to address teachers failing to enforce the existing code.

While any rational person will concede that there are bona fide considerations on both sides of the school uniform issue, there are literally thousands of public schools that have faced similar challenges and have chosen a school uniform policy. Almost none of them have subsequently reversed course, which I find telling.

If a group of highly vocal parents, concerned about their children (who I applaud for their involvement in this process), can trump the concerns of professional educators tasked with maximizing educational opportunities for all children, I feel we will have set a disturbing precedent. If the school board cannot partner with the dedicated teachers and administrators -- who spend countless hours devoted to educating our children -- and find a viable solution that addresses their concerns, they will have abdicated their responsibility and effectively decapitated the people who do the real heavy lifting in education, which I for one find tragic.

PAUL CAIRNS, Cape Girardeau