Judge Fredericks by looking at his website

I must respond to Dick Fredericks' Jan. 9 rant regarding Iowa's educational system, Washington High School and Principal Ralph Plagman. I have three children who attend Washington. I believe that Mr. Plagman is a conscientious, dedicated and hard-working professional.

Fredericks' column called Dr. Plagman arrogant and self-serving and also accused him of ignoring problems, academic child abuse and lying. Anyone who has ever met Mr. Plagman or seen him in action knows that he is not the person described.

Fredericks is unwilling to accept the statistics regarding college entrance rates for Washington students, but instead wants the readers to trust his own website (www.iowalive.net) and statistics. Gazette readers can evaluate the Iowalive website and judge the author's credibility. Besides education information, Iowalive apparently is effective in reducing tornadoes and Iowa snowstorms are kept to 4- inch maximums. The Iowalive members accomplish this by “attempting to restore energy balance across the state and reduce tornado damage as a result” (www.iowalive.net/torna

does.htm).

Our schools have problems, but Fredericks hasn't helped the situation by attacking a true asset of the district, Dr. Plagman. If everyone in education were as professional and dedicated as Dr. Plagman, people like Fredericks would be limited to stopping tornadoes and snowstorms.

Steven P. Greif

Cedar Rapids