Proud Powe parent

I was surprised to find myself and my children ignored in the recent Chronicle article about Duke faculty and Durham ("Professors send children to private, Chapel Hill schools", Dec 6, 2005). Both of my  children have spent their entire elementary school careers at E. K.  Powe. Both have enjoyed excellent educations, good teachers and  enthusiastic administrators. Of course, some years have been better  than others, and some of their classmates have struggled more than  others, but all in all we've been pleased and proud to have our kids  at E.K. Powe.

I was also surprised that the article was lacking a serious analysis  of why a school like E.K. Powe underperforms in comparison  to other  schools, particularly in Chapel Hill. For example, the Chapel Hill  public school system is separate from the Orange County system. The  high cost of housing and impact of UNC in Chapel Hill results in a  very different student demographic than the integrated Durham public  school system. The magnet and charter school initiatives in Durham  also encourages segregation within the school system, with incentives  for parents of means to pull their children out of the district  schools like E.K. Powe.

Some of these considerations are just the realities of urban living.

Others are soluble problems that need attention from the school  system and the greater Durham community. But the experience of Duke  faculty with the Durham public schools cannot be reduced to the  simple-minded formula, "Durham schools = bad",  implied in the  article. Indeed, for this faculty member and his family the  experience has been a good one indeed.

Ron Grunwald

Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies,

Biology Dept.