HIGH SCHOOL FOR ADDICTED TEENS

Re "Making the Grade, Clean and Sober," March 7: Since when is it public
education's role to insert itself into the domain of the family, the
church, the medical establishment and the police? Providing a school for
drugaddicted teenagers under the guidance of [some] re coveringaddict
schoolteachers is a waste of taxpayer dollars and another example of how
educators do everything but educate in today's anarchic public school
system. Ask recovering alcoholics or addicts what they had to do to beat
their habits and the first thing they'll tell you is they had to sever all
ties with their drugabusing peers and stop frequenting the places where
they used alcohol or drugs. Creating a special school for these special
kids and their special teachers does exactly the opposite. Schools should
educate. Period. KEITH KARPE San Clemente

I am an old, skeptical alcoholic who is more interested in these students'
histories five or 10 years after graduation from this program. JOHN WARREN
Los Angeles

Many thanks for the excellent article regarding our school. I used to
believe that the drug problem was as simple as learning to just say no.

However, dealing with kids at risk for over 20 years, I have learned that
an addict's problem has little to do with just saying no. It is a result of
a genetic cocktail that is different within all of us. In the not so
distant future, I suspect a genetic engineer will isolate the exact strand
within our DNA and change it enough to allow an addict to "just say no."
Whether it's sobriety or education, counseling or boosting selfesteem,
teachers open doors that allow students to become all they're capable of
being. It's not a secret that one of the fastest growth industries in
California is the building of prisons. By opening more schools, teachers
will be able to close more prisons. ALLAN TAMSHEN, Teacher Thoreau High,
Woodland Hills