01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 22, 2005

As you noted in your May 9 editorial "Bump off 'bumping,' " Rick Landau has announced that he will step down as chief executive officer of Textron Chamber of Commerce Academy, in Providence. All because the teachers'-union leaders are furious at him for trying to protect the school's role as an engine of innovation.

I think it's a shame. Just because a teacher has been working a long time does not mean he or she is the best for the students. Most of the time it's new teachers with new teaching techniques who help students most.

Textron, and other schools like it, work best for inner-city youth. They give students special attention. They raise test scores, and the confidence of students. These kids can then go out and get good jobs, because they had a caring teacher who told them that they could do whatever they wanted to do. My friend went to Textron, and now she works at a well-known law firm. She is a girl from the projects who benefited from these teachers.

So I agree that we should work, through changing the law or contract negotiations, to do away with "bumping" and let educational leaders give precedence to the best, most dedicated teachers.

JACQUELINE LOPEZ

Providence