Dear Editor: The greatest gift that God gave mankind is our children. The most important gift we can give our children is a good education, so parents used to monitor their homework. In 1858, Edwin A. Stevens gave to Hoboken two public schools, and then he created the Stevens Institute, so that we in Hoboken could give to our children a good education. At that time, the students went to school 11 months in the year, according to the school board minutes. The students went to school in July, so that they could acquire a good education. Abraham Lincoln is a self-educated man, and by dint of hard work studying, he became an educated man. He gave the Gettysburg Address, which is one of the noblest of addresses, but also one of the best literary gems of all times, which is proof that he was highly educated. We in Hoboken are blessed by being in a country that had Lincoln as our president and a member of the Stevens family as our teacher. They both taught that hard work studying, with sufficient time, was necessary to achieve a good education. Over the years, the National Education Association lobbied to have the time spent in school reduced. Today we teach five hours a day, and 180 days in the year. Parents no longer monitor their children’s homework, for both parents work. In New Jersey, the state constitution requires that a thorough and efficient education be provided. The contracts that all of the state’s boards of education made with the teacher’s unions, do not supply sufficient time in school to comply with the requirements of the state’s constitution. One day, those contracts will be shown to violate the state constitution. In the city of Hoboken, the average salary paid the teachers is about $65,000 per year, which is a handsome salary, that should not be increased, until our students be properly educated. In addition, the fringe benefits per teacher amount to about $20,000.The time teaching in school should be substantially increased, so that a thorough and efficient education can be achieved. Hoboken teachers should be required to teach 200 days in the year and seven hours per day. This can be done without teaching in July and August. The students should do their homework in the seven hour school day, as their parents can no longer monitor their homework. The future of our country requires an educated people. All industrial nations teach their students longer than we do, and when our students compete against their students in academic subjects, we come in last. Teachers in Hoboken receive a higher salary than many college professors, with higher degrees, so they can’t complain doing their job property. Otto Hottendorf