2/1 Letters: Why public school attendance is dropping.
School troubles
Not a week goes by without news of some kind of an event at a public school. A large fight, weapons on campus, teachers and principals trying to break up conflicts. Most recently, it’s the young girl being assaulted by two girls on a school bus.
If that were my daughter on the receiving end, that would have been her last day in public school, even if it meant I had to work three jobs to have her in a private or charter school. Why is there even a question about why public school attendance is dropping? And what is the answer to the problem from our very liberal school boards? Cut back on discipline. Reduce suspensions because they don’t reflect the general population. Make tests easier or just quit giving them. Then there’s pre-kindergarten , kindergarten, preschool, afterschool — all the “free” stuff taxpayers can stand.
All that said, I wouldn’t mind my tax money going to any of it if I thought our kids were getting a solid education. But I see kids getting attacked on school buses and principals knocked down during fights. And the school leaders say ”That’s just what kids do.” Let’s give our school boards a Participation Trophy.
Mike Cobb
Wake Forest
Help wanted
When my husband and I toured the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, we saw an entire room full of discriminatory help wanted signs such as “Irish need not apply.” When I read Ned Barnett’s excellent piece (“Wanted at UNC,” Jan. 25) concerning the job postings for UNC President and Chancellor, I thought that he might have added “Women need not apply.”
Linda Sigmon
Oxford
March for Life
Bravo to the letter writer who took the time and made the effort to organize a presence at the March for Life and wrote about her dismay over The N&O’s lack of coverage. My wife and I too looked for coverage of the March, and we want the writer to know that there are many in our area that support what she stands for and her outstanding efforts.
We are writing to also register our discontent at the less than balanced, fair and timely coverage by this press monopoly in our area. We noted that the “Womens’ March” was covered.
We will continue to pray and hope that, one day, with the commitment and efforts of many, the N&O will provide a better representation of this area. We also hope for the day when those who have stifled the accurate representation of what abortion is for so long will finally see their own accountability for the deaths of human beings by purposely avoiding covering it in a fair and balanced way.
Mike and Marie Mazanek
Cary
Trash epidemic
I’m a 10th grader and I feel strongly about the the trash epidemic in the United States. The amount of waste being produced is on the rise, and the environment continues to be mistreated and abused.
Many products used in the U.S. are created by extracting precious materials from the earth, used for only a short period of time, then thrown away. These products are then either put through an incinerator, where they end up polluting the air and water, or brought to a landfill to pile up with all the other trash and create mountains of waste.
The solution to this is to recycle and compost. Food waste and yard trimmings make up 28 percent of trash produced in the US, and they could easily be recycled and become compost. Plastic metals and glass make up 26 percent of trash, when they could be recycled. 26 percent of trash is paper and paperboard, which could be recycled or composted depending on the product. Rubber, wood, leather, and textiles make up 15 percent when they could easily be composted and recycled.
Bella Daniel
Chapel Hill
Desired outcome
Gerrymandering picks and strategically chooses which voters (by geographical location) will produce the most desired outcome of the election. An election such as this does not illustrate the true will of the people.
An election is simply a choice.
In like fashion, many have gerrymandered their Bibles and strategically chosen the verses that determine their desired way of life. Some of these are known as Evangelical Christians, and don’t seem to have a clue about what the true Will of their Higher Power is. They seem to have decided that the Lord has changed his mind about what the right thing to do is.
Bob Andron
Raleigh