LETTERS: Education plagued by administrative bloat, not lack of funding
To the editor:
Regarding Steve Sebelius’ column on school funding (“Despite margins tax vote, problems persist for schools,” Nov. 7 Review-Journal), I oppose an unnecessary increase in taxes to fund education, especially with an initiative such as Question 3. I’ve lived here for more than 60 years, and education has never been underfunded.
The problem has always been bloated administrations diverting education funds to pay the salaries and perks of administrators, hiring incompetent people and using taxpayer funds to illegally promote raising taxes. All this as the district hires more and more administrators into the bloated system.
The solution is simple: stop the graft and corruption. Get rid of incompetent employees. Stop rewarding failure. Pare the administration down to size and spend education money on education, not on hiring more and more administrative workers.
Mr. Sebelius asks what the solution should be: “We’re still waiting for opponents to answer the question.” Wait no more, Mr. Sebelius. Education is never underfunded, but rather grossly mismanaged by incompetents who don’t know how to fix education, but only how to pour money into it.
A. W. WENGERT
BOULDER CITY
Education funding
To the editor:
I think it is ironic that just two days after the defeat of Question 3 in the midterm elections, the news came out that the Clark County School District needs $7 billion for new schools and maintenance on existing buildings. In their TV ads leading up to the election, maybe Gov. Brian Sandoval and incoming Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison forgot to tell us everything they did for schoolchildren in the last legislative session.
It’s mighty funny that the governor can call a special session a month before the election to provide a big tax break for a $5 billion Tesla battery plant in Northern Nevada, but he can’t call one for the Clark County School District and its $7 billion building-and-maintenance hole, or North Las Vegas fighting insolvency. I guess we’re not worried about the education of our children.
Now elected officials say we may have to do a tax of some sort to fund education, and we all know what that means: a sales tax increase and property tax increase. And who pays for it? Middle-class and lower-income Nevadans.
I have to say that Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius and TV commentator Jon Ralston are the only ones who tell it like it is. What happened to governors and state senators and Assembly members who could compromise?
CECIL WYNN
LAS VEGAS
Politics and pipeline
To the editor:
Many thanks for the Review-Journal’s Nov. 22 editorial (“Keystone stalled by ‘party of no’”). It proves how a strict adherence to a party agenda, with no thought of compromise, will create gridlock. Whether on the left or right side of the aisle, federal or state, the result is the same.
The second-to-last paragraph of the editorial was most telling. The Keystone pipeline was one of several reasons that mainstream Democrats voted Republican, or worse, didn’t vote at all. Add in the Democratic Party’s stance on gay marriage, gun control, immigration and the Middle East, among others, and it is easy to see why many voters have been turned off.
One can only hope that some of the policymakers in the Democratic Party read that editorial and will take heed. It is apparent that Republicans have gotten the message.
JACK CORRICK
BOULDER CITY
Feast fit for a veteran
To the editor:
Unlike some of its competitors, the South Point rewarded veterans with two free meals instead of one on Veterans Day. I guess South Point management thought veterans might like to eat with their spouse or a friend. Thanks to Michael Gaughan and the South Point for being so nice and showing some class. I guess they are serious when they say, “We love you more.”
AL MOODY
NORTH LAS VEGAS
Ebola outrage
To the editor:
We are on the cusp of barbarism, and it is wrapped in the American flag. Marlene Drozd wrote in her letter of being appalled that Eric Duncan’s family sued the Dallas hospital where he died of Ebola (“Ebola lawsuit,” Nov. 18 Review-Journal). I was appalled that Mr. Duncan was sent home after reportedly telling hospital staff that he had recently returned from Liberia.
Profit-driven medicine isn’t bad enough. Does Ms. Drozd want pay-now-or-die-in-the-parking-lot medicine? Mr. Duncan caught the virus assisting an infected pregnant woman. He went to the hospital and should’ve received treatment.
ELIZABETH COOK
LAS VEGAS
Horsford’s loss
To the editor:
Rep. Steven Horsford, who lost his midterm election race to Cresent Hardy, said he wants to get out and listen and engage the voters before making any decision about whether to run again (“Horsford weighing comeback,” Nov. 18 Review-Journal). Rep. Horsford attributed his defeat to Crossroads GPS, a Republican-backed political action committee that spent $820,000 on television ads.
The reason for Rep. Horsford’s defeat is simple, and it has nothing to do with Crossroads GPS: He consistently voted along Democratic partisan lines, against the will of the people. If Rep. Horsford decides to run again, it will mark the first time that I will be a contributor to Crossroads GPS.
GALEN DECKERT
LAS VEGAS
