Prioritize public school funding
Re: “Dems push school funding — Letter asks governor to call special session to address shortfall,” May 14 news story.
Public schools in Texas are facing a dire funding crisis. The base allotment per student has remained unchanged since 2019, despite rising inflation and new security mandates that strain school budgets. Gov. Greg Abbott has conditioned increased public school funding on the passage of education savings account legislation, which would predominantly benefit private school students, further exacerbating the challenges for public schools.
Approximately 5.4 million K-12 students attend public schools in Texas. Despite an $18 billion budget surplus, our schools remain underfunded. Increasing the base allotment from $6,160 to $8,000 per student would cost $9.36 billion, using just over half of the surplus and still leaving 48% for other critical issues.
We must prioritize the education and safety of our children by adequately funding public schools. This requires financial investment and the political will to support all students, not just a privileged few.
When voting, consider our children’s future and the ethical responsibility to ensure equitable and sufficient funding for public education.
Kay L. Viney, Addison
Not our choice
Gov. Greg Abbott is still pushing for school choice laws that would allow parents to send their children to private schools. But the simple fact is that parents in Texas have always had the choice to send their kids to private schools. What they didn’t have, and what such laws would provide, is the choice to legally reach into your pocket and mine to pull out enough cash to pay for their children’s private school tuition.
You and I will still have to pay taxes to support public schools, which in many cases are critically underfunded, but we will also have to pay taxes for our neighbors to send their kids to private schools.
And while they will have the choice to use our taxes for private schools, we will have no choice but to pay. So, remember, when you read or hear about some politician advocating for school choice, they’re not talking about your choice.
Lane S. Anderson, Lubbock
Kansas Christmas miracle
Re: “Remembering ‘70 protests,” by Sue Owens, Thursday Letters.
I agree with this letter writer that 1970 was a year of conflict in Lawrence, Kan., between the police and the street people with the epicenter of much of that turmoil being the Rock Chalk Cafe.
One day before Christmas a handwritten card arrived at the Rock Chalk. It read “To the Street People. Merry Christmas, and Peace, Good Health, Happiness in the New Year.” It was signed, “Lawrence Police Department.” No one at the department knew who sent the card, but privately there was speculation that it was one of their own.
The street people at the Rock Chalk were touched by this gesture. They made a poster sized Christmas card with a poem stressing the need to strive for understanding. The Saturday evening before Christmas they formed a group of carolers to deliver it to the police department.
The following Monday, the local paper printed the story on the front page with a touching picture showing one of the street people embracing a police officer as they looked at the card.
1971 turned out to be a much calmer year. Understanding can be much harder than fighting. Glad it was given a chance then. I hope we can keep giving it a chance now.
John Stettler, Dallas/Lochwood
A scare on American flight
Re: “Schedule will test reliability — Fort Worth-based carrier has learned lessons, chief says,” May 12 Business story.
In this story, Dennis Tajer of the Allied Pilots Association states that American Airlines is “flying older airplanes longer and they require higher frequency of maintenance. It’s not the errors of the aircraft. It’s the preventative checks on the airplanes that we’re concerned about.”
I was on American Flight 2321 on May 8, from Dallas to Tampa. After a three-hour delay to address maintenance issues, we finally departed. Thirty minutes into the flight, our pilot announced we would be returning to DFW International Airport because of a maintenance issue.
While landing at DFW, the pilot assured us that the many emergency vehicles surrounding our plane were standard procedure. A visibly shaken flight attendant indicated the maintenance issue was a fuel leak, which to my understanding is extremely rare and dangerous.
After zero communication from American about this maintenance issue and zero accommodations for the potentially dangerous situation, I am left wondering if this is just another in the litany of maintenance issues seemingly endemic to flight travel.
When do we begin holding people accountable? And who should be held accountable? Will it take a disastrously fatal “maintenance issue” for us to say enough?
Jessica Kinney, Richardson
Rethink the green lawn
When I was recently in Las Vegas and Albuquerque, I noticed the residential yards were not green and covered with lush St. Augustine grass, but instead were crushed granite/rock with decorative large rocks and desert-friendly plants and trees.
I am guilty of liking my emerald green lawn but I do see the need for water conservation. I applaud the “no mow” policy in Lewisville. This saves on mowing costs and provides a habitat for many of the creatures that have been displaced by development.
I believe the Dallas-Fort Worth area should promote these desert scapes for residential yards.
Charlotte Rudd, Lewisville
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