Letter writers sound off on education, city hall, selective morality

Ed board rubber stamp

The Kentucky Board of Education has come under a lot of criticism for giving Wayne Lewis the permanent position as education czar without a national search. But put yourself in their shoes. They couldn't do a national search because every single applicant would have been vastly more qualified than Lewis. How then could Gov. Matt Bevin's board have gone on to rubber-stamp Lewis? So they had to eschew a national search. Understand now?

Test scores no surprise

Of course some of our Fayette County schools’ test scores have dropped dramatically. Look at the money that has been looted from our school system under the past administrations. For two decades, every time the budget came up short our leaders would “borrow” from education funds or short the teachers’ retirement account.

The people we elected to run our poverty-stricken state knew they were taking out way more money than they were putting in and knew these accounts had become dangerously low.

No wonder our test scores are awful. Fewer teachers mean not enough teachers. More budget cuts mean less money for school programs that are important for our poor and special needs kids. We cannot afford another round of cuts. Every dime that has been taken out of these accounts should be repaid.

Public school war

Gov. Matt Bevin and his Republican allies seem ever eager to cut education costs, especially teacher salaries or pensions. Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen rightly argues these politically motivated cuts will hurt the quality of schools and universities in Kentucky.

But to the governor and his minions, assaults on teachers and support for charter schools just make sense. Bevin appears to believe in the old maxim: those who can, do; those who cannot, teach. So teachers and professors only teach because they couldn’t find private-sector work and are overpaid. They participate in advocacy groups to support their views about education as a public good. Bevin and his crew will thus attempt to undercut public schools and teachers whenever possible. Schools depend upon strong local economies and communities, as well as good teachers, to be successful. But rather than accept these inconvenient truths, Bevin and his protégés pretend charter schools will save the day, at a lesser cost, while letting “doers” make a little money.

City hall clarification

There seems to be a misconception among the supporters of the failed new city government center proposal at the Herald-Leader building that those who opposed it did so out of opposition to any new city hall.

No one in the three hours of public comment said this. I was against this proposal for numerous reasons that were never answered: Why was the proposed building over 100,000 square feet less than the current government footprint? What's the exit plan for the existing government buildings? What about transit access when the city hall is a half-mile from the transit center? Lexington needs a new city hall; pretty much everyone agrees with this. But some of us would like to see a bit more due diligence before signing a 30-year lease.

Keep info private

It’s obvious from the many political phone calls we get at my home that the caller knows our Kentucky voter registration information.

Kentucky apparently also shares or sells vehicle make and model information to after-market insurance sellers who wear us out with repeated calls to buy insurance. Some days we get two or three phone calls about cars I've not owned for 10 years.

This should be fixed. Kentucky citizens deserve some respect with this information.

Living where a landline is required for an internet connection makes these calls even more prevalent. But even our cell phones get the calls these days. The "no call registry" is a total sham.

Let adults be adults

I disagree with a recent Herald-Leader column by Carson Benn opposing legalization of sports gambling in Kentucky. Not that betting on sports is a good or “moral” thing, it’s simply that this is an egregious example of “I don’t approve of this so you can’t do it.”

I’ve bet on stocks, also known as “investing,” several times in my relatively long life. One, exactly one, of these bets made money. The rest sank faster than the Titanic. Do I say the stock market is a bad bet for stupid people? Well, yes, but I don’t try to make it illegal. Why do moralists and professional nannies want to keep others from enjoying their own daydreams? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say, “I wish they’d outlaw my particular sin so I couldn’t do it any more.”

It’s always what the others do that they’re concerned about.

Trump a snake

President Donald Trump did what he always does: disparage, disrespect and mock. The target was the woman who courageously stepped forward with sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Women, children and men at his campaign rally shouted “lock her up, lock her up” while a man who himself has been accused of abuse responded to her pain by making fun. This is a president used to punching down. He mocks those who challenge him. Ford has challenged the credibility of his nominee, therefore challenging him. And he loves a crowd that greets cruelty with guffaws.

Remember when Trump would read the poem “The Snake?” at his rallies? It is a symbolic representation of “you are not what you seem.” In his interpretation the snake was immigration. It ends like this:

“I have saved you,” cried the woman. “And you’ve bitten me, heavens why?”

“Oh, shut up, silly woman,’ said the reptile with a grin. ‘You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.”

The crowd would respond with cheers, whoops and whistles. There is a snake among us and we should all be horrified.

‘Regular’ heroes

Recently we lost two of our “greatest generation.” One was Marvin Mills of Lexington, a World War II veteran who was awarded the French Legion of Honor; taught at four universities; inspired many students, black and white, and has a building named for him at Murray State University.

The other was Don McGuire, a native of Hazard, who played basketball for Coach E.A. Diddle at Western Kentucky University and was the last surviving member of the 1950s singing group The Hilltoppers. He never forgot his roots, speaking regularly to Hazard high school students.

A year ago, Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen wrote about Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and his wife hiking at Red River Gorge for three hours more than 50 years ago, which, Eblen said, helped to save the Gorge from a dam that would have flooded it. I told Eblen of Herbert Farmer of Bowen, who joined other “regular” people who fought for years against the flooding of the Gorge and whose involvement was more important than one hike.

We need to find ways to remember people like this. The source of our country’s strength is in people like Mills and McGuire.