Letters to the Editor: Tighten school budget. Treat homeless better, Lexington.

‘Money grab’

So I just read a Herald-Leader article that the Fayette County public schools will be short $15 million despite having received $155 million in federal stimulus spending, which was nearly $94 million more than the previous year. I don’t recall NOT paying school taxes on anything over the past year and I would imagine most readers paid it on their utilities, registration, home taxes, etc. ... because we did. Revenue from local sources was up. It will be even higher this year thanks to the properties in the city being revalued; some by 20% and others by 30% more. I think that the additional taxes from higher valued property should be sufficient for the school’s revenues.

I wonder when they will have enough. They should be better stewards of their funds and tighten budgets just like everyone else has had to do. It’s just a money grab.

Rick Brannam, Lexington

Be better, Lexington

I live across the street from 203 E. Fourth St. where the Lexington Rescue Mission wanted to house their new community center. I am 100% in support of this move. Why not? That house sits there, unused, day after day, while so many of our Lexington family suffer extreme poverty. The arrogance and isolationist ideals of people that live in the area is disgusting and certainly does not reflect how most feel. I have had many positive interactions with houseless people in the area. It would be beneficial for the students of Lexington Traditional Magnet School to interact and exchange pleasantries with people utilizing the mission, so that they can see that these people are not “scary criminals and sex offenders,” but fellow humans who deserve to be treated with dignity.

Also, where are the voices of the houseless in the conversation? Don’t they deserve to be heard? The fact that there is even a debate around this is so disheartening. To those that are inexplicably against this, I would encourage you to look inward. Or perhaps meet with a person experiencing houselessness to learn about their world. Lexington, we could be so much better, don’t settle for less.

Corinne O’Bryan, Lexington

Fairer policies

Many schools utilize in-school suspension (ISS) as an intervention at the expense of the academic and emotional well-being of the student. There’s little to no evidence-based research that shows ISS is beneficial for students. ISS is a punishment following a behavior referral, in which students are removed from course instruction and placed in a designated location within the school setting. Behavior referrals are at the discretion of the teacher, often led by implicit bias. Research shows that having one school suspension can increase the likelihood a student is impacted by the juvenile justice system, enhancing the school-to-prison pipeline reality for these students.

As an alternative to out-of-school suspension, ISS should be determined as the last resort, but Black students and students of color are often removed from class instruction and receive ISS at alarming rates for childlike behaviors. Research shows this leads to these students feeling isolated, unsupported, and disengaged with the school setting.

To protect the academic and emotional safety of students, schools need to begin implementing more equitable interventions for classroom disturbances that allow students to feel welcome in the classroom and keep them engaged during course instruction.

Cerenity Barker, Lexington

Follow MLK’s path

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader and teacher who had a profound effect on America. He taught that the color of a person’s skin should not matter and what is inside was most important. He called for a transformation of how people should work together to make cultural improvements that benefit all. He was faith based and supported nonviolence but was extraordinarily strong in his beliefs that were frequently challenged. The transformation needed had to be real and not a numbers game.

The critical race theory (CRT) training reinstated for government and military indoctrination completely ignores Dr. King’s teaching and promotes racism. CRT is not diversity training; it advocates that racism is present in every aspect of life. This will degrade our country’s unity efforts that Dr. King worked so hard to achieve.

Too many politicians will not condone violence while supporting the elimination of police and prisons and advocating no bail for criminals. Those actions and words weaken our culture and promote criminal activity including gun use. Dr. King promoted equal education and meritocracy for success. It is time to return to the wisdom and passion of Dr. King.

Ronald Turkett, Lexington

Forgive loans

Regarding a recent letter criticizing the government for wishing to forgive student loans, the reader is critical of people not repaying their loans. He said, “Many students, myself included, worked our way through college and lived a meager lifestyle.”

But the reader is misled into thinking the issue is about taking out loans and paying them back. The issue is, “do we want a meritocratic, egalitarian educated workforce (like we were espousing post World War II until 1980 or so) or do we want an aristocracy (where only the wealthy can afford to educate their children).”

In the last 50 years our economy has changed drastically. In the ’70s it was possible to work your way through college, when minimum wage (available jobs for high school and college students) was equivalent to $15 an hour and college tuition was affordable. In the last 50 years wages have decreased and tuition has increased and is so expensive to where our students can no longer work their way through college, and instead incur debt that lasts them decades into their adulthood, impinging on their ability to own homes, marry, and maintain a family.

I have three children recently graduated and one still in college. Yhe price tag was above $700,000 even though they did have scholarships and work at school jobs.

I’m 53. In my lifetime the extreme of poverty and wealth in this country has caused us to slide from a meritocracy to an aristocracy. We, our government, need to change this trend and forgiving student loans can be a part of this change.

Suzanne Zivari, Lexington

Tax donations

A good infrastructure is vital to the U.S. economy. Roadways, railways, and airports are essential for transporting raw materials to factories and for shipping finished goods to the consumers. Infrastructure is important to allow workers to go to their jobs and shoppers to go to businesses to consume all the products.

The biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. infrastructure are the wealthy owners and upper management of the U.S. businesses. They have far more wealth than the average American.

Republicans passed the Bush and Trump tax cuts supposedly to stimulate the economy. Instead both the Bush and Trump administrations ended in economic recessions. President Joe Biden wants to reverse the Trump tax cuts to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Now our infrastructure is crumbling, like the Brent Spence Bridge linking Cincinnati to Kentucky. Sen. Mitch McConnell proposes putting toll booths on every bridge and roadway rather than reversing the failed Trump tax cuts. He thinks the average American should pay to fix the infrastructure rather than his wealthy political donors. It is time instead to put a toll booth on political donations in the form of a 50% tax to divert that anonymous, dark money to something more useful, like fixing our crumbling infrastructure.

Kevin Kline, Lexington

Represent all of us

Congressman Andy Barr sponsored legislation (House Resolution 1193) to establish a National Institutes of Health program to conduct research on valvular heart disease, the condition that took his wife’s life last year. It affects about 2.5% of the U.S. population and kills 25,000 people/year. Let’s wish Barr the best in getting his legislation through Congress. Anything that helps to improve the lives of others is welcome.

It strikes me as incongruous that Barr writes legislation honoring his late wife, but votes against legislation addressing violence against women. There are 10 million reports of domestic violence in the United States each year. One in five women is raped at some point in their lifetime. There are 20,000 calls per day to domestic violence hotlines in the United States. Intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime in the United States and a gun increases the homicide rate in domestic violence by 500%. Domestic violence costs the United States $8.3 billion per year.

The job of a congressional representative is to represent all his constituents, not just those who may suffer from the same issues as their immediate family.

Peter Wedlund Lexington

Attendance booming

I just wanted to point to the most glaring omission in Herald-Leader contributing columnist Paul Prather’s recent column and in Pew’s, Barna’s and Gallup’s research. Attendance is the key. Membership is a stupid old term valued only by dying liturgical and denominational churches.

Church attendance swelled to an all time (since the ascension of Jesus) high last year. Surely Prather knows that. Pew Research Center, Barna Group, and Gallup do. Around 250,000,000 new converts to Christianity in 2020, and 2021 is going to be even larger. Our church quadrupled from 2,000 to 8,000 with an additional global reach to more than 20,000 on every continent except Antarctica.

The Christian church in America exploded last year with new adherents and attendees. The pathetic, weak and old denominations are dying for sure, and they are trying to be politically correct while they rot into the ground. The rest of us are taking ground in Jesus’ name like wildfire.

DeWayne Watson, lead pastor, Coast Life Church, Gulfport, Miss.

Climate pact

In his recent commentary in the Herald-Leader, Michael Smith criticizes President Joe Biden for rejoining the Paris climate agreement.

The best response that I’ve seen to Smith’s position can be found in the 2019 report, “A Climate Security Plan for America: A Presidential Plan for Combating the Security Risks of Climate Change,” which is endorsed by more than 20 admirals and generals:

“The U.S. is contending with an international environment colored by the announcement of the intent of the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a loss of American prestige and international leadership as a result, a lack of trust between the U.S. and its partners and allies, and significant moves by other nations, such as China, to fill that global leadership vacuum. China, for example, is positioning itself as a regional and global leader in investments in climate resilience and clean energy transitions. This challenge to U.S. leadership on climate change, particularly from near-peer competitors, can have significant implications for U.S. national security well beyond this issue.”

The pandemic has taught us the importance of hedging against catastrophic risk. Certainly, this is consistent with conservative values. President Biden should be congratulated for embracing U.S. leadership on this crucial issue.

Terry Hansen, Hales Corner, Wisc.