Education funding
Re: the April 13 article “Teacher rules may change.”
This article reported that despite low pay and a severe teacher shortage, the state Legislature’s solution isn’t to increase pay but to forego teacher certification in some instances and allow people with no prior training to be in charge of a classroom. We have a rainy-day fund in Arizona that holds hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead of tapping this fund to upgrade classrooms and pay teachers what they deserve, the state continues to have no respect for those who educate our children.
Charles Schultz
Northeast side
Courtesy on the road
It seems to me that most courtesy on Tucson roads is non-existent. Cars stopped on major intersections when backed up block not only driveways but intersections. I saw a car speed up to get closer to the car in front to keep a motorcycle, with turn signals on, from changing lanes in front of a vehicle. I saw a car going about 20 miles an hour five blocks in the center lane because the left lane was backed up. He just missed running over a pedestrian crossing at an unmarked intersection right in front of a police car.
People are also reading…
Pedestrians aren’t much better. I can’t count the number of times cars making left turns on green arrows have to stop for a pedestrian in the crosswalk walking against a red light. I have seen pedestrians walking across the street 50 feet from a HAWK light
Maybe if we could stop being so self-centered and show a little more courtesy, we would have fewer accidents and definitely less hostile drivers.
Thomas Wenzel
East side
What to do with student loans
Do not cancel balances on student loans. It both sets a bad precedent and is unfair to those who have fulfilled their obligations and have repaid their federal student loans.
Instead, I suggest: 1. Eliminate interest on all federal student loans going forward and 2. Apply all interest payments on all outstanding federal loans to the principal balance of those loans.
I believe that this is a more equitable approach in keeping with individual responsibility, yet making the loans more reasonable and fair. Eliminating interest on such loans significantly reduces the burden on graduates. Retroactively applying interest already paid to the loan balance, likewise, alleviates the financial hardship on college graduates while still requiring them to meet their financial obligations.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Water conservation
My growing concern is the loss of water in the near future. Installing water shut-off valves on personal showers in the Tucson area and teaching people to use them could possibly save many gallons of clean water every day.
The cost is small compared to the savings.
Just a thought.
Mike Gray
West side
Try another bus stop
Re: the April 30 letter “Abortion laws.”
The writer does little service to sell abortion. She thinks it a clever analogy to bus newborns to state lawmakers now fighting to restrict abortions in the same vein as Texas threatening to bus migrants to Washington. She claims these babies would be born because of state-banned abortion. In stark reality, aside from rape (incest is also rape), that newborn passenger was brought into this world as the direct and single result of the decision of the mother and a man to engage in unprotected sex. A recommendation to better protect the unborn and enrich the lives of many others, when confronted with an unplanned pregnancy: Get on that bus and take it to an adoption agency. There awaits a plethora of assistance which will ultimately reward one of a million couples in this country currently on the waiting list to adopt.
Tom Hansen
North side
Separation of state and church
There is a separation of church and state. Remove all references to God from our currency and Pledge of Allegiance.
I think all organized religions are mythologies made up by men to separate followers from their money.
God has no place in government.
Stephan Donovan
Northwest side
Who’s the genius?
Re: the May 2 letter “Say no to ethanol”
The author says that President Biden will be to blame for wrecking fuel systems in millions of vehicles. The reasoning? Some car manufacturers recommend not using fuel containing more than 10% ethanol. Wouldn’t it be up to the vehicle owners to read their manual and know what type of fuel to use? But if you can blame Biden for any negative outcome resulting from your own irresponsibility, why not?
And speaking of “genius in the White House,” recall the last “very stable genius” who suggested we might ingest or inject cleaning chemicals to combat the COVID-19 virus and who floated the idea of detonating a nuclear bomb in the eye of hurricanes to mitigate a storm’s power. Donald Trump bragged about how he aced some sort of mental acuity test, where he was able to identify a rhinoceros, a lion and a camel (clear proof of genius). He also can claim bragging rights to destruction of a democracy more than 200 years old.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Recycling
I get it that as a new Tucson resident from that left-wing city of Portland, Oregon, locals here might view me with a stink eye when I comment on local matters. What I don’t get is why there is no recycling for the bulk of the plastics that Tucson residents use. Heck, Waste Management even videos your recycling and will fine you for putting in the wrong plastic. This makes life easy for residents — just throw that crap away and into the landfill. Yet we all know that the plastics not recyclable here decimate sea life and the nature we all love.
This is not an individual freedom kind of thing where we individuals are the guilty ones if we don’t recycle. This is the responsibility of those who control recycling — your government and Waste Management, to come up with solutions or get the retailers, yes even everyone’s favorite, Costco, to package with recyclable materials.
They ring the bell and you come running. Time to ring their bell.
Rick Rappaport
Oro Valley
Child protection
Gov. Doug Ducey’s signature on the so-called “parental rights” bill effectively takes away an important resource from a troubled child. One of the most important protective factors for youth is a caring relationship with a trusted adult. Some parents, who probably should never have had children in the first place, don’t always provide this care. If a child who is distraught over experiencing emotional or physical neglect at home feels that his confidences will always be relayed to the parent possibly causing the abuse, he won’t say anything for fear of retaliation. Teachers follow a referral process to help get the child what he needs. Perhaps this bill is all based on parental fears of gender concerns, but is it really worth taking away an important means of support that is a key factor in mental health/suicide prevention?
Jane Toborowski
Oro Valley
