Charter school,
public school debate
Re: the Sept. 17 article “Federal official praises charter schools during visit to TUSD’s University High.”
I am not surprised at the absolute ignorance and arrogance of the man. After all, no public school could possibly be that successful. A little truth: Public school is just that — public. We serve the community, not just the carefully chosen few. We also don’t get the funding that is given or paid to charter schools.
Charter schools not only get a huge chunk of money from the state but they charge for tuition and fees. Teachers in charter schools are not required to be certified in any way and are paid, in some schools, much better than the public schoolteacher who works for their certification.
There is no oversight with regard to either how their students are chosen or treated; in fact, failing students are often booted out of those schools only to return to the very crowded schools that do not get the money. The charter school keeps it, but they are held responsible for the poor education that the charter school has provided. Consider that.
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Lori Trevino
East side
President Trump shows cruelty toward many
President Trump has exhibited gratuitously cruel behavior during his term as president. He is using the courts in an attempt to deny protections to gay, lesbian, and transgender American citizens who are included in the 1964 Civil Rights Law.
He informed noncitizens receiving lifesaving medical treatment in the United States that they had 33 days to leave the country.
He is attempting to destroy the Affordable Care Act.
If he is successful, 20 million Americans will be at risk of losing health coverage. He has yet to provide the alternative health program he promised.
He implemented a program that separated immigrant children from their parents and placed them in intolerable facilities.
What is so depressing is that Republican representatives, senators and cabinet members have remained silent bystanders or active perpetrators.
The Republican Party of Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and the Bushes has ceased to exist. It is a tragedy.
Stuart Sellinger
West side
It’s getting cool: Watch for snakes
While I was driving home at night, my headlights shone on a beautiful, 6-foot-long diamondback rattle snake taking up a third of the road.
It had just slithered past some post office boxes where one of our neighbors drove up and routinely got out to get their mail.
I stopped and shone a light on it until Rural Metro Fire could take it out of a nearby front yard.
In the past, the fire department would catch and release the snakes in some deserted location. No longer.
It was explained that Bureau Land Management will not allow the fire departments to transport snakes to the desert because they cannot survive outside of a one mile radius.
So, after a man with the fire department came and grabbed the angry snake with his reptile tongs, he walked 20 yards to a nearby wash that was 30 feet away from the post boxes and let it go.
The desert is a dangerous place. Be watchful, whether it’s taking out the trash, stopping at the post box or sending children to the bus stop.
David Hoefferle
Northeast side
Hispanic community shouldn’t be shamed
Re: the Sept. 15 editorial “TUSD sex-ed critics hide behind ‘culture’ to deny other voices.”
What is wrong with a “culture” that doesn’t want TUSD communicating ideas and concepts to young (or older) children that are contrary to their views of morality? Isn’t “culture” to be respected, maintained, even strengthened?
The Hispanic community is to be congratulated, even lionized, for defending its culture.
Shame on the Star for demeaning the (majority) TUSD Hispanic “culture!”
Walter Sickel
Foothills
We all pay for using credit cards through fees
Two opinions have been published criticizing the Pima County Treasury for collecting a 3% convenience fee when people pay their property taxes with a credit card.
“How dare the county tack on another 3%,” they say. The answer is that the credit-card companies charge retailers and the government every time someone uses a credit card in their establishment. The government has no choice but to charge the taxpayer or they will lose that 2 or 3% that the credit-card companies charge.
You may wonder why the credit-card companies pay you with miles or even cash to use their cards. They do this because every time you use the card they make money. We all pay for the convenience of credit cards.
Jon Stromquist
Green Valley
Taking no pride in Ducey’s appointments
Ann Foster, general counsel for Gov. Doug Ducey, tries mightily to whitewash his recent Arizona Supreme Court appointment.
The court is now six GOP members and one independent who used to be a member of the GOP. Arizona is almost evenly one third GOP, one third Democratic and one third independent.
The current Supremes don’t represent Democrats at all.
Foster gushes that for lower courts, Ducey has appointed people of color, women, disabled, single parents, etc., in a feeble kiss-up effort to make Ducey look fair. Then she brags about “merit,” as if Arizona has no Democrats of “merit” to qualify for its highest court.
The current court is a slap in the face to one third of Arizonans. So no, Ms. Foster, I do NOT take pride in that fact.
Christi Driggs
Northwest side
Nurses are expected to do the impossible
Shout out to the brave striking nurses! I am a retired registered nurse and spent the last five of my 34 years in the field working at St. Joseph’s. I worked 12-hour shifts on an extremely busy and acute medical-surgical floor. My patient assignment was five to six every day.
Only once in four years did I have only four patients for the entire shift, and that was the only day I felt I could give adequate and safe patient care. I often wished the administrators would just follow us for one day to see what they were expecting us to do and the dangers in which they were putting the patients. The impossible was expected of us! And this was five to six patients!
Now it’s eight? This may be about St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s, but I’m willing to bet it is the same in all Tucson hospitals. We do our best, but we can’t do the impossible. It’s all about the almighty dollar. Is it worth a life?
Carole Kidd
Southeast side
Bravo to renovation of Centennial Hall
The recently announced UA improvement plan including Centennial Hall is great news. It is desperately in need of a massive makeover!
It will have a more than improved lobby, bathrooms, seating and box office.
Hopefully, the powers-that-be will consult with current subscribers and ticket holders, media arts reporters and critics, national sound and lighting experts, plus interviewing the promoters including the Broadway Nederlander and the performers.
Now is the time to magnify the building’s potential income streams such as naming rights, sponsorships, selling seat licenses, and introducing luxury seating, upgraded food, beverage and merchandise streams.
Dave Heeke has done a magnificent job upgrading the dilapidated stadium. The renovated McKale Center now is comparable to any national arena.
Now is the opportunity to add Centennial Hall to that level so we can continue to attract national road shows, musical, comedy and dance performers.
Baird Thompson
Foothills
