Public schools
need public support
Re: the Dec. 23 letter “Give public school funds to top students, teachers.”
Our public schools must not only educate, but increasingly deal with tough societal ills such as poverty. Electorate misconceptions, as evidenced by the recent letter titled “Give public school funds to top students, teachers” make the job even harder.
The writer recommends we link existing funding to student performance. This will, unfortunately, only assure affluent school districts get even more resources. Research shows the best indicator of student achievement is zip code.
He also recommends we eliminate tenure for non-performing educators. To be clear, tenure for K-12 teachers is not the same as for higher education. And although Arizona teachers can achieve “tenure” after the third year, an “ineffective” rating reverts them to probationary status until their performance improves.
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Additionally, all Arizona K-12 district schoolteachers are on year-to-year contracts.
We do have a “moral responsibility to educate our children.” Too bad we all don’t recognize the need to empower our professional educators and provide our students equity of opportunity to that end.
Linda Lyon
Northwest side
Hypocrisy on display
at impeachment hearing
The most grating of offenses for me is hypocrisy. This was much in evidence during the congressional impeachment hearing, as one after another Republican rose to passionately decry the petty basis and political motivation afoot. This from the party that impeached President Bill Clinton for merely lying about an affair. Spare me.
Constance Lauth
Northwest side
AZ senators were wrong
to support Interstate 11
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally, Democrat and Republican, respectively, united to build Interstate 11, which will export American jobs to Mexico (with help from Donald Trump’s new trade deal), destroy working-class communities and wildlife in Avra Valley, threaten Tucson’s water supply, wipe out jobs along the I-10 corridor, steal jobs from West Coast ports to go to Guaymas, enrich cronies like Diamond Ventures and the Cardon family.
All at a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars. And with no oversight, since the Trump administration cut a deal with ADOT to let them, and not the feds, oversee their proposed impacts under EPA rules. The fox is in charge of the chicken house. Yikes!
This all despite overwhelming opposition from the tens of thousands living in the Avra Valley, the city of Tucson, environmentalists and anyone with common sense. Who do our elected officials represent? We, the people, or wealthy contributors?
Albert Lannon
Picture Rocks
We should definitely worry about our dams
Re: the Dec. 19 article “U.S. Senator: More resources needed for worn-out dams.”
For a graphic example of the consequences of a dam failure, search for “St. Francis Dam Disaster,” and read about the March 1928 failure of the St. Francis dam northeast of Los Angeles.
The dam catastrophically failed at midnight and released about 12 billion gallons of water down the San Francisquito Canyon, wiping out all in its path. The water eventually made it to the Pacific ocean about 50 miles away.
Between 400 and 600 people lost their lives and whole towns were wiped out. Yes we should worry about the 1,688 high-risk dams that are in poor or unsatisfactory condition.
James Davis
Northwest side
Trump unworthy of the office
We the people have elected a crass, egomaniacal, rude liar as our president. Since a teenager, I have seen 12 presidents serve. I have disagreed with many of them, but none have demeaned the presidency, embarrassed the citizenry and diminished our position on the world stage as President Trump has.
I have been a Democrat, a Republican and now an independent and I will do everything in my power to remove President Trump from office. He is unfit for the office.
Carl B. Foster
Green Valley
Senate musn’t repeat the mistake of 1868
The highly bigoted and divisive President Andrew Johnson faced 11 articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives. He was impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors on February 24, 1868. On May 16, 1868, the Senate voted 35 to 19 to convict President Andrew Johnson. The vote was one vote short of the 36 votes required to remove him from office.
The consequences were horrendous and long-lasting. Reconstruction, a progressive period that included Black Americans being elected to Congress, came to an end. Instead, a century of segregation, lynching and Jim Crow were ushered in.
Today, the impeachment of President Trump is eerily reminiscent of the impeachment of the reactionary Johnson. The Senate must now seriously consider the long-term consequences of not removing Trump from office. Let’s move forward.
Dave Gallagher
Foothills
Who is behind this Greta, anyway?
I was surprised to see Time magazine select a 16-year-old schoolgirl to be its person of the year, for in so doing they legitimized a child “climate guru” to lead us all into the onrushing 21st century apocalypse.
As I watched her deliver her address to the Madrid UN Climate summit, I wondered who had prepared it, as it was way beyond her years. Strangely, Joan of Arc came to mind, also 16 years old.
Then the Trump bashers came wading in and it occurred to me that perhaps his comments were a warning to those taking political advantage of impressionable, malleable young children.
A conundrum. Joan’s fateful end did gain her beatification.
Perhaps the Star could inform us who she’s schilling for.
Geoffrey Fox
East side
Trump should really thank Electoral College
The Republicans claim that the Democrats are trying to reverse the results of the 2016 election and go against the will of the people that voted for Trump. May I remind everyone that 3 million more people voted for Hillary Clinton rather than Trump?
Only the Electoral College gave Trump the victory, not the majority of the people. Even if by chance Trump is removed from office, Vice President Mike Pence would become president. He is a Republican, isn’t he?
I very much doubt the Republican Senate will remove Trump from office. After all, Trump does control all of the Republicans, especially Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Joseph Ricca
Vail
Democrats are setting
a bad precedent, again
The Democrats impeaching President Trump are just wrong and they’ll rue the day they changed the rules and impeached with no evidence, high crimes or misdemeanors.
I remind them of previous Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his rule changes several years ago concerning the confirmation of Supreme Court justices. That resulted in two new conservation justices on a simple majority vote. More to come in 2021.The next time we have a Democratic president and a majority Republican Congress, what will keep Congress from impeaching that president because they don’t like him?
I didn’t care for Barack Obama, but it never crossed my mind to impeach him for the slew of unlawful executive orders he signed. One example is DACA.
What my Democratic friends don’t like is Trump’s constant willingness to push back on their overreach. They hate him because he loves this country. People like me, and there’s a lot of us, admire him for those very qualities.
Marvin Montez
Oro Valley
