Use the time

TEACHERS HAVE planning periods just like the rest of us have breaks. Good for the teacher who manages his time and is able to run an errand or two on his planning period, knowing he will likely be home in the evening grading papers.

Great school

CONGRATULATIONS TO Blanchard Elementary School. My daughter goes there and is in Karen Gibbar's class. My two other children went there last year. I don't care what the test scores say. My daughter is happy and learning. She feels loved and cared for. Keep it up, Mrs. Gibbar and Dr. Kohlfeld. You are doing great things every day.

Low morale

I WISH the newspaper would interview teachers at Blanchard and Jefferson elementary schools and ask them what they have gone through the past three months while thinking that they didn't make adequate yearly progress on the MAP scores. Shame on the superintendent and his assistants for creating such low morale and killing our enthusiasm for what we do best: teaching children. Leave us alone to do our jobs, and you'll be surprised at what our children will be taught.

Same rules

I TAUGHT at Central High School in Cape Girardeau and had two planning periods as well as a lunch period. I was permitted to leave the building for three periods in a row. Luckily for me, they all came together. Most of my daily business outside of school was conducted during those periods. I was free to leave for all three hours and got paid for them. Now I teach at the elementary level, and I can barely get permission to sign out for a doctor's appointment. It seems school officials treat the secondary schools differently than it does the elementary schools. Why? We work longer hours and have far greater responsibility. Someone needs to make this a priority and have the same rules across the district.

Those puppies

SEE. THOSE Democratic puppies did turn out to be better dogs. They listen better, serve their masters, are more caring and understanding and do not crowd the pig trough. Those darn Republican puppies grew into fat, mean dogs that ran with their own kind, never looking back at their modest owners.

Credit worries

I HAVE been reading where our children are over their heads in debt at a such young age. We are a country of massive debt which is out of control. We have became a society of borrowing and spending. We better start getting our financial house in order. We can start by having tighter credit rules and not hand out credit cards to everyone. Minimize the amount given out for student loans. Set stricter housing and car loan standards. And make the payday-loan and title-loan places fall under strict federal lending laws limiting them on the amount of interest and fees they can charge. We better get this credit situation under control, and fast.

Giving advice

CONSIDER THIS old saying as elites whose lives are not touched by illegal immigration, spout their patronizing nonsense: "You will always find a few Eskimos ready to tell the Congolese how to cope with the heat."

Bad coin idea

WHY DOES our government feel the need to encourage people to collect coins? The new dollar coins coming out will be the same golden color as the Sacagawea coin: If we carry them to spend the gold will rub off. If we save them in a box for the future, they will be brassy looking. Our government should have better things to do with its time and our money.

Underage drinking?

REGARDING THE recent shooting on Sprigg Street: According to the story, the problem started at the bar across from campus. The shooter was 20 years old. The age of the victim wasn't given, but most sophomores aren't 21 either. What's wrong with this picture?

No transfers

THE PHRASE "much ado about nothing" has taken on new meaning with the revelation that, after all of this, there will be no transfers from Blanchard or Jefferson elementary schools.

Monetary motive

COMPULSORY SCHOOLING until a diploma is earned or a student reaches the age of 21 is getting a big push from the National Education Association. It's the union's response to the dropout crisis. Coincidentally, compulsory schooling to age 21 would require more teachers, meaning expanded membership, revenue and clout for the NEA. Funny how that works out.

Dangerous Linden

THIS IS about stop signs on Linden Street in Cape Girardeau. After the streets were widened and sidewalks put in on, the city took all the stop signs away and put them one street over. Now, there are more chances for one of the speeding vehicles that now run up and down Linden to cause an accident. The speeders seem to use Linden more now that there are no stop signs. There are quite a few children in the area. What does the city plan to offer the families if one of those speeding cars kills a child?

Not nine lives

BECAUSE OF the many dangers to cats who live outdoors, their average life span is only one-fourth as long as that of indoor cats, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society and Stanford University. That's four to five years of life as opposed to 16 to 20. Sending your cat outdoors is a death sentence.

No GOP plan either

I KEEP reading about Republicans condemning Democrats for not having a plan for our problem in Iraq. No, they don't, and the Republicans don't either. They've had a few years to try to find one. This administration took us to war, either ignorant of or ignoring the history of Sunni, Shiite and Kurd hatred for each other. "Mission accomplished" turned out to be "Unfinished business."

Higher sympathy

I DON'T need a truck driver's sympathy in regard to renewing my Missouri driver's license. I've enlisted the help of God Almighty, and his sympathy I do have.

Long-term effect

MY 22-year-old son was killed by a drunken driver. The DWI driver was sentenced and spent time in prison. His life now is what he chooses to do with it. Jails and prisons are full of drug dealers, drug users and DWIs. Bad choices in life affect others, not just the offender.

Thanks for pickup

I WOULD like to thank the city leaf crews for the wonderful job they have done on Drury Lane and Clark Street again this year. We appreciate their fine work.

Traffic control

AFTER THE Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, I can tell you, regardless of what anybody says, there is inadequate access to the Show Me Center. There should have been a little more involvement by the police in terms of traffic control.

Long way out

I'M CALLING about the traffic tie-up at the Show Me Center for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. We weren't involved to the long wait to get into parking lot before the show. We sat for 25 minutes after the show and couldn't move. There was nobody out on New Madrid Street to get us out. It was a bad scene. Please try to do better.

File a complaint

THIS IS in regard to writing down license numbers of cars driven by people who litter and why the police would not do anything. Under the law, if a police officer does not see the offense, the only way a person can be charged is for the person who witnessed the offense to file a complaint. So the person who wrote down these numbers should have filed a complaint. Then the police would have acted.

Blame the Democrats

MY GOODNESS, the new Democrats are not even sworn in yet, and already the hoopla has started about what they're doing wrong. Next we'll find out that Bill Clinton is the reason the war in Iraq going the way it is.