Speak Out 11/23/08

Submitting to God

THERE ARE many people in Southeast Missouri who do not realize that Islam is the religion of Muslims. "Islam" means a submission to the will of God. "Muslim" is one who submits to the will of God. Peace be with you.

Union bailout plan

UNIONS HAVE plenty of money. Why don't they make these loans and bail out their companies? It's their jobs that are at stake.

Paying for vices

REGARDING EMPLOYERS that ban smoking in the name of health but continues to allow fatty snacks: Secondhand smoke is a legitimate concern. I have never seen a documented case of someone enduring a secondhand heart attack by sitting next to an obese person. The point is this: Pay for your own vice, not the vices of others.

It will take time

THE CURRENT financial crisis has less to do with Wall Street than with Main Street. The real reason we are in this mess is that too many people spent more than they made. The problem started on both coasts where families making $80,000 a year were buying $500,000 homes. When they starting defaulting on their mortgages, the foreclosed homes pulled down the values of the surrounding properties. This snowballed until trillions of dollars were sucked out of the economy. The end result is were we are now. Regardless of what Barack Obama or John McCain promised, only time is going to cure this problem.

Lots of cronies

I THOUGHT Barack Obama was going to emphasize nonpartisan politics and bring everyone to the table. So far all he is doing is appointing Clinton cronies and other partisan politicians.

Dividing the media

I DON'T know why people act as if conservative radio is the only source of political propaganda in the media. Yes, it does provide a voice to the far right. However, the far left has Michael Moore, NPR, the New York Times and several national radio hosts. The middle right may have the Fox News network, but the middle left have ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and most of the newspapers. In all, the balance of political propaganda is well on the side of the liberals.

School advice

THE CAPE Girardeau School Board wants to pay a consultant $30,000 to make sure the curriculum is aligned with state standards and $50,000 to develop a facilities plan. What is the job of the curriculum coordinator? Why would the district hire outside consultants who will look at demographics and interview a few chosen people? Why not ask the people who know what is going on and what needs to be done? Ask the teachers why they are so stressed and morale is low. Ask most of the students how important they think MAP is. Do an anonymous survey with the teachers. Ask teachers what they really think of balanced literacy. Stop trying to compete with Jackson schools. Students become at risk of dropping out in elementary and middle school. There should be at-risk teachers and programs in at least upper elementary school and middle school. The Title I teachers should be working with students who qualify for services and not working with students that are on the bubble for proficiency on the MAP test. Stop letting the MAP test drive every decision. Stop offering wasteful after-school tutoring when students have been in school all day. Offer a homework club. Use some common sense when making decisions for the district. Save the $80,000 for consultants and hire some at-risk teachers. In the long run it will be money well spent.