Speak Out 4/1/08

Religious involvement

THE LEGISLATION that enabled George Bush to put programs for the needy under the oversight of religious organizations is unconstitutional. The government is supposed to provide for the general welfare of the people. It's in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights.

Government pay

I THINK state and federal government workers should be paid for piecemeal work instead of a salary. They should get paid by the job they do. It would save a lot of money and make more productivity.

Teaching credentials

A COMMENT said that a person in the classroom without teaching credentials would be teaching only because he could not find the job he really wanted. How about the person who is retired from industry and wishes to give something back? Or the stay-at-home mom with a degree in mathematics who has raised her children and would like to fill her day by teaching? Or the retired member of the armed forces who, over their 20-year career, worked his way to a history degree and would like to teach? What about physical education? Who knows more about staying physically fit than a former Marine? What about the commercial artist? The "credentials" mean only that the individual took a couple of extra courses on how to deal with children's feelings and was able, after who knows how many attempts, to pass a state test. Big deal. Any Girl Scout or Boy Scout leader knows how to deal effectively with kids. Maybe a little competition would make teachers more aware that they are replaceable, and would bring an end to things like teachers talking on cell phones and playing on the computer instead of teaching.

Road issues

THERE WAS another story about County Road 436. We were told all the landowners had signed easements. Now we hear that one person who signed won't move his fence for a ditch. Neighbors said they would move it for him. It has taken 30 years, and nothing has been done yet. The commissioners have done all they can do. Neighbors don't seem to want to help each others unless it's to their benefit.

Passing costs

NO OFFENSE to the truck driver claiming to feel the "real pinch" of fuel prices, but higher fuel costs are passed on to the shipping company, then to the retailer and ultimately to the consumer.

Paying for repairs

THE GOVERNOR'S wife wants us to help foot the bill for a house we do not live in. We're the owners in spirit, but we don't have the right to sell the home and recoup the money we spend on these repairs. I already pay for repairs on my own home. I know renters who do the same. I suggest the governor, who lives in the house rent-free, start paying for some of these things, at least the paint, for goodness sake. He makes much more money than most of us do, has a car and gas paid for and almost everything else paid for by us, so he should have quite a bit of his nice salary left over to do some of the basic repairs listed in Mrs. Blunt's letter.

School buildings

HAVE ANY of the candidates for the Cape Girardeau School Board considered that if one school is overcrowded and another is not that student boundaries could be changed? If the student population keeps decreasing, why would the district build? If the senior high school needs new classrooms because school officials chose such expensive gyms and playing fields instead of focusing on academics, how about some trailers for temporary use?