SPEAKOUT

Don't blame Bush

I just had to call in after I read the Speak Out in which a lady said her daughter attended an educational convention in Dallas and discovered that George W. Bush had thrown out all the standardized tests that judged academic levels. This woman is mistaken and so is her daughter. I taught in Texas, and standardized testing such as national norm reference tests were thrown out long before Bush came into power there. They were thrown out under Gov. Ann Richards. I was teaching there when it happened. Texas has an exit test and some other tests, but they are all state reference instead of norm reference, and they are a joke.

Lower speed limits

I am on the highway quite a bit. The reason for traffic accidents and fatalities is high speed. The speed limit needs to be lowered and enforced.

Gore-Lieberman debate?

I would like to know if there is going to be a debate where Al Gore debates Joseph Lieberman, because Lieberman supports school vouchers, but Gore doesn't. Who is going to flip-flop?

Wishy-washy Limbaugh?

David Limbaugh has taken to praising George W. Bush because he believes Bush is apolitical and not a political purist. I thought Limbaugh was committed to conservative ideology and demanded that the likes of Bush pass a conservative ideology litmus test. I am stunned that Bush is in many ways a moderate, but Limbaugh as a centrist is so hard to believe that, if Limbaugh continues, he will sound like a middle-of-the-roader. He'll be read out of the true-blue conservative movement and be forever condemned to the vast wasteland of wishy-washyness.

Trust is missing

AS A longtime Jackson School District supporter, I realize that the failure at the polls is not just about money, but it also has to do with trust and character. There is no trust in the veteran board members. My hope is that each of these veteran members will take a long look in the mirror and do what is best for our community, our school and our kids: resign. No bond issue will ever pass in Jackson with these current board members.

Growing up

What do you know? It sounds like both Heidi and Sam have decided to grow up. In recent columns, each came to an adult decision. In the past, a moral dilemma resulted in juvenile foolishness. Now if we could just get those libertarians past puberty.

Choosing Cape Central

I LIVE in the Nell Holcomb School District and have the luxury of choosing which high school my children will attend, Jackson or Cape Central. Over the past three or four years I figured that my children would attend Jackson because I never heard anything but great acclaims of Jackson schools. But this past summer I heard that during orientation of incoming freshman students were told that if they dropped something in the hallway do not stop to get it or you may get trampled. After hearing this and the decision not to pass the bond issue for expanding the junior high facility and the fact that Cape is planning for a new high school. I think that I may be sending my child along with his tax dollars to Cape Central.

Big enough

THE PEOPLE have voted. Everyone in Jackson isn't ready to give up what we have for all this growth that some say we need. Enough growth for a while. Who wants what the big cities have: crime, drugs, no family values or small-town values? If we keep growing, people will be trying to leave here just like they're trying to get out of the big cities. Think about it. It's a vicious circle. Build more and bigger schools so we can get more people, then we'll need more schools. Unfortunately, we can't go back to what we had . If we keep growing endlessly forward and end up with what the big cities have and decide we don't like it, then what? That's why I live in Jackson and not in a big city. If you want big-city atmosphere, go somewhere else. We have a nice hometown with nice parks, schools, churches and not-so-crowded neighborhoods. When will it stop if we don't say no sometime? We voted no for a reason. We like what we have now. I don't appreciate them saying the older people will vote it down. I'm not an older person. I'm just not ready for Jackson to grow any bigger than it is now.

Bigger classes

JACKSON NEEDS to figure out another solution for crowded hallways. Maybe a little more planning instead of asking for money. I don't see how the kids will be missing out because of increased class size. Teachers used to be able to handle more kids. They send more homework home now than they did then. Teachers used to have to work harder then, and they were appreciated more too. Teachers need to work a few night shifts or out in the heat or cold. Then they might appreciate their job enough to not complain about having a few too many kids in their room. They chose this profession. Was it because it was supposed to be easy, or because that's what they're devoted to? I'm ready for the growth to stop, or we'll be in as crowded living conditions as the large cities with all the problems they have. We have a nice town. Now let it be a nice town for a while.

Remove the beam

DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, liberals, conservatives, blacks, whites, Latinos, Orientals, Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals, pet owners, Jim Drury, River Campus, yadda yadda yadda. Don't you folks have anything new to call in about? Doesn't the Southeast Missourian have anything new to print? Every one of you should get a life and remove first the beam from your own eye so you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Who's a servant?

LAST WEEK a well-known Jewish leader and rabbi said that Hitler was acting as a servant of God. In today's paper, the Jewish senator and candidate for vice president, Joseph Lieberman, declared Democrat Al Gore to be a faithful servant of God. Huh?

On the button

PAUL J. Allee's column regarding conservatives is right on the button. He expressed my opinion completely. Let's hear more from him.

Form of government

PAUL J. Allee is articulate and writes beautifully. I very much enjoyed reading his column. The thing I find disturbing about what he says is that after thousands and thousands in our country have given their lives and been maimed for life fighting for the principles of democracy, and I use the term advisedly, the general population has decided that it would rather live with the comfort and security offered by a socialistic United States of America, or a quasi-communist form of government. I have no problem with people having the form of government they desire, but it is sad to sacrifice men and women for one form of government, and then decide that it's another form of government that is desired.

Elderly benefits

I'VE READ and heard a great deal lately from candidates on the conservative and on the liberal side about the need for a prescription drug bill and lower prescription drug prices for the elderly. And occasionally I've even heard that prescription drug companies as a whole need to lower their charges for everyone. I was wondering if anybody out there in Speak Out land could take the time to tell me why it is that the elderly are more entitled to lower prescription costs than drug companies are entitled to the profits that they make for the work that they do? What is it about the elderly that makes them entitled to free or low-cost drugs more so than young people? Why aren't drug companies entitled to the profits they make as a result of their research? Please don't throw at me this business about old people giving up the best years of their lives for this country, because while the older generation has certainly done a great many things for this country, the idea that their actions were entirely selfless is ludicrous. The betterment of this country comes as a peripheral result of their work to raise families and make life better for themselves.

Voting in Jackson

I GUESS we finally have enough Cape people living in Jackson now that we can't even pass the school bond issue over here.

Who cares?

TO WHOEVER called about the Iowa Speak Out couple, calling them the Children of the Corn, congrats, you got me to respond. The kids from Iowa don't have power over us. They just know how to get a reaction in a big way. Trust me, no one notices my comments either, though I call in frequently about animals and their safety. I wish someone cared.

Need P&Z facts

WHEN IS the county planning and zoning commission going to hold the public hearings they promised to let us know what we're supposed to be voting for this fall, whether to implement planning and zoning? I don't think they need to hide any more. We need to know the facts.