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A Kansas Policy Institute student-achievement awareness campaign has prompted a few people to question whether the ads are correct. The Kansas National Education Association has leveled blatantly false accusations at KPI, and a recent letter also misrepresented our work (“Ads paint biased picture of schools,” March 15 Letters to the Editor).
I feel a great deal of sympathy for Wichita school district patrons upset by the recent school closings. However, public protests against the school board won’t really solve the problem.
As then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., famously said about health care reform, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it.”
By now, I need not repeat the recent vile spewings of talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. Suffice it to say that Limbaugh is opposed to insurance coverage of contraceptives for women. However, he either doesn’t even understand the issue or, more likely, chooses to ignore the issue.
After this most recent debacle in Afghanistan, in which a U.S. soldier went on a rampage, it should be quite clear that we should not be there and should leave immediately.
Advertisements paid for by the Kansas Policy Institute have been appearing in newspapers all over the state. One ad painted the rather biased picture that large numbers of students attending the Andover school district are not performing well on state assessments.
On Feb. 22, I carried an amendment to cut property taxes in Kansas by $90 million. This amendment was brought before the House in the same way as hundreds of other amendments debated in my tenure. I did nothing wrong in my presentation of the amendment or in responding to questions.
We attended the pre-caucus convention Friday at Century II. Having contributed $50 with the intent of listening to knowledgeable presidential hopefuls, we found that was not to be. What we were exposed to instead was an embarrassing display of an ill-informed and disrespectful mob of Ron Paul supporters who could not and would not allow invited speakers to even deliver their messages.
Regarding an Opinion Line comment suggesting we should recall the members of the Wichita school board: Where would we find seven qualified people who are willing to volunteer (in other words, without pay) 20-plus hours a week? Our school board members include a banker, a police officer, two retired educators, a homemaker and a retired state employee. They are not only required to attend the two regularly scheduled board meetings a month but also respond to e-mails and telephone calls, and attend other meetings that may relate to their responsibility as members of the school board. I am sure each has agonized over how we can deal with the reduction of funds for education.
A letter falsely framed the issue of the widening gap between the very rich and the poor (“Take ownership,” March 3 Letters to the Editor). The middle class is shrinking not because people prefer a government system that provides “everything for nothing.” Rather, it’s because the opportunity to succeed is diminishing for the middle class for many reasons, but mainly because those at the top have had too much power to manipulate the economy and the government for their own financial gain.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is acting inconsistently with respect to health care. Having refused federal money to set up a state insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act, claiming the law limits freedom, Brownback is setting up an insurance system (KanCare) that will limit freedom for people with developmental disabilities.
That there were children as young as 10 who were in need of care by former Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller was certainly evidence of abuse (“Case shows abuse,” March 2 Letters to the Editor). But who is to say that those who abused the children were not already in authorities’ custody? How would the letter writer be aware who reported these crimes?
Black History Month has come to a close. Now, let us resolve not to close our minds, hearts and eyes to the contributions of African-Americans throughout the year and the reality of existing injustices perpetrated against them.
Although I am not a parent, I have been attentive to the issue of the Wichita school district’s “supposals” over the past two months. I have attended several school board meetings. I also sat through three public forums, where everyone spoke against the rapid closure of schools on short notice. I faithfully read the articles published in The Eagle and had discussions with my neighborhood association members.
Here’s how to start a war with Iran:
I am surprised and concerned that the state continues to move forward toward managed care for individuals with developmental disabilities when so many have expressed concern that it will not work for this population.
President Obama said during his visit to Boeing’s plant in Washington state, “If we have a level playing field, America will always win, because we have the best workers” (Feb. 18 Business Today). But that’s exactly the problem – the playing field isn’t level in global trade.
I hope the Wichita City Council received a strong signal with the special election Tuesday. The vote was a clear referendum showing that voters are tired of corporate welfare, which is so easily handed out by government at all levels.
A letter claiming the Kansas Policy Institute wants to destroy public education could not have been further from the truth (“Harming education,” Feb. 25 Letters to the Editor). KPI is committed to improving public education and ensuring that every kid has access to an effective education. That starts with having an honest understanding of the facts. Unfortunately, the truth about student achievement makes many adults uncomfortable.
Well done, those of you who voted “no” on the downtown hotel issue. You’ve likely been successful, purposefully or not, in curtailing any meaningful economic growth through development in Wichita into the foreseeable future.
The writer of “Don’t need illegals” (Feb. 23 Letters to the Editor) stated that “if employers can’t pay a wage that will attract American workers, they shouldn’t be in business.” Since when do employees determine what the business can pay in wages? Personnel costs are many times the determining factor in whether a company can be successful.
The proposed Kellogg safety corridor got me wondering how this designation would make this route through Wichita safer (Feb. 27 Eagle). I agree that 60 mph is fast enough on this roadway. I understand the increase in fines and the reduced tolerance for going over the speed limit may be additional deterrents for people who consistently speed on this road and get caught.
What are the priorities of our local government? I ask after learning that it used $125,000 in federal and state grants to study a traffic-flow problem that had an obvious solution (“Plan for Douglas would do away with bottleneck,” Feb. 6 Eagle).
I was prepared to vote “yes” on the question regarding the Ambassador Hotel project. That was until I learned that the project already has numerous tax credits being given to it by both state and federal entities. Just how sweet are the taxpayers supposed to make it before the hotel is viable?
Two strangely related articles appeared in The Eagle recently. One concerned Wichita’s own Earl Browder, who ran for president on the Communist Party ticket (Feb. 20 Local & State). Who would have imagined that communism and socialism once flourished in Kansas, which is now a bastion of conservative politics? He even was a guest in the Soviet Union, where he was able to study Marxism and see how it was applied.
During the 1920s and ’30s, the small northeastern Oklahoma town of Picher became a boomtown. Lead, zinc and other minerals were discovered, and business arrived with the necessary equipment to get it out of the ground. Before World War II, the population of Picher was about 16,000.
It is difficult for me to believe that Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is pushing for a tax credit for the wind-energy industry after telling Kansans that he would fight to stop the out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C.
Regarding the traffic study of Douglas funded by the Federal Transit Administration and Kansas Department of Transportation (Feb. 6 Eagle): It is finally time for the one block on East Douglas to return to parallel parking.
It’s been said that having a baby with developmental disabilities is a lot like going on vacation. You prepare by reading all the right books, seeing your doctor and planning every move. Finally the time comes. Your jet takes off and you’re on your way to beautiful London. After you land, you look out the window and the airport sign says “Beijing.” Your luggage is in London but you’re not, and you’re told you’ll be staying the rest of your life.
When the election arrives Tuesday, there’s only one question you need to ask yourself: Is there any reason for voting “yes”? The answer is “no.”
