Letters to the Editor (Nov. 29)

Students benefit from activity

As a former elementary classroom teacher, I can vouch for the claimed benefits of recess breaks and physical education classes. My students returned to the classroom more ready for academic pursuits, with their attention easier to focus and mastery more consistently achieved. I recall appreciating the well-timed breaks from academe, gifted with a few minutes to reflect and consider how to maximize upcoming instructional opportunities.

While being involved with the preparation of teachers over several decades, I have become increasingly concerned to see recess times cut in both duration and frequency. Add that formal elementary physical education classes have been either discontinued or reduced in contact time, and the advantages I claim for both students and teachers are lost.

I genuinely respect how our public schools elect to assign the limited contact time the teachers have with students. My personal and professional opinion is that the quality of instructional time is enhanced when learners enjoy an organized physical activity, PE, and a more random recess time to “blow off steam” from the more intense academic challenges, these two thoughtfully integrated. Everyone wins, students and teachers alike, while parents and patrons realize a more subtle benefit.

Will Brownback adminstration end?

Dear Gov. Brownback, your 2012 state income “tax cut” experiment failed and lost $3.25 billion in Kansas revenue in five years. You complain about the Kansas legislative budget, but wouldn’t know a fair and balanced budget if 10 economists explained it to you. As Kansas agriculture secretary, you failed our farmers from 1982-86, After one term in the U.S. House, you were elected in 1996 to the U.S. Senate, replacing a great Bob Dole, and failed our aviation industry for 15 years.

You dropped from the Republican presidential primary in 2008, lacking campaign funds, and couldn’t fill a 100-seat town hall meeting, yet you were elected governor in 2010 and won a narrow second-term victory over Paul Davis in 2014, while our education funding suffered. You made bad news for wrongfully shooting two wild turkeys with one permit in 2013, were issued a citation and paid a $200 fine.

You were once quoted as saying your family didn’t trust you to “drive the tractor,” but you managed to drive Kansas nearly bankrupt. Please urge Congress to confirm you as President Trump’s new International Religious Freedom ambassador so that Kansans can see our state return to prosperity.

Getting around regulations

Truth penetrates lies like an arrow passes through polluted air.

When I was in college, I worked part-time at a protein processing plant. My job was to maintain a water pollution control project located in the waste lagoons behind the plant. It was a noble concept where bacteria were used to convert nitrates into something useful. However, the project was not working.

A meeting was held that included the government regulators, company executives, a plant engineer and myself. The executives told the regulators the project was not successful because I was not taking the required water samples in a timely manner. Shocked, I did not speak. After the meeting, instead of being fired, I was congratulated for saving the company money. That day, I learned the meaning of the word scapegoat.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 11:37 AM with the headline "Letters to the Editor (Nov. 29)."