Letters on small plane rules, Common Core
Pompeo led efforts to update airplane rules
I appreciated the article “New rules for small planes seen as ‘a very good thing’” (March 10 Business Today). As the president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association – which represents more than 100 general aviation aircraft manufacturers and operators of repair stations, fixed-base operations and training centers, including in Wichita – I want to applaud the leadership of Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, on this issue.
Pompeo was the lead sponsor in the U.S. House for the Small Airplane Revitalization Act (SARA), which seeks to improve safety and revitalize the light end of the general aviation marketplace. In the two-plus years since SARA became law, Pompeo has continued to drive progress on this issue, resulting in the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement last week of a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement the law.
Pompeo deserves our industry’s sincere thanks for his leadership and persistence to replace the outdated rules governing small airplane design and alterations, and thus allow general aviation manufacturers to embrace new technologies and continue to innovate.
Pete Bunce, Washington, D.C.
President and CEO, General Aviation Manufacturers Association
Crippling education
Some conservative members of the Legislature want to remove all traces of the Common Core curriculum and testing from public schools.
A product of years of study, research on test results, tracking classes of college freshmen to ascertain requirements for college success, and delineating 21st-century knowledge and skills of a technologically sophisticated working world, Common Core is critical to the future success of public school graduates.
Instead of focusing on preparation for success, the governor and the Legislature are crippling Kansas education, from preschool through college, by underfunding public schools and colleges.
Omaha is flourishing as the center of the Silicon Prairie in the Midwest. There is no reason why Kansas should not become a vital part of that technological environment, along with Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri.
Well, actually there are two reasons. First, a stagnant, comatose state economy lagging behind neighboring states is being kept from recovery and vitality by the ultraconservative lawmakers. The second is a student population deprived of equal educational opportunity to flourish in a technologically sophisticated world marketplace.
Both could be remedied. It is insanity to believe conditions will improve following the charted course without changing behavior.
Clarence Gilbert, Rose Hill
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This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Letters on small plane rules, Common Core."