Opinion Line (May 16)

Perhaps the Wichita school district should stop being a social agency and go back to being an education entity.

Teachers are contracted and paid for nine months’ work. They may choose to be paid in 12 payments, because it’s easier to budget that way, but not all do. It’s about time people quit attacking teachers. Think what our civilization would be like without them.

Many schoolteachers leave for school by 7 a.m. and do not get home until 7 to 9 p.m., and use their own money to purchase material to teach children. They deserve more than they are paid. I, for one, stand up for the teachers.

Why is it when we hear of cuts to USD 259’s budget, we never hear them talk of cuts to any sports program or any positions in the administration building? Also, is Channel 20 really necessary? Haven’t “magnet” schools run their course?

All administrators, from principals to the superintendent, should voluntarily take a 5 percent decrease in their salaries, for at least one year. I’d be curious to know if they are willing, and how much money that would put back in the budget.

So Michael O’Donnell, who bailed out of the Wichita City Council, is now bailing out of the Kansas Senate and wants to be a Sedgwick County commissioner. Is he still looking for a job he can actually do?

Liberals say Donald Trump doesn’t have a plan. What plan does Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton have, beside “tax and give it away”?

Leonard Pitts’ shortsighted, bigoted thinking fizzles again (May 9 Opinion). The failure of the U.S. political system, not just the GOP, has brought about the necessity of a candidate like Trump. Trump would have blown away competition on the Democrat side as well.

Terrorists kill 2,996 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001, and the Republicans blame the terrorists. Terrorists kill four Americans in Benghazi, and the Republicans blame Hillary Clinton.

Want change? Legalize marijuana.

I wouldn’t support a budget increase for any law enforcement agency unless it’s tied to increased enforcement. I’m tired of people blowing past me in construction zones and tailgating, and of being given different phone numbers to call when they don’t want to enforce laws.

Thank you, Wichita Eagle, for the May 9 article on the Frank Lloyd Wright building at WSU. If only WSU would use it as a showcase welcome center, and build the College of Education a useful building.

We are in so much trouble. The majority of those under 40 have, as Ron White describes, a lot of “quit” in them. The majority of those under 30 don’t have a start switch, and the majority of employers inexplicably don’t want to hire those over 50.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Opinion Line (May 16)."