Budget cuts ignore the big picture
I am glad that people are finally taking notice in Kannapolis about the school budget crisis. Yes, it is a crisis.
You have to think of the big picture. No Child Left Behind legislation. This is the law of the land. If we cannot get parents, administrators, legislators and students all on the same page, weíre lost. Ask Charlotte-Meck schools the real reason why they are closing schools. They cannot meet the test score requirements. These requirements increase each year. The bar just keeps getting higher.
If we don’t all work together to save our personnel, this is the big picture. Think about it. If you close Rockwell Elementary, where are you going to bus the kids to? This is an increase in bus expenses. Children might have a two-hour bus ride twice a day.
Would you like your child to go to an elementary school that has 1,200 children in a building meant for 600? Would that child succeed in a class of 28 first-graders with no assistant? Will test scores still decline in this environment? You betcha. Then where will they go?
So I ask you, cut now and put a Band-Aid on the problem or look beyond five years when we have to close the doors forever. Then you will be responsible for your own childrenís education.
ó Diane Brown
China Grove
Good care for vets
I had never seen the skilled nursing facilities for North Carolina veterans that sits on the W. G. Hefner Medical Center campus in Salisbury.
So, we stopped off for a brief visit there the other day.
Amazed, I was amazed. Here was a 99-bed special facility that honors vets throughout the year, offering comfort, security and special help in an attractive environment.
Veterans need special attention, and they get it here. Those needs are met by registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants under the direction of licensed physicians.
A stroll down the corridors revealed vets with multiple problems. Generally, we found them in good spirits participating in a range of activities, some involving local volunteer groups.
Our guide was C. Marcelle Williams, a close relative, whose name was listed on the plaque out front ó vice president of the committee who worked to solve the many problems before the facility came into being.
Add that to the list that makes him special in the history of Rowan County.
His brother,
ó Darrell Williams
Gastonia