Funding education of our children must come first

Concerning the “My Turn” by Larry Bowyer (“We can’t keep waiting until next year” ) and Carol Everhart’s letter (“Report cards don’t measure schools’ worth) that were published in the Sept. 8 Salisbury Post:

If you are a taxpayer, student or educator in Rowan County, please take time to read these articles. They hit the nail on the head when it comes to the road that our school system, state legislature and elected officials are taking our most important resources, our children.

What can be done to correct these things that Mrs. Everhart and Mr. Bowyer so wisely address?

1. Disrespect of the teachers and on-site leaders of schools, including teaching assistants. Failure to fund schools at a level that will provide additional human resources with what is called by the present superintendent as “schools of poverty” borders on insanity.

2. The poorly administered plan of using technology to teach our children. As Bowyer pointed out, this plan was so hastily implemented that the school board could have hired someone off the street and they could have done a similar or better job.

How can you the person that is paying for this respond?

1. Vote to remove all local and state officials that did not elect to raise funding for our state’s public schools. At this time, you are talking about a majority of Republicans on the state level, but some are Democrats. You will have to do your homework to be an informed voter. Most all other spending in our state can be cut, but we cannot allow our children in public education to be sacrificed to support anything else, starting now.

2. The present school board gets a pass as they are new. However, the public should insist that, beginning today, the school board hold people accountable for wasting our children and our resources.

Will you stand up for our children?

— Terry Julian

Faith

Sharing gratitude

Below is a letter that parents wrote after their child attended The Arc of Rowan Summer Day Program. They wanted this information to be sent to the Post.

The Arc of Rowan Summer Day Program runs for seven weeks each summer. There are so many things happening during that time and things can get very busy. At the end of the summer it was so nice to receive this letter from the Davises. We are very proud to report that we had 100 children sign up to attend our program this year. We are also proud to state that The Arc of Rowan is a Rowan County United Way Agency that helps support this wonderful program.

Please read below:

“We would like to thank everyone at The Arc for providing such an amazing summer camp. I think this has been one of the best years Dillon has had. I know Dillon always had something to do or somewhere to go. It was great for Dillon to have such a wonderful one-on-one. This was Dillon’s 6th year at the Arc Summer Day Camp and we are looking forward to many more. I hope everyone that helps with this program knows how much it means to these kids and their parents. It takes really special people to spend their summer working with these children. Thank you again from the bottom of our heart! See you next year! Thanks, Matt, Roxanne and Dillon Davis”

— Shela Sapp

Salisbury

Sapp is executive director of The Arc of Rowan

Who is the real victim?

There’s nothing funny about the situation with Kim Davis and others who are forced to choose between obeying a Supreme Court edict and following their personal convictions.

I had to laugh, however, at the Associated Press article, “Just what gay activists hoped to avoid: Clerk Kim Davis, the new face of Christian persecution,” where Kenneth Upton, lawyer for Lambda Legal “a law firm specializing in LGBT issues” is quoted: “we don’t want to make her a martyr to the people who are like her, who want to paint themselves as victims.”

That’s very ironic, considering painting themselves as victims has been the strategy that has worked so well for the homosexual lobby.

As we proceed down the slippery slope, we now see the focus turning to “transgender.” The thought that marriage may one day involve four-legged, furry friends is no more preposterous than same-sex marriage was considered not too long ago.

— Tim Deal

Salisbury