Letters to the Editor: Friday, March 21, 2008

Published: March 21, 2008

Leonard Sullivan (Your Views, March 7) wrote that people 65 years old with a total family income of less than $53,600 would have their property taxes frozen at the current rate. That sounds good, but why is there even a threshold for these older people? After all, they've been paying taxes for many years. Why are they asked to pay any taxes on their property? And now we're considering letting kids go to college for free in households making upward of $100,000 a year.

I'm proud to say that I'm a member of the Greatest Generation. As we were raising our families, most of us supported ourselves. It now seems these same senior citizens are being asked to send kids to college free who are several generations removed.

It's time to get off the backs of seniors and let them live in retirement without this continued burden.

Ray Reynolds, Midwest City

We're at that time of year again that stirs my passion. I call it daylight-moving time because you can't say it saves daylight. Congress in its infinite wisdom added four weeks to this farce last year, telling us the extra weeks would be studied by the U.S. Energy Department before the change is made permanent or not. Let's see the data!

This is another example of Congress running roughshod with no input from us. I'd like to see a politician campaigning on abolishing daylight-saving time. I bet he or she would get a lot of votes.

William O'Bannon, Eldorado

"Shifting gears: States driving Medicaid changes” (Our Views, March 10) brought to the forefront the need to change how our country pays for long-term care. Despite individual effort and substantial public expenditures, many are still left struggling with unmet needs and catastrophic costs.

As the editorial points out, long-term care insurance may be a solution. But it can't be the only one. Only one in five individuals can afford the long-term care insurance policy needed to meet their needs. And even if everyone purchased the best private coverage he or she could afford, Medicaid costs still would triple by 2045.

What our country needs is a national insurance trust whose premiums provide cash benefits to pay for long-term care expenses. Based on sound financial principles, this trust would make it affordable to care for our elderly and people with disabilities while giving us more choice and control over our lives. Paying for long-term care is a national problem. And it deserves a national solution. The time to act is now.

Bill Pierce, Oklahoma City

Pierce is president/CEO of Baptist Village Retirement Communities of Oklahoma.

It's inconceivable that our military would contract with a foreign company (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.) subsidized by a foreign government (France) to provide a major and valuable piece of equipment, the KC-30 refueling tanker for the U.S. Air Force. I don't want my tax money used this way. Although the foreign company has an American partner (Northrop Grumman), the foreign company will get the majority of benefits and our tax dollars. What if the French workers should decide to strike or individuals (most of whom don't like us) don't make a quality product or damage (sabotage) a part, knowing that it won't be noticed until it's too late?

This is a threat to our national security. This wrong should be reversed, even to the extent of having Northrop Grumman partner with Boeing and/or redesigning this aircraft to better serve the needs of the U.S. Air Force.

Jerry Searcy, Bethany

James Vernon (Your Views, March 12) argues that the Oklahoma Virtual High School defeats the purpose of high school by denying students the chance to build social skills. While learning social skills in high school is an important part of a well-rounded education, most of us build these skills over a lifetime in a variety of settings.

As an Oklahoma City-based provider of online learning solutions, Advanced Academics works with students, parents and educators across the country to design high school programs that will have the best outcomes. Online learning isn't for all high school students. Nor is it intended to be. Many students take online courses as a supplement to traditional courses. Others choose to enroll in full-time virtual schools. Often, students who choose a virtual school such as Oklahoma Virtual High School wouldn't otherwise be able to earn their diploma.

Still others wouldn't be able to pursue their dreams in the performing arts, athletics or accelerating in a subject not offered at their local school. I commend the state and innovative school districts across Oklahoma for offering the Oklahoma Virtual High School. Online schools are an educational alternative that help us better serve the needs of all students.

Jeff Elliott, Oklahoma City

Elliott is president of Advanced Academics.

The one argument that's always thrown against homeschooling families is this issue of socialization — as if we who homeschool live as hermits on some deserted island. For starters, my four daughters have interaction on an ongoing basis with fellow students all over central Oklahoma, whereas the traditional government-educated child typically socializes with students only at his or her own local school.

On a day recently when The Oklahoman wrote about homeschooling, the newspaper reported elsewhere how one in four teenage girls has some sort of sexually transmitted disease. Recently on the news there was another gang activity outburst at one of our prominent city high schools.

Guns, dropouts, lack of discipline, falling test scores, drugs, gangs, sex — if this is what's meant by government-educated socialization, I guess we homeschooling families will have to wear the badge of (dis)honor that we're "anti-social.”

Pastor Chris Humphreys, Guthrie

Humphreys is pastor of Heartland Baptist Church of Oklahoma City.

Comments