Letters to the editor, June 5

Climate change or not,
there will be bad weather
After reading the column by Ann McFeatters (DP-Friday), I don’t feel it’s necessary to argue global warming with anyone.
Many believe the Earth has been warming from the end of the last ice age. The argument seems to be how much impact humans have. The problem is not impact on the earth but on conditions in which humans can survive.
If we have such a negative impact and simply wish to save the Earth, then I suppose we should get rid of the people. Understanding the unlikelihood of this, we must acknowledge the negative impact our remedies may have on us.
The problem with the Paris Accord was having our country shut down major parts of our economy while permitting others to continue until 2030.
One thing is certain, we could eliminate all impact we have on this earth today and there would still be tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, droughts, floods and any number of other weather conditions. These are simply a by-product of an environment that allows humans to exist.
And by the way, it’s the ostrich, not the stork, which is said to bury it’s head in the sand. Even though this is now known to be untrue. They are actually tending their eggs.
Patrick Nabors
Morgantown
Best thing senators can
do for schools is nothing
How do a charter school and/or education saving accounts (ESAs) benefit the whole state’s public school system? The answer: They don’t.
You probably have to be a state senator, to explain to us “lay people” how a program that benefits a very small segment of the state’s population, rises to the level of deserving or meriting state legislation.
I’m still trying to comprehend how creating charter schools and ESAs will benefit the educational system of the entire state and magically make our kids get a better education. It sounds like educational elitism to me.
If I were a state senator and wanted to pull one over on my constituents, one of the first things I would do in my smoke-and-mirror game would be to give the legislation an impressive name like “Student Success Act.” Surely a name like that must mean that it is good for all our kids.
The second thing I would do is bundle all the bills together. That way if you support a pay raise for teachers you’ll also have to approve ESAs and other pieces of legislation you do not approve of.
The third thing I would do is to publicly say and advertise that bundling bills is in “everyone’s” best interest by saying things like, “If you break things apart and you pass some but not others, it makes the ones you pass fall apart.” I’m wondering how passing a pay raise is going to “fall apart” if we don’t pass bills on charter schools, etc.
And lastly, I’d call anyone who disagrees with my plan of “betterment” an obstructionist.
The best thing legislators can do to improve statewide education and betterment is do nothing. Legislators need to realize that they are not educators and what they need to provide are the broad parameters of what they would like done and then to give educators the tools and support they need to improve student education.
Teachers and all educators want the best education possible for all their kids. Legislators are not educators and I wish they would quit thinking they have all the answers.
Tom Talerico
Morgantown
Some nagging questions
about charter schools
I read with interest the article on charter schools in Saturday’s The Dominion Post. It covered many questions but not the most important ones:
Where will the teachers come from?
What qualifications will they have to have?
How much will they be paid and by whom?
Without knowing these things, the rest of the information is secondary at best. Perhaps the author will do a follow-up piece to cover these important concerns.
Edwin D. Greenlee
Morgantown