PUBLIC VIEWPOINT Jobs Are Key, Not War Spending

Friday, November 13, 2009

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It’s the jobs, stupid!

Start with 10 million nonexportable jobs as a down payment. Move from paying people not to work, to paying for work. Build our tangible economic capacity and global competitiveness.

Build our energy infrastructure - solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal - and a Grand National Transmission Network to move the energy everywhere it’s needed. Design and manufacture the widgets that comprise the infrastructure, and export them to the world.

Rebuild and modernize water and sewer systems, highways, bridges and our national parks.

Reinvent public transport: light rail and bus networks, and recreational trails. Rededicate to universal broadband.

Polish the crown jewel, our human capital. Four-year and community colleges must keep up their momentum: focus on employable skills in demand, such as the spectrum of medical personnel plus engineering and technical specialties, while developing all language skills.

And should we not insist that high-school diplomas make students job-ready?

Many of these jobs are goodpaying, private-sector jobs that can support a family. Some are typically funded by municipal and state bonds. Much of the investment needs to come from curing our addiction to war spending as a primary engine of development.

Remember Ike’s warning;

let’s admit that war spending has been hobbling our public economy for decades.

BILL MILLAGER

Rogers TWO HIGH SCHOOLS ARE BETTER

Fayetteville is going to receive

over $52 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds credits. These come with very low interest rates. That’s a good thing for our city.

Let’s take this money and build a new high school on the west side of town. Not a giant school but a human-scale school to house 900 students, with room for growth. This is a great chance to improve the educational experience for our kids.

We can then focus on renovating the old FayettevilleHigh School. This is exactly the process that Springdale went through recently.

For some reason many of those in positions of power continue to push for a very large one-high school town. I’m sure they’ve read the studies that show smaller schools are preferable. I’m sure they remember the vote of 63 percent of our citizens that rejected their last offer. And, I’m sure they want to have quality education here.

Let’s move toward two smaller high schools. The $52 million we’re about to receive will build a new school; just ask Springdale or Rogers for help. They’ve done it, why can’t we?

Sometimes Fayetteville goes round and round with countless focus groups and surveys, yet somehow comes out with the same decision that a few at the top wanted all along! Let’s not let a school board and superintendent, who’ve pushed hard for the giant school from the start, refuse to listen to the democracy we’ve built here. We, and our children’s education, deserve better.

TX TRUMBO

Fayetteville

Opinion, Pages 5 on 11/13/2009

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