State failed district
I live in Little Rock in the Hillcrest neighborhood. I am white. I am appalled at the lack of progress by Little Rock School District. I believe the state Board of Education and Commissioner Johnny Key bear total responsibility for this: You have failed the city of Little Rock, the district and, most importantly, the children of this city. The major problem is your approval of a multitude of charter schools in Little Rock. This has caused the movement of white children from traditional public schools to charter schools. Little Rock School District has a majority of students who are black and Hispanic. Many of these children are economically disadvantaged. You have done nothing in the years of controlling the district to help these kids. Essentially your actions have created a segregated district; it is probably more segregated now than at any time in the last 30 years. Charter schools are not the experimental lab schools originally envisioned. They do not help public education.
I find it very strange and unsettling that, until Tuesday, Commissioner Key had not attended the meetings related to the district. After all, he is the de facto school board. It makes me wonder if he cares about the children and patrons of the Little Rock School District.
Please return Little Rock School District to local control.
JOHN ROLLANS
Little Rock
But did they earn it?
This has been bothering me for some time.
Frequently there will be reporting in our excellent local newspaper which will include a statement such as, "Coach/Vice President/Chairman Doppelganger R. Doofus, before resigning 'to spend more time with his family,' earned $9 gazillion per year, plus expenses."
It's not the amount that bothers me (of course not), it's the value judgment "earned." Although I am sure in my heart that he deserved every penny, we cannot know that. By saying "earned," it appears the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is endorsing the legitimacy of the work performed by Mr Doofus.
I propose the paper institute a new policy of phrasing compensation reporting, such as follows: "Coach Doofus received compensation of $9 gazillion last year, including a guaranteed bonus of $1.5 million at the end of the GollyStompers' celebrated 3-6-0 season."
Whew! Now I feel better.
SUSAN KASPAR
North Little Rock
Is not same America
America is nothing like when I grew up. Why is there so much murdering going on in America? Is it drugs or Satan?
I can remember when people joined the military to protect America from enemies. Now we need the military to protect America from America. For one human to murder another human is worse than animals killing each other; it is a shame. We have killers murdering babies, young kids, seniors, mothers, fathers--these killers do not care about anyone, not even themselves, and it is so, so sad.
I will never buy that these killers have a mental problem. If you have sense enough to go out and purchase a gun, you do not have a mental problem. I believe these killers work for Satan and hell is their home.
People should remember this world belongs to God, not man. The rich man will have millions, but when he dies will not take a dime to the grave. That tells me he was rich for nothing.
When parents teach their kids to hate, they set their kids up for failure, because hate is a sickness like cancer; it will tear your body down. Please remember, folks, Donald Trump is not the answer to America's problems; he is the problem.
JULIA RANDLE
Jacksonville
Fallacy of tariff taxes
A tariff is a type of price support or protectionism levied on under-priced goods and services manufactured or produced below a prevailing cost. This tariff tax is imposed to establish parity with the prevailing domestic cost. This taxed product is often produced with far less material and labor costs than is possible or acceptable in the domestic consumer economy.
For example, the cost for production in China is significantly less than the cost of production in domestic Western economies. Often this reduced production cost is exacerbated by substandard near-poverty labor rates, child labor and poor quality.
For example, a new LED light bulb purchased at a Home Depot, marked with the GE logo, will have "made in China" stamped on it. This imported product is then sold at a markup profit margin based on the cost of production in China. This selling price is less than were the product manufactured domestically. Ultimately, the local manufacturer goes out of business. Little Rock used to have two Philips Lighting manufacturers, one incandescent and another fluorescent ... now both gone.
The economic theory of a tariff is that imposing parity with the foreign manufacturer will force the domestic consumer to choose products manufactured by a domestic manufacturer, thereby depriving the foreign manufacturer of the opportunity to market their products as an import. The fallacy is that we Americans have for decades allowed our manufacturers to offshore production to countries like China at the expense of lost U.S. jobs. It is apparently cheaper to import the cheap foreign product and absorb the transportation and distribution costs.
Essentially this tariff tax is not charged to the foreign producer--China doesn't pay it--it is collected from importers by our Customs and Border Protection Agency, acting on behalf of the Commerce Department. So where does it ultimately go ... into whose pocket?
RON WINGFIELD
Little Rock
On eliminating waste
As the 2020 elections start to come into view, it's appropriate to ask our elected officials to quantify (1) how well government reform has eliminated waste in federal bureaucracies and services, and (2) how the quality of services they provide to the public has improved.
What programs does the federal government use to ferret out waste from top to bottom? Do they use programs that have been widely successful in the private sector such as Lean and Six Sigma?
The clarity of answers to these questions will clearly tell the voting public how well their tax dollars are being managed, and how effective congressional oversight has been.
RON HAIRSTON
Clarksville
Editorial on 09/05/2019