Letters to the Editor

MORE DISTURBING NEWS ON EDUCATION

Editor:

I could say the beat goes on (concerning education). Actually it keeps getting worse. The U.S. Senate very recently confirmed John King as President Obama’s replacement for Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. If you know anything about Dr. King you know that he was practically run out of New York after less than four years of chaos as head of that state’s education system.

During his reign there, New York had the highest rate of parents opting their children out of the ridiculous testing aligned with Common Core. Now as Sec. of Ed. King has said he will press harder to get states to comply with the 95 percent rate of participation mandated to qualify for certain funding. The threats of withholding funds, denying diplomas, low school ratings and whatever else devious minds can hatch will increase.

The testing period for children across the country will begin soon. Some of you will remember how it was aborted in Nevada last year because of glitches in the computer system. Children were subjected to up to 10 hours of stressful testing that turned out to be wasted time. Nothing came of it except that the company in charge of the testing was slapped on the wrist and offered a chance to come back and try again this year.

Dr. Sandra Stotsky, the retired English professor who some will remember visited Fallon last year to speak on the problems with Common Core, wrote in an opinion piece last week that opting out is not civil disobedience, it is a civic duty.

Parents in Churchill County and across Nevada can refuse to let their children take the Common Core tests, and they should. Local education officials and parents should be making the decisions, not bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

Jim Falk

Churchill County

SCREEN PETS FOR DIABETES

Editor:

No one can truly prepare themselves for the worst; I honestly believe that. For over five months, even with the help of insulin twice a day, I watched my cat slowly wither away from the effects of diabetes.

I tried so hard to get a handle on it, but it was too late and it wasn’t caught in time. The nurses and doctors at Doc’s Veterinary Hospital, in my opinion, did a fantastic job trying to help him. But even their hands became tied when there were no other options left.

And he was always such a playful cat, too. A real little buddy. His face was the last think I would see before going to sleep, and it was right there the moment I woke up in the morning. Does this sound like a pet you may have?

It’s a pathetic, heartbreaking ordeal to witness and I plead to everyone to bring their pets to a clinic the moment they notice their pets drinking massive amounts of water all the time, or losing a considerable amount of weight and have become thin and downtrodden — even if pets are overweight, please have them checked out immediately. It’s a simple blood test and well worth it in the long run.

Really, it’s nothing to laugh about because diabetes in animals is no joke. They, too, suffer from the effects just as humans do; maybe even worse. The only real difference is, humans can tell you where it hurts. Our four-legged little friends cannot.

Donald Paetz

Carson City

NEVADA’S CAUCUS SYSTEM IS FLAWED

Editor:

I agree with Jim Hartman’s opinion concerning the need to get rid of this ridiculous caucus system published in the March 13 edition of the Nevada Appeal. I’ll share my experience.

In my small district, there was a difference of only one vote (out of 42 votes) between the two candidates. Because of the skewed mathematical process, one candidate got two delegates, the other got one. My vote did not count at all.

Also, some of my employees could not vote at all due to work schedules. The solution is so simple, just go back to the old way we used to have, remember those things called a voting booth? Every vote should count, regardless of your party.

Elections, after all, should reflect the will of the American people.

Willy Webb

Owner of Genoa Bar