Fayette school officials don’t value art and music at SCAPA or anywhere else | Opinion

Arts education

I recently read about art being cut from Cassidy Elementary and music being cut in other local schools. I am not surprised.

Anyone who has any contact with our only specialized arts school, SCAPA, knows how little funding is allocated for the arts in our district. The building is in desperate need of repair, and lacks facilities that any arts school should include.

I understand that a group of parents collectively went to a board meeting to address the problems. They were put off and told that nothing could be done for 5-10 years.

Looking at the building, the paint is peeling. That’s nothing compared to the inside. The floors are concrete which is not a big deal when you consider there has never been a stage. Performances are held elsewhere or in the multipurpose gym-cafeteria. Having no stage is a big problem when the school is producing a play or musical performance. This is at an ARTS school!

There is no specialized dance floor, resulting in kids getting hurt in rehearsal. Ceiling tiles are missing and there are leaks in the ceiling upstairs. The practice rooms have very little ventilation which creates quick spread of germs.

Why has no one, outside of the school staff and parents, cared about the funding for this school? Probably because SCAPA is listed as one of the top schools in the state in reference to test scores! There is no push to fix SCAPA because, on paper, it’s succeeding.

Suzanne F. Jones, Lexington

Climate effects

Chocolate prices have skyrocketed and candy bars have shrunk. Why? -- Climate Change.

Half the world’s source of chocolate is grown in West Africa. Because of fossil fuels, temperatures are rising in Africa and elsewhere, lowering rainfall, and encouraging pests and plant diseases. Climate Change is a long-term threat to chocolate, coffee, tea, and bananas. Some experts predict that soon only the rich will be able to afford these American favorites.

What can ordinary people do? The Citizen’s Climate Lobby advocates for carbon pricing in which companies pay a fee on their coal, oil and natural gas production. The fee will be distributed to all citizens in a revenue-neutral, income-adjusted way. Our plan is fair to poor and middle-class people. The Citizen’s Climate Lobby plan will encourage energy efficiency. A border adjustment will ensure that foreign imports pay the same fee. This plan is favored by 50 top Kentucky economists.

As a first step, please urge U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul to support the “PROVE IT” Act in the Senate, which will measure U.S. carbon emissions. Better yet, join the nonpartisan Citizen’s Climate Lobby (ccl.usa.org) and help keep chocolate, coffee, tea, and bananas affordable.

Dr. Charles T. Lutz, Lexington

UK ranking

In a recent survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal, the University of Kentucky ranked 239th out of 400 colleges in the U.S. The survey was based upon economic metrics and not some touchy-feely factors. The only two criteria used in the survey measured the efforts made by the college to assist students in graduating on time thus reducing the overall cost of obtaining a degree and the post-graduation earnings thus measuring the economic value to the student over their work life. Comparing UK to other colleges of interest, the survey revealed that UK trailed Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A & M, Berea, Centre, Georgia, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, LSU, Texas, Thomas More, and Mississippi. On the bright side, UK led both the University of Louisville and the University of Arkansas.

As a UK graduate and a taxpayer, I would like to see a detailed and specific public report by the leadership of the UK describing the currently existing plans to have a higher score in future surveys of this sort and I am fairly sure that tuition-paying parents would like to see those plans as well.

Calvin D. Cranfill, Lexington

Military presence

It looks like the US is pulling military assets from Niger and probably Chad. It was noted that both are turning to Russia and that Russia may well be using our facilities in the future.

We pulled out of Afghanistan and many other places, leaving infrastructure and machinery behind. Some of the machinery may have been left inoperable, but it was still whole.

If we are going to remove our military presence from a country that no longer wants us there, everything useful should be removed or razed. If it can’t be removed for some reason (usually because of the cost involved), it should be left as piles of rubble, with pieces as small as possible. Otherwise, we are offering aid to our adversaries. We’ve already assisted Russia in Ukraine. We don’t need to assist them to replace us elsewhere.

Glenna Brouse, Lexington

Homeless case

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case this week about the homeless epidemic in our country. It’s simple — is it a crime for a homeless person to lay down in America? Understanding how we got here is also very simple — private prisons. A private prison charges the government $150 a day to house inmates. They can’t go out and drum up business by recruiting criminals so they have set their sights on the desperate humans littered on our streets.

Who owns private prisons? The super-wealthy own private prisons; the same people who own corporations that abuse workers, and the same monied folks who purchase Supreme Court justices with luxury gifts and vacations.

I’ve lived on way less than $150 a day over the past 20 years after fleeing domestic violence and trying to be a full-time parent to my traumatized son. I could have built a beautiful life if the government had invested $150 a day in me and my son. The addicts and mentally ill could get treatment, and the able bodies could get housed and employed. Instead, we are just a profit margin for the wealthy.

Denise Martin, Lexington

Condemning hate

Neither anti-Semitism nor anti-Palestinian sentiment are valid. Hate is never valid, no matter who it is expressed against.

Any religion that undermines its aspiration of Divinity by adhering to any doctrine of hate and domination is not Divine, but a vain attempt to be Gods among us. A “religion” that worships at an altar of hate, no matter what other “gospel” it proclaims, is only a group of charlatans attempting to control others. This is usually only to help them maintain power, influence and authority.

Palestine has a right to exist.

Israel has a right to exist.

No one has the right to demand the extinction of another.

All are equal, none are better, none are worse... the commanding rule of any valid religion is in principles and in its foundation: Love and all it entails - reason, honor, empathy, kindness, and, yes, generosity.

Hamas is a terrorist organization… and terrorism exacted back upon it regardless of the innocent that they place in that crossfire ultimately serves only more terrorism. Hate begetting more Hate, a vortex of hate eating all.

Hate must be rebuked if humanity is to survive and to deserve that survival.

Robert Moreland, Lexington

Compiled by Liz Carey