New Grapevine-Colleyville school trustee says educators are ‘poison’? Our kids suffer

Is educating our kids ‘poison’?

I was distressed to read of Craig Civale’s resignation as the Grapevine-Colleyville school district’s communications officer because of the district’s “polarizing atmosphere.” (July 28, 2A, “School communications chief quits, citing divisive conditions”)

Having taught in the district for 25 years, I know that it’s been an excellent district and on the cutting edge of education, with the priority of educating the whole child and teaching youth to think critically and deeply.

The units I taught with fervor — such as the Holocaust, Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech — involved challenging students to think globally and critically with a view to becoming open-minded and thoughtful citizens.

New trustee Tammy Nakamura recently called educators doing their jobs “poison.” If I were teaching there today, would I be considered “poison,” too?

- Nancy Duncan, Grapevine

Quit attacking our public schools

Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans keep pushing vouchers and other school choice initiatives, despite their unpopularity. They would reduce our already inadequate funding for public schools and provide money to largely unaccountable for-profit schools that would not provide the full range of educational services to all the state’s children.

Our public schools need money for preschool for all students and for facilities to keep our students and educators safe. Sen. Cruz, please respect the will of the majority of Texans and fight for this funding in the Senate. Make the public schools great in Texas and across the U.S.

- David Troiano, Highland Village

Streaming services not the problem

Texas cities and towns are not entitled to franchise fees from streaming services that are global, such as Netflix, or those that operate only in select countries, like Hulu. I am not alone in wishing these cities and the state would ban exclusive cable or internet provider agreements. Millions of Texans can’t use cable and internet companies such as Spectrum because landlords failed to listen to tenants who want choice in cable and internet services.

Instead of dealing with that, cities want to sue streaming services over lost revenue. Shut up about streaming providers or we will vote you out of office.

- John Davis, Fort Worth

No reason not to act on climate

When our home, the Earth, is on fire because of man-made greenhouse gasses, as 98% of all climate scientists attest to, one needs to have some urgency. The economy is important and needs to be addressed, but the survival of the planet must come first.

Though China is the largest polluter today, as a July 31 letter writer noted, (4C) it surpassed the U.S. only in about 2005. The U.S. is still the world’s leader in total historical pollution, though China will catch up fast. We need to press China hard on projected levels of pollution while understanding our pollution history.

The world’s future rests with clean energy. It would be better to challenge China technologically than to fiddle while the Earth burns.

- David Rondeau, Aledo

No more status quo in Washington

I am so mad I could spit. Forget the whining of a perfect storm, shipping, inventory, lack of staffing and weather. I just paid more than double for diet soda at the grocery store. The only acceptable explanation is greed.

Have all our politicians forgotten the excess profits tax? I remember when just the threat was fairly successful. Does anyone in Washington care?

Let’s start by getting rid of all of them. No incumbents. Let our voices be heard. Even your favorites have remained silent.

- Michael Childs, Aledo