Give Raleigh police officers a pay raise - under one condition | Opinion
Raleigh police
Regarding “Raleigh police officers rally outside city hall to push for pay increases,” (April 10):
I am sure that officers are not adequately compensated for the risks they take in our service and I would hate to lose them. They are a vital part of community well-being. I have just one condition. There must be adequate transparency in their actions to ensure a healthy relationship, especially when grievous errors are made. That is why my support of a pay raise is contingent upon the release of police-camera footage of the April 7, 2021 raid of the Abboud house, when police raided the wrong home. Errors like these are costly and can ruin lives. We must, therefore, demand accountability before spending any more. Otherwise, we are throwing good money after bad.
Corey Cavalier, Raleigh
Michele Morrow
The writer is a retired teacher.
N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore’s shocking announcement that he will vote for Michele Morrow, the Republican candidate for superintendent of N.C. schools in November, is a blatantly indecent appeal to his Republican followers. There is no margin of acceptability for Morrow’s May 2020 tweet saying of Barack Obama: “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad. I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death.”
It doesn’t matter if one is Republican or not, this and other comments Morrow made should not be disregarded in a civilized society — certainly not from a person who wishes to run public schools.
Kristin Christensen, Raleigh
White supremacy
The irony behind two stories in the N&O April 4 couldn’t have been richer. Republican members of the State Board of Education are fretting that the KIPP educator preparation program will teach anything related to critical race theory. At the same time, Liberation Station Bookstore, the state’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore, has decided to leave downtown Raleigh after receiving hate messages and death threats on the phone and social media since the store opened less than a year ago. If this isn’t an example of long-entrenched racism and white supremacy culture, I don’t know what is.
Lise Osvold, Raleigh
Virtue signaling
Regarding “Group’s vow to ‘dismantle white supremacy culture’ raises concern for some on NC board,” (April 4):
Can we and our kids afford to have a public school focusing on social issues? The adults involved may be happy with their virtue signaling, but it is at the expense of our kids and the fundamental education they need to succeed.
Richard Ford, Durham
School vouchers
I’ve been greatly dismayed by implementation and expansion of public funding for private school tuition. Not only does it encourage societal and class divisions, it drains critical resources from public schools.
Our teachers and staff are underpaid, classroom supplies are inadequate, and building infrastructure is deteriorating. If public schools were fully funded, children with special needs of every sort could be well-served with creativity and individual attention right alongside their peers. Instead, public funds are used to undermine our founding value of equality.
Parents are welcome to send their children to the school of their choice using their own funds. But taxpayers should not be expected to support an education system that works to the disadvantage of the young people who are our future business people, educators, government workers, caregivers, and most especially, our future voters.
Elizabeth McCarthy, Durham
Trump delays
Throughout his business career and brief political career, Donald Trump has been a party to many, many lawsuits. Now he is using his team of lawyers to delay the trials that await him this year. If he is successful, then “No man is above the law” will no longer be a pillar of our political system. He will be above the law. With his elected supporters in the U.S. House and Senate, he has already made Congress close to non-functioning. If he wins in November, all three branches of the federal government will be under his control. What will follow next?
Bob Williams, Fuquay-Varina
