Should schools reopen? Star-Telegram readers debate the issue
Not a popularity contest
The July 16 letter (7A) suggesting that the Star-Telegram’s editorial board “does not have (its) finger on the pulse of Fort Worth” indicates the writer does not understand endorsements. They are recommendations, not predictions.
I agreed with the board, so it read my pulse correctly. I welcome its endorsements in the future.
- Reed K Bilz, Fort Worth
It isn’t funny, you leftists
You’ve got a misanthrope loose in your editorial department. There is no humor in the editorial cartoons you print. The messages you are sending is that President Donald Trump, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and all Republicans want more deaths.
There are other sides to restarting schools and the economy that you must not have heard about. There are thoughtful ways to look at both sides, but you always manage to pick the leftist version.
- Jack Russell, North Richland Hills
Voters’ wishes should matter
As soon as we voted to extend the Crime Control and Prevention District, the efforts to subvert it began. In Thursday’s paper two articles, including an editorial, called for a change of what the people voted for. The City Council should resist altering what the majority clearly supported. Do elections have consequences anymore?
- Curtis Basham, Fort Worth
Not the time to go back
All teachers understand and agree that children need to be in school, in person, with social and academic interaction. My school has a population that is most vulnerable. We worry for students’ physical, mental and social well-being.
We must protect all, and the infection rate is too high now. We need to establish a threshold for infection rate, and it must stay low for two weeks. We need rapid and accurate testing and contact tracing. Schools need funding for reduced class sizes, staggered busing, better ventilation or air filtration, protective equipment and cleaning products.
Follow the data and science, not politics. Teachers cannot heal all societal ills.
- Kim Martinez, Fort Worth
Yes, open the schools
Kudos to the Star-Telegram editorial Sunday. (4B, “For children’s sake, Texas schools must reopen ASAP”) Let’s look to science instead of politics when deciding to open our schools. We should consider things like infection rates among school-age children, results in Europe (where schools have either reopened or never closed) and the adverse effects of non-schooling.
Instead, the teachers unions want to keep schools closed to put leverage on charter and private and religious schools. They know that with government funding, they can outlast their competition and eventually put them out of business.
When the pandemic started, we heard about essential businesses and essential workers. It sure seems that schools and teachers fit that category.
- Harry Thompson, Bedford