Letters to the Editor: Sept. 16-17, 2023

Published 5:00 am Saturday, September 16, 2023

Letters to the Editor

True school choice

In a column published in the Sept. 7 edition of the Morning Telegraph, Brian Phillips claims to promote “school choice” using the analogy of a customer being able to choose a different barber, grocer, or mechanic if he doesn’t like the service being provided. Of course, that assumes one can pick a different barber, grocer, or mechanic in the same neighborhood.



If the nearest choice is 20 or 30 miles farther away, then we have to factor in the additional cost of time and transportation in selecting an alternative. Businesses are located where customers abound, not in remote areas.

The same is true of private schools. They are located where a large number of families with young children are likely to live, not in isolated areas. Public schools, on the other hand, have to be everywhere there are children, however remote their home, and are expected to provide transportation for families unable to take their children to school themselves.

Thus, in terms of location alone, private schools are accessible only to some families, but by no means to all. If Phillips truly wants school choice, then he should ensure that at least two or three private schools are available everywhere there is a public school. But that is not going to happen. Which is yet another reason for strengthening all our public schools so that all Texas students, no matter where they live, can receive the optimal education they deserve.

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Reginald Killingley

Big Sandy

Very discouraging

It seems the entire House of Republicans including our representative, Nathanial Moran, have voted to withhold $75 million in food aid to the Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA. It seems starving 500,000 children is all OK.

And Gov. Abbott has put razor wire in the Rio Grande to deter asylum seekers. Nothing says Christian values like starving kids and putting razor wire in the Rio Grande.

Both parties seem to be outdoing each other in who can be the most cruel. The Democrats want to continue the Ukraine/Russia war until the last Ukrainian is killed. Many Republicans do as well. Nikki Haley comes to mind.

We are supposed to rejoice when many Russians are killed. That thing alluded to in my above comments.

Now Rep. Moran will probably give you a sample of Israeli talking points like the food goes to support Hamas, a terrorist organization and on and on. And Israel has a right to defend itself even if it comes to starving kids. Very discouraging.

Jerry King

Kilgore

Time for transfer

As a Roman Catholic myself, I am highly impressed by the majestic Cathedral that sits in the center of Tyler. However, I am saddened by the over-zealousness (and even rouge attitude) of Bishop Joseph Strickland.

I can understand his wish to carry the mandate given him by the Pope to be shepherd over a diocese. But, Strickland was overstepping due bounds by traveling to Los Angeles to protest a group at a Dodgers game that he found offensive. Surely, Strickland has other needs on the docket in the 33 counties which encompass the diocese in northeast Texas. He has plenty of souls here in which to try to repent and save.

His renegade attitude may be wrapped-up in his Texas bluster. His is a firebrand itching for fights. Perhaps Bishop Strickland and parishioners would be better served if Pope Francis transferred him to, say, Galloway, Scotland. He could speak the language and yet have a climate which would enable him to “cool his heels.”

Anytime a Bishop like Strickland gets an official visit from a Vatican Official, they are under scrutiny. Instead of ministering to his flock, Strickland has gone out of his way (and out of his jurisdiction) to act like an ecclesiastical cowboy. There are plenty of drug dens, houses of prostitution, and sex trafficking webs that Strickland could try to stop here, but hasn’t. The Vatican needs to transfer him soon.

James A. Marples

Longview