Austin American-Statesman Letters to the Editor: March 19, 2023
What's the point, Texas, if we don't
provide health care and education?
Texas prides its well-deserved economic prowess as the "Texas miracle.” The Texas economy is the second-largest in the nation and the ninth-largest in the world, but what’s the point if we can’t provide health care and education for our citizens?
Texas has the worst-in-the-nation ranking for health care and is 28th for teachers’ salaries.
Improve health care by accepting Medicaid expansion as most states have done, injecting $6 billion a year for health insurance for 5.4 million Texans.
Don’t use public dollars to pay parents to take their children out of public schools. Rather, make our schools commensurate with our economic standing. Proudly offer our teachers salaries that recognize their worth and are commensurate with our economic standing. Make their jobs manageable by lowering class sizes so they can offer individual attention. Protect teachers’ planning schedules to use for planning.
Texas legislators, act boldly for a better Texas!
Betsy Singleton, San Marcos
Eliminating tenure at universities will
hurt ability to attract qualified faculty
Recently a bill was filed to prospectively eliminate tenure at Texas public universities. This would severely damage our state's public schools, especially our elite public research institutions like the University of Texas at Austin. To retain the competitive advantage that makes our state a national leader, we must be able to attract the best faculty to Texas. Tenure is an important form of non-monetary compensation, and if we don't offer it, we will struggle to hire qualified faculty.
Tenure is not a conservative or liberal idea; it promotes academic freedom, whichever way it cuts. Without tenure, faculty will be incentivized to support their employer's party line. That's not what free inquiry is all about.
Tenure is an important recruiting tool and an important safeguard for freedom of thought. Eliminating tenure in Texas is a big mistake.
Calvin Warner, Austin
Republicans use 'woke' to rile
their base and prevent change
Republicans have rallied their base by touting the fear of wokeness. Merriam-Webster defines woke as being aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues. Why would anyone find that abhorrent?
In a January Statesman article, the Texas Ranger 2023 chairman counseled against using today's values to judge past sins. I agree — that gets us nowhere.
However, being aware of societal issues past and current to improve our future should be embraced. Far-right folks embrace "woke" as a bogeyman to avoid change. If that change tries to address societal issues such as racism, poverty or discrimination, how can any rational person not wish to discuss it? Instead, we have leadership like Cruz, DeSantis and Abbott using "woke" to rile their base and stop any change that may impact their privileged world. It's embarrassing. It's ignorant. It's behavior born from fear. It's shameful that voters keep re-electing those who rail against change.
Jon Percy, Austin
GOP wants to tinker with the best
higher education system in the world
Re: March 14 article, "These are the Texas House, Senate higher education priority bills to watch this session."
The American system of higher education is, by any measure, the envy of the world. One of its major strengths has been that its policies have been established in large measure by the educators themselves.
It is not promising that Republican politicians, of all people, now want to tinker with it. I hope they will hold appropriate hearings and seek professional advice before making the changes they are considering.
Anthony Bedford, Austin
GOP lawmakers, mind your business
and let Austin take care of Austin
Re: March 9 article, "Austin's Project Connect is over budget. Texas lawmakers have a plan to rein it in."
Let the Austin bashing begin!
Several Republican lawmakers from other areas of Texas don't like what we Austin voters approved for our transportation needs. So they plan to change it.
Nowhere in the same newspaper article did I read Austin politicians are trying to dictate to these Republicans how their cities should be run, or how their voters' money should be spent.
There's a line from an old song: "If you'll mind your own business, you'll be busy all the time." So please, outsiders, mind your cities' business and our representatives will take care of Austin.
Janet Tracy, Austin
A five-star rating for city workers'
fast work repairing a water leak
After observing water on our street for several days, we wondered if there was a leak in the pipes.
So, we hesitantly — after all the negative buzz — called 311.
The call was promptly picked up. After hearing the issue, the operator politely asked if we wanted the number to the correct City of Austin department, or if we preferred to be transferred. Once transferred a city employee dealing with water issues took our information.
Surprisingly, within two hours a city employee was checking it out. They confirmed a leak and indicated it would be a couple of days to be processed.
As a further surprise, they started work right away and by late last night the leak was fixed and the road back ready for use.
Five stars to the City of Austin employees!
Steve Amos, Austin
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin American-Statesman Letters to the Editor: March 19, 2023
