Letters on Canoo, stuttering help, Ron DeSantis, Capitol Hill High School

Canoo to benefit from motivated students seeking jobs

The news that Canoo is establishing its manufacturing facilities and has finalized workforce and economic development incentives in the state is very exciting, especially from the workforce development perspective.

Our goal is to prepare Oklahomans for high-tech careers with the skill sets needed to land these high quality, advanced manufacturing positions, and it is encouraging that companies like Canoo recognize that Oklahoma offers several benefits from doing business in the state, not least of which is institutions that are dedicated to equipping students for these jobs, and students who are motivated to fill jobs that are rewarding and pay well.

In all, Canoo will invest more than $320 million in its Oklahoma City assembly facility and Pryor battery module manufacturing plant, which will create more than 1,360 jobs at wages that exceed average state and local salaries, according to the recent Aug. 15 article, “Electric vehicle startup’s incentives with Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation, could top $113 million.”

The company has committed to performance-based incentives that are tied to specific milestones being met, which means there will be long-term opportunities for the Oklahoma City workforce and our students. With Canoo already hiring in Oklahoma City, the company is working closely with OSU-OKC to recruit and train this skilled advanced manufacturing workforce.

OSU-OKC is enhancing its programming in engineering technologies, and we look forward to collaborating with Canoo to inform our curriculum and to prepare our students for great new careers in industrial engineering and manufacturing automation.

— Pam Stinson, Oklahoma City

Stuttering Foundation has Spanish-language version of website

The recent guest column "Group allowed me to accept my stutter and be more open about it to people" by Kaleb Brown gave important information to the public about stuttering. Through his personal journey trying to navigate stuttering, it is obvious that Mr. Brown wishes to help others in their journeys, as well. I am glad that his piece detailed the important role that the National Stuttering Association plays for so many people who stutter in communities throughout the U.S. Their group meetings are invaluable, especially in starting people on their own journeys to self-acceptance or pursuing speech therapy in the hopes of fluency.

In the last 35 years there has been a growth in the Hispanic population in the U.S. I just wish to mention that the Stuttering Foundation (www.StutteringHelp.org) has a Spanish-language version of their website at www.tartamudez.org with the same free resources. This website was started to aid the Hispanic community in the U.S. but also helps people who stutter in Latin American countries where access to speech therapy is not adequate.

— Juan Gardea, South Bend, Indiana

Reader disgusted by views that Black people benefitted from slavery

Recently the country has been in a turmoil over President Joe Biden trying to decrease the amount owed for certain people who borrowed money to attend college. I, for one, disagree with this policy and believe if you borrowed money in good faith, you are obligated to repay it as stipulated in your contract.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently admitted they had a similar program in Florida years ago where the students attended school for free and did not have to borrow any money at all. President Biden was focusing on college students and Gov. DeSantis was focusing on slaves. If you listen to Gov. DeSantis, one might believe he is getting ready to claim Florida had the first all-Black vo-tech program in the country. He has already stated he felt the slaves had gotten some valuable experience from being slaves. I am guessing the next thing he will offer is that during their attendance at their vo-tech, they learned such things as weed eradication, cotton planting and harvesting, leg iron construction in blacksmithing and bullwhip weaving as a few examples of what they will need to know after they are freed.

I strongly disagree with President Biden on this issue, but I am disgusted and embarrassed that Gov. DeSantis holds these views and is running for our president. Surely out of 330 million people, we can find a person that is intelligent, decent and does not believe that slavery provided anything good for anyone. Gov. DeSantis is a shining example of why I left the Republican Party after 54 years, and if he gets the call, he will have to do it without my help.

— Donald D. Meyer, Yukon

Loss of Capitol Hill High School a loss for OKC architectural landscape

Although the project design decision-making process, which could ultimately result in the demolition of the historic Capitol Hill High School, is funded by public taxpayer dollars, the public has had scant opportunity to provide community feedback or input, and this billion-dollar process is being heavy handedly managed by OKCPS Superintendent Sean McDaniel.

The school board has established a Citizens Oversight Committee to solicit community feedback. However, the meetings are not open to the public, and although meeting minutes are posted online, they are cursory and do not reflect committee opinions or discussions. No process is in place for the committee to hear the public voice, and repeated email requests for an opportunity for CHHS alumni to meet with their representative on the committee have born no results.

OKCPS Board Policy C-06 states: “The Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education believes that the public schools belong to the people …” Yet, reality couldn’t be further from the truth. There is simply no way for the voters, who elected the OKCPS Board, to have a voice in the dozens of taxpayer funded projects affecting numerous historic OKC school buildings. Decisions to abandon and/or demolish several significant structures such as Capitol Hill High School and Taft Middle School, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are being made in a vacuum, free of debate and public input.

Superintendent McDaniel begins every school bond project description by stating the age of the specific building and continually mentions how many OKC school buildings are over 72 years old, as if to establish that a building’s age necessarily determines its educational effectiveness. In fact, Classen School of Advanced Studies, housed in the 96-year-old Northeast High School building is one of the highest-rated high schools in America. My great-granddaughter appreciates the building’s architectural character and seems to be getting an excellent education there.

Somewhere along the way, Superintendent McDaniel has taken upon himself the decision that these old school buildings need to be replaced by bright, shiny new ones. Sadly, his inexperience in major construction programs, along with his stubborn unwillingness to consider rehabilitating legacy school buildings and augmenting them where necessary with modern additions, is going to leave Oklahoma City’s architectural landscape diminished. A city which has already lost so many of its historic buildings.

— Michael Smith, Oklahoma City

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Letters on Canoo, stuttering, Ron Desantis, Capitol Hill High School