Letters: Tell the full truth about education spending

Tell the full truth about education spending

The details Republican leaders give about public school funding are dishonest. Jack Whitver, Senate majority leader, is quoted in the Cedar Rapids Gazette saying, “No aspect of the state budget has received more new funding since 2017 than K-12 education.” Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley agrees, “We are spending more money on state aid for education than we ever have in our state.”

Both statements are true but misleading. Schools are faced with at least 4% inflationary costs by just being in the business of transportation, school supplies, food supplies, insurance, employee expenses, etc. The state has historically offered, under Republican leadership, a paltry 0.5% to 2.5% increase in funding for the past several years. True, it’s more money than the year before, and they tout it as historic funding, but it does not meet the needs of public schools.

Schools are left with budget cutting to cover basic expenses at the expense of school programming.

Let's be honest in the assessment of finances. The Republican leadership makes “us” believe that they are doing everything financially possible to finance schools. Take another look: “School choice” means vouchers that will siphon millions from the public schools. Iowa already has a school choice. It’s called open enrollment.

— Michael Fritz, Coralville

Barbara Walters didn’t take sides

Since her death many have praised Barbara Walters for her journalism skills, and rightfully so. She was a true journalist because she asked the tough questions that most journalists do not do today. She was not muzzled by the media company executives and was not prohibited from reporting on events that supported only the political narratives of her superiors.

Do you think Barbara Walters would be asking President Joe Biden about his son Hunter’s laptop? You know she would. Do you think she would be questioning Rep. Adam Schiff about his Russia hoax lies? You know she would. Do you think she would be questioning the White House about the southern border immigration crisis? You know she would. Unless viewers are watching Fox News, they are unaware of these events and much more.

Most journalists today report only on events that support the political narrative of their bosses. They are muzzled. If they step out of line, they get fired or suspended. Our journalists are not providing the American electorate the information they need to make informed decisiions. Unfortunately, I don't see this changing until we get more like Barbara Walters.

— Dennis Potter, Des Moines

Medical workers always go right back to their job

There seems to be worldwide agreement that it is absolutely impossible to carry on with business "as usual" after witnessing an aggressive resuscitation that includes intubation and chest compressions. This, coming in the wake of the tragic events at a recent NFL game.

Yet, those of us in health care, and especially emergency health care, have performed those tasks literally hundreds of times and, within minutes of completion, successful or not, immediately moved on to the next room, the next sprained ankle, earache or back injury.

We all train and practice over and over, every conceivable scenario so that when the time comes, we are ready and will know exactly what to do AND when to do it. We all know that the CPR you see on TV programs is completely unrealistic and toned-down version of how resuscitation is actually done.

Real-life CPR done by well-trained professionals is truly a BRUTAL assault on a dead body by multiple people trained to be clear-minded, precise and goal-oriented in the application of the assault. The goal is to breathe life back into that lifeless body. It involves high-energy electrical shocks and aggressive immediate vascular access that can include drilling into a superficial bone and placing a large metal needle into the marrow. It also includes chest compressions that routinely break ribs, separate cartilage and crack breast bones. It involves visualization of the windpipe through the mouth to place a tube into the lungs to deliver oxygen and prevent the inevitable vomit from contaminating the lungs. If absolutely necessary, it involves cutting open a hole in the neck to access the airway and block the puke.

Please do not assume that when the paramedics, EMTs, nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and technicians immediately move on to the next case, that they were unaffected. Trust me, they were affected.

Kudos to the professionals who did their job so well on national TV. Kudos also to all those who do it every day in the ER, the back of the ambulance, along the side of the road, and in the checkout line at Walmart.

I'm sorry that the whole world had to witness a real and, I should add, SUCCESSFUL resuscitation.

But I hope those who could not possibly return to business as usual on Monday night understand that for many of us, there is simply no option but to immediately carry on with the job at hand. If we appear in that moment to be void of empathy or compassion, it's not that we are unaffected. We are using engrained defense mechanisms and maxing out our coping skills. We don't need you to completely understand, but we may need you to just cut us some slack.

— Dr. Darwin Schossow, EMS medical director, Pocahontas Community Hospital

More effort needed on conservation

I certainly agree with Sarah Carlson and Practical Farmers of Iowa that it would be a good idea to provide financial assistance to farmers to incentivize the implementation of cover crops. Cover cropping benefits everyone, not just the individual farmer. Billions of dollars are spent by the federal government on agriculture. About $30 billion is spent to improve conservation. Surely some of that money would be well allocated to encourage cover crops.

Perhaps an even better use of federal money earmarked for agriculture would be to incentivize conversion of row cropping to pasture. Pasture land stores carbon from the atmosphere and it creates superior meat compared to feedlots. Also, as the ratio of pasture to row crop acres increased, the water quality of our rivers would improve.

Some conservation improvements are best achieved not with subsidies but rather with regulations and penalties. Minnesota requires a buffer distance of 50 feet between tillage and any waterway. It is unfortunate that Iowa can't muster even that modest level of resolve. And when there is an eroded gully in the crease of a field where a grassy strip should be, I believe that is a crime. It should result in a fine.

I'm fairly old. I've lived all my life in central Iowa, and all my life, even after just a moderate rain, the rivers look like chocolate milk. For years I have heard the Farm Bureau and secretary of agriculture and various politicians tout the "great progress" being made in conservation. Meanwhile, the water quality of our lakes and streams has deteriorated and our topsoil has gone down the river. Can't we please finally take conservation seriously in our state?

— Art Staniforth, Ames

Why do we tolerate lying leaders?

I’m tired of all the lies! As a society we have become so accustomed to them we no longer challenge them, but rather accept their use. We have allowed the liars to use synonyms such as hyperbole, embellishment, half-truth and, my all-time favorite, alternative facts. New names for the ever-present lies that surround us.

Not only have we accepted the lies, but also the liars. Nowhere is it more obvious than our government. I don’t care what party or what level; it is a plague that affects them all. “Don’t question my lies, look at the other side’s lies.” We’ve heard some form of that far too many times from far too many members of our government. Where is the outrage of all of this? If it is because of party loyalty, then are you among a party of liars.

— James Judge, Norwalk

Central Time is passé

Sorry, not sorry, Tonga and Samoa! If the Iowa Legislature can mandate first-in-the-nation status for our presidential caucuses, why not the first-in-the-world New Year's celebration as well?

Let's send the International Date Line straight down the Des Moines River. So what, Lee Township, if you have to wait 23 hours to party?

— Jim Zeller, Des Moines

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Letters: Tell the full truth about education spending