Sunday's letters: Look twice at Van Wezel deal, oppose privatization, treat guns like cars

Public may lose out in Van Wezel deal

Going forward, we should focus on what offers the most and the most attractive performances on Sarasota stages.

The Van Wezel Foundation purportedly “would prevent the existing Van Wezel hall from competing with the new performing arts center for concerts ...”

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To my mind, this is a self-serving demand by the Van Wezel Foundation and the ultimate loser might very well be the Sarasota public. Am I cynical when I conclude that its members care principally for the new center and will let a mainstay of culture over decades here simply fade away?

I agree, too, that cost overruns on the pricey new center in Bay Park are more than likely, as Georgia Court suggests in her guest column (“Sarasota shouldn’t turn its back on Van Wezel legacy,” June 7).

As to the Van Wezel legacy and fair decency, family descendants should speak up. I know I shall.

Andrew Littauer, Sarasota

Use your vote to oppose privatizing schools

I moved here in 1990, choosing Sarasota because it had the best schools in the state. My kids went to Riverview, Pine View, University of South Florida and University of Florida, and they have done well with that.

America provides public education because our leaders long ago wanted to prepare children to be good citizens with not only the three R’s, but also with the ability to separate fact from fiction and truth from lies, and to have a moral compass, a sense of responsibility for the community and civility.

Opinion: Charter schools making positive difference

They set up a system so that what would be taught was in line with what the majority wanted taught, and the business of the schools was closely supervised by the community leaders.

Taxes were collected from the citizens to fund the system. Taxes were not collected to give to privately run schools that are not managed and supervised by the educators and managers the school department employs.

Taxes were not collected to have religion, false histories and false beliefs taught.

Please vote for School Board candidates who oppose privatizing the schools and who oppose charter schools.

William Anderson, Sarasota

Future of public education is threatened

“Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.” – John Dewey.

We are at that moment now. People with guns have taken the lives of innocent children. But guns, and those who wield them, are not the only threat.

The future of public education is threatened and with it our form of government. The chaos at Sarasota County School Board meetings, perceived as sudden, has been percolating for a long time.

Mask mandates, critical race theory and social emotional learning are just red herrings to distract the public from the real issue. There is a well-financed movement to privatize education.

Private and religious schools have been with us forever and they serve a purpose. The mission of public schools is to make a good education available to every student.

Over the years that has expanded to children from all socioeconomic backgrounds and children with mental and physical challenges.

As the demands have increased, the resources have not. Among the many challenges facing public education is a serious teacher shortage, to say nothing of all the other staff required.

School Board elections will be decided Aug. 23. Pay attention!

Rhana Bazzini, Sarasota

Stricter regulation of vehicles than guns

Motor vehicles and firearms are both useful tools when operated by a person trained and licensed to use them. However, in the hands of an incompetent or criminal person, both can injure or kill.

We accept that all vehicles must be registered and licensed and that all vehicle owners must pass a safety test in order to get a driver’s license. We also accept that owners must carry liability insurance on their vehicles or face financial penalties if their vehicles cause injury or death.

So likewise we should accept that all firearms should be registered and licensed and that all firearms owners should pass a safety test (including a background check) to get a license to operate a firearm.

Owners should carry liability insurance on their firearms. Anyone with a criminal record (felons, people with a no-contact order, on a no-fly list, etc.) would have his operator’s license revoked and firearm(s) confiscated.

Virginia deHaven Hitchcock, Sarasota

To end war, Biden and Putin should meet

What I don’t get is President Joe Biden’s reluctance to talk or meet with Vladimir Putin to end this war in Ukraine.

Already thousands are dead and cities ruined. The Russians are controlling major ports so wheat cannot be moved. U.S. gas prices are on the rise.

What is it with the Biden administration that it will do nothing but issusanctions, which at this point have done little?

We need leadership. Make a call, meet Putin and stop this brutal war

Saul Feldman, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Van Wezel losing out to new center, regulate guns like cars