Why I decided to support Columbus school's levy despite its many problems| Letters

I am voting for levy anyway

As the parent of two Columbus City Schools graduates with work experience in the district, I had reservations about the school levy.

In my 15 years as a parent, I participated in three facilities master plans only to watch the board fail to take action to address the district’s facility problems. Each time, it felt like nothing changed.

While I appreciate the building improvements funded by the federal government, the district should have prioritized consolidating buildings and focusing investments much earlier.

Letters: Futures of 45,000 Columbus kids at stake this November?

To be clear, I value investing in students, but I had doubts about the effectiveness of this levy and the limited communication efforts about it. Two factors ultimately influenced my decision.

One is my positive impression of Superintendent Angela Chapman, who answered my questions about the levy and other matters honestly and openly unlike my experience with her predecessor.

The other is the hope that the board, with new members, will be willing to make hard decisions.

I partnered with board candidate Brandon Simmons to advocate for building improvements at Columbus Alternative High School after a series of incidents, and I know he has a strong grasp of the issues facing the district.

For those reasons, I will be supporting Issue 11.

Cassandra Freeland, Columbus

The minority shouldn't rule Ohio

If there was a public health crisis that took the lives of tens of thousands of Americans every year we would expect the government to conduct a study to find the cause and cure for it... unless it was guns.

No one who bowls wants to face a 7/10 split, yet we face a 57/43 split every day.

Whether it's legalizing recreational marijuana or reasonable abortion and gun control laws, I see the 57/43 split on all of these issues and more, where the minority seems to get their way every time.

More: Issue 1 opponents want Ohio to have the most extreme abortion ban in US. Don't let them.

Why do we let that happen? Because not enough of us vote.

You can be sure if bowlers could vote against a 7/10 split, they would.

Syd Lifshin, Columbus

More: How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

A plague on their houses

Worthington-based Reading Recovery Council of North America filed a lawsuit against the state because their three-cued strategy was prohibited as a portion of reading instruction.

For many years, Reading Recovery was supported by state funds, as a result of successful Ohio State University lobbyists. In 1997 authorized the funding for a national reading panel to produce evidence-based assessment of the science of literature on reading and its implications for the teaching of reading.

Unfortunately, many higher education reading programs that were commercialized ignored the results of the National Reading Panel, that suggested that all reading programs include five components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Opinion: 'Houston, we have a problem.' Schools, parents must stop bickering, drop suspicion

The Ohio legislature should have required all reading programs using state dollars to include these five components, rather than singling out one reading strategy, used by Reading Recovery, that has benefitted some diverse learners.

Legislators should have embraced the findings of the National Reading Panel, and not called out a single reading strategy. Higher education failed to recognize the findings of the National Reading Panel, and in some programs eliminated phonemic awareness and phonics from their commercialized products, which provide a lucrative financial return.

A plague on both their houses!

Both the legislature and universities in general need to apply all of the research. Policy makers need to use the research to develop comprehensive educational policy, rather than encouraging reading wars.

Susan Tave Zelman, former state superintendent of Ohio and author

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus schools has major problems, but here's why I am supporting levy