Give the poor a hand
Regarding Allen Johnson's column, "New mantra for local education: 'I've got mine, good luck in getting yours' " (Oct. 30), it is sad to learn of the dismissive tone of some of the responses to "Dollars and Sense," the report on the connection between wealth and SAT scores, but such a tone is not surprising, and the mantra is not new.
Just look for the best school facilities in Guilford County; you won't find a really good auditorium at a public school. Yes, let's hear it for school reform. Let's try these ideas: raising the minimum wage so poor parents don't have to work two or three jobs; providing good health care for everybody; providing the best preschool experiences for the poorest children.
We are all in the same boat, folks, this big USS America. Just remember what Poor Richard said: "It takes just a small leak to sink a great ship." If the folks in steerage drown, so will the rest of us.
John York
Greensboro
Comments (2)
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I not really gung ho about legally requiring a lift of the minimum wage - which is not to say our workers should not be paid a lot more ... but the following is a self evident circle:
1 -- Wealth as the love of money is a cardinal sin.
2 -- Earn it, keep it, but give back to the systems and people that facilitated your ability to earn in the first place.
3 -- It is your responsibility to get an education, act with decency for and towards all, and to make the best of yourself, being a role model to those around you.
4 -- If your parents are [or were] not on-the-ball enough to urge you to get an education - get an education - even if it means teaching yourself with slate and charcoal, Mr. Lincoln.
5 -- Low SAT scores are more a sign of no focus or laziness than they are of anything else.
6 -- As a citizen, you have the responsibility to do things and get things done, including picking yourself up, then working - for yourself, for those around you, and for America in general.
7 -- American citizens need the ablity and opportunity to work and create and contribute - as as an entrepreneur or an intrepreneur or helper or healer or in some mutually rewarding capacity.
8 -- America can only intermittently be the lowest cost world producer of any given good or service.
9 -- The almighty race to the lowest every day price is counter-productive and presents a danger to the America we all love.
10 - Others have interests counter-productive tp and presenting a danger to the America we all love.
Loop it back.
Posted on November 6, 2005 5:39 AM
Goblidygook
Posted on November 6, 2005 11:57 AM