Letters - Friday

DISTRICT 11
Officials seem intent in wrecking central portion of our city

The plan to extend Constitution Avenue was shelved until 2020 because east-to-west congestion was and is a problem in far north Colorado Springs; Extending Constitution would not solve any of those problems. Currently, traffic that needs to go east from the end of Constitution takes Fontanero Street to the south or Fillmore Street to the north. There is no congestion problem.

The suggestion for District 11 to close Stratton Elementary School and Horace Mann Middle School and give/sell/trade those properties to the city for the purpose of extending Constitution was unsolicited by city planners and would not benefit anyone at this point ("A frustrating couple of hours," Metro, Jan. 7). I suspect D-11 is looking for an acceptable justification for closing Wasson High School, Stratton and Horace Mann, a justification that makes D-11 look like it cares about city planning. The truth is quite different.

After closing East Middle School last year, the proposed closures would leave the north-central part of the city abandoned by D-11. Families with children will stop locating in these neighborhoods and those already there will flee. Place a highway through the middle of it all and what we will have in a few years is an urban renewal project like the one south of downtown.

The north end is filled with young couples in starter homes and families that have stayed with their fixed mortgages on affordable houses instead of buying McMansions. The north end is a thriving neighborhood full of folks who prefer not to live in suburban sprawl. D-11's plan will change that. While other cities strive to revitalize their city cores, D-11's plan will destroy our city core.

When voters turned down the mill levy for D-11, the message was "no money until you become more efficient." D-11 didn't get the message. Administrators would rather destroy a section of our city than work harder or more efficiently. The saddest part of this is how little D-11 cares about the children it serves.

Warren Schroeder, Colorado Springs

Schools with successful programs should be copied, not closed

Why is there an exodus of students from D-11? The consultants hired by D-11 are failing to resolve that problem, and instead, are focusing their efforts on closing schools with fewer than 300 students and finding a home for the Bijou Alternative School.

Dr. Christian Cutter, the district's executive director of achievement and accountability, met with teachers and staff at Buena Vista Elementary on Jan. 6 and informed them that Buena Vista is No. 2 on the list for closure despite its Montessori Program. Isn't this decision the ultimate vote of the D-11 board of education in February, not the administration or consultants? Who is running the show and what is their endgame?

Small Schools with fewer than 300 students attract parents and children. Mega-schools lose children to charter schools with a smaller, safer student populations and higher teacher-to-pupil ratios.

Barack Obama's education plan will focus federal funding toward school districts with the most effective programs and proven track records of success. It also will work to expand successful school choices for parents and students within public education, like Montessori and theme-focused schools.

D-11 has a prime opportunity to utilize the specialized programs it already has in place.

D-11 should advertise and increase these programs and offer parents choices. Build on the momentum occurring, rather than closing performing schools, displacing students and wasting taxpayer dollars on costly expansions at other schools.

I expect the D-11 board of education to challenge what is taking place at the expense of our students.

Kristen R. Downs, Colorado Springs

Christen was a board reformer who was ahead of his time

The eloquent editorial written by Eric Christen was on the target ("Public education problems a result of system's design," Other Voices, Jan. 3). During his tenure on the D-11 school board, Christen pointed to many of the ills affecting D-11 and similar school urban districts and he offered a host of positive solutions. Among his ideas were teacher pay-for-performance, site-based management and increasing teacher pay to a competitive corporate level without teacher union affiliation.

Christen was also the first to point out the miserable drop-out rate among students across Colorado. As some of readers may recall, the Colorado dropout data reflected 5 percent when the actual figure was closer to 50 percent. Christen pointed out this data flaw and similar misinformation, and paid for the revelations with public ridicule and personal harassment.

Christen stood for reform and increased citizens participation in education, but politics and personalities clouded his message. The current school board is a direct result of the reformers elected in 2003 who tried to change a public education system that is bent on self preservation without delivering a quality education. Teachers and administrators are paid the same regardless of the educational outcome, and there is no penalty for failure.

If public education was rewarded based on fiscal and academic performance, many teachers and administrator would be in different professions.

The allies of the status quo in public education are at every level of public policy. We need more concerned citizens to step up to the plate and usher in education reform.

Willie H. Breazell Sr., Colorado Springs

LOOMING CRISIS
Beetle mitigation in Colorado takes a punch in the gut

The Colorado public needs to know of a 9th district judge's Nov. 25, 2008 decision in support of the Sierra Club suing the U.S. Forest Service on Categorical Exclusion salvage timber sales. This court order effectively shuts down all salvage sales that fall under environmental assessments that the Forest Service has used to set up areas to be treated for beetle infestation and fire-hazard mitigation.

At the time when Coloradans see the problem of our overgrown forests, see what the Hayman fire did and understand the beetle infestation that is devastating northern Colorado, this ruling comes down. The Pike/San Isabel Forest Service district has been very progressive in treating beetle infestation areas. I know because I am a proud Colorado logging/thinning contractor who has been doing a lot of this type of work around Buena Vista, Salida and South Park. Treated areas show a healthy forest that supports wildlife and water function and tree spacing for future growth, as well as fuel reduction. This is called practicing forestry.

This serves all of us and our tax dollars and promotes a healthy forest. Losing this tool makes it even harder to get the environmental assessments pushed through to treat these beetle infested areas.

Shame on the Sierra Club for its worship of nature to the point of idiocy.

And shame on a judge sitting in Sacramento ruling on Colorado forests which are in the 10th district.

Please call your congressmen and the governor and tell them this court ruling must be appealed immediately. Our children will not have the forests we have enjoyed unless we manage these beetle-infested areas. The public had better get behind the Forest Service and the timber industry or get ready for some smoke because the professionals say when, not if, the forest burns, it'll make the Hayman Fire look like a little spark. With management and a little common sense we can make a difference in the beautiful mountains of Colorado.

Tom Mahon, Mahon Timber Hartsel

FORGOTTEN WORKERS
Obama's tax-cut proposal leaves out nonworking families

I read about President-elect Barack Obama's tax cut proposal and if I read the article correctly, he proposes to give a tax cut of $1,000 to couples where one or the other is employed ("Obama wants a $500 tax cut, double for couples," The Gazette, Jan. 6). If this is so then I would be seriously opposed to its consideration. I am retired, as is my wife, living on a very fixed income, in the fall of our lives, and are no longer to earn a wage. Are the nonworking families to be left out of his plan? Has "big brother" forgotten about us, the ones who helped this nation grow strong?

Frank C. Hickethier, Colorado Springs