One-on-one time can aid students

I recently read the article about how the poor Dalton schools are outperforming their wealthy counterparts.

I find it great that the lower income schools are doing better than the bigger schools. My senior class has only five people in it, so I know what it is like to have more one-on-one time with the teachers. Having the teachers working closer with you is a huge benefit in learning.

I applaud the teachers of those schools for taking the time to work with those students. It just goes to show that if you have the will to learn, you can be very successful in school.

ZACH VAN FLEET

Time for majority to take control

Re: the front page article, Aug. 23, "Ridgeland team flagged for religious activities."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation indicated there are plenty of students who could be offended by religious activities because "a quarter or more are not religious."

I can't believe we can even consider that 25 percent of the football players (and I doubt that figure) can control the other 75 percent of the football players who want to say prayers. Just let the 25 percent leave the group and do something else. This appears the tail is wagging the dog, and it is past the time where the majority of the people in the United States should start doing what we used to do ... give thanks to our Maker.

DON HOFFMAN, Cleveland, Tenn.

Stewart not afraid to debate issues

What should the electorate expect from candidates running for office? For starters, politicians should be willing to engage their opponents in dialogue that would inform us about their positions on governmental issues. Canned commercials are taking the place of substantive debate.

State Sen. Eric Stewart is running for the U.S. Congress in the Tennessee 4th Congressional District and has requested a series of debates with the incumbent Republican, Congressman Scott DesJarlais. He has refused. Why? I assume he is afraid of his record and doesn't feel he is obligated to tell voters what his solutions might be or in any way to engage his opponent.

Sen. Stewart has worked very hard in our state Senate to solve problems and has worked with members of both parties to make our state better. He isn't afraid to address issues and have a healthy public discussion of them, unlike Congressman DesJarlais who is depending on your ignorance of his positions to protect his job.

Our government needs people who actually can build consensus to solve the problems facing our country and the world and is not afraid to debate the issues. Go to www.votestewart.com for more information.

MRS. PAT TABOR, Estill Springs, Tenn.