Caring parents key to better education
From an isolated case involving the response of Tennessee Christian Preparatory School to a social media post by one of its senior girls, Chattanooga Times opinion page Editor Ben Sessoms builds a case against biblical ethics and ultimately against the availability of school vouchers in private schools. To write off the Cleveland school’s invoking and enforcement of traditional sexual morality as “homophobic,” as he does, merits its own response. Name a high school which doesn’t wrestle with these and related issues. Same-sex restrooms, anyone?
He says the issue with vouchers is the lack of accountability and the inability of the public to enforce his understanding of anti-discrimination laws. Control of education should be in the hands of the public, somehow. Thus, schools like this one are disqualified from access to public money.
There are several dimensions to accountability, but the only accountability which really matters in the end is a parent’s decision to enroll his/her child in a particular school or to continue the child’s relationship with a particular teacher. One-size-fits-all efforts, from teacher merit pay schemes to No Child Left Behind to Common Core, have all come up short. Way short. Real accountability exists in those situations where the competence and character of individual teachers is known to the school administrator, to fellow teachers, and to the constituent parents. School vouchers only help to facilitate this process for caring parents.
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Caregiver tax credit needed in budget
In Tennessee’s communities, family caregivers work hard to put their parents, spouses and loved ones first. In Washington, the current administration is considering a solution — a federal tax credit — to put money back into these caregivers’ pockets and give them financial relief.
Tennessee’s 900,000 family caregivers drive their loved ones to doctor appointments, pick up groceries and medications, prepare meals, assist with bathing and dressing, and more. Without the millions in unpaid labor they provide, more older Americans would be forced out of their own homes and into costly nursing homes — with the government and taxpayers footing the bill.
Family caregivers in Tennessee are using up their savings, dipping into retirement accounts, and even sacrificing their own bills and necessities to ensure their loved ones have what they need According to AARP, caregivers spend an average of $7,200 per year.
Tennessee’s family caregivers have done the right thing by sacrificing to put their families first and help keep their older loved ones at home. Now, it’s Congress’ turn to do the same and include a family caregiver tax credit in the tax package.
Ron Littlefield
Wake up, Americans; Trump destroying us
America had better wake up before Donald Trump destroys this country. His presidency was bought and paid for with lies and promises to billionaires. The American people never gave him a mandate to destroy our government agencies, to fire essential people and departments that protect us. They never gave Trump a mandate to put tariffs on products that now cost us more. They never gave him a mandate to stop funding for food banks, free lunches for school children or cancer research or to fire FEMA personnel and weather predictors. Or to starve people in other countries.
We never believed tax cuts for the rich were fair or right. Congress has failed the American people by bowing down to Trump instead of working for the people. The Supreme Court has failed this country.
Democracy is being stolen and when dictatorship takes control, you will know loss of freedom. No one is talking about the tremendous cost of a North Korean-style military parade to honor Trump, which is a total sham.
Wake up, people. Our country is in trouble.
Lynn Mitchell
Biased reports lead to additional violence
Is it any wonder why Jewish people are being attacked across this country when newspapers, politicians, protesters and the mainstream media amplify antisemitic rhetoric? Same thing happened with the DOGE/Tesla vandalism. The media has gone from reporting news to pushing narratives, many of them false, half-truths or misleading. Our own CTFP consistently publishes syndicated Associated Press articles by reporters Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Sam Mednick. The individuals clearly present a biased, one-sided view of the Gaza war. Very little, if any, condemnation of Hamas can be found in their reporting.
No doubt the situation in Gaza is horrific, but much of their reporting is based on information given to them, as truth, from the Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas. Every one of these so-called news pieces need to be viewed with skepticism. When they do try to present some balance from Israel sources, they often caveat it with phrases like “without evidence,” “cannot be verified” or “cannot independently verify the video,” yet they offer no such caveats when they report on information coming out of the Gaza Health Ministry.
So the question is, why do you continually give exposure to these reports? Clearly, people are being driven by today’s mainstream media reporting and rhetoric to act in violent ways against innocent people. Institutions and individuals need to held accountable when First Amendment protections have been exceeded.
Robert Holmes
Be careful on credit card usage
With the increased cost of just about everything, consumers are reaching for their credit cards too often. Credit cards do offer benefits, like efficiency, travel rewards, cash back and credit building. But these perks are less than the price increases we see on products and services for which we often use the card.
The cost of this convenience is obvious. I have seen people use a credit card to pay for a $5 cup of coffee (for which there is a small percentage charge to the restaurant or retailer, who then adds this onto the price of products).
There are those who use a credit card to buy things that they do not have the money in the bank to pay for. Many of us have had to do that, but using a credit card for convenience is costing all of us. Credit card use can make spending feel less painful; peeling cash out of your wallet is a deterrent to spending — or overspending.
Please think twice before swiping your credit card. Use a debit card instead.
Terryl Roddy