Next CEO of city schools should have ties to district

Next CEO of city schools should have ties to district

With the departure of the CEO from Youngstown City Schools looming in the near future, I believe it is time to examine and rethink our options.

I consider it a waste of taxpayers’ money to hire a firm to conduct a national search for a new CEO, when there are qualified people right here. As a teacher for many years in the Youngstown City Schools, I was blessed to work with the best, brightest and most dedicated teachers and administrators.

Common sense suggests that a CEO from this area would be a more logical choice. He or she would not have to waste valuable time learning about the community, its students, families and other stakeholders. Familiarity with these things would allow the CEO to begin devising a plan almost immediately. A local CEO would also be able to consult the data that has been amassed and refer to it, keeping in mind the massive research done over the years on what to expect in urban education. He or she would already know and be able to better confront those unique problems that impact school performance in our area.

I suggest that we support all of the community groups interested and already involved in YCS, wanting and waiting for school improvements. Let’s not forget about our elected officials. Perhaps they will be able to help amend House Bill 70, an ill- conceived plan from the start.

Denise Gorman, Austintown

Save clean-air standards

In 2011, the barack Obama administration implemented MATS (Mercury and Air Toxics Standards) to protect vulnerable populations including children and pregnant women from mercury pollution. According to the World Health Organization, “Mercury may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems ... It is considered one of the top ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.”

Unfortunately, President Donald Trump’s EPA recently wrongly viewed an imbalance between the costs on industry to comply with the standards versus the benefits to our safety and environment. The current acting administrator of the EPA, former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, is now taking action to roll back these protections.

As a student intern with Defend Our Future, an environmental group at Ohio State University, we are asking all Ohioans to take action by calling your senators, Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, and let them know that you do not support the rollback of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

Jacklyn Debald, Columbus