New school is important to all in Jackson-Milton

New school is important to all in Jackson-Milton
EDITOR:
I am a 15-year-old freshman at Jackson-Milton High School. We have tried to pass many bond issues to get a new school built, but unfortunately, they have all failed. We desperately need a new school and I am afraid that there will be no more Jackson-Milton if we don't get enough "yes" voters.
From attending board meetings for our school bond issues, I noticed that most people choose not to vote for our school because of taxes. A lot of people think that if we get a new school, their taxes will go up. That is true, but what those people don't realize is that their taxes are going to go up even higher if we have to merge with another school district around us. The Jackson-Milton School District has an effective tax rate of 31.81 mills, which is the second lowest in the county. Think about it -- wouldn't you rather pay less taxes and have a really nice school?
There are also many people who think that instead of building a new school, we should just repair everything that needs fixed. We can't do that because there are too many major things that need repaired, so it would cost a tremendous amount of money to fix everything. We would be wasting our money because that is like putting a bandage over something that's never going to heal. It would also be very difficult to repair some of the things at our school, which include our old, leaky roof, our outdated electrical box, our old windows, and our heating and boiler system.
A little while ago, the ceiling of Austintown Middle School collapsed. This should have been an eye-opener for all of the people who vote "no" for our bond issues. AMS was built in 1916, and Jackson-Milton was built in 1913. The same exact thing could happen to our school, and if it does, what if it happens while school is in session? Think of all the people who could get injured and the possible lawsuits that could follow.
The smartest solution to our current problem is to build a new school. People who vote "no" for our school really need to think about what they are doing. If we don't take care of our school, both our children and our community will suffer. I hope that everybody realizes how important this is and votes "yes" when the bond issue is on the ballot again.
ALYSSA CHINE
North Jackson
Illegals are a problem
EDITOR:
Whatever they want to call it, the immigration bill that Ohio senators DeWine and Voinovich voted for is an amnesty bill. Their "yes" vote is giving our country to illegal immigrants. I'll never vote for either one again. I can't believe anyone could vote to give our country away. They are occupying our country without firing a shot. We are losing a war.
Nobody knows for sure how many this bill gives a path to citizenship, but it is estimated at 12 to 20 million. Remember, if they receive citizenship they are entitled to bring their immediate family here. A rough estimate is between 80 to 100 million new immigrants. Everyone says we can't deport all these people, but we'll be able to find out their complete background and keep track of them for 11 years. What a joke. It will cost more to enforce this law than to enforce existing immigration law. What would we do with the ones that do not follow these rules after 11 years? We will have the same problems again with 11 years of new babies and roots.
Make the employers pay new and bigger fines for breaking our laws to help pay for this enforcement. I recently saw where the Bush administration only fined three companies last year. Now we know why Bush and these companies are for amnesty.
When our plants closed we were told to retrain because there are fewer unskilled jobs. Now we need all these unskilled workers. Many of these illegals can't read or write. They are draining our social services and helping to close many hospitals. "Meet the Press" reported that the bill passed by the Senate will give illegal immigrants back credit toward Social Security while they were here illegally with fraudulent SS numbers.
BOB SLOVKOVSKY
Youngstown