Legislative failures, poor charter schools make local levies necessary

Legislative failures, poor charter schools make local levies necessary

This is in response to Sherry Ross’ letter of April 15 against the Boardman school levy. Boardman is one of many schools in the area and throughout the state with levies.

Who has hands in our pockets, and why can’t we make do with what they have? Here are the answers.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has allowed failing charter schools to open and operate with no accountability, leading to so many academic and financial problems that Kasich promised reforms this past year.

Instead, rampant misspending, bribes and kickbacks continue under Kasich and Republican-controlled House and Senate. Ohioans (homeowners) are getting shortchanged because more and more of our property-taxed dollars are going to failing charter schools.

This is what forces our public schools to make up for lost state money by either raising our local taxes or cutting programs, teachers and services. Until our Republican-controlled House and Senate adhere to the Supreme Court of Ohio ruling that funding public education is unconstitutional (1997) as required by the Ohio Constitution and directed to find a remedy, it will never be enough.

Our kids and parents are hurting. We deserve better. Taxpayers are seeing nearly $1 billion of our state money and hundreds of millions of our local tax money go to pay for these failing charter schools. It’s a tragedy.

An entire generation of students has gone through this broken system. Until the Republicans stop being in contempt of court, we must support the levies.

Ed Freisen, Newton Falls

Licensing all gun owners wouldn’t trample on 2nd-Amendment rights

The gun issue is mired, it seems, in the mud of stale thinking and failed platforms. Guns or no guns. Second Amendment rights. Assault rifles. Bumpstocks. Background checks. The poles are drawn.

An alternative idea to examine is to simply license gun owners and register each owned gun, the same way we license drivers and register vehicles. Leave it to the state then to create the legal necessary restrictions to licensure, age, criminal or psychological record, or physical restriction. No restriction exists under licensure to Second Amendment rights.

A licensure is a fact of s ocial organization. All of us are licensed at birth by certificate. Then we are licensed as U.S. citizens by Social Security number. Some of us are baptized and inherit another license. At 16, we get our driver’s license. Our diplomas and degrees are licenses. After graduation we are licensed by Selective Service. Each of us is licensed to continue residency with each 10-year census tract. Under employment, the Internal Revenue Service licenses us to pay support of the government. Many of us are licensed to marry. Boards of election license us to vote. And of course, many of the trades require licenses, including doctors, nurses, attorneys, teachers, social workers, pilots, electricians, plumbers, and the list goes on.

To license gun owners would in no way impact the Second Amendment. The background check and registration as presently applied to commercial gun and munitions purchase are ineffective.

First, those checks are not applied to all purchases, often excluding gun-show sales and private-citizen sales.

Further, those checks disappear after the purchase. Introducing a license system will allow for perpetual tracking. Failing to register for a license could result in confiscation. In a generation, a license system could reach full social acceptance and compliance. Friends and critics agree with me that required license is an accepted and respected obligation for social organization. Let’s call for gun ownership to be licensed for effective social control of firearms.

Jim Villani, Youngstown

Pressure Canfield BOE to put officers in all schools

School safety is a hot topic today and deservedly so. Schools are putting armed resource officers in schools. It is an unfortunate circumstance. But, reality says there is a need to protect our students and staff. Fast response to an issue is critical.

In the Canfield Local Schools system, we have had a resource officer in the high school. A commitment has been made to add a resource officer in the middle school.

That leaves the two elementary schools without resource officers. Fifty percent coverage is not a passing grade.

There is a lot of sentiment in the city for coverage in all the schools. The school board appears to be reluctant to move in this direction. Cost should not be an issue. You cannot put a value on safety.

The school board has the prime responsibility for safety in the school system. The city police are a resource and have the responsibility to respond to safety issues in addition to resource officers.

So far, both resource officers have been drawn from the Canfield Police Department. Qualified resource officers can come from many places.

It is time to quit procrastinating and add the resource officers to all schools. It appears that it is not going to happen without the residents of Canfield applying pressure to the school board.

Frank A. Micchia, Canfield

Dumbfounded, saddened over pullout by TJX

I’m dumbfounded that Lordstown would let TJX slip away because of a handful of whining home owners who can’t see past their back yards.

I’m also disappointed in the mayor for not being more assertive in standing up for the village and for the economic impact that TJX would have had on the area.

You reap what you sow, and Lordstown has sowed nothing.

Jim Eidel, Beaver Twp.

US must change course in policy on China trade

Our trade with China has been very bad for the last nine years. President Donald Trump is changing that.

The Chinese have demanded and obtained exclusive rights from manufacturing companies and the secret to manufacturing to do business in China. Yet the Chinese have come into this country and outright purchased 100 percent of the largest pork producers in the world.

We have to start changing in this country, allowing only 45 percent ownership of companies by foreign countries, to allow majority of ownership by U.S. companies. That way we will be like the rest of the world, which allows only 45 percent U.S. ownership.

If we are not careful, we will be owned by a majority of foreign countries as the laws are written right now.

George R. Holko Sr., Warren