Ideas for answering our teacher shortage
To correct the teacher shortage in Georgia (“Fewer Georgians become teachers,” News, Dec. 21), the state may need to do what the state of Florida did during the 1950s. It provided teaching scholarships based on competitive exams and the character references of would-be teachers. The contingency was that if the students using them did not teach in Florida, the scholarship had to be repaid with interest for every year not taught in Florida. (I know, because I used it.)
Another idea for bringing in more tax revenue to provide for scholarships and better teacher pay might be a second Lottery. Those who wished to participate could send in an extra $5 with their state income tax returns. The state would then issue a lottery ticket to those participating, reserving $4 for educational purposes and using $1 to fund the lottery. Even with just one dollar per tax return, that could amount to a lot of money. This would add a bit of entertainment value to paying taxes, and the year’s winner could be announced on public television, which I suspect would provide its biggest audience ever.
MARGARET CURTIS, ATLANTA
We need to reduce use of fossil fuels
Peter Morici in his essay, “When falling oil prices meet dumb public policy” (Opinion, Dec. 18), argues in favor of increased oil production. But he totally ignores the environmental impact of the current U.S. oil and gas boom, made possible by new methods like fracking, horizontal drilling and shale oil extraction. Because of grave concerns about water and air contamination, fracking was banned in New York State just days ago. That’s an important first step.
By continuing to burn ever-increasing amounts of oil, gas and coal (think of cars, airplanes and electric power plants), we are causing our planet’s atmosphere to heat up. Scientists are very clear about the dangers of climate change. We know we can avert unmanageable storms, droughts, floods, melting glaciers and rising sea levels if we keep much of known oil and coal reserves in the ground and switch to renewable resources of energy. We only have a few decades to accomplish this, or it’s game over.
BERT H. SCHUSTER, BUFORD
Take pride in Ga.’s justice reforms
I join Kyle Wingfield (“In praise of governor’s criminal justice reforms,” Dec. 11) in commending Gov. Nathan Deal for the important work he has done by both elevating the profile of criminal justice reform and taking concrete steps to accomplish it. It might not be the most popular issue to address, but none could be more important when it comes to building safe, whole communities and caring for those on the edges of society.
During our decades of work in Georgia, Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest outreach to those affected by the cycle of crime and incarceration, has realized that restoring men and women behind bars to their full potential is the best crime-fighting strategy. I am proud to be sitting with Jay Neal, the executive director of the governor’s Office of Transition, Support and Reentry, on the newly formed Chuck Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections. Now we can take the lessons learned from Georgia and elsewhere and apply them to the federal prison system.
JIM LISKE, CEO, PRISON FELLOWSHIP
Columnist’s scary support of torture
Charles Krauthammer said that when there is a threat of attack, it’s OK to protect the nation “by whatever means meet and fit the threat” (“Clumsy, cruel, at times wrong, CIA kept us safe,” Opinion, Dec. 13). It is shameful that someone unlike myself, who devoted 20 years to the Navy Reserve, would condone the use of torture. Please tell me if Dr. Krauthammer is continuing to practice psychiatry after revealing his preference for torture. He also failed to tell the reader the House of Representatives was controlled by the Republican majority.
WILLIAM SHAUGHNESSY, PEACHTREE CORNERS
