EDUCATION
Fewer tax dollars puts the onus on test-takers
Regarding “GED test to get more expensive” (ajc.com, April 8), it is important to understand that each state determines the fees charged to test-takers, not GED Testing Service.
The real issue is that Georgia, and virtually all other states, have relied heavily on tax dollars to subsidize the very real costs of administering their high school equivalency program. The actual cost for each state to administer the program to one person is estimated to be approximately $150. That figure is certainly well above the amount test-takers had been asked to pay.
Georgia decided to pass along the full cost of the services delivered directly to those receiving the service — the GED test-taker. It will not be alone.
The systemic changes required to serve the millions of Americans without a high school credential will require us all to work together and think differently about adult education and GED testing — and how programs are funded.
Randy Trask, president and chief executive officer, GED Testing Service
SOCIAL SECURITY
Many will fight to keep benefits they’ve earned
Social Security and Medicare are earned entitlements — you have to contribute in order to receive them. Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income are unearned entitlements — you do not have to contribute in order to receive them.
I have a combined total of 92 years of payments into my earned entitlements. Many of those receiving their unearned entitlements have never worked a day. If the government intends to reduce the value of our earned retiree benefits, they had best call out the National Guard. They’re going to need them.
William M. Savage, Lithonia
ABORTION
Enough about women; what about the fetus?
It is puzzling how some people consider any regulation of abortion to be legislating a woman’s right to make decisions about her body and health. There has been no legislation that requires one to exercise, or forbids one to eat fatty foods, and both are related to the health of one’s body.
The removal of a live fetus from a woman’s body is not the same thing as cutting one’s hair, getting a manicure, or filling a tooth. It is the end of the life of another human being. If one is to be concerned about an individual’s health, should not consideration be given to the health of the child growing in a woman’s womb?
Mike Deal, Alpharetta
POLITICS
Time for term limits in the House, Senate
It is time to consider term limits. This will reduce corruption and instances of lifelong politicians. The people we have in government are professional politicians who have lost touch with the common American.
The Republicans are only interested in saying “no.” The Democrats (if the shoe were on the other foot) would do the same. The framers of the Constitution did not think that people would make a lifetime of only government work. We changed the term limits on the presidency — why not those for the representatives, too?
Larry N. Skinner, Douglasville
