AJC has a clue, but Dept. of Ed doesn’t
This is my first letter in more than 30 years to the AJC, but I felt obligated to pass on a compliment regarding “Suspicious scores across the nation” (News, March 25), which addressed the pathetic state of education in this country.
What does the Department of Education do? Why does it exist? How can this happen in the U.S. — and did this department have a clue?
Your article should be a wake-up call for caring residents nationally. Congratulations to the AJC for a job well done — and for telling it like it is. Walter L. Rehm, Berkeley Lake
Give folks a forum to debate tax proposal
Please allow an open debate in your paper on the pros and cons of the Transportation Investment Act.
The residents of this great state deserve to know the facts. We are the little folks —the ones who used to count. We are no longer consulted on important matters.
Many of us moved to Georgia for the suburban (not urban) lifestyle. If we wanted to live in tall, cramped buildings near railroad tracks, we would live in New York City. Let us keep our cars. Fix our roads!
Please give us an opportunity to hear both sides concerning this issue — and let us do what is right for the people of Georgia.
Jan Barton, Marietta
So glad ranting pilot didn’t have a firearm
As an airline flight crew training instructor (and advocate against pilots carrying firearms in the cockpit), I am very grateful Clayton Osbon, a JetBlue captain who came unglued, did not have a weapon at his disposal — as this event could have ended quite differently for all aboard (“Pilot’s rant puts focus on checkups,” News, March 29).
I urge everyone not to rush to judgment regarding the captain’s state of mind and fitness for the job. We do not know if his food or beverage was tampered with or if what happened was the result of FAA-approved medication gone wrong.
The flying public should continue to place their utmost trust in their cockpit and cabin crews, as they are indeed the fit, proficient and continually trained and checked (to the highest-possible standard) professionals we perceive them to be — if not more.
Robert Rogers, College Park
Case reflects so much of what’s amiss in U.S.
Trayvon Martin’s death is a flash point for so much of what’s wrong with our nation. For instance, the National Rifle Association’s hold over our laws and culture, the increasing boldness of racists fueled by talk radio and television’s anti-Obama rhetoric, and the creeping fear that every black male in the U.S. has to live with from the first day he ventures out into the streets.
GLENN PHILLIPS, ATLANTA
Character questions indicate a bigger issue
I am the mother of two sons and can imagine the hurt and pain that Trayvon Martin’s parents feel.
The recent questions concerning Trayvon’s character are indicative of a much larger issue: that the lives of young black men in America are not valued.
Pat Jones, Ellenwood
