READERS WRITE

Look at the whole picture, not a few words

Re: (“Vouchers Undercut Public Education” Jay Bookman, March 15), some have said that we should look at the whole Affordable Care Act, not just two words, because the intent was to provide medical insurance for all. Perhaps we should also not just look at two words in the Georgia Constitution (public education), since the intent is to provide an adequate education for all of Georgia’s youth.

PAUL RICE, COVINGTON

APS editorial missed big point

In the editorial (“Beyond the verdict,” Editorial, March 15), you discuss the struggles of the APS cheating trial. You stated change will require the sustained efforts by business government and the rest of us, but you failed to mention the most integral need and that is the family. The entire article is devoid of any mention of the need for a strong core family to support the children. You say that for starters, school is not a nuclear family, but that is exactly what is missing in most of the students’ lives. While you made many important points, you missed the mark entirely. For children will continue to struggle to be successful without the support of a strong family behind them.

KERI ROBINSON, CONYERS

The editorial on the APS cheating trial led to concern for our struggling schools and their students. Central to this is the lack of progress being made in teaching our young people values that will give them an equal opportunity to succeed in our challenging society. I agree that the changes to rectify this dismal state of affairs are the responsibility of business, government and most importantly, “the rest of us.” This includes people like the unfortunate young woman featured on your front page March 15. She killed herself and her children; each fathered by a different man. She did aspire to improve her station in life, but was destroyed by her lack of self control in trying to find what she considered a happy, normal life. Her efforts led to pregnancies and the birth of children who were handicapped from the very beginning by not having a father figure to love and lead. Our schools and teachers are being asked to correct the problems caused by “the rest of us.”

JACK FRANKLIN, CONYERS

Elton John should stick to music

Elton John claims he firmly believes in freedom of religion (Opinion, March 13), but he sang a different tune in a 2006 interview with “Music Monthly” magazine: “From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings…”

When he says “everyone has the right to worship,” he means you’re free to worship as long as you stay inside your home or church; just don’t take your religion into the public square.

He contends that Georgia’s proposed religious liberty bill would “allow people to discriminate at will.” Then why did 14 legal scholars sign a letter stating that “few claims to exemption from anti-discrimination laws are likely to succeed”?