Letters to the Editor
Education concerns
To The Editor:
The achievement gap – the gap between test scores of low income students and wealthier students – widened in North Carolina more than in any other state between 2011 and 2014, according to the Education
Equality Index. The Education Equality Index is a national measure of the achievement gap that includes city and state information.
In our Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools, in 2017, the school board established a goal of closing the student achievement gap by 10 percentage points district-wide while still increasing performance across the
board. Today, work continues towards closing the achievement gap, and there is much to be done to support our teachers, our students, and their families.
Many studies have shown that the most important resource in helping our students gain proficiency is an excellent teacher. Yet teachers are leaving the profession, due to inadequate pay and resources that make it difficult, if not impossible, to succeed. We must pay them more and give them the respect they deserve.
Dan Besse, running for North Carolina House District 74, is committed to education, and particularly to increasing teacher pay. Dan’s mother was a career teacher and principal, and he knows first-hand how important it is to have the best and most dedicated teachers in every classroom.
I’m supporting Dan Besse for North Carolina House because I know he is committed to an excellent education for all of our children.
Marty Pittman
Winston-Salem
National Day of Prayer
To The Editor:
As we Christians know, fervent prayer moves the hands of God. In Joshua Chapter 6, God delivered Jericho into Israel’s hands and they did not even need to fight. Likewise, in 2 Chronicles Chapter 20 when three enemy armies came to wage war against King Jehoshaphat, he “proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah … and gathered together to seek the Lord.”
The world is in a war! COVID-19 has disrupted our way of life and everything else in the world. Is it possible we have forgotten that God is in charge and in control of everything and everyone? Have we gotten so far away from what is morally right and turned a blind eye to what He intended and that there are consequences for our behavior? Look at the Flood brought on by the corruption of mankind (Genesis 6-7); Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19).
What about it, Pastors, Ministers and Lay People of our community and surrounding area? Can you come together and organize a time of national prayer to petition God to rid the world of COVID-19? It certainly worked for Joshua and King Jehoshaphat. Nothing else seems to be working.
Goldia Anderson
Winston-Salem
Terri LeGrand for Senate District 31
To The Editor:
For ten years the Republican majority in the Legislature has cut public school funding. A 2019 report ranked North Carolina as 46th in the country for per pupil funding. With the pandemic raging, our schools are facing huge cost increases as they try to provide a solid education for all our children.
North Carolina needs legislators who support public education and will fight for our schools. Terri LeGrand, running for Senate District 31, is that candidate.
Several years ago the General Assembly slashed unemployment benefits to workers laid off from their jobs. North Carolina is one of only two states in the country that offers only 12 weeks of support to out of work North Carolinians.
Terri LeGrand knows North Carolina can, and should, do better. Terri has pledged to work hard to be more responsive to the needs of the unemployed and their families. Our workers are real people with real needs, not simply a number in the budget.
Terri LeGrand has long supported affordable healthcare and expanding Medicaid, which has been repeatedly blocked in the General Assembly. By expanding Medicaid, over 500,000 North Carolinians would become eligible for healthcare coverage. With so many families losing their insurance during COVID-19, making healthcare affordable should be a priority for our elected officials.
Terri LeGrand demonstrates what intelligent and caring leadership looks like. She is the best person to help lead North Carolina forward during these challenging times.
Andrea Ostberg
Winston-Salem
