Published: May 09, 2008 12:11 pm         

What part of 'can't afford it' don't you understand?

In response to so many other letters, we are one of the "elderly couples" who went to the school board meeting, only to find Mr. Hackworth very rude and unwilling to listen.

With the way our economy is going we "can't afford another big debt." (He must be in line with President Bush, another big spender) Like Joann Fout and many others, I too have unanswered questions. The school board and Mr. Hackworth better wake up and come down to our real world. Why do they have to spend big bucks to spend big bucks to go to fancy resorts for their meetings ?

Mr. Hackworth told us we inherited the school debts from our grandparents and great-grandparents. I disagree, they knew how to do things wisely and do with what they had. They didn't know what all this "fancy " was. We don't need all these new schools, what we need is some teachers that are truly interested in teaching the children and that doesn't take a fancy school.

We need the teachers and principals who can correct the children and NOT a law officer to sit in our schools waiting for some child to bring a gun or drugs into the school. We need the correcting put back in the schools and the parents to correct their children without fear of being reported.

Look what our world has come to. Children can't be corrected, so they are rude because of it. The children use calculators in math, they can't spell or write so it can be read. Put "true educators " on top of the list, bring prayer back in the schools, not more schools. They just had in the newspaper that the school counts were way down and now today they "say" they aren't going to close some of the schools so that tells me they don't need this debt.

People are now having a hard time making ends meet and the worst is yet to come. Mr. Hackworth has already spent too much on these hearing to hear "No, we can't afford it." These people are put in higher places and don't understand plain words,they just see dollar signs. Bigger schools does not bring better education.

Look around you ! They can't read, write or do math without the calculator. Come down to the real world, we need better educators not more school. Don't let the $9 million sign get in your eyes, that's only part of it and we'll pay through the nose for the rest. Hold onto your pocketbooks, they're coming after you!

Remember the high school in Keyser that was unsafe, It now has all kinds of business in it and it hasn't fallen down yet. The school board and Mr. Hackworth need to study English, NO WE CAN'T AFFORD IT. Maybe they'll get the message soon.

Juanita Ambrose
Springfield, W.Va