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School District Should Follow Its Own Policies From Our Readers

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 April 2006, 06:00 CDT

To the editor:

Quoting from Clark County School District regulations:

"Students are expected to go to classes or other assigned areas on schedule, or as otherwise directed by the school personnel. Students who do not comply shall be subject to suspension, expulsion, and/or arrest.

"Each student of a school is responsible for his or her actions and shall be dealt with on an individual basis and not as a member of an ethnic or political group.

"The regional superintendent is responsible for developing and implementing procedures for controlling student disruptions."

In light of such firm policies, I want to know what Clark County School District Superintendent Walt Rulffes and his regional superintendents are going to do about all the disruptions caused by the students who walked out of classes at various schools this week. Their rules say one thing, but I, the taxpayer, say you are being bamboozled by unruly and "disruptive" students.

I want my money spent appropriately. Maybe I should tell the state tax man that I want a refund on my taxes appropriated for busing all the wanna-be activists who left school. Why should I pay to transport kids who do not want to go to school? You and I both know that the vast majority were looking for a way to ditch school.

Let them do it on their dollar, not mine. So, to Mr. Rulffes, as a taxpayer who pays for your salary, I say follow your rules and enforce them to the fullest extent written, or maybe the taxpayers will have their own revolt and start withholding monies because of your weak authority over our children.

Stating that the walkouts would result in an unexcused absence for each student is not what is written in your regulations. You need to put some power behind what is written in black and white. They clearly say what to do with their disruptions.

Now what are you going to do?

CYNTHIA BALDASSARRE

LAS VEGAS

Opening Pandora's box

To the editor:

I have a few questions about the Clark County School District's response to the students who left class to protest federal immigration reform.

When the buses were sent, did the school change from being merely concerned about the students' safety and to being liable for their safety?

Do Clark County students now have a reasonable expectation that if they participate in future demonstrations, the school district will send a bus to pick them up? If the school district doesn't, is the school district liable if something happens to the students?

Does the school district have extra buses and drivers on call for this type of situation?

Instead of getting an unexcused absence, shouldn't the students be suspended until they come to school with their parents and assure the school that they understand that if they leave school property before their class day is over, the school is not responsible for their safety? Should the administrators involved in this decision be reprimanded for improperly using school district property?

Why did the school administrators send the buses in the first place, instead of notifying parents that their children left school and needed to be picked up?

Did these actions open a Pandora's box of future liability questions for the school district - and ultimately the taxpayers?

Ron Gearhart

Las Vegas

The danger of citizenship

To the editor:

There is a little-discussed aspect of the current immigration debate that needs to be addressed.

If the Senate's plan to give the country's 11 million or so illegal immigrants "guest worker" status and a path to citizenship is enacted, won't they be able to apply to bring their relatives into the United States when they become citizens? Won't we then be forced to absorb 20 million to 30 million more immigrant family members?

Our Congress should consider this possibility before voting to approve any path to citizenship for illegals.

Bruce Brown

Las Vegas

Separation of powers

To the editor:

In the wake of self-serving, slime-ball politicians like Erin Kenny, Kathy Augustine and Dario Herrera, one would think your editorial staff would laud state Sen. Dina Titus for introducing a 12-part ethics reform package with real teeth.

Instead, you used her finely crafted proposal as an opportunity to float the worn-out, illogical argument that Sen. Titus is somehow failing to uphold the Nevada Constitution's separation of powers clause ("Dina Titus and ethics," Monday editorial).

It is preposterous to assert that this clause was meant to keep esteemed college professors from seeking elected office. Yes, the separation of powers is essential to prevent power in the hands of a few. However, exactly what "governmental power" does Sen. Titus yield as a professor at UNLV? She has power over her lectures, exams and her students' grades, but the framers of the Nevada Constitution were referring to "governmental power," not the power of a skilled educator.

Following such bent logic, UNLV security guards, secretaries and custodians should be prohibited from running for office. Is this what you think separation of power is all about?

I choose to view Sen. Titus' ethics proposal as groundbreaking. In fact, she is the first gubernatorial candidate to propose a concrete solution to the slew of ethically challenged politicos who litter Nevada. While you call her proposal "political," I call it sound leadership.

Where are the proposals of the other candidates for governor? Sure, everyone whines about scum bags in office, but Sen. Titus actually did something about it. She should be commended for her dynamic approach to a very serious problem.

ROBERT BRAY

Las Vegas

Another school reform

To the editor:

In your Thursday editorial on Clark County School District Superintendent Walt Rulffes' initial attempt to install some reforms in lower-achieving schools, you offered three "key" components to assist him.

I'd like to add a fourth: Make parents directly accountable for their children's readiness to be successful in school. Make parents responsible for the amount of sleep their child gets, the proper nutrition he or she receives and the correct attitude they bring to their campus on a daily basis.

Also, make parents directly accountable for their child's behavior once they arrive at school. And, finally, allow school administrators to remove those students whose behavior causes others to miss any portion of their educational experience.

Matthew Lusk

Las Vegas

Traffic cameras

To the editor:

In response to Jean Stanks' Sunday letter regarding the use of cameras to enforce traffic violations: It is not a good idea.

They are currently being used in several cities for revenue enhancement and to prevent elected officials from voting on tax increases. The private companies that install the devices typically enter a contract with a local government and take a percentage of the revenue generated by the traffic citations that result.

But when a vehicle is ticketed by the cameras, the registered owner of the vehicle gets the ticket. That isn't always the person driving the car. A friend, spouse or family member could be driving. Camera-generated tickets generally generate no points against anyone's license - government and the company just get your money - and there is no appeal!

The people who administer the program are not responsible for the machine clicking too fast at intervals between light changes. If you are waiting for a light to change in the middle of the night and someone tries to get in your passenger door, and you run the light to avoid a carjacking, you still get a ticket - you are still guilty - because the system is automated.

Once the program is installed, the authorities will call for more and more cameras because so much revenue is being raised. More contracts worth lots of money to the private sector are made available. Corruption follows.

Don't go down the road of traffic cameras.

C.B. Spencer

Henderson

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Source: Las Vegas Review - Journal

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