Letters – Frisco, Education Funding, New Zealand, Hatred, College, Decency

Defending Frisco mayor, chief of staffRe: "It's Not Wrong, But It Looks Wrong — A political operative shouldn't be the Frisco mayor's chief of staff," Monday Editorials.What a hatchet job on Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney and Lorie Medina. I did not vote for Mayor Jeff Cheney. I am a Democrat with no love for the tea party. Chiefs of staff are political operatives — look up Jim Baker, Leon Panetta, Sherman Adams or Hamilton Jordan. If the mayor wants a chief of staff and is willing to pay for the position without using taxpayer funds, he should be congratulated. I'm not a developer and was able to participate in a meeting with the mayor. Your implication about Lorie Medina's role is at best misleading and at worst false. She played a key role in honoring Frisco's Purple Heart recipients, as an example.Alan Mesches, FriscoIt will take more than moneyRe: "An open letter to Texas legislative leaders," Sunday Points.In spirit, I applaud the open letter to our legislative leaders regarding the necessity to adequately fund public schools to bring the reading level of our third graders up in the national literacy rankings.In reality, this will be throwing good money after bad without the partnership, cooperation and commitment of parents to actually sit down and read with their kids at a far earlier age and to continue through the third grade and beyond.Any additional funding "to reward districts which attain third-grade targets, particularly for low-income students" will be difficult to achieve without children reading on the home front. Reading is like any sport, activity, or musical instrument in which hours of after school practice makes perfect.Ellice Lovelady, CorinthAre Congress, Trump listening?Re: "Mourners pay tribute as families wait — Authorities hope to release bodies of victims by Wednesday," Monday news story."I can tell you one thing right now: our gun laws will change". So says Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, in the wake of the horrific massacre in her country. Powerful. Decisive. Adamant. Take notice, Congress and President Trump. This is what true leadership looks and sounds like; and this from a small country in the middle of the Pacific. Assault weapons and associated hardware appear to be headed for the chopping block. I wouldn't bet against her or her country.Michael Anthony, CarrolltonDid hate speech contribute?Just a few days ago an uninvited chain email made its way into my inbox. The subject line was "Fox in the hen house story." The objective of the email was to instill fear and anger over a supposed Muslim plot to slowly take over power and control in America. It then listed the names of all Muslims elected to any public office in 2018 and expressed concern over "the high percentage of Muslims voting and their openness to promote the fact that they want to change our culture and society." After doing some checking on the internet, I found the same basic hate message on several right-wing web sites. I can't help but wonder how much of this anti-Muslim white nationalist propaganda is also being circulated in New Zealand and the extent to which it possibly contributed to the tragic and needless loss of life we are all learning about.Fred R. Neary, Far North DallasReplace negative wordsRegardless of what President Donald Trump thinks (if he does before he speaks, which I see no proof of) his words and actions influence people. Unfortunately we cannot stop individuals from choosing role models, some make bad choices and, thankfully, I believe most make better choices. The latest act of hatred against those who are different in New Zealand is an example of the influence negative words have and regardless of what Trump or the White House says, those negative words are part of the problem. The lack of stronger words against violence and hate towards others are also part of the problem. Children are not born hating others, it is a learned behavior and children who learn to hate grow up to be adults who hate. Words matter, actions matter and we all have to remember that, especially those in a position of leadership and those who are role models. Willie Nelson once said: "Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." I like to believe it's the same with words and actionPerri Brackett, LewisvilleThanks, Andrew MorganRe: "College commercialization," by Andrew S. Morgan, Saturday Letters.What we need in this world are more people who think — and write — like Andrew Morgan of Arlington. His letter, which suggests that "commercialization has us by the throat, pushing aside all goodness and beauty in favor of making money at all costs," is poignant, accurate and beautifully written. Enough of insider trading, college admission scandals, bribery of our elected officials and ignoring climate change because it is an inconvenient truth. We are all sick of stories on the immorality of R. Kelly, Michael Jackson and Robert Kraft. Morgan helps keep the conversation about decency and a "balanced society" alive. Thank you, sir. Keep it up.Will Pryor, Northwest Dallas  Continue reading...