Letters on schools, offshore drilling, calendar

Agrees on schools, offshore drilling

To the editor:

I agree on both points. [Brack: Two dumb ideas: Splitting the school district, offshore drilling].

Public schools in South Carolina should be financed to allow students to attend the very best schools in the nation and this requires great commitment by taxpayers in South Carolina. Offshore drilling is a poor idea as there is a great chance of spillage which damages the ecosystem.

— Jere Newman, Alpharetta, Ga.

Your dumb ideas aren’t dumb after all

To the editor:

Your two dumb ideas are not so dumb after all. Smaller schools and smaller districts have remarkably better achievement records than do bigger ones. If the district is small enough where the superintendent is but one level removed from the teachers and students teaching and learning improve. When the superintendent knows the student, their siblings that may have gone before and the family, when the superintendent hires and fires the staff, the entire district is more responsive to achievement than when the superintendent presides over a bureaucracy with assistants standing between he/she and the students. I bet you cannot name one high-achieving large school district. The fact this idea came from Ms. Moffly taints it.

South  Carolina has few natural resources that support jobs. You are right the beaches are one. If it should turn out that a useful deposit of oil and gas lay offshore, than we should go after it as safely as possible. The jobs, income and wealth, that would gush lays the foundation for long term stable work, men with jobs that women would want to marry, families with both parents to raise their children, children with significantly better outcomes. Why should Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California and North Dakota reap all these benefits alone? We need more jobs for Sandlappers. Oil and gas could supply them.

— Frank Leister, Charleston, S.C.

Didn’t move to Charleston for it to become New York

To the editor: I came to Charleston from New York City some 19 years ago. I am a New Yorker through and through and I love the hustle bustle of that big city. However, I did not move to Charleston to see it turn into a New York. I came here because this city is filled with history, elegance and people who greet you when they walk past you. What will over 600 more people and 750 more cars do to the lovely neighborhood that we have all enjoyed quietly for so many years? It will change its character completely. The city worked hard to change Ashley Avenue into a two-lane road. Why? To promote a quieter traffic pattern on the avenue. Have the powers that be changed their minds? Do they want people to stay awake at night listening to 750 cars go by? I can remember being woken up several times each night by the noise of cars and trucks when Ashley was only one way. A 24-hour grocery store sounds convenient, but do we really want Charleston to be a city that is awake 24 hours every day? Because please remember, if others are awake, you might be awoken to their noise as well. So many of us are runners, walkers and bikers and we do it downtown because it can be so quiet and so pleasant. Please do not ruin this quiet section of Charleston by allowing the Beach Company to build such an enormous monstrosity.

— Katherine Roberts, Charleston, S.C.

Calendar offers great happenings

To the editor:

Thanks for always being the first to include announcements for other…somewhat off beat…great happenings in town.

Case in point:  My husband and I just went to the Concert put on by the Navy Band.  Without exaggeration, it was one of the best of ANY concerts we have EVER seen.  The talent and musical selections were over the top outstanding.

Charleston Currents had me hooked at the first newsletter, which I think WAS the first newsletter.  My appreciation just keeps growing.

— Archie Burkel, James Island, S.C.