LETTERS: ESA issues could be solved without lawsuit

ESA lawsuit solution

There is an easy solution that should resolve the issues in the American Civil Liberty Union's lawsuit that alleges the Education Savings Account law will allow the use of taxpayer money for religious purposes at private, religious schools. The ACLU believes ESAs, as they are set up now, violate the Nevada Constitution with regard to separation of church and state.

According to Tod Story, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, ESAs are a "scheme to funnel public money to private parochial schools" ("Vouchers violate state's constitution," Sept. 27 Review-Journal).

To resolve this, parochial schools should set up a tuition payment system that separates the cost of the education portion — making it equal to what a child receives from the public education system — from the cost associated with the teachings or promotion of any religion. Parents could receive a check or voucher for the amount of money that the state allots for public school students, and they could use that money for any private school. If a child is attending a private school that promotes religion, parents would be billed separately for the cost associated with any religious-oriented classes.

Parents would also benefit, because they would be able to use some of the tax money they pay to send their children to a private school. This would be very beneficial to low-income students who would like to benefit from a private school education. As we all know, low-income students in Clark County often attend schools that are underfunded and not properly staffed.

This would be similar to the financial system that Planned Parenthood states it uses. The organization doesn't commingle tax dollars to pay for abortions, since that is prohibited by federal law. To ensure that schools have not commingled taxpayer money, they should be periodically audited by federal, state and local governments.

Michael O. Kreps

Las Vegas

Debate viewing

John Esperian states in his letter that he didn't even bother to listen to the entire Republican presidential debate last month, but he apparently feels he can complain that it was too long, boring and didn't cover areas he believed were important ("GOP debate takeaways," Sept. 23 Review-Journal).

Perhaps Mr. Esperian would be shocked to know that the three-hour debate's length was programmed by, the questions were posed by and the overall debate was moderated by liberal-leaning CNN, not the GOP candidates. I would expect Mr. Esperian will be glued to the television when the first Democratic debate kicks off. Hillary Clinton will start with a spontaneous and humorous statement about not being able to comment on her email server because of an ongoing right-wing conspiracy investigation by the FBI.

Then Mr. Esperian will be pleased, since the rest of the debate will likely last about five minutes. The candidates will agree on free housing, free health care, free food subsidies, free funding for anyone wanting to build a nuclear weapon, free education for the world, free borders and citizenship for all. They'll also agree to free clean air by outlawing all energy sources except solar and wind (with the caveat that you cannot use any electricity during times of low or no wind), and to paying for everything by taxing the rich until the rich no longer have any money.

The candidates will then admit they all have mothers, and they'll blame President George W. Bush if they are stumped by any other questions they might not have anticipated. But at least I'll watch the entire debate and hope to hear something new.

J.J. Schrader

Henderson

Drought and growth

The archaeological and geologic records tell us that the southwestern United States is regularly subject to periodic droughts, including very severe ones for extended periods. Even under the best of conditions, there is still heavy and ever-increasing demand upon limited water resources in Nevada.

So Gov. Brian Sandoval led a state "water/drought summit" along with a forum ("Drought could not be more serious, Sandoval says," Sept. 22 Review-Journal). But were the real issues addressed?

The Southern Nevada Water Authority does a great job promoting conservation and proper water usage. But unrestrained and irresponsible growth in Southern Nevada guarantees future disaster. The best and most immediate response to a drought is simply to stop the development of new residential property in the valley. Just put a halt to it, now.

This is a simpler and better solution than figuring out new and technologically advanced ways of sucking dry our lakes, rivers and underground aquifers.

James Moldenhauer

North Las Vegas