LETTERS: Passenger high-speed rail worth subsidizing

High-speed rail

Once again, the Review-Journal has made it sound like passenger high-speed rail is the only form of transportation that receives or may receive a government subsidy ("Train wreck," Sept. 22 Review-Journal). The $1 billion-plus that Congress very grudgingly gives to Amtrak, even in the face of its increased ridership, pales when compared with what is already given to highways, airports and the air traffic control system.

For example, what does the R-J think it would cost to fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas if the airlines had to pay all the costs for airports and air traffic control? Or to drive on Interstate 15 if it had tolls that covered all costs of construction and maintenance? True, high-speed or any rail passenger transport might not be the ideal fit for travel between Southern California and Las Vegas. But it might take some cars off I-15 and reduce carbon emissions, too.

Other countries, some that share travel distances similar to those in the United States, seem to have found a place for passenger rail transport. They do not mind subsidizing the costs, because it works. Why not the United States?

Jack Corrick

Boulder City

School district shortfall

As a husband, father and grandfather to those who have been and will be educated in the Clark County School District, I now understand the problem with its leadership: a lack of working comprehension of basic mathematics.

Last week, the School Board announced it would spend $4.1 billion on 37 new schools, along with additions at 54 existing schools, and other renovations and replacements ("School Board OKs $4.1B building plan," Saturday Review-Journal). Yet despite the bond rollover that produced this money, teachers will make less this year than they did last year, due to an increase in their contributions to medical coverage, with no wage increase to offset it.

I don't know about you, but I attended a three-story brick elementary school with a dirt and gravel playground. I left the sixth grade proficient in math, science, geography, reading and writing. I also had better-than-average skills in baseball, basketball and football. My mom packed a sack lunch for us every day, with money to buy milk.

The bottom line is that we need to get back to basics. I would ask that those in charge look up the word "basic" (offering or consisting in the minimum required without elaboration or luxury)!

Virgil L. Swartwood

Las Vegas

Teachers deserve better

I read two articles on the Clark County School District in the Sept. 10 Review-Journal ("Teachers feel pinch," "CCSD seeks ideas on spending.") The first talks about how a $67 million budget shortfall is going to cause teachers to not receive the pay raises and bonuses they were promised by the district. The second speaks to how the school district is going to spend $4.1 billion over the next decade on new or updated schools.

Huh? Without top-rate teachers compensated fairly, what good are new schools?

And am I the only one who sees that these new schools are built inefficiently, with large amounts of wasted space? We could fit two to three times as many students in simple, two-story buildings and probably heat and cool them more cost-effectively. Why do elementary schools need courtyards and other wasted space? They need classrooms!

Someone needs to teach the folks at CCSD the meaning of commitment. You promise and you deliver. It's that simple. How is it that every year there seems to be another "shortfall," but the bigwigs at CCSD get their raises, while the teachers at the schools have to bring in their own toilet paper. I am not a teacher, but I know several, and this is no joke.

Then people wonder why we are short 1,000 or so teachers. Who wants to work at a place where every year, you're told to get better educated so they can decrease your pay?

I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. In the 1970s, I attended school in a three-story wooden building, simply constructed, with a playground for recess. We collected our lunches and ate them at our desks. And we had about 45 students to a classroom. I received an excellent education in that old schoolhouse.

I know times have changed, but keeping it simpler would save tons of money and give the pay raises to those who deserve it most: teachers. If you don't think they deserve better treatment, go spend some time in the classroom with one. Then go shopping with one for school supplies, and then sit at home with one while they correct papers and do lesson plans. Your attitude will change quickly.

Joseph Merlino

North Las Vegas