LETTERS: Roberson, Legislature should invest in public education

It was so nice of Nevada Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson to remind us of how much he and the Republican-run Legislature were looking out for the interests of children when they pushed through their "groundbreaking" education reform bill ("School choice," Feb. 3 Review-Journal letters). So I guess we should all abandon the public school system because it is not preforming as we would like. Never mind that we are one of the poorest tax-supported districts in the nation.

Let's ignore the fact that you would have to be upper-middle class or rich to even consider enrolling your child in a private school, even with the subsidy. Yes, there are some scholarships available to lower-income students, especially if they are student-athletes. Bishop Gorman is full of these recruits, so much so that some schools would rather not compete against Gorman's athletic teams.

My husband and I always considered ourselves middle class, but we could never afford to send our four children to a private school, even with a state subsidy. We raised all our children in Las Vegas. They all graduated from local schools. Two of my children also graduated from UNLV. All of them went on to lead productive lives. We now have six grandchildren in our public schools.

If state legislators really want to help the children in Nevada, they need to invest our tax dollars and our efforts into making public education as good as possible. They need to actually fund all-day kindergarten in public schools, instead of charging working parents who want to give their children a head start. They also need to repair our older schools in poorer areas and build schools to alleviate overcrowding in new developments. Hire more teachers and pay them the wage they deserve as working professionals.

If we can help all our children graduate and support themselves, those tax dollars will be well spent.

Patricia Fruge

Las Vegas

Rubio endorsement

It was disappointing to see the Review-Journal endorsement of Sen. Marco Rubio for the Nevada Republican caucus. For many conservatives, immigration is not just an important issue, it is the only issue in the upcoming election. It is impossible to forget Sen. Rubio's involvement and complicity in the so-called "Gang of Eight" effort to impose a totally unacceptable immigration bill on this nation.

If Sen. Rubio is elected president, a betrayal on this issue is all but guaranteed. Tens of millions of undocumented immigrants will first be legalized, then made citizens. Bitter experience tells us that none of the major provisions, such as learning English or paying fines and fees, will be enforced. All such provisions will be waived or simply ignored. Imagine for a moment what impact this will have on our domestic labor market, infrastructure and political system. Not a pleasant prospect.

The only immigration reform we should consider is a total ban on all immigration for at least one generation.

James Moldenhauer

North Las Vegas

High Roller article

As a longtime subscriber, I couldn't believe what I was seeing in Wednesday's Review-Journal. It was quite enough to see front-page attention paid to the High Roller incident ("Couple charged with sex on High Roller"). But more astounding was the accompanying article describing several ways one could subvert the law ("Vitalvegas.com's 11 vital tips for having sex on the High Roller").

Am I reading a respectable newspaper or a tawdry, sensational rag? If this is the direction the RJ is going, I sadly regret my recent one-year renewal.

Kathryn Gutherie

Las Vegas

RJ content

I was thrilled to see that the first few pages of the Feb. 5 Review-Journal were loaded with content on the Democratic presidential campaign. This came the day after other media outlets reported that new RJ owner Sheldon Adelson was tightening his grip on the newspaper. I applaud the efforts of the RJ to serve the public interest of this community.

James Scouten

Las Vegas