Letters to the editor

An open letter to Mayor Richard Cortez

Dear Mayor Cortez,

For a city that promotes and thrives off eco-tourism, I find it disgusting how the city of McAllen dealt with this human-wildlife conflict. I understand these conflicts occur with all growing cities, but a more humane approach should have been taken. I know that trapping and fencing would have been to tedious or expensive, but chemical repellants could have been a viable option. A respect for the environment and other living things is needed. As a city on the rise, McAllen needs to protect the wildlife left in the city. The city of McAllen needs to consult the local urban wildlife biologist or hire a wildlife consultant to evaluate the viable options when dealing with nuisance wildlife. Because these conflicts are not going away, they will only increase as the city grows. I am not against growth or urban expansion; I am only advocating an eco-friendly approach to the expansion of McAllen.

J.D. Cortez

Society tuning out

social situations

To the editor:

People should kindly remove their earphones. The art of conversation is a dying one and the MP3 player is playing its eulogy. Simple social situations have been complicated by these intrusive companions. Two minutes into a personal story a friend is bound to chime in with a “what happened” or even more articulate “wha”, although, I could always record myself and post a pod cast online for them to listen to at their convenience. Perhaps Walter Sobchak was right: We seem to be a culture of children wandering into the middle of a movie demanding to be filled in on what we missed. So please, out of common courtesy and societal decency, people should try listening to those around them. They needn’t worry, their hand-picked personal soundtrack will be there when the conversation’s over.

Joe Jasso,

Edinburg

Renew teacher

incentive pay

To the editor:

A vote by the Texas House to do away with our teacher incentive pay program, enacted in HB 1 less than one year ago, is a huge leap backward in our work to improve public education. Texas’ pay for performance program is the largest of its kind in the nation and a proven method to attract and keep quality teachers in the classroom. The lack of pay differentiation among teachers, regardless of performance, is among the greatest deterrents for professionals considering careers in education. In fact, fully 75 percent of Texas teachers support higher pay for effective teachers, and even higher percentages of parents and taxpayers support such a program. If anything, we should greatly expand our modest program to reward and retain effective teachers. By caving in to pressure to embrace misguided and ineffective policy, the Texas House punished the 4.5 million public school students in Texas who deserve the education effective teachers can deliver. Fortunately, the Texas Senate has the chance to undo the House’s devastating decision to abolish quality education policy in Texas. Anyone who cares about education should insist that they do.

Charles McMahen,

President,

Texans for Excellence in the Classroom,

Austin