TPS has bigger worries
1/11/2011It’s as if Brian Wilson’s on-air comment is all Toledo Public Schools has to get upset about (“WSPD host compares TPS students, monkeys,” Jan. 8). There was nothing denigrating about the comment the talk show host made.
If people don’t get a grip on overreacting, TPS will go further down the tubes. TPS and company always look for ways to blame others for the school district’s insufficiency and to take the spotlight from its lack of success.
TPS must focus. Its schools are falling apart and its population is dwindling.
Sue Jurski
Elmview Drive
Wilson’s remarks shame our region
Mr. Wilson is an utter disgrace to this area. I don’t need to be a faithful listener of his radio rhetoric to know that he is biased and small of mind, and that his deep thought is no more than a reflection of his ignorance.
He makes cowardly remarks about this area while living hundreds of miles away. That’s what I call a “funny parlor trick.”
Carlos Serna
Swanton
For sake of all, redirect passions
If only all the people who are outraged about Mr. Wilson’s comment would channel their passion to improve our educational system, it could once again be the envy of the world.
Gary Gambino
Oregon
Wilson comment includes others
As an animal lover and a product of Toledo city schools, I am outraged that Mr. Wilson compared TPS students to monkeys.
Those who are making his comment an issue of race suggest that he was only referring to black students. So who are the real racists here?
Dave D. Davison
Highland Green Drive
Can monkeys be talk show hosts?
Apparently, monkeys can be trained to be radio personalities.
Kim Pollauf
Mansfield Road
Wilson criticized rote learning
Mr. Wilson’s comments are being taken out of context. He was trying to say that education has changed from encouraging students to think and solve problems to teaching them the correct answers to proficiency tests to improve exam scores.
Memorizing answers to examinations is not the way to educate students. It does nothing to promote the skills necessary to live efficiently and effectively in today’s world. Teachers are frustrated with mandates that affect their profession and their ability to teach effectively.
I do not believe the comment referencing monkeys learning to peel bananas in any way targeted the African-American community.
Instead, the point was that a monkey can learn to peel a banana, but for it to do so doesn’t mean it’s thinking; it has only learned to do a trick through repetition. That was a reference to proficiency exams.
Jackie Lanham
Eversham Court
Host gives talk radio a bad name
After reading the invective Mr. Wilson leveled at citizens in our area, I have my own toward him: blatantly self-aggrandizing, overbearing, boring, arrogant, obnoxious, ignorant, self- important, and pompous.
He has, thankfully, moved away from our area while still considering himself the judge of what goes on here. He lists “dozens of markets” in which he has worked. It should be obvious why he has changed jobs so often.
Let’s hope WSPD will realize its mistake and replace him, as so many other stations have apparently done. Mr. Wilson gives conservative talk radio a bad name.
Robert Pflager
Wauseon
Who will make amends for blacks?
The Rev. Kevin Bedford, the new president of the Toledo chapter of the NAACP, said Mr. Wilson’s remarks were demeaning to blacks. What about the other students in Toledo Public Schools?
Mr. Bedford also said Mr. Wilson’s language is deplorable and should not be tolerated. He is right; Mr. Wilson should apologize.
As a white American, when I hear young African-Americans calling each other the n-word and using derogatory labels in reference to their girlfriends and wives, who do I go to for an apology?
Wally Igielski
Sylvania
Critics twisted Wilson’s remarks
Mr. Wilson was comparing government-dictated testing in schools to training animals to do tricks.
He did not mention students or race, and for his detractors to do so is typical of liberal media, the NAACP, and unions. They make this comment a matter of race for the character assassination of anyone who disagrees with their philosophy.
R.W. Christoph
Sylvania
Lefties, respect free speech
Freedom of speech is under attack in Lucas County. U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said hateful rhetoric should not be legal, and the Urban League has its pants in a bunch about Mr. Wilson.
Miss Kaptur is just being her typical Democrat, controlling self. The Urban League is giving Mr. Wilson the best boost he probably ever had. The man works for a right-of-center radio station, and the ire of the Urban League can only help his career.
Mr. Wilson is doing a fine job of making monkeys out of his critics. All he has to do is sit back and watch it happen.
If the lefties in this town had a little more respect for freedom of speech, they wouldn’t be looking like monkeys.
John Jett
Scottwood Avenue
Justify hire, commissioner
Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak hired Jessica Ford, the 24-year-old daughter of former Toledo mayor Jack Ford, to a job that pays $22.30 an hour, while county sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers are taking concessions (“Ex-mayor’s daughter gets post,” Jan. 6).
When the sheriff’s department and other county agencies are asked to make budget concessions, why does Ms. Wozniak feel it was necessary to hire someone to attend meetings for her? What are we paying the commissioner for?
Barbara Urbanski
Lainar Drive
Politicians take care of each other
When we elect officials, why do they all need assistants to do the jobs they were elected to do? And why do their assistants end up having the same last names as people who are or have been in office?
A perfect example is Jessica Ford being chosen as Tina Skeldon Wozniak’s new assistant. Was anyone else considered for this position? Obviously, nepotism is alive and well.
Robert Slasinski
Kingsbury Avenue