Disabled students championed
2/17/2013I commend your Feb. 1 editorial “Level playing field.” Your interpretation of why the U.S. Education secretary recently reminded school systems that they must offer students with disabilities the right to participate in inclusive athletic opportunities was exceptional.
As stated, the directive mandates nothing more than giving all students a chance to be involved and contribute.
In most cases, it is not the disability that keeps a person from achieving amazing things. Rather, it is having never been given the chance to be successful.
We learn valuable lessons from each other. Sports teaches all of us that some of those lessons are easier to accept than others.
People with disabilities have a right to experience those learning opportunities. It’s a win-win situation.
JOHN TRUNK
Superintendent Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Larc Lane
Tale of 2 columns about sequester
The difference in style is telling between the Feb. 10 op-ed columns by Blade Editor David Kushma (“Apply balance, not a chain saw, to the budget”) and Charles Krauthammer (“Republicans should call Obama’s sequester bluff”).
While Mr. Kushma stuck to historical facts and economic sense, Mr. Krauthammer kept to the irrational Tea Party line of historical obfuscation that caused Republicans to lose the last election.
Mr. Obama is not bluffing, as Mr. Krauthammer suggests, but stating facts. Mr. Krauthammer’s assertion that the President has made no budget offers is a fabrication. Mr. Obama has offered several deals, all of which House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other Republicans rejected.
Mr. Krauthammer and the Tea Party seem glad to see the sequester take hold. Unless real Republicans stand up and take back their party, the Tea Party will win and this country will lose.
JEFF PITZEN
Northwood
Blade’s support for dogs lauded
I thank The Blade for your continued support of animal welfare. Words will never express enough gratitude for the changes that you have inspired and the lives that you have saved.
As I sit here this morning with my beloved dog, Wendy, at my feet, I am reminded just how lucky we all are that you believe in these amazing creatures.
We are fortunate that dogs are the most forgiving and devoted creatures. Your efforts have saved thousands of dogs’ lives and changed people’s perceptions of dogs, not just in our county or our state, but all over the world.
For everything you have done, but especially for making it possible for Wendy to escape the death grip of former Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon, I am forever grateful.
JEAN KEATING
Executive Director Lucas County Pit Crew
Sylvania
Students served at school defined
Thank you to the writer of the Feb. 13 Readers’ Forum letter “News of school may keep it open,” who was complimentary of Mary Immaculate School.
I would like to clarify the description of the student population Mary Immaculate serves. We serve children who have been identified with Asperger’s syndrome, high-functioning autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specific learning disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and other cognitive processing disorders.
While some students with these learning disabilities may exhibit anxiety in the classroom, their primary disability is not behavioral in nature.
It has been our privilege to serve the children of Mary Immaculate since 1960. Closing a school is never easy. We are working with each family to make this transition as positive as possible.
SHELLI STAUDT
Principal Mary Immaculate School
Secor Road