LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the editor: Force Ohio to give kids good pre-K

Candidates for Ohio governor should follow the lead of Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz on pre-K education, argues letter writer J. Frances Gall.

The Blade published a set of three excellent editorials in support of Wade Kapszukiewicz’s idea to institute universal pre-K education in the city of Toledo. The Blade highlighted the difficulty of getting funding to make it a reality.

The solutions mentioned did not include forcing the state of Ohio to pitch in its fair share. It is long past time to reopen DeRolph vs. State of Ohio, which held that children in Ohio are entitled to a “thorough and efficient” education under the Ohio Constitution.

With children in low-income neighborhoods failing to meet the most basic standards of education, it is clear that the Ohio legislature has never come up with solutions to this problem — despite being mandated to do so by the Ohio Supreme Court more than 20 years ago.

Each candidate for governor must set out his or her plan for implementing DeRolph; and each candidate’s plan should include why pre-K is or is not part of that solution.

J. FRANCES GALL
Densmore Drive

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ISIS killed for what cause?

The Jan. 8 ISIS caliphate cartoon said it all. 

There is no purpose to the ISIS philosophy of destruction and killing around the world, so the leader sits alone going nowhere after causing havoc for no good purpose.

NORMA THOMAS-HERR
Wauseon

Don’t blame ODOT for man’s death

Why do people want to blame ODOT for the death of Marquise Byrd? (Jan. 8, “ODOT shares blame in death”).

The children picked up the sandbag and intentionally threw it over the fence onto oncoming traffic. There are consequences for their actions, and to blame ODOT is just an excuse.

When will parents take responsibility for their children? Do the right thing and have the boys spend one or two years doing community service.

JACQUIE OILER
West Central Avenue