Work for educational needs of our youth

Only in West Virginia would the Legislature provide a state of affairs whereby an appointed state superintendent of schools and an appointed state board of education could practice dictatorial powers to completely usurp the authority of elected county board members and the majority vote of citizens. The United States Constitution promises representation by the people, for the people, and of the people.

The citizens of Fayette County are being faced with the prospect of being denied their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.

In 2002, our citizens voted 88 percent against consolidation of schools; in 2009, they voted 78 percent against consolidation. Conversely, the state Board of Education has now taken over the Fayette County school system, and, if history repeats itself, the state board will soon be forcing consolidation upon our citizens and their children.

This type of bureaucracy unfairly forces citizens to fight in reclaiming their rights to be heard through the court system — up to and including the Supreme Court. What citizen (or citizen group) has the financial resources to hire lawyers in efforts to reclaim their rights?

The majority vote of our citizens substantiates their knowledge of the benefits of small schools. Educators need to educate themselves likewise.

Research and studies have proven the benefits of the small school significantly outweigh those of large schools. Large schools produce increases in dropout rates, drug use, disciplinary problems, and crime and decreases in test scores, teacher and student attitudes, student self-perception, and parental involvement.

Despite the fact Dr. Steve Paine, state superintendent of schools in West Virginia, and his appointed followers just “don’t get it,” they have managed to appoint a competent superintendent of Fayette County Schools, Mr. Dwight Dials.

It is imperative that we work in unison for the educational needs of our youth.



Matt Edwards

Fayetteville

Don’t let crooks spend the public’s money

This letter is to thank you for publishing Jay Ambrose’s column about Social Security and the way the government took it over and put it into general funds.

When this happened, I was working on the railroad as a brakeman, I knew this would be wrong and the money would be wasted away. At this time, only about one-third of the money coming in was being used to pay out. The rest went into the fund for future use, just think of how much would be there now if it had been left alone.

At the time the government was trying to take over this money, the union I belonged to was in the process of merging with three other railroad unions to form the United Transportation Union; I couldn’t get anybody to protest it. One field representative came to our lodge meeting and told us not to worry, that railroad retirement was different from Social Security and wouldn’t affect us. I tried to tell him if they took Social Security, they would get the railroad retirement next. He didn’t think so.

Railroad retirement required railroad men to pay three percent more than Social Security, as we would get more when we retired and it had other benefits. The money was in investment funds and made money. There was millions in the fund.

In 1973 the government started a plan to take over the railroad retirement and put railroad men in Social Security. When this happened, I started writing letters to the paper, congressmen and union leaders to tried to get them to fight it, but no one would help.

Now railroad retirement is in two tiers; one is what we get on Social Security, the other is what they call the regular railroad retirement, taxable except for a small amount to take off as retirement. The Social Security part you figure on that table to see how much you pay taxes on. The last two years, I have had to pay tax on over $4,700 of the Social Security. All together, the tax comes to $2,000.

The next move by the government was to take over the Interstate Highway fund used to maintain the Interstate after it was finished. Now it is falling apart and the government won’t come up with funds to fix it. This is the way it works when a bunch of crooks get to spend other people’s money.

The last time I talked to a union field representative and tried to get them to protest the takeover of the railroad retirement fund he said the government knew what it was doing and that a ragged ... brakeman wouldn’t know about the way the government worked. At least 40 years later, I know they were a gang of thieves.



Lindy C. Wade

Princeton