This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Good read

It took me a long time to get past page one of the Telegraph today. (May 29). Thanks for a magnificent column about Bob Lee Smith.

Treat vets fairly

Veterans represent 4 percent of the current undergraduate students nationally. While they are a small number in post-secondary education, this number is expected to grow as more active duty men and women return from service. The Million Records Project, one of the more comprehensive reports on veteran success in higher education, found that of those student veterans 51.7 percent completed their degrees, which was 8 percent lower than the national average.

Unfortunately, both public and private higher-learning institutions lag behind on meeting the academic needs of veterans. Upon speaking with several enrolled student veterans, representing publically charted universities, private institutions and military colleges, all cited similar challenges. Specifically, difficulties in class scheduling, delimited rules for military scholarships and meeting required graduation time frames often delay funding. In general, students feel underserved by their schools. More often than not they are left to their own devices to figure things out.

One student I spoke with mentioned that a school representative made a mistake in processing GI Bill payments that required this student to reimburse the Veterans Association with his/her own funds. Another student mentioned that dropping a single class led to his benefits being cut in half. In both of these cases, and many others like them, these students could have benefited from a designated veteran academic adviser. When asked, students called for someone who could explicitly help them with military aid requirements, and how to apply that funding to their degree specific courses. I implore, when will we fairly compensate our deserving veterans?

No chance

I appreciate the sentiments of your Memorial Day picture. However, those squadron mates of mine and fellow Marines I knew whom I will remember this Memorial Day never had the chance to become veterans.

‘Food Frenzy’

On behalf of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the State Bar of Georgia, I would like to congratulate the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University for earning the Attorney General’s Cup – Law School Division during the recently completed fifth annual Georgia Legal Food Frenzy.

The 34.25 pounds of food per person raised on behalf of the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank contributed to the total of 1,230,260 pounds raised by the legal community across the state, a 4 percent increase over last year. A total of 289 legal organizations, representing more than 18,000 members in 54 cities, participated in this year’s Legal Food Frenzy.

Along with Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, the Georgia YLD is honored to co-sponsor this project to assist the Georgia Food Bank Association and its eight regional food banks. We have now surpassed another goal by raising a total of 5,008,110 pounds of food in five years.

Thanks again to each attorney and legal professional who joined us for this important cause. We are proud to help lead an effort that has such a significant impact on communities across Georgia.

Read it yourself

Came home from church Sunday, had lunch and started to read the paper. One of the first sections I turn to is the editorial page to see what uninformed reader is writing in to complain about what they know nothing about. First letter complaining about lost garbage pickup jobs. Did I miss the study that showed a loss of jobs? If so I am sorry for being critical. I for one like the new system. Then low and behold, Carl Pirkle writes in to compare Hillary Clinton with former secretary of state. If he had read the inspector general’s report he would have seen that Condoleezza Rice and Madelyn Albright used no private e-mail, Gen. Powell did with State Department’s approval but no private server. Clinton, however, used private email without approval and an unsecure server. Her staff brought this violation to her attention and they were told not to bring it up again. Big difference, Carl.

All these facts are easily attainable in the IG report. Instead of listening to her spin, check it out yourself. As far as Mr. and Mrs. Kimsey, I suggest you do as I do and just not read the heresy of Dr. Bill Cummings.

Electoral College

Do not waste your time going to the polls to vote for the president of the U.S. Your popular vote counts for nothing. The only votes that count are the Electoral College. If you don’t believe this, Google it or go to the Electoral College website. Electoral college votes are bought and sold as any other commodity on the stock market. It is a corupt and rigged system.

Mass turnover

I am writing in response to the lack of action and support for teachers in Peach County. My sister has been teaching for 20 years. She has worked in many different types of environments in other counties. However, this year with a total of near 25 teachers/staff leaving one little elementary school in Fort Valley, I think it’s time someone pays attention. It’s one thing to release a teacher or two due to “subjective” teacher evaluations, but with this many teachers leaving, I would think the board of education would take another look at its leadership.

My sister and her coworkers have described a “hostile working environment” where no one can feel safe, much less productive. There is no behavior support for a low socio-economic school. Apparently it’s not about helping children now, it’s more about getting teachers with low scores, personal development plans and marks of “needs improvement” instead of giving them needed support.

I hope the leaders of our great city are happy with their end result. They will now hire new teachers who may have no familiarity with our children and no experience in teaching a child who does not fit the “status quo.” So many great teachers walking out, when the people making these horrid decisions should have been the ones quitting.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, June 1, 2016."