Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 02.04.16

Target buyers in prostitution cases

In response to “2 Lincolnton women arrested on prostitution and drug charges” (Feb. 3):

The names and pictures of the women charged in this case are a prominent part of the article.

What about pictures and names of the men who bought sex?

If the objective of arrests is to end prostitution, prosecuting buyers of sex – typically men – as opposed to prosecuting sellers of sex – typically women – is more effective.

Sweden is successfully doing that.

Karin Lukas-Cox, Charlotte

Reconsider teacher raise, Speaker Moore

In response to Our View “A truly modest proposal for teachers” (Jan. 31 Editorial):

I’d like to offer N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore a simple, yet powerful, challenge during upcoming budget debates.

I ask him – and all N.C. legislators – to think deeply about the five individuals who’ve made the greatest impact on their lives.

I would speculate that at least one was a teacher.

Speaker Moore, demonstrate the necessary leadership to show teachers the respect they so richly deserve by substantially improving their financial quality of life.

Ray Brayboy, Myrtle Beach

Extend contract, but launch search now

I am not an Ann Clark fan, but give credit where credit is due: Ms. Clark has done a decent job with what she has to work with.

Extend her contract for one year. This will lead to some stability in the administration.

But begin the superintendent search now – not one year from now!

Come up with a plan, people! And share this with us – the taxpayers. You owe us this much and more.

Geoffrey Fine, Huntersville

N.C. devalues education, teachers

In response to “Financially, teachers have a good deal” (Feb. 3 Forum):

The writer was educated in N.C. from pre-K to bachelor’s degree.

The number of days a teacher stands in front of a classroom is a tired, foolish metric for determining job efficacy, or deserved compensation.

Teachers spend hours outside the classroom, nights and weekends, grading and lesson planning.

They budget their 10-month salaries to last a 12-month year, or they spend their “time off” in summer jobs, supplementing one of the lowest paid professions in the country.

Teachers devote their professional lives to shaping generations of 12-month-a-year-working taxpayers and citizens.

North Carolina should be attracting and retaining the best talents, not losing them to states with more competitive salaries.

Considering N.C. Republicans consistently devalue education, I’m left unsurprised that this issue must even be debated.

Nick Snyder, Astoria, N.Y.

Trump is a proven success, he has a plan

In response to “Don’t repeat mistake we made with Obama” (Feb. 3 Forum):

I agree that we should not make the same mistake as with President Obama, but I don’t agree that we have nothing to judge Donald Trump by.

He has built a phenomenal business; that takes know-how and knowledge.

His books outline his policies, so we do know what he will do.

He is self-funding a portion of his campaign.

He is far from just a reality TV star; he is a proven success.

Cathy Walker, Charlotte

Enough hyperbole about Trump, Obama

In response to “Wake up to what Trump is really saying” (Feb. 1 Forum):

To compare Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler denigrates the memory of all those who died in the Holocaust.

The hyperbole is as intellectually vacuous as calling President Obama the anti-Christ.

Danielle Walters, Charlotte

Let’s be clear about Confederate soldiers

In response to “A compromise for our Confederate past” (Jan. 31 Opinion):

Columnist Michael Cooper states that Confederate soldiers were fighting for the right of aristocrats to own slaves.

That is partly true at best.

President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to invade the Southern states is what drew the Southern soldier into the war. They were simply defending their homes against an invader.

Why else would they have endured four years of hard combat, disease and starvation, so a rich man could buy a slave?

Don’t think so!

Horace Ledford, Charlotte

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 02.04.16."