Investing in education

Pay now or pay later

Regarding “Texas should fund all-day pre-K” (Editorial, March 31): As the chief of the Houston Police Department, I was glad to see the recent editorial about the importance of quality pre-K. My job is to put those who commit serious crimes behind bars, but a better and less expensive way to improve public safety is to prevent young children from growing up to become involved in crime in the first place.

Research highlighted by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids shows that low-income children left out of pre-K are five times more likely to grow up to be chronic offenders compared with similar children who participated in a quality program. High-quality early education can help prepare children to succeed in school and stay on the right side of the law.

The bottom line is that we can invest in our state pre-K program now, or we can pay much more to deal with crime problems down the road. In 2017, I was honored to pen a letter supporting Gov. Abbott’s call for funding, and I am very encouraged to see that both the Texas House and Senate have followed his lead and prioritized investments in early education.

Art Acevedo, chief, Houston Police

Department

Dedicated professionals

Regarding “House bill also aids school staff” (City/State, Thursday): Thank you for your coverage of developments in the Texas House of Representatives and the vote in favor of HB 3, the bill which will hopefully bring about a long-overdue change in funding for public schools in Texas.

I would like to offer one clarification to your article. The picture of the House gallery, shown on page A5, notes that “Texas teachers packed the gallery of House on Wednesday,” when in fact it was retired teachers showing their support for public education along with other bills related to teacher pensions and health care. It is important for your readers to be assured that those who are currently teaching were, in fact, doing just that. They were working in their classrooms and were doing their jobs on Wednesday, just as they do every day. Our public school teachers are dedicated professionals and are public servants as were those who are now retired.

Mary Widmier, Kingwood

Power sells

Regarding “Power sellers want to expand; utilities stand in way” (Business, Thursday): L.M. Sixel’s article about power sellers’ desire to expand their business on an open market in other states indicates that those in the retail business are doing well. Again, as in the sale of many commodities, which is what electricity has become in an unregulated market, it seems the middle man makes the most money.

Those corporations in both the power-generating and power-selling markets routinely make more on the selling side. One reason is the market and the plans are so convoluted that it is difficult for consumers to compare what they are paying versus what another provider may charge. This mystery is the machine making profits for the sellers, which is why they wish to be able to sell in more states (markets).

Bill Spear Bartlett, Jersey Village

Pot skeptic

Regarding “Decriminalize pot” (Editorial, Thursday): The editorial makes two broad statements about marijuana based on either weak evidence or no evidence. The first is the statement, “Some drugs are too dangerous to be legal. Marijuana isn’t one of them.” The “proof” offered is that “some 24 million Americans said in 2018 that they used marijuana … .” For over 100 years millions of Americans used tobacco, and how did the popularity of that substance workout?

The other statement is, “For some folks, the benefits (of marijuana) are profound.” Where is the proof for such a statement? Are there any FDA-approved studies comparing the benefits/risk of pot to any FDA approved drug?

If marijuana if so good and safe, prove it in a FDA study.

Walter M. Caskey, Rosenberg

Focus on legals

Regarding “Be bold, Mr. Trump” (Editorial, Friday): Not once in the editorial did you ever bother to point out that all this trauma, all these hardships, all the potential losses from a closed border would be avoided if the people came here legally. Not once. The editorial never even hints that coming legally would be a solution, and likely the best solution, to all the distress that is occurring.

According to the DHS website, some 90% of all refugee and asylum claims are pursued through legal channels.

Steven Soerens, Houston

Lessons of history

Regarding “Sears ditches clothes with smaller format” (Business, Friday): The story reports Sears management’s plan to change its business plan — no longer being the vendor of all things needed or useful found in one store or catalogue. Its new vision proposes to become your neighborhood appliance store, with matching dinner plates.

We old-timers nostalgically remember the closing of the first truly worldwide store, Montgomery Ward. Its only competitor Sears & Roebuck — Montgomery Ward’s imitator — profited greatly for many years from that failure.

Sears, basking in the glory of its perception of itself as king of the hill, seemed unaware that its imitator, Walmart, was already on the move. Now Sears isn’t even Kmart’s imitator.

As Generations Z’s buying preferences mature, one wonders what will soon eclipse Walmart?

Jerry DeFoor, Jersey Village