Crowley will be missed

I was not a model student at West Valley High School, and spent time in Vice Principal Polly Crowley’s office. I have since come to realize that because of people like Polly, students that would have fallen through the cracks found their way into adulthood with the tools needed to be upstanding citizens.

I was given the opportunity to coach at West Valley, and to my surprise Crowley told me how happy she was that I was returning to work with kids. At this point, I started to understand that she truly cares for each and every student, not only while in school, but also after they leave.

There is a reason West Valley students do so well. It is because of people like Polly Crowley. No amount of compensation can ever be given to a person who spends their entire career pushing children to strive for the best.

I know the things she instilled in me will be passed on to my children. Thank you, Polly, you will be missed!

Chris J. Gregg

Spokane Valley

Look north for Rx

The Affordable Care Act before the U.S. Supreme Court contains very significant improvements at slightly lower cost (nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office). However, that lower cost still may be unsustainable. Is single-payer the answer?

The Canadian single-payer health care system costs only 60 percent of the present U.S. system, with better results (life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.). And despite misleading ads by U.S. insurance companies implying that one dissatisfied Canadian speaks for all, the Canadian system is also very popular.

The evidence? First, when May 2011 elections gave Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper a conservative majority in Parliament so he could pass any conservative legislation he wanted, he quickly assured Canadians he wouldn’t change the single-payer system. Second, Tommy Douglas, the Baptist minister who introduced the single-payer system in the 1960s, was accordingly voted greatest Canadian of all time in a 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation survey.

Toronto University researchers said the U.S. could save $27.6 billion yearly by adopting Canada’s single-payer system (National Journal, Aug. 4, 2011). Doctors’ time and money dealing with multiple insurance companies would be reduced. A 2008 survey showed 59 percent of U.S. doctors prefer such a system, up from 49 percent in 2002 (Reuters, March 31, 2008).

Norm Luther

Newman Lake

Vote yes to reinvest

Public education has problems, and changing state policy to allow funding to follow the student to any public or private school would be a positive step. However, voting no on reinvestment in your local public school does nothing to change state education policy.

A local bond issue is a simple question of whether we want to invest in a public building used not only for education but for a host of other community activities.

Do you have a mortgage on your house? Do you think of buying a house as mortgaging your children’s future or as an investment in shelter for the present and a long-term asset for their future?

The Reardan-Edwall School District last passed a bond in 1978, and the buildings are overdue for reinvestment. Yes, this bond does increase the tax rate by $1.11 per $1,000 over current rates for the expiring capital levy, which barely kept up with increasing maintenance costs.

A building over 30 years old is like a car with 300,000 miles; it may still be running but it’s time for a major rebuild and replacement on all systems.

Please join me in voting yes April 17 to reinvest in our community.

Sue Lani W. Madsen

Edwall, Wash.