Letters: School district's like Wall Street

I DON'T KNOW whether I am more shocked or disappointed by the recent pay raises for top administrators in the school district. Could the timing be worse? The superintendent just borrowed $300 million to keep the lights turned on and demanded salary givebacks from custodians, bus drivers and school police - among the lower-paid people in the system - and then turns around to shower others with raises up to 50 percent.

The comparison that comes to mind is the investment bankers on Wall Street who accepted multimillion-dollar bailouts from the taxpayers and then awarded themselves healthy bonuses.

I hope Dr. Hite will rescind the raises, regain the public's trust, and proceed to implement a common-sense and equitable agenda for improving our schools.

Mary Goldman

Philadelphia

Tragedy in Kansas City

The tragedy/atrocity that occurred when Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his live-in girlfriend, orphaning the couple's 3-month-old son, the victim who lost the most, raises questions:

Why are those bent on suicide so often insistent on taking others with them, murdering innocent people and ruining additional lives? How does this facilitate their ability to rest in peace?

Is it wise to make such an act easy to commit by enabling the purchase of lethal weapons to be easier than securing a driver's license?

We know that professional football players lead shorter lives than the general population, and that their lives are often troubled, including financially, their vast riches often quickly vanishing and bringing them little or no peace. What effect does the fact that these men are bred to play a sport whose focus is violence have in bringing misery to those who participate in the game?

Belcher's coach suggested an explanation for the actions of the troubled killer, the many pressures of having to perform in the glow of the public spotlight. Does that begin to offer an excuse for committing an unspeakable act?

Oren M. Spiegler

Upper Saint Clair, Pa.

Where were the letters?

What? No letters on the Op-ed page!

I hope that the Daily News did not lose it priorities to its readers by not printing any letters on the op-ed page on Nov. 20. I understand that you can only print so much in the given space, but it was a disservice not to recognize your readers and instead, give an unwarranted page to Christine Flowers.

This newspaper lists the names and contact information of your reporters who are supposed to write on various neighborhoods, but where are they? You revised the layout for more interest, yet nothing really changed in what the editors consider as "news" and why other news sources are sought where the Daily News could have, but did not, carry the news sought, like what's happening to people and places in earlier stories, updates to the initial stories. We want the newspaper to continue the "sagas" and investigate government more, instead of only criticizing the Republicans - it's not funny anymore. Help, don't inflame. Inform, don't divide. And lastly, don't waste my paper's space on the nonsense written by Christine Flowers: She'll never be a real Republican, so don't think you're doing any Republicans a favor by permitting her nonissues and unimportant blather to ruin your paper.

Celeste A. Morello

Philadelphia

Train wreck on Page 1

Do you really think a toy train wreck on the front page to talk about the Eagles and the state of their franchise was a good idea? (Daily News, Dec. 4.) There are people in the area around the Mantua Creek are forced to stay in their homes, schools closed, businesses affected. To the "professionals" at the good ol' Daily News, it's a punch line.

To be clear, I don't live anywhere near this area, and I thought it was in poor taste. Not that anyone at the paper will care. Just keep raising the prices, and shrinking the paper. It's no wonder why the industry is going down the tubes . . . maybe I should add a picture of a toilet to be funny.

One less paying customer,

Brett Boothman

Mayfair

Same old song

Replacing Peter Nero, Maestro Krajewski will lead the Philly Pops next year. However, in all likelihood, we'll still be stuck with Maestro Reid at the Philly Flops.

Jim Acton

Collegeville