City should pay for crossing guards

CITY COUNCILOR Dan Lewis’ idea that the city shouldn’t pay for school crossing guards and that APS should is another example of why he should not be our next mayor.

Under state law, APS gets reimbursed for the transportation of high school students whose home address is two or more miles from their school, oneand-a-half miles or more for middle school students and one mile or more for elementary school students. The rest of the students walk to school. This is typical of most states.

Our city government has the legal responsibility and control to make our streets safe — not APS. The city makes the decisions (about) how many police to put on the streets, to put in stop lights, speed bumps, repair sidewalks and regulate speed on the streets and ticket speeders. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the city to provide our children with a safe pathway to school.

Lewis’ reasoning that the APS budget is twice the size of the city budget has nothing to do with how we as a community should structure responsibilities. Implicit in this budget comparison is the notion that a bigger budget means that there are excess funds. Just what we need, a mayoral candidate attacking schools rather than addressing problems in City Hall. Lewis’ superficial approach to this issue should be a warning for voters in the upcoming mayoral election.

Schools and city, safety and education are interdependent, but we also must have a rational alignment of responsibilities.

CHARLIE GALBRAITH Albuquerque