Electric vehicles
Working together
Re “Virginia Beach school district creates focus groups of parents and students to find out what they need” (March 19): It was very hopeful to see this article highlighting the proactive work of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools family outreach team. Kudos to Admon Alexander and his colleagues for creating family voice groups to encourage diverse family members to share and partner in finding solutions to address the real life struggles they are encountering as they commit to creating successful learning environments for their children.
I also want to applaud the efforts of this outreach team in working with the faith community and other partners to implement safe learning center sites that provide essential resources for elementary children needing extra support due to pandemic challenges. Taking the time to bring all stakeholders to the table to build trusting relationships that will work together to provide remedy for the problems encountered in our schools are sure to bring transformational changes for successfully educating every student in our community.
Teresa Stanley, Virginia Beach
Examine history
Re “Let’s keep civics education from splintering America” (Other Views,
March 21): Jonathan Butcher’s op-ed addresses the need for school-based civics education as a means of addressing our national social issues. Butcher works at The Heritage Foundation and is a member of other right-leaning organizations. His basic thesis is that teaching civics effectively will create an environment that will allow for constructive discussions leading to solutions to our social divides. He states that the foundation for effective civics courses is a shared set of ideas and historical experiences that all can agree on.
A shared set of ideas and historical experiences that all can agree on implies that all groups see these elements through the same lens with the same set of facts. And therein lies his fallacy. We, as Americans, do not view our history through the same lens or set of facts. Nor do we agree on the true gains of equality and fairness achieved over these many years. Do whites and Blacks have the same understanding of slavery in the United States? Do whites and Native Americans have the same view of the very establishment of the original colonies and the relentless expansion westward, resulting in the final makeup of the United States? Have women reached full equality with men?
Until we all agree, our history civics classes will not solve our domestic problems. Agreement can only be reached by a critical analysis of our history.
Donald Taber, Virginia Beach
‘Truly proud’
Re “Overcoming challenges, NSU helps lift region’s spirits” (Our Views, March 22): Behold the Green and Gold!
Congratulations to the Norfolk State University Spartans for their historic NCAA Tournament competition from fellow alumni of historically Black colleges and universities. We fellow HBCU alumni are truly proud of Spartan determination and athletic prowess. Your performance best exemplifies the spirit and words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Grady Dunn, president of the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Morehouse College Alumni Association, Norfolk
Re “Automakers embrace electric vehicles. But what about buyers?” (March 23): I’ve wanted to buy an electric vehicle for a long time, and this recent article on trends in electric vehicle purchases showed me that I’m not alone in postponing this purchase on account of cost. Yet climate change demands that we mitigate the cost barrier of buying EVs as quickly as possible.
If we want to see more people driving EVs (and I do!), it needs to make economic sense to purchase one. The article pointed out that subsidies and regulations can both play roles — specifically, decreasing the cost of an EV purchase and increasing the cost of driving a gas-powered car. Another option is to implement a carbon fee, putting a price on pollution at the source. The revenue from this fee can be given to American households, putting money in people’s bank accounts that they can use for any purpose, such as buying an EV.
I’m excited that Sen. Dick Durbin has introduced a bill that does this — the America’s Clean Future Fund Act. This is a crucial step toward reigning in our emissions (including those from ground transportation and a number of other sources, too) in a way that benefits us all. I hope we can count on Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner to support this bill.
Rose Hendricks, Falls Church Food insecurity
Acknowledgements to Sens. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, for recognizing the issue of food insecurity within our military families. What a disgrace in the United States of American that some of our military families are going hungry. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Substandard housing creates an environment of stress and anxiety within a population already under considerable tension because of numerous moves and deployments.
These are the men, women and families of our armed forces. They work for, dedicate their lives to and sometimes die for our country. They deserve better.
Mary Ann Fussell, Norfolk
We fellow HBCU alumni are truly proud of Spartan determination and athletic prowess. Your performance best exemplifies the spirit and words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”