Athletics or Academics?

Should coaches get pay raises while teachers are being laid off?

High school football is big in Texas. Especially small-town Texas, where the local team is a source of pride and something the whole community can rally around. But when does football fever go too far? That’s what some in Carthage are asking. The city of 6,700, just about 100 miles south of the Twin Cities, is devoted to its Carthage High Bulldogs. And to their coach, who has led the team to five state championships in 10 years.

So much so that the Carthage Independent School District raised his salary this year by more than $21,000 to $154,900. That’s more than many coaches in much larger districts make.

The problem for some is that at the same time Carthage ISD is facing severe budget problems. The state cut funding by nearly $7 million. Property taxes went up in a city with a median income below the state average. Just about everything else at the school district was cut, including teacher benefits. More than 30 teachers and other staff members lost their jobs.

The question being asked is why should a football coach get more money at a time when everyone else at the district has to bite the bullet? What’s the emphasis on athletics over academics?

The district says the coach earned his raise by packing the stands and bringing in money. Critics says that’s fine, but his compensation already reflected that drawing power and that fans would have attended the games anyway.

It’s an old conflict, academics vs. athletics, and it’s been seen across the state.

We want to know what you think. Is a school district justified in giving a football or other athletic coach a raise in pay while in a budget crisis so severe they are cutting academic budgets and laying off teachers? Of does a team’s drawing power justify paying a coach more money?

Send your response (50 words maximum) to opinion@texarkanagazette.com by Wednesday, Dec. 27. You can also mail your response to the Texarkana Gazette Friday Poll, at P.O. Box 621, Texarkana, TX 75504 or drop it off at our office, 101 E. Broad St., Texarkana, Ark. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. We will print as many responses as we can in next Friday’s paper.

Last Week: Social Media

Last week’s question was about the impact of social media on our society. Is social media having a major negative impact on our society? Or is social media having more of a positive impact?

I believe the main impact of social media, especially Facebook, is the entertainment value. Now you see old folks looking at FB on their cellphones as much as you do young people. For a while it was only young people, now it is every age. To me, this is an impact—B.J., Texarkana, Texas

I was a restaurant manager with a fabulous reputation for over 30 years. I did not have to put up with social media ranting. It is pitiful how patrons get on social media to show their “power” over every little thing and criticize a business. If you are not happy, then tell the business owner or stop patronizing them.—L.D., Texarkana, Texas

In our political arena, Facebook has become a vehicle for spreading false information. Good people have been caught up in the power they have. With the push of a button, they can send inflammatory, degrading and false information about a political candidate they oppose to all their friends in hopes of influencing an upcoming election. Facebook has become a tabloid vehicle far the spread of material that is not fact-checked by reputable sources. President Obama and Hillary Clinton are still being unmercifully targeted by Facebook subscribers. Truth matters!—M.M., Washington, Ark.

Mix of both. My main concern is with the spoofing app that allows someone to call your phone number and hide behind another number. Most of the time when I call the number back, it says it is not in service. How does one get ahold of numbers that are not in service in order to “spoof” someone? Isn’t there a way to make the spoofing app illegal? Most of my “no longer in service” calls begin with (870) 722—. I see no other purpose for this spoofing app than to give criminals a way to anonymously harass someone.—S.S., Hope Ark.

From www.facebook.com/texarkanagazette

It has been both beneficial as well as harmful. It has allowed the common person to have an equal voice alongside the news media outlets, but it has also led the way for inaccurate “news” and for vicious bullying. It has allowed small businesses to reach more customers for little cost, and it has allowed people to find long-lost friends, relatives, and pets that they would have otherwise not found. However, it has also caused more people to perceive their “friends” and social environment on social media as reality rather than the truth of face-to-face relationships. Like anything else, it is a tool that can be used for good or evil.

Yeah it’s too weird the way people get upset if you don’t agree with stuff on Facebook. The way I see it now I’d say everyone is preaching to the choir. You can just get rid of people who don’t agree with you. Civil discussion doesn’t really happen any more