Letters on education, affordable medicine, Norman’s opportunity

All Oklahomans who have served in the military deserve our great respect. But so do all Oklahoma public school teachers, students and staff. Which is why it’s appalling that our state’s Republican state legislators are only now beginning to take meaningful action to stop Ryan Walters’ deplorable behavior.
It required Walters insulting Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Rob Miller — a former Marine ― to motivate Assistant Majority Floor Leader Mark McBride, Reps. Josh West, Ty Burns, Chris Banning and others to finally publicly and formally question Walters’ performance. And House Speaker Charles McCall still refuses to act. Clearly, conservative men are only motivated to protect their own kind. Not vulnerable students or school staffers long deprived of resources.
Oklahomans, if your Republican state legislator has not yet displayed enough integrity to protest Walters’ vile actions, I respectfully urge you to call, email and write them. Ask them why not. And keep contacting them, until they finally treat our state’s students and educators at least as well as our military.
— Kathy Piersall, Tulsa
We would never want to discourage any Oklahoma educators who are considering making a career move toward the West Coast. Salaries are generally adequate, but the cost of living can get extreme.
I would like Oklahoma state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, and his spokesperson, who stated: “Rogue, left-wing activists who refuse (to implement religious curriculum) can leave and go to California,” to know that very many of California’s teachers attend church regularly and have a deep, abiding faith.
One person who fit that description was my eighth-grade social studies teacher. This was (and I hope still is) part of the curriculum: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; …”
I hope that rings a familiar bell for you.
― Gene Nielsen, Crescent Mills, California
Regarding Alex Shirley’s article “Oklahoma would be smart to fire Walters”… AMEN! It took a lot of bravery to write that article and I hope Mr. Shirley doesn’t get fired for doing it, because he is absolutely right. Ryan Walters has made Oklahoma a laughingstock to others. And if he wants a Bible in the schools, it should be in the library … not the classroom. And libraries should not be banning books! Thank you, Mr. Shirley, for having the guts to voice the opinion of many.
— Jeffiee Tayar, Oklahoma City
More:Ryan Walters is hell-bent on ruining the teaching profession | Guest opinion
In his column “Main Street pharmacies in Oklahoma are closing,” Oliver Lackey, a pharmacist, argues that tactics used to drive down the cost of prescription drugs are putting “unsustainable financial pressures” on pharmacies. Oklahoma’s Legislature has passed “some of the best protections in the country” to help reverse those financial pressures, he argues, and now the federal government should do the same.
It is certainly true the Oklahoma Legislature has passed several laws that protect pharmacists at the expense of consumers that purchase prescription drugs and businesses that sponsor prescription drug benefits for employees. Essentially, Oklahomans are paying a medicine tax, which is used to bolster pharmacy profits.
Oklahoma voters have noticed. In survey research commissioned by Oklahoma Families for Affordable Healthcare, 61% of respondents said state government mandates often drive up costs and benefit special interest groups instead of patients and families.
Mr. Lackey wants more of those mandates, this time on a national level. If he and other lobbying groups (including Big Pharma) get their way, it will mean higher drug costs for consumers coupled with higher profits for anyone engaged in pharmaceutical manufacturing and sales. That’s a bad tradeoff: a public that can’t afford essential medicine while special interests line their coffers.
Federal (and state) officials should reject these calls for protectionist mandates and instead focus on providing affordable, accessible health care and prescription drugs for their constituents.
— Julie McKone, Oklahoma CityMcKone is the executive director of Oklahoma Families for Affordable Healthcare. 
I’ve always wondered why the country, that was attacked by another country, didn’t return the favor and attack the aggressor on its own soil.
Hurray for the Ukrainians for taking the war to Russia. Maybe the Russians will come to realize that Putin is a loose cannon and put him away in an asylum.
There should be no barriers such as a demilitarized zone such as the one that was established between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. All countries should be aware that they can be attacked also.
A country that attacks another country should be prepared to be attacked in return.
Way to go Ukraine!
— Gerald P Sawyer, Del City
Mr. POTUS [former President Donald Trump] suggests the GOP simply ask Americans if they were better off under the Trump administration.
Unfortunately an estimated 1,000,000 citizens are unable to answer that question, as they are now interred in graveyards and cemeteries where they ended up after dying from COVID — the same COVID of which their candidate stated, “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.” It didn’t disappear. It killed a lot of people because Trump soft-pedaled it and lied.
And [Trump] speaks of Kamala Harris’ alleged “disingenuous nature.” One whose leader has been documented to have told 30,573 lies or misleading claims (according to The Washington Post’s Fact Checker) during his tenure should not call the kettle black.
If you’re as tired as I am of all this lying and chaos, vote blue in this upcoming election. This country can’t stand another Trump term.
— Judy Sing, Shawnee
Sorry Mr. Ridley (Aug. 11 Op-Ed, “Norman wants to ‘reimagine’ Lloyd Noble Center”), but I will have to go with Sooner Magic. You mention OKC losing to Indianapolis some years back to land a big United Airlines Maintenance Facility by offering a large incentive package. But what it did do was force OKC to look at itself leading to the passage of the now ever-so-popular MAPS program in 1993.
By the way, the United Airlines facility ultimately did not fly, causing that city some financial grief in building facilities that were never fully utilized. MAPS meanwhile propelled OKC to unbelievable heights with some $3 billion in public and private investment, and over another billion dollars more to come.
Oklahoma City voters believed in the future and betterment of their community to the point their city has now literally reinvented itself. Cities do not stand still. They either move forward or fall behind. OKC is a good case example of that. Norman has a great opportunity to move forward by investing in itself by approving the proposed Norman Entertainment District.
— Dean Schirf, Harrah
This is in regard to JD Vance’s idiotic remark that “the country is being run by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives.” He also said that people with children should have more votes than those without!
He and Trump make a very good pair. I only hope that when these two go down together that they will forever be absent from any further opportunities to show their ignorance.
By the way, I chose to not have children and I have not been miserable with my life. I am now retired after two successful careers and I have traveled most of the world.
Oh! By the way, I have always considered myself to be “Child-FREE” not child-less but I do have a cat!
— Georgia Newton, Choctaw