Letters to the Editor for March 26, 2011

The president, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid: "The truth hurts - hide it," and

The Tea Party and the Heritage Foundation: "The truth enlightens - find it."

W.H. Davis Jr.

Hood River

Hire a teacher

I'd like to encourage everyone out there to "Hire a Teacher" this summer. Many people are under the mistaken impression that summer vacation, winter vacation and spring vacation are paid. They are not.

In fact, teachers receive only five paid holidays (Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Presidents Day and Memorial Day). We're not paid for Christmas Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day; these are non-contract days. Teachers are paid for the days they work.

Unlike most workers in the U.S., teachers receive zero paid vacation (here in Hood River, we do have one paid "emergency" day). And we don't collect unemployment benefits during the summer, unlike most other seasonal and construction workers. Teachers and agricultural workers are specifically excluded from receiving unemployment benefits for being laid-off during the summer.

There's a lot of misinformation out there. Some people would like you to believe that public employees are somehow to blame for the economic mess. Those people may have other priorities, however, such as avoiding their tax obligations, shifting from themselves any responsibility for the Great Recession and neutralizing the democratic laws and regulations that protect us all.

Mark Reynolds

Hood River

Informed decisions

There's an event planned at Hood River Alliance Church next Saturday, April 2; you may have been invited or seen it advertised around the Gorge.

The first I heard about it last weekend, it was promoted as a free event, the "2011 Women's Expo: Celebrating Women of the Gorge." It seemed appealing to me as a way to support local women and their businesses.

Within a few of hours of getting the invitation, I received an e-mail clarification that the event was not, in fact, "free," but rather a $10 admission fee would be charged at the door. The e-mail informed me that this fee would go to the Columbia Gorge Crisis Pregnancy Center.

I now understand that this event is a fundraiser for the Columbia Gorge Crisis Pregnancy Center, a local organization aligned with the Right to Life movement. My hope is that the organizers will make this very clear in their marketing so that the general public will be able to make an informed choice about whether to attend and make a donation.

Denise Endow

Hood River