LETTERS - June 4

ISSUE | SCHOOL FUNDING

Gas tax needed

Pennsylvania is the only gas-producing state in the country that does not have a severance tax on natural-gas extraction ("Wolf, GOP exchange budget salvos," June 2). It is past time for oil and gas companies to pay their fair share so we can get schools the funding they need. Yet corporate interests continue to protect oil and gas companies instead of working to fix schools and get Pennsylvania back on track.

Gov. Wolf's budget proposes a historic $1 billion investment in education at all levels. This is only the first step in achieving the governor's goal of a $2 billion investment in education over four years. The governor's severance-tax proposal will generate more than $1.5 billion in 2018-19. This revenue is critical to fixing our schools.

|John Hanger, secretary of policy and planning, Governor's Office, Harrisburg

Charter innovation

We should learn from KIPP Philadelphia Charter School's innovative approach and provide district-managed schools with the funding required to provide alumni support services ("Milestone for KIPP's first graduates," June 1). If we're lucky, maybe that will happen in the distant future, when the School District receives the funding it needs and deserves to help children succeed.

|Elliott Seif, Philadelphia

ISSUE | NUCLEAR DEAL

Haste could risk

a weaker Iran deal

Trudy Rubin makes a strong case for adopting the firm position of France in nuclear negotiations with Iran ("U.S. should follow France and get tough on Iran deal," May 31).

In rejecting ongoing inspections of all of Iran's nuclear sites, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei likely believes that the White House, anxious to get a deal before the self-imposed June 30 deadline, can be steered into a weak agreement. This would be a grave mistake, with problematic reactions from our Arab allies.

If President Obama, out of eagerness to make a deal intended as the crowning foreign-policy achievement of his presidency, fouls this up, we'll face a long-term crisis.

|James Miles, Collingdale, jxxphilly@hotmail.com

ISSUE | HEALTH CARE

Sustaining lives

Fox Subacute has three facilities across Pennsylvania dedicated to providing quality of life for ventilator patients after a hospital discharge ("Alive, but what kind of quality of life?" May 28).

Residents get individualized care, including care for their complex medical needs. Most importantly, we provide quality of life. We regularly schedule trips, as well as activities on our campuses. We have outdoor areas and beautiful landscapes for residents to enjoy in the warmer months.

Our discharged residents frequently return to see friends and caregivers who became like family at Fox. For those who are not able to leave, our facilities become their home, and many residents have been with us for years.

|Dr. Erik I. Soiferman, chief medical officer, Fox Subacute, Plymouth Meeting, foxsubacute.com

ISSUE | YOUTH SPORTS

A mecca for decades for kids in Kensington

Frank Fitzpatrick's article on the Lighthouse Boys Club was a real treat ("Club was beacon for Philly soccer," May 31). I remember as a kid playing soccer on cold fall Saturday mornings at Lighthouse field. Before the days of the Spectrum, the circus performed, and all of the league players would receive two free tickets.

While I excelled at baseball and football, I could never master soccer. My father played at Lighthouse field in the 1930s, while my brother and I played there at the field at Front Street and Erie Avenue in the 1960s.

Some of the soccer players there were absolutely magicians with a ball and could break defenders' ankles with some of the moves they used. That's why I developed an admiration for the skill it takes to play the game at the level some of those kids played at and have become a lifelong fan. Fitzpatrick brought me fondly back to those long lost days.

|Fran Steffler, Philadelphia, fsteffler@aol.com

ISSUE | MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Let Pa. House members vote on drug access

In addition to being a founding board member of Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana, I am a licensed social worker with 40 years' experience as a drug counselor, certified at the highest levels, and I have lectured, published, and taught.

As a counselor, I know the difference between a drug used as medicine and the abuse of the same drug recreationally. Medical marijuana is for those suffering from illnesses proven to be aided by it. All conditions in Pennsylvania's proposed medical marijuana legislation are proven by research to benefit those who suffer. The bill passed the Senate last fall by an overwhelming majority. But in the House, State Rep. Matt E. Baker (R., Tioga) has promised to kill the bill in his Health Committee.

Across the state, 88 percent of Pennsylvanians support medical marijuana. Most senators voted to support it. Baker flouts the will of both the people and his colleagues. Baker should release the bill for a vote and show that he trusts the state's elected representatives to reach an intelligent, informed decision.

|Edward A. Pane, Hazleton, edpane@ptd.net

ISSUE | BATTLE OF MIDWAY

Fearless few turned tide early in Pacific war

On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz arrived in Hawaii by Catalina flying boat to command the Pacific Fleet. He saw that the Pearl Harbor attack had missed dry docks, repair shops, and the tank farm. Therefore, the carriers, escorts, and submarines stood ready to take the offensive.

Nimitz immediately sent submarines into Japanese waters and conducted carrier operations thwarting Japanese initiatives. However, the discovery through code-breaking of enemy intentions for Midway provided a unique opportunity to fight Japan's main fleet, if against long odds.

Preparing Midway Island for invasion and assembling the carrier task forces for battle required the combined achievements of thousands in logistics, ship repair, and naval intelligence. Yet as the attack began on June 4, 1942, the final margin for victory turned on the fearful sacrifice of a few brave men: About 550 airmen lost half their number when flying into concentrated antiaircraft fire and conducting carrier-plane attacks to destroy four heavy carriers in defense of Midway.

One could easily paraphrase Winston Churchill to say that never have so many, who fought in the Pacific, owed so much to so few. Midway was the battle that doomed Japan.

|Nolan Nelson, Eugene, Ore.

ISSUE | STING PROSECUTION

Sad lesson on how to stay out of jail

The conclusion to be drawn from the tap on the wrist imposed by the court on disgraced State Rep. Ronald Waters and former State Rep. Harold James is that for corrupt state leaders, there is a license to steal ("Two Plead Guilty in Sting," June 2). Not only are they spared prison, but both are expected to retain their pensions, as others who have been similarly situated have done.

State Attorney General Kathleen Kane is complicit in this debacle. Had it not been for Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams taking up the prosecutions that she had declined to pursue without a valid reason, the crooks could have emerged unscathed.

The colleagues of these thieves are worthy of contempt as well. They allowed the perpetrators to continue to serve and maintain a high profile for months after they acknowledged their actions in grand jury testimony, with not one member attempting to enact a measure to reprimand, censure, expel, or even expose the violators.

Ironically, Waters and another who has been accused and appears to be going to trial, State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, have recently participated in "Know Your Rights" forums throughout the state, in which instruction is provided as to how citizens should interact with police, with the goal of remaining alive and not winding up in jail.

|Oren M. Spiegler, Upper St. Clair