Re: “Cheverus stripped of 2010 basketball titles due to ineligible player,” Oct. 2:

It seems really very simple. The coach at that time did not have to play this potentially ineligible player, even though the courts said he could be on the team and play. There is nothing in the rules that says a player cannot be benched, captain of the team or not.

Do I think the parents were selfish to do this to this team, taking this issue to court? Of course I do. Selfish and self-centered, shame on them.

But it seems that the coach and athletic director made poor decisions as well. If the kid hadn’t garnered a single point and sat on the bench, the rest of the team would have won or lost as a team — and there is no “I” in “team,” right?

Maybe they’d have won a Gold Ball, maybe not. But the school and team wouldn’t be embarrassed, as they now are.

Pamela Smith

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North Yarmouth

Readers divided over record of House re-election hopeful

With Election Day around the corner, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind Scarborough residents how fortunate we are to have legislators like Republican Amy Volk representing us in the Legislature, especially when it comes to issues involving education.

Amy, the mother of four children who attend (or have graduated from) Scarborough schools, went to Augusta to voice the needs and desires of her constituents.

Amy voted in favor of L.D. 1422, “An Act To Prepare Maine People for the Future Economy,” which enacted new high school diploma standards and requirements that provide students the opportunity to gain proficiency (and a diploma) through both “traditional” and “alternative” pathways (such as portfolios, performance, exhibitions and projects).

She also supported L.D. 1858, “An Act To Ensure Effective Teaching and School Leadership,” which holds teachers and principals accountable to performance standards and lets the best stand out by creating a new performance evaluation system for Maine’s educators.

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According to Amy, “This is one of the most exciting bills we passed in the 125th (legislative session).” Just as our students must meet standards to advance to the next grade level, so our teachers, too, will be evaluated to make sure they are providing the best possible education for our children.

Amy keeps us informed about what is happening in Augusta (and here at home in Scarborough) through her frequent emails, her website and Facebook page, and her presence in the community. She keeps education in the forefront as a key issue in her tenure in the Legislature, and would serve us well if elected to another term in the Maine House.

Please remember to keep Scarborough’s voice in Augusta by voting for Amy Volk on Nov. 6!

Claudia Murray

Scarborough

It wasn’t until I read the Maine Sunday Telegram story about virtual charter schools that I understood how badly we need to remove state Rep. Amy Volk from office this year (“The profit motive behind virtual schools in Maine,” Sept. 2).

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Volk serves on the board of directors of the Maine Connections Academy, an online charter school that had been bidding for a place in the state education system.

With such a blatant conflict of interest, it should be no surprise that she has pushed policies that would siphon money out of our public schools and into the online school she wishes to start.

The real surprise is that anyone else would want these schools here in Maine. The more we learn about them, the more we see that they are not providing students with an adequate education.

In fact, a 2011 Stanford study shows that students at virtual schools in Pennsylvania rank 13 percent worse in reading and 24 percent worse in math compared to students at traditional schools.

In essence, Amy Volk wanted to take taxpayer money away from a system that largely works, and put it into a system that largely fails, all to the detriment of Maine’s students.

Maine deserves better. There is no doubt that there are ways to improve our public education system, but funneling money out of that system and into a new one that is already proving to be inadequate is not the answer.

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We deserve more from our elected leaders, which is why this November, voters should reconsider their support for Rep. Volk. I’ll be voting for Paul Aranson to represent District 127 in the Maine House. Paul wants to strength our schools, not weaken them.

Greg Hanscom

Scarborough

Share your thoughts about Social Security, Medicare

As we get closer to the election, it is becoming clearer to me that the next Congress and president will be making decisions about the future of Social Security and Medicare. It has never been more important for us all to take the time to find out where each candidate stands on these issues.

One way to do that is to participate in the AARP You’ve Earned a Say tour, which came to Portland and Bangor on Thursday and Friday and wraps up Saturday in Bath from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Waterfront Park during Autumnfest. You can find out the details at www.aarp.org/me.

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Through the tour, we have the opportunity to tell our candidates how we feel about Social Security and Medicare. There is no better time for Mainers of all ages to share their views, and my family is excited to take part in the tour.

These two programs are there for us in good times and in times of economic uncertainty, which, in the long term, could be very challenging for younger generations. We are all stakeholders in the conversation about Social Security and Medicare, and I hope Mainers will choose to take part in the discussion over their future.

Nelson Megna

Portland

How to spin inspections to restaurants’ advantage

If the 800 restaurants in Portland get together and pay for the hiring of a needed restaurant inspector, they can then advertise far and wide that they are dedicated to keeping Portland’s restaurants always clean and are willing to help pay the cost!

The news media will pick up on how this local problem was resolved, and Portland will then receive millions of dollars of free publicity. Everybody wins!

Jake Sawyer

Portland


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