"Federal grant means more firefighters," Should it?

Addressing to the general public, an opinion article posted on the Star-Telegram explains last year the Fort Worth fire department had lost funding for 24 positions that were left open by the shrinking of the department. Recently the “lean times have been short lived” with the department $3.38 million dollars in a federal grant allowing the filling of the department’s empty positions.

The article posts the opinion that questions whether the temporary solution by federal funding is going to sustain the department for 2 years when the federal funding quits, and if adding fire fighters to the department so quickly with funding in sight is really what it should be doing right now. The author states that the budget constraints in 2016 could be less severe and that other agencies will probably want in on federal support.

The article is to the point and backed up with facts and well formulated data, not to mention some humorous approaches when the author writes,

“And the department’s spokesman says the cuts have had no effect on rapid response to fire emergencies. Good news.”

Overall, the article is well written and states issues that most any citizen would like to know about. With the fire department being some of the life savers of the city, I feel that the article properly addresses questions and concerns that should be held by common citizens.

Mexican-American Studies Class

The Texas Board of Education has yet to approve an increasingly controversial new high school course: “Mexican-American studies.” Those optimistic about getting the course made official, hope that it will pass through the Board of Education before next school year.
Democrat Ruben Cortez, proposer of the course, says that introducing the Mexican-American studies course as an official state class would keep the school curriculum “consistent” and prove itself to be “innovative” with the Latino student majority.
On the other hand, Republican Patricia Hardy, said districts have plenty of leeway in courses that can be taught, including Bible classes. Hardy then follows with, “We’re not about taking each little group out and saying, ‘You’re the majority, so we’re going to teach your history.’ We’re Americans, United States people.”
A spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency says that Mexican-American studies isn’t the only course on the list to be approved. There are 20 other courses that are still being considered for creation and the board can only create a limited amount of courses each year.