Letters to the editor for Monday, Nov. 19

PRE-K PROGRAMS

Good investments

Parents of preschoolers might have been surprised by recent articles indicating that fewer than 2 percent of 4-year-olds in Minnesota access pre-kindergarten programs. This statistic is confusing in that it refers specifically to publicly sponsored school-based pre-kindergarten programs.

In fact, according to Wilder Research, 69 percent of preschool-age children in Minnesota are enrolled in licensed early care and education settings, although a tiny portion of those are publicly sponsored school-based programs.

Outside of the home, the vast majority of young children's early education experiences are paid for by parents and in private community-based programs -- child care centers, home-based child care and part-time nursery schools.

Given that 75 percent of Minnesota's mothers with young children are in the workforce, it's critical that there are high-quality, full-day, year-round options for families to choose from.

The research is in. According to Art Rolnick of the Federal Reserve Bank, the high returns that come from early childhood investments are something his venture capitalist friends wouldn't pass up. We shouldn't either. Let's make sure those are smart investments that recognize the wide array of parents' needs and create access to high-quality options for Minnesota's children.

ANN KANER-ROTH, MINNEAPOLIS;

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHILD CARE WORKS

school funding

An unfair system

Sen. David Hann's Nov. 12 commentary, "Big-picture question on schools: Who has control?" was littered with misleading statements. His tactics are similar to the strategy of deception that killed a crucial levy referendum for Robbinsdale students this month.

I have a particular problem with Hann's claims that local governments should claim more responsibility for school funding. That may work for a few rich school districts, but it isn't a formula that will support strong education opportunities for all Minnesota students.

If Hann is concerned about local control, I invite him to join me in working to stop anti-tax extremists who live in other states from misleading Minnesota voters -- hired hands like Paul Dorr, who lied to voters in the Robbinsdale district to promote his own anti-tax agenda.

Minnesota's Constitution mandates that the state provide a "uniform system of public schools," because Minnesota is supposed to work for everyone. Funding schools as Hann suggests -- based on the value of homes in the district -- doesn't serve our students, our economy or our future.

REP. RYAN WINKLER, DFL-GOLDEN VALLEY

how to quit smoking

One way that works

A Nov. 14 letter stated that the tobacco settlement should be used to help smokers quit. On the same day, an article ran that discussed quitting options but didn't mention any programs in our state.

I'm happy to point out that in Minnesota, tobacco settlement dollars actually are being used to get quit-smoking help to anyone who wants it. QUITPLAN Services, a unique, comprehensive set of programs funded by ClearWay Minnesota, brings free help and medications to eligible Minnesotans, whether they want to use in-person, phone or online methods for quitting. Any Minnesotan, whether they have insurance or not, can be quickly connected to effective, professional services.

DR. ANN WENDLING, MINNEAPOLIS;

DIRECTOR OF INTERVENTION PROGRAMS,

CLEARWAY MINNESOTA

BONDS INDICTED

Not convicted

Help me out. Just what crime has Barry Bonds been convicted of? Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty?

JIM GABRICK, MESA, ARIZ.

DEFENDING ETHANOL

It's a 'way station'

It's become popular to blame ethanol for problems not of its creation. Several of these are mentioned in your Nov. 14 reprint of a Wall St. Journal editorial.

The Ogallala aquifer had been drastically drawn down long before ethanol plants started putting a demand on corn supply. The primary use of corn is as animal feed, and Ogallala water primarily produces feed for cattle, which are notoriously inefficient converters of grain into protein. Blame America's love of marbled beef for that.

World over, food prices have been climbing. Only one-fifth of our corn crop is normally exported. Wheat prices, which are not affected by ethanol, have climbed more than corn. What is happening is a parallel situation to the problem of climbing oil prices. Both oil and food supplies have now become inelastic. That means the system cannot easily ramp up production as demand increases. World population has now caught up with the Green Revolution. Demand is outpacing supply.

The Green Revolution bought the human population time to bring down its explosive growth rate. The Green Revolution's guiding hand, our own Norman Borlaug, the single person who has had the greatest effect on the daily lives of the greatest number of people, has admitted as much.

We have been profligate with fossil fuels. Each year we burn up a million years' worth of stored solar energy. Right now we are bumbling around trying to develop systems that will carry us forward into a world characterized by scarcity rather than surplus. At this point, we don't know what will work and what won't.

Corn-based ethanol is a way station. It is a way to develop systems and infrastructure that can pave the way for the future. When cellulosic biomass crops become viable, the advantage to farmers of growing perennial crops over annual grains is so huge that we will have another problem. We will need to beg them to grow corn at all.

FRED SCHUMACHER, MANKATO

THANKSGIVING 2007

Who or what are you thankful for this year? Let us know. Send us a letter at opinion@startribune.com and we'll run some of your responses on Thanksgiving. Please send all submissions by noon today.