Readers Write: (Aug. 30): Schools, hot weather, Syria, federal court budget cuts

After surviving the three worst days of this week's heat wave and having temperatures temper off, we were furious to get a call from the Minneapolis superintendent's office after 5 p.m. on Wednesday informing us that schools would be closed Thursday and today.

As with so many working families, we are suddenly left struggling to pull together child care. What do we do?

We love our school and teachers, but this move reinforces our frustration with the district's notorious knee-jerk decisionmaking, bad communication and poorly reviewed leadership appointments.

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Mother Nature has spoken: no school before Labor Day.

Let's reclaim the whole month of August for what it used to be: vacation, camping and leisure.

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Television reports stated that at least four children were hospitalized due to the heat on Monday. Many more were treated at individual schools. This is completely unacceptable and should be considered child endangerment.

It is far more likely that a series of hot, humid days will occur in late August rather than in early June. On these types of days, no learning takes place.

Contrary to the idea that children are resilient, their young bodies do not handle the heat as well as those of young and middle-aged adults. We are often told, during weather such as we have had for the past eight days, to check on the elderly and young children.

Why did those in the Minneapolis administration, from the comfort of their air-conditioned offices, not see the potential for harm? Perhaps if these officials do not have the capability to take the health and safety of our students into consideration during intolerable weather, the Legislature should revisit the decision to allow the school year to begin before Labor Day.

SYRIA

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Wow! Steve Sack actually has proof that the chemical attack in Syria was carried out by the government and not by the radical Muslim rebels (editorial cartoon, Aug. 29). Shouldn't he turn this amazing information over to our government?

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Regarding a prospective U.S. attack on Syria, I would use the quote "To whom much is given, much is expected." We are the most powerful nation in the world. Do we not have a moral responsibility to aid the helpless and persecuted people of our planet? To sit back and watch them being murdered by chemical agents, and to read their signs asking "Why has the world abandoned us?" is reprehensible. What you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.

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BUDGET CUTS

Whining public officials complaining about funding cuts have numbed many of us. Some of those cuts are real and hurt people, while some can be met with creative management.

I have known Michael Davis, chief judge of the District of Minnesota, my entire professional life. He is a unique figure in the state's legal system. He is not prone to call news conferences. He most decidedly is not a whining public official. His call for congressional action to undo the radical cuts in federal court should alarm everyone ("Judge: More cuts crippling," Aug. 29).

Furloughing very dedicated federal court employees, in plain English, is asking those employees to take very significant pay cuts. If the result of furloughs is closed courthouses, the plain-English translation goes something like this: Your house catches fire, you call 911, and you are informed by recorded message that the fire station is closed until tomorrow.

Not many houses catch fire, nor do many people end up in federal court, but this community needs both to function when we need them. Congress needs to hear from all Minnesotans. Take a few minutes and write a letter or send an e-mail. Tell Congress that adequate funding of the federal courts is important.