Readers Write (Dec. 19): Minneapolis schools, Cuba, Sony movie, the Taliban, soccer stadium, General Mills

Why has the Minneapolis school board pledged $72,000 of public money over the next six months to the recently resigned Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson for consulting work when the board "gave her low marks for boosting student achievement," her signature goal? ("Head of Mpls. schools quits abruptly," Dec. 17.) Of what value can Johnson's ideas be when her leadership has resulted in "the largest achievement gap since the 2009-10 school year" and "a growing number of parents pulling their students from city schools"?

The board is spending a considerable sum on Johnson, while those who do the real work of teaching are hampered by crowded classrooms, insufficient support staff and supplies, and a bureaucracy that refuses to recognize the destruction caused by disruptive and dangerous students.

Outgoing board member Alberto Monserrate stated: "There is going to have to be some accountability." Yes, there is. The members of the board owe us an explanation for their decision to use scarce resources to reward failure.

In 1977, photographer Kent Kobersteen and I went to Cuba to report for the Minneapolis Tribune on a brief visit to the island by a delegation from the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. As a result of a great deal of pushing and finagling, Kobersteen and I were allowed to stay in Cuba for three weeks after that delegation and the rest of the accompanying news media returned to the United States.

We became the first American journalists to travel widely and freely in Cuba in 17 years, preceding some high-profile television personalities by several months. I've paid close attention to Cuba and our relationship with that island nation ever since.

The major lesson I brought home from that intense reporting experience was that the U.S. trade embargo and accompanying policies were profoundly stupid and counterproductive. Those policies have remained in effect for more than 50 years, and through all that time have continued to be foolish and counter to professed American goals, including even those of the fanatically anti-Castro, anti-communist people and corporations that have supported them. They have done immeasurable harm to this country and to the people of Cuba.

I've found the presidency of Barack Obama frustrating and disappointing in many respects, but his actions on Cuba are enough to redeem many of his failings. Every president since Dwight Eisenhower should have had the guts to do what he has done, but none did. Bravo, Mr. President!

I've been listening to the pros and cons of these actions concerning Cuba, and don't get me wrong, as I would like to start seeing legal Cuban cigars, but is Obama taking this action through the proper channels or is this yet another illegal edict? Obama has history here.

Terrorist groups, dictators and almost all people follow one set rule: If something works, keep doing it until it stops working. This is the strategy behind blackmail and hostage crises. Because we follow demands, because we pay for our hostages, terrorist groups continue their work. This week Sony announced it was going to cancel "The Interview," a movie about two civilians assassinating Kim Jong Un, because of threats ("N. Korea linked to Sony attack," Dec. 18). Based on this cancellation, do you think North Korea will continue to threaten U.S. companies? In the long run, every company or person giving in to threats only worsens things for anyone else in that situation. Perhaps the solution is to stop the threat and not the activity. I understand the security risks, but I know that the next time something anti-North Korean comes out, there will be more threats. When will we stop giving in?

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I shed no tears that "The Interview" has been pulled from theaters. Under what sensibility is a plot based on assassinating any other human being a comedy?

The Taliban massacre of 141 Pakistani students and teachers this week represents a deadly irony, because the word "taliban" is the Pashto word for "students" and is a loanword from the Arabic "talib," which I first heard before spending a summer in Cairo as a Macalester College student half a century ago, when I was taught to identify myself by saying "ana talib Amrikani" — "I'm an American student." Now those who claim to be "students" of Islam have slaughtered Islamic students.

Instead of sinking public money into yet another stadium, how about using it to fill the many potholes, or on improving our schools or fine-arts organizations? If Bill McGuire or anyone else wants to bring a professional soccer team to the state, let it be financed by those who would most benefit: the owners.

In response to "General Mills still struggling" (Dec. 18), our family is one that has slowly, over the last few years, cut the company's products from shopping carts. Two of our family members cannot eat any corn syrup or other odd, man-made sugars, including malted barley, without becoming ill. Another has to avoid additives due to migraines. If you read even cereal box ingredients, that limits the General Mills choices to plain Cheerios and few others. It rules out mixes for cakes, boxed bars and other things. We have become almost a farm-to-table family. While our shopping cart now traverses mainly the outside aisles of the grocery store, we are not helping the General Mills bottom line.