Letters to the editor:
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Education Dispute

Since Mr. Mellor [letter to the editor,, April 25] has questioned my assertion that the state doubled spending on education while seeing little results in achievement, I feel it is imperative that I respond. "The Public School System Report Card," in November of 1999, which is compiled by the Tennessee Department of Education, on page 193 states, "...because of the state's commitment to fully fund the BEP formula by 1997-98 without foregoing reasonable salary increases for teachers, total state revenues for school systems increased 107 percent." This was for the time period between 1991 and 1999.

The Tennessean did an extensive research article on education in Tennessee, and I quote from the Jan. 18 story. "In most cases, school systems' average achievement scores on the statewide tests did not improve from 1991-1999 according to a study by William Sanders, the man who designed the state's 'value-added' approach to analyzing test scores." The same article quoted the Commissioner of Education Faye Taylor as saying, "Money in and of itself is not the solution."

Three times Mr. Mellor asserts that it costs an average of $10,000 to send a kid to a private school. According to tuition numbers compiled by the Metro Pulse Annual Manual 2001, there were NO private schools in Knox County with tuition over $10,000 per year, in fact the vast majority of private schools charged less than the average spent per child in a public school.

Perhaps, Mr. Mellor was confusing private schools with the public schools of Washington D.C. which do spend over $10,000 per child and still rank dead last in academic achievement.

I will continue to do what I think is best for the kids, the parents and the taxpayers, not the money-hungry bureaucrats.

Rep. Bill Dunn
Knoxville

The Pit Bull's Sheep

In the Ear to Ground section of the May 2 issue of Metro Pulse, you covered "Pit Bull Bynon" and his antics at last month's Knox County Commission meeting. You mentioned the vast expanse of territory seemingly claimed by West Hills as its area of interest for neighborhood issues. Your assertion is not totally accurate. First, the West Hills group you refer to is simply a political action group in support of the second district's political agenda, hence their wide involvement with other people's business. Second, this group only supports homeowners' interests when the situation furthers the West Hills group's political agenda.

In January, the same Pit Bull Bynon and his friend Barbara Pelot pushed a proposal through City Council to build a 600-car church parking lot emptying into a residential neighborhood on Piney Grove Church Road, over the homeowners' very strong objection. (You are right in implying that the West Hills group does make use of sheep on City Council to serve their goals.) Piney Grove Church Road has had four serious accidents in the last 12 months. Three involved homes hit by cars, and the fourth, which occurred two weeks ago, sent two people to the hospital. The church parking lot backed by the West Hills group empties onto this road.

Piney Grove Church Road is not associated with West Hills and is not in the second district, so there was no reason for Bynon or Pelot to be poking into our business. Unless you consider a reason to be that a large and financially sound church needed a matter pushed through the MPC, and eventually City Council, right at the time Barbara Pelot was running very close to being defeated in the City Council election. (The MPC also has its sheep.)

If Bynon and Pelot really felt that they did a good deed on Piney Grove Church Road, why were two churches blocked from doing the same thing in West Hills? In closing, I hope the thinkers outnumber the sheep on County Commission. At least Mr. Guthe seems to exhibit the desire to learn the facts as well as being considerate of others.

Ray Snyder
Piney Grove Church Road
Knoxville

Why Third?

I guess I should have voted in the Best of Knoxville thing (April 25), because I just had to gape at the idea that the Knoxville Community Co-Op is the number three choice of health-food stores, even behind GNC (and how does that come under the guise of "health-food store?"). Maybe the Co-Op is limited when it comes to supplements, which Nature's Pantry and GNC carry plenty of, but there are many other points in its favor, which is why I can't figure out how it came in third.

I have shopped in health-food stores in Knoxville, Asheville, and Red Bank; in Deal and Little Silver, New Jersey; and in New York City. I have found only two stores besides the Co-Op that cater to vegetarians and only one other where I feel free to talk about the stock with the managers and other employees/ members. I'm sure the other, for-profit stores will make special orders, but at the Co-Op, if I'm annoyed by something, I know it will be given serious attention. When I discovered that the Dean Ornish vegetarian meals are made by ConAgra (the second-largest meat processing company in the US with markets worldwide and owner of an oil company), the Co-Op pulled the meals. Nature's Pantry left them in the freezer, along with Boca Burgers, now brought to you by Kraft, one of the largest companies to utilize genetically modified organisms in their "foods."

Perhaps the main point is at the Co-Op, you become a member; the store is as much for you as for anyone else. Obviously the Co-Op needs to make money, but profit doesn't appear to be the bottom line. The Co-Op also has the best line of healthy pet foods that I've seen in all my travels, and they have the best bulk section at really good prices. As a vegan, I am also thrilled that it doesn't carry meat (except in the form of pet food) and that is very important to me. Yes, the Co-Op does charge a membership fee or charges extra if you are not a member, but I've been in both stores, and while prices in some cases may be similar or there may be a sale at Nature's Pantry, the Co-Op generally seems less expensive. Plus, it has a pleasant atmosphere. If I had voted, the Co-Op definitely would have had my vote.

Wendy Kobylarz
Kodak