Deirdre Taylor is a resident of Lewes and Newark.
Dr. Michelle A. Taylor’s Opinion was spot-on (“Can we keep doing business as usual?”). Delaware legislators talk about improving reading and math in schools, but that is all they do — talk. The same legislators are put in charge, and if anything is implemented, it takes years to put in place. There are models out there, like in Mississippi and Arkansas, that might not be perfect for Delaware schools but would be a place to start, rather than reinventing the wheel. We also need more trade schools. It costs less to get a trade education. We need tradespeople desperately, and they make six-figure salaries.
Delaware’s state funds are not spent to the best benefit of the citizens of Delaware. Do we really need a $270,000 surgeon general who will take a year to come up with a plan, when he has been thinking about it for 30 years?
Do we really need an Office of New Americans that will cost $738,000 for three years, plus $30,000 startup money? And Rep. Frank Burns, D-Newark, can’t say that all the people who are being helped are here legally.
Then, there is the over $100 million given to the University of Delaware every year by the state, when UD has an endowment of tens of billions of dollars. Why? This money could be put to better use.
Our current governor likes to spend money!
The kitchen table issues are driven by energy, and Delaware produces zero energy in our state. It is also law that all energy produced in Delaware must be green! So, we are down to wind and solar, which did not work in Texas and did not work in Europe. I have been talking to Frank Burns for two years about building a nuclear plant in Delaware, since we are surrounded by them in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He said it would take 10 years. No, since I have been going to Frank’s monthly town halls for two years, it will take 12 years. Also, recommendations came out of the legislature this year to create energy production in Delaware, and none were implemented.
Then, there are data centers. These would be a great source of revenue for Delaware. Data centers are the way forward. Virginia is giving thousands of dollars of bonus money to teachers because of data center income to the state. To be clear, data centers need to produce their own power, recycle water, meet all zoning laws for noise, etc. Delaware has enough open land to build data centers. Also, a data center in Nevada is selling excess power produced to California. Wow, what a novel idea.
It is time to stop the same old, same old, and work for the citizens of Delaware, instead of kicking the can down the pike. All Delawareans are suffering for this and the overspending by our current governor.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
