Don't educate those who don't pay taxes

Editor:
I read about Del Rio school district officials who were stopping children coming across the border to hand out letters as a warning to parents. Their children would be expelled unless they could show proof that they lived in the district.
Now if only Brownsville could do the same.
I have seen cars stop at school bus stops so their children can take the bus to school. In my neighborhood during the summer months we have no children running out in the streets in the evenings. But come back to school days, there are children all over the neighborhood.
Parents from Mexico who want to send their children to school should either be fined or they can pay for private school like everybody else.
I live in a neighborhood that is surrounded by schools. High school, middle school and elementary schools. Yes, I pay my taxes, yet I have no one in my family at this time in school.
A lot of these children I have noticed are coming from homes where the people who live there are renters, not owners of any property.
We have so many schools in Brownsville; most of these schools are overpopulated. Something should be done about these families taking advantage of our schools, practically getting off with free schooling and they are not even U.S. citizens or have homes here in the United States.
Why do the citizens of Brownsville have to pay for someone else’s schooling when we already pay too much in taxes anyway? Charge these families taking advantage of free schooling; they should pay just like we here in Brownsville.
Andrea Ann Williams
Brownsville

Political differences aren’t based on race

Editor:
I am compelled to write and address the issue of “racism” brought to the table Ms. Christina Gutierrez’s Oct. 6 letter. I was born in Washington, D.C, but I am a lifelong resident of Brownsville. I was raised and educated here and am accustomed to being in the minority when it comes to my political views. I am 45 years old and find it interesting that with the election of a president who is one-half African-American and one-half Caucasian, my political views suddenly classify me as a racist.
My political views and beliefs did not change the day Barack Obama was elected president. So what has changed?
The change must come from those who don’t have confidence in their own political stance. Now that we have an “African-American” president, it is now politically correct to resort to name-calling those American citizens who might disagree with the present administration.
President Obama is as much a white man as he is a black man. I don’t see his color when I listen to him speak. He could be Caucasian, Asian or Hispanic with the same political standpoint and I still would not agree with him. I could care less about his ethnicity or anyone else’s for that matter. I care about his political agenda.
My challenge would be for us to examine our convictions and stand on what we believe. When it comes down to it, race or ethnicity does not have anything to do with one’s political platform. Leave the name calling to children and disagree respectfully as one American to another without resorting to the race card.
Bonnie Elbert
Brownsville