Sound Off for March 28

State income tax

How about dropping state tax and raising sales tax? You buy something, you own wealth and you pay taxes on it. It will be even for everyone. The person buying a $100,000 car will pay same percentage of taxes on it as a person paying for the $10,000 car.

Don’t use drugs

The much reported death in Colombia of the drummer for the band Foo Fighters was sadly predictable. Initial toxicology results show he had a mix of illicit drugs in his system. He had a history of drug use and a previous overdose in 2001 that left him in a coma, an incident that he said alerted him to the fallacy of a “live hard, die young” mentality. There are only three potential outcomes to drug use, abuse and addiction: sobriety, jail or death.

Teacher pay raise

Teachers deserve more money. The kids are unruly and cause trouble because of the way they are raised. The teachers educate and can’t punish the ones who don’t behave. If our teachers don’t educate, our children will not succeed in life. Teachers are great human beings and deserve all they can get!

Teachers work hard

To the ignorant person who thinks teachers are well paid “babysitters”: Mississippi state law requires schools to operate 180 days per year. Teachers work many more days a year than that. They have to prepare their classrooms for the year and have teacher workshop days throughout the year. They tutor after school and during summer. They coach sports which includes many hours of prep, training, practicing and being there for the games on nights and weekends, which means spending time away from their own families. They drive school buses and attend sporting events. And yes, they worry. They are trying to make a positive difference in their students lives and help them to be happy, healthy, productive citizens of society. I am not a teacher, just very appreciative of them. They deserve recognition, respect and a raise.

Submit your Sound Offs for consideration to soundoff@sunherald.com.