Selective use of jobs data skews the results
Re: “Government salaries soar in bad times,” Editorial, Dec. 14
I must set the record straight in response to your Dec. 14 editorial.
The Examiner based its conclusion on a USA Today story that used data selectively, and thus managed to reach the false conclusion that federal employees are highly paid in comparison to the private sector. In fact, repeated studies by the Bureau of Labor Statistics conclusively show that federal employees earn an average of 26 percent less than their counterparts in the private sector who perform similar work. In contrast with a private sector that includes large numbers of nonprofessionals, it is impossible to make an apples-to-apples salary comparison against a federal workforce that contains some of the nation’s most highly-educated professionals, including large numbers of accountants, attorneys and scientists. Finally, the increase in positions with higher salaries is a reflection of increasing numbers of political appointees and higher-paid management officials, not frontline federal employees.
Colleen M. Kelley
National president,
National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)
Most Arlington residents happy with STAR program
Re: “Arlington wastes money on suit while stranding the disabled,” Dec. 15
Barbara Hollingsworth’s opinion piece on Arlington County’s STAR program and HOT lanes lawsuit distorts the facts. It is important to set the record straight, and to note that Ms. Hollingsworth did not contact any county officials about the STAR program. Arlington County supports a wide range of public transit options every day. We are proud of the high-quality paratransit service that we offer to our 1,200 MetroAccess-eligible Arlington residents. These residents use STAR for nearly 300 daily trips. * Over 80 percent of riders rated STAR as good or excellent in a 2008 survey. * In fiscal year 2009, we provided 72,000 trips at a cost of $2,626,462. * Clarification of the rules ensures that this shared-ride service is available to serve all of its users, not just a few. * All program changes are made with the input of the county’s Transit Advisory Committee. Arlington filed the HOT Lanes lawsuit because the project, as proposed, would not ease traffic congestion – it would likely make it worse. The county is pursuing the lawsuit to protect Arlington residents from increased traffic and increased air pollution, and has hired legal counsel with expertise in such matters to assist in the lawsuit. We do not disclose legal strategies.
Dennis Leach
Director, Division of Transportation
Arlington County Department of Environmental Services
Higher education exhibits the same ills as government
Increasing numbers of intelligent high school seniors are opting for community college for the first two years because they recognize that higher education has evolved into the world’s biggest societal rip-off. I graduated from one of the great “prestige” private universities 50 years ago. Total cost per year – tuition, books and everything else – was about $2,900 a year. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $29,000 a year today. But the price tag this year is close to twice that amount. What is going on? Colleges and universities are much like Montgomery County’s government. They overpay employees and oppose layoffs, even to improve efficiency or get rid of teachers who do not know how to teach or spend all their time doing useless research. And they oppose cost cutting for any reason and love administrative overhead – the more the better! Why is Maryland so committed to dysfunctional liberalism? Is it the water?
Richard C. Kreutzberg
Chevy Chase
