PFD Checks
Dear Editor: Across the street resides a young man. This young man has struggled to find a full-time job because he is a single parent with a little boy that just turned 5. He found out child care is expensive.
The house they live in has seen better days. Until recently the old moss-covered roof leaked every time it rained. Rainwater dripped through the ceiling into buckets in many places and ran down the insides of the walls. He worried about the leaks making his son sick.
Because of two PFD checks that help boost their household income, this single father over these long winter months has slowly been able to replace his roof by himself, as he was able to find others that would baby sit his son.
Many teachers and school district officials have come forward saying our schools need everyone’s PFD checks so our schools can continue to grow. I haven’t heard any of them come forward to speak for this poor 5-year-old boy and the tens of thousands of other poor children across our state. I haven’t heard one say we can get by with less because these children need the money these PFD checks provide so they can have food at home, heat at home, clothes to wear, so their daddys can fix the leaks in their roofs that will keep black mold from growing on the walls by their bed. So they can have a home.
While teachers and school officials will continue to testify they deserve everyone’s PFD checks – poor working parents here in Sitka and across our state will remain silent – because they are too embarrassed to come forward and say how much they need their PFD checks to survive.
Robbing from the poor is no way to solve our budget problems. Decades of overspending has gotten our state and city into this mess. Raising taxes, rates and fees to avoid cuts to school budgets will only worsen the plight of our poor. Cuts must be made, belts need to be tightened, and common sense must prevail if we are to weather this storm.
Clyde Bright, Sitka
