Dilapidated Schools

Re “House Delays Vote on School Reform,” May 17: The Senate has rejected adding funds to the education bill to help dilapidated schools make necessary repairs. This decision comes only days after your article showing how desperate some areas of the country are for money to upgrade and repair schools that are basically unsafe (“Crumbling Rural Schools One Step From Disaster,” May 13).

The Republicans in Congress are closing their eyes to the fact that children have to go to school in buildings that would be shut down by OSHA if they were factories. Without money to upgrade some of these schools, the question is not if but when children will die in a fire, an earthquake or other disaster. That would be worse than all the school shootings, because right now our government has the money to change this situation but prefers to pander to those who think only of themselves.

Fredrick Bertz

Sherman Oaks