To those who do not understand why parents want their children to "opt out" of state testing, I will clarify what testing means today, focusing on elementary and middle school.

Back when most newspaper readers were in elementary school, students took a standardized test — one test of maybe an hour or two on one day in certain years.

When I started teaching in New York state 23 years ago, this was still true. Eighth-graders also had big tests in all subjects.

Then came longer state tests for fourth-graders.

As years went by, there were tests added for every grade 3-8 in English Language Arts (known as the ELA) and math. Each of those tests ran for about 90 minutes of two days each. One day of the test was multiple choice, the next day was applications, such as problem solving in math and writing essays and paragraphs in English. That meant that, for four days, children ages 8-13 were sitting taking tests every year.

Now the test is for three days. Students spend over nine hours sitting for the ELA and math assessments. The SAT for students headed to college is about 3 1/2 hours. That is one of the big problems. Children of varying abilities are spending more time being tested than 18 year olds who are college-bound. By day three of a math or English test, most children are burnt out and any results from that day are probably useless. The only reason I can think of having them for three days is that the Pearson company that makes them can charge more.

Another factor is the tie-in to Common Core standards. As a teacher, I am all in favor of raising standards. However, these tests were implemented without adequate time to catch up. You would be surprised at the level of math and reading being taught to all children, regardless of their abilities. Common Core eighth-grade math would be what you were doing in high school. In addition, the Common Core test questions are two to three grade levels above the grade being tested.

These are the main reasons parents, teachers and students are frustrated. Many test items are unreasonable. Most of all, the time spent on the testing is unconscionable.

Rebecca Kent Masters, M.Ed.
Kingston

It's no wonder that some polls indicate that people are against religious freedom in the homosexual debate.The media has couched the argument as religious people refusing to serve gays. Far from the truth. In the case of Baronelle Stutzman, the florist who would not create an arrangement for a gay wedding, she had done business with the people for years knowing that they are homosexuals. Her objection is that her religious beliefs prevent her from taking part in the celebration. She lost her business and is faced with heavy fines.

At the pizzeria in Indiana, owners never stated that they wouldn't serve gays, only that they couldn't in good conscience take place in a celebration of gay marriage. In Iowa, Mennonites were forced to stop catering weddings at their hall because of a ruling regarding their refusal on religious grounds to host a gay wedding. There are more cases where people of faith have closed shop or lost jobs because of social media statements in support of traditional marriage.

In Indiana, corporations (Apple, Angie's List) have come out financially against the state if they were to pass the RFRA law. Is this not hypocritical of Apple, who does business in Saudi Arabia and China, where there is sanctioned violence against gays? So the media is right on one thing: there is intolerance and bigotry in America against those of traditional beliefs. What's next? Forcing Catholic churches to perform gay weddings or lose their nonprofit status?

Joe Ditizio
Thompson Ridge<p>

I received an estimated utility bill from Central Hudson. Normally, my bill is $230 to $250. Because of the snow, they were unable to read the meter. I understand they must send an estimate, but the estimate should be honest and reasonable. They sent me a bill for $1,066.00! This is four or five times what my bill is usually.

I called them to question this and they said my only recourse was to read the meter myself and call them. Instead, I sent in $500.

Today I received a late payment notice for $527 (not sure how they came up with that number) with a threat to charge me interest. I feel this is interest on money that isn't due them. I can't afford to pay four times my usual bill on a whim of Central Hudson, so I went out tonight and read the meter. It is still not even close to where they estimated it would be on March 11! It is short by 400kw and it's April 15!

I feel this practice of overestimating usage should be investigated. I have spoken to others who have also been sent arbitrarily high bills in March. Why should Central Hudson extort $1,066.00 from me? My real bill should be $250 or so.

It amounts to them using our money for several months interest free. Meanwhile it's a hardship for financially strapped residents.

Eileen Chapman
Shokan

I recently read a letter to the editor where a writer stated he wouldn't publish sexually explicit material due to his religious beliefs.

I have two questions for him. The first is, if you were on a medical emergency team, would you refuse to provide first aid to a person who was gay or in an adulterous relationship? After all, public medical emergencies require giving aid to anyone who needs it.

The second question deals with other violations of the bible.

What about divorcees? Matthew 19:9. What about horoscope consulters? Leviticus 20:6.

What about anyone with a tattoo? Leviticus 19:28. What about anyone born illegitimately? Deuteronomy 23:2. What about someone praying aloud in public? Matthew 6:5-6. What about women with gold jewelry? 1 Timothy 2:9.

You don't seem to have a problem with people who violate these religious laws. Why is there a double standard?

Ken Mitchell
Newburgh

Unfortunately, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, HIPPA, consumers of health care do not have legal possessive rights to obtain the written hard copies of their own medical records when they are disseminated back and forth between health insurance companies and the entities where they receive health care. Under HIPPA, the conflated summaries of your health care records (which are used to make medical determinations by the health insurance companies as to whether your coverage is approved or denied) are not obtainable when such information is electronically disseminated. In the 21st century, everything is electronically disseminated, as all medical records are transmitted through an email, facsimile or telephone call. Under HIPPA, this information is considered to be protected informational property of the insurance companies or in other words a proprietary trade secret. And this information is only accessible through a court-ordered subpoena which is not available until a patient has exhausted all of the appeals that are available to them within the appeals processes which are set forth by the specific state insurance laws within their state of residence. Assuming that a patient should lose their appeal(s), this process of exhausting all of the appeal(s) available to them will take 2-3 years, and once this process of appeals has been exhausted, a consumer of health care would have to sue their health insurance company in Civil Court in order to obtain their own medical records. In the interim, however, their medical bills will have continued to accrue and/or their illness, injury or ailment will not have been treated because of the denial of coverage by the insurance company.

While the details of HIPPA are extremely troubling on a federal level, there are other insurance laws which are equally troubling on the state level. Specifically, Section 18 of New York State Health Law does not allow for errors within one's health care records to be permanently removed. Under Section 18, if you or a qualified person or persons discover a mistake or omission within a patient's health care records, a brief written statement can be submitted in order to call attention to the mistake. This written statement will be added onto the patient's medical records after the mistake and both entries will permanently remain in the patient's medical records. Unfortunately, this practice can have an adverse effect on the ability of patients to purchase health and life insurance, and it can potentially have an adverse effect on the future treatment of patients in a clinical setting.

Within the Ulster County Legislature, I have drafted a memorializing resolution which calls for the New York State Legislature to correct the flaws within Section 18 and allow for such mistakes to be removed. In addition, I am setting up meetings with Senator James Seward and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill who are the respective chairs of the insurance committees within the State Senate and Assembly. Ideally, our elected officials in Albany will correct these flaws and take responsibility for their past mistakes.

Chris Allen
Ulster County Legislature

On this Earth Day, April 22, we face new challenges and new opportunities. Climate change threatens us and many of our accomplishments. We see increased flooding, record-breaking cold, increases in Lyme disease, droughts that bring uncertainty in food supplies and exacerbate tensions in the Middle East.

The science is settled. We know that if we cut our emissions, we can maintain a livable world. We know that we can cut our emissions by shifting to renewable and nuclear technologies available today.

And yet, it seems insurmountable.

But it is completely doable. We simply need to implement policy that helps us all move, in concert, to those carbon-free technologies. What policy could do this? And if such a policy exists, could we possibly get people on the right and the left to agree to it?

The answer is a simple and elegant "yes."

There is one emission-cutting policy that finds support in such a diverse group that includes conservatives like George Schultz and Greg Mankiw and Evangelical Christians like Katharine Hayhoe, anticapitalists like Naomi Klein and economists like Hank Paulson.

That policy is a revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend. A fee charged on all carbon will push us all to choose renewables and other low-carbon technology. The dividend will pay us all equally back to afford to transition to those renewables. It will drive innovation and economic growth. It will cut emissions and preserve a livable Earth.

Climate change is not insurmountable. We simply must decide to take it on.

Claire Cohen Cortright
MidHudson Valley Citizens'
Climate Lobby
Glen Spey

What happens to that plastic straw you just used to sip water at the diner? Unlike plastic bottles, it's not recycled. That plastic straw never dies. Every piece of plastic ever made still exists. And every year, billions of pounds of plastic end up in the world's oceans. Every year, seabirds, seals, turtles and other sea life are killed by ingesting our plastic litter.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working on this. But, meantime, we can each do something quite specific: Our diners, cafés and restaurants can stop automatically offering straws. As customers, we can stop requesting them.

Quietly, but insistently, let's all just say no to the simple, but deadly, plastic straw.

ViVi Hlavsa
Stone Ridge