I read an article last month about tourists visiting and money that was generated. I do not remember the timeline, but 13.9 million visitors and nearly $3 billion spent is a huge amount.
Will the tourism bureau keep the money for advertising? A nice idea would be to distribute some of the money to the schoolteachers who pay out of their pockets for needed supplies for their students.
My wife used to help a neighbor buy school supplies every year until she retired. It is a shame that this is happening today in our area. Low teacher salaries are also part of the problem.
I think it would be nice to have a full disclosure of how the $3 billion is spent and who gets it. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
I remember a few years ago when they started the laptop program. In the rural areas around here, there is no internet, and someone came up with the great plan of telling parents to take their children to a nearby library and sit outside and use its Wi-Fi.
And you call them educated people. Western North Carolina should be ashamed for letting this happen to our teachers and our schools. Also glad that the superintendent of the school system spent $90,000 on a PR company to tout the school system. We need a full disclosure of all the money coming in and going out.
— Leonard Nickerson
Swannanoa
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