Letter: Qualifications still matter in hiring practices

Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 | 8:55 a.m.

Regarding allegations that the Transportation Safety Administration has engaged in discriminatory hiring practices:

How far down are we going to have to lower our standards in the United States, in order to accommodate everyone who feels entitled to working for our government regardless of qualifications? Last time I checked, any job position (whether in the private or the public job market) always comes with minimum qualifications and experience requirements. Have things changed?

My understanding is that the entire concept behind the federal takeover of aviation security is to improve upon past performance. If my memory serves me right, several months after 9-11, McCarran had the disgrace of been ranked as the second worst airport in the United States in terms of security screening performance. Why are the very employees who earned McCarran such a dreadful ranking surprised at failing the basic TSA pre-employment assessments?

I would like to offer the following suggestion:

Rather than lowering our standards as a nation, perhaps it would behoove the individuals who feel entitled to be given employment opportunities by our government to avail themselves of the abundant (and in many cases free) resources offered by our government to raise their individual professional level of qualification so they can meet the basic qualification levels of the position they seek.

D. BUCKINGHAM