Gomers: What's going wrong

VISION: Grant Wood Area Education Agency, which serves more than 50 area school districts, no longer is routinely doing vision screenings for all elementary students. The reason given for the change this school year: No other AEAs in the state offer the service anymore, and Grant Wood wants to align its services with its fellow agencies. OK, but who is better suited to ensure that these important screenings are done so that kids who don't realize they have a vision problem are diagnosed in timely fashion if parents don't notice it?

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BACK PAY: About 750 Iowa National Guard members are among U.S. military personnel still owed respite-leave pay approved by Congress in early 2007. This extra pay is supposed to go to service members, including regular Army and Reserve, who were deployed to combat zones beyond the usual length of time to help them deal with their responsibilities when returning to civilian life. Now, many of those troops are being redeployed into combat again but haven't received those benefits. Promises made to those who serve our country on the battle lines should be kept. Our congressional delegation should keep the pressure up to make this happen.