Letters To The Editor

IDAHO SCHOOLS

Make schools flexible, better

As a challenger in the race for the Post Falls School Board, I want the voters to know what I will fight for if elected. If you agree with my vision, please support me with your vote on May 16.

I will fight to preserve and improve the current system for those many families happy with it.

I also want the district to reach out to the families whose needs are not being met. For those parents seeking an old-fashioned, structured and disciplined grammar school environment, I have joined with others to propose a public school choice program here in Post Falls. Using only public schools, and working with our teaching and administrative staff, I intend to give each family the control over their children’s education that so energizes private schools.

At the secondary level, I want a realistic vocational track for the large number of students whose career goals are not directed at college. And I want to tighten discipline policies for students and staff so that order prevails and learning for all students can take place.

I intend to push for merit pay so that we maximize the enormous investment we make in our teachers. This, coupled with school choice, will raise the standards and performance of our schools to the point where taxpayers feel comfortable supporting future bonds and levies. Until the district performs at the level needed for that support, I will not vote for more taxes. Donald F. Morgan Sr. Post Falls

Morgan, Hunt best for school board

On May 16, Post Falls will have a chance to join with the rest of Idaho and choose new leadership for our school board. Bob Hunt and Don Morgan will help state schools Superintendent Dr. Anne Fox in moving public schools towards honest education and away from the big business, big union, big government program that it’s become. If you want more control over what and how your children are taught, then vote for new leadership.

Don Morgan’s school choice plan is the most honest attempt made yet in this district to empower families. His support for teachers’ merit pay means good teachers will get good pay, great teachers will get great pay and every teacher will have an incentive to do better.

Don’t be fooled by the hidden agenda of the incumbents. Vote for a change and real leadership on May 16. Vote Morgan and Hunt. And remember, you can register at the polls. Alan and Mary White Post Falls

Vote Morgan for school board

Patrons of the Post Falls School District deserve better than to be subjected to endless, consecutive requests for supplemental levies. The first step in breaking this cycle can be taken by the voters in Zone No. 2.

On May 16, they’ll have the opportunity to cast their ballots for school board trustee candidate Don Morgan. Morgan knows that with the increase in property values we’ve all seen comes greater revenues to the district. Add to this increased funding from Boise and there should be no need for a supplemental levy.

Most importantly, he knows this must be addressed in the budgeting process. Planning is what it takes.

First and foremost, Don Morgan is committed to quality education. Recognizing that there are many opinions on how best to achieve a high level of student accomplishment, he believes parents should have the right to choose a curriculum they feel is best suited for their child, especially at the elementary level.

What more could we want? Parental involvement would be up, which is one of the goals of the district, and more students should excel academically because the curriculum is best suited to them.

I encourage voters in Zone 2 to vote for Don Morgan. This is an important opportunity and should not be taken lightly. Don’t let it slip away. John Malloy Post Falls

Local schools ‘a step ahead’

I am glad to read that state schools Superintendent Dr. Anne Fox is attempting to resolve many of the problems with the quality of education in Idaho. As a result of community pressure, the Coeur d’Alene School District is a step ahead.

In a May 5 article, Fox advocates that educators should “listen to the public” as well as for teacherparent discipline training. Our district currently advocates parental input on curriculum guidelines by encouraging parent representation on curriculum committees.

Furthermore, after overwhelming parent approval of a structured class that was administered on a trial basis at Hayden Meadows Elementary, the school is offering a choice between structured/teacher-centered classes and open/child-centered classes for next fall.

Regarding an emphasis on discipline, Ramsey School has already implemented a strong disciplinary policy which, hopefully, will prove successful and be applied throughout the district.

I applaud District 271 for its progressiveness. Susan MacRae Hayden Lake

FRINGE GROUPS

Play soldiers do not a militia make

The front page article of May 6, “Don’t shoot, it’s the Guard,” is an indictment of the current state of patriotism in this nation.

The National Guard is the single modern organization that meets the definition of “militia” as used and applied by the framers of the Constitution. When they must worry about the lies and paranoia of groups that resemble the private armies and insurrectionist groups the framers intended militias to oppose, there is something very wrong at work.

As the legitimate inheritors of the militia tradition, the Guard stands in the footsteps of the Minutemen, the Green Mountain Boys and a long line of others.

These self-identified militias are also part of a long tradition - the tradition of those who took up arms with the intent of defying or overthrowing the legitimate government. If they want to call themselves militias, well and good. I spent over a quarter of a century in my country’s uniform to safeguard that right. For all I care, they can call themselves the Sixth Cohort of the Imperial Roman Legions or the New Ashmolian Marching Society and Student’s Conservatory Band.

The point here is that calling your group a militia does not make you part of a militia. That privilege is earned with dedication, discipline and self-sacrifice. The fact that those who have earned a place in the tradition of the citizen soldier must worry about those who have simply usurped the title is a warning to us all. M.A. Carter Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Craig inflames extremist paranoia

Regarding Sen. Larry Craig’s desire to disarm U.S. Forest Service personnel:

In the wake of the Oklahoma bombing, it is offensive that Sen. Craig continues to heighten the climate of fear, paranoia and antagonism toward federal employees. He is hypocritical in demanding disarmament of forestry personnel on the basis that they don’t need their weapons while defending the rights of armed militia who, Craig apparently feels, do need them.

I have not seen any report of forestry personnel threatening to “blow away” any citizens. Yet every day there is another report of militia members threatening local officials, as well as the faceless federal government in general.

Sen. Craig is strengthening the idea that the federal government excessively intrudes in the daily lives of the public. To cite Ruby Ridge and Waco as rationale for his paranoia is to feed it, not to alleviate it. Sen. Craig is pandering to a segment of his constituency and behaving irresponsibly toward the rest of us. Ilene Bell Sagle

Slash pay, benefits for Congress

I am writing to inquire if anyone in this area or this country has heard anything about Congress cutting its own benefits and wages, either Republican or Democrat?

My understanding is that senators and representatives make in excess of $100,000 per year. I cannot help but wonder why. Taking into consideration that they all have constituents that earn less than $20,000 per year.

No representative of the people should have wages and benefits in excess of those they serve.

Furthermore, my understanding is that government works for the people. These days it seems, the people do all the work and the government gets paid.

I would like to see the power brokers (politicians) forced to live on less than their lowest-paid constituents. No extra benefits if you, as a member of Congress, lecture at a college. Any and all proceeds go to the college. Also, representatives of the people should no longer be allowed to live in private housing while in office. They should be housed and fed in government housing comparable to what those they serve live in.

I believe many of those now in office would think twice before wanting to continue.

Is it not time for government to serve the people and not the other way around? M.R. LaFleche Worley

Whirlwind’s headed our way

“Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind” describes the action of those who run our government.

Glibly defaming the Christianity that built this country, scoffing at morality and belittling guidelines for human behavior that have kept us from self-destruction for centuries.

Continuous mocking and deprecating time-tested traditions and any public official who tries to uphold them (like they do to Rep. Helen Chenoweth and Idaho Schools Superintendent Anne Fox).

Our two-party system has degenerated into one and that includes Bob Dole and Rush Limbaugh (both liberals under the skin). Instead of checks and balances, we have a cozy authoritarian unity of the three branches appearing to be against, to the degree of actual suppression, of the culture and mores of its citizenry.

We must not tolerate the destruction of justice and government by activism and the unholy divisive peoplebaiting which is the lifeblood of the news media. Hitlerism, Stalinism, Gestapoism have been proved ineffective systems for running a country. We should not be experimenting with those here.

Daily we come closer to becoming a police state. Morality is out. The great panacea is more police and more prisons that keep overflowing at an ever increasing rate. The outcome of no morality but gobs of cops always leads to the end of democracy, the government by brute force and total dictatorship. George Valentine Rathdrum

LAW AND JUSTICE

Don’t take this backward step

John Webster’s recent editorial, “Adoption Laws Must Be Changed,” is a good example of righteous indignation turning to irrational action.

I also saw the compelling pictures of Baby Richard being separated from his adoptive parents, and my heart also hurt for this poor child. However, I believe John’s solution, the Uniform Adoption Act, will move our adoption system back decades.

Many of us are involved in causes or groups where one or two bad apples can spoil the whole bunch. These are the stories that end up in the court of media attention. Let’s remember that there’s almost always facts that aren’t brought out that make the picture much different, if truth be told. This sad story is no different.

Years of injustice in this case have made Baby Richard the loser at this juncture of his life. Fortunately, this child’s situation is rare. Modern adoption systems are changing to honor all parties in the adoption and provide for legal openness and fairness.

The Uniform Adoption Act is possibly a well-meaning but disastrous attempt to improve adoption law. The National Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), the body recommending this stinker to the states, is made up of lawyers and judges - the only group that will ultimately benefit from its passage.

Please join SearchLight, an adoption search and support group in Coeur d’Alene, in opposing the Uniform Adoption Act. Reforming is all about moving forward, not backward. Jesse Lassandro SearchLight, Coeur d’Alene

OTHER TOPICS

Small kids, guns shouldn’t mix

I was saddened on April 16 to read the story about young Grayson Drew, who was accidentally shot by his father during target practice. On April 29, I read an obituary for Grayson Drew, age 4. He died as a result of this accident.

Why was this 4-year-old boy and his 6-year-old brother with their father as the father was target shooting? It saddens me to think the family has to live with this tragedy. But it saddens me more for the 6-year-old brother to grow up thinking that Daddy accidentally killed his little brother. Jane Larison Spokane

Old monopoly had its good points

In reference to Charles E. McCollim’s “Deny phone company monopoly” (Letters, May 4), as a retired US West (formerly Pacific Northwest Bell) employee, I present a different slant.

Although the phone company was a monopoly, the company also was government regulated. All rate increases were government approved. Telephone service was provided to all customers, regardless of the cost-effectiveness.

I remember running service to five Tyler customers from the Edwall office, which involved miles of cable and central office equipment. Telephone service was provided to all the rural areas, giving farmers and rural residents communication privileges.

Of course we paid more for phones. But they were manufactured in the United States by U.S. employees and lasted a lifetime. I wonder if Mr. McCollum has used a $10 phone?

It took years and millions of dollars to build the old monopoly into the finest telecommunication network in the world. It took a smart judge months and taxpayers’ money to tear it down. Had Pacific Northwest Bell chosen to skim the cream off the top like many long-distance carriers are doing today, I’m sure the savings would have been passed on to the consumer. Instead, the motto was to give good telephone service to every household. Joene Olsen Spokane

Can’t believe all you hear

The media’s recent reporting of only part of Bo Gritz’s statement about the bombing in Oklahoma City reminded me of another news items about a year ago when CNN and other news media reported “another attack on an abortion clinic in Sioux Falls, S.D., today.”

That evening, I phoned our daughter who lives in Sioux Falls. I mentioned the attack on the abortion clinic. Her reply was, “You have to be kidding. Do you know what happened? A 13-year-old kid spray painted the side of the building!” Ethel Hurst Athol

Seems close only counts in horseshoes

I wrote my first letter in the 1920s. The postage was two cents. All I needed was the name, address, town, state and two cents. Postal service was great.

I recently wrote to my sister who lives in Plainwell, Mich. I used a full address plus the zip code, which I missed by one lousy number. It took nine days for her to get my letter. The U.S. Postal Service couldn’t even find Michigan. If they could have got that far, anyone could have told them were Plainwell was.

I wonder what the rip-off 30 cents is for. Waldo Larson Laclede

Benchmark set for being wrong

Coming from someone in a responsible position at the region’s largest newspaper, D.F. Oliveria’s antiEarth Day editorial was disappointing and irresponsible for the fallacies and insults it foisted upon readers.

First, the name calling and sarcasm. In this day of vicious partisan sniping, we need constructive dialogue and cooperation, not more insults.

Then, the quotations and references attributed to supposedly authoritative studies. What “court order” and “evidence” on asbestos? What “proof” about the spotted owl? Who made the quoted statement on acid rain?

Oliveria also chose to ignore science except where it suited him. NASA, the Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Protection Agency and other reputable organizations have amassed a large record demonstrating the deleterious human health and environmental impacts of ozone depletion, asbestos, excessive logging, acid rain, PCBs and dioxins. Yet Oliveria discounted it all.

Next, the fallacies. That the number of standing trees means anything at all about their size, age and health. That dollars matter more than anything else. That humans are distinct from the environment.

As go the birds, fishes, air, forests and water, so we will eventually go.

Oliveria was right about one thing: man has created disasters. Environmentalists work to reverse those disasters for the good of us all, today and for generations to come. Oliveria and others who stress short-term economic gain over long-term human, environmental and economic sustainabilty indeed strive to “achieve a myopic end.”

Shame on you, Mr. Oliveria, for using your position to perpetrate insults, fallacies and dangerous shortsightedness. Karen G. Shill Spokane