Rep. Vito Barbieri is defending a statement he posted on his re-election campaign website in which he called on Christians to pull their children out of Idaho's "Godless" public schools. In a debate between Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, and his Democratic challenger Cheryl Stransky, also from Dalton Gardens, on TV Channel 19 that's now posted on the city of Coeur d'Alene's website, Barbieri was asked about this statement he's posted on his website regarding public schools: "One more thing: If you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and God, then pull your kids out of that Godless institution."
    
Barbieri told questioners from the Coeur Group that he stands by the statement. "My words exactly," he said. He said he wants to push legislation to direct state funds to private schools through a new tax credit, to "allow an alternative to this public school system that is certainly serving a purpose, but there are questions about the curriculum, and that's what I'm concerned with." Stransky differed sharply, saying, "Public education is the great equalizer in this country, it has always been, and I think it needs to stay that way."

You can read my full Sunday column here from Sunday's Spokesman-Review. To see the 15-minute debate between the two candidates, along with debates in other Kootenai County legislative and local races, go to the city's website, www.cdaid.org, and click on "TV Channel 19."