Letters for Aug. 23, 2022

Civics education not political

On Aug. 15, the Mead School Board presented a policy on civics education that would ban the use of resources, such as Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “The 1619 Project” and Ibram Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist.” It also discourages teacher’s encouragement of “student’s political activism.”

In the same meeting, Michael Cannon presented a policy that would remove all books in elementary libraries that reference gender identity and fluidity.

I am a 2010 graduate of Mead High School. I attended Mead schools from first grade through my senior year of high school. Both of my parents are public school teachers.

My teachers encouraged my classmates and me to be curious and informed, to stand up for what’s right and for each other.

In fifth grade, we read “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” and talked about segregation, racism and hate that existed in the 1960s. These early conversations and educational opportunities set us up to continue to learn about and confront racism in our communities today.

In high school I learned about the importance of voting and advocacy in my government class. I learned about identities other than my own in English and history.

Both of these policies claim that the school board is protecting basic education by removing “politicization in the classroom.” Educating students about racism and gender is not political. It is giving our students the language and knowledge to understand themselves and the world around them.

Kylie Pybus

Spokane

Jeff’s impact statement

In reading the anonymous impact statements allowed by Judge Michael Price in Caleb Sharpe’s sentencing, I noticed “Jeff” blames the defendant’s actions on the far right’s usual progressive suspects, critical race theory, gender dystopia and bullying, but somehow he fails to mention gun control.

Ted Wert

Sagle

Avoiding nuclear destruction

As we ooze past the Hiroshima/Nagasaki anniversary, gasp at 50 years of depravity at Fairchild’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) program and boost war in Ukraine, a few of us anticipate upcoming milestones. International Peace Day, Sept. 21 and International Nonviolence Day, Oct. 2. Times to acknowledge the human condition can be advanced and our dependency upon violence can be broken.

Local polarization feasts upon conflicts: Democrat v. Republican; “Pro-Life” v. Choice; when a troubled child becomes a criminal adult; how much climate change is human-caused; whether the rich should be taxed; who may shoot whom or pollute with impunity. Meanwhile, there’s sparse debate about militarism, war and nuclear weapons, the very roots of social, economic and ecological catastrophes. We gag on 9-milliliter rounds and swallow intercontinental ballistic missiles whole.

The Los Angeles Times piece (Aug. 16) too gently reminds us that our country defies common sense and international law to fund and maintain thousands of nuclear warheads. Its dismal forecast assumes 3% of the world’s nuclear arsenal. Our congressional delegation is unconcerned, not even factoring the spiraling costs of false security into our inflation woes, nor calling out the aggravation of our favorite enemies. It falls to you, me and local leaders to raise the alarm. An accident, clever terrorist or demented nationalist could set off five times that nuclear destruction. Spokane Veterans For Peace appreciates our City Council’s effort to make Spokane a nuclear-weapons-free zone, empowering us to guide our nation and future generations away from the intolerable threat of nuclear annihilation.

Rusty Nelson

Spokane

Vote yes on Idaho Prop. 1

Don’t believe Idaho Freedom Foundation’s disinformation and lies calling Reclaim Idaho’s Proposition 1, the Quality Education Act, “class warfare.” The Idaho Attorney General’s office has confirmed that the Quality Education Act would NOT raise taxes on individual Idahoans earning under $250,000 or couples earning under $500,000. To claim otherwise is to defend corporations and people so rich they can pay accountants and tax lawyers to avoid paying their fair share, and rich enough to elect politicians who will keep rigging tax codes in their favor.

Education in Idaho has been systematically starved for decades with an ongoing Republican lock on our Legislature, meaning the rich make out like bandits while working families and especially kids get screwed. With record population growth and record low unemployment, why do we still rank first in the nation in percentage of the workforce making minimum wage and just the federally mandated $7.25 that hasn’t budged in well over a decade? Does that statistic correlate with our also being last in the nation in per student K-12 funding? I’m betting it does and we can finally do something about it. Vote yes on Proposition 1 this November and get a yard sign up while you’re at it.

Chris Norden

Moscow, Idaho