Letters on Kansas education, prosecuting teachers, constitutional carry, tax bill fiasco, Iran

Education a new endangered species

Senate Bill 56, which would criminalize teachers for showing material deemed harmful to minors, puts a real damper on education. Some learn best when their beliefs are challenged, and books on the “edge” can do that.

You only get so much out of “Dick and Jane” unless your desire is seeing Dick run in the local primary, unimpeded by votes from illegal aliens. Critically evaluating materials is a highly valued skill in adulthood.

If House Bill 2292 passes, the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs could be terminated if they do not “align” with Kansas standards. While teaching advanced college-level topics, these programs enhance placement at competitive colleges and allow students to pass out of basic courses.

I’m an associate clinical professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. Many of the medical students I interview have participated in these programs. If these programs were not offered in Kansas, it could affect educational pathways and ultimately careers.

Instead of educating future engineers and physicians, Kansas would be prepping future Republican Kansas legislators.

It is silly to exclude public university employees’ titles in opinion columns (House Bill 2234). Their background gives them credibility. I decided to write this letter while I am still allowed to tell you who I am and what I do.

Hall of mirrors

The hall of mirrors that passes for our Legislature is floating a bill that makes it easier to prosecute teachers and administrators for distributing material deemed harmful to minors. Deemed by whom?

Promoters say the bill is necessary to ensure that kids are protected from pornography. Huh? Did our school libraries suddenly start subscribing to Playboy?

The Kansas definition of freedom: Have all the guns you want, just don’t think – that is dangerous. Where’s Spencer Tracy when we need him? I can see it now: Scopes trial redux, but with condoms instead of monkeys.

No shoot-outs

I recently made a trip to Arizona, staying there for three days.

I was very pleased to find out firsthand that all the hyperbole and hysteria concerning Kansas Senate Bill 45 and constitutional carry in Kansas were demonstrably false.

I found no mops and buckets at the end of every aisle in stores to clean up all the bloodshed, and I did not witness one gunfight break out due to Arizona citizens re-enacting the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

I firmly believe that Kansans should also be able to exercise their constitutional rights without being required to obtain a government-issued permission slip to do so.

Gun safety

Regarding “Looser gun rules win Senate OK, move to House” (Feb. 27 Eagle): What was the Kansas Senate thinking? Do senators really want people who have not undergone training walking around with concealed firearms? Do lawmakers really care more about how the National Rifle Association ranks them than they do about community safety?

I believe the root cause of this issue is that Kansas is primarily a rural state and, with the exception of a handful of urban areas, everyone knows everybody. The majority of our populace has a different set of problems to deal with where guns are concerned.

I sincerely hope the House is able to exercise good common sense and send this bill packing. Lawmakers need to represent their constituency, not the NRA.

Be accountable

Gov. Sam Brownback has blamed Kansas’ financial problems on President Obama, the school budget, educators and on all of us for not spending enough this past Christmas. The head of the Senate Tax Committee, Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, blamed those “damn moderates” and Democrats.

Donovan and other GOP lawmakers passed the tax cuts that are now at the root of our financial problems, and Brownback signed them into law. They should be held accountable for creating this serious situation.

Now the governor has proposed we borrow up to $1.5 billion, even though our credit ratings have been downgraded and it will cost more to borrow. He intends to plunge ahead and get the state deeper in debt. As an experienced investor, I know now is not a good time to borrow money in this way.

Now is not the time to take more financial risk. Now is the time for Brownback to admit that what he attempted has failed and, for the sake of the state, to retreat to the previous, viable tax structure.

Returning to a reasonable tax structure would require Brownback, Donovan and others in Topeka to be accountable, and there is the rub. They just don’t seem able to do that. It’s a sad day in Kansas, and the sun is certainly not shining.

Stark testimony

The former U.S. Embassy building in Tehran, Iran, welcomes visitors with a doormat emblazoned with “Down with USA.” A statue of a U.S. Marine surrendering to Iranian students stands nearby.

This building is stark testimony to the 1979 incident in which 66 American hostages languished for 444 days while their impotent leader accomplished nothing. President Obama now chooses to negotiate with Iran despite objections from Israel, our main ally in the Middle East. The Iranian slogan “Death to America” is apparently an epitaph.

This story was originally published March 4, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Letters on Kansas education, prosecuting teachers, constitutional carry, tax bill fiasco, Iran."