Letters on public education, Confederate flag

Don’t shortchange public education

I have had the privilege of serving as an Andover school board member since 2003. My term will end on June 30. Interestingly, my term of office parallels a student’s journey from first through 12th grades – in this case, the class of 2015.

My concerns going forward include how future senior classes will be slighted in their educational experiences by budget cuts. Districts throughout Kansas have used sound fiscal and operational management to compensate for some but not all of the shortfalls.

In 12 years, the members of the class of 2027 will be given their diplomas. One can only speculate what career skills will be needed for jobs that aren’t even formulated at this point. One known fact is that it will be Kansas public schools carrying most of the workload in preparing students both now and in the future.

Public education is an important element in economic development; let’s not take it for granted nor shortchange it. Our young people deserve the best preparation, and with a focused and collaborative effort by all stakeholders, Kansas will excel.

Flag of failure

In the wake of the Charleston, S.C., shooting and the debate over the Confederate flag, no one has really gotten to the heart of what the flag symbolizes.

When we talk about the Confederate flag, we’re talking about the Confederate battle flag, not the actual national flag. There’s a reason for this: The Confederacy was a failed state. In all the relevant facets of nation building – trade, commerce, diplomacy – it failed. Though the military efforts of the Union were a function of its statecraft, the military efforts of the Confederacy became a substitute for its statecraft. When Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered, the facade of the Confederate state collapsed. It simply didn’t exist outside of its military efforts.

Compare this with the American Revolution, a similar exercise in nation building during a crisis. We celebrate the intellectual and political accomplishments of the Continental Congress in addition to the martial accomplishments of the Continental Army. The Confederacy left no such wide-ranging heritage and provided no visionary thinkers.

Thus, the legacy of the Confederacy is one of smallness and regression, lashed to the thinnest reeds of military glory. That’s what people commemorate when they fly the Confederate flag.

Just fabric

Concerning the shooting in South Carolina: Does anyone really think this idiot would not have been shooting anyone if he had never seen a Confederate flag? This is silly. Get rid of the flag, if you must, but this is really just a piece of fabric, a piece of cloth. Put it in a museum. History is history.

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Letters on public education, Confederate flag."