Letters to the editor on book bans, presidential exams, health care and parental involvement
Book bans and parental decisions
I enjoyed the Opinion Page article by Azar Nafisi regarding censorship she observed in her native Iran. I’m assuming she was inspired to write because of the recent discussion of children’s books that were removed from some Texas school libraries because parents found the books to be objectionable.
I’ve always thought of the verb ‘ban’ as being something absolute. If a book is banned, it is no longer available to anyone, as was the case in the Islamic regime she speaks of. That is certainly something we never want to see in our country
The ’ban’ as it was called in the case of children’s library books is not a ban but a decision based on the opinion (still legal in this country) of parents to not purchase and offer these books in their library.
It doesn’t prevent anyone from buying the books to read in their homes, nor threaten to burn the books.
Similar decisions have been made for movies we watch through the Motion Picture Association (PG, PG-13, R) since 1945 and in video games through the Entertainment Software Rating Board since 1994. These organization don’t ban anything, but simply make recommendation, like parents.
Presidential mental health exams
Regarding Ron Lyon’s letter in the Feb. 18 Eagle (Roger Marshall), why in the world would Mr. Lyon object to President Biden taking a mental health exam? Is he afraid of what might be found?
Has he forgotten the multiple instances of Democrats demanding that President Trump have a mental exam? Once again, the double standard of Democrats is on full display.
Kansans help Kansans
Senate Bill 472 or House Bill 2675 will help the 150,000+ Kansans called ‘the working poor’ that cannot afford or qualify for health care. In Sedgwick County, there are 15,905 residents that qualify. They could be the person that pours your coffee, assists a special needs child or attends your church.
We already pay for this, but by refusing to enact law we have sent over $5 billion to 38 other states to help their working poor while telling ours to go without. This legislation will bring back $1.8 million of our federal taxes a day to help Kansans.
It is estimated that this legislation will create 2,733 jobs and increase spending in local businesses by $119 million per year in Sedgwick County alone. This scenario will be played out in every county in Kansas.
Tell Reps. Brenda Landwehr and Ron Ryckman and Sens. Richard Hildebrand and Ty Masterson to move this legislation to the governor’s desk for signing into law.
Kansans helping Kansans is the right thing to do. Bringing our federal tax dollars back home to pay for it is the right way to do it.
Education and parents
Mitch Daniels (“Imagine if a law penalized schools for poor education,” Feb. 16 Eagle) correctly identifies significant shortfalls in reading and math skills of high school graduates. More significantly, he further states the K-12 system will seek ways to disguise its shortfalls.
Daniels proposes gaining the attention of higher education institutions (as well as broken K-12 systems) by motivating them with financial penalties and unfavorable publicity. For institutions of higher learning, Daniels suggests bills for a share of student debt default.
I was impressed by the irony in Daniels’ remark about K-12 seeking ways to disguise shortfalls.
The missing elements in K-12 are expectations and accountability. Both have been absent for over a half century, but the responsibility does not lie with the educators. Too many parents fail to recognize that one of the most important things you can do for your children is to see they receive a good education.
A chronic lack of parental support and involvement is the likely root cause of why Johnny and Jane can’t read and reason these days. Not everyone will agree with this conclusion . . . but they should.
Education is the only sure way out of poverty.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 1:00 AM.