Letters to the editor – The Hutchinson News

The Hutchinson News| The Hutchinson News

The First Amendment prohibits government from abridging the freedom of speech. Yet for decades far right extremists have pressed lawmakers to censor public school education and books that some perceive as disturbing. Some have convinced Republicans that Critical Race Theory is brainwashing schoolkids.

In Goddard, Kansas, education officials removed 29 books from circulation after a parent complained about language in one of them. Among the titles pulled were several novels, including Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Fences, an award-winning play by August Wilson was also pulled, as was They Called Themselves the K.K.K.," a nonfiction history of the racist hate group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

Looking at the targeted works, one can't help but note that many deal with America's troubled racist history and sexuality. Some people, it seems, would rather their children be taught comforting lies rather than uncomfortable truths. But just as creationists can't rewrite the science curriculum because they reject evolution, we can't let historical revisionists attack young people's freedom to learn. Books for young adults that discuss issues of human sexuality are often controversial, but curbing access is unacceptable. LGBTQ teens need to see themselves reflected in literatureor find nonfiction resources for factual information.

Parental involvement in public schools is always welcome, but that doesn't mean parents will gain veto power over all aspects of the curriculum. It's essential that informed parents stand up strongly against ignorance and censorship. The censors won't win if enough people stand up to them.

Janean Lanier, Hutchinson

City's new website reveals "transparency" to be a meaningless term.

Transparency is often touted as the hallmark of government agencies operating with utmost honesty and integrity. The need to be transparent was expressed by our current mayor as recently as the Feb. 2 City Council meeting. Unfortunately, the City's new website does little to advance this concept.

The most glaring example of the shift towards opacity can be seen in the removal of City Council agendas, minutes and supportingmaterials prior to January of 2020. Any citizen interested in current issues, such as those revolving around the Woody Seat or the Atrium are at a loss when it comes to exploring actions taken by the Council and Administration in previous years. Anyone asking, "how did we get here?" will not find any relevant information through the City's new website. Another more subtle obfuscation, is the removal of any information pertaining to the numerous grants our City relies on for its functioning. RFPsand other contractual information have also been quietly removed.

This shift towards opacity should alarm every citizen of our community. The problems we as a community face have been decades in the making. Any hope of rectifying our current circumstance must be met with a clear understanding of what has brought us to this point. To see our current Administration move so dramatically in the direction of opacity, in the direction of less available information, raises more questions without providing any answers.

Scott Brown, Hutchinson

Dave Trabert of the Kansas Policy Institute stated the topic of his Jan. 31 column was the proposed legislative bill to make computer science a required course for graduation, but he delivered they-are-so-wrong-and-so-bad messaging instead.

To discuss his stated topic, Trabert would have had to say that making computer science a graduation requirement would be a resource draining hardship for the many rural districts already struggling to hire qualified teachers. He would have also had to say that is why the bill sponsor has already agreed to delete the graduation requirementbut retain the new funding to train teachers in computer science. He would have also had to retract his statement about the need for universal school choice (his code word phrase for funding private schools with tax dollars). Private schools are not required to provide a computer science course.

Instead, Trabert tells us that Kansans of the last 55 years, who set graduation requirements through their elected state and local board of education members, were wrong. As a professional lobbyist who has spent 13 years running a dark-money funded, political propaganda platform, he tells us teachers who have dedicated their lives to educating our students care more about themselves than our kids because they do not agree with him. He also looks unfavorably on the majority of Kansans electing our current governor over his preferred candidate who promised to largely reinstate the Brownback income tax cut fiscal train wreck. For Trabert, most of us are wrong and bad.

Sincerely,

John Sturn, Ellinwood, KS

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Letters to the editor - The Hutchinson News