Recent campaign in Idaho to disparage public school system is nothing new | Opinion
Public schools
In the Jan. 12 issue of the Idaho Statesman, an opinion article, “Education choice will improve outcomes, despite myths,” went through six so-called “myths” about how school choice is being unfairly criticized. The “myths” range from downplaying the separation of church and state to insisting diverting public funds to private will not defund public schools. This type of campaign disparaging public schools is nothing new. It has been going on for some time. There are various groups in society who believe that public schools are brainwashing students in a way that is appalling to them. In 2018, a candidate for governor who happens to be the current attorney general suggested that state spending should be cut by 20%. We can only assume that this same agenda of attacking public schools was the main motive for this plan. This in spite of Idaho usually battling Mississippi for last place in education funding. And they also take shots at the concept of separation of church and state as being a myth. The article may have forgotten myth No. 7, which could be Thomas Jefferson demanding separation of church and state being essential to freedom.
Sidney Asker, Boise
Renewables
Idaho is building a cleaner, more sustainable future — and that’s good news for businesses, residents, and communities across the state. From preserving the natural beauty of our state to creating jobs and supporting a more robust economy, clean energy and energy efficiency are helping transform our future as Idahoans — for the better.
Last year alone, renewable energy generated nearly three-quarters of Idaho’s total in-state electricity — the fourth-highest of any state in the country. While the bulk was from hydropower, wind and solar continue to play an increasingly important role in our clean energy mix. Last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law, which Sen. Mike Crapo helped pass, will help us continue to make the right investments to further develop our clean energy capabilities and potential. Together, we can all work to reduce our energy consumption and build a cleaner future for all Idahoans.
Stefanie Aragon, Middleton
Abortion
The Idaho Supreme Court agrees with the GOP legislature, that women are second class citizens with less rights than men. Women have no right to control their own bodies, fetuses have more rights than grown women. Yes, you may not be able to afford a child, you may lose your job or future life goals, or you may lose your life trying to give birth, but the government has given that fetus more rights than you. Women are given fewer rights because they are not important to the GOP. Move to a state that respects your rights or become the second class citizen that the GOP thinks you should be.
Allen Wenger, Boise
GOP
Watching the party of Lincoln debase itself to a gaggle of racists, religionists and crazies is both depressing and frightening. How far down will Republican politicians sink in order to get the vote of the MAGA nut jobs so they can provide their rich masters with more tax cuts?
Watching Kevin McCarthy prostitute himself so he could get elected (selected?) Speaker of the House reminded me of the biblical question: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Gary L. Bennett, Boise
Brazil
Open letter to Mike Simpson, Russ Fulcher, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch et al.
I write to address the despicable attack on the government of Brazil by the followers of Bolsonaro because de Silva was elected and installed. I understand that you had no control over the attack but feel that the horrendous events in the USA on January 6, 2021, influenced and encouraged those insurrectionists. Just as your laissez faire attitude has also encouraged others to rebel against governments elected by a majority of the vote in a fair and honest process. If we want to keep our country then you need to use your intelligence, experience and influence to protect our democracy.
Teresa Murray, Emmett
Heat dome
In the summer of 2021, I added “heat dome” to my vocabulary, because we in the Northwest experienced extremely high temperatures for an extended period. A heat dome, we learned, is an area of extreme heat that gets trapped under a high-pressure “dome.” Climate change is causing the frequency of heat domes to rise, so maybe instead of experiencing one every 50 or so years, we can expect it to happen again in the next 10 years. More recently, Californians have been introduced first-hand to an “atmospheric river.” Heat domes and atmospheric rivers are just two of the weather disruptions intensified by climate change.
But there is good news! The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is expected to reduce U.S. emissions by 40% by 2030, but this requires people and businesses to take advantage of the money on offer. To find out how to save on appliances, electric vehicles, home improvement, and solar panels, you can go to a number of websites – this one will tell you how much you can save on specific items: https://www.rewiringamerica.org/app/ira-calculator.
Margaret A. Davis, Moscow
Politics
Yes, politics is a tough business. Look what it has done to Crapo and Simpson. They’ve sold their souls for position and party and have become meekly complicit to one of the greatest existential threats our great nation has ever faced. Not to mention being passively involved in the destruction of the once great Republican Party. It has been sickening to see them transform from what I thought were principled, courageous statesmen presumably willing to put the country’s interests ahead of their own into cloak room cowering Trump toadies. Crapo supports a second Trump presidency? Truly plumbing the depths of desperation to keep his position. Crapo and Simpson know Trump’s Big Lie is a big lie. They know Trump incited the insurrection to stay in power. They know that when the country needed them most, they turned and ran. They had a chance to do the most important right thing in their careers and didn’t. They know, deep down, that is how history will remember them. They can’t hide from that. They have earned our pity. I have never favored term limits, but with the examples of Crapo and Simpson’s selling out maybe it is the lesser evil.
Ross Borden, Boise