Get PragerU’s bogus content out of Idaho’s school curriculum | Opinion

PragerU

As a scientist working in industry, I’m deeply concerned about the infiltration of PragerU content into public education. Despite its name, PragerU is not a university, it’s a media outlet pushing politically charged narratives disguised as educational material. Its videos routinely distort history, deny climate science and promote ideologically driven misinformation.

In states like Florida and Oklahoma, PragerU Kids content is now being approved for classroom use. This includes videos that downplay slavery, dismiss Indigenous history and question the reality of climate change. These are not “alternative perspectives”; they are deliberate attempts to rewrite facts and manipulate young minds.

Science and history are not partisan. They are disciplines built on evidence, inquiry, and integrity. Allowing PragerU into our classrooms undermines the very foundation of education and threatens our children’s ability to think critically and engage with the world honestly.

I urge educators, parents and policymakers to reject PragerU’s materials and demand transparency in curriculum decisions. We must protect our schools from ideological intrusion and ensure that students receive a rigorous, fact-based education.

Truth should never be optional.

Randy Rannow, Boise

Smithsonian

The recent push to alter the Smithsonian’s portrayal of slavery is a deeply troubling attempt to rewrite American history. Slavery was a brutal and dehumanizing institution, a moral stain on our nation’s founding that cannot be sanitized or downplayed. To suggest that highlighting the horrific cruelty of this system is a disservice to our country’s “greatness” is a dangerous and misguided premise.

National museums serve a vital dual purpose. They are indeed places where we celebrate our triumphs and American exceptionalism. However, they must also act as a testament to our failures, ensuring we never forget the injustices of the past. By confronting the full, unvarnished truth of slavery—the violence, the family separation, the stolen lives—we honor the memory of the enslaved and gain a deeper understanding of the struggles that have shaped our present.

We cannot afford to trade historical accuracy for a more palatable narrative. Forgetting the past does not protect our future; it jeopardizes it. We must ensure our national institutions continue to tell the complete story, celebrating our successes while never shying away from our darkest moments. Our strength lies not in erasing our history, but in confronting it with honesty and resolve.

Rick Hobson, Boise

HONEST Act

In these polarizing times, when people won’t even give the time of day to members of the opposing party, when was the last time you saw 86% of Americans agree on anything? Yet recent polling from University of Maryland reveals that precisely this percentage of citizens supports the HONEST Act (Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Trading).

With bipartisan sponsorship and support, the HONEST Act simply prohibits the president, vice president and members of Congress, as well as their spouses and children, from buying, selling and trading stocks. Politicians actually profit from information that you and I don’t have, including pending pieces of legislation that can affect stock performance. Insider trading laws unfortunately don’t address this breech of ethics. It’s going to be up to the Senate, the next destination for this bill, to put a stop to this unfair practice.

To ensure this happens, please contact Senator Risch (208-342-7985) and Senator Crapo (208-334-1776) and urge them to vote YES on the HONEST Act. Senators, 86% of us have spoken. The question is, will you listen?

Gwendolyn Barlow, Meridian

Risch

Dear Senator Risch: As the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, it is incumbent upon you to take a short walk over to the Oval Office and inform your president that he is not an agent of the Russian government working at the behest of Vladimir Putin. If your awareness of history includes the lead-up to the second world war and the Cold War, areas that occurred outside of Idaho (just a small reminder), you know as fact that the actions of a tsar-in-training (our president) may not under any circumstances demand that another country yield territory, taken by invasion, for the sake of a temporary lull in fighting simply and will not appease the designs of an actual tsar (Vladimir Putin). Your president’s actions undermine over of 100 years of cooperation with our European allies and firmly establish that the United States of America is not a trustworthy ally. Do your job, take the walk, state truth to your liege. What do you have to lose?

Mark Peterson, Middleton

Library

West Boise residents have needed a library for decades and it’s time a library was given a higher priority. I was recently contacted by the Conservation Voters of Idaho to help raise support for the new Foothills and Parks Levy. I’m hesitant to support the proposed levy when we have a greater need for a library in West Boise.

Boise has invested in libraries throughout the city, except for west Boise. About 40,000 west Boise residents live in a library desert, their homes more than 2 miles from any library. Contrast that to the rest of the Boise residents who live within 2 miles of multiple libraries. Boise has an excellent library system, providing community-building services. Neglecting the needs of such a large neighborhood is of increasing concern in west Boise. It should be a concern for the citizens of the rest of Boise.

Finding a property suitable for building a library in west Boise has become more difficult as there are fewer and fewer unbuilt locations. It isn’t going to get easier or cheaper. I appreciate and support all that CVI does for Idaho, but Boise needs to recognize that a library in West Boise should have a higher priority.

Kathy Peter, Boise

Simpson

I have a question for Mike Simpson. What benefit to Idaho is renaming an opera house at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center after a woman who was not a U.S. citizen when she married the now-president? It appears that the renaming would only benefit Mike Simpson’s political career. Idaho has hundreds of people who deserve the honor of the name change more. However, the change is only meant to make favor with a man who rolled out the red carpet for a dictator who murdered tens of thousands of men, women and children .

Stewart Webb, Blackfoot