We are two retired science teachers with a combined 60 years of classroom experience who are frightened by the politically engineered destruction of our once vibrant public school system.
Arizona’s classrooms once enjoyed fully certified teachers for every subject taught. Now, the norm is to use tax dollars to fund religious schools, private schools, home schools and charter schools.
The problem with these “alternative educational options” is that they are not required to meet the same educational and fiscal standards required of public schools.
We should demand that all schools that accept state funding test all students and release their results annually.
The newest scam is the voucher program. It not only has no guardrails but is bankrupting Arizona’s ability to properly fund public schools.
A majority of Arizona voters opposed an expansion of this program in 2018, yet our Republican legislators went on to demonstrate their disdain for the voters.
Our question is this: How do we return to educational excellence if we keep the same legislators in office?
Earl Barrett and Larry Dukerich, Phoenix
Did anyone save Grand Canyon Lodge’s blankets?
My family used to live in Kanab, Utah, my father’s hometown. Back in 1948 when he got out of the Army, he went to work at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim.
He knew the place upside down and shared that knowledge with us whenever we went camping there. We all loved it.
We watched the beautiful stars from our sleeping bags and talked about things that mattered. When we moved from Kanab in 1967, the North Rim was a treasured place that we didn’t return to often enough.
However, June 17 and 18 of this year, we stayed at “The Lodge” and talked about old times, walked the trails, visited and played games on its east deck. What a lovely memory for us all.
Letter: If the feds won’t rebuild Grand Canyon Lodge, we will
Most of the lodge on the outside was constructed with rock, but the roof was made of shake shingles. How could the lodge withstand a fire with shake shingles?
Why wasn’t this rectified in recent years?
It may not have burned if this had been done. What happened to all the beautiful and interesting historic objects inside the lodge? Did anyone think to take down the blankets?
How about Brighty the Burro? Was he too heavy to move? Is he just a puddle of metal now?
My heart aches for this loss. Even though I have many happy memories, I can’t give my kids the same.
Estelle Lance, Grand Junction, Colorado
Trump’s the champ of ignoring immigration law
Columnist Phil Boas writes about the breakdown of immigration law and, of course, manages to throw in the fentanyl crisis for inflammatory good measure.
He conveniently fails to mention that the vast majority of fentanyl shipments cross the border into the United States through ports of entry, and that most of the smugglers happen to be American citizens.
I’m curious how the breakdown of immigration law contributes to U.S. citizens breaking established drug laws or how building a wall will deter smuggling through border crossing points.
Boas also paraphrases former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl saying ignore the law and you will reap the whirlwind. President Trump’s own actions have helped create the whirlwind, given his companies’ long history of illegally hiring undocumented immigrants at his golf courses, to build Trump Tower and serve Mar-a-Lago.
Mike Ringer, Scottsdale
America does not want a secret police
I would like to respond to the recent letter from Charles Lopresto regarding ICE agents and masks.
He writes that if Attorney General Kris Mayes and the Democratic Party had the backs of law enforcement, ICE agents — who currently terrorize various communities in the United States — wouldn’t need to wear masks.
This is a specious argument. We don’t have secret police in America; we’re better than those Third World countries where we see residents whisked away by masked thugs, thrown into unmarked vans, and spirited away to unknown locations, without access to attorneys or the ability to contact family members or friends.
Only in exceptional circumstances, such as undercover operations and stings, are masks considered acceptable. If the agents truly don’t feel safe, as some have explained, then perhaps they have chosen the wrong profession.
Law enforcement is a difficult and dangerous job, and it isn’t for everyone. It takes courage, honesty and integrity to be a cop.
If you have to hide behind a mask and sulk away anonymously, choose another field.
Gregory (Greg) Cravens, Peoria
Thank you, Jeff Flake, for your strong rebuttal
Thanks to former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake for his rebuttal of Phil Boas’ indefensible defense of Trumpian politics.
Difficult times do not justify unconstitutional and unconscionable methods. Contemporary circumstances are being used as justifications for authoritarianism, a certain gateway to the dictatorship Trump seeks.
As Sen. Flake points out, character, decency, fidelity to the truth and the rule of law are always necessary. Pushback against those who abandon those foundations of democracy is always warranted.
Joseph Russomanno, Chandler
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona must require private schools to test all students | Letters