The Press-Dispatch

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 The Press-Dispatch D-3 OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Your letter must include your name, address, phone number and email. No anon- ymous letters will be printed. The Press Dispatch strives to provide an open fo- rum for all opinions. However, we reserve the right to reject letters. Submit your letter to the Editor by Friday at Noon. Email: sherri@pressdispatch.net Heritage Viewpoint By Kevin Roberts, Ph.D. Parents' bill of rights: Congress can help state school reformers Race for the Cure By Star Parker Biden's job is running US, not Israel Widely reported in the press is that President Joe Biden called Is- raeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net- anyahu to express his concern about judicial reforms that are currently being considered in Israel. We must wonder why Biden, who demon- strably can- not run our own coun- try, feels behooved to tell oth- ers, partic- ularly one as success- ful as Israel, how to run theirs. Looking into Biden's own back- yard, per latest Gallup polling, a pal- try 20% of Americans say they are satisfied with the direction of their country. The White House reported that Biden told the Israeli prime minis- ter that "democratic values" are "a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relation- ship, that democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamen- tal changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popu- lar support." But Israel is governed under a parliamentary system that ties the government, on a day-to-day basis, to popular sentiment more closely than our own system. On any given day, in Israel's par- liamentary system, a vote of no-con- fidence can bring down the govern- ment. And, indeed, as a result of a deep- ly divided electorate, Israel has had five elections within four years. As the only democracy in their part of the world, it doesn't seem like de- mocracy and elections are subjects on which Israel needs tutorials from Biden. Really what is going on is not a problem with democracy but a problem with those who are unhap- py with the results that democracy produces. It happens that Israelis, in their last election, returned to power Netanyahu, who has put together a right-of-center government that does not please Israel's left or America's left-wing president, who has been re- cruited to put in his two cents. Biden touting the importance of democracy and checks and balanc- es is more than a little ironic as he waits for the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of his unilat- eral move to wipe out $400 billion of student loans. Most assessments point to the likelihood that Biden's move will be found unconstitutional. Regarding the importance of the "broadest base of popular support," the U.S. banking system is now tee- tering, already with several bank failures, with others looking for sup- port. Banks have been ravaged by in- terest rate increases, the direct re- sult of inflation caused by trillions spent by Biden's administration. The $1.9 trillion American Res- cue Plan and the $735 billion Infla- tion Reduction Act both passed the House and Senate without a single Republican vote and were signed in- to law by Biden. We might recall that the U.S. health care system was overhauled when Biden was vice president. The A ffordable Health Care Act— —"Obamacare"— —was passed in the House and the Senate without a single Republican vote and signed in- to law by President Barack Obama. Despite the love affair with po- litical systems, we must appreciate that human beings ultimately pro- duce the realities under which we live, not any system. Well-designed systems are important, but the out- come of words on a page are the re- sult of what human being reads, in- terprets and carries out those words. The founders of our country, and the drafters of our Constitution, would never believe that the beauti- ful system they designed, conceived to limit government and protect in- dividual liberty, would someday see government at all levels taking al- most half our gross national prod- uct, generating massive deficits and national debt larger than our nation's entire economy. Nor would they believe that the courts have been used to remove all vestige of religion from public life or that Supreme Court justices felt it was their job to redefine marriage. The percentage of Americans that have a "great deal/quite a lot" of confidence in their major institu- tions, reported by Gallup last July, are as follows: the presidency 23%; U.S. Supreme Court 25%; Congress 7%; public schools 28%; newspapers 16%; criminal justice system 14%; television news 11%. Please, Mr. Biden, do your own job and let Israelis run their own coun- try. Star Parker is president of the Cen- ter for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." The stunning suc- cess of conservative education reform across the country in the past few years is the result a moral fact: Parents are chil- dren's primary edu- cators. Until very re- cently, this was not disputed, let alone controversial. But lately, it has become clear that progressive elites who run teachers unions and school boards, the Democratic Party, and the corporate media no lon- ger share this view. Their con- tempt for parents' rights has fu- eled a long train of abuses, from racist curricula to a war on girls sports and bathrooms to darker episodes of criminal cover-ups and student grooming. The good news is, conser- vative leaders have answered this challenge with action, rath- er than just tweets and talking points. The better news is, it has been elected conservatives in the states leading and delivering sub- stantive K-12 policy reforms. Fifteen states have already ad- opted Parents' Bill of Rights laws that affirm moms and dads as the ultimate authority on their kids' education. Lawmakers in a dozen other states are considering sim- ilar proposals this year. Some governors, such as Flor- ida's Ron DeSantis, have gone even further, asserting authori- ty over public education in their states to, among other things, rid school libraries of pornographic books and classrooms of "woke" indoctrination. An additional 11 states have passed transparency reforms that give parents access to pub- lic schools' instructional materi- als. And at least four more may follow their lead in 2023. To the Left, these are political encroachments into a space that belongs exclusively to trained, li- censed, unionized Marxist activ- ists. To everyone else, this stuff is common sense. Of course parents should be able to see what their kids are being taught in schools. Of course public schools should not be shelv- ing porn, staging sexually explic- it performances, or forcing children to sit through lessons that conflict with their family's values. Of course the bigotry and super- stitions of "critical theory" have no place in elementary school classrooms. And of course school employees should not hide—let alone encourage—children's mental health challenges behind parents' backs. Failing such minimal condi- tions of parental trust and stu- dent well-being is not education or even activism. It's something more like child abuse. As conservatives around the country lead this fight, conserva- tives in Congress are wondering how Washington can help. The first thing they can do—on ed- ucation, as in so many other ar- eas—is to wield the power they have. For too long, conservatives— either out of aversion to conflict or lack of imagination—have shied away from using the au- thority voters give them to win real victories against the Left. This is not to say that Republi- cans should seek a federal take- over of public education the next time they control Congress and the White House. Rather, conser- vatives should identify the nexus- es between institutions they con- trol and the problems American families face—and act. The Parents' Bill of Rights Act, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., and 122 co-spon- sors, puts a bright spotlight on the importance of transparen- cy to parents. It clarifies for con- fused school boards and woke administrators that their federal funds are predicated on serving their students, parents, and com- munities—not their ideology. The bill would require federal- ly supported schools to post or distribute their curricula, and to make both their budgets and classroom materials available to students' parents. It guarantees parents' right to speak at school board meetings, meet with their children's teachers, and be ap- praised of disciplinary and aca- demic issues. As a fifth-generation educa- tor myself, I can say these are practices good schools already do. Good principals, teachers, and school boards want parents involved. They want parents to know what books their kids are reading and what's being taught in their classrooms. Importantly, the proposal of- fers needed improvements to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, including pro- visions that prohibit schools from acting as a student's par- ent when it comes to technology usage, along with prohibitions on school officials making decisions for a child on vaccines. The pro- posal also blocks the sale of stu- dent information for commercial purposes. These would be wel- come updates to federal law. Parents and schools are sup- posed to be partners, not ri- vals—and in that relationship, it's moms and dads who are the senior partners. That's the prin- ciple that should guide conserva- tive education reformers at every level of government. For cities and counties, that means choosing curricula that reflect communities' goals and values. For states, that means protecting children's innocence and privacy, protecting parents' authority over their kids (includ- ing via school choice), and pro- tecting everyone from bigotry, id- iocy, and propaganda at school. Finally, for Congress, that means reminding all Americans that when it comes to education, government works for moms, dads, and kids—not the other way around. Dr. Kevin Roberts serves as the seventh President in Heritage's 50-year history. PAWS WEEK PAWS WEEK Pet of the FUNNY FACE Adopt a Calico! It's like hav- ing 3 cats in one! This week PAWS is featuring a reserved young feline named Funny Face. Funny Face has been at PAWS for almost two years so she is very accustomed to her routine. It may take her time to bond to her new owner and a new environment, however, she will be worth the wait. In many cultures calico cats are believed to be auspicious felines. The are often referred to as "lucky cats" in countries like the US and UK. Calicos are symbols of good fortune. Hopefully this will be Funny Faces week to fine a forever home and show her new owner who the lucky one is. To adopt this precious feline call 354-9894. PAWS is located at 4224 N. Meridan Road, Petersburg. Letter to the Editor There are concerned citizens trying to get answers about what can be done with trashed and nasty properties destroying our towns. Obviously, the people that cause this situation have an "I DON'T CARE" attitude, or it would not have hap- pened at all. In the case at Otwell, the people don't even live here anymore! They just trash the property and move to trash another place! Ms. Myers made a reference that Deb Troutman was like Hitler! That was cruel and uncalled for. Deb Troutman is a very caring Christian woman, who is concerned about her home town and trying to get the area cleaned up for future generations, as well as make it more desirable to live here. I'm hoping all of us in Otwell and Pike County are just as concerned and speak up and join her in cleaning up our county and towns. Thank you, Nancy Pride

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