Thanks to Jim Souder for speaking up in his July 4 letter, “Meaning of day lost on revelers.” Yes, our schools have been dumbed down. State politicians have failed to define and fund public education for all kids. Instead, they insist that kids prepare for college with more advanced math and science, catering to CEOs, not educators.
When you add a class, you take away something else, usually classes critical to our children’s future such as civics, which teach the truth about our country past and present, must be removed. Research shows that legislative committees mandated to define what is to be taught have failed, especially in the 151 small districts that have serious problems meeting new graduation requirements. In Texas and other states, politicians are rewriting history books and leaving out the truth. Is this what we can expect in this state?
In elementary school, you learned reading, writing and arithmetic; in junior high, you explored many subjects to find what you were interested in; and in high school, you began to prepare for jobs or college. Algebra was once a ninth-grade class that politicians now seem to think should start in the seventh grade before the kids even know what 12 times 12 is. Why?
Dale Shotwell
Vancouver
