Harold H. Horstmann
Lohman
Dear Editor:
Re: News Tribune headline article 3/17/2021 by Layne Stracener: "Improving academics, literacy named top goals."
As the proverbial skeptic being increasingly distrustful of biased media and misleading headlines, the above-referenced headline to me is a prime example. The first statement in the article: "Jefferson City Board of Education candidates discussed goals, including improving student performance and facility equity" is misleading. Why wasn't equity mentioned as an equal consideration with regards to improving academics and literacy in the headlines? My opinion: Those who only read headlines for their news can be continually kept in the dark about what the leftist intentions really are! Why must quality education always be held hostage by and share the spotlight with forced "equity" (Dictionary.com: "something that is fair and just"). Wasn't the failure of busing children in the 1970s proof enough that attempting to force social-economic equity and still maintain academic excellence is in fact an oxymoron!
No educational effort can be made fair and just and at the same time bring out an individual's unique abilities? The goal of the education of our youth should be solely to bring out their individualism and uniqueness as God's creation and to cultivate the talents discovered in the process to develop them into an unimaginable blessed future for the person! Graduation from this educational concept will be to create an exceptional citizenry with unlimited opportunities to lead and grow our free society in the future.
What does the term "facility equity" really mean? Shouldn't the only consideration on facilities be to best serve the community with schools located and sized based on a standard of student grade enrollment and travel distance from their homes? To consider equity facilities by race or economic standard is absurd just from the standpoint that people's lives are not static but mobile. Is the intent to constantly be building facilities to follow family economic or racial evolutions?
To continue this path to put the impossible task of perceived equality as a prerequisite to quality education as unique individuals will only exacerbate our nation's diminishing position in the world statistics regarding educational excellence.
I sincerely hope the JC School Board will abandon the destructive leftist ideology of forcing the continuing failed policy of social-economic equality as paramount over the premier education of our children as unique individuals!