One of Those Days

 Amidst a country struggling with religious, political, and moral strife, it is difficult to find a subject that exalts and promotes some of  the normal, everyday events; something that takes us away from our screens, our often sour and bitter rants and disagreements. 

Today is one of those days. The idea began in the Spokane Central Methodist Episcopal Church in the early 1900's, when Sonora Smart Dodd listened to a sermon on the values of Mother's Day. Sonora was the oldest of 6 children, her mother had died during the birth of her sixth child when Sonora was 16 years old. Like any person would, she assisted her father, a civil war veteran, in the raising of her five brothers; and she was in awe of the wonderful job her father had done raising the family. She approached the Spokane Ministerial Alliance about having a day dedicated to fathers, and on June 19, 1910, Spokane WA celebrated the first Father's Day. President Lyndon Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation in 1966 declaring the third Sunday in June Father's Day, and President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance on the third Sunday in June as Father's Day in 1972.   

As I said, today is one of those days. I thank God for our son, who is quietly exhibiting all of the characteristics of a good, no, make that great, father. His three children are shown the love, care, and strength of good parenting each and every day. Mike and his wife are raising their children in an atmosphere of education, love, and happiness. He takes the time to explain the whys and hows of the world to them, while showing by example the manner in which good people live in harmony with others. When difficulties arise, as they do in all families, rather than sit around moaning and blaming some "other" or some outside force, he responds with great mental acuity and finds solutions to the problems. He is not afraid to admit when he is wrong, even to his children, and he is willing to do what it takes to set everything aright. He, and his wife, expect and assist their children to achieve goals, to be well-educated and compassionate. He encourages his children to explore their talents, and has not missed any extracurricular activities as the children progress through school. 

As you might surmise from the preceding paragraph, I am very proud of our son. Please join me in "raising a glass" to good Fathers everywhere! 

Thank you for reading; please share this page with anyone in your circle who might enjoy it. Please leave any comments or thoughts in the space below. 

Happy Father's Day! 

R. M. "Bob" Hartman

Education, and Some Thoughts Thereon

Before I begin this article: I am not an educator, nor are my spouse or our children. I do have nuclear family that works, and has worked, in many aspects of education, for which I am grateful. 

Education, more specifically public education, is in the news almost daily. Loud voices shouting to be heard in a public square trying to be the dominate role in spending public money and educating the vast majority of America's youth. I've some thoughts I'd like to share with you; I hope this provokes thought on your part, and discussion between you, your families, neighbors, school boards, and politicians. And please, don't leave your children out of the discussion! 

A free, public education is an idea that was new and untried when this country was founded. The balance of the civilized world saw no need for the masses to know any more than was necessary for their daily lives and employments or servitudes. It took a long time, and a great deal of protesting, fighting, court action, governmental decrees and just plain old fashioned hard work for our educational system to reach the point it is at today. Now, don't stop reading at this point. Take a deep breath and continue with me. In no small part, America's experiment with an educated populace has lead to some of the greatest changes in education worldwide; it is now the norm for children to go to public schools in most developed, and many developing,  countries. (We could pause here to pat ourselves on the back for leading the world in this regard, but, we have other items on the agenda.)

It has become a revolting national pastime to fault public schools, and the teachers therein, for all of societies evils and ills; to accuse them with charges of malfeasance and dereliction of duty, improper education, grooming, etc., ad nauseam. Politicians, pundits,  TV personalities, podcasters, and commentators who should in fact have a better grip on reality jump on these perceived iniquities to rack up click points, ratings, and cash, spreading these and other perverse embellished fabrications to forward their own political, financial or social agendas.

Regarding the above, I can hear my Grandmother (who was, by the way, a teacher herself) saying "They are lying to you, Robert. Just lying to you."

It is abhorrent, to any rational mind, for school board meetings to be destroyed by a dullard with a microphone proclaiming without evidence or fact that K-12 educators are teaching Critical Race Theory. The idea, spread by nefarious individuals with an axe to grind and no wood that need splitting, that the educators of our youth are grooming them to some perceived homosexual agenda is disgusting beyond words. (I wrote about litter boxes in classrooms in a previous article.) Demanding that certain books be removed from classrooms on the basis of a sentence, paragraph, or character taken out of context displays not a high moral stance or great intellectual prowess; instead ignorance, fear of new or strange ideas, and lack of cognitive reasoning skills are showcased for the world to see. Clamoring for history, both world and American, to be taught as it was in 1950, is to ignore reality and places our youth at a great disadvantage relative to interaction with the peoples of other countries in our shared world. To declare that The United States of America is and always has been perfect in every detail, and that education should develop around that thought, is to deny the very first sentence in the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States:". . . in Order to form a more perfect Union. . . ".

At times, the people screaming the loudest at school board meetings about these perceived faults do not even have students in the schools controlled by that particular school board. They are simply following some item of interest from social media. (In Utah, our legislature just tried banning children under the age of 13 from using social media. Perhaps we should ban the parents from the same.) The inability of the protestors to show proof of the nonsensical claims they make evidently does not embarrass them in the least; it seems to be a badge of honor to say, "just do the research and you will find I'm right." Reality finds in most cases they are not right. It doesn't appear they have an agenda to correct the imagined faults (other than to fire teachers and school board members), they are just interested in causing confusion and disruption. Some, however, do have an agenda; they want education, and in fact the country, turned back to what they grew up with in the 1950's or early 60's. 

Our country, and the world around us, is changing at lightning speed. The internet, cell phones, satellite technology, even the pandemic cause structural and interpersonal changes unprecedented in our history. The factual changes in the demographics of our country, the increase of business and employment opportunities around the world, and the immediacy of today's news reporting, has laid open what is to some an unthinkable and unbearable reality; we are a more diverse nation than previously understood, and we are not a perfect nation by any standard of civilization. Education, more exactly public education is one tool we have as a country to help us keep up with the changes, innovations and discoveries rapidly affecting our lives. Rather than destroy the educational system that is addressing and teaching about these innovations, changes, discoveries and actualities, rather than strip educators of the tools and resources they need to prepare our youth to enter college, adulthood, employment and the challenges they will face in the near future, we need to enhance our children's educational opportunities, and support our public schools, the teachers, staff, and administrators therein, and push back against those who would, out of fear and ignorance, deprive our youth of the same opportunities we had growing up and being educated in public schools. Our parents, and the leaders of this country in the past, tried to provide us with the best education possible at the time. It is our responsibility to do the same for the youth of today; it is our duty to give all of our youth every opportunity possible to enjoy the Great American Dream.  

And before I leave you, dear reader, here are some FACTs for you to digest. Regardless of all the talk about how our schools are failing, how our children are not getting the same education we ourselves received, the facts tell a different story. 

The average SAT scores for high school students in 1972 were: Math, 509; Critical reading, 530. The average SAT scores for 2021 (the last year available) were: Math, 528; Critical reading, 533. The lowest average score for Math was 492, in 1981; for Critical reading 494 in 2016. The highest average scores for both were in 2021. 

I do have a response I use when someone tells me about the CRT education, the Great White Replacement Theory, the grooming of our children, etc. I simply and quietly ask for the source material they are sharing.  

Thank you for reading, I do appreciate your taking the time to hear me out, particularly on this divisive and challenging subject. I also appreciate any comments you would like to leave, just click on the word "comments" in the white box below. 

R. M. "Bob" Hartman

Edit: The SAT scores shown above are national averages, I have added the word average where appropriate. Thank  you PJA 02/05/2023 RMH

          

     

Book Banning in Utah

 "I think we know the things that are most egregious" said Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan (Utah), as he introduced at bill in the Utah Legislature to ban any books containing pornographic or indecent content from Utah schools, both in the library and classroom. 

Wow, just Wow. Where to begin? Well, Mr. Ivory (I don't like to use the term representative for someone who only represents his own interests), who is the "we" you speak of so knowingly? It's obvious you are not referring to educators on the legislative committee that have degrees in such matters, like the former teacher, Rep. Elizabeth Weight D-West Valley City; or the associate professor Rep. Karen Kwan D-Murray; they both voted against your bill. By "we", are you referencing the leaders of the LDS church? Or is "we" the legislative simpletons like yourself you do not understand the value of an educated, diversified culture? 

Are you going to ban Shakespeare, Chaucer and Freud? What about Dickens and Twain? 

Mr, Ivory, you have a law degree from California Western University. Certainly you know the ill effects of book banning (see Germany, 1930-1945) and the failure of prohibiting access (see the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution); I therefore cannot in all fairness assign your sponsorship of this bill to ignorance. (Although I did refer to you as a simpleton in my second paragraph.) I can only deduce you are pandering to the uneducated, frightened but vocal minority of citizens (see Utah Parents United) who want to put this country back to the 1950's, a time of repression, segregation, and discrimination. 

The United States of America has come a long way since then; one might even say we are starting to grow up as a country. We are learning the value of diversification in our culture and our population. We cannot, however, say we have been even remotely successful in reaching the American ideal of equal rights and equal responsibility under the law. The materials discussed in the books you seek to ban are not evil, nor do these ideas require censorship by the government. If parents do not want their children to read these books, fine, then let them guide their own children away from them.  

Don't even pretend you are doing this for the good of the children. If you were truly looking out for our students, you would support increased funding for public education, smaller classrooms, and more well-paid teachers. Reality? You are doing this to grovel in front of the right-wing donors who fund your elections. 

It's not a pretty sight. 

Thank you for reading! Your comments are always welcome, and please share this blog with those that might find it of interest. 

Have an opposing view? Those comments are welcome also. 

R.M. "Bob" Hartman

The books Utah Parents United are trying to ban include the following: 

The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison; Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe; Beyond Magenta, Susan Kuklin; l8r,g8r, Lauren Myracle; Lawn Boy, Jonathan Evison; Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov; Monday's Not Coming, Tiffany Jackson; The Opposite of Innocent, Sonya Sones; and Out of Darkness, Ashley Hope Perez

A Macro Kind of Guy

 I've always been a big-picture type of person, you know, the type that looks at a subject like education as being more than just teachers and students in a school. 

To me, being pro something means you are in favor of it, whole-heartedly.  For example, being pro-education means you want the best education for the greatest number of people possible, so they can succeed and contribute to society in the greatest conceivable way. 

Which is why I think of pro-life in a variety of delineations. For example, a truly pro-life senator would work to rein in exorbitantly high drug prices so all Americans could enjoy the life-improving effects they provide. As a side note, this would also improve his standing with the voters. 

A for-real pro life congressman would stand up and say, "Enough is Enough," and work to enact and enforce gun control measures, because being pro-life means not getting shot up in a shopping mall. The lives he saves with this effort could vote for him in gratitude. 

The House and Senate, working together on a pro-life stance, would increase Head Start and SNAP benefits, programs designed to give less fortunate children a better shot at succeeding in life. When those children grow up, they can talk about the positive life-changing effect those programs had on them as youth. 

The direct correlation between education and a better life is well-proven. How great would it be if the pro-life Senators and Congressmen came together and improved the funding for all levels of education, even so far as providing free community colleges? It sounds like a win-win to me, the building and construction trades are begging for trained employees, and those jobs provide good pay and benefits. It would indeed improve life and provide a way out of poverty for so many people! 

And yes, pro-life does mean providing world class pre-natal and maternity benefits to women, regardless of martial status. It also means providing them a path to adoption or safe, unfettered access to abortion if desired; no government intervention is required, because the woman's life and future are also an integral part of "life." 

I'm looking forward to your comments and opinions! Thanks for reading.

R.M. "Bob" Hartman

   

 

Read Any Good Books Lately?

 I owe an apology to my long-time readers for not creating this article earlier; it has been brewing (fermenting?) for some time. I will not apologize, however, if I upset your particular apple cart with this subject. 

Education, theoretically universally available to all American children, has long been valued as an integral part of the American Ideals; Thomas Jefferson (yes, that Founding Father) thought so highly of education he used his own money as a seed for the University of Virginia. The United States of America was the first country in the world to promote free education through 12th grade. Policies and discussions, sometimes of a very violent nature, have lead to the change and improvement of our system of education over the last 245 years. No one, of any rational thinking mind, can doubt the value of  compulsory K-12 education, or the benefits it has bestowed upon our democracy in general. 

The processes of education allow us to expand our minds, to open our thoughts to ideas outside the current local experience our childhood provides. Teachers, purveyors of wisdom and practice, have for generations waved away cobwebs of myth and illusion; instilling in students far and wide the need of, and appreciation for thought, study, and the practical application of knowledge. From the study of geometry and physics, we put a man on the moon; from literature and history, we learned of the great achievements and colossal failures of past generations. Without literature, history becomes statistics; as valuable as statistics are, they do not create passion in the hearts and minds of men.

It is consequently appalling to me when the desire of some citizens to ban "certain" books from libraries and reading lists becomes commonplace. I will be the first to agree that some subjects of common discourse today are uncomfortable for many; that is the first argument I think of for NOT banning books such as "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." The vernacular, settings, and themes of books such as these are not of today, it is critical to remember these were the words and scenes of Samuel Clemens' time. A study of this historical literature provides ample opportunity to open discussion among students and parents regarding the realities of life in America at certain points in its past; as well as valuable discussion on our country's future potential. 

In the Canyon School District in Utah, nine books are currently "under review"  and have been removed from the libraries in the high schools until the review is complete; none are part of the required reading curriculum. The nine are: "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison; "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe; "Beyond Magenta" by Susan Kuklin; "l8r,g8r" by Lauren Myracle; "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison: "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov; "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany Jackson; "The Opposite of Innocent" by Sonya Sones; and "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Perez. (I admit, I have not read all of these books.)  It's not hard to understand why the subject matter of these books makes some people uneasy; sex, race, sexual and racial orientation are not comfortable subjects for most adults. The availability of these books to high-school age students should be of unquestioned value: at worst, the books may encourage conversation between the parents and the teenagers; at best, the books may help students understand themselves, and others, better. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and slap down a common argument: reading a book about homosexual relationships will not make a person change their sexual identification.    

Banning books does not change the historical or social value of a book or a philosophy; rather it displays the ignorance and fear of the banner. It is human nature to fear the unknown; to want to reach back into our comfort zone. Rather than fear these books, and the ideas they contain, perhaps a better use of our time would be to read them and reach into ourselves, to lift up our fear, hold it to daylight, and let the light of reality and reason displace fear. 

Or, if you failed to learn from history, you could go to a meeting of like-minded people, light your torches and march to the library; when you get there, break down the door and burn the offending books on the street. 

Let me know how that works out for you. 

Thank you for reading, as always, your thoughts and comments are welcome. 

R.M. "Bob" Hartman

   

Mass Hysteria, Fueled By Mass Ignorance

Really, people? Hoarding toilet paper? I was at my local Sam’s club this morning, there was a waiting line to get in-limiting the number of people in the store. Ok, that I can understand-distance is a way to contain the spread of viruses. Toilet paper in 36 roll packages was limited to 2 per person.  I saw families lined up, mom, dad, 5 kids; each person had a basket to put their 2 packages of toilet paper in. How much toilet paper do they normally buy in a shopping trip?

No diapers or feminine protection products available. No baby 

formula, no milk. No coffee, no bottled water; plenty of soda pop and snack crackers.

Where I work, a store that sells sporting goods, hardware, clothes, 

toys-we are out of 55-gallon water barrels, toilet paper-including RV toilet paper, any type of face mask, Kleenex, gas cans, any form of sanitizing cleaner, even bleach.

It’s a virus that affects the respiratory system, not your intestinal 

tract. It’s an air-borne virus, not a water-spread virus. It can’t live in our treated tap water.

It does spread though social contact, I understand that. I applaud 

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for cancelling the General Conference and suspending all local worship services for the time being. They probably did the best thing possible to avert the spread of the virus!

Our State government has closed all K-12 schools for two weeks, 

again a very positive move in my opinion. Classes have been moved to on-line wherever possible. There will be sack breakfasts and lunches available for children who need them. Again, a good response.  

Gun and ammunition sales at our store are up, way up over a year 

ago. Some types of ammunition are out of stock. I spoke to one of my regular customers, he told me he was stocking up on ammo because of the riots. I changed the subject.  

Hysteria runs rampant in our population. In many ways, it is 

probably worse than the virus.

Why? One can only surmise. Our government has been kind of 

slow on the response; in my opinion, they should have let the CDC handle the information, get the facts out rather than the speculation. 

At this time, during this crisis, we need a leader who will calm the 

people, who will work to make sure the proper tests and treatments are available to all who need them. We need a leader that will help people understand what they need to do, and what they don’t need to do. We need a leader who will unite us and bring Americas great resources to bear on the problem at hand. We need a leader that doesn’t cut funding to the CDC and other health organizations, a leader who supports community hospitals, doctors and nurses. We need a President of the People, for the People, and by the People.

We need a Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy. Our reality 

TV star is not getting the job done.

Thanks for reading. Of course, these are only my opinions. I’d like

to hear yours, agree or disagree with me.

R.M. “Bob” Hartman

To leave a comment, click on the pencil in the white box below.

What Did I Expect?

Somedays, you just shake your head, you cannot believe it. No, I’m not talking about anything in Washington, at least, I don’t think the problem is there. I’m curious if you noticed the same sad occurrence where you live, perhaps you can let me know if your experience was different.

Authors, columnists, politicians and pundits; from all shades of the political spectrum, we hear about patriotism, our shared American values, and our great country’s history. America First, take our country back, Make America Great Again-the list of patriotic statements is long.

My employer does not sell food, tobacco, or alcohol; this means we are one of the companies that can hire high school students for part-time positions. For many, this is a first job, a first entry into the real world. While I am sure it is an eye-opening experience for them, it also allows me a small window into the current condition of education standards in Utah.

I hear some of these young people talk about our country; some is just a parroting of the social media they follow; some is actually about real events taking place. So, I decided to take a sampling of these high school students when the opportunity presented itself.

Saturday, December 7th, provided an excellent testing date. I asked 4 students what day it was, what date it was, and what significance the day had to America.

Not one of them could tell me. To make matters worse, two of them are 4.0 GPA seniors.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” FDR

Have we, the American People, so quickly forgotten the sacrifice of so many Americans on that fateful day in Hawaii? Is this perhaps just the tip of an iceberg, so to speak, a micro-view of a paradigm shift in American values?

It’s been said by many, and I am afraid it is still true today: Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of history, are bound to make them again. Did we not learn from Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, what happens when you attempt to appease a dictator? And yet, our seemingly historically ignorant President coddles up to dictators, and trash-talks our allies. He ridicules the United Nations, and brow-beats our fellow member countries. And for what? “Likes” and re-tweets?

The Office of the President of The United States of America is the biggest bully pulpit available in the world today. When the person that holds the esteemed office of President denigrates our elected representatives, the rule of law, our democracy, our fellow-citizens, and our own history, it should come as no surprise when the next generation of American voters and taxpayers fail to see any value in the sacrifices and lessons of history.

The President of the United States of America should be, and in the main has been, a person that exemplifies the best that America has to offer. He, or she, should be someone that we can tell our children to look up to as an example of leadership and statesmanship.

Historically, our presidents have lead America through natural disasters, financial collapse, wars both hot and cold, internal strife, and international affairs. This president appears to be leading us down the unhappy path of impeachment and his personal dishonor.

I had expected this president would want to have his term in office held up in history as a significant time; a time in which the interests of America and her citizens would improve. I had expected this to be a time to be noted in the history books as a good point in American history, perhaps with the improved education of our children, progress on eliminating income inequality and racial discord.

I believe this presidency will not meet my expectations.

R.M. "Bob" Hartman

As always, your comments and viewpoints are welcome.

Thanks for reading.  

Taxes and Education in Utah, Again. Or, Say it ain’t so, Governor Herbert

"Cash-strapped Utah" has an income problem; that is, it needs more money (what's new) to continue supporting such deserving programs as keeping the gray wolf out of the state or moving the prison from potentially lucrative real estate to a swamp. It seems our sales tax base is eroding, for reasons the government did not say. Perhaps Utah citizens are buying more products online, and thereby not paying sales tax, or perhaps those citizens are cutting their personal spending because wages are not rising as fast as the cost of goods. But, the reasons for the downturn in sales tax revenue are not the subject of this muse. No, I'm looking at what Utah is proposing to do about the decreased revenue. 

The first item that comes to our legislature's collective mind, whenever money is concerned, seems to be how can we cut what we spend on education. Our legislature seems to have forgotten, or better said, have never read Thomas Jefferson (he's one of those Founding Fathers we love so much here in the Beehive state) on the subject of Education: 

The tax which will be paid for [the] purpose [of education] is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance. --Thomas Jefferson to George Wythe, 1786.

Back in 1930, voters in Utah agreed, and passed a constitutional amendment:
“All revenue from taxes on intangible property or from a tax on income shall be used to support the systems of public education and higher education as defined in Article X, Section 2.” (Utah State Constitution, Article XIII, Section 5(5))

There you have it, in black and white. The citizens of Utah voted to pay for education by committing all the state income tax to education. Perhaps, back in 1930, there was no need to offer incentives to draw business to our state; perhaps they didn’t need to incentivize extractive industries, perhaps they didn’t need to make our real estate moguls more money, or perhaps there were no gray wolves threatening them. (OK, enough with the wolves.)

Anyway, the citizens made it known they wanted public K-12 education for everybody. Were they looking ahead, to a time when a high school education would become necessary for any job? We don’t know what drove them to make this decision, to tax themselves for the purpose of education, but in hindsight, it was a good decision.

Fast forward to December 2019. Our best-managed state, as Governor Herbert likes to remind us, is looking at ways to increase revenue, without upsetting big business, the wealthy, real estate kings and, most importantly, campaign donors. Now the legislature has public school funding in its target-finding laser sights. There is a very serious proposal from the Legislature’s Task Force on Tax Reform that would “amend” Article XIII, Section 5 (5) and allow income tax receipts to be re-directed to the general fund, thereby reducing the amount of money available to public education.

For many years, Utah has been a leader in the race to the bottom of per-pupil spending. The good news, Utah has found a race it can win, consistently. The bad news, Utah students suffer. And, it could be argued, the state will suffer long-term, when the residents cannot compete for good paying jobs due to lack of educational development. Or perhaps those companies won’t move to Utah because we will have a functionally illiterate workforce.

Let’s be perfectly clear on how well Utah has run this race. Our per-pupil spending is the lowest in the nation. Utah spends $6,953 per pupil; the national average is $11,762 per pupil. That’s right, our best managed state is at the bottom of the class, we rank as number 51 out of 51. Isn’t that something to be proud of? WE’RE NUMBER (5)1!

It can’t be said that the Utah Legislature hasn’t tried before to cut education costs, those high-minded people tried for an educational voucher system, so you could send Sally and Johnny to a school that teaches what you want your children to hear, as opposed to fact-based “liberal” education. The voters said no thank you and defeated that program. Now Utah is hot and heavy into the charter school fiasco, whereby “schools” that lack in credentials, with teachers that don’t have the proper education, can have a go at spending state tax dollars-and then fail to be acceptable schools. Look at Treeside Charter School in Provo, or American International School of Utah. Both have failed, and the financial loss will, in the end, cost Utah more millions. The students are the ones that really lose in this ill-planned assault on education, however. Perhaps our legislature could learn more from Mr. Jefferson:

Education is here placed among the articles of public care, not that it would be proposed to take its ordinary branches out of the hands of private enterprise, which manages so much better all the concerns to which it is equal; but a public institution can alone supply those sciences which, though rarely called for, are yet necessary to complete the circle, all the parts of which contribute to the improvement of the country, and some of them to its preservation. --Thomas Jefferson: 6th Annual Message, 1806.

Now, to be fair, the task force has included some other measures that are also repugnant, in my opinion. They want to increase the sales tax on food (after all, everybody needs food), and they want to increase the per-child deduction on the fore-mentioned income tax. A double whammy hit on the less fortunate, to be sure. Low-income residents will see the grocery bill rise (due to the sales tax increase), and then they have to wait for a “credit” on their income tax to offset the higher weekly food bill. Those families with children will pay less income tax-that’s right, those that have more children in school will pay less to educate them.

So, what can be done? If this sloppy, poorly-thought-out plan makes it through a special session of the legislature (very likely), and a ballot measure comes forward to amend the state constitution to allow the diversion of income tax money away from schools, vote against it! And perhaps more importantly, let your legislative representatives know how you feel about education!

Our children’s education, and the future of our state’s economy, are worth more to me than moving the prison, or funding extractive industries.

Well, those are my thoughts on this chapter of education funding in Utah. Thanks for reading; your thoughts and comments are, as always, welcome.

R.M. “Bob” Hartman

A Wish List

The Democrats had a two-evening debate last week. I didn't watch it (work conflicts), but I did read reports from and about it. Frankly, I didn't learn much.

What I want,and what I believe most Americans want from the Democratic Party, is a clear platform of goals for the next administration, and a clear pathway to achieving those goals.

Here's some ideas for your consideration.

Stop wasting time bashing President Trump. It fires up his base, and makes it appear that you have nothing to offer, except to bash him. You need to be better than that, and I think you are.

Our economy, both on Wall Street and main street, is suffering from bad decisions on trade and tariffs; let's go back to the trade table and re-think our economic priorities. Develop programs that reward small businesses and incentivize American manufacturing.

America put a man on the moon in a decade, and we have, in our colleges and Universities, great and wonderful talents and abilities. Create a program putting those talents and abilities to work on providing America with sources of clean, safe, affordable energy to power our country forward.

Stop punishing people who want to escape wars and famine in their home countries, and welcome them to our shores. Clean up the immigration "problem" by putting into action policies that assist immigrants in become productive American citizens. Punish those companies and individuals that exploit undocumented workers.

Education, or the lack of it, creates poverty; and the United States is suffering from a lack of trained, educated tradespeople; and has a surplus of unemployed, or under-employed citizens. Bring back, in volume, trade schools that teach welding, plumbing, carpentry, electrical, and other skills. Make them affordable, and show how a tradesman, well skilled, can again become a part of the middle class. These are jobs that cannot be exported to India, China, or elsewhere.

Our public schools are lacking qualified teachers. How about a program that eliminates student debt for teachers that stay in the profession for four years, at the K-12 levels; and continues on by providing a tax break each year they remain teachers?

Eliminate the revolving door on our prisons, in part by closing the for-profit prison system. It has put a burden on law enforcement by demanding a certain percentage of the for-profit cells will be filled, and this in turn contributes to an unjust proportion of non-whites being incarcerated for the crime of being poor.

Renew our standing in the world by working with our allies and reducing the threat of global terrorism, while holding sacred and inviolable our beliefs in human rights, dignity, and the rule of law.

Well, there's a few ideas for you to think about as you campaign this year.

Thank you for reading, and, as always, your comments are welcome.

R.M. "Bob" Hartman

It’s Father’s Day

June 16, 2019; a day that surprisingly, has only been a “holiday” since President Richard M. Nixon signed this day into law in 1972. Wait, it’s been a holiday since Lyndon Baines Johnson declared it a holiday in 1966! Well, no, back further. . . in 1913, a bill was introduced in Congress to recognize Father’s Day but failed to pass to due fears it would become commercialized! (What, congress feared commercialization of a holiday! How things have changed.)

But I digress from the basis of this post. I’m doing my weekend chores, like mowing the lawn, when I hear a loud “GRANDPA!” I turn, and our second grandchild, Sarah, comes around to give me a big hug, and saying, I had a few minutes and wanted to see you. How wonderful that was, how surprising for me, how fulfilling for a grandfather, for a father. When your grandchildren, and your children, remember you, and take the time to say HI! How good it feels.

WOW-her sister (our oldest grandchild) had been here a few hours before, how much better can it get? Much better, actually; our son had posted his thoughts about me on social media a day or two ago, for everyone to see. He succeeded in bringing this father to tears.

I didn’t have the luxury of a father for most of my life, as some of you know. So, I have very limited expectations of expressions for this day, regardless of my efforts.  And, frankly, I’ve not always been the “Ward Cleaver” type of father.

It’s been said, you never know the effect you will have on a child. My son expressed recently on his social media that I was a good example for his son.

 I can only hope I live up to his expectations.

To my fellow fathers, A happy Father’s Day to you, let’s celebrate!   

As always, your comments are welcome!

Politics and Religion

I’ve watched, at times fascinated and at other times sickened, as the various segments of our American politicians and society debate religion, its place in our great country, and in our laws and behavior.

The Declaration of Independence, which took our country away from the dominion of Great Briton, does state: . . . that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. . .

Note that it states, all men are created equal. It does not state that only those of a certain religious belief have these rights, more rights than others. Nor does it say you must have a belief in any one particular, if any, Creator.

It states that all men are created equal. We can argue the statement about “all men,” but at this point, I believe the reference was to all people. Therefore, it includes women as well as men (historical introspection is mine).

The Constitution of the United States of America does not define any religious belief, or any set rules of religious behavior, or belief.

In fact, the 1^st amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America (part of the Bill of Rights) states: 
      "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof; abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Well, hello freedom! This gives each of us the right to believe what we want about the existence of a Creator, or not. It gives us the freedom to worship or not as we desire. It removes from the discussion the right or privilege to say, the United States was founded as a Christian nation. It does give us the right to practice our religions, or not; to believe or not as we wish, to attend church or not as we wish; however, and this is a BIG however, it does not give us the right to force our beliefs on others, or to use that belief to divide us. We are bigger that that as a nation, as a people. 

Politics in the United States has become a dirty, nasty business. To entice votes, politicians are trying hard to divide and conquer the voters. They are trying, and to a large point succeeding, to divide us upon religious grounds. The rhetoric has become evil, nasty, even putrefying. It is no wonder that the majority of Americans turn away from the debate.  

The American people deserve, and should demand, better. We need to know, politicians, what you plan to do to improve our economy, our health care, our standard of life. We don’t care about where or how often you worship. My belief, or non-belief, in a Creator is “none of your damn business,” as Grandmother would have said. 

Politicians, let’s take your religious belief out of the discussion, for this moment. Do not tell me what your “God” wants us to do. Tell me what you are going to do. Are you going to support health care for all people; are you going to say those who are outside of your comfort zone they have no right in their decision; are you going to allow women to decide how and when they decide to bring new life into the world, or would you prefer to tell them what they have to do? Will you feed the hungry children, provide them education, will you provide daytime child care so mom and dad can earn a living, or would you prefer they end up on welfare for the rest of their lives? Are you going to allow me to make my own end-of-life decisions? Are you willing to allow medical marijuana to ease my discomfort from chemo? Or would you prefer I suffer when the pain can be relieved? Are you going to pay the bills, or would you prefer my family goes hungry?

Or, let’s put your “God” back into the discussion, for the moment. What would He say, what would He do? Would He heal the sick, feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted? Would He say, “Provide for them, and their families?” Would He be there, or would He say, “Well, too bad for you?”

Perhaps more importantly, it is time for the American voters to wake up, to say, Hello! We need our governing bodies to work for us, for the greater good of America. It is time for us to no longer accept the R or the D in the voting booth. It is time for us to look the politicians in the eye and ask, what are you going to do for us, for our nation? The time is now to ask for answers. It is time for us to look beyond their business connections, beyond their religious affiliations, read beyond the sound bites, to look at what they have done, to ask them what they are willing to do for us as a country.

It is time to ask our politicians what they are going to do for greater good of America. 

As always, your comments are welcome! Thanks for reading. 

RMH

An open letter to Utah State Senator Jim Debakis

Senator Debakis,

I read with pleasure, and in the main agree with, your op-ed in the July 5^th SL Tribune. Education in Utah is in terrible shape, and the largest single contributor to the condition is the lack of funding. I’d like to discuss your article and share my thoughts with you.

As you pointed out, teacher salaries in Utah are an embarrassment to any thinking individual. Utah colleges and universities turn out very well qualified teachers, but they cannot afford to stay in Utah and teach. We are losing this valuable resource to 49 other states. Our teachers should be paid, at the least, the average salary for teachers in the United States; $56,069 is the national average, as opposed to Utah’s average of $46,571. Our teachers, even at beginning salaries, should not be eligible for welfare.

Our class sizes are another point of discussion. Please consider this statement:

The ration of students to teachers must not be confused with average class size, which is the number of students assigned to a classroom for instructional purposes. Class size and student-teacher ratio are very different concepts and cannot be used interchangeably. According to recent studies, the difference between student-teacher ration and average class sizes in K-3 is 9 or 10 students. (Sharp, 2002)

Utah’s S/TR is set at 22.4; so this gives an average class size of 31.4 to 32.4 students per class. This is absurd, to say the least. Not even the most talented K-12 teacher can educate 30 children in a classroom effectively. One of our primary goals should be to reduce actual class size. The average S/TR in the United States is 16/1, which yields a class size of 26/1. This would be a good starting point for Utah to achieve. 

You mentioned Wyoming’s educational funding in your op-ed, I would like to expand upon that. One of the (major) reasons Wyoming can put so much more into education than Utah is willing to afford, is the extractive tax. Wyoming views it’s minerals as a resource owned by all the people, and therefore taxes extraction to benefit all the citizens. Utah can, and should, increase the mineral extraction tax; for example, coal in Wyoming is taxed at 3.75% (underground) or 7% surface, while Utah has no tax on coal extraction. (Source: The Council of State Governments, http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/system/files/7.15_2013.pdf, retrieved July 6, 2015)

This money could be used to offset the effect of returning 100% of the state income tax to funding public education, and in fact could be used to increase our educational funding to national averages.

I do admit, Senator, establishing this tax would be a very hard sell, given the mind-set of most of Utah’s legislators.

Charter schools, in my opinion, are another drag on our educational system. While I realize they are very popular with our legislature, I feel (and on this subject I have only anecdotal information) charter schools serve no educational purpose that is not met by the public system. Charter schools can reject any student, and send them back to the public schools, but they get to keep the funding for that student for the school year. This, in effect, boosts the revenue per student in the charter school, while cutting the revenue per student in the public system, thereby exasperating the public school funding issue. Charter schools exist, in my opinion, only so “my” child does not have to be in a classroom with “those” children. My solution is simplistic: close the charter schools; if parents want to pay for private school education, certainly that is their option.

To address the matter of accountability, I would propose that the State Board of Education consist of educators, not only on the K-12 level, but also college/university educators. They should be advised by members of the business community, who can use their knowledge to drive education to the curriculum needed to prepare students for college, and to compete for good, well-paying jobs. In this vein, we also need a robust trade school sector that can offer good careers for those who do not want college, or would not be successful in obtaining a college degree. The State Superintendent of Education should be held personally responsible for the success or failure of the school system.

Given the above, I would like to see the Utah legislature commit to a 5-year plan to achieve the following goals:

1)     Increase per-pupil funding to the national average;

2)     Increase teacher pay to the national average;

3)     Reduce class sizes to the national average.

Senator Debakis, I appreciate your progressive stance on education, and your willingness to open the much-needed discussion on our educational system.  I wish you the best in reforming our current educational system.

Respectfully,

Robert M. Hartman

Your comments are welcome, as always.

Missed Opportunities

Republican senator Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, participated in a forum at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Summit; a summit called to allow presidential candidates and potential contenders to present their points of view regarding religious liberties in America.

In his comments, Senator Cruz said "there is no room for Christians in today's Democratic Party." He continued, stating “There is a liberal fascism that is dedicated to going after believing Christians who follow the biblical teaching on marriage."

Wow. This from an attorney who graduated cum laude from Princeton University, and continued on to receive his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1995. While at Harvard, he was the principal editor of the Harvard Law Review. One would be inclined to believe, with his education, he would know that liberal and fascism have opposite meanings.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines liberal as “not narrow in opinion or judgment.” The same source defines fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation, and often race and stands for a centralized autocratic, often militaristic government.” The two terms are polar opposites on both political and social scales. For Senator Cruz to use these two terms, together, to describe the Democratic Party is akin to his defying the existence of gravity while his feet are buried in quicksand.

Every individual I have met, who self-aligns with the Democratic Party, as well as the party itself, defines the Democratic Party as being a “big tent” party; that is to say no litmus test exists for membership or active participation as a candidate within the party.  There are those within the party who are strongly pro-life, even as the party defines itself as pro-choice; there are those who are against any form of gun control, even as the party works for stronger gun control legislation. From my own hands-on experiences, I have met and worked with Democrats who held no religious belief, as well as those who have very strongly-held religious convictions, be they Christian, Eastern, Middle Eastern, or Deist.

In my lifetime, I do not remember ever hearing, or reading about, any organized group “going after believing Christians who follow the biblical teachings on marriage.” I wonder, is Senator Cruz trying to form a wedge issue using the current events circulating around the hot-button issue of same sex marriage? Is he creating a boogie man to take the focus off the important issues facing our nation; issues such as stagnant wages, a Congress with the lowest approval rating in decades, a complete lack of compromise between the two major political parties, and much-needed immigration reform?

Presidential candidate Cruz missed a golden opportunity. He could have used his time at this summit to explain how a Cruz administration would work with Congress to ensure that all Americans would enjoy religious freedom while simultaneously guaranteeing the civil rights of all.  He could have explained how discrimination, in any form, goes against not only the constitution, but also the 2nd great commandment, “Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself.”  Senator Cruz could have spoken to the value of diversity in both public and private arenas, and the need for acceptance of diverse religions and lifestyles.

But he didn’t.

You opinion and comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading!
R.M. Bob Hartman

Sources:

CNN http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/26/politics/ted-cruz-liberal-fascism-iowa-speech/index.html ,   retrieved April 26, 2015.

The state of Education in Utah

Brad Smith, the Utah State Superintendent of Public Education, is quoted as saying, during the closing sessions of the 2015 Utah legislative session, "It reminded me of when my kid was 3 years old and they started crying on Christmas morning because they didn't get one more thing," (SL Tribune, March 24, 2015). He has since retracted this statement in “An open letter to all Utah educators”, posted not in a public forum, but instead on the Utah Public Education website. (http://utahpubliceducation.org/2015/03/23/an-open-letter-to-all-utah-educators/#.VRFN8_nF_ng)
I am calling him out on both his statement at the legislature and his “apology.” Utah is dead last in the United States for per-pupil education. We have the largest class sizes in the Union, and a teacher in our state can qualify for welfare based upon wages paid. Both of these FACTS should shame the Utah State Superintendent of Public Education into advocating for more money for public education. . . and to do away with charter schools.

Like most parents in Utah, I have raised children who benefited from public education. I have listened to well-trained, qualified teachers as they gave advice to us regarding ways to help our children to gain as much knowledge as possible from their education; and also how to provide opportunities outside of school to assist in their education. Teachers work hard; they are unfortunately paid very poorly in Utah, and yet they continue to give it their all. To have the State superintendent accuse them of behaving poorly is a slap in their faces.

The rally to which you were referring, sir, consisted of not only teachers, but included parents concerned about their children’s education, and the level of funding given to the public schools. We, as a State, spent time this legislative session commemorating a device dedicated to killing, and spent money to have non-existing wolf-packs delisted from the endangered species act. We have, as a State, funneled money into charter schools that can pick and choose the students they want, to the detriment of public education.

I am sure you are familiar with Thomas Jefferson, the founder (and first major financial supporter) of the University of Virginia. Here is one of his comments regarding education:
“The tax that will be paid for the purpose of education is not more that the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance.”

You, sir, should have been begging, cajoling, and lobbying on behalf of Utah public schools and educators. You should have been crying foul on every attempt to limit or control money spent on public education. You should have been supporting the public schools, and the educators.

Instead, you chose to compare those advocating for education to the bleating of 3-year old offspring of goats.
My children, grandchildren, indeed all the children in Utah, deserve better from the State Superintendent of Education.

You, sir, owe an apology -not only to Utah public education teachers- but to all the parents, children, and children’s advocates in Utah. Perhaps you even owe them your resignation from office, as your very public comment indicates a distain for public education.

Your comments upon my thoughts are welcome.
RM “Bob” Hartman 3/24/15

Opinions Do Matter-Both Yours and Mine.

“Someone’s drawing conclusions
On the wall of destiny
Someone’s getting louder
And that someone is me.”-
Melissa Etheridge.

I did not grow up, planning to be loud. Never thought I would have any influence on anyone else, and I still don’t know if I do. Nevertheless, life happens, regardless of our best intentions. Someone asked me, a few days ago, why I write this blog, why it has turned out so political. That set me to thinking, and some of those thoughts, I would like to share with you now.
.
I grew up in a small town. I mean a very small town; there were 14 children in my first grade class and the same 14 in my ninth grade class. The town consisted of white, conservative, “Christian” Americans. There was a Baptist Church, a Catholic Church, and a Methodist Church. Everybody knew who went to church, and who went to each church. Those who did not go to church, well, they were unsaved. And you know, those who are unsaved, well, they go to hell.

My best friend died of the effects of Agent Orange, way too young. His family was probably the least affluent in the town; but he was the only person I knew who could ride a 10-speed bicycle through the town while reading a book. (Seriously, he did, and often.) Ok, so we did not have a lot of traffic!

My father was a bigot, he did not like (insert your slang terms here); those of different cultures or races. And boy, he knew all the slang terms. I will not insult all of those people by listing the names he called them. Better dead than Red, when we were watching the news and the talk turned to the “conflict” in Southeast Asia. My mother, in typical fashion of the day, agreed with him. Dad, however, walked out when times got hard; from him, I learned that a real man does not run from his problems. One saving grace I had was my grandmother, who tried subtly to convince me that there was no reason to hate people because of their skin, or religion, or their ideas. Surprisingly, grandmother was more liberal than my parents ever thought about being; however, she was very strict about education. And I do mean strict! You did not bring home a bad report card, and you never addressed an adult by their first name. And, she was Grandmother, not any other term. Unless you were talking about President Franklin Roosevelt, you did not swear (long story there).

High school-500+ students- as opposed to the 14 I knew; racial unrest, Vietnam and the draft, rock and roll, drugs, the pill. What is that saying, if you remember the sixties, you weren’t really there? Life changed for this boy from the sticks. It changed, big time. And, I changed, slowly, with those times. Without really thinking about it, I became political. In retrospect, it started with Vietnam, when I, and a lot of other people, realized the President could send us to die, but we couldn’t vote for or against him. The only brush I had with the law was when I decided to sit down. I learned that you and your friends don’t sit down on the street where the President is going to be, when he visits the newest group of flyboy graduates at the Air Force Academy. I have voted, and worked for candidates, in every election since then; I am proud of that fact, and I do not intend to stop.

So, now I am 60, an “old man” according to my grandchildren. I’m willing to put my experience up against any young whippersnapper that comes along. But, that experience has come with a very high price tag; a price that includes standing up for what is right, for what I think is proper, regardless of the popular opinion.

When I create an article, I do research; I look for hard data to back up my thoughts. I have, at times, had my opinion changed by the facts. But, that is result of study, of research, and I welcome that change, that education.

And, I hope that is the same for you. I hope, by creating this blog, by putting my ideas out to you, I can encourage in you a desire to find out the truth, regardless of the sound bites. I hope you will be willing to enter into an honest discussion, to think beyond the right now, to think what is good for the future, for you and I.

Grandmother always had Reader’s Digest, Arizona, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and Family Circle on her coffee table. She would often tell me there was an interesting article in one or the other magazine, ask me to read it and then discuss. She never discounted my opinion, but was more than willing to offer her viewpoint. And, my readers, I ask you to do the same. Read what I post, comment, offer your opinion, and discuss the issues I raise. If you have an issue in mind that you would like me to research and discuss, just drop me an email at robertmhartman29@gmail.com and I will look into it.
Thanks for reading! To leave a comment, simply click on the "comment" below.

Utah's Legislature is Hurting our Children

Ah, children! The joy of every parent’s life; the happiness they bring to grandparents. We all want our children to grow up safe, healthy, and loved. To accomplish this, we teach them from a very early age to eat well, dress warmly, and wear their seat belts. Our physicians inoculate and vaccinate them, and attend to their various illnesses. As they progress through school, our educators add to the wealth of information that can assist our children to lead happy, productive, and healthy lives.

Unfortunately, there is also pressure to ignore what the parents, doctors, and teachers advise. Peer pressure can lead children into gangs, drugs, alcohol, and sex. As parents, we don’t want this to happen, and we try to educate our children to avoid risky behavior. We rely on the schools to re-enforce the principals we stress repeatedly to our youth.
Why then, would the Canyons School District in Utah physically remove pages 398-417 from the brand new health textbooks for its five high schools? (Rolly, Tribune)
Brand new textbooks, costing $76.19 each, had pages cut out of them by the school administration. Why?

Could it be because our legislature is afraid to have our children taught about sex? They think that if we teach children about sex, they will run out and start copulating like rabbits. Perhaps it is time to send our legislators back to school, to teach them some facts, some reality. Here’s what they need to learn: Utah teenagers and young adults are having sex now, without enough knowledge of how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. And that, my dear readers, is not good.

Utah had a teenage pregnancy rate in 2011 of 23.1 per 1,000 women. The national average that same year was 31.3 per 1000, so we are doing better than some states, but not as well as others. However, the pregnancy rate is only part of the problem. What life-changes occur when teenage girls become pregnant? Here are some scary national statistics: 79% of teenagers who become pregnant are unmarried; 34 % of sexually active teenagers have at least one pregnancy before age 20, and 80% of teen mothers end up on welfare, for at least some period.

Utah has some scary statistics of its own to worry about, and they are not just about becoming pregnant. There are four major sexually transmitted diseases, and Utah has its share of them. The data here is all from 2011, and all supplied by the CDC. (The links are at the end of this article.) When I use the term population, I am referring to the 15-24 age groups, not the entire population.
Chlamydia, the so-called silent epidemic, is the most common STD in Utah; it was diagnosed in 4740 teenagers in 2011. That is a rate of 1059 for every 100,000 teenagers/young adults. The second most prevalent STD in Utah is gonorrhea, in 2011 there were 119 new cases confirmed in the 15-24 age grouping. The rate for gonorrhea was 26.6 per 100,000 of our teenage/young adult population. Next on the list is syphilis, which was diagnosed in two cases in 2011, for the same population, this puts it at .4 for every 100,000 young adults. Are you concerned about our children’s health yet?

You should be very concerned, in fact we all should be. Here is a statistic that should really frighten you. In 2011, 81 new cases of HIV infection were reported in our target group; and, even more frightening, 2091 of our 13-24 teenagers/young adults were living with the HIV infection.
Let’s do some simple math: in 2011, 5,377 unmarried teenagers/young adults gave birth (23 were under 15!); 4,740 teenagers/young adults were diagnosed with Chlamydia; 119 with gonorrhea, 2 with syphilis, and 2172 had the HIV infection.
Twelve thousand, four hundred and ten of our teenagers/young adults had their lives dramatically changed. 12,410 lives negatively affected in 2011 alone. So why do I want the legislature to go back to school?

The laws in Utah, created by our head in the sand legislature, do not allow discussion, by the teacher or in the textbook, about contraception, STD’s, sexual arousal, masturbation or alternative life-styles. Our legislature believes that teaching about sex in school may violate a parent’s right to control what information (about sex) their children receive. Remember, we are talking about high school students here, students that regularly use the internet, with wireless devices that connect them to the internet 24/7/365, provided by the parents. Well, mom, dad, and legislature, here is a news flash for you. Johnny and Sally are having sex, whether you like it or not. You don’t want to think Utah’s children are in any way sexually active, but that is obviously incorrect. You want to believe that if we raise our children in good homes, and don’t tell them about sex, they won’t get curious, they won’t experiment. Sadly, that is not reality, that is not what the data shows. That is the reason, however, why Canyons School District cut the pages out of 315 textbooks. (Canyons had originally ordered textbooks for 3000 students, so they have now gone back to the publisher to have the textbooks re-created without the offending sections.) It is ridiculous, it is wrong, and it is unfair to our children. It also means that there will not be new health books for the high school students until the next school year.

This legislative session in Utah, the legislators will consider SB31, which will raise the legal age to buy tobacco products in Utah from 19 to 21. The senator proposing this law says that this will prevent 4,740 teenagers/young adults from smoking. That is a good, albeit questionable motive. (If you are old enough to die for your country, I think you are mature enough to decide if you want to smoke.) If the good senator is concerned about the health of our young adults, should not the health of 12,410 teenagers/young adults be a greater concern than that of 4,740?

There are ways to reduce teen pregnancy and STD transmission; they include education at home and at school, availability of effective birth control, and good parenting/mentoring. The CDC has a program to reduce teen the number of pregnancies, here is one of the components that bears strongly on this discussion:
“Providing teens with evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, including youth development and curriculum-based programs that reduce teen pregnancy and associated risk factors.”
Twelve thousand, four hundred and ten of our teenagers/young adults had their health, and their lives, put at risk due to our state-sponsored policy of “Don’t Tell.” It’s time to change that policy, and educate our children.

Thanks for reading my thoughts. Please feel free to add your comments, just click on the pencil to open the comment box!

Paul Rolly’s Tribune article is here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57506243-90/district-books-sexual-policy.html.csp

Utah birth rates are here: http://health.utah.gov/vitalrecords/2011bx_UpdatedFinal_03292013.pdf

CDC Statistics are here: http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/by-age/15-24-all-STDs/state/2011/UT11.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/HSSR_MSA_2013-PDF04.pdf

CDC program to reduce teen pregnancy: http://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/PreventTeenPreg.htm

The School Lunch Debacle, Chapter II

As I posted here on February 1, the Salt Lake School District has as policy of taking lunches from elementary school students who had negative or zero balances in their lunch accounts, and throwing the lunches into the trash, then offer the child an apple and a carton of milk. Today, responding to national and international pressure, the district has issued a new policy, effective immediately, which corrects the previous policy. The new policy states that the schools will serve full lunches to students, regardless of the account balance. Policies and procedures are being implemented that will improve the communication between the lunchroom staff, the administration and the parents. Other school districts in Utah are also implementing similar policies. (Salt Lake Tribune, 2/7/14)

This is a great step forward, and I applaud the district for establishing this new policy. The bigger question, however, is why did it take national and even international attention to coerce this district into applying common sense to the issue? The elementary school children do not control the purse strings of the parents. (The new policy states that the school administrators discuss the issue with the parents, and leave the students out of the communication.) Have our school districts become so money-centric that the ideal of an educated student body has taken a back seat to money? Yes, I know that school lunch is not directly coupled to a successful education. The larger body of evidence, however, demonstrates that elementary school students who are not hungry tend to pay more attention in class, and thereby have a better opportunity to learn while they are in school. Learning-education- is what they are in school to do.

Utah loves the Founding Fathers of our country. Let us then read what Thomas Jefferson had to say about education:
“The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance”-Thomas Jefferson.

Our nation was not conceived, nor will it flourish, without an educated population. It is imperative that we all consider all children as our future, and that we attend to their education. If that means, as demonstrated, that we provide an opportunity for the children to eat a nutritious meal while they are in school, so be it. That school lunch may be the only decent meal that student receives in that day.

The credit for this change in district policy is due in no small part to an un-aligned group of parents who were angry about the policy, and I congratulate them for speaking out. It is my considered opinion, however, that it is the advent of social media, of user groups, of Facebook and Twitter, and of the internet that brought this issue to critical mass. Without the use of social media, of the internet, perhaps this would have been nothing but a discardable issue for the school board.

I accept that the parents have a responsibility to know what the account balance is. I have been a parent to three school age children, and I acknowledge that the rush of events in my life, and in my spouse’s life, prevented us from reviewing the daily balances of our children’s school lunch account. However, we paid attention to the notices from the school when the balances were close to zero, or negative, and responded accordingly. The Salt Lake School District has admitted that the new system failed to properly notify the parents.

The Salt Lake School District has failed, noticeably, to apologize to the students for the embarrassment the students experienced at having their lunches taken from them in front of their peers.

Sally in the 4th grade does not understand all the politics and uproar behind the district’s action that day in the lunchroom. All she knows is, her lunch was taken from her and thrown in the trash, and she was embarrassed in front of her classmates. The ball, so to speak, is now in the hands of the Salt Lake School District. It is now their responsibility, and their duty, which they will evade, to speak to each of the 40 students (and their parents) affected, to admit that they made serious mistakes, and to let the children know this is the effect of adult (mistaken) hubris on their part.

Congratulations to the Salt Lake School District for taking late but corrective action. The punitive actions the district took against the students have been exposed to public scrutiny, worldwide. Now, the district management needs to apologize, in front of media cameras, to the students. The lunchroom supervisor who cried when ordered to take lunches from students deserves a public accommodation, not paid leave while the district administrators cover their respective backsides.

Utah, a state that “promotes family values.” A state that declares positive concern about children. A state, however, that has demonstrated that money is more important than children. The people in charge of the Salt Lake School District have responded to the legislature, a legislature that decries any potential waste in public schools. A legislature that prefers charter schools over public schools.

It is time, Utah voters, to wake up. It is time to vote for legislators that will defend your children’s right to public education. It is time to challenge the status quo. It is time to say, I want my children to do as well, or better, than I did. That is the American dream, that is the future of America.

I know some of you will have divergent opinions on this subject. I challenge you to present them here, this is a forum for discussion. Click on the "comment" below, post your thoughts, let’s talk.

I challenge you. Will you respond?

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57512768-78/district-parents-balances-negative.html.csp doiwnloaded 2 7 14