Your Aug. 14 article, "How novels get into Tri-City classrooms," further confirms that the Richland School District uses a lot more "candid" (edu-speak for profane and obscene) material than surrounding districts, and surrounding districts see no need to use so much objectionable material to provide a good education to students.

The Richland School Board, administration, and language arts teachers often justify the use of such material as necessary for development of "critical thinking." This argument is the result of muddled thinking; neither the board, administration, nor teachers have cogently explained the necessity of using extreme obscenity, profanity, etc. for the teaching of critical thinking.

David Garber, West Richland