Conservatives’ attempt to sanitize what’s taught in public schools is going too far

Sanitizing topics in schools is folly

The recent trend of self-styled “conservatives” attempting to sanitize — read that “whitewash” — everything taught in our public-school classrooms has gone way overboard.

School should be a place where curiosity and thinking are encouraged, and sensitive subjects are handled thoughtfully as they come up. Teachers enter the classroom daily knowing their lesson plans, but with absolutely no idea what will pop into kids’ minds and out their mouths. To comply with this latest school board lunacy, teachers will have to put up a list saying, “These topics are off-limits in our classroom.” That will have the exact opposite effect, of course.

Kirk Williamson, Kennewick

Make tax returns of Congress open

I would like to suggest that all persons elected to Congress should be required to provide their tax returns for their spouses or their significant others before they are first elected and for every term they serve thereafter for perusal by their constituents.

Such transparency might avail of us of some understanding as to why once elected, one would want to stay elected until death do they part or to financial techniques as to how we their constituents to can become millionaires. Unfortunately, many of us do not have taxpayers paying our salaries nor are we afforded the insider information available to our Congresspersons.

We may want to consider term limits.

Don Curet, Richland

Plow out parking lots during night

The ice and snow have not made Christmas shopping easy this year. Although the main streets are in pretty good shape, parking lots at some local stores and at Columbia Center Mall leave much to be desired. I could do all my shopping online, but that doesn’t help the local economy. I prefer to shop locally, as I have friends and acquaintances who work at these stores, and for those who must get to work early and leave after dark, icy parking lots are a hazard. I know of at least two people who work at the Mall who have slipped and fallen, though they were not seriously injured, thankfully.

And for me, a senior citizen who needs to use a walker, it is especially difficult. Navigating the parking lot in your car is not too difficult, but getting out of your car can be especially dangerous, as the ice/snow seems to have been piled up in the parking places by the snowplows. Getting out of my car in a handicapped parking space yesterday at Columbia Center Mall, I came close to falling. As I come and go, I’ve seen snow plows operating during some of the busiest times of the day for shoppers. Why can’t the snowplows operate during the night, when the lots are largely empty? Not only would that be more efficient, it would also be more effective.

Brenda E. Sartoris, Richland

Which version of God’s word?

John Trumbo’s guest column in which he states that America must “turn to the God of our forefathers” in order to find unity begs questions. Since there are so many disagreements on interpretations of God’s word, even just under the umbrella of Christianity, who would tell Americans what the true word is, and how would that be enforced? How would such a governing structure fit within our Constitution? Self-described white supremacist Nick Fuentes has said we need a Christian version of Taliban. Is that what Mr. Trumbo has in mind?

Hopefully other readers also feel Trumbo’s words call for challenge. He’s a city councilman and was given a huge, loud portion of the op-ed section for his message. It’s tempting to dismiss the message as nonsense or maybe it was misunderstood. Recent U.S. history indicates there’s no safety in silence though.

Greg Carl, Richland