LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
What if you turned the table on the Dems? Would they be pleased?
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has decided to paint a “Black Lives Matter” street mural in large letters on the street in front of Trump Tower.
What if Trump decided to paint in large letters “Make America Great Again” on the streets in front of all Democrat mayors’ homes or offices?
How would that be received by our media?
Gordon Brown, Phoenix
The reopening of Arizona schools is turning into a train wreck
How did we get here?
When schools were closed in March and students and teachers hastily began conducting the educational day online, how did we not come up with a plan for the very real possibility that school would not open as usual?
When Gov. Doug Ducey announced last week that schools would be online only for the first two weeks, I found myself in shock.
As a public school educator in elementary education, I know that starting the school year online will mean a massive shift for the entire school year, for every single student.
As districts begin to roll out their decisions, teachers and parents are frantic, trying to prevent their imaginations from running wild with the fears of what is to come.
How will working parents monitor students’ mandated attendance online? How will teachers grade and give feedback for online lessons?
How is a kindergartener supposed to engage and connect with their first teacher through Google Meet? If we go back to school are we safe?
What about students with pre-existing conditions such as asthma? What happens if we go back in person and then have to shut down again? How were we not prepared for this? Molly Morales, Scottsdale
If media curbed their bias, they’d realize teachers want to teach
Before sending out a blanket statement that teachers are scared to go back to teaching in person, please speak to teachers on both sides.
There is an overwhelming amount of teachers who are ready to go back to the classroom. If the media would stop trying to sell their own political agenda maybe students could get a proper education.
Andrea Jung, Mesa
You may think your knee says one thing; to me it’s something else
If you take a knee during the playing of our National Anthem, you dishonor our country as well as all those who love this country.
Civil War monuments remind us of war that tore our country apart
In 1913, veterans who fought in the American Civil War gathered in Gettysburg to re-enact the 50th anniversary of Picket’s charge.
Veterans approached the wall and then clasped hands with their former enemy.
Civil War monuments are not there to mark an evil deed, but instead remind us of the battle that tore the country apart and how we were able to unite again as one people.
We are in danger of forgetting this history.
And if we do, we risk making the same mistake that was so costly to our country.
Look for the “1913 Gettysburg reunion” online to learn more about this amazing event.
Dena Wiltsie, Laveen
3 options for Ducey to try to wrestle down the coronavirus
It is time for Gov. Doug Ducey to be a leader.
Arizona has one of the lowest COVID-19 testing rates in the United States and an unacceptably high (25%-30%) positivity rate, with no contact tracing.
Our health care system is close to the breaking point and our health care providers are getting battle fatigue from uninterrupted fighting of the coronavirus pandemic for nearly four months.
He must know that he will only get lip service from his White House overlords, whose priority is campaigning.
He has three choices.
He can continue to sit on the sidelines and pass the buck to the municipalities, and watch the entire state of Arizona develop a public health catastrophe like New York City of three months ago.
He can order a total lockdown like Australia’s Victoria province; this would guarantee reversal of COVID-19 exponential growth.
He can increase virus testing and contact tracing to acceptable levels, and mandate statewide adaptation of CDC guidelines, including enforceable facemask usage, social distancing, and limitations on assembly, including some workplaces, restaurants, retail outlets, religious gatherings, political rallies and protest demonstrations.
Mr. Ducey must show courage soon, particularly if he wants to open schools in six weeks.
There is a reason why the Preamble to the U.S. Declaration of Independence lists life before liberty and the pursuit of happiness as unalienable rights.
Without the first, the other two are meaningless.
Michael Sapozink, Phoenix