Dear Editor: Abandoned Schools?

Dear Editor,

A Letter to the Editor promoting a candidate for the Superintendent of Public Instruction position in the State of Montana was published in the Whitehall Ledger on April 10, 2024.

In the letter, the candidate states, "We've essentially abandoned our schools in the last eight years under the current state leadership."

When I look at my property tax bill and see that 75.2% of my taxes go to the schools, this statement seems absolutely preposterous! If this is abandonment, I would ask, where has all the money gone?

The candidate's focus seems a bit lopsided. The candidate proposes an office that is responsive to the needs of the legislature and the professionals – and oh yeah...to Montana's children. Despite the "skyrocketing property taxes," the candidate intends to "repair, restore, and re-invent" public education. There is little in this appeal to voters that reflects working with the parents who are required by law to submit their children to the daily "loco parentis" of the school authorities.

I agree that the schools need to be restored: restored to teaching children basic and classical curriculum. The education of our children needs to be uncoupled from the ideology of the teacher's unions, and the "legislators and professionals" need to work for the taxpayers and their children. I firmly believe there needs to be a renewed connection between the school professionals and the parents to whom the children belong-no more hiding gender delusions and oppressor/oppressed ideology.

After the State of Montana "rebuilt" the property tax method and started gorging the schools with our hard-earned dollars, the schools need to be transparent and accountable to those who fund them.

BOB CAMRETA

Whitehall, Montana