Soapbox

One of the critical challenges in beginning this school year was the vital importance of getting our students back into the classroom safely amid a pandemic. With the delta variant surging, the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education made the unanimous decision to follow the science and CDC guidance by requiring masks in our schools to keep our students, teachers and staff safe so in-person learning could occur.

We have all read how difficult it was for students to make progress remotely and how critical it is for our children to return to the classroom. Two of the board members who made this responsible decision, Andrea Parmenter and Erika Brown, are running for reelection and I hope you will join me in supporting them. Both are well-qualified in terms of background, experience and education, and both have children in our Durango schools.

Andrea has a degree in geology with minors in chemistry, environmental science and spanish, plus a Master’s in earth science. She has an extensive background in research and program management. Erika has a degree in biology and a graduate degree focusing on environmental policy and communication. She has worked as a communications manager and environmental advocate. Both have the knowledge and experience to make our schools even better. I am also supporting Rick Petersen, a Scout leader and strong advocate for community youth. I hope you will vote for these outstanding candidates. – Karen Pontius, Durango

Prop 119 a scam that robs schools

Supporters of Prop 119 are misleading voters. Their misguided proposal would cut millions of dollars that support classroom supplies, educational programming and teacher salaries to pay for privatized education services, including religious-based institutions.

Work should be undertaken to properly fund public education, not take money out of classrooms where teachers often use personal funds to buy textbooks and school supplies. The measure was crafted by dark money conservative groups to sound great, but in reality, Prop 119 is a tax hike and creates an unelected, unaccountable board with sole discretion for spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

These private programs would syphon off almost $56 million from our schools in the first year, growing to $138 million by 2024-25. The annual budget of this new bureaucracy would equal nearly twice the annual budget of the entire Colorado Department of Education. Public education dollars must stay in public schools so we can recruit and retain the best teachers – not create more bureaucracy.

This measure is not in the best interests of our kids or taxpayers. It would allow the newly created board to give themselves exorbitant salaries without any oversight. In addition, there is no guarantee it would help our most vulnerable students. The private providers selected by the board could simply refuse to serve students with disabilities or other groups of disadvantaged children.

In addition to taking marijuana taxes, this measure would redirect millions from the State Land Trust, which was designed to fund public education, particularly for rural children, and deliver it into private hands. This siphoning likely violates the Enabling Act of the Colorado Constitution, which has protected State Land Trust money for public schools for more than 150 years. The measure would be devastating to local school districts, which are already among the most poorly-funded in the nation, ranking 47th in per-pupil spending. Rural Colorado would suffer disproportionately, and current teacher shortages would become even worse.

Prop 119 is a scam that reduces our students’ chances of success by taking money from our public schools and giving it to private providers to do whatever they choose: teach inaccurate history, allow religious groups to indoctrinate our kids with extreme ideas, or whatever. For more info, see https://noonprop119.com.

Learning Opportunities for Colorado’s Kids is leading the “Yes on Prop 119” campaign. The committee reported $1.85 million in contributions and $1.67 million in expenditures. Gary Community Investment Co. gave $1.45 million and, together with Ready Colorado, were the source of 94% of the contributions. Who are these groups and why are they spending all this money?

Prop 119 is opposed by Taxpayers for Public Education, a Colorado-based, bipartisan, 501(c)(4) organization whose members are parents of children enrolled in public schools. In opposing the initiative, they said “(Prop 119) is a school voucher scheme that would undermine Colorado’s public schools and potentially divert money into private institutions that could discriminate against students based on their religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, or heritage.” The measure is also opposed by Coloradans Against School Vouchers and the Colorado AFL-CIO.

Don’t be fooled. Public education is not for sale and we will not be deceived. Vote no on Prop 119. – Carol Cure, Durango

Plants over vaccines

In response to “Scrap the Conspiracy Theories” from Sept. 16, I’ll say there are more points of view about what is happening in our country and on a global scale than your letter can address. I’ll respond to your point about public health mandates and whether or not they are political in nature.

Personally, I enjoy my choices when it comes to my health care and my immune system. I prefer plant medicine that comes from wild and cultivated plants. It’s not simply a hobby. It is a path I walk in my life. It is spiritual in nature. It helps me on a deeper level than modern medicine. That’s my personal experience. And I will keep practicing it regardless of what the government and its institutions are telling me what they want me to do. I am thankful I’ve had teachers who share this knowledge, which has been nearly wiped out by colonial forces on every continent through the dominating forces of people who believed themselves to be superior to those they were committing genocide against. So when you say vaccines are not political, I beg to differ.

From where I stand, it is more colonialism and acts to assimilate us into one controlled and homogenized race. And ultimately an attempt I believe will always be destined to backfire with unintended consequences. I believe human beings are born with innate intelligence, and as difficult as it may be to understand what some people do or don’t do, we are never going to experience or see everything in the same way. It’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s not even a theory. It’s an observation of history and history repeating itself. If one group believes they are right and they have the power to push their agenda onto everyone regardless of whether or not it’s wanted, it’s totalitarianism.

I will pose a rhetorical question: When have we ever been able to trust the federal government at face value? Same with the medical industry? Some of us are making the choices we make because it’s what brings us peace. And if we’re talking about science, what about the science of natural immunity, soil health and biodiversity and how the attempts to eradicate disease will always be a futile pursuit?

Have a lovely life.

– Daniel Wilson, Durango

Fall into Jimmy’s