The Oct. 12, 2022, R-C Letters to the Editor

True freedom requires patience

Editor:

True American freedom is really hard. I’m not talking about the ability to put a sign in your yard every four years, or express your thoughts on issues, or attend the church of your choosing (or not at all). I’m talking about the ability to really live a life of freedom surrounded by others doing the same. My father fought in World War 2. One day we drove past a protest against something that I know my father very much supported. I asked him if he was upset by the protestors and if he felt disrespect for what he fought for. He said, “Not at all. That’s exactly what I fought for. I can disagree with them, but I want those same rights to voice my opinion for myself and for you too.” Regardless of individual expression and or someone’s method of protest, there is someone in opposition with equivalent anger and opposing viewpoint. And I for one can do nothing but appreciate it all for what it is: Real Freedom. As long as your actions do not deprive another person of their rights or violate laws, you have that right. You can hate America and vocalize it with every syllable you utter. You can criticize your elected representatives in the most vulgar terms. You can protest this nation’s policies and leaders under the banner of protection provided by this nation’s Constitution. That is true freedom. And while that is awesome power bestowed upon us citizens, it is my opinion we need to be respectful of that power. We must be willing to allow another’s voice to be heard. The action and language should not be so classless that the act itself overshadows the message. We must appreciate and preserve the rights of others to express their viewpoints that we staunchly oppose. We must have honest debate and civil discourse that challenges our opinions and beliefs. We must root our arguments in honesty, factual information, and reason. We must be able to agree to disagree and then support our community and each other. We must protect one’s freedom of expression, even when that expression is diametrically opposed to our beliefs. That is real freedom. That is American freedom. And that is really hard to accept and preserve. For the sake of future generations, I hope we can. 

John Collins

Minden

Concerns over sex education in schools

Editor:

The local school board race has given me the opportunity to examine the woke movement that is infiltrating our schools, government, military, and business institutions throughout the country. 

Public schools across America are teaching “Comprehensive Sexuality Education” to students that sexualizes children and promotes an unrestrained “anything goes” sexual lifestyle. According to the Family Research Council, “In CSE, youth sex is normalized, and the concept of “sexual rights” and radical sexual ideology for youth is advanced.” And in some schools, transgender education is being taught to children as young as five, often without parental knowledge or consent. 

Is this not confusing kids and robbing them of their innocence? 

Students are also being taught to accept the fallacies that America was founded to support slavery (1619 Project), is systemically racist, and white supremacy and patriarchal oppression are the root causes of evil. 

The goal of the woke movement is to “cancel” our culture, history, and Judeo-Christian heritage, and create a new America based on progressive Marxist ideology. And it begins with the indoctrination of our youth as was done in the Soviet Union. 

American Soviet sympathizer, John Dewey, aka the father of progressive education, returned from the USSR nearly a century ago believing “that education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.” In other words, education is the means to indoctrinate children into social justice activism that supports the goals of an authoritarian/tyrannical government. 

If Social and Emotional Learning was limited to teaching kids how to listen to others empathetically and express their needs with clarity, I would be a supporter. Sadly, that is not the case. SEL has evolved into what CASEL refers to as “transformative” SEL. Like the Soviet Union, it aims to turn our youth into social justice warriors for a false ideology that aims to destroy our nation and usher in a global oligarchy. 

And this includes critical race theory that superficially categorizes and labels people as victims and oppressors based on race, sex, and sexual orientation. The dignity of life and the uniqueness of each person cannot co-exist within such a restrictive and divisive system. 

The three candidates I support in the school board race - Susan Jansen, David Burns, and Katherine Dickerson - understand the dangers and true intention of the woke movement. They understand history. Yet, it would not be fair to associate them only with that achievement. They have an eagle’s eye focus on making sure that our kids get the best possible education available that includes a solid foundation in math, science, and English. And they understand that kids improve their self-esteem through challenges they overcome.

Bob Russo

Gardnerville Ranchos

Keep Compassion and 

Empathy on the School Board

Editor:

As a retired marketing consultant & designer, I’ve assisted many Republican campaigns over the decades. I was offered the Jansen, Dickerson, Burns campaign for the Douglas County School Board. As a fixed-income senior, I truly could have used the income. However, after hearing the philosophy of their campaign’s backers, I turned down the job.

The makeup of the School Board is important to us; my wife is a retired Douglas County teacher with “old school values.” So, we invited their opponents over and “grilled them.” What a difference. If you want compassionate, empathetic board members who will prioritize what’s best for your children, vote for Lehmann, Jackson, and Butterfield. They actually have/had kids in our schools and, as incumbents, have proven to be effective, principled, caring Board Members not beholden to political pressure.

Your kids have more life challenges than ever. If the Jansen trio is elected and your child’s situation doesn’t fit into their backers’ model of the, “right & wrong way to live,” teachers could be pressured into influencing children with dogmatic precepts that have no place in our schools.

Douglas Reynolds

Minden

Supporting Burns, 

Jansen and Dickerson

Editor:

I am a senior citizen relocated to our beautiful valley from the socialist state of Maryland. I have seen how school boards slowly accepted the woke culture in Maryland and we are not isolated from that culture here in the Carson Valley. I would love to see conservative values maintained in our schools. That is why I will be voting for Dave Burns, Susan Jansen and Katherine Dickerson who want to see age-appropriate books in our school libraries and support traditional teaching standards for our children. 

Mary Lou Gervie

Ruhenstroth

Parent impressed by schools

Editor:

I am a parent of five children. I have elementary students, middle schoolers, and one in high school. I volunteer at the schools and special events, serve on the PTO and I attend district parent meetings and school board meetings. To say that I am close to the schools is an accurate statement. That being said, I want to say that I am very impressed with our schools, the teachers, administrative staff, district employees, and the school board. They have done an incredible job through these recent tough years. Our kids were in school far more than other children around the nation and the disruptions to their education and their lives were minimized due to the decisions of the school board. I really feel grateful to them. They had our children’s well being in mind as they made all the difficult decisions amid government mandates and local criticism. 

The election of school board members is an important issue to me because their decisions directly impact my family. Being a school board member over the last two years has not been easy. I have attended some of those meetings and they are brutal and uncomfortable. The meetings are set up in a way that allows essentially unlimited time for public comment and the school board members must sit and listen and are not allowed to answer, refute, debate, or even agree with the comments. I have watched as community members come to the meetings and vehemently criticize, and even personally berate the school board over everything from covid policies, masks, curriculum, dress codes, and more. The overall atmosphere is uncivil and I am embarrassed that my community members would act in such a manner. I feel compassion for the school board members who not only sit through these tongue lashings but also receive physical threats to themselves and their families outside the meetings. Why would anyone want to serve on the school board?

I know personally two board members that are up for reelection: Heather Jackson and Robbe Lehmann. I will happily vouch for their characters. They are intelligent, level headed, kind, conservative people of faith that serve on the school board because they have children in our schools and they are invested in the education and wellbeing of all students. The school board ought to be filled with those most motivated to make the schools great: The parents. This is the most important qualification that I can think of.

There are some signs around town that say “Save Our Schools” but as someone close to the schools, I don’t think they need to be saved. They are already in good hands and I really hope they stay in the hands of Heather Jackson and Robbe Lehmann.

Stephanie Christensen

Gardnerville

Good Governance Group notes

Editor:

Here are the highlights of the Good Governance Group forum on Wednesday, Oct. 5. It was a good showing of citizens, and they were primarily polite and listened to the answers given out by the candidates for Douglas School Board this November.

I have attended several Douglas County School Board meetings earlier this year and heard the current School Board, Robbe Lehmann and Heather Jackson, who are running for re-election state very clearly that there was no CRT in Douglas County Schools. At last nights GGG Forum it became apparent that that was either a lie, or they did not know what was going on in the school district.

During the debate it was brought up by Katherine Dickerson, Dave Burns and Susan Jansen that the book that has been used by the district in their Professional Development for newly hired teachers was full of CRT statements. Robbe Lehman agreed with this assessment but said that this book was only used for two years and then was replaced. Shocking! Lehmann admitted that there was CRT in Douglas County Schools and that it went on for two years, even though earlier this year he said emphatically that there was absolutely no CRT in the Douglas County School District.

So, we have current members of the Douglas School Board who either are not watchful of what is going on in the district or are out right liars. Either should disqualify them from holding public office.

It is a very interesting election situation. It is apparent that we have two groups of three candidates who are running together, just check signs and placements around the county. This is a non-partisan race but since all six candidates are registered Republicans, we have seen the Douglas County Republican Central Committee, for I believe the first time, get involved and vet the candidates for how true each are to republican ideals. The group who won the endorsement are Susan Jansen, District 2, Katherine Dickerson, District 6, and David Burns, District 7.

To make sure that you vote for the best candidates in this race and do not have the time to do your own vetting, you can trust the DCRCC to have done it for you.

Dave Nelson

Gardnerville

Why Burns is running

Editor:

 Why would anyone want to run for a public office? Power? Money? Ego? How about when people come and ask you, and ask you and ask you? Running for Douglas County School Board offers very little money, lots of long meetings and not much street cred. But you do get a lot of attention. “How long have you lived here?” “Do you have kids in the district?” “No?” Well, I guess I never should have taught for 28 years in California and been a substitute teacher here for three years because I never had children. Same uneducated reasoning.

Jansen, Burns and Dickerson are three couples that were heavily encouraged to run for the school board by local people to stem a tide that is not pro-child. And since then, parents, grandparents, retired teachers, current teachers and even students have been very eager to share their stories about information and policies that have no place in public K-12 education. We were couples on the cusp of retirement and enjoying it! But with 70+ years of public classroom experience between us we offered an attractive profile and if not us, who?

But it wasn’t until February of this year that we sat down with the librarian of Carson Valley Middle School that it got real for us. Paul Jensen shared his experience of coming back to work here and being part of new teachers and him questioning the use of the book, “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” by Zarretta Hammond. We ordered it and it was laced with Critical Race Theory. He also questioned young adult books coming into his library that he and other parents viewed as much too sexual and inappropriate for kids. Paul was ignored and was later up for disciplinary action for taking his mask off outside after bus duty. On March 18 he resigned, left the Valley and dropped a video on YouTube called, “Douglas County Nevada Teaches Critical Race Theory.” It is eye-opening. 

A very good teacher was treated like collateral damage by this board. So, Jansen, Burns and Dickerson picked up where Paul left off and kept up the pressure. Surprise! The board decided that maybe that new teacher book is not the best choice. Not even elected yet and we’re already initiating change. 

We are not running because we think these schools and teachers are bad. We are running because we know they are good except for newer polices and choices that we saw and experienced in California and are creating havoc now! We are also trying to bring back parents that pulled their kids out because of these same reasons. Parent’s rights and board transparency is our platform.

Our platform is not conservative or liberal. It is education without sexualization and a progressive liberal agenda that most parents don’t want. How about core subject matter to prepare students like countries overseas that are then being hired by American companies because schools aren’t doing their jobs here? If that scares, you then you may be the problem.

Leslie Burns

Gardnerville

Parent concerned by schools campaign

Editor:

As a parent of three children in the Douglas County School District, I am deeply concerned by the divisive and partisan scaremongering campaign being waged by three candidates who have no connection to our school community. The Burns/Dickerson/Jansen “Save Our Schools” message is both misleading and offensive.

When we moved to Minden 14 years ago, our number one priority was to relocate to a rural Nevada area that could provide the best education for our three children. After an exhaustive search, we settled on Douglas County, and a school district that ranked No. 1 in the State across a range of criteria. We had high expectations, and our expectations have been exceeded.

My eldest graduated from DHS in 2020, with a scholarship to a private Baptist University in Texas. Like many of her friends, she continues to excel, and says she was more prepared for the challenges of a tough course at a top college than her privately educated cohorts. Our middle kid, now a senior at DHS is headed to UNR on scholarship. And our DHS Junior, on a 504 Plan, is also on track to graduate with honors, thanks to the support and commitment of our teachers and DCSD programs.

Do our schools have challenges to overcome? Of course, every school across America, and worldwide, needs to work hard to make up the shortfalls of covid related disruption. But our DCSD schools have excelled despite these setbacks - and they continue to excel, in spite of baseless accusations from politically motivated incomers.

The truth is that our teachers and kids don’t need saving – they just need to be allowed to get on with their jobs of teaching and learning in a safe, supportive, and successful environment. 

Please vote for Butterfield, Jackson and Lehmann in the upcoming elections, and save our students from being used in a political game they didn’t sign up to play.

Tracy Campbell

Minden

Voting for Janice Noble

Editor:

Please consider voting for Janice Noble, Assembly District 39, which includes Douglas and Lyon Counties. So often our voting choices are defined by whether the candidate is a Republican or a Democrat, and it helps to look beyond the party label. Janice is a courageous local leader working to build trust from the ground up. She shares many goals that are similar to those of many of our community: quality education, affordable and available health care, economic well-being and adherence to democratic principles Please check out her website for platform specifics and contact information: DrJaniceNoble.com. Janice’s emphasis is on building community, and she would welcome the chance to hear from you and/or find a time to meet with you and your neighbors.

Barbara Kuehner

Gardnerville

Republicans don’t 

want fair elections

Editor:

People who don’t want your vote to determine who is in power don’t want to use their power for meet your needs. Think about that when you hear a candidate, like Adam Laxalt, tell us if they lose an election, it is because of fraud not the voters will. Think about it as Republican state legislators across the country use the “big lie” to pass laws directed at Democratic leaning districts to suppress their vote so they, Republicans, can be/remain in power. Think about it as Republican legislators move to take control of federal elections in a manner that violates their state constitutions so their party can be in power regardless of the will of the voters. There is a court case, Moore vs Harper, coming before the Supreme Court that could upend how our federal elections are held going forward. The North Carolina (NC) state Republican legislators are challenging their state constitution and state courts on their re-districting map. The NC courts have declared the re-districting map created by the Republican controlled state legislature violates the NC state constitution. The Supreme Court’s historical record is to defer to state constitutions and state courts. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Republican state legislators, they would not only be breaking with precedent, but they would be giving special powers to state legislators that exceed what they have under their state constitution. It would open the door for state legislators to take away the voter’s power to determine who wins the electoral college vote in their state (i.e. give that power to state legislators). Democracy is on the line in our 2022 election, the choice between candidates who believe in our democracy (i.e. voters choose and all eligible voters should be able to vote) or candidates who do not, (i.e. MAGA Republicans who believe if they don’t win it is because of fraud and only their supporters vote should count).

Irene Rice

Gardnerville

Misleading ads on abortion

Editor:

There is a political ad currently running on television that is blatantly misleading if not outright wrong. It proclaims that the right to abortion in Nevada is absolutely protected by state law. It states that those who condemn politicians who want to outlaw abortion are lying to the public because only the voter can change that law which is protected by state law. It is saying that no politician can change that law.  

It is firmly established legal doctrine, when a state law is in direct conflict with federal law, the federal law prevails. Candidates running for federal office, if elected, can fully support a federal law that outlaws abortion in all states. Such a law, if successful, does not need voter approval and would annul or override state law.

Ben Justus

Gardnerville

Political theatre at its worst

Editor:

Catherine Cortez Masto is falling behind in the polls. She and Chuck Schumer are pulling out all the stops in an attempt to gain favor with voters. Cathy can’t run on her party’s failed Anti-America agenda, so as usual, the frantic Democrat machine blasts the airwaves with false & misleading ads.

Catherine Cortez-Masto’s most recent ads blatantly lie about Nevada women losing abortion rights as a result of the actions taken by SCOTUS in overturning Roe v. Wade. Nothing is further from the truth. How can Cortez Masto, who was elected as Nevada’s Attorney General (chief legal authority) in 2006, not know the current Nevada state law on abortion? That law was implemented 30 years ago stating that women can abort (kill) their babies up to their 6th month of pregnancy. The existing abortion law in Nevada law can only be changed by a “vote of the people.” Adam Laxalt or any other politician cannot change or overrule the people’s vote.

In the meantime, Nevada women can continue to kill six month or younger fetuses. I pray for these women to consider alternatives to abortion. Those alternatives are indeed a woman’s right here on Nevada. One alternative is for American women to “save” those 900,000-plus babies who are aborted (killed) annually, and adopt those babies to loving families. 

That’s what Catherine Cortez Masto should be fighting for. Sen. Masto, tell Biden and Schumer to close the border immediately and allow the 900,000 plus babies legally born each year in the USA live a wonderful life in the greatest country on earth. 

Larry Walsh

Minden

Good Job, R-C

Editor:

Amidst all of the letters concerning the upcoming elections, especially the contentious School Board Trustee selections, it is time we all recognized the awards our local Record -Courier received from the judges of the Arizona Press Association. 

Along with the Nevada Appeal the paper was named the best rural publication in Nevada. 

Our own Kurt Hildebrand received the first rural award for coverage of underserved communities, and best rural feature photo. Kurt received second place for both breaking news coverage and for best portrait. He also received three third place awards. The Carson Valley Almanac took third prize for special section editorial.

To all those that submit letters to the editor they are also to be commended for the R-C win of the rural award of best editorial pages which listed its readers as a key contributor.

Danna Meyer

Gardnerville