Letters to the editor Feb. 13
Tax bill helped
I try to read the letters in the Inter Lake as often as I can just to get a flavor for the hurt feelings the lake house owners have over the property tax bill passed in the last Legislature.
I served 14 years in the Montana Legislature. Say what you will, 80% of residential property owners got tax cuts. We also got a $400 rebate. It was at least a start and probably the best we can do at this point.
A California lawyer with a lake house in Polson is not someone that I would have chosen to attack the efforts of the Legislature to help out Montana householders (Feb. 9, “Second homeowners hurt by premediated deception”).
My wife and are in our 80s and the help we got from this bill is appreciated. Yes, more to be done, but I certainly appreciate what has been started.
— Dave Lewis, Helena
News literacy
Kudos to you, Daily Inter Lake and Kalispell Public Schools, for this course for eighth graders (Feb. 8, News literacy central to civic engagement).
Hopefully these young people can educate their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Many need to understand there is news, there is opinion and there is commentary.
With 24-hour very misnamed cable channels called news, such channels should have to display a banner on screen stating which it is since too many watching don’t seem to understand which it actually is. A very little portion of time of cable news is reporting the factual news. The majority is spent on opinion and commentary.
Journalism is so very important. Thank You!
— Susan Sande, Kalispell
Turning Point in schools
Parents of Montana public school children should be infuriated and nauseated to hear that Gov. Greg Gianforte and state Superintendent Hedalen are actively encouraging all Montana high schools to establish noncurricular Turning Point USA clubs. This politicking is an egregious overstep to instill Christian nationalism in our youth. Forcing theology and political ideology onto young minds has always been reviled and avoided.
Public schools go to amazing lengths to educate, not indoctrinate; learning depends on mastering “how” to reason, not “what” to think. Curriculum touches on government structure, political theory and even religion. Educators, however, painstakingly avoid telling their pupils exactly what they should think of those structures. Doing so belongs at home — students brim with parental beliefs.
As a big fan of Jesus with strong political convictions, I resent the notion that our governor and superintendent would jeopardize my children’s right to form their own opinions amidst such a bias. Encouraging one club above others creates an environment where outsiders are alienated.
We elected you to focus on fulfilling the state’s constitution by “[providing and funding] a basic system of free quality public schools,” not to indoctrinate our kids into your favorite club. Let schools teach and parents instill values.
— Matthieu Oppedahl, Helena