Editor’s note: Today your letters include thoughtful responses to a commentary by school choice activist Virginia Walden Ford and to a Daily Signal supporter’s appeal about making a difference on important issues. Want to write us? You’ll see how below. —Ken McIntyre
Dear Daily Signal: I agree with Virginia Walden Ford’s commentary article. The NAACP has become useless because the leadership has devolved from their original goals of helping black people advance (“I’m a Black Woman Whose Relatives Fought for Civil Rights. I’m Disappointed in NAACP’s War on School Choice”).
The NAACP has become a political arm of the Democrats.
Education is the most important goal in bringing anyone out of their past and into a brighter future. I can attest to that goal, because my mother felt the same way. I am a native American from Alaska, and did experience hunger and poor conditions.
My grade school teacher told my mother that I was a slow learner, so pushed me to do my homework and not just finish what was assigned but all the problems.
I was held back in the first grade, but I made that up in the seventh grade. I graduated to the eighth grade and did well. My mom sent me to a parochial boarding school, even though it put a burden on her.
I excelled and graduated as a valedictorian with a degree in electronics, even though I missed a year due to tuberculosis. Electronics was in its infancy and “solid state” was the new term. I worked as a failure analyst in the position of supervising lab engineer.
All children should be afforded the same opportunities as I received. The education system has become abysmal because of political correctness. It is no longer acceptable to hold back students even if they are failing at their current grade.
There are also the great experiments that have failed the children. The current fad, Common Core, is the worst because your answer could be wrong and still be judged correct.
I would like to see a spaceship sent to Mars with the calculations wrong, with the engineer explaining how he arrived at the wrong calculation—and he would not be fired.
Parents should be able to determine where to send their children to receive the best education. I sent my children to another school district because their school ranked in the bottom one-third. The problem was that the teachers would lower their course for the bottom of the class, and my sons were bored. There was no challenge to keep their minds busy.
The other problem was discipline. The teachers were not allowed to correct unruly children because it would “hurt” the children mentally. Charter schools do not have those problems, because the children can be expelled and the teachers do help the slow learners. —Fred Minook
Meet Your Representatives Face to Face
Dear Daily Signal: It is easy for your readers to make a difference as Margo Brown asked about in her letter, with a little effort (“How Can The Daily Signal’s Audience Make a Difference?”). Here is what I do, and it works.
1. Local government has the biggest effect on your life. Know who your elected representatives are, meet them face to face (they probably live down the street), and talk to them often.
2. Tell your representatives what the problems are in your communities, and suggest solutions. Always follow up on your conversations.
3. Interview, face to face, the candidates for local and state offices where you live. Help the good candidates get elected, even if it is just putting up a yard sign. Once they are elected, meet with them and start solving problems.
4. Join and participate in the local Republican Party. Keep it active and conservative.
5. On the federal level, call the local offices of your senators and representative, and find out when he or she will be in town. Make an appointment to meet face to face. Again, tell them about the problems in your community and state, suggest solutions, and follow up.
I have helped make substantial changes to our community by taking action. You can too. And a side note: It can be a lot of fun. —Phillip Regeski
Now More Than Ever
Dear Daily Signal: The Daily Signal is the difference Margo Brown writes about (“How Can The Daily Signal’s Audience Make a Difference?”). No longer can we allow the TV networks to do damage. They keep the American people from knowing the truth; they try to take the people’s voice away.
Being an American citizen is being involved in knowing the truth. Not knowing the truth makes it impossible to make the right decision.
Now more than ever is a source like The Daily Signal needed. We see your information being put out to the American people paying off. This is what our Founding Fathers had in mind. —Lee Jackson
The Responsible Thing
Dear Daily Signal: Your reporting the news and issues of the day truthfully, with a fair and balanced perspective, is both enlightening and the responsible thing to do.
Reading the articles not only enlightens us, but it’s also the responsible thing for us to do as patriotic citizens. Even if some issues are not particularly to our liking.
The obligation to inform and be informed is inherent in both our positions and our common duty to continue pursuing the truth, no matter its impact on our lives and in spite of any personal biases.
So as long as you live up to your responsibilities, I assure you I will live up to mine. —Jim Wroten
The Freedoms We Lost
Dear Daily Signal: Keep up the commentaries in support of President Donald Trump. A greater number of Americans are beginning to realize the freedoms we lost during the regime of President Barack Obama, and the divisiveness he created while serving as president. —Pierce Smith
How Refreshing
Dear Daily Signal: Just wanted you to know how refreshing it is to see your news before I see my iPhone’s automatic news feeds. Of course, without signing up or requesting it, my iPhone news comes predominantly from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Huffington Post. Keep up the good work. Have a great day. I am because of you. —Carol Pope
A Huge Help
Dear Daily Signal: I love the concise news tidbits and follow-up because I don’t have time to listen to Fox News all day long. You are a huge help to me, and I hope you can keep it up even if I can’t support you financially at this time. You are my main link, and I wouldn’t be able to be half as informed without you. —Linley Conroy
Suggestion for Rush
Dear Daily Signal: I just stumbled across your website. I enjoy what I read. Would you try to get Rush Limbaugh or some other leading broadcaster to promote your site? I will tell my friends, but I live in Maryland, which is very blue. —Elias Boccheciamp
