Letter to the Editor of the Loomis News
This weekend I received an anonymous mass mailed letter that was titled "Loomis Charter School...The Rest of the Story...." that seemed to mostly be trying to get Loomis residents to be fearful and reactionary towards an International Baccalaureate (IB) Charter School.
I submitted the following to Letter to the Editor of the Loomis News because of this letter:
I do not wish upon anyone that they should live their life in fear. And it would seem that the person who wrote the mass mailing I received on February 9, which attempts to scare us about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Charter School in Loomis, is fearful of having the community know who they are, because they didn't put any return address information or signature on their letter. (Although they do go out of their way to put the Superintendent's contact information.) While I feel compassion for them and the fear they appear to have, I am angered by the fact that they are trying to spread this same ignorant fear to others.
While there are potentially some good arguments for why someone might not want their child to go to the International Baccalaureate Charter School, these should be brought up in an open and honest discussion. The letter that was mailed to all of us in Loomis contains mostly fear-tactics. Using language like "Marxist, anti-Christian, un-American" is far too reminiscent of McCarthyism. Further, such language does not attempt to truly help people make decisions based upon good judgment with accurate information, but instead attempts to coerce people into being reactionary because of fear, hatred, ignorance and over-simplified thinking.
We must stand up against any fear-tactics used to try to coerce us into reactionary decision making. We have the right to know who sent this mass mailing. We should seek to understand what having an International Baccalaureate Charter School means, and see what the actual pros and cons are. I personally believe in having more options, and charter schools provide such options. I do not see how having the IB Charter School could hurt us.
Loomis Schools have a reputation for excellence. I went through Middle School at Loomis and Placer Elementary and High School at Del Oro, and I truly believe I got an excellent education. My education wasn't "liberal" or "conservative", it wasn't "Christian" or "Anti-Christian", it was an education that focused on teaching accurate information, and that should be the focus of any school. I doubt this has changed, and I doubt that the IB program would be any different in this regard.
I submitted the following to Letter to the Editor of the Loomis News because of this letter:
I do not wish upon anyone that they should live their life in fear. And it would seem that the person who wrote the mass mailing I received on February 9, which attempts to scare us about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Charter School in Loomis, is fearful of having the community know who they are, because they didn't put any return address information or signature on their letter. (Although they do go out of their way to put the Superintendent's contact information.) While I feel compassion for them and the fear they appear to have, I am angered by the fact that they are trying to spread this same ignorant fear to others.
While there are potentially some good arguments for why someone might not want their child to go to the International Baccalaureate Charter School, these should be brought up in an open and honest discussion. The letter that was mailed to all of us in Loomis contains mostly fear-tactics. Using language like "Marxist, anti-Christian, un-American" is far too reminiscent of McCarthyism. Further, such language does not attempt to truly help people make decisions based upon good judgment with accurate information, but instead attempts to coerce people into being reactionary because of fear, hatred, ignorance and over-simplified thinking.
We must stand up against any fear-tactics used to try to coerce us into reactionary decision making. We have the right to know who sent this mass mailing. We should seek to understand what having an International Baccalaureate Charter School means, and see what the actual pros and cons are. I personally believe in having more options, and charter schools provide such options. I do not see how having the IB Charter School could hurt us.
Loomis Schools have a reputation for excellence. I went through Middle School at Loomis and Placer Elementary and High School at Del Oro, and I truly believe I got an excellent education. My education wasn't "liberal" or "conservative", it wasn't "Christian" or "Anti-Christian", it was an education that focused on teaching accurate information, and that should be the focus of any school. I doubt this has changed, and I doubt that the IB program would be any different in this regard.