Letters to the editor

Parents, not outsiders

Your article “Montgomery parents seek more say on sex education” (Metropolitan, Sunday) ends with a disturbing comment by the only Republican on the board: that the new curriculum will be constructed “within the professional component of the system, instead of as a negotiation between outside groups.”

The parents who are members of the Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum (CRC) should be outraged to be classified as one of the “outside groups.” The resolution from the county Board of Education states that the school system will “retain the sole right and responsibility for determining the content of all curriculum.” Didn’t the board hear the successful “we demand to be heard” cry the first time around? Are not parents part of the school system?

The CRC should be so concerned that their long-term solution should be to change the “lone Republican” on the school board to ensure that “outside groups” are continually represented with the proud title of “parent.”

BILL NETHERLAND

Severna Park, Md.

Reject CAFTA

The latest editorial in support of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (“Approve CAFTA,” Friday), reads more like an appeal for expanding our foreign aid to the region than approving a trade deal.

Citing the long history of events and Central American turmoil dating back to the 1950s, The Washington Times argues that Congress should approve CAFTA “to help solidify the fragile foundations of democracy and the rule of law.” No doubt this is a noble cause, but why should American businesses, most notably the sugar industry, have to face extinction to accomplish it?

CAFTA should be rejected on the basis that it will hurt our domestic sugar industry and add to our enormous trade deficit. We are already sending more than $900 million of foreign aid to Latin America and the Caribbean. If more is needed, then this administration should reorder its foreign-aid spending priorities. But to enact another free trade deal that will be a drag on our domestic economy is simply the wrong solution. CAFTA should be rejected.

RICHARD W. RESSLER

North Olmsted, Ohio

Story Continues →