Forstner gets an apple

I couldn’t agree more with Emily Forstner in her “Chalk Talk” about the importance of history as a cornerstone of public education. One of the biggest lessons in history is that uninformed people are easily manipulated.

Like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson also believed that education should be under the control of the government, free from religious biases, and available to all people irrespective of their status in society. Despite the founding father’s support of public education, in their day only the wealthy could send their children to school. Thankfully, public education today is open to all children thereby creating the type of informed public advocated by our founding fathers.

Of course, once the public is educated, we must then participate, using our knowledge, in order for democracy to work.

We can be proud that our school district has such a thoughtful person as Emily in a leadership position. Her article is an example of the outstanding quality of the educators in our district.

Joe Irvine,

Palmer