Tom Horn says he will stick to voter-approved initiatives when it comes to bilingual programs, possibly with the approval of Republican state legislators.
These Republicans are the same people who defied the will of the people when it came to denying universal school vouchers.
Anne Adams, Payson
Children don’t study Lincoln?wrong
Matt Byenberg of the Goldwater Institute says in a guest column that he falsely denounces Arizona’s educational standards (“The Standards Are Wrong: Arizona Third Graders Must Learn About Latinos, But Not Lincoln,” Opinion, July 14).
He wrote that although the standard mandates teaching the term “Latin,” “learning about Lincoln is treated as an optional luxury.”
Not perfect.
In fact, if you read the actual criteria he refers to, you’ll find that “choice” is about Lincoln’s and Douglas’ differences regarding slavery.
There is no mention of Lincoln’s work in the Civil War, which Beyenburg wants readers to believe as an option. You might ask him if he can’t study the Civil War without addressing its most important figures.
Thus, the impetus behind his column appears to be less about providing clarity to readers and more about promoting culture wars.
Mike McClellan, Gilbert
Blame Lawmakers, Not Saudis
Phil Boas’ opinion piece aptly points out that our Governor and Attorney General’s criticism of the Arizona Land Department’s land lease to a Saudi company farming alfalfa in La Paz County is off the mark.
A real problem in rural Arizona is the lack of water management tools to 1) quantify available water resources and uses and 2) manage those uses in an economically productive manner.
Much of the responsibility lies with the Arizona Legislature. For years, legislators opposed measuring groundwater, even though groundwater is the only available source in rural Arizona.
But the answer to this problem is not to let the administration pick individual winners and losers for Arizona’s water supply.
Another way of looking at it:Why Saudi Companies Still Use Water
Instead, the administration and Congress should develop common-sense policies, laws, and regulations to protect rural Arizona from depletion of water supplies.
These regulations should also support the economic value associated with the sustainable and beneficial use of those supplies.
Perry Benemeris, Mesa
Don’t waste water on low-value crops
I didn’t know that Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Chris Mays discovered Saudi Arabia.
Or that they are trying to destroy international trade.
I’m sure the current national leader knew long before he took office about the sweet deal with Saudi Arabia to pump unlimited groundwater from Arizona for alfalfa cultivation (illegal in the oil kingdom).
Much of the information on this subject has been unearthed by years of research by reporters in the Republic of Arizona.
About 70% of Arizona’s water is used for agriculture. And more than half of it goes to low-value crops that feed animals and cotton that is not edible.
Cutting it for Saudi and American agribusiness would easily quench the thirst of 99% of Arizonans who are neither farmers nor ranchers, while leaving plenty of water for growing lettuce and microchips.
Besides the big cities of Phoenix and Tucson, most Arizonans live in cities like Kingman, Prescott, and Bisbee, even in rural counties.
It may be particularly irritating to sell irreplaceable water to most of the 9/11 terrorist homes in exchange for songs, but neither should it be wasted on American corporations.
Andrew March, Phoenix
Saudi should build us a desalination plant
Where are you when you need Monty Hall?
Let’s trade!
If Saudi Arabia wants to use our water, why not build a desalination plant? After all, Saudis have more money than they know how to spend.
Alain Letourneau, Mesa
Charlie Kirk is a scared and jealous bully
E.J. Montini has done a masterful job exposing Charlie Kirk’s ugliness and the inappropriate reception of him and his message by Trump and MAGA trumpeters.
I bit the gag when he exposed Kirk’s blatant racist attacks on four very good black women.
Montini rightly pointed out Kirk’s intellectual inferiority, but that’s not the only one. Kirk is the archetypal timid, jealous bully who projects that feeling onto anyone who threatens him.
Black women are easy targets for Kirk. Because he truly believes Kirk should have all the power and privileges of being a white man.
All four of the women he attacked graduated from Harvard or Yale. Little Charlie was from a wealthy white suburb of western Chicago and attended Harper College.
This school is an affordable two-year school, and many students I know took cheaper credits before going to a state university. Charlie didn’t even finish a two-year college and dropped out.
So when young Charlie dropped out, these women (Michelle Obama, Joy Reid, Sheila Jackson Lee, Ketanji Brown Jackson) were intent on building a career and a family. Charlie is unable to light a dim candle on them.
Dan Peel, Scottsdale
Investigate Biden, not just Trump
The pathology of our two-tiered justice system is graphically displayed in real time as discrete but related events.
While the FBI and other Justice Department agencies are thwarting the investigation and prosecution of Hunter and Joe Biden in the face of mounting evidence, both local and federal Democratic-leaning agencies are vigorously pursuing and attacking Trump on extremely thin grounds.
The public is largely unaware of this, thanks to the combined efforts of Democrats and the biased media, but more facts are coming to light and the tide is beginning to turn.
Dennis Santilo, Cornville
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