Fixing the Education System: Children Should Learn More
Letters to the Editor
May 23, 2006
RE: Why Our Schools Don't Work, California Chronicle, May 13, 2006.
Dear Mr. Haynes:
I admire your ability to come forward and admit your faults so freely. Specifically, I am referring to your unashamed admission in your May 19, 2006 article for the California Chronicle that “honestly, I don’t know what transsexuals have done in history…” Highlighting our school’s shortcomings with such a close, personal example is commendable. Therefore, it is a shame that you will be unable to reap the benefits of SB 1437 which requires that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (not transsexual, as you repeatedly incorrectly stated) person’s contributions be taught in our schools.
I do not believe that attacking legislation that requires students to learn more is the most conducive way to fixing the education system. You try to somehow draw an analogy that our schools do not require that students learn about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or any other details about the civil war. To this I have a two-fold response: first, there is no school in California which fails to teach these basic lessons, there is no problem with students lacking in their history of the civil war or knowledge of the first president of this nation. Secondly, if such a time ever did arise when this was a problem, let me assure you Mr. Haynes that I will be the first person writing a letter to you demanding that these lessons be required to be taught in our schools as well. Furthermore, you state, “a great person in history is great regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Mr. Haynes, history is all about context. When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman elected to the U.S. Supreme Court, it was significant not merely because of her brilliant legal mind and contributions to the field, but because as a woman she was a trailblazer, and had to overcome unique adversity as the result of her gender. The same holds true for LGBT people throughout history; their context needs to be understood and not overlooked like it has been historically. While all the other problems you identified are serious and need attention, this does not mean that other issues can be ignored. When your car is being repaired, you absolutely need to fix the engine, but without a working turn signal you are still in bad shape. I believe the answer to the problem is more education, not less, so that our children who will one day become future members of the assembly will not suffer from the same lack of knowledge that you do.
Sincerely,
Shaun Rosenstein
Dear Mr. Haynes:
I admire your ability to come forward and admit your faults so freely. Specifically, I am referring to your unashamed admission in your May 19, 2006 article for the California Chronicle that “honestly, I don’t know what transsexuals have done in history…” Highlighting our school’s shortcomings with such a close, personal example is commendable. Therefore, it is a shame that you will be unable to reap the benefits of SB 1437 which requires that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (not transsexual, as you repeatedly incorrectly stated) person’s contributions be taught in our schools.
I do not believe that attacking legislation that requires students to learn more is the most conducive way to fixing the education system. You try to somehow draw an analogy that our schools do not require that students learn about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or any other details about the civil war. To this I have a two-fold response: first, there is no school in California which fails to teach these basic lessons, there is no problem with students lacking in their history of the civil war or knowledge of the first president of this nation. Secondly, if such a time ever did arise when this was a problem, let me assure you Mr. Haynes that I will be the first person writing a letter to you demanding that these lessons be required to be taught in our schools as well. Furthermore, you state, “a great person in history is great regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Mr. Haynes, history is all about context. When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman elected to the U.S. Supreme Court, it was significant not merely because of her brilliant legal mind and contributions to the field, but because as a woman she was a trailblazer, and had to overcome unique adversity as the result of her gender. The same holds true for LGBT people throughout history; their context needs to be understood and not overlooked like it has been historically. While all the other problems you identified are serious and need attention, this does not mean that other issues can be ignored. When your car is being repaired, you absolutely need to fix the engine, but without a working turn signal you are still in bad shape. I believe the answer to the problem is more education, not less, so that our children who will one day become future members of the assembly will not suffer from the same lack of knowledge that you do.
Sincerely,
Shaun Rosenstein