It’s the most wonderful time of the the year – the second half of August, when kids going back to school. That means more morning traffic and sometimes getting stuck behind those frequently-stopping big yellow land barges. In California, that also means taxpayer-funded government schools promoting the agenda of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership. The Fremont Union High School District recently sent the above letter to about 10,000 students and their parents. A reader who wishes to remain anonymous had a few questions . . .
* Did the Brady Campaign help fund the photocopying and mailing expenses?
* Is it appropriate for the public school district to be endorsing, let alone promoting, a partisan advocacy group that engages in political lobbying?
* It seems contradictory to propose that they’re “helping keep students safe by keeping guns out of the hands of students.” The only real way to teach gun safety is to have students see and touch a real gun, otherwise your teaching is superficial and based on paranoia.
* With all the misinformation students now get about guns from movies, television shows and videogames, you would think this is one area where the schools and parents could and should correct misinformation by providing a safe environment for real experiential learning. Does this letter further that goal?
* The other papers that were included in the same envelope with this letter were translated into Spanish and Chinese. Why was this letter not translated like those were?
* The other papers that were in the same envelope with this letter were focused on saving resources such as paper and postage expenses. Indeed, the school district explains that other documents are only available online unless the parent requests them in hard copy. Why then spend the resources, paper and postal expenses on this particular notification from the Brady Campaign rather than just posting it online like the other documents?
Any (more) questions?