This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Re columnist Paul Rolly's "Buttars' ignorance of schools should strike fear" (Tribune, Jan. 26):
Last week, Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, pronounced that the entire Granite School Board were members of the Utah Education Association and had a "socialist agenda." The truth is, I am the only board member who is currently a teacher and UEA member.
I'm not sure what a socialist agenda is, but I do know this: I've never met Buttars or had a conversation with him. I've never seen him at a school board meeting, where he could observe firsthand what I and my other supposed partners-in-socialist-crime are doing to see that our children receive a high-quality education to prepare them to be successful, productive adults.
It is truly baffling that this kind of inflammatory rhetoric from Buttars is countenanced continually by his peers and the public. It is an outrageous disservice to thoughtful debate about real issues in education, such as unmanageable class sizes, poor teacher compensation, abysmal per-pupil spending and intractable minority achievement gaps.
If Buttars really believes that his proposed amendment to Utah's Constitution to assert greater centralized government control over education by the Legislature is the answer, who is the real socialist?
Connie Anderson
South Salt Lake