Who Needs to Be Told to Focus on the Three Rs?
Mike Bloomberg chastises the wrong party. July 19, 2023 11:12 am ET Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, speaks in Mclean, Va., Feb. 29. Photo: Getty Images I had to roll my eyes at Mike Bloomberg’s line: “Republicans are spending their time trying to remove books from school libraries—in the middle of a literacy crisis” (“Politicians Should Pay for Ignoring America’s Education Crisis,” op-ed, July 14). Republicans don’t want any book banned. They want elementary-school libraries to carry age-appropriate books. No nine-year-old needs to learn about the mechanics of gay sex or about boys wanting to be girls and vice versa. Why some Democrats, or anyone, would want to push this information on young children is beyond me. Such books also have nothing to do with improving literacy. For that, look to charter schools and other forms of competition for the
Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, speaks in Mclean, Va., Feb. 29.
Photo: Getty Images
I had to roll my eyes at Mike Bloomberg’s line: “Republicans are spending their time trying to remove books from school libraries—in the middle of a literacy crisis” (“Politicians Should Pay for Ignoring America’s Education Crisis,” op-ed, July 14). Republicans don’t want any book banned. They want elementary-school libraries to carry age-appropriate books.
No nine-year-old needs to learn about the mechanics of gay sex or about boys wanting to be girls and vice versa. Why some Democrats, or anyone, would want to push this information on young children is beyond me. Such books also have nothing to do with improving literacy. For that, look to charter schools and other forms of competition for the failing public schools.
Alice Bowhay
Pacific Grove, Calif.
It’s amazing to me that Mr. Bloomberg says Republicans “are more focused on Critical Race Theory than the three Rs.” It seems to me that the left is the side pushing for the teaching of CRT rather than spending more time on the three Rs.
Russell W. Hahn
Syosset, N.Y.
Mr. Bloomberg misses how CRT and similar ideologies provide excuses for the failure to teach and learn the basics. Get a wrong answer on a math test? Sure, you could work harder to learn how to get the right answer. Why bother doing that, though, when you can declare that the idea that math problems have a right answer in the first place is an instance of white supremacy? How about when the teacher says that up front?
If we want better results, we shouldn’t waste tax dollars on hateful, radical ideologies that make a mockery of accountability.
David Golub
Mineola, N.Y.
Mr. Bloomberg wrongly focuses on the failures and abilities of politicians and schools to fix the education crisis. My 13-year old has great teachers, plenty of school hours and there are no book burnings. The crisis is with neglectful parents and the broader, value-deficient culture, which validates our mindless addiction to icons and video shorts at the expense of reading and intellectual discipline.
Dave Rosenthal
Stroudsburg, Pa.
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