Crisis is not in our classrooms

Eric Sondermann’s column (“Back-to-school in a failing system”) leans on a familiar claim: that public schools are “failing.” It’s a narrative often used to justify privatization, not an honest assessment of what’s happening in classrooms.

Schools reflect the inequities of the communities they serve. The “achievement gap” is, in reality, an opportunity gap, shaped by poverty, housing instability, food insecurity and gaps in health care. No standardized test can erase those barriers. Blaming schools for structural inequality is misplaced.

International comparisons are often cited but rarely explained. When adjusted for poverty, American students in well-resourced schools perform as well as, or better than, their peers abroad. What separates the United States from countries such as Finland or Singapore is not teaching quality but political will. Those nations invest heavily in children’s health and welfare. Colorado, meanwhile, ranks near the bottom in per-pupil funding and teacher pay. The connection between resources and outcomes is plain.

The proposed “solutions”— more testing, more “choice,” merit pay— are not new. They’ve been tried for decades and have failed to deliver. Too often they shift resources from public schools and toward private operators, without improving student success.

Public schools are not failing. They are being asked to do more with less, while bearing the weight of broader inequities. If we care about outcomes, the steps forward are clear: address poverty, fund schools fairly, and protect education as the public good it was meant to be.

The crisis is not in our classrooms. It is in the steady erosion of support for them.

Brandon Clark

Colorado Springs

Relocation and national security

Dear Mr. President, Perhaps overlooked is the fact that most citizens of Colorado and especially Colorado Springs are devout patriots. Thousands of veterans of our Department of Defense reside at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain. Most of us would say moving SPACECOM to Central Park is OK with us provided it strengthens our national security.

But if you must move it, tell us how relocating strengthens our national security, and give the good men and women serving us good reasons to relocate. We have not heard of benefits that outweigh the costs. If there are good reasons, please share those with us so we can support the decision.

Otherwise, let SPACECOM stay where it is because, unless facts conclude otherwise, it’s the best place for it.

Don Addy

Colorado Springs

‘Gold standard’ for elections

Bravo to the Gazette Editorial Board for their opinion piece on Wednesday, regarding the relocation of Space Command to Alabama. Your analysis is spot-on, but you overlooked some recent legislative actions that impact the military and their families.

These legislative actions include numerous Second Amendment restrictions, HB25-1312 the Kelly Loving Act that impacts parental rights, liberal policies on recreational marijuana, and last week’s decision by the county commissioners to approve a new housing development near Schriever SFB, prioritizing the developer’s property rights over national defense.

Is it any wonder why Colorado dropped off the list?

President Donald Trump provided many reasons why Alabama won over Colorado, not just because Colorado uses mail-in ballots.

However, the fact that he began his reasoning this way is telling. He is planning another election integrity executive order that will ban mail-in ballots — a stance he has openly declared and is supported by the 2004 Carter-Baker Commission on US Elections. By including this statement in his news conference, he forced the issue into the media spotlight.

The Colorado secretary of state and the Colorado attorney general’s defense of mail-in ballots as the “gold standard” is a perfect example of gaslighting. We know there are many issues with mail-in ballots and the use of machines to count them. As Tina Peters learned the hard way, pointing out these issues can land you in jail — for nine years.

If we truly had the “gold standard” for elections, why can’t races be counted by hand and compared with the machine count? The secretary of state has made this illegal. Additionally, when conducting a recount, every ballot must be scanned by the same machine that scanned it initially, no hand counting allowed.

If we really had the “gold standard,” it shouldn’t matter which machine is used for the second count, right?

I am anxiously awaiting Trump’s next election integrity executive order.

Nancy Murray

Colorado Springs

A very dangerous time

All the criminal hackers and online scammers have a new toy that is wrecking the internet: AI deep Fake.

People are being professionally ripped off and taken advantage of on Facebook and other social media. Deep Fake AI can duplicate any person’s image and voice.

Do your homework. Believe nothing you see or hear online. It’s a very dangerous time.

Drart Wilmoth

Colorado Springs

Destroying America’s health care

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is destroying health care in America. His brain is compromised from being an IV heroin addict for 14 years. He once cut off the head of a dead whale and strapped it to the top of a SUV. His children said secretions from the whale head were dripping into the vehicle as he drove! He is not a doctor, has zero medical background or training and has no medical degree. He does not believe in the efficacy of vaccines, and real doctors think he is nuts. He admits a worm infected his brain. He canceled mRNA vaccine research and has decimated the Center for Disease Control.

President Donald Trump is now demanding that pharmaceutical companies show proof that vaccines work. Vaccines have worked for decades, saving countless lives in the process. Kennedy is now in charge of America’s health because he made a deal with Trump in exchange for his endorsement.

It is totally shameful that the U.S. Senate approved this man.

John W. Hasle

Woodland Park