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My Point of View by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

Our Republican representatives are waging attacks on public education, which is a cornerstone of our country’s efforts to cultivate engaged citizens, keep people healthy and safeguard democracy.

One of state Sen. Gene Dornink’s key positions is support for “education savings accounts” that would siphon state money away from public schools to private schools, deliberately jackhammering the foundations of local institutions central to the civic life and social fabric of our rural communities.

If people want to finance private education for their children themselves, that’s their choice, but don’t attack public education. Public schools serve everyone, while private schools get to pick and choose who enrolls. Because of this, public funds should not be going where the public does not have oversight.

Our state Rep. Peggy Bennett thinks that teaching students accurate, age-appropriate and comprehensive information in sex education is a “Trojan Horse…grooming them for sex.” Democrats’ legislation for comprehensive sex education is boring compared to the sex panic Rep. Bennett is leading, but the former will achieve better public health outcomes.

Our congressman Jim Hagedorn, a product of Virginia’s education system, continues to make outlandish statements against teaching the truth about U.S. history. He seems to take it as a personal attack when children are taught that minorities and women were legally discriminated against for nearly two full centuries of our country’s existence.

Last month, Rep. Hagedorn voted against removing the statues of several slavery promoters and Confederate seditionists from places of honor in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. That may seem strange for a Minnesota congressperson, but perhaps Virginia’s school system indoctrinated him to revere people who chose the wrong side of history.

I cannot express the love people have for America despite its complicated history better than Anne Applebaum does in an essay in the Atlantic. “You can be inspired by the Declaration of Independence, horrified by the expulsions of Native Americans, amazed by the energy of immigrants and frontier settlers. You can understand that the United States is a great and unique country whose values are worth defending — and realize simultaneously that this same country has made terrible mistakes and carried out horrific crimes. Is it so difficult to hold all of these disparate ideas in your head at the same time?”

To Jim Hagedorn, though, grappling with America’s painful chapters is “un-American.” He apparently wants our children to learn a mythologized version of history, probably the same one he learned in Virginia, that doesn’t make him feel uncomfortable and doesn’t challenge the white supremacist status quo that lasted so long and still echoes today.

Attacking public education is part of a larger war on science, truth and ultimately democracy.

KARE-11 reported last week what I’ve been saying for months — Gov. Walz’s COVID measures protected Minnesota lives, and he outperformed Republican governors in surrounding states. Following science, despite opposition from Republicans like Rep. Bennett and Sen. Dornink, saved lives.

Fox News is still putting people’s lives at risk by continuing to disparage the safety of COVID vaccines and suggesting sinister motivations behind public health efforts to vaccinate more people.

Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corp., stated in March that Fox News would be the “loyal opposition” to the Biden administration. What exactly is Fox News loyal to in this situation? COVID? Its profit margins?

The evidence points strongly in the opposite direction of Fox News’s distortions. The AP reported on June 29 that “only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.”

Not getting vaccinated allows COVID to spread and mutate. The CDC reports that only 46% of people are fully vaccinated in Freeborn County. This is significantly lower than the state’s overall rate of 53%, which is also too low. The pandemic is not over yet; Missouri is experiencing a new wave of COVID cases, almost all of which are the delta variant.

Please get vaccinated right away if you haven’t already done so. It’s a rural value to look out for each other.

Our Democratic U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are working every day to protect voting rights, get dark money out of politics and promote life-saving science. They are defending democracy and the lives of average citizens. Public servants like these women and Gov. Walz are making our future brighter.

To be thoughtful, engaged citizens and future leaders, our kids need to learn history that challenges them to think critically and helps them make informed decisions. They also need to learn science and reason not skewed by indoctrination, religious or otherwise.

This education is the basis for truly cherishing and defending a country that, despite its deep flaws, is still pursuing the Enlightenment ideals it was founded upon.

Jennife Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.