Tolerance, Diversity in Newport-Mesa Schools
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In her letter to The Times (Nov. 19), Bonnie O’Neil still holds some misconceptions about Newport-Mesa schools which apparently even the landslide defeat of Nov. 7 did not dispel.
First, the public schools do not belong to any one group, not even the parents who send their children there. They were established and are paid for by the entire community and must reflect the full diversity of our communities.
Second, the public schools do not exist as a third prong of indoctrination to supplement home and church. They have a much larger and more important purpose of preparing children to live successfully in a diverse world. If this purpose is not exactly to subvert narrow and bigoted home and religious teaching, it is at least to challenge it.
And one final point. If people like me, who have no children in the schools and who pay little attention to school politics, are to be drawn into the fray, as we were in Newport-Mesa, you can bet we won’t be voting to turn control of the schools over to the likes of Mrs. O’Neil.
TOM CHAMBERS
Huntington Beach
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