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EDUCATION: A little illumination

| October 17, 2021 1:00 AM

In a recent interview in the Coeur d’Alene Press, Brent Regan brought up Article 9 Section 1. It was nice to see that he has cracked open the State Constitution but he argued our schools don’t teach for the stability of a republican form of government.

Now for clarification for anyone who might misinterpret, a republican (smaller) form of government doesn’t equate to the Republican (big R) Party. A republican form of government is a government where the power is held by the people and their elected representatives. This is the form of government we have in the U.S.

I don’t think the intention was that we need to teach the Republican Party Ideology in school but he framed it in a way that leaves the reader to possibly make that logic leap. If you take a look at the Idaho Standards, you’ll find we put a great emphasis on teaching about our form of government in our school curriculum, but what we teach is not the real intent of Article 9 Section 1.

The point of Article 9 Section 1 is our Legislature has a duty to “establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” The initial statement tells us why we need a high-quality free public education, so Idahoans can think critically and society benefits from an intelligent population. It illustrates the importance of education and that we as Idahoans understand the need to invest in our children.

CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS

Post Falls