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Op-Ed: Portrait of a conspiracy damages community

by NANCY HART/Special to The Press
| October 22, 2021 1:00 AM

After witnessing with disgust the blatant lies spread in the Coeur d'Alene school board races, I direct this letter to Allie Anderton, Lesli Bjerke and Glen Campbell who attacked the Portrait of a Graduate (POG) during the School Board Candidate Forum.

You are severely uninformed and/or new to our community. There are several things you should know about the POG the rest of our engaged community already knows.

POG was birthed from numerous community forums convened over the course of more than a year. In these forums, a wide variety of community stakeholders shared their vision and hopes for the skills our students would hold before pursuing their post-secondary aspirations.

Each of the six attributes that are named in POG are what we, as a community, envision a well-rounded, educated person will need to be successful in tomorrow’s workforce. They are not, as you claim, words with secondary meanings or hidden innuendos. They are, simply, what we, as a community, want our students to be when they graduate.

As one contributor to these community forums and conversations, I will defend the POG against your ill-informed and distorted attacks. The hundreds of other community members who contributed in the community forums will also support it.

One question remains to be answered — where were you when these community forums were convened? Hiding under a rock? Living out of the area? Not caring?

We are a respectful community of engaged citizens who are supportive of POG because we defined it so our public education system will graduate college- and career-ready, thoughtful and contributing students.

I’m a native north Idahoan of nearly 50 years. I chose to raise my children in this town because of its heart and beauty. I’m an invested volunteer in our schools and community public education advocate.

The soul of our kind, respectful community has diminished. Kootenai County has been hijacked by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee and its legion of closed-minded, uninformed followers. That is evident in the many races for public office this November. Since when is a school board race political? It should only be about educating our children and supporting our teachers.

The KCRCC continues to spread lies that disrespect our public education system, valued teachers and students. I urge voters to be informed this election. Do your research. Talk to your teachers. It is more critical now than it’s ever been. The future of our kids, teachers and beloved community depends on it.

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Nancy Hart is a Coeur d'Alene resident.