Cursive bill is a waste of ink

Gov. Chris Sununu recently signed into law HB 170, the latest assault on New Hampshire public education crafted by the state Commissioner of Education and his reactionary allies in the Legislature.

In their yearning for a return to the halcyon days of the Eisenhower administration our state leaders have mandated that students be taught cursive writing by the fifth grade. I’m surprised they stopped at penmanship. How many high school students know how to use a slide rule? Do any of these kids know how to use a compass and protractor? No one under the age of 50 can make change without an electronic cash register. And when did our schools abandon instruction in the proper use of a buggy whip?

The most outrageous aspect of this ridiculous move is the disrespect shown toward our teachers and administrators who work so hard to prepare our students for life in the 21st century. It’s far more important to develop critical thinking and reasoning skills, to learn how to work effectively in a competitive and diverse economy than to master Palmer method handwriting.

I encourage voters to reach out to our elected and appointed state officials and urge them to redirect their focus to truly important neglected issues like educational adequacy and building aid.

Richard Milius

Lebanon

Richard Milius is a former chair of the Lebanon School Board.

A little spending pain now will prevent more later

To paraphrase the editor of The Economist: Americans like the Republicans’ stance on taxes and they like the Democrats’ stance on spending, but the result is an inevitable huge deficit disaster.

The unwillingness to bear pain in the near term in order to avoid much greater pain further on is apparent in so many ways. We must do better. We can do better by letting our elected officials know how we feel about issues they are now debating.

Vermont’s governor recently vetoed a bill that would decrease the damage we’re doing to the environment, but would cause some increase in our heating bills. We need to feel the pain from burning fossil fuels. There are better ways of helping those who can’t afford the cost than shielding us all from the harm we do. The bill should not have been vetoed.

In Washington, politicians are flirting with disaster by not finding a way to raise our debt ceiling. The shame is the lack of honest policy debate. Republicans need to admit their position on not raising taxes is unsustainable. Democrats need to acknowledge the immense waste in so many government programs caused by antiquated government systems. We must raise taxes and dramatically improve the efficiency and efficacy of government spending.

Whatever your political views, please let your preferred elected officials know you want them to start solving problems even if there’s a near-term cost so we and our children don’t have much bigger problems later on.

David Allen

White River Junction

Selectboard Chairman Christie’s election loss is a loss for Hanover

There are times to celebrate electing new leadership and replacing someone who has held office for 20 years. Tuesday was not one of them in Hanover.

Strong town governments do not happen by accident but instead are the result of a balance between elected officials and town employees. Even more important are the personalities gathered around a table or in a Zoom, and how they get along together. For 20 years Hanover has had a wonderful working relationship between its Selectboard and town manager, and this is due in no small part to the leadership provided by Peter Christie.

From navigating COVID, mentoring a new town manager, running efficient meetings, and joyfully embracing the quirks and demands of a college community, Peter has been a remarkable leader, and that is simply referencing the last three years. Unfortunately, I fear Hanover residents have taken for granted the fact that our town is not in the news because of conflicts with paid employees. We assume that our Selectboard works together efficiently as a matter of course. I invite readers to think back on the way-too-many stories in this paper that involve problems in Norwich, Hartford and Hartland with a revolving door of town managers, selectboard members, fights that erupt in public, disciplinary tensions, and Listserv arguments.

Why has Hanover managed to avoid those tensions? I would suggest it is due to Peter’s leadership as chair of the Selectboard.

If you had been present at Tuesday’s Town Meeting when the vote was announced, you would have heard audible expressions of dismay that Peter was not reelected. I do not want to diminish the election of the two individuals who will become board members, but we lost the institutional memory, the encyclopedic knowledge and the generosity of a wonderful public servant that night. I know I am not alone in grieving this loss.

Deborah H. Bacon Nelson

Hanover

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