Dear Editor:
At the recent Board of Education candidate’s forum, one candidate, Andrew Choffo, stood out from the others by expressing what I consider out-of-date and extreme views. He expressed outdated opinions that our children can be protected and prepared for life by restricting knowledge in the library and in the classroom. Rejecting or banning books is useless when the forbidden “fruits” hang from every nearby Apple. Perhaps he imagines his position on student diversity can be achieved by simply co-occupying classroom space. With 46% of the district’s students Asian, 14.4% Hispanic, and 3.2% Black/African American, diversity is all around us and should be embraced and reflected in the library as well as the classroom.
Also, his “Moms For Liberty” endorsement is from a group that feels that the State has taken away or soon will take away parental rights. First of all, no one has taken away your rights. And let’s be clear— “Parental Rights” is their catchphrase for the will of a few who seek to impose their minority values by restricting exposure to ideas and open discussions on age-appropriate sex education, racism, individual student rights, etc. Parents and teachers are partners in helping our children to understand the world they face. We cannot turn our rights and moral responsibility over to an overreaching Board or someone else’s “Mom”.
Next consider Mr. Choffo’s remarkable statistic in his review of non-curriculum, free choice library books which he found “…99% progressive…” and all containing what he called “…anti-white, anti-police, anti-American…” subject matter. For a brief moment, we glimpsed a different side of Andrew Choffo. I find these prejudices to be ugly and frightening.
Please watch the forum on YouTube. Consider the lock-step agenda of the entire Choffo ticket (Choffo, Raia, Ferise). I urge you to vote for open-minded Candidates 4, 5, and 6 (Alison Cogan, Kendra Von Achen, and Michelle Shappell).
Paul Giovanelli
