To the editor:

I went to see Mr. (Kendall) Qualls a few weeks ago (Sept. 30) at the Marshall Country Club. I had a very nice lunch — for free, as promised. I went away impressed that here was a politician who came out to the country in between elections. He reminded me of Norm Coleman, who made a real effort to get involved in rural issues after being Mayor of St. Paul. We have enough of the politicians like the one who, when asked about E-85, responded that it must be a joke or a quiz question.

Maybe it was because I missed the first part of the presentation (I had a class), but I am baffled by all the hostility and negativity I am seeing in multiple letters to the editor. I don’t know much about critical race theory, other than it is a current buzz-word, like the Social Security lock-box, that politicians are using. Apparently, it is only taught in a few graduate classes anyway. I do know enough to teach a few basic social studies classes, although I am mostly an agriculture teacher.

But I do know agriculture and have published in peer-reviewed journals. The strangest comment — I believe it was on the front page of the paper — was that Mr. and Mrs. Qualls’ opinions hadn’t been “peer-reviewed.” Well, if any local farmers are thinking of growing, say, small grains next year, they might indeed want to check with some peer-reviewed research on how much they will really save on fertilizer, etc. Seed suppliers are going to be prejudiced — toward their own product, of course.

But farmers do not need peer-reviewed research to know that if they plant pebbles, whether in wide rows or narrow, whether early in the season or late, whether white pebbles or black pebbles or grey pebbles, they will not get any good crop at all. And being critical of everything, being anti-everything, being negative about everything is not the way to raise a crop of healthy children. I know that as a licensed foster parent to two dozen children here in Lyon and the surrounding counties.

Mr. Qualls may not be using the correct terminology (for a social science Ph.D. to use) but he clearly does want our schools, whether private or public, to give students a positive, optimistic, forward looking outlook in life.

Dr. Stephen Davis

Marshall