As our country faces the upcoming November elections, your columnist John Balentine moves closer and closer to rabid political rhetoric and further away from rational “opinion.” His latest column (Aug. 14, “Rise from you foxholes, teachers”), is a striking example of failed logic, as he accuses our dedicated teachers of hiding in foxholes, at the same time claiming that they are not really “essential” workers. And worse, he opines that “we don’t need education to sustain life,” citing our caveman forerunners who, after all, “… went for eons without learning their 3R’s.” Oh yes, and then he blames teachers’ unions for the reluctance of their members to return to schools in this time of pandemic.

School openings are a careful choice, based on science and statistics. Don’t blame our teachers or our kids. When Balentine was learning his “3R’s” maybe he missed science class? Not to mention lessons in critical and reasoned thinking.