Utah values continue to be illustrated in response to the current pandemic. Not the values that Gov. Gary Herbert fantasizes about, but the actual values as demonstrated. The Salt Lake Tribune recently highlighted two examples.
First, a group of parents filed a lawsuit against the Salt Lake City School District to ask a court to order in-person schooling. I haven’t seen the lawsuit, but from the context it appears the demand is made for all schools and all grades.
Filing that lawsuit was selfish and displayed a lack of consideration for other parents, the teachers, staff members and the community. It is also remarkably clueless given the inexorable spread of the virus in our communities.
I don’t trust these parents to make public health decisions for our community, but they want to impose their selfish desires on the rest of us. They think they know better than the school district and public health officials how to keep the community safe.
It’s a shocking display of hubris. It is hard, hard on all 7 billion people on the planet. But somehow these parents’ needs are preeminent. SLCSD is the only entity that I know to actually make decisions based on public health guidelines and its own metrics. Our pandemic response is the worst in the world because literally every other entity ignored its metrics and health policy in the desperate need for normalcy.
Not to be outdone, the Utah Legislature displayed its values of cruelty and retribution by penalizing teachers in the district by withholding bonuses awarded to all other teachers. The district didn’t toe the Republican line to reopen no matter the costs. So of course, the Legislature wants to punish the most vulnerable: The teachers who did not make the decision and are working tirelessly.
William Gray, Salt Lake City
