Utah State Board of Education member Natalie Cline reminds me of Don Quixote, the hero of the literary genius Miguel de Cervantes. Written in early 1600, the novel could not be more applicable today. The humor in the book is in the absurdity of Don Quixote’s beliefs. Don Quixote goes after windmills which he believes are ferocious giants.
Natalie Cline’s belief that schools and teachers are groomers and pedophiles is equally absurd, but sadly a lot more frightening.
Similarly to Don Quixote, Natalie Cline has one official sidekick. Her Sancho Panza is Monica Wilbur, a parent ready to invent dangers out of thin air and help her intellectually formulate them to the public.
Don Quixote ignored real dangers while pursuing imaginary ones. So it is with Cline. When given a chance to actually champion the fight against true child abuse (statistically known to be committed by family members rather than school personnel), she stays mum. When given an opportunity to fight against bullying, she sides with the perpetrators and not the victims.
In the end, Cervantes’ book offers a poignant description of mental illness, and in that, there is little humor.
Let’s focus on the real problems. Public education needs strong proponents, willing to take on real challenges of the interrupted learning due to Covid and work to give all students the opportunity to succeed.
In the meantime, I wish Cline well. I urge her to enjoy good summer literature (real books please!) and take a much-needed break from social media.
France Barral, Millcreek