To the editor:

I feel Betsy DeVos should be good for our educational system. I am responding to a previous letter about schools available to New Ulm students, and a statement made that New Ulm is a homogenous and fairly affluent community. Unless you haven’t been paying attention over the last few years, you should have noticed that New Ulm has become quite more diverse than just being an old German town as it was when my family moved here in 1957.

We also have many citizens on fixed incomes and low paying jobs who are just trying to make ends meet. We are lucky inasmuch as there are several school options available in our area, so when bullying occurs, instead of being destroyed, a student has the ability to transfer to a different school where they can flourish. I know of several instances of this happening, so you can’t say “we don’t have that problem here,” unless you are one of those with blinders on. Then why shouldn’t that same school choice become available to other communities around the United States instead of forcing the students to remain in a hostile, dangerous environment in which they most likely would and do resort to suicide, become a casualty of ever increasing gang membership, crime and drugs.

Part of this also hinges on the fact that so many on the Left are intolerant of religion, faith, hope and morals now so that students are afraid of ridicule if they profess to have Jesus in their life and this definitely needs to change! It’s an infringement on people’s rights of free speech and freedom of religion. We can’t remain in the same old rut wherein the Democrats keep saying everything’s good and they refuse to acknowledge the problems in our nation. This is what cost them the election and they can’t seem to comprehend that. Unfortunately, that ignorance is perilous to us the forgotten Americans, and especially our children.

One clarification here, I have nothing against Germans, in fact that’s my heritage, but I define myself as a Christian and an American. I’m tired of all the different labels being used nowadays. Agreed, we are each an individual entity, but we are just people and we all have the same breath of life from the Almighty Creator.

Bonnie Howk

New Ulm