Reading the signs

Really? Did you know that was the new goal of education, to forgo the teaching of facts and instead to be teaching your child what values they ought to have? The only value I ever wanted my kids learning in school was the value of 2 times 3 or some similar equation. Otherwise, the teaching of values were to come from home.

Where does this idea for a new concept in education come from and, along with it, the values to be taught? That’s easy to find out. Simply research “Education for Sustainable Development” or “Preparation for Global Citizenship” and you’ll be well on your way to finding out.

If this concerns you and you haven’t voted yet, you may want to quiz your school board candidates on what they know of this agenda being fomented locally through global organizations like UNESCO.

In the neighboring community where I live, one of the candidate’s signs has this statement printed along the top edge: “Parents know their children better than anyone else.” The message hints at the candidate not falling for these new concepts coming down to our schools from on high.

A final thought on this topic to emphasize its importance is via a quote by President Abraham Lincoln: “The philosophy of the school in one generation will become the philosophy of the government in the next.” Since the agenda I’ve highlighted was formulated decades ago, it may be a clue to why we are seeing the kind of government we are seeing today.

On another subject, I recently made a trip to Southern California and back. On my return, I drove Interstate 5 nearly the entire way. Two things stood out to me as I traversed through the Central Valley. The plethora of very large signs standing in farmers’ fields and the state of the fields themselves.

The signs I noticed all had the same message, though some were worded differently than others. An example is a sign which read, “Governor Newsom, stop wasting our dam water and killing our jobs.” The farmers, (and I will add, the ranchers as well), are mad as hell at Gov. Newsom and the politicians in Sacramento. Combined, they seem to have a deaf ear to the plight of the Central Valley. While business and housing development have expanded in the state year after year, putting more and more demand on water, farmers and ranchers have been allotted less and less.

The result of this policy can be seen on I-5. All along the route, one can see acres and acres of dormant fields where crops once grew. One of the most sad scenes I saw was an entire orchard of dead trees.

One might argue the drought California has been experiencing is the reason for current conditions in the Central Valley. But one of the signs put it differently. It admitted to there being a drought — but labeled it a man-made drought.

To a great extent, there is truth to the definition of the drought being “man-made” because in dry years or wet, billions of gallons of water flow out to sea unabated. All it takes is a quick study of California’s geography to understand that every tributary and river west of the Sierras drains into the San Francisco Bay and flushes out to the ocean under the Golden Gate Bridge. The question the farmers and ranchers ask is simple: Why not use the resource before letting it go? And to use it, why does the state not build more dams, something it has not done in decades, despite the promise to do so when Proposition 1 was put to voters in 2014. The proposition passed but no new reservoirs have been built.

Yes, the farmers and ranchers in the Central Valley are mad and have every right to be. Sacramento is literally killing their industry. You may be mad as well when prices go up even more on produce and what you see in the store is shipped in from out of state.

A former member of the San Carlos City Council and mayor, Matt Grocott has been involved in political policy on the Peninsula for 17 years. He can be reached by email at mattgrocott@comcast.net.