LETTERS:JEFFERSON'S VISION

To the editor:

In a news release dated Oct. 10, Gov. Mel Carnahan, the head of the Commission on Performance, gave approval for the revised set of performance standards for Missouri public schools. In the article, Carnahan says, "Thomas Jefferson argued for the necessity of statewide standards in free public schooling. Today, I am proud to note the similarities between Jefferson's vision and Missouri's proposed Show Me Standards for Academic Success."

Having just received a copy of the complete standards and having read them, I am afraid that Thomas Jefferson is rolling over in his grave. If you look at the standards for social studies you will noticed that the first standard states, "In social studies, students in Missouri public school will acquire a solid foundation which includes knowledge of principles expressed in the documents shaping constitutional democracy in the United States." What? A constitutional democracy?

Thomas Jefferson made it very clear that this is a republic and not a constitutional democracy. The founders made it clear that they considered a democracy nothing more than a mob-ocracy.

Does the governor of Missouri and the commissioner of education know what kind of government we have?

VERONICA HUNT

West Plains