The Times Herald-Record's editorial on March 10th criticized the school board minority for their questioning of Dr Eastwood, and accused them of conducting an ongoing "inquisition" of the superintendent. The board members were performing their state mandated function as "watchdogs" for the school district, but paradoxically, the Record deduced that by questioning the superintendent they are hurting the students. In an earlier editorial, the Record chastised the board minority for their dissent in light of the "significant progress" the district has made. As can be seen in their articles, the newspaper has been consistently one-sided and biased in their reporting. The Record's editors appear to have allowed their paper to be used willingly as a public relations tool by Dr. Eastwood. The Record's view on dissent is not only wrong and harmful, but more typical of news media found in repressive totalitarian regimes. Their view of dissent is inconsistent with our American values. In our country, we support open and free public discourse.
At the March 4th Middletown School Board meeting, Mr. Geiger, board president, disallowed a nonresident from addressing the board, and Dr. Eastwood had him taken away in handcuffs. Rather than focus on these basic violations of constitutional rights in the March 10th editorial, The Record twisted its discussion around to a condemnation of the board minority. The Record's weak support for the freedom of speech is appalling, and its opposition to dissent is echoed by Dr. Eastwood, the current board majority, and some members of the public. These individuals fail to recognize that they are the ones harming the students. They are teaching students that dissent is wrong, and that dissenters can expect public condemnation, derision, and repression for questioning authority or expressing a different point of view. Their lesson turns education into indoctrination. They ignore or are unaware of the "market place of ideas" concept, in which all speech is tolerated with the belief that in an open debate, the better ideas will prevail. Dissent does not harm students, but public repression of dissent does.
