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The governor and the teachers union closed our public schools during COVID. "Follow the science," they said. Well, very early on, the science told us that children were not at serious risk of dying or getting seriously ill from COVID. European countries opened their schools in 2020. Very few children died or got seriously ill, schools did not become centers of transmission, and teachers faced no greater odds of getting COVID than anyone else. That's the science.

By closing our schools we hurt the most vulnerable of our students. The reading performance of African American students in closed Minneapolis Public Schools declined over 20%, from an already dismal 24% proficiency to a 18.8% proficiency, more than five full percentage points. Math was far worse. The percentage proficient in math went from a dismal 18.1% to 9.3%, a decline of about half!

The governor and the teachers union were wrong, terribly wrong, and these children have paid the price. They should be held accountable for this disaster.

Gregory J. Pulles, Edina

I want to sincerely thank Park Board Commissioner Becka Thompson for her obstructionist approach ("Plowing ahead with Hiawatha Golf Course plan is not the answer," Opinion Exchange, July 20). I enjoy playing golf at Hiawatha and want to continue playing 18 holes. She is against the current proposed plan that took years of planning and input and millions of dollars, and she has no workable alternative to offer. She is the perfect fit for our dysfunctional Park Board that can't seem to make up its mind. Sure, it is inevitable that a big rain will again flood the course and cause its closure for two or three years. But I enjoy hitting that little white ball around so much that I'll take my chances.

Dennis West, Minneapolis

The title of City Council Member Robin Wonsley's opinion piece says it all: "The movement was right about public safety all along" (Opinion Exchange, July 15). Since being elected to the council for my district, Wonsley has honed her rhetorical weapons of strident and divisive shaming-blaming to a sharp edge. The essay succeeds in polishing her own credentials as a militant, visionary activist, highlighting her portfolio with a special report from Harvard University, supposedly confirming her own long-held positions on policing and community public safety. The good guys are the "working-class communities" led by their intrepid community organizers; the bad guys are the corrupt "establishment" running City Hall.

I feel I understand, in my limited way, both the liberating, positive impact of organized community activism as well as some of its familiar pitfalls, since I come out of an organizing background myself. I hold an M.A. in community organization, and worked for many years as a VISTA volunteer in Providence, R.I., in the late '70s and '80s. I was closely involved on a grassroots level with many state and municipal issues of that place and time. One of the pitfalls of organizing is a kind of professional arrogance. The organizer-activists, by their own personal sacrifices, become (in their own minds) more righteous and more informed than both those ordinary, static, bourgeois, passive folks they organize and those inimical powers-that-be against whom they charge into political battle.

It is such a frame of mind that I see generating Wonsley's rhetoric. The goal is to achieve something "beyond policing," with its implied denigration of policing itself. The righteous "working-class community" will fight hard against the unrighteous "establishment." She downplays the fact that the majority of Minneapolis voters clearly rejected the proposals of the "defund" faction at the council and re-elected Mayor Jacob Frey based on his promises to work for comprehensive reform.

We need less rhetorical flair, demagoguery and political self-aggrandizement from our city officials. We need less of the blame game and a lot more honest (and humble) cooperation.

Henry Gould, Minneapolis

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Judge Paul Magnuson called Thomas Lane's offense in cooperating in the murder of George Floyd as a "very serious offense" and then went on to call him a person of "outstanding character" ("Lane given 2-plus years in Floyd case," July 22). Outstanding compared to whom? Those who haven't participated in murder while violating the public trust? One should be judged by their actions, not by a stack of 145 letters, and based on Judge Magnuson's actions with his ruling, he is a person of very, very poor character who has no business being a judge.

At the heart of the sickness of police brutality in this country is officers' unwillingness to intervene in the inappropriate and criminal behavior of fellow officers, much like a fraternity or a street gang. Lane showed all too well that protecting his police fraternity was more important than protecting the life of a human being he was participating in murdering while restraining with his superior officer, Derek Chauvin.

As long as judges like Magnuson continue to serve the bench, and institutions such as the Minneapolis police union continue to exist, police will continue to brutalize and kill the public with little to no accountability.

Gregory Lassow, Blaine

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Today, the people we rely on to protect our communities — police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel — are leaving the profession in record numbers. This is especially acute among law enforcement officers who are leaving through duty disability retirements for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But that doesn't have to be the case. I want everyone to know that post-traumatic stress is treatable and that there are resources available for anyone struggling.

As a law enforcement officer for more than 23 years and a licensed therapist, I've seen firsthand how daily interactions on the job impact my colleagues and my clients, and the repercussions that untreated stress and trauma brings to their families and communities. But post-traumatic stress doesn't have to be career-ending. In fact, with proven therapies and support, many people can continue serving in this meaningful career.

Post-traumatic stress is no different from a physical injury. In many cases, it's possible to address symptoms before they develop into a debilitating condition. We must provide early education to recognize these signs and training to develop healthy coping and stress relieving strategies.

We also need our public safety community to realize that asking for help is a sign of strength, not a weakness. And when they ask for support, we can't let their struggle and willingness to get treatment end their service.

As a community, we need to support education, prevention strategies and funding for first responder mental health treatment because we are losing too many valuable people to an illness that is treatable.

And to anyone who is struggling: There is hope. PTSD is treatable. Reach out for the support you need to heal.

Scott Marks, Minnetonka

The writer currently serves as a patrol sergeant for the Minnetonka Police Department.

I'm not sure why Matt Birk feels compelled to speak out regarding abortion/women's reproduction rights or, for that matter, rape! ("Birk stands by his abortion comments," July 21.) The reason I struggle with this is that he's never suffered through monthly menstruation cycles, never felt the loss of a miscarriage nor the devastation of a stillborn as a woman does, likely never been sexually assaulted, never dealt with menopause, never felt insecure about his job because he was pregnant, never been responsible for one more mouth to feed because his partner walked out. You see, women are inextricably linked to reproduction in a way a man never will be, so for a man to flaunt that he's "done over 200 pro-life events" is the height of ignorance born of arrogance.

Guys, let's support our partners on this issue, wherever they stand, and whenever they are experiencing one of those events that we never will, let's tell them that we love them and humbly and compassionately admit that we have no idea what this must be like for them.

Garth Gideon, Clear Lake, Minn.