Elise Patkotak's "Legislators don't bother tackling our real issues" (Comment, March 13) is fertile with liberal rant and misinterpretations, one of which is another reference to "separation of church and state," a meaningless phrase if you read and understand the First Amendment. The intent here is obviously meant to forbid public funds going to religious schools. Tell me the difference between a parent home-schooling their child, using public funds as allowed, and sending their kid to a religious school. What if the home-schooling parent is providing religious instruction in conjunction with academics? This is public money and our children, not a jobs program for teachers and administrators. The other phrase, "thou shalt not kill," if properly interpreted, is "thou shalt not murder." If the former were true we might as well not have a military, or police, for that matter.
William Ahrens
Eagle River