In response to those who believe attending private school is a burden to the state, I would like to comment that I have paid for a total of 54 years of private education. In addition to that, I paid taxes of which over 50 percent went to the school budget. I admit over the years we did occasionally use some school facilities — the pools, outdoor tracks. On the other hand, the school did not have to pay a teacher salary and benefits, provide transportation, clean up after my children, repair facilities that they abused.
I have not had children in the school system for over 12 years but I still pay taxes to support public schools. The church school my children attended opened their facilities to the public, hosted many athletic events, voter polling, recovery programs that the state does not have to pay for and opened their facility for public figure funerals.
Yes they do have tax exempt status — guess they could pay property taxes and receive from the state the current amount allotted per student.
— Joyce Zerkel
Anchorage