My parents chose to send their three children to a Catholic parochial school. They believed, rightly or wrongly, that we would receive a more personalized structured education. The school was staffed by nuns and lay teachers who did go that extra bit to help students who wanted or needed attention. Our town had a very progressive public school system with many new schools being built to serve the community.
The kids I grew up with who attended the public schools turned out seemingly as capable as any in the private schools. The important point I’m trying to make is my parents paid entirely for our education with their own money — which, to them, was a considerable amount — while at the same time paying their full share of taxes to support the local public schools. I never heard them complain about this situation. The country was set up to serve the youths of America with an equal and adequate education, accepting all students regardless of individual needs.
These are not the requirements of charter schools, which can pick and choose students. Every dollar given to charter schools takes away from the budget of our neighborhood schools — this should not be allowed. The governor has proven quite blatantly he is not the “education governor” he claimed to be — he has squeezed the university system and public schools almost to the breaking point.
— Henry Gogolowski
Anchorage
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