May I respectfully remind Mr. Robert Kennedy and others that parents of non-public school students pay public school taxes. Why should they not be allowed to access resources for the welfare of their children?

Parents are the primary educators of their offspring and in our democracy have the right to decide which method is best for them as long as they are educated well.

The public school system is one necessary method of delivering knowledge (necessary for the stability of civilization), but not the only way.

Public school unions are necessary for certain issues such as pay, hours worked, class size, etc. During the era of one-room schools, a gentleman teacher was limited in their courting to the early hours of Wednesday evenings (see the plaque at Bailey School on the premises of Sturgeon Point Lighthouse, Harrisville). Later, when a lady educators married, they were automatically dismissed.

I have been a public school teacher for 15 years and a faith-based school teacher for 16 years. When time came for our eldest child to begin school, the public school offered only a one-room school. We chose a larger faith-based school which had each grade in separate classrooms.

Schools are necessary for the civil foundation of our democratic society. The public school system is only one facility where this education is achieved.

May we acknowledge that there are various valid venues for transmitting knowledge. I doubt that the public school system would be diminished by this fact. So let’s not engage in a war of recrimination. There’s too much dissension in our country now.

Helen C. Anstead

Lincoln