Education funding

Recently the Johnson City Press ran an article on the opinion page about school vouchers. I would like to take this opportunity to express my opinion on this subject. First of all, Republicans only care about one thing — giving as many tax breaks to corporations and wealthy people as possible. School vouchers are just another trickle- down tax break for the wealthy.The problem with public education in this country boils down to three things. One involves working families where both parents have to work because of stagnant incomes for the middle class due to Republican union-busting and efforts to outsource good-paying manufacturing jobs overseas. In this environment, neither parent is home to make sure their children are doing their homework. Another problem is the great distractions children have these days in the form of television, game boxes and shopping malls.And finally, public education has become critically underfunded. Republicans have told us for years that public education is a failure and used that as an excuse to slowly defund it, and of course, if you defund a program, it becomes less effective. One can argue that this is a convenient self-fulfilling prophecy. Most wealthy people don’t send their kids to public schools. Instead, they are sending their kids to private schools. In the minds of Republicans, it would be great to be able to give the wealthy another piece of taxpayers’ money for something they are doing anyway. The problem is poor people and working families aren’t able to afford to send their kids to private schools. Free public education is one of the greatest government programs ever conceived. It should be prioritized in our funding process. It is vital for the children who will one day become working adults. JACK L. GRIFFITHJohnson City



from Johnson City Press Latest News Feed

To read more visit: http://bit.ly/1aq8rgz

This share sponsored by East Coast Wings Johnson City

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/1hjrRCz

via This share sponsored by East Coast Wings Johnson City