INDOCTRINATION: Tax revenue should not pay for one group’s ideology

Public education attacks seem to be abundant. The NIC takeover and school vouchers permeate the news. Claims of far left indoctrination are prevalent.

I attended public primary schools and junior college and graduated from a private religious high school and college. Both had their benefits and I’m blessed to experience both.

I taught and coached at both private and public high schools for more than 40 years. The only indoctrination I witnessed was at the religious institutions but that is a big part of their purpose and certain teachings were not to be questioned.

My experience with public education was that students were allowed and encouraged to examine things from many points of view and come to their own conclusions through critical thinking. I’m not saying that there were never conservative nor liberal leaning instructors who injected their thoughts into lessons but they were the exception and students still had the right to disagree. A right I did not have at the private schools I attended.

Public taxes are for public education. Private schools control who they admit and can dismiss underachieving students or those who reject their core beliefs.

The competition argument is fallacious. Would competition funded by vouchers improve other public services such as law enforcement, firefighting and snowplowing? No, it would only divert funds from where they are needed most.

The trend to use our tax revenue to push a group’s ideological agenda to get people to only think like them is just wrong not common sense.

RICHARD ANDERSON

Harrison