Morgan Armstrong decided in April to come out as gay. The school where she was a senior-- Tennessee Christian Preparatory School in Cleveland, Tennessee-- called her into the office and laid out punishments and threats.
Of course, we all know there are plenty of citizens who will gladly pay taxes that support this school and others like it. I always wonder how they would feel if a Muslim or Buddhist school were to receive such funding, or how about a charter school for the arts with lots of gay kids?
Do those citizens have a choice about paying taxes to support those schools? I strongly suspect that, given a choice of 1) pay school taxes as they always have 2) designate which school your taxes go to or 3) stop paying any school taxes, most without school aged kids would choose #3.
If it ever comes to that (i.e., no kids in school = not having to pay school taxes ), public education will be in big trouble. It is my fervent hope that we’ll never reach that point; the results would be far reaching. Our falling birth rate would plummet as parents imagined the rise in taxes when only parents of 5- to 18-year-olds would be paying for schools. An educated citizenry benefits us all, even if it seems like a burden to pay for schools you no longer use (or never have since you graduated).
I agree. However, the commitment of the American public to universal education does not seem very strong. As we learned further pandemic, the daycare provided by the schools was far more important to parents than the education.
Absolutely. And teachers were suddenly heroes, until school re-opened and they reverted to being the pariahs who are indoctrinating your kids. (Retired teacher here.)
Of course, we all know there are plenty of citizens who will gladly pay taxes that support this school and others like it. I always wonder how they would feel if a Muslim or Buddhist school were to receive such funding, or how about a charter school for the arts with lots of gay kids?
Do those citizens have a choice about paying taxes to support those schools? I strongly suspect that, given a choice of 1) pay school taxes as they always have 2) designate which school your taxes go to or 3) stop paying any school taxes, most without school aged kids would choose #3.
If it ever comes to that (i.e., no kids in school = not having to pay school taxes ), public education will be in big trouble. It is my fervent hope that we’ll never reach that point; the results would be far reaching. Our falling birth rate would plummet as parents imagined the rise in taxes when only parents of 5- to 18-year-olds would be paying for schools. An educated citizenry benefits us all, even if it seems like a burden to pay for schools you no longer use (or never have since you graduated).
I agree. However, the commitment of the American public to universal education does not seem very strong. As we learned further pandemic, the daycare provided by the schools was far more important to parents than the education.
Absolutely. And teachers were suddenly heroes, until school re-opened and they reverted to being the pariahs who are indoctrinating your kids. (Retired teacher here.)