O P I N I O N
THE SOAPBOX
STAND UP. SPEAK UP. IT’S YOUR TURN.
Let’s make our public schools real public schools. We have charter schools, we have private schools and we can opt for home schooling. These offer choice but should not expect public support. Public education (K-12), financed with public support, has made our country what it is today. The key to a free society is an educated public and no nation does it better than the United States through its educational system. This country has produced more great innovations than any country in the world and we owe this in part to our open and free public education system.
The cornerstone of our way of life is education – free to all. We must never back away from this commitment. We have choice in this nation and you may exercise this choice but we must never let free public education go away. So many talk about choice. We have and have had choice all our lives. We must not let any part of our nation suffer when we fail to give our full support to free public education.
At a time when our world seems to be in a state of confusion, we can’t walk away from the system that has meant so much to so many. Our schools provide the path to a better life and rather than talk about more support, we are often caught up in attempting to offer something different. Our goal should be to make the system better. We have a successful model and we must build on this model.
When we think of the great things that have come from publicly educated people, we tend to forget that this opportunity is offered to all. We cannot let this basic tenet of a free society go away by backing away from our financial commitment to public education. Our goal should always be to make a free and appropriate public education better and we can and must do this. We can’t move away from this golden jewel of the United States education system. To do this would be to abandon the most precious resource that we have – the opportunity to succeed as a result of being educated.
“Free and public” – these two words are the American way. Don’t let our commitment to public education get away from us.
Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? Send your submissions to robidouxnews@gmail.com, subject line, The Soapbox.
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Sen. Lou D’Allesandro is from Manchester and is in his tenth term as a representative of District 20 constituents. You can reach Sen. D’Allensandro at dalas@leg.state.nh.us. He is also a regular contributor to Manchester Ink Link with his NH Senate Report.
