(UNEDITED) In response to the education funding issues going on in Davis county (as well as the rest of the state), I'd like to submit the following: As a public school teacher, I think I speak for all educators when I say, "HELP!" We're way overcrowded and way underfunded. However, raising taxes in a crumbling economy is always a bad (not to mention unpopular) idea. So what's the solution?
Recently, I've been hearing about a growing trend among private schools. Because (again) of the economy, more and more parents are pulling their kids out of private schools because they can't afford it. This has left hundreds of schools with empty desks and half-empty classrooms.
Common sense says that if public schools have too many kids and private schools have too few, why not come up with a plan to encourage private schools to give scholarships to families who can't afford tuition?
Let's do the math: if from the $8,000+ per child being spent in public schools, we give a $2,000 grant to (qualified) private schools, we not only save the state over $6,000 per child, but simultaneously reduce overcrowding. That means by next fall, if 1,000 students in Davis County alone were to fill those empty seats, the public school budget would be reduced by $6 million...that's one heck of a good start!
I say if the private schools are willing to take on the problems of our over-burdened public schools...LET THEM!
Laura Johnson
Ogden
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