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December 5, 2009

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Letter: As a society we must fund public schools

Wednesday, July 24, 2002 | 8:45 a.m.

I have a question for John Tominsky, who argues in his July 19 letter that using taxpayer money to fund parochial (religious) schools is valid because he feels they are better than public schools. Would he still agree if his tax money was funding a school run by Christian fanatics such as the KKK or any other group of religious zealots?

We all need to think about this, because this is the Pandora's box the Supreme Court has opened with its voucher ruling. As soon as the public or government denies a voucher to a school because of its religious curriculum, we will have started down a road the Constitution's writers never wanted us to travel.

Picking and choosing which religious ideology taxpayer money can support will violate the Establishment Clause and will open a crack in the wall that has kept our society from ripping itself apart over issues that cannot be resolved in the secular arena.

If we want our children to have the best education, then as a society we need to honor the tradition of Jefferson and Madison by placing community interest above our pocketbooks and really fund public schools.

SONDRA COSGROVE

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