Letter: Public education in America at a crossroads

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

As a teacher in the Clark County School District, I would like to add a more political view of public education than that given by Jamie Huston's Oct. 28 letter, "Parents must be more involved in education."

Parental involvement is crucial. However, it still cannot raise every kid to the "well above average" level of proficiency on state standards indicated by an "A." Without standards, grades are meaningless. With them, we expect a bell curve of grade distribution.

Republicans are trying to destroy K-12 education by finding schools "inadequate" when students with below-average aptitudes or below-average work habits earn below-average test scores. Why? So profit-motivated big business can take over. And Democrats who have foolishly supported the "we're all equal in all ways" attitude can't very well fight the No Child Left Behind Act's insistence on 100 percent of students being proficient at grade level.

If Republicans have their way, K-12 education will become a degree-selling big business just as higher education is currently. The best and brightest from even average-income homes can no longer afford supposedly selective colleges, but the Bush family can. Top students are now often stuck attending state colleges that sell cheaper - but still expensive - degrees to anyone who's breathing.

Public education from kindergarten through 12th grade is one of the only institutions left in this country that gives the nonprivileged a fighting chance. Parental involvement might help keep politicians from both major parties from destroying it.

Betty Buehler, Las Vegas