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From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Private school tax deduction vs NEA
Message-ID: <495@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 19-Nov-83 13:44:32 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.495
Posted: Sat Nov 19 13:44:32 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Nov-83 16:27:53 EST
References: <750@ihuxl.UUCP>
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
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The "mildly opinionated keyboard of Dave Seifert" seems to think
that taxes paid by childless people are benefits to parents. They
aren't. The whole society benefits from the education given to
anyone's children, and it is not even obvious that the parents
benefit most. So certainly taxes should support good education.
My problem with tax support for private schools is that many of
those schools are set up not to give good education, but to give
one-sided education (Christian, White, Hebrew or whatever). The
idea is often not to expose children to the widest range of ideas,
but to protect them from exposure to ideas that disagree with those
of the parents. There are, of course, many private schools dedicated
to good education. If we could distinguish these schools from the
others, then I would favour tax support for them. But how can the
public decide? I think a better solution is to pay properly for
public education. Give teachers money for good teaching, not for
seniority and degrees in "education". Give schools good laboratory
equipment and computers ....
If public schools were good, there would be less pressure for private
schools dedicated to a good education.

Incidentally, what does Dave Seifert think? Or doesn't his keyboard
let him express his ideas?
-- 

	Martin Taylor
	{linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsrgv!dciem!mmt
or	{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!mmt