Letters to the Editor
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‘Teachers Abandon a Democrat Over School Choice’
As Jacob Gershman pointed out in a recent story, New York State United Teachers will even go so far as to endorse a Republican for a seat in the state Senate, as long as his opposition commits the unpardonable sin of approving some form of school choice [New York, “Teachers Abandon a Democrat Over School Choice,” January 29, 2008]. In this case, Assemblyman Darrel Aubertin, a Democrat, attached his name to a bill that would give tuition tax credits and other benefit to parents of children in private and parochial schools, while his opponent, Assemblyman Will Barclay, a Republican, had not.
This should show everyone that teachers unions aren’t about better education for kids — they’re about maintaining their own power and the status quo of government-monopolized education. Several states, including Arizona and Pennsylvania, have had successful tax-credit programs for the last 10 years. Student achievement — and parental satisfaction — is very high with these programs. It’s too bad the system run by teachers unions can’t say the same.
KARLA DIAL
Managing Editor
School Reform News
Colorado Springs, C.O.
‘The Reverse Commuter Tax’
Re: “The Reverse Communter Tax”: [Oped, “The Reverse Commuter Tax,” February 1, 2008] by Andrew Wolf. You really covered all bases. Most of us did not think about the fact that New Jersey drivers would be getting essentially a “free” ride. Hope you will continue to explore this fiasco as it develops. If congestion relief were really the objective, Mayor Bloomberg would yank his government employees’ free parking placards and propose restoration of two-way tolls on the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, as proposed by Congressman Jerrold Nadler.
JOHN OST
New York, N.Y.
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