Decades of stingy budgeting by GOP state legislators have led to starved school systems that serve the most vulnerable. Those proposing that charter and private schools represent the salvation of public schools, as do adherents to the Commonwealth Foundation’s tenets, are selling a myth.

Many charter schools and all private schools are selective. It is a fact that their student populations do not mirror those of public schools, which have a seat for all who come through their doors. How many student populations of charter and private schools reflect the full range of students that public schools do on a regular basis, including those with mental, physical, or behavioral challenges?

The Commonwealth Foundation touts free markets and small government, but these students — and the concomitant expense they represent — are rarely welcomed by the market. Do we, as a society, just abandon them? Contrary to small government ideology, only through sizable infusions of government funds can these kids be educated properly. The lives of the neediest are just as worthwhile as other children’s and should not be valued in dollars. The answer to poviding good educational opportunities for every student is to fully invest in public schools, which can present pathways to thrive for all, regardless of their circumstances.

Bev Hahn
Blue Bell, PA