Choice in Education

Unfortunately, Utah educrats are not alone in using the economic downturn as an excuse to target parental choice. In several states, bureaucrats have sought to cut school choice on grounds that by so doing they can save a little on transportation dollars. Rarely do they look at alternatives, such as using private bus services or van pools.

Actually, as your editorial (Oct. 16) notes, public charter schools are a bargain for taxpayers, given that they operate on a smaller allocation of tax funds than do conventional public schools while attracting private support to the public system.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that money crunches give school bureaucracies a chance to stifle schools of choice that they didn't much like to begin with. A more enlightened approach would be to consider the pluses — economic as well as academic — that choice brings to the system.

Robert Holland

Senior Fellow for Education Policy

The Heartland Institute