Re: [pf] public schools/ was we took...

by Molly Williams

12 December 2000 15:04 UTC

Sharon,

I also benefitted greatly from public schools. My parents /did/ have the
resources to send me to private school but I chose not to go, because I
liked my public high school. I think I got a great academic education
there, a strong basis in math, chemistry, biology, literature and
language, writing, and history, as well as simply learning how to
research a problem, how to think about issues, how to make decisions. I
also got a lot of positive feedback (from external and internal
sources), which, as I said, is the natural by-product of learning,
succeeding, even of seeking and being curious. This is what I think
public school is all about.

~ Molly
 
Sharon Flesher wrote:
> 
> Diane wrote:
> > I respect Molly's opinion greatly.  However, at this point in our society,
> I
> > see no other choice for schools to do things in addition to educate.  In
> > fact, I believe school's greatest asset is that -- when operating more or
> > less correctly -- it enables people from diverse backgrounds to get along.
> > I know many of you have had different experiences.  I'm just saying that
> > I've seen a lot of kids helped -- saved, if you will -- through school.
> > Shouldn't be that way; they should have loving families or adequately
> > incomed families.  But they didn't. And school was where they got food,
> got
> > clean, got warm and/or got loved.  Sometimes they also learned to read and
> > write.
> 
> Public schools also are a lot cheaper than prisons. The state of Michigan
> could put a kid through 4 years of Harvard for what it costs to keep him/her
> in prison for a year.
> 
> I'm very biased on this subject because I have benefited greatly from public
> schools, first as a student and now as a parent (my son is in an excellent
> neighborhood public school and thriving). My parents, while well-meaning and
> loving, did not have the economic resources to provide me with a private
> education, nor did they have the intellectual resources to home educate me.
> Had it not been for public schools, my path most certainly would have been
> one with lesser understanding of the world and my place in it. I doubt I
> would be discussing positive futures on the internet.
> 
> Sharon Flesher
> CarSharing Traverse, Inc.
> Traverse City, Mich.
> sflesher@traverse.net
> 
> "Be the change you wish to see." M.K. Gandhi