Make schools accountable

Regarding the Sunday editorial, “Health-care overhaul is key”: We certainly agree that funding health care “shouldn’t be the state’s responsibility.” However, I find no responsibility, nor any authority in our Constitution for the federal government to do it either. We already have a federal government operated health care system (read that sick care system) called Medicare. If you go to your dictionary and look up nightmare, you’ll find “Medicare.”

You’ll find the finest health care, and sick care, available in the world in the USA and especially here in the Northwest. But that is in spite of Medicare, not because of it.

And we want to put that kind of organization in charge of all of our health care?

But let’s get to the real point of your editorial: quality education.

“It’s not the money, stupid.” Our private schools do a better job of educating our young people and in most cases they do it for less money.

Let’s give the money the state spends on its government schools to the parents and let them choose where to spend it. You do support choice, don’t you?

A few years ago we had a chance to allow choice with charter schools, but a multi-million-dollar campaign was mounted against that choice.

That campaign pointed to charter schools in other states that had failed. That was true. And when they failed, they closed. When our state’s government schools fail, they just demand more money.

Competition will bring out the best.

Fred C. Howard

Snohomish