On the subject of Tom Sykes’ March 20 letter in The Herald (“Charter schools: Now it’s time for the community to do its part”): I am one of many people who are not thankful that the bills authorizing the creation of charter schools in Washington state have passed. There have been initiatives put on the state ballot before in an attempt to authorize charter schools and they have been soundly defeated because people realize that privately run charter schools will draw money away from already underfunded public schools, which will only plummet them further into crisis.
Instead of pulling more money away from public schools, more money needs to be put into our public education system instead of the military, the prison industrial complex, and tax cuts for the rich. The U.S. spends more on the military and building prisons than it does on needed social programs. Education should be a priority, not incarceration. The U.S. is the only country that does not provide universal health care. The priorities are totally off base. It is time to provide full funding for public education, health care, social services and cut the bloated military budget.
The U.S. is spending more on military expenditures that all the countries of the world combined, and for what? There is no credible threat to the U.S. The only threat will come from U.S. imperialism. The outcome of the election in Spain is an example of that. Ninety percent of the people opposed the U.S. on Iraq and that is why Jose Maria Aznar was voted out – because he chose to ignore that fact. There was no justification for the terrorist attack in Madrid certainly, but one wonders if it would have happened if Spain had not been a U.S. ally.
Lynnwood
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