We will soon need to vote on legislation concerning support of charter schools.
I should like to speak in favor of public education. I attended a public high school, Brooklyn Tech, in New York City, in the 1940’s. At that time, it was new and one of the best high schools in the country.
It was large (about 6000 students) and required entrance exams to gain admission. Its courses and equipment were as good as at many of our colleges today. This was during Depression years when I, and most of my classmates, believed we couldn’t afford college (although cheap by today’s standards) and needed to go to work after graduating.
Many came from poor and first-generation families, but many have benefited from the fine education provided and have gone on to assume leading positions at universities and industry.
A few years ago, I returned to this school for a reunion and was disheartened to see that it has fallen into despair due to inadequate maintenance. This was largely due to inadequate funding, a problem with many of our public schools (and public colleges) today.
As a result, those prospective students who could afford it have abandoned public education and elected to attend charter schools instead. Those who couldn’t must be resigned to inferior education and are often lost as good potential contributors to society. Our society is losing out in not providing affordable education for these disadvantaged students.
My plea is to try to avoid this problem and to fund public education adequately. It will be an investment that will benefit our society.
Richard S. (Dick) Stein
Amherst