Summit on Education

Watching, listening to, and reading about the educational summit, I felt like a visitor from another planet. President Bush’s pronouncements about making education a national priority are certainly desirable and laudable, but his call for results before resources seems to ignore those existing examples where results do follow the commitment of reasonable but significant funds.

I am very fortunate to be part of a school community where the educational equation is both simple and balanced. Good teachers work with small classes of children who come from supportive and involved families. Tuition ($6,700-$7,300 per year) is one of the lowest of independent schools in the area, but is still two to three times the typical public school expenditure per student.

My point is not to claim superiority for our school, or any independent school, but only to suggest that were the public sector willing and able to commit itself to the same economy of scale as independent schools, then more children might receive the quality of education they deserve and so badly need.

Successful public schools work against enormous odds in all parts of the country. Localized control, high parental involvement, and reasonably sufficient funding seem absolutely necessary if children are to have a chance at getting an education capable of taking them further. Indeed, the annual expense to the taxpayer of maintaining someone who has missed that opportunity is already more than the average independent school tuition. Independent schools do not have all the answers, but by definition and mission, I do believe they raise the right questions.

McCLAIN JEFFREY

MOREDOCK

Headmaster, Chadwick School

Palos Verdes Peninsula