School Voucher Initiative

In response to “Sword Over the Public Schools,” editorial, April 18:

The sword is not dollars but demographics. Neither individuals nor institutions can cope with the ever-growing quantity and diversity of people populating our cities and counties. Failing schools (with a long list of other institutions) raise anxiety and lower confidence. Falling standards and rising debts erode hope and erase tolerance. Opportunity has become a commodity whose value is increased by desperation and perceived scarcity. (“Global competition,” “affirmative action,” “quotas,” and “racial norming” represent ideas that affect the perception.) Parents do want what’s best for their children but necessarily demand the most for their education dollar.

In small, homogenous school districts centrally regulated education can earn parental approval. Elsewhere parents are asserting that they know what is best and want to be able to put their money (not the public’s) where their mouths are.

Over 30 years ago President Kennedy correctly challenged Americans not to ask what their country could do for them but to ask what they could do for their country. The voucher initiative is a perfectly reasonable response to that challenge.

G.S. GETLIN, Sherman Oaks