Private School Vouchers

Once again The Times, through its right-wing political cartoonist Michael Ramirez, is demonizing public education and championing a really bad idea--vouchers (Commentary, June 18).

Statewide school voucher initiatives in California have been trounced twice and have just been eliminated from President Bush’s school legislation. Over the past years, over 20 states have had voucher initiatives that have all failed at the ballot box.

One only needs to follow the money to see that Christian fundamentalists (as part of their wish to Christianize America), the Catholic Church (since it subsidizes its students) and free-market types (who are against any public enterprise) are the push behind voucher legislation.

All the wrong reasons to use vouchers.

Bill Lakin

Wrightwood