THE PUBLIC MIND: TRANSPORTATION SHOULD BE SEPARATE IN EDUCATION

Dear Editor:

It has been my privilege to attend parochial (Lutheran) school at elementary level, and public school(s) at high school level. I am equally appreciative of each one.

The individual family voucher system, which has been proposed for the last several decades can certainly erode our public education system. Public education has its roots/in the cen~tury(s) of the Protestant Reformation, the rise of republican thinking and the rapid development of mechanical reproduction printing processes. Religious reformers asserted the need for the public to be educated and equipped to imbibe the Gospel message directly. Republicanism demanded individual intellectual development for/informed public participation in self-government. Broader availability of printed materials went hand-in-hand. It is even probable that the rise of the public education principle has made a significant contribution to the potential for the establishment of the unique democratic republic (America) that we experience.

It seems that we are at the point of re-appraising and possibly re-adjusting our present public education system. One possible aspect to consider is the separation of transportation from education. It is possible to provide transportation for students to a school of choice without such help being considered aid to a particular system or institution. It would not inhibit the interests of any educational system or institution. To separate transportation as an item separate from education per se could perhaps make a contribution to more objective thinking on this question as well as others....which could be a boon to our society as whole.

Gil Degenhardt

Cape Girardeau