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One size does not fit all when it comes to educating our children. Public schools have failed miserably in educating our youth and ensuring their safety when they are at school. Therefore, states should permit the use of public funds to allow charter schools since this affords families additional options in choosing what method of education is right for their child and their family.

Public school teachers seem ill-equipped and overwhelmed in dealing with the 25+ students that make up the average U.S. classroom. Perhaps this accounts for the skyrocketing number of school-aged children who are diagnosed as ADD or ADHD and prescribed controlled substances in an effort to "treat" the alleged problem. If a public school official requests that a child be evaluated for ADD/ADHD, the school has the ability to influence the outcome since the teachers are the ones who complete the forms that drive the diagnosis. If a parent refuses to medicate the child, the school can refer the case to social services for intervention. The mere threat of that alone causes many parents to simply comply by agreeing to drug their child. Those that do not comply face the wrath of social services workers who have the power to remove children from fit parents with or without cause.

In addition, many parents of public school children are becoming increasingly concerned about the many legislative changes that impact school curriculum. In California, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 777 which requires "only positive portrayals of homosexual, bisexual, transgender and other alternative lifestyle choices" in schools. This includes banning the use of traditional terms such as "mom" and "dad" in favor of gender-neutral terms. Some California schools are already constructing unisex restrooms for use by students and faculty.

As if that were not enough, it seems as though every day the news is riddled with stories from across the country reporting teachers (male and female) caught engaging in sexual acts with our children, or cases of bullying by fellow classmates that results in injury or death to others, and then there are the crazed lunatics who target schools and defenseless children as places for causing mass Columbine-like carnage.

The state has failed in its duty to educate and protect our children by way of traditional public schooling. As such, they have an obligation to ensure that parents have as many choices as possible by which to educate their children, including publicly funded charter school.

Learn more about this author, Judi Smith-Phelps.
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