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Congrats, Erika. (Just signed on as a member of Parents Defending Education). Thank you for posting Laura's piece. Wish this could be plastered all ovr NYT, LATimes, Projo, WSJ.

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I'm not sure why any demographic information about parents who want in-person publicly funded education options for their children matters to those who are deciding whether or not to offer that option. Weingarten's comments and Laura's clear response reminded me of this quote from Michael Barber's book, Instruction to Deliver. (Barber was the British equivalent of the secretary of education during Tony Blair's administration)

"If they are to be universal, modern public services have to be so good that the growing numbers of people who can afford the private alternative still choose them. This is a much higher bar than prevailed in the twentieth century. It is of decisive importance because, in the long run, the relatively wealthy will be willing to pay taxes for public services only if they use them."

Publicly funded education options should be attractive to and responsive to all Americans, regardless of their race, income, eligibility for special education services, etc.

Weingarten's comments are dangerous because it suggests that if it's OK to say publicly funded schools don't have to respond to rich people, they might also decide not to respond to the needs and desires of poor people. Oh, wait, that's generally what they do now. The rich and well connected get the educational options they want for their children. And everyone else takes what they're given. And when something like chartering public schools, which gives new choice and power to those who couldn't buy or move to get what they want for their children, those in the circles of power feel threatened.

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