Public system still the best for schools

My father began his teaching career in a small town high school in Iowa.

He had the school's football team in his English class and when they didn't do any work, he gave them all "F."

The principal called him in, lined up the whole team in front of him, and threatened him with violence if he wouldn't change their grades.

I always keep this in mind when I read attacks on the public schools such as the ones published recently in the Daily Herald.

We don't have "government schools" in this country, but community schools controlled by locally elected boards.

Attempts to get tough with students always meet with fierce resistance from parents -- who give lip service to high standards except when their own kids are affected -- and this creates insurmountable obstacles for locally-controlled schools.

Want a different system? In Europe, governments select an elite of "smarties" for privileged college preparation. I don't think people here would stand for that.

Or a privatized system? Look to our health care set-up for a glimpse of what that would produce: 10 percent well-educated, 40 percent mediocre training, 50 percent no education at all and private investors pocketing the taxes.

I think we're better off with what we've got. If employers need better workers, let them pay more. They'll get them.

Anthony Nelson

Rolling Meadows