Local school expense
I have lived in Springdale for 48 years and am very proud of the Springdale school system. I am happy that a large portion of my property tax money goes to support the schools my four children attended. Now I am retired and have no children in school but am still pleased that my taxes are used to keep the Springdale schools operating efficiently. The public school is the lifeblood of any town or city.
Now that the LEARNS Act has been implemented, a portion of my taxes subsidizes families wealthy enough to send their children to private schools. Many of these are private religion-based schools that advocate beliefs I probably do not support. If a person has children attending one of those schools, I would support the portion of their property taxes that go to public schools be transferred to the private school their children actually attend or to offset the expense of homeschooling.
I cannot understand why my tax money should ever be used to support religious beliefs I do not adhere to. If every Arkansas property owner is forced to subsidize religion-based schools, then at a minimum the private schools should be required to meet the same standards and testing requirements public schools must meet. They should also be required to accept any child that applies, just like public schools are required, and make accommodations for the student as needed.
My grandchildren all attend Bentonville schools. The school system is consistently ranked one of the top in Arkansas, with the majority of their schools receiving A ratings. Even though Bentonville has an excellent school system, there are also several private religious-based schools operating within the Bentonville School District. Obviously the parents sending their children to these expensive private schools are not avoiding a poor academic environment.
If your religious beliefs are so strong that you are willing to spend thousands of dollars to have your children indoctrinated in those beliefs, good for you. But please do not ask me to financially subsidize your children’s tuition at the expense of my local public school.
KEN DAY Springdale