A Shameful Comparison

There are people on both sides of the school choice divide who care passionately about kids. Some rationally think things are best done one way, while others have a different point of view—all the while, still working towards the ultimate goal of helping children.

And then there are other people, who have lost touch with reality to the detriment of everyone involved.

Folks frequently talk about the souring nature of our political discourse across the country, but this is a new one, even for us. In a recently-published letter by the Northwest Indiana Times, a citizen writes in with the shocking comparison: supporters of vouchers are like terrorists.

Yes, you read that right (and it sadly comes without any twisting of words or hyperbole on our part). Just over a week after commemorating the 10th anniversary of the most tragic terrorist attack in American history—an attack that callously took the lives of nearly 3,000 people—someone had the gall to compare a legitimate side of a policy debate to the murder of innocents for warped despicable political purposes.

Not only is it shameful, but it's scary: that people could truly believe that the fight to give kids hope is equatable with politically-motivated murder is proof that we still have a long way to go in working together to solve the problems plaguing our country's schools. Here's the particularly offensive portion: 

The religious right have a vested interest in privatizing all public schools, and vouchers are simply one more stealth effort on their part to merge religion and state. Much ignorance exists about church-state separation, and ignorance is the key that Christian extremists depend upon to unlock the door to power they hope to acquire for total control of minds of the naive. 

Where better to take control of young vulnerable minds than in schools controlled by the narrow scoped vision of the Christian right? The religious right and the politicians who have joined hands with them for partisan purposes pose a greater threat to America than any foreign terrorist.

At the start of her letter, the author admits that she is "not a constitutional lawyer." We would take that a step further; not only are her thoughts not based on Constitutionality, but we should seriously question whether her they're even grounded in reality.

There's legitimate debate, and then there's this. No matter your views on the issues, we all deserve better.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG