Letter to the Editor
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
This is an open letter to all who feel as I do that a free nonsecular education is the single most important way to maintain a free society and drive economic engines.
Homes in neighborhoods that have good schools sell faster and for more money. Television comedies have episodes on parents trying to enroll their children in preschools before they can even walk.
Yet 75 million primary school-age children worldwide cannot attend school because of school fees. In Uganda, where the average income is less than $1 a day, the number of children attending school doubled when the $8 school fee was dropped.
I urge all of us to write or call President Barack Obama and ask him to honor his campaign pledge to fund a $2 billion new Global Fund for Education.
We have heard before that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I believe an educated world will be a far safer and more prosperous one for all of us. What better Christmas gift could we hand down to our children and grandchildren.
Bill Nicholson
Martinez
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