In his inaugural address, President Trump complained that Americans suffer with “an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.”

My beautiful young son went to school in the East Valley School District, starting in kindergarten and graduating from high school there. After that he went to the University of Washington, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. He works in a job which allows him to use the valuable knowledge he has gained in public institutions and is well-rewarded financially for it.

I don’t dispute that our public education system faces many challenges that private schools do not, like trying to deliver an education to all students at a reasonable cost, but Trump’s extremely negative ideas about it are wrong. He said these things in order to lay the groundwork for a much touted, but unproven voucher program, which would serve to gut our public school system, the bedrock of a civilized society.

In a letter to the editor, Andy James aptly described how Betsy DeVos, Trump’s secretary of education, would have the power to debase public schools. I wonder if my son were starting kindergarten today, would he be allowed the same opportunities that led to his success.

Jane Mark

Newman Lake

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