To the editor:

After reading Ayatollah Thomas’ “Abandon public schools” (J-W, June 16), I was sure someone would write in to point out how truly frightening Cal’s agenda is. How do we cut through his scare tactics and convince our voting public that our schools are our best hope to maintain the democracy we cherish?

I’ve been a teacher in “godless government schools” for 23 years working with wonderful people of all religious denominations. Your children are schooled by Presbyterians, Baptists, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists and atheists. And in this cross-section of faiths you find the common ground of love for kids. Teachers I know involve themselves with their students, work hard to teach the curriculum that the community (not the government) has decided upon, and also participate in churches and community groups.

Yes, we do teach the principle of equality for all human beings. If that frightens you, take your children to a private school where they can be protected from such ideas. I am a product of private religious schooling myself. In my 12 years of “godly” schooling I saw few minority students and only the mildest of disabilities. Later I discovered that important historical events had not been taught at my school. Instead of learning how to think, I was taught what to think.

Cal Thomas scares me, but not as much as our state legislators who talk big about adequately funding education but privately embrace these fundamentalist views. They are already abandoning our public schools.

Mary Yadon,

Lawrence