Assuming you are not a regular reader of the Laconia Daily Sun, which I typically call” Pravda on the Lake,” attached is a letter to the editor in which the writer attacks, among others, Larry Arnn, Hillsdale College President, the new charter school being established in the Lakes Region, our beloved Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut, our Majority Leader in the NH House Jason Osbourne, and our NH House Rep Glenn Cordelli.
Of course, when you are taking flak, it is a sign that you are over the target.
I assume that the letter writer, like most who write to the paper, is a Lefty-wingnut lackey for the public school and school union establishment. My response is this:
To The Daily Sun,
The recent letter from Janice Michaud [reproduced below – Editor] attacking the new public charter school in the Lakes Region, North Star Academy, and some of its supporters, fails to provide the rest of the story.
North Star Academy is a public charter school — emphasis on “public” — being established under applicable state law. It is another public school — one that gives parents in the area a choice in how their children are to be educated.
We have a few public charter schools in New Hampshire. Most have been successful, but a few have actually closed, whether because of insufficient enrollment, insufficient finances, or otherwise. That is what happens in the free market: competition.
Public charter schools are only one of several education options open to parents who may not want their children indoctrinated in our ordinary public schools, many of which are simply mediocre. If our ordinary public schools are doing such a great job, they will survive by competing and without compelling parents to utilize them as their only option.
The amount of taxpayer funding allocated to public charter schools is actually tiny compared with the per-pupil cost for our ordinary public schools throughout the state that is borne by our local property taxpayers.
Putting unused or under-utilized public buildings to use by public charter schools makes sense to everyone involved, especially the taxpayers.
Hillsdale College is a bastion of freedom. It is among less than a handful of colleges in our country that accept no federal funding or any federally sponsored student loans. It is supported exclusively by private sources. And its president, Larry Arnn, is a distinguished, articulate professor and Churchill scholar.
Only time will tell whether the North Star Academy will be successful, but clearly it will be of benefit to parents in our area and their children.
The LtE that I mentioned:
Janice Michaud: Hillsdale College president claims anyone can educate children
To The Daily Sun,
The North Star Academy proposed for Ossipee is an attempt to destroy public education in New Hampshire. That was confirmed a year ago by remarks made by Dr. Larry Arnn, president of Michigan’s Hillsdale College, which developed the North Star Academy curriculum.
Arnn didn’t know someone was secretly making a video when he told the governor of Tennessee that “education destroys generations of people” and “teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.” (Source: https://tinyurl.com/5n8r6jf9).
One would assume he would include our own Plymouth State and University of New Hampshire, among other schools in New Hampshire.
His solution: “We are going to try to demonstrate that you don’t have to be an expert to educate a child because basically anybody can do it.”
If anyone can do it, why are Frank Edelblut, Gov. Chris Sununu’s appointed commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education; Jason Osborne, GOP majority speaker of the state House; and Rep.Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro) giving away our former Carroll County Courthouse plus $1 million in taxpayer dollars to jumpstart North Star Academy in Ossipee? In the state of New Hampshire, where its education is ranked sixth in the nation, this plan would be a travesty to public schools across our state. (Source: U.S. News and World Report.)
Since North Star Academy is not a done deal, let’s give them the boot like school districts across Tennessee did after hearing Arnn’s disgusting remarks aimed at denigrating our smart, dedicated and hardworking public school teachers.
Janice Michaud
Tuftonboro