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Rep. Peggy Bennett has introduced HF4494; a constitutional amendment to allow parents the right to choose “as an alternative to public education, a private, religious or home school, and the right to make reasonable choices within a public school for their child.” Minnesota already has many alternatives for students including:

1. Public schools

2. Private nonreligious and religious schools

3. Online schools

4. Charter schools

5. Postsecondary enrollment options for college classes

6. College in the school for public high school students

7. Open enrollment that allows a student to attend the public school of their choice

What is the intent of this constitutional amendment? It is another attempt to undermine the viability of Minnesota’s public school systems to provide a quality education for all Minnesota children! When the lawsuits this legislation spawns are settled, you can be sure public schools will be less able to provide a quality education for less fortunate students. This will result in another tax deduction for upper-income people who can already afford to send their children to a private school.

Our public schools are providing a quality education for all our students. Parents are represented by their locally elected school boards and parents can work with their child’s teacher to meet the student’s needs.             

This type of legislation sounds as though it offers choices but has consequences. In this case, the undermining of Minnesota’s public school systems. This legislation is being promoted by the Center of the American Experiment, a Minnesota based think tank whose goal is to drive a right-wing agenda in statehouses. Why is Representative Bennett, a public school teacher her entire career, pushing for private schools?

Joe Pacovsky

Hayward