This blog has long been defined as one dealing with the educational issues of the day. Many have tried to pigeonhole us into one political stream or another - but frankly, we're here to talk schools; What's going right, what's going wrong. Not what's "right" & "left".

So here is another in a string of guest blog spots from my friend Scott Blough...

---Letters from a Pittsburgh Jail---

A very intelligent person once told me, “When we define our morals and ethics by what the conventional wisdom of the day is, we’re soon to lose our individualism and freedom. We are soon to become dependent on the state to define our common sense.” Recently, the Pittsburgh Public school system began filing truancy cases against parents who chose to send their kids to charter schools instead of public schools. With fines and the threat of jail hanging over parents’ heads, some have defied the rules to keep their children in these charter schools saying it’s in the best interest of their child. Parents have exercised civil disobedience just to choose where their child should go to schools.

Please feel free to click here to read the story

The question I put to this blog is whether it is immoral for parents to choose what is the best school for their child?

Is the decision for the state or the parent or both?

Should we really get to the point in our society where parents who choose against the majority’s conventional wisdom of what a public school is are fined and sent off to jail?

I welcome your thoughts

Scott Blough

Thanks Scott,

I think Scott raises an important question here. We know that political leaders like to talk about the public schools, and then send their kids to private schools.

If you lived in a neighborhood where the schools were hopeless, would you risk it jail to improve their situation?