Public Education Is Free

To the Editor:

I graduated Newtown High School with the Class of 2001, and I am currently a junior at Cornell University with plans on attending med school in the fall of 2005. I was recently informed that every student at the high school will have to pay a $50 fee for every organization they are a part of, but also that this money does not even benefit the school, but instead goes to the Town of Newtown. I was always under the impression that a K through 12 public education is free and a right granted to all US residents so that everyone has the opportunity, and equal opportunity, to succeed later on in life.

Fifty dollars is not a lot of money, but I am sure there are some families in Newtown who cannot afford this $50, which means they will have to participate in fewer or no clubs at school, which means they will not get into the college of their choice, and how much education a person gets has a direct positive correlation with the quality of life he or she lives later on. This is not the definition of equal opportunity.

In high school I was a part of National Honor Society, French National Honor Society, Math Team, Quiz Bowl, and Science Club; 5 x 50 = 250,  250 x 4 = 1,000. A thousand dollars still may not be a lot of money, but it is a thousand more than we should be paying because let’s reiterate, a public education is free. I would not have been able to get into Cornell if I had no extracurricular activities on my resume because it is one of the major deciding factors for college admissions. It’s hard enough to get into college anyway and once we are there it is $40,000 a year, thus there is no need to put a financial burden on those who haven’t even gotten there! You certainly don’t want all of the graduates of Newtown High School to be attending community colleges, because then we won’t be able to get into grad schools, med schools, law schools, and then who is going to be the future teachers, doctors, and lawyers in Newtown? Certainly not us.

Kathy Deng

Newtown High School, Class of 2001

5A Lone Oak Meadow, Sandy Hook                         October 10, 2003