GOP policies hastening public education decline

To the Editor:

One would think that State Rep. Jim Baird and State Sen. Richard Bray would be so embarrassed by what they and their Republican policies have done to local schools that they would not want their pictures on the front page (Banner Graphic, Thursday, Dec. 15) with school administrators.

Their support for decreasing property taxes, shifting financial control of schools to the state, and allowing vouchers to take money from public schools have wreaked havoc on school funding -- and they should NOT blame the economy! That is a scapegoat for their party's power-grabbing policies.

The Reelsville Elementary School's dilemma (Banner Graphic, Wednesday, Dec. 14) further epitomizes the problems these policies have created and will continue to create.

When will we voters realize that Republican policies locally and statewide support the further decline of Indiana public education and ultimately the prosperity of the state?

And nationally these policies hasten our descent to Third World status (see Bruce Sanders' letter to the editor (Banner Graphic, Wednesday, Dec. 14).

Don and Kay Weaver

(proud products of public schools and public universities) Greencastle