Gov. Barnes, today I spoke with a nice lady in your office named Cindy Thomas. She was kind enough to hear my public school horror story. I will spare you the details of that and simply state that something must be done about public education.

I am not in a political party but vote for common sense, logic and people who appear to be honest. In my opinion, generally speaking, the conservative thought process is more in tune with reality so I therefore generally vote for conservatives (and this generally means Republicans).

With your stance on education reform you have got my attention and will get my vote (should you choose to run again). You will be the first Democrat I have voted for since Jimmy Carter ran for president. The reason? It appears you have common sense, logic and appear to be honest.

The problems in public education run deep. Very deep. You are taking some bold and very necessary first steps. The government forces our money from us to educate our children in a way “they” think is appropriate. This leads me to my point: Vouchers.

If they are going to force our money from us to “educate” our children, doesn't it make common sense and isn't it logical to let us choose how our own children are being “educated”? Honestly.

Please, allow school vouchers as part of the bill under consideration. Is it too much to ask that we have a say in how our kids are brought up? Is it too much too ask that we get to spend our own money?

Governments can lean either toward a free market or toward socialism. This country was built on the free market concept. What does common sense and logic tell us about our choices in this situation?

Jim Papac
Peachtree City

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